Alum Avi Vinocur Addresses Death in His Song 'Nothing Perfect Stays That Way'

THE BAY BRIDGED (SAN FRANCISCO) -- I first met Avi in 2009, when he was in the Stone Foxes. Now damn near a San Francisco institution, the Foxes started in the SF State dorms. I was in the Journalism program there, and some time after I had moved off campus, my live-in boyfriend (now husband) said to me one afternoon, “Hey, you wanna go see my friend’s band tonight?”

I winced — “friend’s band” often means corny dad rock or semi-competent noodlings in a half-empty bar somewhere — but through my gritted teeth, agreed.

His friend was Shannon Koehler, who played drums for in the band — he’s now the Foxes’ charismatic frontman. That night, they put on a searing live set at Bottom of the Hill.