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Wednesday, January 7, 2026

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David Lowery talks about Google


David Lowery at Outside Lands. Photo by Bobby Conner

 

By Tim Redmond

Everyone in the country seems to be talking about Google buses. My sister in Philadelphia says it’s a hot item of discussion in that city, where Comcast (which may be even worse than Google) is about to build a new tower and hire lots of engineers who, perhaps, will have their own private transit system.

And they’re talking about it in Georgia and Virginia – or at least, David Lowery is.

Lowery is the frontman for Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker. He’s also one of the leading voices in the country for the rights of artists, particularly musicians, and his open letter to an NPR intern who stole 11,000 songs should be required reading for every teenager.

These days he’s living in Virginia and teaching economics at the University of Georgia. He just testified before Congress about the Fair Use laws (he think they’re fine the way they are and don’t need to be expanded or limited.)

And he’s not real happy about Google. (more after the jump)

Marke B.
Marke B.
Marke Bieschke is the publisher and arts and culture editor of 48 Hills. He co-owns the Stud bar in SoMa. Reach him at marke (at) 48hills.org, follow @supermarke on Twitter.

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