The Lone Bellow

Zach Williams has been a folk hero in our home since David met him in New York about 6 years ago. His music is so honest and raw, and he is just a really talented guy. He has now rounded out his sound by forming a trio (The Lone Bellow) that is a little bluegrass meets gospel. It will definitely have you (me) singing at the top of your lungs around your house, in the car, etc and so on.

New Josh Ritter EP

could i be an happier about the email i received??? (answer: no)

on february 21st, josh's new ep bringing in the darling's will release. this is a collection of 6 songs recorded  at Brooklyn's Homeward Sound this past winter. here is an excerpt from today's paste article:

the collection of songs, which ritter calls his version of lullabies, came from a recent writing session. the songs didn't fit with the tracks ritter was writing for his still-untitled forthcoming album. as he described it, the tracks were "strays," but thats not all they had in common. every track on album contains the word "darling" at some point. in bringing the collection of songs together, ritter had his title for the ep: bringing in the darlings.

"it always kind of rolls off the tongue," ritter told paste about the reoccurring [sic] word. "it certainly fits in the songs, i think it's a plaintive word. i imagine, what would a cowboy say to a longhorn?"

you can (and should) stream the first release, "why" over at paste right now. seriously. go there now.

Matthew Mayfield Video

just another monday around here. day off. projects up to my eyeballs.

while i've been working on stuff around the house today, i've been listening to matthew mayfield's album (which is currently free on noisetrade...i highly suggest you check it out). it made me think of his video for "now you're free" which our friend, paul bryant of kinora films shot this past spring. it is beautiful. so, naturally, i wanted to share it in case you hadn't seen it yet.

Love is All

i happened to come across this amazing live performance of my favorite tallest man on earth song, "love is all." just thought i'd share and that is all...

happy tuesday!

Josh Ritter Concert

sunday night, david and i went to see josh ritter at UAB's alys stephens performing arts center. there really is nothing else to say but that it was probably the most amazing show i've ever seen. ever. he's always had my respect for his writing (in my opinion, the greatest songwriter of our generation), but to my pleasant surprise he is also such a fun performer with that great under-the-radar type of humor. i've never seen an artist so happy to be on stage. so many years at this, and he still looks like he's playing his first show. it was a full 2 hours and i still didn't want it to end. also, i felt so sad that he didn't even play my favorite song, but that's ok. i am just so sad that i had never seen him before and know that i will never miss another show. i would try to go into all the things that made the show great but for someone who loves words (me!) i can't adequately use them to describe it.

The National + John Slattery

the national's new video is a cornucopia of greatness...for music lovers, for mad men lovers, even for flight of the conchords lovers. so so good.

The National

(video here)

Snow + Sweden

the other night i was listening to the tallest man on earth, working on some stuff, while david was cooking dinner. i decided to look and see if he would be coming stateside for any shows anytime soon (nope). then i saw this beautiful picture on his site.

not sure where this was taken, but i know he's from sweden. david and i always talk about how badly we want to visit sweden, where his family is from. this made me want to even more. that is all.

All Things New

i hope everyone had a great new year (and great subsequent weeks). what better way to start of the new year (of posting) than with a song that is so beautiful and full of truth.

this is our friend brett younker who is a worship leader in atlanta. we had the honor of working with him when we lived in auburn and david played with him. he and his wife aynsley are precious and we love them to death. he just released an acoustic EP that you can download for free - that's right, free - right here.



(one of my favorite things about this video are my friends that i see worshipping in the background. i love it)

Josh Ritter Tshirt

i'm not one to love band t-shirts, but i am in love with this josh ritter t-shirt. he conducted a fan poll on twitter to learn their favorite lyrics. this is the one that won. i actually never responded, but this was the one i was thinking of, and now i wish i had so i could pretend i was responsible. plus, it's one of the only colors of the american apparel tri-blend t-shirts i don't own, so you know, it would be nice to balance that out.

and for your listening pleasure, here is the song that it comes from. it's the first line in "the temptation of adam" from the album the historical conquests of josh ritter.

The God We Praise

the band at our church put together an album of original music that is amazing. you should go here to give it a listen or just buy it!

Classical Music

david made me watch this ted talk the other night. i usually don't get into ted talks, because i don't care anything about business, but i do like the ones that are on other topics. this one by Benjamin Zander is about classical music and how it will never die, because everyone - whether realized or unrealized - love classical music. brilliant!

The Tallest Man on Earth

big thanks to steve for introducing me to the tallest man on earth. i realized i had heard multiple songs before and just didn't know who it was. anyway, his music has been the constant soundtrack for these rainy days and as inspiration for my writing lately (clearly, not the writing on the blog...sorry folks).

for your rainy day (in alabama) listening pleasure, here's "the gardner."

(for rss, embedded here.)

Vinyl Collection

this weekend, we made yet another trip...this time to birmingham. we had to go pick up our honda from the shop (if you live in birmingham, and need car work done, go to the garage in pelham).

while killing some time on friday afternoon, we went to my parents house to finally accept my dad's offer of some of his vinyl collection. of all the things i thank my dad for from my childhood, love of music is one of them. so, while going through his collection, we were practically giddy. here are some of the highlights:

1. the band: if you don't know the band, i suggest you run to the nearest record store or hit up iTunes to experience the wonder that they are. that's all i have to say to you.

2. the beatles, sgt. pepper and the lonely hearts club band: while we also acquired help, abbey road, the white album and john lenin's imagine, this is our agreed upon favorite. for me it's "lucy in the sky with diamonds." it doesn't get much better.

3. johnny cash, live at san quentin: iconic. need i say more? if i do then, "boy named sue"

4. creedence clearwater revival: willy and the poor boys: while we also got a few other ccr albums, this is the quintessential album. don't give me that lynard skynard crap...ccr is real southern rock.

Christmas Tunes

so it is the weekend after thanksgiving. it's the official weekend to decorate for christmas and to start listening to christmas music. so in honor of this long held tradition, i will share one of my favorite christmas songs..."don't shoot me santa" by the killers. let the christmas season begin!

Hanson

so last night we went to a hanson concert. that's right, i said it. hanson. it was actually pretty good (had i not been overwhelmingly tired). we had a good time. you see, the company david works for, matchstic, has been working on their forthcoming book about social justice issues. so as a "thank you" of sorts, they gave us all tickets. so the whole gang headed out of the office to midway in EAV for a great dinner. we had a great time watching nick's daughter lucy dance to bob marley (lucy is famous in east atlanta...seriously. she's like the community child). then we headed on over to variety playhouse. little did i know we would be VIP...whatup? so we work our way through the mentally unstable crowd and find our seats. we then settled into a night of people watching with hanson as excellent background music. seriously, i've never seen anything like the people that were at this concert. it was insane.

so after the concert, we head around back to the tour bus area. i figure this will be a qick slip into some area that we will all meet. no. there are already throngs of girls waiting by the tour buses. (side note: all 3 hansons are married with 6 children among them...they are NOT available). so we meet them all as they become available. zach first, then taylor, and lastly isaac. they were so nice. i can only imagine how difficult it would be to have a conversation with business associates while you have women behind you screaming they love you and they'll do anything for just a picture.

so after a few minutes of the horrendous awkwardness, we head into the crew bus because it is the least populated. and the guys talk some business and go over new ideas for the book while me and rebekah (the freelancer's wife) sit up front and talk to their bass player and a writer for people magazine. we all had a great conversation. at one point, zach walked through and was like "don't you love our crazy wild bus...with all our ladies and booze." unless you consider a bass player in pajamas a lady and water booze, you will understand that he was being sarcastic. they actually take all their wives and children on the road with them...something that being married to a musician, i very much respect.

i'm not quite sure how long we were on the bus but it was a good time. they are real people. it was the getting off the bus that was most humorous. we stepped off and their was an audible sigh across the crowd as they realized we weren't not a hanson brother, but then after the last of us, taylor gets off the bus and is met with roaring screams. also, while we were still on the bus, the bass player was warming up a hot dog and taylor stopped him and told him to go over to the other bus because there were chili dogs from the varsity. and then they asked our opinion on the varsity and we said it was difinitely something you have to try in atlanta...and then i said (seriously, i did)..."its great! i would just make sure you can flush the toilets on these things..." i don't even know.

but as we got off the bus i told nick that i would rather scale the wall of the building than have to walk back out through that crowd. i was truly afraid one might try to grab me and smell me or something. but all in all, it was a great night. we had great fun. and hanson are great people. so win, win, win right?

David is a Drummer

so, this weekend we went to auburn for a myriad of reasons. one of those was david was playing with his old band, martha's trouble. let me just say this...after a couple of months in atlanta of playing sporadically, if at all, this was a huge chance to just explode. it was one of the greatest shows of theirs yet.

this whole living in atlanta thing has been hard. he hasn't been able to play a whole lot. working 10-12 hour days. not knowing a lot of people in the circle here. its hard. especially when that's where he kicks it. he's amazing. really. its what he should be doing always. 

i'm very excited because very soon an album is coming out. an album he is very proud of. and there will be a show. a show we can't wait for. and maybe a future. one that we pray for with every fiber of our beings. 

John Mayer Addendum

in case you wanted proof of that john mayer autograph action, here you go:

Tips for Concert-Goers

so friday night, david and i were lucky enough to get tickets to go to the john mayer concert in atlanta. well, actually it was in alpharetta (which reminded me of why i don't like leaving downtown). but anyway, it was an amphitheater show, which next to really small venues are my absolute favorite. it was amazing. john mayer is amazing. i'm sad we will be missing ryan adams in a few weeks.

anyway...we had lawn seats, which i love. but that meant we got there at 6:30 to claim our seats...much like the student section for an auburn football game. in the two hours before the concert as well as the time during the concert, i gathered these few nuggets of wisdom that i feel compelled to share with everyone. 

• just because it is possible to lay down and grope each other on your blanket as you wait for the concert to start, does not mean that you should. 
• if you have general admission tickets and you are aware that people have been sitting for quite some time to get their great seats, don't show up after the opening act and squeeze in front of those people.
• if you do decide to be a jerk and do the above, don't stand up and dance in front of them as you are being booed by the entire section of people sitting behind you
• don't hit on a married man in front of his wife. seriously, girl, you about got your ass knocked out. 
• do try anything...our friend, sam, decided that he wanted to at least try to get his john mayer signature strat signed (seeing as how he was on the front row) and it worked. during the concert, john stopped and noticed and said "when you are lucky enough to make it to the point that you get a guitar with your name on it, and a fan brings you that guitar, you have to sign it" john's so awesome. 
• if you are over 50 and are wearing a fanny pack, please, dance until your heart's content. 
• do see an act in their hometown, because its so much better

ok, i think that's it for now.