I’ve known my friend Ash Hopkins ever since I met him play with The Dole (a tongue-in-cheek punk band) in Athens, GA over three years ago. Ash is pretty awesome. One of the head honchos in the Charleston scene. He played with everybody and produced a few albums of local acts. His backing vocals always complement the lead singer, his arrangements are inspired, and he’s a big Beatles freak like me. What’s not to love?
I got word today from his lovely fiancee Giovanna that Ash has a new solo album called Bellwether! And it’s free, available at his MySpace. It’s a gorgeous little EP with all the instruments I love (strings and accordion, yes!) and Ash’s wonderful voice and lyrics in the forefront. Giovanna contributes some violin work as well. The duo plans to do a little touring here and there, with a fall tour around Charleston coming up, and with luck another around Chicago in the spring! Expect to hear more about Ash from me in the future.
I write this with the Georgia/Alabama game on, and we’re getting pwned by the Crimson Tide. Pick it up, Bulldogs!
Taylor and I are ENORMOUS fans of the band Slow Runner. Formerly just known as Michael Flynn, Michael decided he wanted his band to have a weird name, and have the weird name not be his. They are the sweetest group of Southern gentlemen nerds you ever saw.
Today they announced a new tour that is taking them to cities outside the southeastern quadrant of the United States, one of the stops being here in Chicago! They’ve got it all explained over at their MySpace blog, so check it out and get your tickets now. Paste Magazine is sponsoring it, as if I needed another reason to love that mag.
I swear, I willed this to happen. The past two weeks I’ve been thinking to myself, “If only Slow Runner was here to cheer me up a little…” And here they come. I’m bursting with anticipation!
This past Monday I attended a seminar put together by the Future of Music Coalition and hosted at the Old Town School of Folk Music. The FMC seems to be a great organization; it provides loads of information on its website about various issues, political and cultural, that apply to musicians. One of the big issues that gained my interest is health insurance for musicians. Many musicians don’t have health insurance, don’t have very good health insurance, or have to take on another job to gain health insurance. The ideal for the FMC is the creation of a middle-class of musicians who can afford to have health insurance, buy a home, and send their kids to college. What was talked about on the panel about health insurance advice for musicians is that if medical trouble befalls a musician, really the best that can be done is to hold a benefit show to raise money. But the best that money can do is help pay the rent and groceries for a time, but can’t tackle the big hospital bills. (more…)
Updates are forthcoming. I’ve got loads of stuff to blog about, but doing said stuff has kept me busy from blogging about it. Expect new entries and other updates in the next couple of days.
In the meantime, please enjoy the best commercial ever made:
I get a few perks working at a Chain Name Bookstore. One of them is the occasional free pass to an advance screening of a new film. Tonight it was Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, starring the awkwardly cute Michael Cera.
Initially I was drawn to the film because of Cera. Yes, the boy basically plays George Michael in various incarnations in all his projects. So yes, he played Rock Star George Michael (except, I felt, much more grounded), but I still find it endearing. I have not grown tired of the awkwardly cute just yet.
I showed up at the theater to a modest line of hipsterliciousity already waiting (guess what my new favorite word is?). I felt mildly out of place because I wasn’t wearing anything from H&M, then I remembered that I bought my step-ins and socks there and felt a little better. I think converging hipsters smell each other out through the scent of clothing bought at H&M and Urban Outfitters (and, I suppose, That Thrift Store Smell). Prove me wrong.
The movie was, in spirit, essentially like Juno. Young hipster people doing young hipster people things. With a few elements of High Fidelity and Garden State thrown in. And I found this much more relatable. Bunch of kids in beater cars running around a city trying to find where their favorite band is playing while chaos and romantic comedy ensues. There were many moments of ridiculousness where I couldn’t help but think, This is me and my friends on so many a Friday night! This thought caused me to call up Taylor as I left the theater to instruct her to see the film at the next possible opportunity. I’ve been a part of my share of controlled chaos and this film was really good at packaging that.
A major difference from Juno is the language. Nick and Norah and all their counterparts actually talk like real people. Real high school seniors. I must hand it to the screenwriters – they didn’t name-drop a lot of current bands in the dialogue. No, they made up a band that becomes a focus of the movie. Consequently, the characters don’t sound dated and ridiculous trying to sound forcibly cool. One of the (two?) times they did, Aaron Yoo’s character mentioned the Beatles, and since they’re classic and the reference was sweet, I have no problem with it. (By the way, I’ve become an Aaron Yoo fan. He plays Token Hot Asian Guy in practically all his films, and he excels at it. I like watching him.)
And then there was all the little extra details. The cute Gay Boys we all know and love. The old car with it’s many quirks and problems that we still love to death. (When I had my ‘89 Subaru station wagon, that thing became an extension of my personality.) The drunk friend we love no matter what. Let me stop there before I give away too much of the magic, but you get the drift. I really come to love a movie when the little details mirror my own life.
Definitely a good date movie. Definitely fun with a group of friends. Definitely one of the must-sees for the Chucks and stripes crowd. One day soon I would like to see Michael Cera branch out a little and play something other than his usual Woody Allen-like character mold, but until that day I’m just pleased that he’s in some films that I can enjoy and feel awkward along with him because they’re so true.
Just a little something I’m attending in a few days. I recently started taking a fiddle class at the Old Town School of Folk Music (which I have been very pleased with), and found out about this seminar through them (they’re hosting it). Looks like some very interesting seminars on topics like podcasting, health insurance, and copyright law. I’m a geek, I know it. Can’t wait!
I also discovered a great website for ukulele players, Ukulele Hunt. Playing the uke runs in my family, but I didn’t pick up on it myself until about two years ago when I bought a uke from a friend at his yard sale. Of course the very first song I learned was “You Belong To Me” as popularized in the film The Jerk. And I’ve messed with it on and off ever since. But here’s a site with tabs/chords of songs that weren’t necessarily written in the 60’s or earlier that I want to play! Beirut! Neutral Milk Hotel! The Tetris song! Plus they have instructional videos to help a gal out. I found the site through OliveArgyle who linked this video of awesome:
Have you tried the new Genius feature on iTunes? I’m still on the fence about it. It really only works properly if you use pop songs. So maybe after more people adopt it and it gets a chance to stretch its legs it might be more useful. I put in “Stronger” by Kanye West… it came back with most of my Lady Sovereign album, two Black Eyed Peas songs, and the theme from Arrested Development(!). The latter was a *very* Motherboy moment. I put in “Bulgarian Chicks” by Balkan Beat Box… it came back with nearly the entirety of the Borat sountrack. (I assure you, my world music selections are broader than that.) Things worked better once I put in “Love Letter” by Hope for Agoldensummer… a decent mix of Regina Spektor, Band of Horses, Gnarls Barkley, and Journey. And with “Hawaii 5-O Theme” by the Ventures… out came The Association, Everly Brothers, Iron Butterfly, and Starland Vocal Band. I’ll take that.
Today the music video for “Know When To Walk Away” by Jay Clifford debuted on MySpace! It’s on the homepage! The incredibly awesome Zach Braff of Scrubs and Garden State directed the video. In it is a montage of clips from videos sent in by fans of them singing along and (mostly) being silly. I know one person with a brief cameo in the video, so that’s pretty cool. Of course the footage of pretty blonde girls swimming, bathing, and cavoting on a bed in wifebeaters are featured material (come on, Braff, you can get more creative than that. The girl signing the song? Way cooler), and there’s random weirdness, but it was still a cool idea to work with and execute. I’m just thrilled that one of my favorite band boys is getting some attention outside the southeast!
Today marks the birthday of MGJ friend Biv (happy 25th!), so we must give a shout-out to him. Taylor and I have been working with him and his various projects for years now, and he’s a pretty cool guy. Yay for insurance breaks!
Also, today Joan Osborne releases her album Little Wild One, which happens to have a cover of the song “Cathedrals” on it that our friend Jay Clifford wrote and recorded with his band Jump, Little Children! It was used in its original form on the season one finale of Everwood. Anyway, pretty exciting for Jay!
After many years of threatening to do this, we’ve finally formalized ourselves with this website (and blog). Maybe more people will get to know us and we’ll get to know them and we’ll all be one big happy musical act. Right now our mission and purpose is flexible and simple: we love music, we love bands, we love to help and enable bands in what they do. Not exactly groupies, not exactly band-aides, we are what we are. We’re super fans who like to help the super bands we come across in our travels. Who knows? If nothing else, maybe you’ll discover some new and awesome band to fall in love with yourself!
the guy in front of you at the show is wearing the same jeans has you, has the same brand of messenger bag, and is also checking Facebook on his iPhone in between sets.
