Who am I, and why am I here on Substack?

I’m Dean Moore (given name: Michael David Moore, ‘Dean’ is my mother’s maiden name).

I am currently, I suppose, a Southerner—but by way of the West Coast, by way of the Midwest. I grew up in conservative Northwest Ohio; came of age in a Southern Indiana college town; staked my claim to rock 'n' roll riches in both Hollywood and the Bay Area (with medium-ish success); and for the last decade I’ve been putting down roots in Nashville, the blue-dot capital of a ruby red state.

I was a Rush Limbaugh guy in junior high and high school (bought my dad Rush's The Way Things Ought to Be for Father's Day before stealing it right back after he unwrapped it), but now I’m a Bernie Sanders guy (produced "The Concert for the Revolution to Elect Bernie Sanders" on Super Tuesday Eve 2020, minutes before a tornado flattened the venue we played in and hours before Joe Biden, by way of Jim Clyburn, flattened Bernie's formerly winning campaign).

But anyway. I think I can relate pretty well to both sides of the American social and political argument. But now that “argument” has morphed into reasonable people suggesting a second civil war is about to erupt. So CeeGees: Ideas is a chance for me to write about, and e-brainstorm with you over, why Civil War II might be a piss-poor plan for folks of all dispositions.

I am also a Straight White American Male (“SWAMs,” I call us). Super-okay to be a SWAM! But I also don’t think it hurts to acknowledge that I’m a member of the luckiest and most privileged demographic in the world (with the exception of the SWARMs—the Straight White American Rich Males).

In the past, I suppose I’ve exhibited what might be called “white guilt” (and straight guilt, and male guilt), but I’ve learned that gets a SWAM nowhere. Instead I want to use CeeGees: Ideas to start learning what makes people who don’t look, think, and/or act like me tick.

So I’ll be exploring all this (and some indirectly related topical stuff, and some very much unrelated music stuff) here most every Tuesday and Thursday, with CG:I #1 posting Tuesday, October 18, 2022—exactly three weeks before the 2022 midterm election (register to vote at Vote.gov if you haven’t yet!).

My sincere hope is that, by airing out my thoughts on contemporary social and political matters (and hair metal), folks of all stripes—liberals, conservatives, moderates, and those who waver in the gray area in between like me—can refine their viewpoints and learn more about themselves, and others, as I refine my own viewpoints and learn more about myself and others, as well. 

So. Would you perty-please-with-sugar-on-it consider subscribing to CeeGees: Ideas for free on Substack via the button below?

OR [*bats eyes*], alternatively, if you have the means, and you would like to comment on posts, and you have the inclination to help a freelance writer and musician pay his bills while also supporting the American Red Cross (10% of my income will go to them, gross-not-net), you can subscribe for $7 a month or $70 a year (17% off, baby!).

Thank you so much for your time and consideration and participation—and for whatever optimism you can muster along with me as we ponder the state of the States.

Yours,
~Dean

P.S. - There’s also a “SWAM.team” subscription option for founding members who want to help me out a little more (and get a future free shirt or hat and gain access to a SWAM.team website that may or may not come to pass, ha). The suggested subscription rate is $140, but you should be able to contribute anything from $71 to $140. And then you will officially become one of the ultimate angel investors in a startup Substack newsletter ever!! (But no presh…)

P.P.S. - Remember, it is totally cool to sign up for free. You’ll get all the articles everybody else will. (And if a free subscriber reeeeeally wants to make use of the Comments community, please hit up dean@syeti.com and we’ll see what can be arranged!)