A KISS cover-band leader pondering a fertility-driven criminal act, a boy watching his hair-metal dad search for love on reality TV, a quiet teenage metalhead stumbling into her own voice while trailing her former roadie father-these are the characters seeking resolution, tempering expectations, and occasionally finding grace and the dignity and strength to go on. Dave Housley's collection examines the quiet desperation and occasional triumphs of growing up and growing older through the prism of music.

Dave Housley's work has appeared in Hobart, Mid-American Review, Nerve, and elsewhere. A founding editor of Barrelhouse Magazine, this is his third book.