Two nights before I interviewed Chris Douridas, I found myself at a local watering hole that has a reputation, at times, for an infuriatingly long jukebox queue. When this happens, all you can do is pray that the people ahead of you know their music. On this particular night, I’d just made the decision to hold onto my dollars when I sensed that hazy limbo of silence followed by the building realization that a truly great song is coming on. It was The Guess Who’s “American Woman,” and it immediately transported me to a scene from the film American Beauty, when Kevin Spacey’s character, Lester Burnham, having just embarked on a new persona of dangerous freedom, blasts the song in his car as he cruises down the street smoking what looks like a sizeable joint. The song conjured up the scene in a way that was direct and visceral, like getting hit in the face by the smoke from Lester’s weed.
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