What is R.E.M. Stories?
R.E.M. Stories exists to preserve and share personal stories inspired by R.E.M. — stories about concerts, friendships, careers, road trips, family, creativity and unexpected connections. Some are funny. Some are profound. All are true. Together they form an oral history of what the band and its music have meant to people.
How did R.E.M. Stories begin?
For that answer, please refer to our original February 2026 Mission Statement:
MISSION STATEMENT
This began as an “oral history style book project” — working title, “R.E.M. Stories: Talk About The Passion” — assembled entirely via email. Lo and behold, R.E.M.: Talk About The Passion already exists as an oral history, published in 1994. Whether we publish or not, while not immaterial, is firmly on the back burner. The priority is soliciting and curating personal stories of R.E.M.’s impact over the last several decades. We’re building an archive. This could turn into a Patreon project. It may be a tiered-access project via this website. Again: We are letting the Stories show us the way forward.
This project got underway and has been inspired by Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy & Friends touring once again, this time to promote the 40th anniversary tribute of Lifes Rich Pageant. Jason has been interviewed about his obsession with Document, and his own personal R.E.M. story. Guitarist Dag Juhlin spoke on a podcast about Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe and their endorsement of the Shannon/Narducy project. Moreover, Shannon/Narducy have the full support of R.E.M. and their management. It was mentioned that the R.E.M. guys are humbled by all the interest, and are well aware of the impact their band has had on countless lives the world over. It is the goal of this project to explore and probe and analyze and dig deeper into that impact.
We have begun to solicit and curate R.E.M. stories. An ongoing theme and through-line is, e.g., “I was born in 1972. Why couldn’t I have been born in 1962, so I would have been a 20-year-old college student when R.E.M. came to (My City) for the first time?” A major goal is for contributors to articulate just what R.E.M. meant to them at first blush, be that in 1981 or 1991. (Or, believe it or not, in 2021. Here’s looking at you, Gen Z!) Especially 40+ years ago, young R.E.M. fans were voting with their feet, but what was it exactly they were signing onto? R.E.M. in its early years would become synonymous with the term “college rock” — what did the band and this burgeoning movement mean, and why & how did they change and inspire so many young lives?
We are starting here and seeing where contributors’ unique R.E.M. stories take us. It is fully expected that some heretofore unknown fans will contribute. There is great interest in collecting stories from fellow musicians, including (but hardly limited to) those from the same time period who met up with R.E.M. at some juncture and whose careers careened off in different directions. It is also expected that certain individuals will have not-so-nice things to say, even as they acknowledge R.E.M.’s impact. We are interested in quality and quantity and the fullest picture possible.
Who created R.E.M. Stories?
Hi, I’m Justin. I used to book bands in college, and in the second half of the ‘90s I worked on one big project in music. (More on that is here.) I’ve never really been a fan of the music business. I’m a square peg that never fit into its round holes. So I’ve done different things. I’ve worked in a group home. I’ve worked in a psych ward. I moved to Germany and taught English for a couple of years. R.E.M. Stories came to me while driving 80mph from Phoenix to Los Angeles. You’ll find my personal R.E.M. story up on this site. Driving on the open road, it hit me hard that millions of people have been touched by this band, each in their own way, often profoundly. If you have a special story about the impact R.E.M. has had on you, I hope you’ll share it, and maybe tell someone else about us as well. Sincere thanks!
Does Justin have an R.E.M. story of his own?
Click here for Justin’s abridged R.E.M. story
I graduated high school in 1987 and listened to R.E.M. all summer long — four albums taped on two cassettes and played on a crappy boombox. By the time I arrived at Wesleyan for frosh year, just days before Document was released, a band that had merely seemed interesting had become a band that quietly organized my world. A guy in my dorm and I split custody of the $16 Document CD because neither of us had the dough solo; six weeks later we saw the Work Tour’s stop in New Haven and felt present for something undeniable, something unfolding in real time. I’ll never forget the entire audience standing on their seats for the whole show.
Unexpectedly I wound up transferring schools the following year, but a stray phone call the next summer revealed something I hadn’t fully realized about myself. When an old classmate from Wesleyan struggled to guess who was calling him and finally exclaimed, “All you had to say was ‘R.E.M.’ and I’d have known immediately!” — in that instant I realized the band had become shorthand for who I was in those formative years. Not because of a favorite song or album, but because R.E.M.’s early music accompanied my first independence, my chosen friendships, my first stabs at figuring out how I might fit into the world. The band didn’t define me, but their music was my constant companion on the road to defining myself.
Click here for Justin’s unabridged R.E.M. story
My story flowed out of me after reading about the Shannon/Narducy tribute tour for Lifes Rich Pageant. From Paste Magazine: “Narducy’s told so many people about his love of Document that it’s become one of his defining character traits. (And who could blame him? ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’ is a glorious madcap overload worth building a personality around.)”
Defining character trait. Building a personality around. Boy, can I relate.
I graduated high school in 1987. The Summer of ’86 is when Pageant came out, and for the only time ever I asked my dad for this favor; he picked up a copy for me at the store near his office. I liked “Driver 8” when I’d heard it on the radio… I liked Pageant just fine… but Summer ’87 is when R.E.M. finally clicked for me: Truly-madly-deeply. I was a camp counselor that summer in Wisconsin, and two of the few homemade cassettes I brought with me were Murmur/Reckoning on one, Fables/Pageant on another. Those two tapes on a crappy boombox dominated my listening and cemented a fandom that by summer’s end was obsession.
That fall I started college at Wesleyan in Connecticut, and Document was released the last day of August — Welcome Week. I moved into a men’s dorm, and getting to know the guys on my hall it was clear there were U2 guys, R.E.M. guys, and guys not so into music. I bonded immediately with Dan across the hall; we both were counting down the days till Document‘s release. On the big day we took the long walk into town together, beelining for the overpriced mall store I think I patronized only that once. The CD cost $16, and Dan & I each had eight bucks. We split custody and each took it for a day at a time, agreeing that at the end of the school year, one would buy out the other. We both loved the album, and six weeks after its release, Dan and I plus a half-dozen other Wes frosh had our minds blown by R.E.M. on the Work Tour in New Haven. R.E.M. was on the cover of Rolling Stone; these were halcyon days. Earlier in high school I thought I’d been born 20 years too late; I wished I could’ve been a teenager when the Beatles hit America. In ’87/’88, I envied people born in the early ’60s — those lucky souls were in college when R.E.M. was first criss-crossing the country in a van. We always want what we have not got.
Cut to the summer of ’89. Sadly, Wesleyan & I were not meant to be. I finished frosh year, but wound up transferring to a more affordable Big Ten school. When I left Wesleyan in May ’88, I had every intention of returning; when I didn’t, I was one of those kids who seemed to just :::poof::: — disappear. One of my best friends at Wesleyan was Ron, a junior who played guitar in a campus band I loved who were, shockingly, very influenced by R.E.M. (At that time it would be more shocking for a college-rock band to not be.) Ron was from Queens and invited me to visit NYC that summer. He had a summer job and there was one day when I was left to my own devices. I had my address book, and it included a few phone numbers of folks from Wesleyan I’d lost touch with. I was 20 years old; I used to do this thing where I’d call up someone from my (limited) past and, if they were game, have them guess who it was calling them. This guy Josh was game. He agreed to ask me Y/N questions, trying to figure out my identity. He asked me 5 or 6 questions; he was so terrible at my game that I started just giving him hints. Still he had no idea who I was. Finally I just told him. “JUSTIN!!” he exclaimed. “All you had to say was ‘R.E.M.’ and I would have gotten it instantly!” Josh’s offhand comment left an indelible impression on me. He reminded me that I was so fired-up about R.E.M. during this period that I seemingly worked the band into every conversation I had.
That’s my story, but I now realize I haven’t talked about WHY the band made such an impact. I could explore that in another 1000 words, but will just say here that R.E.M. was my introduction to the underground. Not just in music, not just the music business, but they represented new ways of doing things, new ways of thinking, of being, somehow. I don’t credit R.E.M. with anything as profound as actually shaping or defining my personality. But they were my constant companion as I came of age. They were with me in very formative years when I was kind of vulnerable and figuring out how I might fit into the world…
Is the project affiliated with R.E.M.?
No. R.E.M. Stories is an independent, fan-driven project. The R.E.M. organization is aware of the site and has been encouraging and supportive, but the project is not officially affiliated with the band.
Can I submit my own story?
Yes, and we wish you would! Please see our “Submit Your Story” page.
How much editing occurs?
Stories are lightly edited, then emailed back to the storyteller for final approval.