In The Basement With Mike

#6

2010-05-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

“Son, don’t start something you can’t finish” My old man uttered those words to me on more than one occasion. Years ago, I was given the assignment to keep eye and watch over a large area of burning weeds. These yellow weeds led to the base of four massive trees that outlined the road in front of our house. My job was simple; don’t let those trees catch on fire. Well, those trees caught on fire and that is the first time I remember hearing, “Son, don’t start something you can’t finish”. Anyway, that is sort of how I feel with this blog, I started it and by hell, I need to finish it. I will set lazy and procrastination to the side and I will carry on. Do forgive my belated effort.

Just a guess, but I’m betting this next artist will be the most unknown (whatever unknown means, I’m not really sure) on this list.

Thad Cockrell – Warmth & Beauty (2003)

As far as country records are concerned, I think this is one of the very best ever made. I have “What’s the Use” the 9^th track on the album blasting as we speak, my wife just walked into the room with these exact words, “Oh baby, I forgot how much I love this”. Don’t be too concerned with the album being in the country genre, it’s so much a singer/songwriter style, similar to Willie Nelson or Loudon Wainwright III. Some will be reminded of Gram Parsons but don't be fooled "this album is pure country music, untainted by commercial considerations and without rock influences" -all music guide

Warmth & Beauty is Thad’s second album, his first album, Stack of Dreams is tough to find. I ordered it years back on his website and it too is great. His most recent album, To Be Loved is solid but not on the same parallel of Warmth & Beauty. A great songwriter and one of the most delicate and beautiful voices you will ever hear. Of all the albums on this list, I think this is the one I hope you would not dismiss. This album is indisputably worth the $9.99 you’ll pay on itunes. The album is a perfect eleven songs, I’m not sure if there is one song better than the other, it’s like a bag of Jordan Almonds. Sure, there are many colors but they all taste wonderful. What do you mean you don’t like Jordan Almonds, are you crazy or something?

Anyway, give it a listen; find a way to give it a listen. And if you don’t love it then I’ll send you the $9.99! That’s a lie, I won’t send you a single red cent but I will smack you upside your head if you tell me you didn’t love it! And believe me, I will, I’m in the “finishing what I start business”.

And I couldn't find any songs to embed, sorry. Just buy the album.

#7

2010-04-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

My father is a great storyteller. A campfire his best soapbox, I have a well of fine memories my father told me – His words a collection of short stories I long for. He is extremely humorous, a comic with his storytelling, a cynic, the perfect exaggerator. Someone once told me the definition of comedy is exaggeration. My father is a Vietnam Veteran, something I seem to be more proud of than him. When I was much younger I had a school assignment that had to do with the Vietnam War. I was to interview my father and write a two-page essay on what I had learned. At my young age I know I was being protected from much of the truth but there was one story that has continued to stick with me. At barely nineteen years of age he had finished basic training and was now flying to be a part of this war, he was sitting near the window looking out and his eyes focused upon a large stream of smoke swirling upward into the sky. He told me his heart had sunk into the middle of his gut and the fear began swelling up inside him. His idea of what things might look like had been realized and his assumption was proving to be dead on for the most part. He imagined fire and smoke and there it was below as his aircraft began its preparation for landing. At the time of my first hearing this story my thoughts were completely different than now. Back then I imagined it was pretty darn cool, I pictured the camouflage fatigues, the M-16 rifles, the face paint, the boots, and how strong my father was. The photography in my head most certainly created from war movies; I had seen The Bridge on the River Kwai and The Great Escape by this time - I’m sure Steve McQueen or William Holden had formed the imagery in my mind. Many years later I perceive this story much differently, I still think how strong my father must have been but my mind is much more aware of the fear. The fear and uncertainty floats to the very top, I struggle comprehending what those feelings must have felt like. Were there tears? Where were his thoughts? Did he pray for comfort? I don’t know the answer to these questions. Once the aircraft landed and my father along with other young men exited the aircraft, he quickly learned his assumptions were wrong. From high above, the fire and smoke appeared to be war but it was not. The actions on the ground were relaxed and free, far more so than basic training had been. Men played cards, lounged around free of any shirt and a football was being tossed around. The fire and smoke, well, it was nothing more than a huge pile of human feces being burned. Throughout my life that story has stayed with me, it has been a frame of comfort and inspiration that I often draw from. It continually reminds me that things are practically never as they first appear, that our hasty and self-invented assumptions should remain private until the correct knowledge has been put to order.

I created the list of twenty-five albums before I actually started this blog. I’m never quite sure what will be written with each entry. I have no theme. The week before I will listen to the chosen album many times over and within those moments I usually have an idea of where to go.

With album number seven I am covering one of my very favorite artists. The real challenge for me was deciding which album I would highlight; I am biased toward all of his work and in the end it came down to the album in which I believe sent him on his way for good.

#7 Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning – 2005

Conor Oberst, the master behind Bright Eyes is the epitome of protest. He is a wall of challenge, opposition in every tune and lyric. He is persistent in disputing the status quo; he is everything authentic and pure that comes with questioning authority - mainly when this authority seems to be peppered with evil. However, this does not define Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes completely, he is a gifted songwriter and with I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning he created a giant folk album. The legendary Emmylou Harris sings background vocals on some of the tracks and the vast differences in their voices melt together in a strange and wonderful harmony. This is one of those albums that require multiple listens, not for the sake of acquiring a specific taste but for appreciation of the lyrics. And to think Conor was in his early twenties when he penned these songs is quite astounding to me.

I myself seem to be argumentative by nature, I have always questioned authority and when told I have to do something, that in itself is usually enough for me not to do it. Although, with that being said, I do conform to what I believe to be true, I do not fight that which feels right inside my chest. I get the feeling Conor Oberst and I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning shares this same approach. Our freedom of speech is one of many things that make our country so great. The fact that each of us have been granted the freedom to question what we feel or believe may be wrong and unjust is why I love America. When I think of my father, nineteen years old (baby-faced, just as I was at that age) dressed in army fatigues, a machine gun draped over one shoulder, I get confused by the mixed thoughts and emotions I feel. I suppose that is why I truly admire artists like Conor Oberst and am grateful we have been granted so many different platforms to express how we think and feel. Bright Eyes use music as their soapbox and as I said before the best setting for my father, a campfire.

And be sure and check out "At The Bottom of Everything" the first track from the album. This video is great and deep meaning can be found if desired but if not, that's okay too - It's a great song all the same.

#8

2010-03-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

By Digler, 30 March 2010

In the immortal words of Lionel Richie, “I’m easy like Sunday morning”. Some might say (like my wife) that I can be difficult to buy presents for – I don’t deny that I like what I like and can be picky at times. But I am by nature happy and easy-going. I literally have a big smile and the vast majority of the time you’ll see it on my face. I’ve actually had people ask me why I seem to be happy most of the time (interestingly this has happened more frequently in Boston). I usually simply say I have a wife and girls at home who I love and who love me. That’s enough to make me happy forever.

My wife and I have had some deaths recently both in our extended family and in the family of friends. And even closer to home, there are currently some fairly serious health issues that people we care deeply about are dealing with. I’ve been spending some time trying to remember time spent with those suffering and those who have passed on. And without fail the memories that come back to me are simple moments, overwhelmingly positive and nearly all worth a laugh. And those memories make me smile. We’re also expecting another baby any day now and when I think about seeing my son for the first time, and us falling asleep (probably me first) as he’s cuddled up on my chest on the couch while I watch a game, I smile.

This entry may be a little cheesy, but with life and death playing a prominent role in my life right now, it’s what you get. So here are some things I really look fondly back on and look eagerly forward to: my girls running into my office when they wake up to give me a hug and say good morning and actually sitting still for a few minutes with sleep still in their eyes before asking to watch Curious George; my wife and I holding that new baby boy and wondering aloud what we’ve gotten ourselves into, again; a March Madness game that I know I will remember for years to come; Patriot’s Day in Boston (Boston’s Best Day); a late summer night in Idaho with a sky big and full of stars and the only sound that of a few crickets and sprinkler pipes in the distance; sharing a ridiculous story with a friend; finding a great album.

Album # 8 – Joshua Radin – We Were Here

Those are pretty simple memories but they are good enough for me. Here’s another one. A few years ago my wife and I stumbled upon an album that we really liked by Joshua Radin titled We Were Here, which is # 8 on our list. I was getting ready to finish my MBA and my wife surprised me with tickets to a concert in Connecticut where he was the opener. I had no idea where we were going or why until we pulled into a less than appealing part of Hartford at a tiny venue and saw ‘Joshua Radin’ on the billboard. The crowd was really small and not appreciative of his music but we loved it. We chatted with him for several minutes afterwards, told him we had a new baby and said he needed some baby gear to sell. He then suggested an XS t-shirt. We agreed, bought it, and had him sign it. He asked our daughter’s name and then wrote her name and signed, “Love Joshua”. Both of our girls have now worn that t-shirt as a nightgown and love it and we love that we are reminded of that concert every time they put it on. His music is like that memory and the others I’ve mentioned here. It’s simple. It’s mostly him and a guitar and sometimes a girl with an amazing voice named Priscilla Ahn helping with harmony. It’s the kind of music that makes you reflect, makes you appreciate the things you have, and makes you happy. Give it a listen. You’ll enjoy it and you’ll keep going back to it when you need a smile.

http://www.joshuaradin.com/

Listen to "Everything'll Be Alright"

Five Great Songs

2010-03-29T11:58:00.000-07:00

Because I've been slow with updating the next entry I wanted to share Five Great Songs with you. Nothing special about why I picked these five. I just did. So, if you're at work, stick in your head phones and enjoy or just turn up the speakers and everyone within hearing distance can enjoy.

Song #1: "I Can See the Pines Are Dancing" by A.A. Bondy from the 2009 album When the Devil's Loose

Song #2: "Winter Winds" by Mumford & Sons from 2010 album, Sigh No More - And good luck finding a more enjoyable music video. I promise you this song will hook you. You will begin your instant search of Mumford and Sons after hearing this song...I just know it!

Song #3: "I Am Goodbye" by Bonnie Prince Billy from the 2009 album Beware. Love the video because I love the actor Will Oldham and his beard. Also, Will Oldham is Bonnie Prince Billy, that in itself is worth researching.

Song #4 "In Spite of Ourselves" by John Prine with Iris DeMent from the 1999 album In Spite of Ourselves. Make sure you watch this video, he tells a great story before hand and lyrically you will love this song. John Prine is one of the most respected song writers in this country and I fell in love with this song about five years ago. It makes you proud to be married and know those strange things about your spouse that only "you" know. And in some strange way this song might just be the best love song ever written.

Song #5 "Broken" by Tift Merritt from her 2008 Another Country album. Her voice is so great and the video is well shot not to mention Tift is quite nice to look at.

#9

2010-03-12T14:06:00.000-08:00

Few things excite me these days more than a really great new album. When I was young my calendar was not set with days, months, and years but it unfolded as Christmas, Birthday, summer, family vacation, basketball season, spring break, and so forth. As I’ve gotten older that same excitement has worn down, I just had a birthday and if it wasn’t for a wonderful wife and five year old son, I may not have paid any attention to it. As adults we get busy, our calendars heavily crowded with this reminder or that bill due date, it seems as the years travel on the good stuff slowly gets squeezed out. I suppose it’s all part of the process. Though I would love to go back to the age of about eight or nine and have it be Christmas Eve. I fondly remember those moments, being so elated with the anticipation of presents that sleep wasn’t humanly possible. Sneaking up into the living room at two in the morning in order to get just one gratifying peek, waking a parent at three-thirty in hopes that maybe, just maybe we can start this Christmas day before the birds have even considering chirping. Nothing compares with those days, right?

However, one more reason I love music can be chalked up, a great new album is really exciting to me. Not Christmas Eve exciting but not bad all the same, especially for being thirty-two. It’s a bit of a method for me; a process and I will break it down for you. First, we have two types of new albums. 1. We already know the artist. This one is exciting for a couple of reasons. It’s like your favorite sports team, once the season is over, life goes on but you can’t wait for the next season to begin. So much hope and anticipation, can we win it all? How will so-and-so fit into the new lineup? A new album from Neil Young, The Counting Crows, Emmylou Harris, or John Hiatt is like that old ball club that has been with you for years. You sort of know what you’ll get - there will be some surprises, maybe some disappointments and there is that chance they will wow you beyond belief, which often happens with the greats. 2. New Artist, new album. This one exists because you’ve done some work, you’ve rolled up your sleeves and you’ve gotten dirty. Good for you. Maybe it was the radio, someone shared it with you, could have been a commercial, a movie, or perhaps you discovered this one all your own (which is the most rewarding) but however the discovery was made, it was made. The key is to listen to as much as you can before dropping the ten-fifteen bucks, thirty-second samples are no good, you need the full song and when do you buy? Few artists out there have the ability to get my money on that thirty-second sample. I need good solid evidence the album is legit; I need to feel warm and fuzzy about my purchase. Okay, there is the breakdown between the two types of albums. The next step is quite simple. I listen to the album completely, each track, every word and every second before listening to one song more than once. I believe we owe it to the artist to do this. Sure, once I’ve done that the album will have tracks in which get more plays than others but not in the beginning. I treat it like a movie or book. I wouldn’t read chapter five three times in a book before reading it all and I won’t do it with a new album.

The next album on this list was one of the most exciting I can remember in years. It caught me by surprise, I didn’t expect it to be as good as it has become.

#9 - Hayes Carll - Trouble In Mind - 2008

If you like real country music, (I've decided to no longer be worried about offending anyones taste in music) not the twaddle that somehow passes itself off as country music today, which by the way is shocking, shameful, and dishonorable. But if you love Johnny Cash, Don Williams, Townes Van Zandt, George Jones, Conway Twitty, Buck Owens, and so on, then you will LOVE Hayes Carll and Trouble In Mind. This album has some Texas outlaw feel to it but Hayes Carll does a fine job of changing directions. At times the album is just great rock-n-roll, other times the album has some country boy hick to it and then there are moments when the album is savvy and intelligent, poetic and beautiful. As is the case with track five, "Beaumont" a telling tale of lost love well told. Hayes covers a Tom Waits song, "I Don't Wanna' Grow Up" which in my opinion is one of the best covers of any songs I've ever heard. He gets a bit sacrilegious in the final track, "She Left Me For Jesus" but certainly means no harm. Trouble In Mind is a great country album, one of the very best in the last ten years.

Listen, we can't go back to being eight or nine, our calendars are grown up now but if you need a break, if you need something to excite you, something to accompany your next work commute, it really should be Trouble In Mind. Hayes Carll says it best in "Bad Liver and a Broken Heart" - "I'll get old before I'm good at this, who's the President, what year is it? Doesn't anybody care about truth anymore, maybe that's what songs are for"

Watch Hayes sing "Beaumont" live, listen to "I Don't Wanna' Grow Up" and be sure and check out his website and albums.

http://www.hayescarll.com

#10

2010-03-02T18:44:00.001-08:00

By Digler, 2 March 2010

My grandma is well into her 90s. She’s not as sharp as she once was but she is still very perceptive; quick with a laugh and a wry comment. She still lives at home on the farm though she needs a lot of help these days. She loves to talk about the weather, sports, and politics – often in that order. She knows I’m getting a PhD and that it has something to do with business – which in her mind apparently means finance or economics because whenever I talk to her on the phone she first wants to know when I’m coming home to visit and then asks if I can hurry-up and graduate and fix Wall Street and solve all of our nation’s economic problems.

As I sit here typing this entry I am looking at a picture of her husband in my office - my grandpa, who died when I was a senior in high school. He’s on a horse, cows in the background, and he is laughing and waving, which is how I remember him. He had cursing down to an art form and he once told me it wasn’t his fault; that anyone who had to deal with farming and cows was allowed to curse. I can still vividly recall huddling with my cousin in his front yard when I was 7 or 8, repeating every curse word combination we could remember our grandpa saying. We laughed even as we felt guilty as we carried on for what felt like several minutes. I don’t think we ever did cover everything we heard him say.

I really love and respect all of my grandparents, including my wife’s. Like her grandma on her mother’s side (and her own mother) she somehow becomes more beautiful and elegant as she ages. From her dad’s mom she has an incredible capacity for hard work, for seeing the goodness in people, for empathy.

See, I’m a big fan of what is called the ‘greatest generation’. I’m so very proud of my roots and I’m so very sad that they are quickly moving on. I didn’t get to know all of my grandparents and I feel like my daughters are missing something by not getting to see their living great-grandparents more frequently. I hope we will pass on their stories and that their memories will live on.

I get the feeling people are too quick to search for the next big thing, to move from one fleeting interest to another, to constantly look to the future. There is a lot to be gained from the lessons of the past. I truly do feel like I stand on the shoulders of giants and that my parents and grandparents and beyond built a foundation for me to work with. They were no more perfect than me and I thank them for that - for learning, loving and living. Just like my grandma expects me to single-handedly change our nation’s economic outlook, they all want us to build on what they’ve done, but to be better, and to make them proud.

That’s what I like about the next album on the list – Justin Townes Earle’s Midnight at the Movies.

#10 - Justin Towne Earle - Midnight at the Movies

Most music fans will recognize the weight in his name – music royalty, really. What I love about his music is that he embraces the past while making the music his own. I listen to this album and I hear Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown in one song and Buck Owens in another. It’s like he has found the best elements of the various forms of ‘country’ music from the classics to the modern day and he’s connecting the dots – illuminating the past and pointing to a bright future – all in just about 30 minutes.

Most people will mention “Mama’s Eyes” and well they should because in that one song he directly confronts the past while seeming to be comfortable with his future. But I want to point out a couple of other songs that are nice mileposts on the journey. In “What I Mean to You” he has that playful but sorrowful feeling of a lot of classic country:

Now I don’t need no riches, diamonds or gold

No ordinary trinkets will do

And I don’t expect you to break out in song

‘Cuz I know that you can’t carry a tune

So speak low, when you speak love

If that’s what you gotta do

I need to know right now

Just what I mean to you

And the powerful imagery of love gone wrong and no one is completely innocent in ‘Someday I’ll Be Forgiven for This”:

Yeah, and if I know you
You won't have nothing to say
You'll just clear the tears from your eyes
Long enough to watch me walk away
You won't curse or scream, no nothing that obscene
You'll just tell yourself you never loved me anyway
So tonight when you leave
Put the light out on the porch
Take anything that you want to keep and leave your key in the door
And I don't want to hear you crying no tears that show regret

Cause someday you'll be forgiven for this
Oh, yeah, someday you'll be forgiven for this.

So call your grandparents, or write them a letter. Share a story about them with your siblings. And get your hands on this album.

Check out Justin on his website or watch him sing "Mama's Eyes" Live - absolutely worth checking out.

http://www.justintownesearle.com/

#11

2010-02-22T21:21:00.000-08:00

On rare occasion I will look to see just how “mainstream” is doing – album sales, itunes top downloaded songs, billboard charts and so forth. Of the top ten most downloaded songs on itunes (as of today), I recognized five of the artist names. I went ahead and sampled each song in the top ten and wasn’t too surprised how similar most of them sounded. I was able to make out a few of the lyrics, such as; “Don’t stop, make it pop, DJ blow my speakers up, Tick tock, tonight Imma’ fight till we see the sunlight, tick tock on the clock but the party don’t stop” I also noticed this particular song happened to be titled, TiK ToK, neither word can be found in the dictionary. Another lyric repeated “In My Head” seven times during the thirty-second sample, I considered taking the time to search out the full lyric and give it a good honest read but I reluctantly chose not to. Is this kind of music making us dumber? Here is an interesting piece of information I stumbled upon this week.

CalTech grad student named Virgil Griffith has conducted an interesting (albeit somewhat unscientific) study relating music preferences with SAT scores. While SAT scores are criticized for not accurately determining intelligence, the results show that the “smartest” students’ favorite musician is Beethoven, with an average SAT score of 1371, and at the other end of the spectrum is Lil’ Wayne, with an average score of 889. Other bands at the top of the scale are Counting Crows, Radiohead, and Sufjan Stevens

I thought that was an interesting piece of information. It probably means absolutely nothing, however, it did get me thinking. Thinking about the kind of music I listen to, the kind of movies I watch, the kind of literature I read - I believe there is no question those three influences play and have played a vital role in my intelligence or lack of.

I recall one argument I had with an individual a few years ago about movies. This person said, “What is wrong with just wanting to be entertained and not having to think all the time, just good mindless entertainment.” There is nothing wrong with wanting that, right? I guess I just have a hard time understanding why someone would choose “not thinking,” verse “thinking”. All I know for sure is that it wasn’t always this way, there was a time when the majority preferred thought evoking film, music, and literature. The proof is in the pudding; look back at the Academy Award nominated films of the 70’s – The Last Picture Show, Ordinary People, Raging Bull, Dog Day Afternoon, The Conversation, Clock Work Orange, Patton, The French Connection, Five Easy Pieces, the list goes on and on. Music parallels that of film; money is the governing body that now controls our “mainstream” media. I often wonder though, with the great works of art still being created on a daily basis, why then, are the theatres and radio stations loaded with simplistic, predictable, and even elementary pieces of work? I don’t have the answer to any of these questions. Although, I do believe most people would prefer the more thought out works of art; those in which the driving force behind it’s production is not money, greed, or the ambition of fame. Those works that are simply created because they have to be, the artist responsible has a thirst for expression and the only answer to quenching this thirst is by telling their stories. The truth is this; most people do not know were to look, they just don’t realize what is out there, I have to believe that to be true.

The next artist on the list is far from elementary. He is a downright poet and if you’re looking for good mindless entertainment, steer very clear of Joe Pug.

Joe Pug - Nation of Heat EP

The Nation of Heat is a seven song EP. The album consists of Joe Pug only, his guitar and occasional harmonica. With each passing lyric from each of the seven tracks something is given; his words ascend out from the speakers and stick to you. You begin listening, giving more and more attention with each passing verb or adjective.

“Yea I’ve come to know the wish list of my father

I’ve come to know the shipwrecks where he wished

I’ve come to wish aloud among the over dressed crowd

Come to witness now the sinking of the ship

Throwing pennies from the sea top next to it”

Nation of Heat stands for something different than most albums, it’s not something you stick in for sheer entertainment, it’s not background music to a cocktail party, it is though a work of art, a very fine work of art. It deserves true listening, it deserves to be thought out and pondered over. When it comes to song writing I sort of like the old saying, “If you haven’t got something nice to nice, don’t say anything at all” perhaps we could change that to, “If you haven’t got something smart to say, don’t say anything at all.” In the seventh and final track, a shouting out of sorts as to how he feels about the state of things, Joe walks a fine line of expression verse obnoxious political opinion, he succeeds greatly, with lyrics like; “Blocking borders with smiles are immigrant sons, we measure loneliness in miles and misery in tons. There’s a straw-hatted man going away from the shore, he said it’s a shame they don’t let you have slaves here anymore. I’m the ugliest man that you’ll ever meet, I come from the Nation of Heat.”

Nation of Heat is the genesis of Joe Pug’s music. He has followed it up with a nice (free) five song EP of “B” sides that didn’t make the Nation of Heat cut. His full-length album was released earlier this month, titled, Messenger, ten songs, full-band, background vocals and is masterful. I was fortunate enough to catch Joe Pug live in concert not less than a week ago, he is one of those artists for me that I almost fear seeing live, simply because the idea of him not being great is too sad of thought. He wasn’t great, he was absolutely perfect – Joe Pug will be a household name among my generation of music lovers, he will be our Dylan, I know it may be sacrilege to say such a thing and make no mistake, I’m not saying he’s Dylan, I’m just saying in the years to come…he will be this generations Dylan.

WATCH JOE SING "NATION OF HEAT" LIVE

BE SURE AND CHECK HIM OUT AT HIS WEBSITE - LEARN ALL KINDS OF GREAT THINGS ABOUT THIS GUY. HE STARTED OUT BY GIVING HIS MUSIC AWAY...AT HIS EXPENSE.

http://www.joepugmusic.com/

#12

2010-02-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

When I was twelve years old our family planned a camping trip to Northern Idaho. My Father was working in the area at the time and the idea was for us kids (five of us) and our Mother to meet him there. Once we arrived to his location, we’d quickly hook up to the fifth-wheel trailer that my Dad called home while he worked out of town and then head to the beautiful mountains of Northern Idaho for a three-day weekend. The plan was well thought out, we had packed accordingly and were prepared for quality time in the outdoors.

Before I go much further, it’s best if I give a quick illustration of my Father. He undoubtedly walked up hill both ways to school, not just in snow but snow and mud, it was so cold spit would freeze before it hit the ground and he was so damn tough that he did this in t-shirt and jeans because he wasn’t fortunate enough to own a coat. He once told my brother and I that one day while waiting for the bus (he was ten years old mind you) he shot and killed eleven birds…with a slingshot. He tells another story in which he was dropped off in the high plains of Wyoming to keep watch and feed cattle for a two week period during late spring. An original old homestead one-room log cabin (no electricity or plumbing) to serve as lodging. He was given a rifle with plenty of ammunition and a loaf of bread, did I mention it was five months before his twelfth Birthday. When told this story for the first time, I myself being in my early teens asked the obvious questions. What did you eat? Were you scared? Two weeks…Really? He replied in a way only my Father could, “Hell yes, two weeks if it was a day and damn right I was scared, I was eleven. I crafted a homemade fishing pole from what I could find laying around the cabin, caught and ate fish from the river and shot a deer on my second day.” When I was really little and would ask him just how tough he was, he would always reply, “I could beat the hell outta’ Mr. T.” I must have believed Mr. T was the strongest man in the world at that time. I tell you those stories in order to give you a small dose of what my old man is like. He’s tough and with that came a bit of a temper; his fuse short, his patience had run out years earlier and for some reason wasn’t replenished. Isn’t that the damndest thing you ever heard, keep it in mind though, it seems you can run completely out of patience – who knew it.

I’m going to be short from this point forward. His truck (A fairly brand new Ford) blew its transmission between where he was working and our camping location. An event of this nature has the ability to drive my Father to a place only few human beings have ever gone. More Back Story: A lawn mower failed to start one afternoon; this led to my Dad throwing the lawn mower onto the roof of our house. In the mowers defense it actually only landed on the roof and then tumbled back to the ground – My Dad loaded the mower into the back of his truck, drove to town and heaved the lawn mower into the showroom of the store he had purchased it from only weeks before. This is just one of many stories. You must be wondering what all of this has to do with music, hang with me, I will tell. We abandoned his truck and camper, loaded his work truck with the camping gear and pressed forward. When we arrived to the location my Father had picked out the week before we discovered all of the camping sites were filled. We had traveled to the end of the dirt road, parked the truck and car and the seven of us were together looking out over the endless terrain of mountains and trees. My Father, the volcano, was angry, utterly disgusted in the breakdown of his truck and now bothered by the fact there were no empty campsites. And then to top it off, at this very moment, two siblings (I’m not sure which of us it was) began fighting with one another. That quickly calmed down but I had noticed the look on my Dad’s face, a look that one knows the very best thing to do at that moment is walk away. He was going to vent his frustration…I just knew it. However, like magic from above, a moment of silence had overcome the entire family and no more perfect time could there be – I’ve said before how large of a role music plays in our family. I remembered a line from a wonderful Beach Boys song, Sloop John B and with great vigor I sang aloud, “This is the worst trip - I’ve ever been on.” That was all it took, the twelve-year-old son breaking the silence with a great and memorable lyric. The laughter shifted the mood and what was heading toward being an awful trip ended up being one of my most memorable and wonderful family memories – we had a great family vacation.

#12 Whiskeytown - Pneumonia (2001)

Whiskeytown released three albums between 1996 and 2001 before their official breakup in the year 2000 in order for frontman Ryan Adams to pursue his solo career. The band went through many changes in that short time but the Pneumonia release was made up of Ryan Adams, Caitlin Cary, Phil Wandscher, Eric Gilmore, and Mike Daly. Each of these have gone on to have continued success in music but clearly none more than singer songwriter Ryan Adams. In my humble opinion Pneumonia is the finest Alternative Country album released to date. Like so many other albums on this list and perhaps more so than any other, this album is absolutely timeless. It could have played well in the 60's and it will continue to play well forty years from now. The majority of the tracks were co-written by Adams and Daly. The record was produced by the mastermind of Ethan Johns, who went on to produce 3 of Adams' future records. Ethan also produced records by; Tift Merritt, Rufus Wainwright, Ray LaMontagne, Kings Of Leon, and The Jayhawks to name just a few. Like Dylan, Ryan Adams as a vocalist seems to sound a little different on each album but his voice on Pneumonia is perfect. Put that together with the beautiful background vocals of Caitlin Cary and you've discovered the formula for a peerless alt-country album. This is one album that can stop me in my tracks, no matter what I am doing when a song from Pneumonia begins playing, I drop it and I listen. Many of you will know of Ryan Adams and the brilliance that is his music but sometimes Whiskeytown and Pneumonia slip through the cracks, don't let it. It really is that good.

Listen to Jacksonville Skyline from lala or check out the live version on youtube.

Jacksonville Skyline - Whiskey...

#13

2010-02-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

By Digler, 1 February 2010

What do a conversation with a professor near retirement over lunch, a late night walk through the Lower East Side section of New York City with a person I didn’t know then and have not talked to since and a conversation in a parking lot with two teenagers I know all have in common? Music, of course (this is a blog about music after all). It has almost become cliché at this point to talk about the ability of music to unite people, to create connections and a shared understanding that might not normally exist (or at least be found). Music can create those bonds in a way that continues to amaze me.

In each of those scenarios, a connection was created, some out of thin air, some as a strengthening of a previous bond. This alone does not make them worth repeating. I could list dozens of other examples and I’m sure you could too. But in the spirit of this blog, the connections started out as a discussion of the ‘classics’ and turned into a give-and-take about great current music that is out there, if only we have a little time, a little curiosity and an open mind.

The conversation with the professor, who has since become a good friend, started out as a discussion about social media which evolved into the obsession of music fans. I learned she is a big Bruce Springsteen fan. And I mean big. Sufficiently intrigued, I asked about other music and was surprised to learn she also loved to discover new music and really liked Pete Yorn and Jesse Malin. We have continued the conversation from time to time since then, sharing concert dates and album releases.

A couple of years ago, I was at a conference in New York City for a week. Mike had already moved and I really didn’t know anyone in the city. At night I would wander around and go to movies, interesting shops and just soak up the energy and excitement that is New York City. One afternoon, I overheard a fellow conference attendee mention Neil Young in passing. As an avid Neil Young fan, I went over and introduced myself. Turns out, he wasn’t very familiar with Neil’s work. He asked me a couple of questions which turned into a conversation that continued for several hours as we wandered around the Lower East Side, discussing and debating the merits of various types of music – from classic rock to alt-country to heavy metal – in a city that seems to have music at its very soul. We didn’t have much else in common but I’ll always remember those couple of hours of serious music discussion and reflection. In fact that conversation was also partly responsible for me finding my way to a free Ron Sexsmith concert in Battery Park a couple of days later, which was fantastic and another great memory.

As a person involved with youth programs, I have gotten to know several teenagers in the area where I live. We talk sports, we talk movies, and we talk music. I have been especially surprised, and encouraged, by their taste in music. Sure, they like some radio-friendly pop fare that I don’t care much for but they also have an appreciation for really good music that spans generations and genres. It was during one of these conversations that the next album on the list was playing. Like me, what got them first was that voice, followed quickly by the sound and, after further listening, the songwriting.

The band is Roman Candle and the album is Oh Tall Tree in the Ear.

#13 Roman Candle - Oh Tall Tree in the Ear

Modern rock, alt-country, indie rock, roots rock - I don’t know what you’d call it. I just call it great music. This is music that sticks with you and the kind of album that seems like it will be in conversations about great music years from now (when I am the one near retirement and my grandkids are learning about music). It is a truly wonderful album from start to finish.

Probably the most radio friendly of the songs on this album is ironically the one that takes a dig at music on the radio – “Why Modern Radio is OK”

Now he didn’t know it but while he was in jail
I had my heart broke by a woman to wondrous to tell
And we’d fallen in love to half the songs that jukebox played

So when he flattened his dollar on the side of the machine
and I saw ‘comes a time’ come on the karaoke screen
I realized there were a few things I had forgot to say:

Don’t play Neil Young
Don’t play Van Morrison
Just let some high school emo band start versing and chorusing
Because there’s no way it will break my heart as far as I can see
And that’s why modern radio is A OK with me.

I love that! Of course, I think the musicians in Roman Candle, which include Skip Methany and his wife Timshel and his brother Logan would agree that while the songs on modern radio aren’t deep enough to break our heart, there is plenty of music out there that follows in the footsteps of Neil Young and Van Morrison if we know where to look. I’d like to think the albums we’ve shared with you on this blog are a good starting point. Oh Tall Tree in the Ear may not be the kind of music to break your heart but it’s the kind of music you’d turn to after it was broken, when you’re angry, searching for answers, unsure of yourself and your life but also knowing it might hurt now but that is part of living so you may as well enjoy the ride. I’ll close with another set of great lyrics, this time from the song, Big Light

Sometimes I get a little lost

And the good life is so hard to see

Sometimes all I can see is the cost

When the prize is standing right in front of me.

And it ain’t easy to get along

When you’ve got things going wrong

And there is no luck to be found besides

Spend my natural prime, thinking money and time,

Wondering where they go, and they go.

That’s when I need you to put me in line.

Come tell me something, any words are fine.

Fill up these four walls with old melodies.

Let me know if the big light is shining on me.

Roman Candle has one of the really great band websites I've ever seen. They heavily involve their fans and create a wonderful fan community. Make sure you check it out, it's a great place to check out photos, stream their music, videos and so forth.

http://www.romancandlemusic.com/

Here is a pretty cool live version of "Modern Radio..."

#14

2010-01-25T09:23:00.000-08:00

#14 on The List is written by Lynda Hamblin, my Mother; the one responsible for my love of music, especially Dylan and Van Morrison.

by Lynda Hamblin - January 25, 2010

Aside from my family, I have two passions in my life – music and baseball. Not necessarily in that order…depending on how Detroit is doing it could be baseball first and music second. Regardless, music has sustained me throughout my life and been a constant companion since I slow danced around my older sister’s bedroom to Connie Francis, Paul Anka, and Bobby Vinton (she was a bit of a romantic).

As a teenager, my days were punctuated by the greatest artists of the 60’s. We called them records then and every penny I could squeeze out of my father went for the latest Dylan or Beatles or Credence release. I walked three and a half miles in the sweltering Arizona heat to the record store on the day Rubber Soul was released because I couldn’t wait for someone to get home and drive me there.

Musicians and rock bands carried a bit of a mystic in those days…before the Internet and tabloids lay their entire lives out for all to see. I believe that mystery was part of the web that drew us in. Who were these guys? But their words and music spoke to me in a way that often shook me to the core. Mr. Aldrich, my 10^th grade American History teacher, asked our class to write an essay entitled, “What I Would Be Willing to Die For.” He was somewhat dismayed when I wrote three pages about how and why I would be willing to die for the chance to see Dylan at the Fillmore in November. However, he did give me an A.

It sounds cliché to say that music can save your life but there are many who know this is true…and you know who you are. Perhaps this line from a journal I kept during my senior year in high school, a tumultuous and trying time in my life, sums up the indelible impression the music stamped me with; at once disturbing and enlightening, I wrote, “…how is it that I can remember every word from every song on the radio and I cannot remember even one time my father or mother told me they loved me.”

I clung to the words and music like a life raft. I could not have survived without them. Even now the life preservers are being cast about for those of us who flounder, fall, get up and fall again. David Gray is such an artist, a savior of sorts, saving us all a generation at a time.

Mike, a huge David Gray fan, was hesitant about including him on the blog – ”…he might be too successful to be on the list.” Perhaps. After the release in 2000 of White Ladder and the breakout hit single, “Babylon,” he did become a bit of household name. Regardless, the criteria for the 25 artists on this blog fit him perfectly. And although he released a Greatest Hits album in 2007, I persisted that he be part of the experience. While David Gray was an easy choice for me, narrowing down to only one album proved difficult. In the end, Life in Slow Motion won out.

#14 David Gray - Life In Slow Motion (2005)

Whether it is his genius at the piano or on the guitar, or the poetry of his words, this album transcends. The poignancy of the image of dissolving snowflakes in the title song, “Slow Motion,” speaks of hope and loss at the same time. There’s that lifeline – grab hold. Or how about the poetic imagery in “Now and Always?” I defy anyone not to see the swans on the water.

The swans are ghosts

On the jet black water

The swans like ghosts

On the jet black water

Hey little baby

I’ll hold you close

We’ll glide like ghosts

On the starry water.

Every song is a gift, bundled up and waiting for you. And like all good poets, he leaves the interpretation of his words to each of us. The story in each song is not clearly defined. It is a little like reading a great book with a surprise ending. I hope you will all revisit Life in Slow Motion and take the time to really listen. Surely, David would not mind if I quote the Irishman, James Joyce, when he said, “I've put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring one's immortality.” However, it isn’t just the mystery of the music David Gray will be immortalized for – he is just quite frankly, one of the best.

Six Songs I'm Sure You'll Love

2010-01-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

I discover the majority of my music by searching the internet, reading some publications, NPR, some radio (not much) and friends and family. Sharing is important. A rule so elementary yet so significant to my awareness of many musicians and films. Anyway, I thought I'd share 6 songs that I've discovered over the past few months. Make sure you give them a listen, I'm certain you'll love them.

1. Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons

Album: Death Won't Send A Letter

Song: Born Again

My thoughts: This video is great, it's always nice to be able to see the artist while they sing, a sort of connection is made that I really enjoy. The album is wonderful, this song is one of my favorites of 2009.

Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros

Album: Up From Below

Song: Home

My Thoughts: Album is great - really one of the most fresh and unique talent I've heard in a while. The energy is so apparent in the music and that's why I've posted the live version from the Letterman show. Absolutely worth watching! Seriously, don't miss this!

3. Blind Pilot

Album: 3 Rounds And A Sound

Song: The Story I Heard

4. Robert Francis

Album: Before Nightfall

Song: Junebug

My Thoughts: One of the best albums of 2009 hands down. Robert is young, I think he's twenty or twenty-one and this is his second album. He plays multiple instruments and has a world of talent.

5. Drew Holcolm and The Neighbors

Album: Passenger Seat

Song: Fire and Dynamite

My Thoughts: Love em', they don't have a bad album nor a bad song. The female vocals you hear are his wife and together they sound perfect. She sings on a few tracks and her voice will hook you for sure.

6. Joey Ryan

Album: Kenter Canyon

Song: Queen Jane

My Thoughts: Something about his voice in this song just hits me like a ton of bricks. He's right on the verge if you ask me and I love that.

Hope you liked those songs as much as I do. Nothing better than finding a new tune that just excites ya to no end - makes you look forward to your commute, you can't wait to jog, anything to put on the ipod.

#15

2010-01-18T15:27:00.000-08:00

How many great songs are about love? How many about the heartache that comes from a failed relationship or the joys of a successful one? In a way, doesn’t it seem like it’s pretty much all of them. I think of Hank Williams’ I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry or Why Don’t You Love Me, easily a couple of my favorite Hank songs. I think of Van Morrison’s Sweet Thing or Cash and the beautiful I Still Miss Someone. I love Dylan, in my last entry I mentioned a song of his, Boots Of Spanish Leather, from The Times They Are A-Changin’ album. The song is nine verses, and for the first six verses the dialog alternating between man and woman. The woman has sailed away and in each of her verses (3 of them) she asks if there is anything the man would like her to send him when she arrives to the place she is sailing. He declines any possible gifts and continues with his determined plea, “Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled” and this continues on through until the final three verses,

I got a letter on a lonesome day,
It was from her ship a-sailin',
Saying I don't know when I'll be comin' back again,
It depends on how I'm a-feelin'.

Well, if you, my love, must think that-a-way,
I'm sure your mind is roamin'.
I'm sure your heart is not with me,
But with the country to where you're goin'.

So take heed, take heed of the western wind,
Take heed of the stormy weather.
And yes, there's something you can send back to me,
Spanish boots of Spanish leather.

What a solid dude, don’t you think? He accepts that it’s over, wishes her safe travel and is not about to let his pride stand in the way, “Hell, you keep asking and so I guess sure, why not, send me back a pair of those Spanish leather boots.”

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned but I married my high school girlfriend, we started dating when I was fifteen and now we’ve been married for little more than eight years. We have two sons and it feels like I’ve known and loved her forever, I really could not imagine life without her. The success of our relationship has always come natural to both of us. Not that we don’t have to work on it but I can safely say for the most part, loving one another has been a piece-of-cake. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if we hadn’t ended up together. I’m sure I would have often thought about, “the one that got away” – I know I would have been heart broken. I would have plenty to sing about, with a lot of these great albums, I believe one lost love can practically fill an entire album. It’s because pain is directly connected to the creative portion of our brain. I have no scientific proof on this matter and I refuse to do any research but I’m pretty sure I’m right…I’ve got to be. Just think about the troubled artists and their creations – See? Told you I was right. So anyway, it’s a good thing I’m not a songwriter, if I was, I would be forced to be artificial, nothing real about my heartache. However, I could write some magnificent love ballads but come on, who listens to that junk?

The next album on the list is full of these love-loss symptoms. In fact, when I dropped the album off for my Mother, I gave her a couple days to listen and then asked, “What do you think?” She smiled and said, “He’s heartbroken, isn’t he?” I don’t know for sure, perhaps he’s faking, I’m certain he’s not but you never know.

#15 Chris O"Brien - Lighthouse

Lighthouse is a great album for the shade, a perfect companion to an afternoon in the hammock; the tempo and feel of Lighthouse has a wonderful calming effect. Chris has a great voice and he controls it well, allowing it to tremble lightly enough to make you believe but not heavy enough to annoy you. Female background vocals support most of the tracks and it works wonderfully. This is a short album, ten tracks and around thirty-five minutes in length and every track deserving to be listened to. The title track is great, he has a handsome way with words, intelligent parallel's with his wording.

You are oceans

Oceans away

You are a lighthouse

You will burn out someday

So go on and move on

Go on and act all strong

Go ahead and fall for the next ship

That comes along

I’ll be fine

Goodbye

I've been waiting patiently for Chris O'Brien's next album, which is titled, "Little Red" and will be released February 1st of this year. Lighthouse should be in your library of music, so if you own it, awesome - If you don't, you should work on getting it. Learn more about Chris O'Brien below:

http://www.chrisobrienmusic.com/

http://www.myspace.com/chrisobrien

#16

2010-01-12T07:35:00.000-08:00

By Digler, 11 January 2010

Despite the differences in writing style and the fact that we’ve designed these entries so that, like a Seinfeld episode, you can read and enjoy one without worrying what came before or after, I do think there are a few themes running straight through everything we’ve said so far. One, obviously, is that there is great music out there, you just have to be willing to find it (and hopefully in some small way, this blog can help you with that). The other Mike mentioned last week, this idea that we enjoy the road less traveled and possess an eager sense of discovery. But there is no need to be different just for the sake of being different. No need to try to be contrary to be cool. No need to pretend to be something you aren’t.

When we moved to Boston, it was for a job I got with the Dept. of Defense. On my very first day I spent the entire time with the HR folks filling out forms and attending training sessions. Towards the end of the day, the woman in charge, who was a little shocked to have a small-town Idaho boy in her office, finally asked me if I knew anyone in Boston. I told her not a soul. She said, well, then, you can be whoever you want to be and no one will be the wiser. I had never thought of it that way but it was true. At work I could pretend to be anyone I wanted because no one knew me from Adam. Fast forward a couple of years and I’m back in school, in my PhD program, getting ready to face a class full of college sophomores in a required business class all on my own. I wasn’t sure how I would approach the first five minutes, let alone the entire semester. How would I lecture? How would I grade? How would I get students to interact? I spoke to a senior professor I knew, a great teacher, who told me when he started he tried to be just like his favorite professor…and fell flat on his face. He said the best advice he could give me was to be myself and not pretend to be somebody else or copy someone else’s style.

It’s not that I’ve ever had a problem with pretending. As my friends used to say – you really are your own man. I didn’t become someone new for my new coworkers and I didn’t try to teach the class in a way that was foreign to me. But sometimes we all are a little guilty of going one way or the other – of pretending to like the popular TV show that we’ve never actually seen or denying our love of a certain big-budget Hollywood movie because it is so much cooler to act like we are above it. I hope in the New Year we can just be happy with owning up to who and what we are and what it is we enjoy – to appreciate what we share in common and yet be curious to learn what makes us different.

Which leads me to the next band and the next album on our list...

# 16, The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You

I love this band. And I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything they’ve put out. The first thing I heard from them was Emotionalism and I worked backwards from there. Then, in 2009 they released I and Love and You – with much critical and popular acclaim. This album has been on, and is probably going to continue to be on, a lot of ‘best of’ albums. And I am not afraid to say that I think they deserve all the positive attention that they get. This is an album the whole family can love. I know mine does (my daughters request ‘Kick Drum’ at least seven times a day and my wife, who I think may have a crush on Scott and Seth Avett, has the album on constant rotation). This album is outstanding. The boo-birds will say they’ve sold out on this major-record label release. They’ll moan because the sound is slightly less blue-grass and more radio-friendly. They’ll argue the merits of some obscure bootleg, back when the band was ‘real’. All I know is that I can’t stop listening to this album. There are upbeat, catchy tunes, ballads; you name it, all built on their trademark harmonies and songwriting. To me it seems honest and positive. It’s where the boys are at – progressing as a band and attracting new fans while trying to bring the old ones along for the ride. They aren’t pretending to be anything other than what they are and it seems to me they are asking us to do the same. If you haven’t already (and some of you know who you are) give this album, and this band, a try. I dare you to honestly say you don’t like it. But if you don’t, well that’s fine too. We’ll still be friends. I’ll close with the final lyrics from one of my favorite songs on the album – The Perfect Space.

I wanna have pride like my mother has,

And not like the kind in the bible that turns you bad.

And I wanna have friends that I can trust,

That love me for the man I’ve become and not the man that I was.

Check out The Avett Brothers below:

http://www.theavettbrothers.com/

http://www.myspace.com/theavettbrothers

#17

2010-01-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay. December and the Holidays had me a bit out of whack but I'm okay now. You can and should expect an update each and every Monday. Tuesday at the very latest.

I take such pleasure in traveling off the beaten path, perhaps not so much the beaten path as say: the mainstream route or the popular way. However, I am also a firm believer in liking what you like, love what you love and if everyone else seems to love it…well, so be it. We need more honesty and less trying to be different only for the sake of being different. However, with that being said, I do believe the allure of discovery is one of the attributes in why I enjoy the more obscure artists. I have traveled around and through the northwest a many, many mile over the last decade. And almost always, those miles have been accumulated on my odometer rather than frequent flyer miles. The other, “almost always” is that nearly every mile I’ve racked up, my brother Jacob, has been with me. We know little about the beaten path for we rarely choose it. We adore the back roads, approve and respect all Ma-n-Pa establishments and make for damn sure our food money is spent far and away from all restaurant chains. With this doctrine I must tell you the success rate is not at the one hundred percent mark. Let’s say it like it is, sometimes the food stinks and the service is bad. In spite of that, the experience is memorable. If ever you fancy a look into the wonderment that makes up the human race of this blessed Country, take the time and eat with the locals in Salmon, Idaho. Stop in Hamilton, Montana and walk the small main street and choose one of many eating establishments or if ever you visit North Bend, Washington, stroll past the round-a-about and on either side of main street you’ll see a variety of great diners.

For me, great music in the last decade is discovered in this same fashion. I’m not saying mainstream doesn’t produce or promote some really great musicians, but if that’s all were listening to, I’m a wee-bit heart broken for how much is being missed. I myself have realized I’m totally unable to find enough time in the week to search for new artists, my music budget is limited and I’ll-be-damned to buy only one song off an album. Albums are intended to be purchased as a whole and if my safe spending for that moment is ninety-nine cents then I’ll wait – I’ll wait until I can buy the entire thing or I will not buy it at all. I have noticed a vexatious trend that is taking place in our libraries of music. My private eye work has proven just that, the "i" is to blame. The "i" in itunes; that small vertical line with the dot hovering above in "ipod" is the guilty party. For less than a dollar we're able to purchase the "radio hit" the "one hit wonder" and so forth. Our MP3 players become filled with unfinished work - can you imagine buying only the title track off of Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin" and bypassing the magic of "With God On Our Side" or "Boots Of Spanish Leather". Okay, perhaps I've taken this too far and I should stand down; I too am guilty of buying that simple, little, stand-up-and-shake-it-like-you-got-it hit that plays on the radio every fifteen minutes. Who isn't?

The internet is the respirator in which grants these musicians life, no longer are they bound by the music labels that wish to control their authenticity and market their music with an eye single to the glory of money. Those chains have been broken and they are free to create without ever having to cooperate with the mainstream media. Album sales can exist while never even being close to having a song dance along the radio airwaves. I discovered this next artist by making sure my travel was off the beaten path, the trail was not well groomed but the path led to a breath-taking musician. Her voice so wonderful; stopping to listen is the only option she gives you.

Tift Merritt – Tambourine (2004)

This is one fine piece of songwriting. The opening track "Stray Paper" is upbeat, fine guitar work throughout and the tone is nicely set. The quality that exists with Tambourine is Tift herself, her voice so attractive and distinct. The third track "Good Hearted Man" is a story well told, honest and heartfelt. My favorite song from the album, "Laid A Highway" is a song about her small hometown and the transformation that takes place as the world gets bigger and faster. Tambourine is a fun album, twelve really solid tracks that belong together. Tift has other notable albums and I suggest looking into each of them. I just feel Tambourine is her best work to date. How Tift Merritt has avoided the mainstream is sort of perplexing to me, has it been by her own choice? I don't know. All I really know is I'm not ready to buy what mainstream is cooking - Not when albums like "Tambourine" are being left off the menu.

Learn more about Tift Merritt and listen to her music

http://www.tiftmerritt.com/

#18

2009-12-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

By Digler, 30 November 2009

I imagine it’s the same in most small towns – if you are going somewhere you are driving. But I also think that fact is magnified in the place I grew up – a valley made up of a collection of tiny towns. Over 40 miles as the crow flies from north to south and 20 miles at its very widest with all of the kids from those small towns attending the same high school. If you’ve driven on I-15 from Utah into Idaho, you’ve seen that school, smack in the middle of that valley, in a cow pasture. What that geographical oddity means is that you learned to drive early, sometimes before you hit double digits in age, in your grandma’s boat of a car or an old farm truck. You drive miles to school, to practice, to athletic events and to see your best friends and girlfriend, who odds are each live in a different one of those small towns (mine did). Distances are measured in minutes, not miles and when you tell someone it’s a 15 minute drive to get somewhere it means you are covering more than 15 miles (not like the 15 minutes it takes to barely cover a mile in a place like Boston).
I literally put thousands of miles on cars driving around that valley. And music was an important part of each of those drives - sometimes to set the mood, sometimes to keep you company, sometimes just to keep you awake. Finding the perfect song and album to match your mood and the moment was always magical. I still can’t listen to Bob Seger’s Night Moves without getting nostalgic …and hoping to get lucky. And sometimes my wife and I listen to Neil Young’s Harvest Moon just to reminisce. There’s a particular stretch of I-15 between the towns where we grew up and I can literally see a harvest moon shining on that road and over that wide-open valley when we listen to that album. We fell in love with each other as we fell in love with that music. That feeling of finding the perfect music to fit the moment and the drive is one I rarely get anymore. But every once in awhile it does happen and when it does I can remember the moment perfectly.
In the summer of 2008 I had the opportunity to attend a conference in California. I flew to Idaho to visit family and then borrowed my mom’s car for the 12 hour drive to Anaheim. I drove to Mesquite, got up early and was on one of those stretches of road in Nevada that are completely forgettable except for the starkness of the terrain and the feeling of emptiness. I had already gone through the music I brought with me and turned on the radio. Radio West happened to be on, rebroadcasting a previous program on local Utah bands. What came through the speakers was a revelation. It was Band of Annuals singing songs from their album Let Me Live.

#18 Band of Annuals - Let Me Live (2007)

It was one of those moments where you want to find a friend and tell them they had to hear what you just heard. But I was alone in the car and it was too early to call anyone. And that turned out to be just fine. This was music that fit the moment - alone on an open road in the middle of nowhere, headed west, a little sad but also not scared about what may lie ahead. I’ve listened to this album over and over since that moment and enjoyed it every time. This band and this album are simply outstanding. I’d probably call it alt-country if I had to but it has a timeless quality to it that isn’t easily labeled. What got me first was the lead singer, Jay Hendersen’s voice and then the harmonies with Jeremi Hanson. I’d put these two up against Ryan Adams and Caitlin Cary. They are that good. But then add the pedal steel, the harmonica and great songwriting and I continue to be hooked. The album is solid from top to bottom but for starters listen to “Blood on My Shirt” and “Don’t Let Me Die”, which begins with the lyrics

Yeah, when I was young, they said I was naive.

It was all a misunderstanding.

How life could be so demanding,

But I learned it well.

Yes, the ground would fall right from beneath my feet.

I'd pray to God for a decent landing,

Hope that I could come up standing

This time.

Yeah, but don't let me die tonight.

If I was a drinking man, it would be the kind of album to have a drink to, sitting on a bar stool - a little sad, a little proud but completely honest. So pour yourself a drink, either literally or figuratively, and sit down, listen to this album and prepare to become a fan.
Postscript: It’s usually me calling Mike from a great concert in Boston because, well, we just tend to be a frequent stop for lots of great bands. But Band of Annuals are based in Salt Lake City and Mike is going to see them this Friday at The State Room. I have to admit, I’m jealous but I can’t wait to hear about the concert because I’m sure they won’t disappoint.

Check out their myspace page and stream music

http://www.myspace.com/bandofannuals

http://www.bandofannuals.com/

#19

2009-11-23T09:15:00.000-08:00

We seem to love most where we came from - No matter the place, no matter the heat, no matter if it be flat, windy, dirty, old, new, over-populated, long wintered, treeless, and so forth. I grew up in a small town, actually seven miles from a small town; I grew up in an alfalfa field. During the warm summer nights I was privileged to the accompanying sound of sprinkler pipes outside my basement window. In fact, I could have just risen from a perfect nap, I’m feeling splendid, fully rested, revived, sleep being the furthest thing from my mind but if I was to lay down with the aid of sprinkler pipes watering a hay field I would be out like a light. Nothing sounds quite as relaxing to me as sprinkler pipe.

Growing up in my family being outside was just how it was. Gardening, yard work, raspberry patch, hay field, corn patch, fruit trees, bike well equipped to do all the maneuvers they did in my favorite movie as a young boy, “Rad”. A basketball court, BB gun with an affluence of birds, river within a mile or so, mountains in all directions – yes, there was plenty to do outside. Even during the cold winters I remember spending at least a few quality hours per day outside. I shot my best friend in the shoulder with my bb gun; actually, I shot both my best friends with my bb gun. With those same best friends we knocked out every window of an old abandoned gray house and then spent the next two months working on a dairy farm in order to pay off our regretful debt. I often moved sprinkler pipe in shorts - I wasn’t a real farmer, I never really knew the difference between a heifer and a regular ole’ cow. We rode calfs and imagined they were bucking wildly and we were cowboys - all they really did was run around in a circle and we'd eventually fall off. What the hell though, we felt tough. I can safely say I rode my bike hundreds of miles each year and never went any further than 3 miles from my home. I walked along the side of the road with a gun draped over my confidant shoulder and a sack lunch in my other hand and it didn’t look strange because it wasn’t strange. And it’s all of these things and so much more that I would sing about if I was a musician. I would find a way to implement sprinkler pipe into my American roots music, certainly bb gun would be a lyric – I love real music, real lyrics that are home grown. The next album on the list is full of this.

#19 Romantica - America (2007)

When I listen to America, which is often, I think of my childhood, I think of growing up in that alfalfa field, I'm not really certain why - this album is American roots sounding. There is no question the genre, Romantica is an alt-country band and a very favorable one at that. The album opens with "Queen of Hearts" a catchy more upbeat track with a sing-along chorus:

She’ll take you down to the river and throw you in, leave you when the sun goes down Tell you that you could’ve been a real fine fellow if your daddy would’ve had the time Leave you in the morning when the fog is forming on the Mississippi River bed

Well, you soon discover when you tell her that you love her that the girl you used to love is dead

She’ll take you down to the river and do it all over again

Most of this album is accompanied with pedal steel and I can't imagine the album without it. The lead singer and also songwriter of the group, Ben Kyle grew up in Belfast Ireland and moved to Minnesota when he was thirteen. Seeing Romantica live proved their excellence, I can assure you I have never had a more breathe taking musical experience as I did when I heard how perfect they sounded live. America has twelve tracks, it serves as a road map for a road trip, it's a beautiful album, soft at times, more upbeat at times but solid throughout. One of my favorite tracks off this album is "How To Live In A Modern World"

How to live in a modern world

Roll the dice, find a girl

Throw away the TV, and have some kids

Move into the big city

Next door to a colored family

Don’t do what your daddy did

I love this album, my two young boys love this album. Wil, my oldest, asks me, "Dad, play the snake song" which is a lyric in the third track, "The National Side" - I'm most excited about this band than any other at this time. Only two albums in, young guys, I have a feeling their going to be putting out magical music for years to come. The other hunch I have; I bet you Ben shot at least one of his friends with a bb gun growing up...maybe.

Check out Romantica and stream their music by clicking the links

http://www.myspace.com/romantica

http://www.romanticamusic.com/

#20

2009-11-15T21:18:00.000-08:00

For me, there is no clear line between film and music. However, those films and musicians that speak to me best seem to be the most conflicted. I have often spoke with my Mother about this, asking, "Why is it that the really great works of art seem to stem from the greatest sorrow, the most conflicted of men and women, the deepest of pain?" Not that there isn't an exception to this idea but it does seem to hold true for the most part. Ernest Hemingway comes to mind, perhaps the greatest American author who ever penned the English language committed suicide in his early sixties. Kurt Cobain also comes to mind, one of the most gifted singer songwriters of my generation dead before the age of thirty, also suicide. The only answer I can come up with is this; Truth. Something profound and palpable lives within truth, the word that can set you free - write about what you know they say and how could it be any easier to accomplish such a thing than by simply telling the truth.

It is this very idea that leads me to love the singer songwriter. Just as the singer songwriter, more often than not, my favorite filmmakers are those who write and direct their own films. However, music trumps film in one significant way - little if any collaboration is needed for the musician to accomplish their goal, not at all the case with film. Great songwriting is so much a form of poetry, great dialog in a film holding the power to stick with us days after we hear it. One of my favorite films is A River Runs Through It, I care more deeply about the novel by Norman Maclean than I do the film, but I really do love this movie. So many moments shine for me in this film, the sorrow that exists in this story stands out for me but it is the written word that shines brightest, two scenes in particular. The first; when Norman is falling in Love with Jessie and she sits near a window reading a letter he wrote to her...

Dear Jessie,

As the moon lingers a moment over the Bitterroots, before its descent into the invisible, my mind is filled with song. I find I am humming, softly, not to the music, but to something else, some place else. A place remembered. A field of grass where no one seemed to have been, except the deer, and the memory is strengthened by the feeling of you, dancing in my awkward arms.

The other memorable moment is when Norman walks into his Father's office to find him reading aloud, they begin reciting a poem back and forth and eventually become unified in their words.

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting

The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting,

And cometh from afar:

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home.

Though nothing can bring back the hour

Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower;

We will grieve not, rather find

Strength in what remains behind;

In the primal sympathy

Which having been must ever be;

In the soothing thoughts that spring

Out of human suffering;

In the faith that looks through death,

Thanks to the human heart by which we live,

Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,

To me the meanest flower that blows can give

Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."

Words this beautiful seem to sing, surely they breathe and this is how I feel about the next album on this list. Matthew Ryan seems to be overrun with pain. The greatest challenge that I face is deciding which album of his to highlight, for there are three that could and should be on this list. He is perhaps one of the most underrated and unknown musicians this country has had in a very long while. I believe him to be one of the most exceptional songwriters not only of my generation but of any generation. His voice is quite unconventional and perhaps plays a vital role in his ability to stay under the radar. After learning to play the guitar in his late teens, he struggled learning to play popular songs and so he began writing his own. Lucky for us he began writing his own.

Matthew Ryan - May Day (1997)

I adore this album, I adore all twelve tracks, I adore the heartache and pain that lives within, I adore it completely. With the opening track, "Guilty" Matthew Ryan wastes no time in blaming himself for that heartache and pain. Lyrically, this album and Ryan in general stands behind no one - his songwriting all his own and it is masterful. With each and every track Ryan allows his listeners to go deeper inside the torment and discomfort that comes in failed relationships. The third track "Irrelevant" opens with a remarkable ten sentence verse,

There's only one light on in the house

And that's the light up in the hall

And it's shining on the back of my head

And I'm concentrating hard on the cigarette

To the ashtray from the ashtray back to my lips

So I lean up from my easy chair

I rub my three-day beard

And give that thousand yard stare

As I recall all the time and money we spent

Before I became irrelevant

That lyric paints as much of a picture as any brush or pencil, I can see a man sitting in an old brown recliner, hardwood floor beneath his feet, mosquitos of dust dancing in the harsh light, cigarette smoke lingering like a thick cloud, you can smell the room if you'll just try. It's lyrics such as these that make me wish I knew Matthew Ryan. I can imagine sitting across from him in an old classic diner, one that would still allow him to smoke, coffee in his cup, sleep in his eyes, I would love to hear his stories, his points of view but then I realize I do know him. I know him because of these songs, I know him because of the truth - oh how I appreciate that honesty. If you're discovering Matthew for the first time make sure you begin where he began, with this album, May Day. Matthew has a library of fine music, nearly a dozen albums in which only seven are studio releases. Each track on this album is significant, each track is poetry in its purest and most wonderful form. I really do believe this album is as timeless and perfect as any album ever made.

I'm not sure why I'm drawn to the thought invoking stimulus that comes with pain filled stories. Perhaps, "It's a perpetual stone in my shoe, one that I will always be trying to shake loose" - I wish I could take credit for that line, but that belongs to Matthew Ryan. I find an abundance of hope within the conflicted artists I speak of, they take us to places we've seldom been, they help us feel things we've seldom felt, they are the most gifted of all story tellers - they tell the truth.

Check out Matthew Ryan

http://www.matthewryanonline.com/

http://www.myspace.com/matthewryan

#21

2009-11-09T22:31:00.000-08:00

This weeks contribution is from one of my dearest friends, I consider him family in every form - Also, it's important to mention that in no way are these twenty-five albums in any type of ranking. Number one is no greater than twenty-five, it's just a list, not a countdown to number one.

By Digler, 9 November 2009

It was the music. If it’s something that matters, doesn’t it always come down to the music? Both from small towns in Idaho and great families (and if you think Mike is from a small town, I grew up in the ‘suburbs’ of a town with a population of 770), both married to our high school sweethearts but too stubborn and too cool in that ridiculous we –were-high-school-basketball-rivals-and-he-was-a punk-kind of way to try and get to know each other even as we lived just a few blocks apart. Our wives had similar backgrounds but in that way that women seem to be able to do but men struggle with they were already way past the pettiness and had become, and remain, great friends. Finally, our wives had managed to get us all together and as Mike turned a critical eye towards my CD collection we realized we basically owned mirror collections, had similar backgrounds and came from families that had from an early age shaped our love for music. My father is a huge classic rock kind of guy – and now has a vintage Harley as if to put an exclamation on that fact. The kind of guy who when a song came on the radio would say, son that’s “Melissa” from The Allman Brothers Band, Eat a Peach album, released in 1972. So I grew up listening to albums, and that’s still what I look for, listen to and buy – and like Mike I think we have as many great albums being put out now as ever before – but you have to look for them and you have to want to find them. I’ve gone through various stages of music in my life and still appreciate a wide variety but if you drew a big old Venn diagram (sorry, I’m a PhD student) you’d see a little more classic rock and alternative on my side and a little more classic country on Mike’s side but there would be a huge overlap in the middle with the kinds of music this blog is all about. I’m glad Mike has finally put down into written word some of the conversations we’ve had over the years and I’m happy to be a part of it.

It’s almost been a decade since we bonded over music. Mike’s moved from Idaho to Brooklyn and back again. I’ve moved from Idaho to Boston… and that’s where I remain today – six years and counting. My wife and I have two girls and they’ve been born here and are being raised here. As I stated, I’m a PhD student, studying at a business school, in the education capital of the world. It has been an amazing experience as we’ve experienced life in a city as dynamic as Boston and learned to live so far away from family and friends. I’m teaching, working on a dissertation, and getting to know some extraordinary and brilliant people from all over the world. Some days, I feel like I belong, that I’m becoming an equal, that Boston is becoming home. But there are other times – when I see my daughters have to go to a public park for a chance to get their pants dirty and run wild, when someone wonders what you could do for fun in a tiny town in Idaho, or asks aloud how in the world I managed to end up getting a PhD in Boston – that I wonder what I’m doing here. It’s a tension between where I’ve come from, what I’m doing now and where I hope to be. There is some sadness there but also some hope. I’m an optimist and I usually have a smile on my face. In those moments, there is one artist, and one album in particular that resonates – Josh Ritter’s The Animal Years.

#21 Josh Ritter - The Animal Years

I could make an argument for every one of his albums to be on this list and it’s easy to follow his own trajectory from his self-titled album to The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter as he’s found his style and grown into his song-writing. But I think The Animal Years is Josh at a cross-road, one that many of us can relate to as we try to find out what we want to be and where we want to be it. Besides, he’s gone from Idaho to Boston and back again. Maybe one day I’ll do the same. He is a lyrical storyteller – probably the best we have today – and there is a sense that he has his voice on the edge. It’s right up to the boundaries of where he can take it and if you listen closely, like in “Lillian, Egypt” and “Good Man” you can tell he has a smile on his face. I’ve seen him in concert a couple of times and can verify this – his smile, energy and enthusiasm is contagious. There isn’t a week goes by that I don’t tell my wife, as Josh sings on “Good Man” “Babe we both had dry spells, hard times in bad lands, I’m a good man for ya, I’m a good man” He’s more serious on “Girl in the War” and “Thin Blue Flame” but even at his darkest you get a sense of optimism and lyrics that you’ll want to repeat to your dearest friends.

On “Idaho” he sings “My clothes are packed and I want to go Idaho oh Idaho” and when I hear that I’ve got my own bags packed, and I can see a cold, winter night in Idaho and an open road ahead of me. The album ends with the song “Here at the Right Time” with Josh singing “Tell me I got here at the right time. If I did it’s probably the first time. No second guesses or secret signs. Tell me I got here at the right time.” He’s hopeful and so am I.

#22

2009-11-03T08:18:00.002-08:00

I lived in Brooklyn, New York in the earlier part of the decade. Our apartment (My Wife and I) was on 33rd street, just off of 5th avenue - from our front steps looking north we had a wonderful view of a huge catholic cemetery. Massive trees throughout, a black iron gate bordering the acreage that most certainly typified the beauty of most any park. In fact, during our apartment hunt, as we were driving up 33rd street, our realtor behind the wheel, one of us said, "Sweet, we'll be next to a park", our realtor was quick to respond, "Yeah, a park for dead people". All the same, it really was beautiful.

I was attending school in Manhattan and Haley worked in Brooklyn. Walking and riding the subway were our only forms of transportation and looking back now, I wouldn't have it any other way. Riding the subway on a daily basis is its own form of entertainment, people-watching is a pass time in New York and a satisfactory one at that. The typical duration of my ride was around 30 minutes, I read a lot, I remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird. On one occasion I missed my stop, I was in the middle of highlighting a sentence, "It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived" I'm not sure if that was the actual sentence I was highlighting, It's just the one that I remember, I'd like to believe it was.

I have a multitude of fine memories from our time spent in the world's greatest city. One of my clearest is the Virgin Records store near Union Station, which was only a few blocks from the school I attended. I would hoof it down to that store whenever time permitted and I would sample new artist after new artist. My favorite finding was an artist by the name of Jesse Malin, Brooklyn based, his debut recently hitting the shelves. I have a suitcase full of splendid subway stories, not just subway stories, New York stories, New York memories and Jesse Malin's The Fine Art Of Self Destruction is a perfect prescription for having those memories rise to the top.

#22 Jesse Malin - The Fine Art Of Self Destruction (2003)

"Queen of The Underworld" is the opening track on this alternative, slash, punk-rock album. The Fine Art Of Self Destruction never does become purely punk or even alternative for that matter, something deep within each track keeps this album hovering above and around other genres. I believe shades of Bruce Springsteen can be heard throughout. Jesse shines lyrically; he has a bit of a whiney, higher pitched voice and you will either love this or find it to be somewhat nettlesome. "Queen of The Underworld" starts the album out on the right track,

I Never got an invitation

Never hurt too much

I'm gonna' make a reservation

But I'm not in a rush

There is not a single skip on this eleven track album. In my mind the album serves as a kind of journal for Jesse, each song reflecting Brooklyn and New York in the most perfect way, his emotions out there, left to be loved or criticized. The tenth track, "Almost Grown" is one of my favorite songs lyrically...

My parents split up in the first grade

My father never did come back

My sister liked John Travolta

But I wanted Billy Jack

Throwing things off of the rooftops

40 buildings all the same

My mother took a job as a waitress

Swimming in the divorce age

When you're all alone

And you're all alone

When you're all alone and you're almost grown

Me and Holly snuck into night clubs

The politics of punk rock church

We were so idealistic

But somehow only saw the worst

When you're young and violent sick and silent

Hoping just to be admired

Water seeks its level of pain

And you're all alone

And you're almost grown

Some old friends retired too

But they still laugh about me and you

My mother's ashes went into the ocean

Scattered on a windy day

She used to like Frank Sinatra

Cigarettes and JFK

Some retired some expired some were meant

To be admired for a moment at a young age

But I don't care what they say others went and got away

I just want to see her again

When you're all alone

You're almost grown

When you're all alone and your heart is stone

I wish I was on the subway now, either reading a good book, people-watching, or holding the hand of the woman I love most, the later is actually at the top of that list. New York is like no other place in this world, Brooklyn is fine and wonderful, and though pictures are nice, nothing quite takes me back to the subway as effectively as Jesse Malin's The Fine Art Of Self Destruction.

#23

2009-10-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

Growing up I shared the same bed as my older brother, Jacob, five years older. Not just the same room, the same bed – you’re thinking it had to be a king, nope, it was queen size. Our bedroom was in the basement, right next to the laundry room, the sound of a dryer running is restful to me, peaceful, almost tranquil. Like clockwork, my Mother would throw in a batch or two of laundry most every night. I loved the conversations the three of us would have as she separated whites from darks, us two boys lying in bed as she cheerfully moved about the laundry room. It’s remarkable to me that the sound of a dryer can take me back to that queen bed, brown-carpeted floor, sports posters shielding the walls and my older Brother lying next to me. The power that exists in sound truly is astonishing.

Just as Jake and I shared that same bed, we also share the same love for music, the next album on my list the two of us discovered together while living in a hotel room in Sunnyside Washington. In no direct attempt at offending anyone, I can safely say the only redeeming quality about Sunnyside Washington is getting to leave. Our few week stay in Sunnyside was combined with one hundred degree days – outside of our hotel room was disorderly, especially at night, the food was bad and the people seemed churlish. However, anytime I listen to On Promenade I reluctantly drift back to that hotel room. I can’t help it, like I said, the power that exists in sound truly is astonishing. Lucky for me (and Jake) we had this album to accompany our nine hour drive home. And so, when I listen to On Promenade It's not just Sunnyside that I visit, I can see the Blue Mountains in Oregon, I can see a particular ma-n-pa's c-store in historic Baker City, I can see a whole lot of freeway and remember a cluster of conversation.
#23 Doug Burr - On Promenade (2007)
The foremost thing about Doug Burr's On Promenade is how solid it stands as a complete album, I'm not sure there is one song that rises up more than another. The other aspect of this album is how much better it continues to get with multiple listens. Doug sings in masterful verses - forcing his listeners to pay attention. On Promenade has a gospel roots feel to it, hard to place the sound in any particular genre - it never becomes altered, it remains as one continual sound; the eleven tracks on this album belong together. The guitar work is fine but it's the other instruments that give On Promenade it's distinguished sound and feel. Electric guitar, banjo, piano, drums, the way it's mixed together, the background vocals always joining at the precise moment. On Promenade is an impressive album, around forty-five minutes in length, full of heart and skillful songwriting.
I've traveled to a few places I don't care to remember, Sunnyside being at the top of the list - I gladly accept my time there because of our eminent discovery. With Doug Burr's On Promenade I'll take the bad with the good, because this album is nothing short of great.
Check out Doug Burr's official site:
http://www.dougburr.com/home.htm
Stream songs from On Promenade at his myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/dougburr

#24

2009-10-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

One Saturday, when I was sixteen years of age, my dad and I had spent a good half day working around the yard. What I believed then, as a young man was the most rewarding part of the day, was our trip to town for soda and gee-dunks (a word I’m quite certain my Dad made up – it means candy) And if ever my Dad had a noble tradition, this five mile road trip to the nearest convenient store was it. So, the two of us climbed into his blue, Ford pickup. I can still see the gray interior.

Only a minute or two into the trip my Father turned on the cassette player, prepared to hear the great Merle Haggard. However, he was quite dumbfounded as gangster rap began pulsating from the speakers instead. My dad moved with great purpose, pushing eject, shaking his head, snatching the tape, rolling down the window, flinging it with great delight through his open window, without missing a beat.

I was quick to point out that I had purchased that cassette the night before with his money. My frank explanation was followed by his words, “Two rules as long as you live in my house, drive my car, eat my food, and spend my money. Rule number one: rap music will not be left in any of my vehicles, if it is I will toss it out. Rule number two: you will not buy rap music with the money I give you, only the money you earn.” After a slight pause, “And where in the hell did you put my Merle Haggard tape? Son, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll never, not ever, never ever touch Merle again”.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like Merle Haggard, because I did, I loved him. “I turned twenty-one in prison doin’ life without parole, no one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried, Mama tried to raise me better but her pleading I denied, that leaves only me to blame cause Mama tried”. I’m no fool, that’s gangster rap from 1968. It’s just that I was sixteen and I thought rap music was…I thought it was…I thought…It’s because I was sixteen.

It wasn’t just Merle Haggard tapes that filled the glove box and middle console of my Dad’s pickup trucks. I remember plenty of long drives, deer hunting trips, adventures of all sorts, myself compressed in the middle, my older brother riding passenger, my Father driving, and the three of us singing along to Roger Miller, Buck Owens, Don Williams, Johnny Cash, Don Gibson, or George Jones to name a few. Great country music, the stuff of old, instilled in me a desire to continue looking for it. I’m speaking of the bluesy, bluegrass, folk, with a little honky-tonk, good ole’ fashioned story-telling kind of country music. This leads us to our next album on the list.

#24 Justin Jones and The Driving Rain - Love Verses Heroin (2006)

Love Verses Heroin is an impressive album from Justin Jones, his debut release is titled, Blue Dreams, it’s a solo effort, mostly acoustic and quite solid. Love Verses Heroin is the first album with The Driving Rain behind him, he follows Love Verses Heroin with And I Am The Song Of The Drunkards, which shows progress but as for a complete album, first track to last track, Love Verses Heroin is it.

LVH is a formidable ten songs. The opening track “Hope” is acoustic for the first minute and twenty-five seconds and when the full band joins in you’ll quickly realize the tone for this album is set. The following track “Honey I Need You” accompanied by an upbeat banjo and harmonica, with impressive guitar work from The Driving Rain will certainly have you tapping your toes as you listen. The third track softens a bit, accompanied by piano, “Need You Around” is beautifully written, reminding me of similar pain you’ll find in Johnny Cash written songs. Lyrically, Justin has plenty to say and is proof that songwriting should be about life experience, about honesty, pain, joy, and everything that comes with love…verses heroin. This album has been dependable on my play list going on three years now and I’m pretty sure if my old man was to climb in the cab of his truck and find this playing, well, he wouldn’t turn it off, that much I know.

You can stream "Hope" & "Honey I Need You" below:

http://www.myspace.com/justinjones

Learn more about Justin Jones

http://www.justin-jones.com/

And his new song "California" watch him sing it live - absolutely worth the visit

http://vimeo.com/4148670

Introduction to List & Album #25

2009-10-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

I’m Michael, thirty-one, male, average height, average weight, and probably average IQ. However, being a child with parents who grew up in the sixties gives me one significant advantage. I know music. I don’t know how to play it, I certainly can’t read it, I own a guitar but it’s become just like an old weathered pair of shoes, I won’t throw them out but I never wear them. And so, why does having parents who grew up in the sixties give me any type of advantage – I’m going to tell you.

I grew up in a small southern Idaho town, small as in a few thousand people; small as in “art” didn’t really live there. The theatre, a music scene, no such thing lived within the walls of this predominantly farming community. However, dead center between the walls of our red brick home art had a place to breath, a place to kick back, a place to call home, even surrounded by alfalfa fields, even far and away from any populated city. It was early mornings waiting for my warm breakfast that my ears first heard Van Morrison sing “Into the Mystic”. Still today, when I hear the horn section from that song come in around the midway point, I travel directly to that large open kitchen, my feet dangling just above the cold linoleum floor, warm air from an old gray electric wall heater blowing on my bare legs, and a Mother waiting on my every want and need. The true blessing is not just the gift of a perfect Mother but a Mother who rarely went without her Van Morrison, her Dylan, Cash, Jackson Brown, Tom Petty, Neil Young, the Stones, and Beatles.

I have a memory, I was probably ten years old and I must have listened to “And it Stoned Me” the first track from Van Morrison’s Moondance record at least a hundred times in a single sitting. I couldn’t stop, I didn’t understand the lyrics, “And it stoned me to my soul, stoned me just like jelly roll” of course those words were puzzling to me. But I just kept listening, over and over, really great songs have this power, this hold on us that as we listen, perhaps only twenty, thirty seconds into the song we have a burning urge to start it over - Van Morrison certainly does possess that gift. And so you see from within the walls of my home I was educated by a Mother who understood great music, who had her own discoveries from sessions with Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited or the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street, perhaps what she didn’t know was the water of inspiration and wonder was beginning to trickle into my veins. The very blood that streamed into my heart was being filled with the sounds and words from a library of unequaled songwriters. The seed was planted.

Now that I have told you that, let me please tell you this; Great, I mean truly great musicians, the ones who write their own songs, who create their own melodies, these artists, they still exist. I am here to tell you that our free and beautiful country is still riddled with magical music. Every year during the last fifteen years I have been fortunate enough to find artists that have put out complete albums, records that are absolutely note worthy from beginning to end. There has been one remarkable difference during the past twenty-five years concerning music and that difference belongs to the airwaves of the radio. You see, when my parents were growing up what played on the radio was exceptional music and also extremely popular. Those three ingredients blended together, radio play, quality and popularity…they went hand in hand. That is why on any top 100 list, any list claiming the greatest albums of all time, you’ll rarely find an album even remotely close to the top of that list that has been made in the last twenty years. Are you telling me great albums of my day cannot be found? Are you telling me in a world were revolution and progression dominate our way of life, that little progression has been made in the way of a singer songwriter. Well then, if so, that cup of tea is a tough swallow for me. And so, I’m going to give you twenty-five albums, none older than fifteen years that I believe stand toe to toe with any album out there. I’m talking Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band, Bruce’s Born to Run, The Clash’s London Calling, Dylan, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Eagles, Townes Van Zandt, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, I’m not leaving any out, I know and understand with great humility the brilliance and magnitude that lives within those albums. However, also know this, to do it first does not always mean you did it best. Originality is a wonderful thing, to pave-the-way is historic, it’s pivotal, but don’t forget we get better at most everything as this round world continues to spin. It’s important that I leave this one addendum: For the most part, I’m speaking of a specific genre of music. I’m not really sure what to call the genre. Some call it folk, traditional, Americana, rock, or country. I happen to believe it’s singer songwriter with the aid of man/woman played instruments, guitar, piano, harmonica, violin and so forth. It’s music that sounds the same live as it does playing through any type of sound system.

#25 – Ray LaMontagne – Trouble (2006)

Trouble is the first album from Ray LaMontagne with the title track opening the record. A total of ten songs, just under forty-five minutes in length – This album feels like something from the 60’s, his voice raspy and real, emotion packed lyrics and a gentle melody throughout make this one of the great albums in the last fifteen years. If radio paralleled that of the 60’s & 70’s, Trouble would garner 2-4 songs on the top ten charts, possibly even grabbing the number one spot for a week or two. “Jolene” my favorite song on the album is story telling at its finest.

Been so long since I seen your face

or felt a part of this human race

I've been living out of this here suitcase for way too long

A man needs something he can hold onto

A nine-pound hammer or a woman like you

Either one of them things will do

I love this album.

I have two sons, their young now, they’ll be older before I know it…wiser too. And I’m sure they’ll hear a certain song from Trouble and they will shoot back to the past, I hope it’s like the past I shoot back to. I hope it’s like Van Morrison, I know Ray LaMontagne has that gift; I just hope I’m enough like my Mother to pass it on.

The List continues on Monday (10-19-09) check in for album #24 and be sure to check out Ray Lamontagne.

http://www.raylamontagne.com/

Stream some of his music at his myspace page below:

http://www.myspace.com/raylamontagne