Four Shows. One Week. Part One.

You know what's better than loving music?  Besides burrito bowls from Chipotle?  Seeing other musicians who love music.  Last week, I had the thrill of seeing not one, not two, not three, but THREE AND A HALF musicians do what they do best... perform.  I'm sorry, but I can only count David Garrett as a half because he's a sell-out and that concert was not my choosing.

Let's work backwards...

Thur, Feb 17th - Josh Ritter and Scott Hutchison (of Frightened Rabbit) at The Vic

Talk about a massive sing-a-long AND dance-a-long.  Josh literally got the entire audience to slow dance to "Kathleen."  In the middle of one of his most well-known "hits," (not the radio kind of hits), the band went into a little groove and Josh asked the entire audience to find a partner and to just slow dance.  So you know what we did?  We danced.  And it was glorious.  Lame?  Yes, in the most amazingly, beautiful kind of "I love music and I love concerts" kind of way.  Josh Ritter loves to perform, and we could see that as he bounced around on stage through every song.  Even in the slow songs, he had this little smile on his face that said, "I'm glad to share this with you."  His actions were something you'd see at a Natalie Merchant concert - you know, the twirling and the crying on stage from dramatic emotions.  And sometimes, that's just what the doctor ordered.

Josh Ritter's from Idaho.  I thought he was Irish... until I heard him speak.  But let me explain... he's BIG in Ireland!  I mean, he made his career by opening for The Frames (you know, that dude Glen Hansard who made it big in the states with The Swell Season).

Here's a video of a Josh Ritter tune.  "Girl In The War" might make you tear up a little bit.

 

But the main reason I went to this concert was to hear "Kathleen."  No Mom, this song wasn't written about you.  However, you might want to replace it as your song because too many people in life have been singing "Cathy's Clown" to you:

 (Replace the lyrics of "Here he comes, that's Cathy's clown" to "Here she comes, that's Kathy the Clown.")

Back to the REAL song about Kathleen...



This video is "Live from Dublin."  Wouldn't you think he was Irish?  Trust me.  He's not.  "If you'd like to come along, I'll be yours for a song."  That's right.  "I know that you are waiting, and I know that it is not for me / But I'm here and I'm ready, and I saved you the passenger seat."

Did I mention that his band is awesome?  So much love for the keys.  The bassist had a crazy mustache.  AND, they were spot on together.   Seriously though... these musicians just blended so well together, as each song bled into the next.  There were so many dynamics!  I heart dynamics.

It also helps that Scott Hutchison opened the show.  Although he performed acoustically, I thought I'd post this song from his band, Frightened Rabbit, just because I feel like listening to it:



In summary, why weren't you there?

By far, the highlight of the night:  I bought my first vinyl as a souvenir!  No more t-shirts.  No more buttons.  No more ticket stubs.  No more stealing posters off the wall (wait, I lie.  I will continue to do that).  Now that I have a record player, I can purchase real albums!  Call me a nerd.  Call me cool.  Call me whatever.  In 30 years, I'll look back at that record and say, "Yup.  I remember when I slow danced to that song at the Vic.  Let me play it for you on my album."  Too bad it's not on the particular one that I purchased.  But I can pretend.

I have to eat some dinner, but I've got a lot to say about David Garrett.  Here's a sneak peak of what's to come in "Four Shows.  One Week.  Part Two."

 (surprisingly, they weren't selling any Garrett popcorn at Chicago Theater)

A Lovingly Playlist

I don't know if you noticed, but it's Valentine's Day.  It's kind of been Valentine's Day in the greeting card industry since Dec. 26th.  So here we are, left to wallow in our misery of being lonely on a holiday intended to make us feel like shit or to excessively indulge in the romanticism of having a partner on a holiday intended to make us feel better about ourselves.  Does that sentence make sense?  I don't care.  I'm choosing neither of these options.  I may have a date, I may not... the blogging world will never know.  But what am I going to do for Valentine's Day?  I'm going to choose some of my favorite songs about love.

 One of the first images to appear in my google search.  Please... overanalyze.

I could easily choose love songs that are simply about "love."  You know, ones that say, "I will love you forever, I would die for you, I would give up my life for you (wait, that's the same as dying for you), I want to make love to you."  But that's not how I roll.  My love songs involve complex situations... like real love.  I'm not going to make eye contact with you and suddenly know you're the one.  What if you're a crazy?!?  You may have had really pretty eyes, but, I'm just saying...

So here's my list.  And yes, if you had at one point in my life made me a playlist that included these songs, you would probably have me as a Valentine's date this year (that would be a lucky thing):

in no particular order 

1) Kathleen Edwards - "Sure As Shit"

I can't find a clear YouTube recording of this video, and I'm a bit too lazy to properly upload an mp3 and go through that whole process.  So, this is what you get.  Here's an idea of why I like this song...

    a) Kathleen Edwards is Canadian and swears a lot

    b) Her eloquent way of confessing her love is to say, "And I sure as shit do love you / And I cuss because I  mean it / And for that in my heart I am hopeful / And these words that I chose / I was so careful"

    c) What the hell is the denim king?

    d) The song is not really a happy song, considering her lover is leaving.

    e) What a brilliant way to tell someone you love them.  Exactly how I would do it.

2) Ani DiFranco - "You Had Time"

Ok, maybe this is technically a breakup song.  But some of the other Ani songs have too many connections to them, and I always imagine this song as my own.  Am I in love with myself?  Maybe.  Let's take a listen:

I chose this live version because a) it comes with lyrics, b) it's actually on one of her CD's so it's not a crappy recording and c) all the other YouTube videos cut off the intro to the original version, and that's my favorite part of the song.

Ani is coming home with an empty head, blah blah blah.  We get it.  She hasn't made up her mind.  But I LOVE these lyrics, "You'll say did they love you or what?  I'll say they love what I do... the only one who really loves me is you."  It's funny, because the audience is cheering at this, but really, we're the ones who only loves what she does.  We shouldn't be cheering about this.  Anyway, I always imagine myself being the one in the passenger seat making jokes about the way things are.  Because really, that's what I'm doing.  Always.  And isn't that what we should all be doing?  Isn't that what love is?  Maybe I have a bad perspective on things?

Nick Hornby writes about this song in his book entitled, "Songbook."  I don't really want to write about an author writing about a song, because then it's just a lot of summaries of summaries.  Just go read it.  You'll enjoy his description of the oodling piano.

3) Kate Nash - "I Hate Seagulls"

If I wrote a love song, it would sound like this (minus the British slang/accent).  Enough said.

4) Rufus Wainwright - "The Tower of Learning"

It's so poetic, it doesn't even make sense all the way through.  By the way, don't watch the video... just listen to the song.

You know before when I was making fun of looking into people's eyes and seeing love at first sight?  Well, I don't know.  Sometimes, you really can see a lot in someone else's oval beings.  I'm all about reading the damn eyes.  Maybe it's because mine are always bloodshot when they're tired.  I mean, they speak a lot!  So shiznit, these eyes that Rufus sings about must be pretty darn powerful!

5) Ryan Adams - "When The Stars Go Blue"

I want to dance to this song. 

I don't know why the other artists decided to ruin this song with their covers.  Just listen to the piano in this original masterpiece... it is placed ever so perfectly right after, "Laughing after your broken eyes."  That, my friend, is intentional.  Where do I go when I'm lonely?  I don't know, but Ryan Adams is following me with all of his beautiful music.

6) Norah Jones - "Not Too Late"

Tell me how you've been

Tell me what you've seen

Tell me that you'd like to see me too

Aren't we all waiting for at least one other person in our lives to tell us that they'd like to see us too?  

7) The Avett Brothers - "If It's The Beaches"

I leave you with one of the most beautiful songs.  Hands down.  Simple melody, simple accompaniment, poignant lyrics, sad, and all about love.  Add the "I need you" voice in the middle layered over a depressing violin/guitar solo.  Painstakingly, gut-wrenchingly love love love.  Bring in the depth of the piano and offer the "beaches' sands" and the "mountain's bending rivers."  Hell, he will give her anything for love.  I would get in that truck and run away.

And there you have it.  V-Day 2011.  A great day to listen to love songs... and I'm not talking about Whitney Houston, Celine Dion love songs.  I'm talking about these good ol' heartbreaking love songs :)

 

Back to the Prairie

Everyone's doing it.  Doing what?  Finding peace in a valley, an insular, landlocked body of... land.  For miles and miles, we will see nothing but... land.  And this, my friends, will comfort us.  Forget the dream to escape on the endless road (which I wrote about just a few blogs ago).  Forget the dream to dive into a vast body of water.  We are Earthy Americans who love our... land.  

For awhile, I thought we were all heading out west.  Isn't that the ultimate dream?  Move out to Hollywood, see the big lights, score a record deal or a movie deal, and become a star.  Personally, I want to get into UCLA and become a world renowned Popular Music Studies Musicologist.  Seriously, my dreams are a little off kilter.   But wait a second.. musicians are telling us that this dream isn't real!!  At least the music I'm listening to this week has been telling me so.  Am I supposed to stay in the Midwest?  Seriously, I'm getting confused.

As of lately, I'm on a really big Dawes kick.  I've already bought tickets to see them at Metro on March 12th.  Dawes is actually an opener (along with Deer Tick) for the super band of Middle Brother, which consists of members from... get this... Dawes, Deer Tick, and Delta Spirit (apparently Delta Spirit didn't want to join in on the fun of opening for themselves).  Dawes actually hails from LA and centers on the "Laurel Canyon sound."  Remember how Joni Mitchell would host informal jam sessions with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young out in her Laurel Canyon habitat?  It's still happening to this day!  Only now, we've got Dawes members jamming  with Conor Oberst (aka Bright Eyes) and Chris Robinson from the Black Crowes.  Did I mention Conor Oberst is actually from Nebraska?  And don't get me started on Joni Mitchell... I mean, she's Canadian.

Anyway, Dawes eventually came up with this sound:



Well how I curse that western skyline.
And yet I thanked it for my start.
Oh lou?, though my dreams did not come true; no they only came apart.

Why do I love this song?  Sadly, his dreams did not come true in California and he ends up in Birmingham.  I've been there before.  I've been there for a grand total of six months, and he's right... it's quite an oddity when it snows there.  Did he really bring the snow?  Damn him.  Here's another treat from the concert that I stole from YouTube.  Note the lyrics and the piano solo.  So simple and so peacefully in the valley.  Why are they so opposed to California?  I don't care... close your eyes and listen to the end (but open your eyes to read some lyrics).




And our actor ends his love song
And all these lovers sit and stare.
If I don't find peace in the valley
It's cause there wasn't any there.
I will move somewhere the ocean's never seen.
Somewhere weeds just make their place
Where my best friend's exist only on screen
Where my love all fits and frays





To make a valid point, I probably need to refer the reader to another band, right?  Who else is praising this beautiful land?  Let's look at the simplicity of Fleet Foxes.  



The poor Seattleites just want to build an orchard and work until they're sore.  Then they'll strum a guitar and sing beautiful harmonies.  None of these dreams of grandeur.

In this next example, Lissie pays tribute to the mighty Mississippi River.  Being from Rock Island, Illinois, she knows a lot about being landlocked.  The mighty river may take her to other places, but we've got a true Midwesterner here.  Let's ignore the fact that she moved out to California and found success there.



And just in case you didn't know it, Ohio is in fact home to some people.  Damien Jurado has a beautiful voice, and in the song, "Ohio," he sings about a girl who just wants to get back home to Ohio.  Who knew?



So there you have it.  Maybe my dreams of fame and fortune are misleading.  I'll be in LA at the end of the month.  I'll let you know.  Should I be finding peace in the land that's only an hour away from me?  Or should I seek the chaos of the city?  William Fitzsimmons and Andrew Bird locked themselves away in cabins to write their music.  But then again, Ted Kaczynski also locked himself away in a cabin to write his manifesto and to mail a few bombs here and there.  Maybe I'll find a middle ground.

I leave you with this...

And if heaven was all that was promised to me, Why don't I pray for death?

Blizzard. Pause. Eleven.

I survived the blizzard of '11.  It was really rough... I had no power for several hours.  That means, gulp, no music.  I went on a mad search for any portable, battery-operated music device.  It was a complete fail.  I would have to be entertained in silence.  But how could this be?  One minute I was listening to Joni Mitchell's "Ladies of the Canyon" album on my record player from the comfort of my calm singer-songwriter environment, laughing at the violent outdoors as the world came to a catastrophic crashing end... and the next thing I know, I'm an actual part of that chaos.  Nonsense.

 = Calm from the Storm

 = What to do when there's no music

Needless to say, my record player is not battery-operated.  Neither is my iPod docking station, nor my giant receiver.  My computer's battery is at its final breath of life and has been warning me for months about ordering a new one.  The CD player in my family room?  Plugs in.  The CD playing alarm clock IS in fact battery operated, but apparently requires those 2-pronged funny looking batteries.  I am fully stocked on Double A's and Triple A's... none of that other crazy stuff.  My amps are definitely not battery operated.  My only option?  The car.

See previous post.

Alas, after hours of finding other means of entertainment, the power finally came back!  The blizzard essentials continued:

But obviously, this whole experience of (said with a deep voice, and a lot of emphasis on each word) Blizzard (pause) '11, got me thinking some more.  What are my essential blizzard songs?  Do they have to be about snow?  Do they have to be comforting?  About winter?  Slow?  Fast and dance party-esque?  I didn't compile any requirements... I just went with my gut instinct.  Apparently, I had a theme in mind.  Here they are, in no particular order:

1) Catie Curtis - "Troubled Mind" or "Falling Silent In The Dark"

         Calming voice, depressing yet simultaneously comforting, classic and timeless... perfect for a blizzard.  Have you seen Catie in concert?  The epitome of a folk artist.  She'll tell you a story that just warms your heart, strum her guitar, invite you into her life for the night.  Initially, I thought "Falling Silent In The Dark," duh, because the lyrics are about snow:  

And the snow falls right by my bed at night / So steady like your heart / Falling silent in the dark

       Then I remembered the comforting aspect of a storm.  As my iTunes continued playing Catie Curtis songs, I thought, "Awww" as I heard "Troubled Mind."  It's always been a fave:

And I'm tired of all the weight / I'm tired of being strong / So won't you come and stay / And let me lay down in your arms / Down in your arms

  Not the best quality... but it's CC with LK!  (Lucy Kaplansky)

2) Joni Mitchell - "Come In From The Cold"

        Yes, I already talked about Joni.  Apparently I run to female folk-singers for blizzards.  It makes sense.  A blizzard is the alpha male, right?  We're running to the complete opposite, the caregiver of sorts, to guide us through the snowstorm.  Ok, that's kind of me talking through my ass.  Here's Joni from 1991.  You can hear it in her voice - the maturity of her words grows as a songwriter.  As a young Joni, she was just discovering life... and now she's ready to come in from the cold :)  

3) Natalie Merchant - "Frozen Charlotte"

       "I want you to remember me that way."  Oh, I'll remember you, Natalie Merchant.  Remember when you made incredible albums like Ophelia?  I understand the artist in you and the direction you're taking with the poetry, children's folk tunes, or whatever it is... but I really miss your own authentic voice (although this album was a personification of all "Ophelia" characters through history - if that's even considered authentic).

4) Ra Ra Riot - "Winter '05"

       Can I rename it... "Winter (Pause) '11""

But I digress...  awww.  

5) For my last choice, I had a few obvious options:  Bob Dylan's "Shelter From The Storm" or "Winter Song" by Ingrid Michaelson and Sarah Barailles.  Hell, I could even go with "Winter" by Tori Amos.  I kind of want to post "Winter Song" just because it's that fitting.  Depressing, buried-feeling (my car is still buried).  Is love alive?  I don't know.  Are strings an essential part of winter songs?  Yes.  Is anything growing beneath the winter snow?  Probably not.  Wow.  Now I'm depressed.  But the video is all about hope... you know, finding the beauty of hope underneath all the buried snow.  Makes me want to go on my rant about the beauty of "6 Feet Under."  But I won't.  Just enjoy the happy ending:

Which leads me to my non-obvious fifth choice:

Laura Marling - Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)

    Be on the lookout for Laura.  She may be the next Joni Mitchell - the next Dylan?  The next something.  She's only 21ish, and writes with the maturity of, well, someone well beyond her young twenties.  There's no gimmick to her act.  She writes and she sings with so much purity and honesty... it's damn scary.  

And that, my friends, is what I will be listening to for the remainder of Blizzard (pause) '11.

The Road.

I have a problem.  The first step is admitting it, right?  Well, I live in my car.  All day long, I drive from house to house, from one end of the city to the other... and then I drive out to the suburbs for gigs... and then when I return "home," I park in my designated spot and am too damn tired to actually leave my vehicle.  It's just that Lil' Mama has become my substitute home.  She's my caregiver, my escape route, my tiny little bubble that takes me to far off lands.  And the best part? I have an endless supply of music streaming from all sources of media.  There's a CD player, a radio, and an iPod aux jack.  Add a Subway footlong, a Starbucks decaf grande Americano, and heated seats... I'm good. So I'll sit there in my parking spot for a solid 10-20 minutes soaking up the situation, basking in the built-in surround sound, before I can compose myself and muster enough strength to return "home."

But why the love, the need, the desire for music in a vehicle?  What is this love affair with the romanticized concept of the road?  I don't know, but I'm a sucker for it.  At 2 am, I often find myself driving home from the Schaumburg vicinity, lost in a haze of thought with Bob Dylan blasting through my speakers.  I'll get a sudden urge and a burst of energy and think to myself, "I'm just going to keep driving."  At this time, I'm heading East, so my initial thought is, "Why don't I just keep driving to Newport?"  Newport, RI... home of the Newport Folk Festival.  Home of my favorite spot in the U.S.  Home of so many memories.  Obviously, this is where the car would take me at 2 am when I'm listening to Bob Dylan.  So why haven't I just kept going?  By the time I hit my Addison exit, I realize that I'm actually extremely exhausted and it wouldn't be smart to drive by myself for another 18 hours.  I may fall asleep at the wheel, and that would be a sad road song.

When discussing this topic, there's so much to write about.  What are the 3 types of "road" music?  What are the various reasons for going on the road in "road" songs?  How many damn songs are there simply entitled "The Road"???  Oh, where to begin.  Just follow along this journey...

Everyone has his or her own type of music for the car.  Personally, I have three kinds:

1)  The drive.  The song that literally pushes you.  Everything about the music is horizontal.  The song is like the Hulk roller coaster.  3, 2, 1... bam!  You're off and running, and you're not looking back.  Maybe you're pissed off, maybe you need to escape, maybe you're moving and think you can literally run away from something/someone.  Who cares.  You need this drive and this energy to propel you and the car.  Oh, your head also does a little nod the whole time.  For example?  Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's "Stop."  The band is literally driving in the video:



Here is The National's "Bloodbuzz Ohio."  Note: constant drums in your face, piano hysteria, and a swarm of bees.



2)  The thinker.  It's 2 am, you're on the road, and you need to get somewhere.  You're thinking about someone, or something.  You're driving somewhere.  Where are you going?  Why?  Where is life taking you? Where is your car taking you?  How did you end up here?  Crap.  Why won't your brain stop thinking?  And now, there are all these songs about the road, and all these songs about getting to that final destination.... and you don't even know where it is.  Perfect.  For example, "Get On The Road" by Tired Pony.



Depressing?  Yes.  Excellent harmonies of Gary Lightbody and Zooey Deschanel.  Let's get on the road and keep driving.

3) The crappy sing-a-long.  Stupid, check.  Fun, check.  Endless amounts of entertainment, check.  Why is it that the Dixie Chicks are always a must for road trips?  Funny thing is, they don't even count as "crappy" because, well, the Dixie Chicks are pretty awesome.  But I just wanted to include this song as one of the best car sing-a-longs ever:



More analysis of "The Road" is still to come.  I haven't even told you guys how many road songs I have on my iPod.  Kind of crazy!  But it's day one of Blizzard '11, and my friend is coming over to go over some of our own songs.  Funny thing... I've been writing lyrics for a new ditty, and it's been lending itself over to the "road" side.  I can't help it.  I live in my car.