With a performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman earlier this month and a debut record that reached #47 on the Billboard album charts, JD McPherson is enjoying one heck of a pop cultural high.

"Time Out," it said in big bold letters under the band's name. Even the cover was intoxicating -- strange shapes and bright colors and bizarre objects that you couldn't quite figure out. I looked at Steve, a question on my face.

Music, then and now, became a salve. It healed the pain, drove out the demons and cast my childhood in a glow of sunshine and hope and melody.

And, tomorrow, when I eat a piece of double-layer spice cake with cream cheese frosting (just for example), I will curse my mother. She smoked like a fiend, fasted when pregnant with me and probably force-fed me formula from a bottle.