I’ll never lose sight of the magnanimity shown by Miranda Fisher to yours truly in 2013 when I was working to get Dynamite Hemorrhage #1 fanzine off the ground, when she and photo editor Jon Chamberlin gave me heeded advice on ad rates, the proper weight of paper and what to look for in a printer. She was publishing Rubberneck fanzine from Texas at that point, at a time when underground music fanzines were kinda scarce. She’d later go on to do one called Casting Couch – color covers and everything for both mags – and played in a number of wild garage punk bands, the most well-known of whom – relatively speaking, folks! – was probably The Zoltars. 

So I see a thing about this new music fanzine The Bible #1 online; Dave Brushback was waxing enthusiastically about it most certainly, and hey, being a fan of the fanzine genre, my interest was piqued and an order was placed. Moreover, I’m looking at the cover and wondering if there was maybe a Grady Runyan interview in there somewhere. Yet little did I know it was a Miranda Fisher ‘zine until it arrived in the post, and moreover yet again, that she published it right here in my hometown of San Francisco, California, where she too now lives. Welcome, Miranda. I do hope the Golden Gate has opened its arms to you.

The two best pieces in here do in fact happen to be Miranda’s, and they’re ruminative explorations – one on the nature of music taste and how one comes by it, and another about her obsession with “TikTok” videos in which average doofuses make short videos in order to rate and review everything on Rolling Stone’s top 500 albums list. I’m glad she described these excruciating exercises in dumbassery for me, because not only do I not have access to “TikTok”, there’s just certain stuff I can’t watch any longer, even ironically – like, say, a Presidential debate, or an 80s boobie comedy, or any sort of video by a would-be influencer or talking head on social media. 

The Bible #1 is also enriched by Miranda’s reviews of records more or less in the garage/psych/spazz realm, with exceptions like Rosali and Winged Wheel and other things of that ill-defined ilk. Mitch Cardwell – a great American whom I did know lived around these parts, as he always has – writes about David Nance and Mowed Sound in Oakland, a show that literally took place only two months ago. So yes, this is a new fanzine. And among other things, there’s a long talk with Donna Allen from Chronophage, and it’s clear that Miranda and Donna know each other from ‘ol Texas times and have the sort of comfort and familiarity to put forth a pretty “intimate” talk, in the figurative sense. There’s some joshin’ and free-associatin’ and perhaps some secrets spilling out. Maybe partying had helped! 

Anyway, I think it’s one of those things where you get in contact with Miranda directly to be allowed to order one, sort of like “ask a punk” shows at someone’s house. The Bible #1 can be obtained by asking nicely at thebiblezine@gmail.com.