we three are a floating island, drifting a river over the southern forests and eastern mountains. we have cut anchor from those we love in search of a greater, and an answer. we have found great, but not greater; words, but no answer. we float on and take in what we pass, hoping and praying, and smiling.
we have been loved. matt morelock bought me a smoky mountains trucker hat. he gave mel a kazoo. reva he gave no tangible gift, but still what she needed. we have been loved.
we have been loved. we drove through the mountains of tennessee and west virginia yesterday. we have been loved.
we have been loved. sixty people sat with anticipation as we took the stage last night. they applauded. they sang along. they clapped to the beat. they danced. they liked it so much that they bought our music and asked us to dance with them into the night. we have been loved.
old friends and new friends. hope for a better future and despair at a bar full of drunk people who don't care about us or themselves.
we are well fed and full of joyful sarcasm. we are living a dream.
i miss you linda. i miss your arms. i miss your eyes. the absence of your laughter is a deafness in my ears. i am next to people all day, but yours is the body i long for. i will kiss you well when i see you again.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Chatanooga, TN
a new house every night. a new host. a new bed. a new town. a new climate. a new morning to wonder where i am. a new discovery. a new realization that i am closer than i would be if i wasn't here. an old hunger. an old fear. an old nagging. an old desire for it to be easy. two old friends. two gracious powerful friends.
i had to shake the sleep from my head this morning. i slept on couch cushions arranged on a hard wood floor. the cushions slipped throughout the night and i found myself waking up with gaps opening at my hip and my shoulder. i slept well somehow. there are many more nights like this ahead. if it goes really well the beds will get better. the bed is the easiest part though. everything else will remain. the fear of wasting my life. the fear of being apart from my love. the fear of a life without roots.
i struggle to write on the road. reality is hard to access in this life. it feels a bit like watching someone else live. i am glad to have this morning to myself. i am at a desk gathering my thoughts like i might in another life; another life where i am satisfied with denying my needs, and able to silence the voice.
the show last night was at a dive bar full of people ready to hear something worth hearing. i think they got it from us. that feels good. that feels like a life worth living. we went out afterwards with an old friend of mine i haven't seen for five years. it was great. good people are good people. i think bad people might be good people too, but i haven't had much opportunity to figure that one out.
we have a show to play tonight and a place to sleep after. life is still good. life is still good.
i had to shake the sleep from my head this morning. i slept on couch cushions arranged on a hard wood floor. the cushions slipped throughout the night and i found myself waking up with gaps opening at my hip and my shoulder. i slept well somehow. there are many more nights like this ahead. if it goes really well the beds will get better. the bed is the easiest part though. everything else will remain. the fear of wasting my life. the fear of being apart from my love. the fear of a life without roots.
i struggle to write on the road. reality is hard to access in this life. it feels a bit like watching someone else live. i am glad to have this morning to myself. i am at a desk gathering my thoughts like i might in another life; another life where i am satisfied with denying my needs, and able to silence the voice.
the show last night was at a dive bar full of people ready to hear something worth hearing. i think they got it from us. that feels good. that feels like a life worth living. we went out afterwards with an old friend of mine i haven't seen for five years. it was great. good people are good people. i think bad people might be good people too, but i haven't had much opportunity to figure that one out.
we have a show to play tonight and a place to sleep after. life is still good. life is still good.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Music 2007
2007 was a good year for my ears. I found that I don't hate Bright Eyes as much as I thought, The Arcade Fire spoke to me through a cave, Spoon rocked like a baby, and Elliot Smith released an album from the dead. This year, I found that my favorite new band lives and performs in the same county that I do, Radiohead made an album for me for free, and a friend of mine may have released the best album of the year, period.
Easily the biggest surprise of the year was Raising Sand, the production of T Bone Burnett featuring the vocals of Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. I call it a production, because to me T Bone is the star of this record. If he was not involved the pool would be shallow and we all wouldn't be able to bathe in it. His song choices were great and his band is, as usual, unstopable with Jay Belarose on drums and Marc Ribot on guitar. This will be my most anticipated tour of 2008. I bought this album for my dad for christmas and he loved it too. As T Bone has done before, this album reaches across many genres and tastes.
Another surprise for me was Cassadega by Bright Eyes. I have never been a very big fan of Conor Oberst (there is something about that goat voice that makes me want to hit something), but this album hit me very differently. I loved it, from the now predictable voice recorded intro, to the lush orchestral arrangements, to crisp upbeat country, to dirty rock. Bright Eyes' full pallet is hear, and if you haven't liked them before, you might like them now.
I first heard about the Cold War Kids about a year ago. A friend of mine put in a disk in his car and this band sucked me in. The first thing that hit me was this powerful strange high tenor. It was impossible to notice that the drummer hardly ever used his cymbals, but when he did it felt so good. We listened to a couple songs and as one ended I said, "Wow. These guys really love music." There is something special about a band who can put a genre on tilt. They are doing the indie rock thing, but both lyrically and musically covering unique ground. By the way, if you can get a copy of the original independent double disk release do it. The reworking of the major label is a bit too clean. The greatness of this band is their high emotion and flirtation with chaos.
Spoon put out another great album. (this hardly counts as news) Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is easily my favorite rock album of the year. Just buy it. I bought and given away five copies so far.
And now for the local music portion of our show:
My favorite live act EVER is the Dennis Brennan Band. They play every week in a dingy warm red lit basement in Cambridge Massachusetts. If you are ever in Boston, seeing this band needs to be number one on your to-do list. Duke Levine and Kevin Berry are the most amazing guitar players I've ever seen. Their solos will quite figuratively melt your face. All this to say, they released an album this year. It is not a great album. But, if you can't make it to The Lizard Lounge on a Wednesday night the album is the next best thing. The live recordings make the best impression. Check out "Sugar Falls" and ask your self why the Rolling Stones are not making the music they should be.
Tulsa is a great band emerging from the Boston scene. Their new album I Was Submerged sounds like The Doors come back to save us from the shiny shimmery and the plastic coated.
Firecracker by Katie Chastain is another album that you have to buy. Buy a physical copy too for cryin' out loud! The Johnson family is all over this album. Katie and Nathan Johnson wrote many of the songs together, and Nathan also tracked and produced it. Marc Johnson plays electric guitar, Zach Johnson (my choice for a drummer if I were to start a band) on drums, and mixing and mastering was done by Aaron Johnson. Marc Johnson also did the album art, which alone is worth the cost of the disk. Bethany Johnson usually does Katie's hair too, which is always stunningly beautiful. Katie is a friend of mine and I am proud and excited about this great album (really amazing!) and can't wait to see where 2008 will take her.
In other national news:
Radiohead managed to pull it off, and good for them. In Rainbows is a beautiful album and should be experienced in its entirety more than once. Midlake is a funky band that sings about medieval themes through great keyboards and vintage rock sounds. Feist's album The Reminder got played more than any other album of mine this year due in no small part to my girlfriend. Speaking of my girlfriend, she introduced me to Ceu, a Brazilian popper worth watching out for. The Shins again slayed me with bright brilliant guitar plinking and the best pop melodies being written today.
All this music makes me smile for simple joy or hope in the presence of despair. I hope some of it does it for you too.
Albums: (in no order, buy any or all)
Bright Eyes Cassadega
Cold War Kids With Our Wallets Full/ Up In Rags
Dennis Brennan Engagement
Feist The Reminder
Katie Chastain Firecracker
Midlake The Trials Of Van Occupanther
The Shins Wincing The Night Away
Radiohead In Rainbows
Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Robert Plant/Allison Kraus Raising Sand
Tulsa I Was Submerged
Songs: (great songs from not as great albums)
The Arcade Fire Neon Bible (Antichrist Television Blues)
The White Stripes Icky Thump Rag & Bone
Ceu Ceu Roda
Honorable Mention: (cool, but not what I want to listen to most of the time)
Kanye West Graduation
Elliot Smith New Moon
Easily the biggest surprise of the year was Raising Sand, the production of T Bone Burnett featuring the vocals of Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. I call it a production, because to me T Bone is the star of this record. If he was not involved the pool would be shallow and we all wouldn't be able to bathe in it. His song choices were great and his band is, as usual, unstopable with Jay Belarose on drums and Marc Ribot on guitar. This will be my most anticipated tour of 2008. I bought this album for my dad for christmas and he loved it too. As T Bone has done before, this album reaches across many genres and tastes.
Another surprise for me was Cassadega by Bright Eyes. I have never been a very big fan of Conor Oberst (there is something about that goat voice that makes me want to hit something), but this album hit me very differently. I loved it, from the now predictable voice recorded intro, to the lush orchestral arrangements, to crisp upbeat country, to dirty rock. Bright Eyes' full pallet is hear, and if you haven't liked them before, you might like them now.
I first heard about the Cold War Kids about a year ago. A friend of mine put in a disk in his car and this band sucked me in. The first thing that hit me was this powerful strange high tenor. It was impossible to notice that the drummer hardly ever used his cymbals, but when he did it felt so good. We listened to a couple songs and as one ended I said, "Wow. These guys really love music." There is something special about a band who can put a genre on tilt. They are doing the indie rock thing, but both lyrically and musically covering unique ground. By the way, if you can get a copy of the original independent double disk release do it. The reworking of the major label is a bit too clean. The greatness of this band is their high emotion and flirtation with chaos.
Spoon put out another great album. (this hardly counts as news) Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is easily my favorite rock album of the year. Just buy it. I bought and given away five copies so far.
And now for the local music portion of our show:
My favorite live act EVER is the Dennis Brennan Band. They play every week in a dingy warm red lit basement in Cambridge Massachusetts. If you are ever in Boston, seeing this band needs to be number one on your to-do list. Duke Levine and Kevin Berry are the most amazing guitar players I've ever seen. Their solos will quite figuratively melt your face. All this to say, they released an album this year. It is not a great album. But, if you can't make it to The Lizard Lounge on a Wednesday night the album is the next best thing. The live recordings make the best impression. Check out "Sugar Falls" and ask your self why the Rolling Stones are not making the music they should be.
Tulsa is a great band emerging from the Boston scene. Their new album I Was Submerged sounds like The Doors come back to save us from the shiny shimmery and the plastic coated.
Firecracker by Katie Chastain is another album that you have to buy. Buy a physical copy too for cryin' out loud! The Johnson family is all over this album. Katie and Nathan Johnson wrote many of the songs together, and Nathan also tracked and produced it. Marc Johnson plays electric guitar, Zach Johnson (my choice for a drummer if I were to start a band) on drums, and mixing and mastering was done by Aaron Johnson. Marc Johnson also did the album art, which alone is worth the cost of the disk. Bethany Johnson usually does Katie's hair too, which is always stunningly beautiful. Katie is a friend of mine and I am proud and excited about this great album (really amazing!) and can't wait to see where 2008 will take her.
In other national news:
Radiohead managed to pull it off, and good for them. In Rainbows is a beautiful album and should be experienced in its entirety more than once. Midlake is a funky band that sings about medieval themes through great keyboards and vintage rock sounds. Feist's album The Reminder got played more than any other album of mine this year due in no small part to my girlfriend. Speaking of my girlfriend, she introduced me to Ceu, a Brazilian popper worth watching out for. The Shins again slayed me with bright brilliant guitar plinking and the best pop melodies being written today.
All this music makes me smile for simple joy or hope in the presence of despair. I hope some of it does it for you too.
Albums: (in no order, buy any or all)
Bright Eyes Cassadega
Cold War Kids With Our Wallets Full/ Up In Rags
Dennis Brennan Engagement
Feist The Reminder
Katie Chastain Firecracker
Midlake The Trials Of Van Occupanther
The Shins Wincing The Night Away
Radiohead In Rainbows
Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Robert Plant/Allison Kraus Raising Sand
Tulsa I Was Submerged
Songs: (great songs from not as great albums)
The Arcade Fire Neon Bible (Antichrist Television Blues)
The White Stripes Icky Thump Rag & Bone
Ceu Ceu Roda
Honorable Mention: (cool, but not what I want to listen to most of the time)
Kanye West Graduation
Elliot Smith New Moon
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Testing one, two...
I am not usually one for new years resolutions. I gave them up in college figuring that zero for whatever was not a very good track record. I have found myself, however, beginning the year with the hope for a different life. I have come to another proverbial fork in the road and I have a desire for newness. I have lived "as I am" and don't particularly enjoy what it brings. I have resolved to redemption.
I sit in this chair with a Gin and Tonic sitting with people I love thinking: my life is beautiful. Why am I so dissatisfied? Why do I ponder more on a few negative things than marvel about how good things are?
Today is not a day celebrated by an oversized turkey or a can of cranberry sauce, but today does feel special. Behind my lips is a desire for thanksgiving. In my eyes is a hope to see the same world in a different way.
I will post here once a week about positive things. I suposse it will start with my favorite things, and move on to good things I noticed thorughout the week. Soon I will be stretched and wondering what to write next. There I will find growth and hope for my future.
I sit in this chair with a Gin and Tonic sitting with people I love thinking: my life is beautiful. Why am I so dissatisfied? Why do I ponder more on a few negative things than marvel about how good things are?
Today is not a day celebrated by an oversized turkey or a can of cranberry sauce, but today does feel special. Behind my lips is a desire for thanksgiving. In my eyes is a hope to see the same world in a different way.
I will post here once a week about positive things. I suposse it will start with my favorite things, and move on to good things I noticed thorughout the week. Soon I will be stretched and wondering what to write next. There I will find growth and hope for my future.
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