It’s About Everybody Else

This last week I had the pleasure of going to Velour to hear We Shot The Moon play. I love going to smaller, local concerts for many reasons. My favorite reason to see local concerts is that you never know what or who you will discover. This week was no disappointment.

The opening band for We Shot The Moon was offensively loud and musically juvenile. I don’t even remember their name. All I recall is thinking to myself, “Oh man… this is not shaping up to be a very good concert.”

After what seemed like an eternity, (to everybody’s relief) they ended their set. Things began to turn around at this point. The music played between sets was from my favorite local band, Chris Merritt.

As I danced around to Chris’ tunes, Everybody Else began setting up stage for their set. From the start, I had a good feeling about them. Everybody Else comes out of LA and consists of 3 guys: Carrick Gerety (lead vocals|guitar), Austin Williams (bass|backup vocals) and Mikey McCormack (drums|vocals|keys). They backed up their good vibes with some stellar tunes. Every single one of their songs is complimented by perfectly tuned 3-part vocals, funkalicious melodies and rhythm that will make you want to shake your hips like Elvis.

What really put these guys over the top for me, other than their incredible raw talent, was the fact that you could tell that they just loved performing. Too often I see bands perform, and to them it seems like it’s just another show. “We had one yesterday, we’ll have one tomorrow.” These guys just had a blast doing what they did best… creating music.

If you ever get the chance to see them live, DO IT! It’s worth the ticket just to see Mikey play the drums, keyboard and sing all at the same time.

Here’s a copy of one of my favorite songs from their album. (I had to buy it.):

Say Goodbye

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Twilight - The Saga Begins

It’s official. I’m making it public. Yesterday I started reading Twilight. I know that upon this announcement, many of you may be questioning my sexual orientation or wondering what sort of bet I lost to be subjected to such a task, but I assure you I am straight as straight can be, and I lost no bet. Honestly, I’m just intrigued… and I’m a sucker for a good book.

This last week, my friend Kat Tingey showed me a song that she had just finished writing and recording with help from Ryan Shupe and Ryan Tilby from Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band. The song is titled ‘Undone,’ and it is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in a long time. Not only is the melody absolutely chilling and incredibly moving, but the lyrics and the message of the song demonstrate the characteristics of a very experienced musician.

The song itself is inspired by the relationship between Edward and Bella, a relationship I’m not familiar with at this point… which is partly why I am now bent on reading this book. Call me a pansy, a sissy or a guy who is very secure with his masculinity, but I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS! Plus, maybe I’ll pick up some sweet pointers on how to woo a special girl… or kill a vampire.

For the dudes out there, I’ll be sure to write a book report when I’m finished to let you know if reading this book has made me more of a man… or less of a man who gets more love from the ladies. Either one works for me.

Here’s a copy of the song that stirred my insides enough to make me read a chick book:

Undone

You can check out Kat’s Myspace page here. You can also find her music on Facebook, PureVolume, TheSixtyOne and iTunes.

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The Bane of My Existence

A new fad that has been sweeping through Utah over the past year or two like a thick waft of lake stink. This activity is popular amongst youngsters in their early twenties, especially those that are rhythmically challenged or have a particularly poor taste in music. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m referring to Country ‘Swing Dancing’.

I would like to emphasize that I only call it ‘Swing Dancing’ because that’s the term that the general public uses to describe it. If I had my way, we’d call it Country ‘Moving-To-Crappy-Music-While-Yanking-Girls-Arms-Out-Of-Their-
Sockets’. But I rarely get my way.

As a traditional swing dancer, one thing that really gets on my nerves is hearing people try to justify that Country ‘Swing’ is similar to regular Swing, or any other form of dance for that matter. The definition of Dance is, “to move one’s feet or body, or both, rhythmically in a pattern of steps, esp. to the accompaniment of music.” Judging by this definition, country dancing is NOT a form of dance.

What most people don’t understand is that Country Swing is so popular because anybody with arms can do it… and I mean ANYBODY. It requires no rhythm, no coordination, no musicality, no connection, no real steps and no prior experience. It doesn’t matter if a fast song or a slow song is playing, or if your partner is a cripple, you just spin in circles while holding hands, jerking your bodies at the apex of every arm stretch.

Some would justify Country ‘Swing’ by saying that the lifts involved take great skill and coordination, when in all reality they only require big muscles, a small female and the occasional disregard to personal space (the ladies know what I’m talking about… guys, you never have anyone lifting you over your head whilst holding onto your nether-reigions).

Real Swing (Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa, Shag, Blues etc.), on the other hand actually meets the guidelines and definitions of ‘Dance’. More importantly than that, as a general statement, regular Swing dancers - or should I say REAL Swing dancers - are a very friendly bunch and are normally very willing to help you learn to do what they do. Country Swing venues are full of the people who show up in the hopes of either finding a date or fondling a girl. Granted there are a lot of nice people who attend the Country Swing venues, but they are also highly saturated with the Plastics and the Sweet Bros trying to get a piece of one another.

Maybe the best way to prove my point is to just show you what I mean. Check out the following videos, and honestly let me know what you think.

Country Swing

Lindy Hop

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Meat Puppets

Last week I got a call from my friend Scott. Scott is an old friend from back when I was in Santiago, Chile serving a mission for my church. He and I keep in contact, and normally see each other when one of us has concert tickets and can’t find a date. We have attended quite a few concerts together (that says a lot about our date-getting abilities). Each concert has provided us with some very memorable experiences.

This last week, we met up at The Depot in Salt Lake to hear ‘Built to Spill’ perform. I had never heard the band, but I trust Scott’s judgment as he’s rarely steered me wrong with a music selection in the past. We continued our tradition of showing up early so as to obtain a table. Whilst we staked out our spot, we began looking around for girls, and talking… also about girls (not very original, I know).

As the venue began to fill, we realized that the majority of the females present were accompanied by one or more dudes, getting drunk off their rockers, or they looked like they had had a good and fairly recent beating by the ugly stick. This was expected, as the Depot has never really proved successful for us in the woman department. Last time we attended a concert there, the only girl that talked to us is still referred to as “Snaggle-tooth.”

As the first band was preparing to take the stage, we caught wind of the lineup. The second of the three bands to play was called “Meat Puppets.” Upon hearing this, I got all sorts of excited. The name just sets a tone that one hopes the music will live up to.

After a fairly slow set by the first band and a few risque Meat Puppet jokes, the much anticipated band took the stage. Let me tell you, there is absolutely NO WAY you can prepare yourself for these guys. If they are anything, they are exactly what you wouldn’t expect from their name. Let me set the stage with a little back story so you can understand what I mean…

The band has been around for over 20 years, but has taken a break or two due to the imprisonment of the bassist. Apparently a few years back, he got into a tussle with a woman in the parking lot of a post office. A security guard tried to intervene when Kirkwood, the bassist, relieved the guard of his baton, and proceeded to smash the dude’s face in. The guard, in turn, removed his gun and shot Kirkwood in the back, incapacitating him. He was thrown in jail for two years. Oh, and did I mention he was also a heroine addict? Seriously, this dude is messed up, and you can tell just by looking at his picture.

So basically, the band consists of three dudes in their near 50’s playing a strange, sort of twangy, rocked out country music. I honestly felt like I was at a hoedown. Scott and I just looked at each other and laughed through the entire set. Did I mention that the guitarist and bassist had matching instruments? Yup, they were baby blue…

The kicker was the guy standing right behind us who obviously had only come to see his beloved ‘Meat Puppets.’

Oh, and there was a dude that got really drunk and couldn’t keep from rubbing his butt on anything and everything, including our table and both Scott’s and my individual propped up feet. I honestly feared for my life whenever Mr. Wiggly came near. Wow.

Here is a video or two of the ‘Meat Puppets’ so you can get an idea of what I’m talking about… and a video of a friend of Mr. Wiggly for your enjoyment.

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Kid Theodore

I am hooked on the lyrics of this song by one of my favorite local bands, Kid Theodore. I first heard these guys open at the Ben Kweller concert last year. I thought (besides Ben) they were the best part of the show. I liked the poetic message in this particular song enough that I thought I should share it with you. The song is called “This Scene Is a Play.” I’m interested to know what ya’ll think of it.

I have heard very few songs that do such a good job at capturing a feeling through both lyrics and sound as this. I think I’ve listened to it 10 times in the past week. It’s basically an ‘eargasm’ for me.

You can check out some of their music on their Purevolume page here… and I recommend you do.

I’m sorry my darling, but this is the scene when we fall in love.
You’ve misread your script and the director has said that the show must go on.
So I’ll ad lib this scene just for you.
Though I don’t know quite what to do.
And I can’t move on in just one night.

I’m sorry my darling, the stage lights are bright and they’re blinding me.
This scene is insane, your words are in vain. Yes it’s killing me.
But I’ll ad lib this scene just for you.
Though I don’t know quite what to do.
And I can’t move on in just one night.

I’m sorry my darling but this is the scene when we carry on.
My heart has been told, “Excuse me my morn.” As I carry on.
So I’ll ad lib this scene just for you.
Though I don’t know quite what to do.
And I can’t move on in just one night.

I know it’s a little somber, but sometimes you just feel this way, don’t ya?

2 comments.

This Is Why I Don’t Spend A Million Dollars On Anything…

David Garrett, a male model and world renowned violinist, fell down a flight of stairs on December 27th and broke his fiddle. No, this isn’t some sort of juvenile innuendo, he really broke it. What’s worse… the fiddle was over 200 years old, and he paid $1 million for it in 2003!

Apparently he was toting it on his shoulder when he fell down a flight of cement stairs. Hopefully he didn’t damage his model parts as well, or he won’t have a way to pay for a new $1 million violin.

I guess it just goes to show that all male model/child prodigies who play solos with legendary symphonies and make more money in one performance than I have made in my whole life don’t have it as good as everyone thinks. See, I don’t have to worry about breaking a million dollar anything… and also, I know how to walk down stairs.

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A Perfect Dance

It’s hard to explain the perfectly overwhelming feeling of ecstasy that comes with a perfect dance. It is, however, one of the most unbelievable feelings that can be felt. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I encourage you to find out.

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TheSixtyOne.com

I am a music fanatic. I love listening to it, playing it, but most of all I love to discover good new music. I love finding obscure bands and passing them on to my friends. I visit and subscribe to multiple music discovery sites such as Pandora, PureVolume, Myspace and AOL’s Full CD Listening Parties. When I find something good, I pass it along to people who I think would appreciate it.

Yesterday, however, I stumbled upon a new music discovery site that may just surpass all of the aforementioned sites. TheSixtyOne.com has introduced an awesome twist to music sites everywhere to help bands gain credibility. The idea behind the site is that bands upload their music, and then users vote for their favorite songs. The idea doesn’t stop there though. Each user is allotted 95 points upon registration. Voting for one of your favorite songs means a sacrifice of 5 points. The only way to regain your points is if other people vote for the same song you did. You gain 1 point per vote after your vote. If you exhaust all your points on crappy songs, then you use the site as a cool way to find new music. If you have good taste (like me), you discover awesome songs by awesome artists and send them on their way up to super stardom. It’s a lot of fun to watch your favorite local, ‘no-name’ bands become popular in a matter of hours.

The band I have my eye on is Chris Merritt. I’ve written about them before, but they are honestly worth writing about again. Their creative sound, toe tapping rhythms, and moving ballads make for a reputation that grows faster than a foot fungus on a homeless man’s foot during the middle of summer. In the past few weeks, they have sored to #2 on the leader board of TheSixtyOne.com, second only to Meiko*.

If you are in the mood to discover some great new music, I recommend setting up an account (voting for Chris and Meiko) and then surfing the database to your hearts content. Enjoy!

*A few hours after publishing this post, Chris Merritt overtook Meiko for the 1st place position.

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For My Mom

Dearest Mother,
This is for you. Thank you for always worrying. I love you.

Is it just me, or does this mean that all moms are the same?

4 comments.

Instant Karma

As most of you know, I love music… especially when the music has a purpose. Yesterday, I was listening to the radio (the CD player in my car broke recently) and heard Jack Johnson covering John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine.’ I do not lie when I say it brought tears to my eyes. I did a search on iTunes and found out that his song is part of a collaboration of various artists trying to end the civil unrest in Darfur, Sudan. The project is called “Instant Karma, The Campaign to Save Darfur” and has involved such artists as Lenny Kravitz, U2, Green Day, Ben Harper, Aerosmith, Avril Lavigne, The Flaming Lips, Jack Johnson and more. I will definitely be adding most, if not all, of these songs to my collection. Be sure to go to the charity website and take a look at the CD on iTunes! It will be worth the look.

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