Would You Like Fries With That?....1

Upfront I’m not going to promise any sort of time table for this.  What this is will be a column that acts as a sort of clearing house of whatever my mind has sitting about.  It may appear once a week, it might not appear for a month or more.  I know the danger of promising a regular schedule and than not being able to fulfill said obligations.  Too many things can happen to get in the way, so no promises upfront but hopefully this will be the start of a regular column.

So what will the column be about?  Whatever I’m thinking of when I sit down to write it, so basically I’m saying it could be about anything or nothing.  What I’m listening to, what new records I’ve received in the mail, what news I’ve heard…heck it might even be what comic book I’ve just read.

Last week two of the best albums of the quickly vanishing year were released.  Alejandro Escovedo’s Big Station is another example of his superb writing and singing.  This man consistently puts out some of the best music.  A few years back I happened to have the privilege of seeing him perform live in a small acoustic setting.  Of all the shows I’ve been to I would count this one in my top ten.  He sat on a stool on the stage and with just one other guitar accompanying him he sang and talked about his life and music. 

The other album is Kelly Hogan’s I Like To Keep Myself In Pain.   Her absence between albums is way too long, so when I saw that she has a new album out I was over joyed.  How good she is is evident by how much time she spends singing with other artists and how much others want her to add her voice to their music.  For the last few years Kelly has been part of Neko Case’s band. 

While writing the above two paragraphs I initially paused when it came time to write Kelly or Alejandro by name.  How do I address an artist when I’m talking about their music?  Do I call them by their first name, as if we’re old buddies or do I go the route of referring to them by their last name and come across more indifferent to them.  Little things like this cause me worry and make me re think my words as I type them.  I’ve decided to err on the side of familiarity and speak of them as if we’re all friends, since that’s how I like to imagine this site filled with friends and lovers of music.

I’ve heard that Will Hoge is working on a new album with the title Modern American Protest Music and let me tell you, just that title alone makes me impatient to hear it.   On Memorial Day he put a song up for the day, “A Folded American Flag” and if this song is any indication of the rest of the album, it may be one of his best.

Recently received here at the sprawling Voices estates was Sam Cooper & The Sleepwalkers newest and it’s went a few spins in the car CD player.   Enjoyable music.

I’m currently reading big day coming by Jesse Jarnow.  The subtitle of the book is “You La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock.”   I’m on page 96 and the group just played their first show, so it’s presenting a lot of background information.  The book opens with a brief history of baseball and the field played on in Hoboken New Jersey.  It’s presenting a fascinating history that I was not that familiar with, and definitely did not realize the importance of Hoboken in music circles.  Recently I finished Everybody Loves Our Town by Mark Yarm.  This is an oral history of grunge.  This is the history besides Nirvana.  Of course that group is in the book, but it is so much more than that.  One of the better books I’ve read in a long time.  Also been on a music biography kick lately, reading bios of Ronnie Spector, Greg Allman and Ozzy.  All were interesting and gave me new understandings behind the singers.

I just purchased a new Ipod, one of those new fangled touch screen ones.  My old Ipod is a classic, bought so I could fill it up with as much music as humanly possible.  Unfortunately the touch versions don’t hold as much, still I bought the 64 gig version.  I thought I was going to be smart and use my music from the cloud and I wouldn’t have to download anything, but forgot when I’m not close to a Wifi connection the music stops.  I was driving down the highway yesterday and surprisingly it continued to play for quite awhile, but suddenly stopped and I was in a mini panic, thinking the device had broken until I realized that I was out of Wifi range and was not going to get any more music from any cloud.  So I’ve been taking some of that 64 gig and turning it into music since. 

First up was just about everything I have by Shannon McNally, than some Will Hoge.  Have to have those two in the Ipod.  After that it’s been a cross selection of music that such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, The Mighty Clouds of Joy and Mahalia Jackson.   As I’ve stated before on this site I’m not a religious person, but this music moves me and I love listening to it.  After the church services I’ve put some Gaslight Anthem, Patty Griffin, Hank Williams, Grace Potter, J Geils, Amanda Shaw, Richard Thompson, Dave Alvin and the list continues to grow.  If you think there’s someone I just have to have in the Ipod let me know.

Last night Elizabeth Cook appeared on Letterman.  (I’ve put a video of part of the show she did with Jason Isbell on The Late Show on the site.)  Elizabeth is an amazing singer and writer, each of her albums just gets better and better.  Her newest is an EP of gospel music.  Besides her music Elizabeth hosts a morning show on Sirius XM radio, that besides some good music she plays is fun to listen to for her comments inbetween the songs.  I’ve read somewhere that after her first appearance on Letterman the host was so taken with her that he has his production team trying to develop a sitcom for her and she’s been spending a lot of her time in Hollywood instead of the music studio.  I’m happy for whatever makes her successful but I’ll miss some of the music she won’t be able to make if she’s doing tv.

I think we’re at the end of this first column.  Like I said at the start there is no format or formal structure to this endeavor so no two columns will read much the same.  Hopefully it’ll be more of a chance for me to talk more directly to all of you out there and feel free to leave comments.  We can turn this into a dialogue and not me just talking at you. 

This is where I need a catchy sign off phrase.  I used to sign my letter peace until peace out became such a catch phrase.  I don’t want to jump on any bandwagon and try to come across as cooler than I am, so I think I’ll just end with a simple statement and hope.  Take care.