Andrew Bird – Live at Grimey’s

Had a great instore performance at Grimey’s yesterday from Andrew Bird, who was on his way to Bonnaroo. His performance was really great, and the Grimey’s crowd was very appreciative.

I’ve put up videos of the entire performance at YouTube. Embedded a few of my favorites below, including a cover of Smog’s excellent “Cold Blooded Old Times.”

There Is No Love Where There is No Bramble.

I spent Saturday evening with the guys at Black 13 — a highly recommended shop in Nashville — getting my second (and most likely, last) tattoo.

The text comes from the song “Say Valley Maker” from one of my favorite records — A River Ain’t Too Much To Love by Smog (who’s just going by Bill Callahan now).

As for the significance, this is a reminder of what life has been teaching me in the last 6 months: that nothing worth having comes without effort, that life is often more rewarding when you take risks, and that — as my mother told me just a few weeks ago — we are given obstacles so that we can grow enough to move forward.

Next: a Tony Danza tattoo, obviously. Or maybe something more direct.

3 Songs From the Avenues Video Archive

It’s been hanging over my head for about five years now to edit down the archives of live Avenues video and place them on a digital format so I can share them with, well, the other 4 guys from the band. Slowly but surely I’m getting to it — I have the raw files imported and separated, and now I’m just sorting through them.

The majority of video comes from our EP Release / Farewell Show from February of 2005 — a show memorable for many reasons (it was our likely our best, drums were caught on fire, Hulk Hands, Crocodile Rock, secret t-shirts…).  Here are the first two songs from that show.

Neko Case — “The Pharoahs”

We saw Neko Case at Workplay in Birmingham last night. Amazing show. Her voice is absolutely outstanding, she comes across as very humble and grateful, and her band is excellent — the songs from Middle Cyclone sound even better live. Which is saying a lot.

So tonight with the light on the back porch fading I sat down and figured out how to play “The Pharoahs.” Since I use Delicious.com to bookmark the tabs/chords for all the songs I know how to play, I need some sort of source for publishing the chords to the song, so I’m using the old blog. And bookmarking myself. Special. So this is really for me, and not so much for you. But play along if you’re interested — this is a really great song.

“I Think We Need More Rope:” The Recap of Joshua Tree, February 2009

Nashville was nice today, but my head is admittedly still wandering the desert of Joshua Tree, CA. Here’s the recap:

Rick and I flew out of Nashville on Friday to the bright (and overwhelmingly unhinged) streets of Las Vegas. Flight was commemorative if only because Rick asked the guy between us, “Are you Rod Stewart?” (He wasn’t, but he was Dolly Parton’s drummer, and old-school prog rocker, and a part-time stem cell enthusiast.)

Vegas felt like a brief stop on the way to something bigger. We wandered the streets for a while before settling into O’Shea’s — easily the most white-trash casino on the strip, but cheap and ace for people watching. I mostly laughed at sorority girls dancing enthusiastically to the worst cover band I’ve ever heard and dealt with the bad choice of a falafel burger from earlier.

Saturday began early — rental car pick up, Whole Foods for luxuries, Panera for breakfast, REI for fuel (and a hat — thanks to the money I managed to not flush away gambling), the grocery store for $100 in snacks, and then the long drive through the Mojave. By the time we reached Joshua Tree (NOT at the foot of Mount Shasta, although we’ve seen the signs), the sun was getting low. We found our campsite, discovered that we had perfect cell reception, and made contact with Brad and Jamie — who were climbing a mountain nearby. In an awesome experiment, we discovered how well sound travels through the desert AND I had bromance proclaimed for me from a mountaintop. Beat that. Whole Foods Box Wine and steak and veggies closed out the day, and the weather was perfect. I waxed about the beauty of life on my phone, and slept like a rock in my tent.

Story of Stuff

I was profoundly moved by The Story of Stuff this week, which a client introduced on Monday. Please take the time to watch.

Since watching this on Tuesday, I’ve had a strong realization: I don’t want to raise kids super-saturated by marketing messages. Think about it: Saturday morning cartoons are one long commercial designed to teach kids that you’re supposed to want STUFF for happiness. Toucan Sam and Tony the Tiger are teaching kids that the only way breakfast can be satisfying is if you use a chintzy plastic spoon shaped like a rocketship (free with 3 UPC codes!) and ONLY if you’re eating the newest version with the marshmallow shaped donut clusters that turn your milk purple.

Let’s Just Accept Now That This Blog Not Really ABOUT Anything Other Than Me

Everybody’s doing these things, and I’m down with the bandwagon as much as anybody. I debated on whether or not to post it here, but I figure the only people reading are doing so because they know me, not because they Googled “deep political insight” or “the meaning of life” or anything.

25 Things About Me That You May or May Not Find Interesting Or Already Have Figured Out By Simply Having A Conversation of Length With Me (Because I’m Not That Great at Hiding My Personal Hang Ups)

1. The “economics of life” boil down to a very simple equation for me: you round down for money, up for time. For example, if something costs $22.00, my brain says that it costs $20. However, if I look at the clock and see that it is 7:39, my brain processes it as being 8:00. My wife is perplexed by this, but I have this solid rationale: you’ll always make more money, you’ll never get more time.
2. As hinted in #1, I’m a bit obsessed with time and how I spend it. Life is beautiful, and short, and I don’t like wasting moments. I am fiercely guarded of my free time, because I have a strong desire to do (admittedly) too much with my life.
3. I haven’t vomited since early June of 1999. I was in the Bahamas at the time. I don’t remember the last time I vomited in the continental US. 2009 = Vomit Free for 10 years! Here comes 15, baby!
4. Love at first sight? Not practical. But I had a suspicion that I could fall in love with my wife the night I met her. And a year later, when I finally kissed her, I knew I loved her immediately.
5. I have one tattoo, and it means something very important to me. “Great Moments Move Through You” is a sort of mantra for how I want to live — every moment carries the possibility for greatness if you’re willing to seek it. And I plan on getting at least one more tattoo. (sorry mom, but don’t worry — it won’t be on my face or anything.)
6. I need to pace when I talk or think hard. This is not entirely conducive to working in a shared office or dealing with computers.
7. I am most proud of three things I’ve created: First, the EP I recorded with Avenues in 2004. Second, my poetry portfolio from college. Third, an awesome paper I wrote for Critical Reading and Writing that applies deconstructionist literary theory to R.E.M.’s “Murmur.”
8. I try not to care about material things. And I’m mostly pretty successful in this, but man, I really love buying records.
9. Traveling makes me feel small and makes life feel full of motion. I’d rather use my vacation days to go on whirlwind trips with lots of moving than use all my days to go sit on the same piece of beach for 5 days straight. (Not that I’m complaining about the idea of beach sitting. I’m not crazy.)
10. The most amazing place I’ve ever seen is Glacier National Park, from foot, carrying a backpack. Second is Point Reyes at sunset.
11. I have a life goal of owning a second home in Wyoming.
12. I love backpacking, for three reasons: buying the gear is fun, I love great views, and sunny mornings crawling out of a tent feel SO GOOD.
13. I’ve never been an athlete, but rock climbing makes me feel athletic and challenges me mentally, and (as hokey as it sounds) has been a life-changing hobby.
14. I’m a bit obsessed with R.E.M. — first band I ever loved, and I’d argue ’till death that 70% of their catalog is genius.
15. When I was in the second grade I went through a phase in which I cried every day during the pledge of allegiance.
16. Ashley and I decided the time was right to get married as soon as some very practical criteria fell in place: it was financially a good decision, we had agreed on a song for our first dance (Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend”), we had a strong desire to throw a great party that year, and we realized there wasn’t much going on in 2006.
17. Multiplication blew my mind in the third grade; it may have well been quantum physics. It’s the first time I remember failing at something. I only learned to multiply by force of will, and help from a computer game that somehow melded rocketships with the times tables.
18. The scariest moment of my life was almost tripping over a grizzly bear in the Grand Tetons.
19. I was a notoriously picky eater for most of my adolescent life, and now I think I’ll eat almost anything. Except beans — slimy on the outside, gritty on the inside.
20. In the past 10 years, I’ve wanted to be a lot of things when I grow up: a musician, a writer, a film director, a music producer, a park ranger, a graphic designer, a business owner, a professor, a record store owner, an architect. My advice: ambition is good, but you have to narrow it down.
21. I’m lucky to have a wife with whom I have so much in common. My favorite of these are: zombie films, a love for music, political beliefs, taste in food, sense of humor, and the unquestionable belief that David Lee Roth was the better front man for Van Halen.
22. I’m not really embarrassed by the fact that I have a lot of love for people. I find it easier to love people than dislike them, and that’s fine with me. I think I fell in love for the first time in the second grade (as much as a person can at that age).
23. Yeah, I miss being in a band more than anything.
24. Regarding loving people: I have a hetero man-crush on Elvis Costello, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Tom Selleck. And I’m also completely in love with Neko Case. Ashley’s just learned to accept all this business as part of who I am.
25. I don’t really like westerns, but I could watch “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” on infinite repeat.

I Promise This Blog Won’t Only Be About Neko Case and R.E.M.

…but this was the highlight of my day: download Neko’s new single “People Got a Lotta Nerve” here. (You can also stream it at MySpace…)

My verdict? It’s excellent. Seems to shake out from under the country-noir sound of “Fox Confessor…” a bit in favor of something more polished and tightly structured, but it doesn’t make her voice any less entrancing, her humor any less alluring, or the natural pop-craft of her songwriting any less stirring.

I’ll make my next post about something else, but this is all I have the energy to get behind right now.

Highly Recommended: Delta Spirit — Ode to Sunshine

It happens every year — I make a year end list of my favorite records, and then a few days later I go and find a new one.

I finally got around to picking up Delta Spirit’s debut full length. I’ts been on my list since we saw them upstage Dr. Dog at 3rd and Lindsely back in September. I had heard the record once or twice at Grimey’s but hadn’t had a chance to let it sink in. After their short and briliant instore a few weeks ago, I made a mental note that I needed to go ahead and buy the record next time I was able to earn some store credit.

Since picking up Ode to Sunshine last night and I’ve already listened to it about half a dozen times, and I can already say this is one of the best records of the year — deeply soulful, with a great sense of timelessness and hopefulness mixed and a little bit of religious confusion and clatter and swagger and groove. Great singer, awesome drummer, great live show, and fantastic songs.

You can hear some Delta Sprit here – listen to “Trashcan” and just try and tell me it’s not one of the best songs you heard in 2008.

Record Purchase — December 21, 2008

Vinyl:

• Neil Diamond — Greatest Hits
• R.E.M. — Wendell Gee 12 inch (b/w “Crazy” and a live version of “Driver 8″)
• R.E.M. — (Don’t Go Back to) Rockville 12-inch UK single (b/w “Wolves” and live versions of “9-9″ and “Gardening at Night”)
• My Morning Jacket – Chocolate and Ice

CD:

• Elvis Costello — Brutal Youth (and with this, I believe I have the entire studio output complete)
• Ethiopiques  — Volume 8: Swinging Addis 1969 – 1974
• Michael Jackson — Dangerous (Special Edition) (yeah, taking it all the way back to the 5th grade)
• Delta Spirit — Ode to Sunshine