Ryan Adams Solo Live

If ever I have identified with an artist, it was Ryan Adams who made me pick a guitar back up in 2000, and it is Ryan Adams 12 years later who surmises what I feel in my heart and imagine that I always will.

“Music is my thing. It’s my thing; it’s what I love. It’s what I do. It’s football to me; it’s Christmas to me; religion to me; poetry to me. It’s all those things, and I believe that it’s possible for people to compartmentalize their lives so they can be who they are and still function in the real world around others. But it’s always been this very big thing to me, and I can’t imagine it not being that. I don’t have a life that requires me to choose. I can be myself and love music the way I love it, and it’s not compromised. How do I say this? It would be weird for me to think about a relationship, or relationships that people have, where who they were, or their passions, would be compromised.”

Dirty Rain – Live Denver – Ryan Adams

The Replacements

Music can change your life. I believe it to be a transcendental moment when it happens, although that “exact” moment, cannot usually be qualified until years later upon reflection. You could build a personal calendar around it. Example: There was the era before you heard the Grateful Dead and your life after. The Calendar notation of B.C. and A.D. could be replaced with B.Phish and A. Phish. The same could be said for any band or musician that you stopped your life for. the Sex Pistols, Garth Brooks, Lady Gaga, Led Zeppelin, etc. etc. etc. You had to have every album, you read all the lyrics, stopped a conversation to make someone listen, replayed a song over and over for someone to try and make the person feel the power you felt when you heard this song.  If you were to replace ‘music’ with ‘God’ you would have been described as having had a religious experience… and therein is the power of music.

This experience has happened to me more than once. I keep up with music, I labor over it. Definitely a labor of love. I am quite sure there were bands during my adolescence that I obsessed over, and still enjoy, but the band that I truly carry with me  to this very day, the band that I will always carry in my heart, were The Replacements. This scruffy Minneapolis foursome, embodied the freedom and frustrations of boys turning into men. The howl of the internal fear (that manifests itself as anger) that every man tries to keep bottled up inside himself. The working class poetry that rises as hope, because it is the only beacon from a life too dull to face.

The Replacements were all that and more to me. They brought the swagger of young men prepared to do things their own way, yet lead singer Paul Westerberg‘s lyrics were captured in time, through the eyes of an older wiser man, that you knew full well that you would become, as sure as time itself. I remember a lyric from one of the The Replacements albums: “I hate my father, one day I won’t.” There is not much to expand upon here, just the absolute truth of the inevitable. Women were drawn to this band as well. The warrior with the poet’s heart. The man that still carries a bit of the boy inside. It’s an attractive trait, to never let go of your true you, and to keep the light burning from within. I cannot begin to count the amount of women I have met who have indicated that Paul Westerberg and The Replacements are their favorite band.  Arguably one of the most influential bands of the 80′s, I read a quote where Jeff Tweedy from Wilco said, “Everything we do is based upon the Replacements” before launching into a cover of their song ‘Color Me Impressed’.

I am not sure exactly what put the hook in me, but something about them spoke to me. I remember the moment.

What band did that for you?

Left Of The Dial - The Replacements

Unsatisfied - The Replacements

One of the more original bands I have heard from the genre lately, is from Portland, Oregon and  call themselves Blind Pilot. The band orginally consisted of two members: Israel Nebeker (guitar, vocals) and Ryan Dobrowski (percussion) who met while students at the University of Oregon. The duo gained notoriety in 2007 by conducting a tour from Seattle to San Diego, travelling by bicycle with a custom-made bike trailer to haul their instruments. Recent concerts have seen Blind Pilot grow from the original duo to six members in concert to reproduce the sound of their latest release: 3 Rounds and a Sound.

Their music can portray a sweet & sentimental sound, but touches on darker themes of abandoned love, youthful irreverance, and the inevitable refelction of who we are amidst the dissapearing path that led us there, with the fearful knowing we can never get back.

Blind Pilot has had the experience of opening up for The Hold Steady and Counting Crows, as well as recent stints at Lollapalooza and Outside Lands Music Festivals. News has it that they are readying a new album for release. I will be excited to see the direction of the new music, but in the meantime here are a couple of songs from their last release, 3 Rounds and a Sound.

3 Rounds and a Sound - Blind Pilot

I Buried a Bone - Blind Pilot

 3 Rounds and a Sound

They’re playing our song
They’re playing our song
Can you see the lights?
Can you hear the hum?

Of our song
I hope they get it right
I hope we dance tonight
Before we, get it wrong

And the seasons
Will change us new
Be the best I’ve known
and you know me
I could not be stuck on you
If it were true

I was swimming
My eyes were dark
Til you woke me
And told me that opening
is just the start
it was

Now I see you, til kingdom come
You’re the one I want
To see me for all the stupid shit I’ve done

(Chorus)
Soil and six feet under
Killed just like we were
Before you knew you’d know me
And you know me

Blooming up from the ground
3 Rounds and a sound
Like whispering you know me
And you know me

So this was our song
This was our song
I still see the lights
I can see them

And the criss cross
Of what is true, won’t get to us
Cause you know me
I could not give up on you

And the fog of what is right
Won’t cover us cause you know me
I could not give up a fight

So I was looking up this Ryan Adams song (and for whom of you who have never met me, might be my favorite artist ever) entitled “Dean John”, a duet with Norah Jones. And it’s a sad song. A Very Sad Song.  I have this bootleg of Ryan Adams (solo with an acoustic guitar), and he basically says after playing 12 slow, sad songs, about un-requitted love and other depressing topics, “Here’s another sad song, cause this guy, this machine… does not write happy song.”  and I could not have been happier!

So I started thinking about the times we need sad songs: After a break up is definitely one of the times, I mean isn’t that really what half of music is about… love you lose, or love you want! I once heard Bruce Springsteen (solo with an acoustic guitar) do his song, “Dancing In The Dark” slow and sad… and I listened to the lyrics… I guess it would be better to say, I thought about the lyrics. Hey everyone… It’s not a happy song!!! here’s a sampling of the lyrics…Let’s listen together shall we?

“I’m just living in a dump like this.”

“man I’m getting nowhere”

“wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face”

Believe me, it’s a sad song, there’s hope, but not much… Bruce doesn’t write happy songs… yeah, yeah, I am sure there are 1 or 2, but as a body of work there are not many… seriously, find me one on “The River” or “Nebraska” albums. Look at the lyrics for “Brilliant Disguise.” ‘Nuff said

But sometimes we need those sad songs, we need the house/apartment/room/car/what-be-it  alone and we need the volume loud, and we need those moments of melancholy that a sad song makes you feel, and imagine, and reflect and most importantly, reaffirm the desire to feel that way again…. Because if we lose the ability to feel it … we lose what was important and what we loved about it in the fist place.

Here’s a couple of sad songs for you:

Highway Patrolman - Bruce Springsteen

How Do You Keep Love Alive  – Ryan Adams & the Cardinals

Lost Cause  – Beck

Nothing Compares 2 U  – Sinead O’Connor

This earthquake is the most devastating natural disaster to strike a country in our lifetime. This is worse than the Tsunami that struck 12/26/2004. Not in sheer numbers of dead, but that one country has been so completely devastated by a lone event. It is estimated that over 2 Million people sleep homeless tonight in Port Au Prince and that 33% of the country has been affected by this tragedy of epic proportions. Please do your part to help by donating $5.

You can do this  simply by:

1. Text: Yele to 501501 (your phone company will ad $5 to your next phone bill)
2. Go to www.yele.org if you can afford to give more than $5. 

Please support Wyclef and his charity. There are so many people living in sheer terror and complete loss right now. Let us use music to help!

Slumdog Millionaire (Featuring Cyndi Lauper) - Wyclef Jean

One of the more original bands to make it across my desk lately are called The Low Anthem and hail from Providence, Rhode Island. Their latest release, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin  is drawing heavy notice and has earned them a spot opening for the Avett Brothers upon their return from their European tour in February. Much like the Avetts, the Low Anthem have the ability to play multiple instruments and have been known to exchange instruments between songs, to keep things interesting not only for them, but for their audience as well. Consisting of a couple of Brown University Ivy Leauguers, and a NASA technician The Low Anthem bring songs that question the basics of morality, science, and religion centered upon soaring harmonies, The Low Anthem have one of the best albums of 2009. Other tracks bring forth a jazz/blues quality that will have your toe tapping in rhythm in time to the Tom Waits(ish) vocals or perhaps of Leonard Cohen, especially the track, Ticket Taker  This one doesn’t take but a couple of listens to catch the bug, but it slowly becomes infectious… much like all good albums!

Check out the infectious The Horizon Is A Beltway:

The Horizon Is A Beltway - The Low Anthem

The horizon is a beltway that we may never cross
The tops of buildings tremble like children lorn and lost
The stain runs deep it’s deeper than the blood upon the cross.
The horizon is a beltway that we may never cross.

You’ll hear that distant love song when the wind blows right
Hear the whistle blowing put a tear into your eye
You hear the distant love song but widows know the lie
The horizon is a beltway, the skyline is on fire.

The skyline is on fire, the skyline is on fire
The horizon is a beltway and the skyline is on fire

You come up from the lowlands to the city on the air
Where pilrims and commissioners currate Christian fare
From Havisu to Brownsville feel the long unbroken stare
I wonder what it smells like in that city on the air

You’ll hear that distant love song when the wind blows right
Just the same blue love song made my grand dad cry
You’ll hear the whistle blowing put a tear drop in your eye
The horizon is a beltway, and the skyline is on fire.

The skyline is on fire, the skyline is on fire
You’ll hear the distant love song, when the skyline is on fire
The skyline is on fire, the skyline is on fire
The horizon is a beltway and the skyline is on fire

This old house stood empty now for fifteen years or more
Willows falls half way to meet the weeds around the door
Time throws up her curtain and we know not who we are
The horizon is a beltway, the skyline is on fire

You’ll hear that distant love song when the wind blows right
Hear the whistle blowing put a tear drop in your eye
Jagged as the jaw bone once the flesh expires
The horizon is a beltway the skyline is on fire

Here is their beautiful stop-animation video for their song, Charlie Darwin:

March 02, 2009

If I were to ask a question about music in contrast with the topic of war, I think most people would first conjure up protest songs. Songs from Dylan, Lennon, Neil Young… 4 Dead in Ohio, Eve of Destruction, etc. Perhaps, they would answer songs from Toby Keith, who would like to put a boot in the ass of somebody ‘Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue’. Maybe, just maybe… they would associate it with a pro-war song, Over There,  written by George Cohan,  a call to arms song for men to Europe and do their duty.

Jason Isbell (formerly of the Drive By truckers) recently reminded me of another type of song about war, and that is about the personal one: the human cost of war and it’s impact on those left behind. It is a strange phenomenon and a great feat to write a song that is filled with such honesty and emotion about a topic  so sad, that the song in itself becomes beautiful. Jason Isbell has accomplished this with his song Dress Blues, a tribute to his friend Matt Conley who was killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Iraq.

Jason is one of the most original songwriters I have heard in recent years. His work, while a member of the Drive By Truckers, contain some of my favorite songs from the group. I look forward to hearing more of his work and to share this song and artist with you.

The purpose of this posting was not to bring protest to the war, but to highlight an artist that has tackled a difficult topic with music that is poignant and perhaps also healing. I challenge you to try and keep a dry eye while listening to this song. If you would like the back-story you can click here: Matt Conley

Dress Blues - Jason Isbell

What can you see from your window?
I can’t see anythin’ from mine
Flags on the side of the highway
And scripture on grocery store signs

Maybe eighteen was too early
Maybe thirty or forty is too
Did you get your chance to make peace with the man
Before He sent down his angels for you?

Mamas and grand mamas love you
‘Cause that’s all they know how to do
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleepin’ in your dress blues

Your wife said this all would be funny
When you got back home in a week
Turn twenty two and we’d celebrate you
In a bar or a tent by the creek

Your baby would just about be here
And your very last tour would be up
But you won’t be back, they’re all dressin’ in black
Drinkin’ sweet tea in Styrofoam cups

Mamas and grand mamas love you
American boys hate to lose
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleepin’ in your dress blues

The high school gymnasium’s ready
Full of flowers and old Legionnaires
Nobody showed up to protest
Just sniffle and stare

There’s red, white and blue in the rafters
And there’s silent old men from the Corps
What did they say when they shipped you away
To fight somebody’s Hollywood war?

Nobody here could forget you
You showed us what we had to lose
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleepin’ in your dress blues
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleepin’ in your dress blues

Here is a gut-wrenching, solo, acoustic performance from Austin, TX: