Ben's There & Nick Heard That

Nick's Picks for the '80s

2011-11-12T12:47:00.000-08:00

While I (Ben) have been consumed with listening to Western music (Country music's first cousin on both sides of the family!), Nick has been posting on his new blog site about the
Top 45 80s songs of all time

This website contains Nick's thoughts on culture, literature, and, as always music. It is called
The Cold Composure.

Here are his thoughts about the music of the 1980s:

I picked only one song per artist. If I had not stuck to this, then the list would have been saturated by Stevie Ray Vaughn, U2, Metallica, and Tom Petty. I tried to pick a good mix of rock and pop. And no, Michael Jackson did not even crack the top 20. A few of the songs are from the late 70s or early 90s, but they fit the “80s sound.” If I feel like it I’ll put up commentary later.

1. Any song performed by Stevie Ray Vaughn

2.Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits

3.With Or Without You by U2

4.Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison

5. I Won’t Back Down by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers

6.Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne

7.Master of Puppets by Metallica

8.Rock The Casbah by The Clash

9.It’s Friday, I’m in Love by The Cure

10.Love Song by Tesla

For the rest of the list and for the brutal verbal argument between the Arkansas father and his Wheaton son as found in the comments, go to

http://thecoldcomposure.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/top-45-80s-songs-of-all-time/#comment-19

Great October Music Haul

2011-10-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Nick and I are wondering if this blog is still read by anyone but us. Well, at least we enjoy trading our musical thoughts. What better audience for a father than his son? What better audience for a son than a father? Ah, family ties.

Now to the Great October Music Haul:
Once or twice a year, there is a large "garage sale" at the Texarkana Spring Lake Park. Today was the day for the fall sale, but sermon and church work kept me tied up until late in the afternoon. The benefit was that when I got there, vendors were cutting prices to half.

Rushing past lots of clothes and trinkets, I thumbed through several stacks of books and glanced at quite a few DVDs, but found nothing. Then I came across a good selection of music. The original prices were one dollar each, a bargain, but now they were reduced to four bits, to use the term my father's generation was fond of.

Here is what I found:

1. Elton Britt: The RCA Years. We don't often think of Elton Britt's RCA years for the simple reason that we don't think of Elton Britt at all. He was a yodeler whose best known song was "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere." An added personal benefit: He was an Arkansas man. In the tradition of Jimmie Rogers, Britt's pure country music should be a delight.

As Bill Monroe might say, "I think I've heard of him."

2. James Taylor: Greatest Hits. I now have a James Taylor CD. I am only somewhat familiar with him (being that my expertise lies elsewhere), but I recognize several of the songs on the back cover, such as "Something in the Way She Moves," "Carolina in My Mind," and "How Sweet It Is To Be In Love With You."

3. Michael Martin Murphey with the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra: Sagebrush Symphony. First, I am only slightly familiar with Mr. Murphey, but I think my wife, Stephanie, used to like his music. Second, these are western songs, made famous by the Sons of the Pioneers, Gene Autrey, and other Western singers.

With names like David Milton and Homer Howard Bellamy, I could grow to like this fellers.

4. The Bellamy Brothers: Greatest Hits, Volume II. Shhh. I got this CD for Stephanie. She said she used to like them too. I am only familiar with the name. (I would prefer a CD by the Wilburn Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, the Stanley Brothers, or the Willis Brothers.)

5. Kathy Mattea: Love Travels. I know her from the radio. Many of these songs are sung along with other singers, such as Gillian Welch.

6. Neil Diamond: His 12 Greatest Hits. I bought this one because it has the song "Sweet Caroline" on it. I want to learn that one for my youngest daughter. (TaraJane gets "Waltz Across Texas," which Neil Diamond did not record.) This also has "Song Sung Blue" on it.

7. Larry Gatlin: In My Life. Of course I am familiar with Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers. But this is the first CD I have ever owned by either Larry or his brothers.

8. Gene Watson: The Good Ole Days. I have often wondered why Gene Watson was not a bigger name in the music world. He is a really fine singer.

http://www.gene-watson.com/good_ole_days.htm

9. Ferlin Husky: Signature Series. What a find. Mr. Husky (December 3, 1925 – March 17, 2011) is one of the country legends that we have lost this year. His voice was outstanding. He comic alter-ego, Simon Crum, was quite hilarious. Best known for songs like "Wings of a Dove" and "Gone," this recently inducted member of the Country Music Hall of Fame was truly a great singer.

Lists for $29.99 on Amazon!

Oh, by the way, I also picked up a copy of Robert Penn Warren's classic novel and greatest work, All the King's Men. It may be the best political novel ever. This edition has an introductory essay by Mr. Warren and has Clift's Notes in the back (?). Nick, do you remember us standing in front of the Warren statue at Vanderbilt some years ago? Hardback with dust jacket--25 cents.

And, I got a copy of Umberto Eco's novel Baudolino. George Grant so like Eco that I buy his books with the intention of someday reading some of them. Hardback, like new, with dust jacket--50 cents.

Total spent for the day: $5.25. Nick, what are you finding up at Wheaton to top this?

George Jones' Top Ten...or Just Ten Greats Out of 160 Plus

2011-09-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

One of the Greatest Living Performers--George Jones

George Jones has had over 160 songs that have made the top of the charts. From the mid-1950s through the present, he has been recording and singing great songs, many of which became hits. Jones is a top country singer, a winner of many singing awards and honors, a member of the Grand Ole Opry, a newsmaker (not always for good reasons), and a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. It is not all that easy to pick his top ten songs. I have enjoyed his music for decades, but I don't come close to even knowing all his songs. And some of his lesser known works are just as good as the big hits.

Don't hold me too accountable for the order given below. I don't even agree with it.

1. "He Stopped Loving Her Today." This is not only one of Jones' greatest hits, but it is one of the great all time country songs. It is so incredibly sad and moving that I can hardly ever listen to it without nearly breaking down. The perspective is that of a friend who observes a man's undying love for a woman who rejected him many years earlier. Only in death does his love for this woman end.

2. "She's Mine." This is a less well known Jones song. I am not even sure if it was a top charted hit. This song is about a man who accepts the fact that this girl who is in his life will someday leave him and that her love is still with one who has left them. It seems to be an unusual romantic relationship, until the end of the song reveals the missing element. The song is about a girl, a daughter, whose mother has "left this world" and the accepting love her father has for her. "She's mine and yet, I know someday she'll leave me." "She's a baby, I'm her daddy, and she's mine." A sweet and moving work.

3. "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool," with Barbara Mandrell. I strongly identify with this song. It is slightly autobiographical. Barbara Mandrell's portion is great, but the crowd explodes when George enters in and echoes that theme of being country when country wasn't cool. And there was something better about country music before "everyone" got in on the act.

4. "I Don't Need No Rocking Chair." This is a much more recent Jones' song. It is in part a protest against so many country radio stations and producers who ignore the legends. It is also a testimony to both Jones' resilience and to that of many an older person who can still do great things. So many of my heroes have performed great feats in their older years: Jones, Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, and Paul Johnson are just a few.

5. "If Drinking Don't Kill Me, Her Memory Will." This is a traditional drinking, broken heart song. I don't like the taste of liquor, but it sure resonates with the soul to hear these kind of powerful lyrics. You feel the depth of pain that a person can go through in this world and understand why man in his sinful weakness so often seeks consolation in demon rum.

6. "The Race is On." What makes this song so attractive is that it was perhaps the first Jones' song I heard. It was a hit way back in the 1960s. It is clever and, like many country songs, skillful in its replaying of emotions through metaphors.

7. "We're Gonna Hold On," with Tammy Wynette. During the six or so years that Jones and Wynette were married, they produced a great number of wonderful songs. As it turns out, they were probably better at singing together than living together in marriage. Any Jones-Wynette duet is worth hearing.

8. "Angel Band," with Ralph Stanley. Jones and Stanley have performed several songs together on a couple of albums where Ralph Stanley sings with friends. I wish they would produce a whole album together.

9. "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes." This song is a tribute to many of Jones' friends, fellow singers, and heroes. It is another tear-jerker for me. When Jones speaks of Hank, Marty, and Lefty, I find myself saddened by their absence. And we all know that when George is singing this song, his shoes cannot be filled either. (Watch the video!)

10. "Choices." I am painfully looking past quite a few other songs to chose this one. I heard it for the first time today. It is a powerful song that reflects on Jones' own life. Even for those of us who have been preserved from the problems and failures that Jones both experienced and sings about, we are reminded that we have all made painfully bad and foolish choices. This song reminds me of how thankful I am for a choice I did not make; in other words, I rejoice in the grace of God's electing love.

Of course, "The Grand Tour" should be on the list.

Happy Eightieth Birthday to a Superstar

2011-09-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

George Jones celebrates his 80th birthday on September 12, 2011

Not many legends are still around. Johnny Cash, Porter Waggoner, Bill Monroe, and Patsy Cline are all gone. Elvis has been gone a long while, and old old Hank, Marty, and Lefty even longer. Thankfully, we still have George Jones and Ralph Stanley. (There are others no doubt.) God has been good to George Jones, even though Jones, just like every one of us, has not always been very good toward God.

Jones's drinking songs, like his songs about heartbreak, blues, and dejection, are born out of his many miserable experiences. He has suffered from alcohol use and abuse, broken marriages, and at least one major wreck that should have ended it all. As he says in one song, "from the blood from my body I could start my own still."

Just as those two great William's, Shakespeare and Faulkner, plummeted the depths of human tragedy and woes via their dramas and novels, so Jones has revealed the pain, misery, and struggles of man's failed efforts to find perfect bliss in this vale of tears. Country Music is truly a Saturday night honky-tonk and Sunday morning revival kind of experience. This is not to endorse every celebration of the honky-tonks, cheating songs, or drunkeness. It is to realize the depth of reality in so many of those songs.

Perhaps the greatest song Jones ever did (and there are so many) is "He Stopped Loving Her Today." Unrequited love has never been so powerfully portrayed as in this song. It breaks my heart every time I hear it. When Jones first looked at the song, even he thought it was too **** depressing (to use his words, sort of) to appeal to people. But we are all depressed sometimes. The blues and their first cousin from the south, sad country songs, all bespeak the human condition. If you are not sad or heartbroken or lonely right now, someone in your family, neighborhood, or church is. And whether that sorrow is self-inflicted, the result of events beyond your control, or due to being sinned against, it is a glimpse into the abyss, a journey into the underworld, a vision of the heart of darkness. (Country music is, after all, great literature, sectioned up into 3 minute experiences with a fiddle and a steel guitar for emphasis.)

Sometimes the fault of Jones and other country singers is the lack of balance in giving answers to man's plight and misery. Yes, this is a miserably depressing, lonely, heart-breaking world. We could all drink ourselves into oblivion due to the fallen condition of mankind and the miseries of our own hearts. But God has spoken. There is hope.

Jones not only knows of the hope in this world, but he has celebrated it. After his near-fatal car crash some years back, he appealed to Vestal Goodman of the Happy Goodman Gospel Singers. Along with his fourth wife, Nancy, these two women helped George recover a vision of the Cross. Prior to that wreck, his wife worked to free him from his many years of alcohol and drug abuse. Like June Carter Cash's labors with her famous singer husband, George's wife exemplified the saving Gospel to his life.
[For an amazing interview with George Jones about his life and faith, see http://www.cbn.com/700club/guests/interviews/george_jones_080603.aspx]

Not all country songs are about the tragic dimensions of life and love. Jones has had several hits that celebrate women. Songs such as "She's the Rock that I Lean On" and "A Picture of Me Without You" are fine examples of a woman being man's source of stability, a true help-meet.

God's blessings on dear old George Jones on his eightieth birthday. I hope he continues to sing on this side of eternity. I can also hope to meet him on this side as well.

George Jones at age 80--"Still Doin' Time"--on the stage

Jones' marriage to Tammy Wynette resulted in many a fine duo, but that marriage of two great singers did not last. They sang, "We Gonna Hold On," but they didn't.

Album of The Year: "Helplessness Blues" by Fleet Foxes

2011-08-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes

Article written by Nick House.

I love the album cover.

     Helplessness Blues is the best album of 2011. It could have passed as being the best album of 1968; perhaps a lost Simon and Garfunkel world music album. I've taken the liberty of naming it Album of the Year even though the year isn't over yet, because unless Johnny Cash comes back from the grave to record a new record I doubt I'll hear anything better than this.
     It is hard to follow up a breakthrough album. If the band sticks with the formula that made them innovative in the first place, they might end up with a second album that sounds just like the first. That’s not always a bad thing, but Great Album II is never quite as good as the original. If they try to strike out in a new direction, they could end up being a band with no defined style that constantly reinvents itself. The ideal is for a second album to build upon the first, without being either a radical departure or a carbon copy.
     Fleet Foxes has achieved this ideal. Their first album was very minimalist, precise, and vocal oriented. The new record focuses more on instruments than the band’s trademark harmony. The music on Helplessness Blues is less precise than that on Fleet Foxes, but it is more exploratory, boldly going where no foxes have gone before. It is also a more personal album. On Fleet Foxes, lead singer Robin Pecknold’s voice always seemed to blend into the band’s harmonies and on some tracks it was almost completely drowned out. (Think “White Winter Hymnal”, “Sun It Rises”, “Quiet Houses”) The lyrics, while beautiful, seemed rather detached, like looking at a picture rather than looking at the thing itself.
     Things are much different here. Unlike the rather random collection of songs from Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues falls into a sort of pattern, telling the story of the singer’s emotional journey. It’s not a concept album per se, but one can see a sort of storyline emerge from the songs. Every storyline has a cast of characters. In Helplessness Blues, there are two main characters: the singer (played by Robin Pecknold) and his woman, whom he is having problems with. There are also a host of supporting characters: a mysterious man in “Sim Sala Bim” who is described as a “gentleman tied to the Oceanside,” a “stranger” who stands on the girl’s doorstep in “Battery Kinzie” and ominously says “nothing good.”, a “Bitter Dancer” who might be the singer’s woman or might be his son, and other, minor characters like “the slave and the empress” who both return to the dust like they came.
     Every story has a theme. This story’s theme is helplessness (duh), confusion, or a sense of being lost. Every song deals with confusion or being lost in some way, and the storyline is left somewhat unresolved.
     The record starts with the hymn like “Montezuma.” The band’s echo chamber, singing-into-a-can sound works well here: Pecknold takes the lead vocals solo and the band members back him up like a chorus of monks. If Worship music sounded like this, I would listen all the time. The singer realizes that he is older than his mother and father than when they had their daughter (and presumably disappointed that he has wasted half his life on this stupid band instead of getting a real job.) He wonders if he could ever get past only thinking of himself and learn to “dream of such a selfless and true love.”
     “Bedouin Dress” is one of the best-constructed songs on the record. Unlike some bands (Nirvana, you know who you are.) Fleet Foxes pays a lot of attention to the arrangement of their songs. This song manages to synthesize percussion, a jazzy Middle Eastern fiddle, and the band’s trademark harmonies into a pleasing whole. It’s probably the grooviest thing Fleet Foxes has done to date, and shows that they are not simply restricted to melancholy indie ballads. The singer talks about how he regrets his misspent youth, and that he would give up everything that he has “just to be at Innisfree again.” This is a reference to W.B. Yeats’ poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” in which Innisfree represents the poets desire to come to some sort of home, a place of resolution.
     “Sim Sala Bim” is where the album really starts to sound like Simon and Garfunkel. This song sounds like the musical version of a very realistic dream. If you listen closely, you can hear some unusual chord progressions. The guitars, mandolins, and harps all sort of blend into an ethereal mix until the end of the track, when the song goes full tilt into a Celtic jam.
     If Jane Austen had listened to rock music, then she would have probably had “Battery Kinzie” on repeat. The song has a sort of Elizabethan or 18th century sound to it. Any band that can start a song with “I woke up one morning/all my fingers rotting” and not come off as overly melancholy has talent. This song is driven by the drums and percussion. When you listen to it, listen to the cadence and sounds of Robin Pecknold’s lyrics. In poetry, it matters just as much how the words sound as what they say.
     “The Plains/Bitter Dancer” is actually two songs. “The Plains” is an instrumental. Fleet Foxes had an instrumental on their self-titled record, “Heard Them Stirring,” but it was mainly showcasing their harmonies. “The Plains” starts with a simple drumbeat and guitar melody. Gradually, vocals and other instruments start coming into the song until it escalates into a dreamy crescendo and then fades into “Bitter Dancer.” “Bitter Dancer” is a very dark, foreboding skin. Like Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,”
it tells part of a story, leaving the audience in the dark as to the details. The harmonies on this song are so intricate that I cannot tell which voice is the melody and which voices are the harmonies. After three dark and foreboding verses, the music takes a U-Turn and starts into a major-key section, with the singers declaring “At arm’s length, I will hold you there.” It’s a very unusual way to end a song; listen to it and I think you’ll agree.

Fleet Foxes always keeps it real.

“Helplessness Blues” was the first song from this record that I heard. The first part of it is a guitar driven ballad. The lyrics are worthy of Paul Simon. The singer speaks of once feeling that he had a purpose in this world, but now he feels lost and helpless. Every verse ends with the phrase “I’ll get back to you someday soon.” leaving his problems unresolved. After the third verse, the band comes in and the song slows down. The narrator tells of his desire to live a normal life with his woman “If I had an orchard I’d work till I’m sore…and you would wait tables and soon run the store,” but ends the song with “someday I’ll be like the man on the screen,” suggesting that this idyllic life he speaks of is just an illusion.
     “The Cascades” is an almost Celtic instrumental. Robin Pecknold has said that one of his biggest influences is soundtrack music, and you can feel the soundtrack influence here. The music has a very imagistic quality to it: you can almost see the Cascades when it is playing. Listen with your eyes closed.
     “Lorelei” is something you don’t often see in modern pop music: a waltz. It is probably the most poppy thing on this record, full of 70s-nature-documentary-background -music guitar arpeggios, and flutes and background harmonies that gently hover about this song. It’s all sunshine and butterflies and stuff, so Metallica fans beware! You might just…like it. Just try not to sing along with the chorus. It ends with the sound of either cannons firing or a hockey game (I can’t tell), so that makes it slightly more manly.
     At first I paid little mind to “Someone You’d Admire,” mainly because it was short and quiet. After listening to it closely, I became convinced that it was the best song on the album. It’s a ballad with just guitar, vocals and a great melody. The best part is the lyrics. The singer sings about how he has two personas, one of who loves this woman and the other who “would just as soon cast [her] on the fire.” The song ends with the singer declaring, “After all is said and after all is done/God only knows which one of them I’ll become.” The best part is that the singer says what he wants and then ends the song, instead of dragging it out to three or four minutes like a more amateurish songwriter would.
     “The Shrine/An Argument,” another multi-part song. The first part involves the singer going to “the old stone fountain in the morning after dawn.” This part has some of the most adventurous chord progressions in the album. For those of you not musically educated, it goes from incredibly tense and strained to mellow in a split section.
     The next section is the most energetic that Fleet Foxes has been. The singer talks about his woman’s anger toward him, culminating in her “in the ocean, washing of my name from [her] throat.” The drama in the lyrics is perfectly complimented by the drama in the song.
     The final section begins with the singer singing as if in a dark cavern, “green apples hang from my tree/they belong only to me.” The singer does not reach a sense of acceptance, but instead asks the sea to “Carry me to Innisfree like pollen on the breeze.” Then after that, there’s something that sounds like a baby elephant being being beaten to death. I’m sure there’s some artsy reason to include that on the album, but it’s very annoying.
After this drama comes the Simon and Garfunkel-like lullaby “Blue Spotted Tail.” The singer asks rhetorical questions (“Why in the night sky is the earth hung?” “Why is life made only for to end.”?) These depressing questions are backed up by a beautiful, calm fingerpicked guitar melody.
     This leads me to a great digression. Perhaps one of the reasons that Christian rock music is generally lame is that there is no sense of mystery or searching in the lyrics. Robin Pecknold is an atheist or something thereabouts and he can sing songs that ask “Why is life made only for to end.” I feel like most Christian rock artists don’t ask questions like that, and would probably answer it with some sort of pat, “God made it that way” answer. Perhaps because Christians know they have the truth, they don’t write songs that have any searching or wonderment in them. Christian songs just seem to have no dramatic tension.
     After the drama of “Helplessness Blues”, “Someone You’d Admire.” “The Shrine/An Argument” and “Blue Spotted Tail,” the final track, “Grown Ocean” comes as a sort of relief. The music is mellow, but upbeat, contrasting with most of the second half of the album. The singer speaks of being in a dream where he is “as old as the mountains/still as starlight reflected in fountains.” He says that he will truly see his woman someday when he wakes from the dream into reality. The album ends with his singing “Wide eyed walker, don’t betray me/I will wake one day, don’t delay me. /wide eyed leaver, always going.” The album ends with the singer accepting his fate, but with his future still unsure.
     Fleet Foxes has managed to create a style of music that is both traditional and modern. Their music details a search for resolution, both musically and lyrically. It is a music that tells a story, maybe even a quest, full of wonder and wondering. Fleet Foxes is the defining sound of the 21st century, and when the Britney Spears ripoffs and screamo bands have all faded away, Fleet Foxes will remain. If you only buy one album this year, make it this one.

Just admit it: You know you want a beard like that.

A Dylan Eleventary

2011-07-29T12:24:00.000-07:00

By Nick

Dig That Purple Bowtie.

It is impossible to pick a top eleven songs from Bob Dylan. First off I like so many of his songs that it’s hard to pick just 11. Secondly, Bob Dylan’s output has been so diverse that it’s not right to compare his work from one era to that from another. Instead of trying to narrow out Bob’s eleven best, I’ll just pick out eleven that I really like.
11. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door: One of the shortest hit songs ever, only bested by “Mercedes Benz” by Janis Joplin. I appreciate the reggae version by Eric Clapton, and the version by Guns ‘n’ Roses is…unique, but Bob’s is still the best. On the Unplugged version he sings “Knock knock knockin’ on heaven’s door/just like all the other times before.” Huh?
10. Tangled Up In Blue: This song is a rara avis, a long narrative song by Dylan that actually makes some sort of sense. I read somewhere that it was about the history of cubism. I don’t want to know what the song is about; that would spoil it. Best moment: when the woman hands the singer the book of poetry “written by an Italian poet of the 13^th century.” Dante and Dylan: what a great combination.
9. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue: Bob Dylan could write great melodies. It’s a pity he couldn’t sing them. I’ve always thought this song could have been a pop smash had it been redone by another band. Favorite lyric line: “The emptyhanded painter from the streets/is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets.”
8. Positively 4^th Street: The perfect takedown. What else can I say.
7. All Along The Watchtower: I like Bob’s version better than Jimi’s. (Still like Jimi’s though.) This song has some of the best atmospheric lyrics in the rock music world. Dylan builds up an engaging story, and as soon as you get into it, he ends it. Why are the riders approaching? What are the princes on the watchtower looking for? One of the reasons I like Dylan is because he’s mysterious: You can find out all about a song by Breaking Benjamin or whoever, but you’ll never totally figure out a Dylan song. (If it makes you feel better, Dylan has probably never figured out a Dylan song.)
6. To Make You Feel My Love: Some British Chick named Adele or something has made a sugary-sweet remake of this. Dylan sounds much more authentic on his version. Dylan was a rare artist in that he could take pop music and make something meaningful out of it.
5. Not Dark Yet: But it’s getting there. Don’t take my word for it, just listen to the song.
4. Maggie’s Farm: More timely than ever. Unlike so many Dylan wannabes, Dylan was able to write songs that you could crank up loud. If I had a car with huge speakers I would blare this song out like it was rap.
3. Subterranean Homesick Blues: Dylan invented rap. This song is generally known as the first white rap song. The first non-white rap song was actually by Muhammad Ali and It’s called “Theme from Muhammad Ali and his gang Vs. Mr. Tooth Decay.” (Personally, I’m going for Mr. Tooth Decay.) Anyway, “Subterranean Homesick Blues” is probably the one song that I feel defines the 60s vibe, and it also has one of the coolest titles ever.
2. John Brown: Dylan was often called a poet, usually in reverent, hushed tones. (“He was a poet.) Most of Dylan’s so called poetry is incoherent and insensible. However, occasionally, in between the “Tombstone Blues” and “Quinn The Eskimos” he came out with something that really was good poetry. This song, from the Unplugged album, is one of the best anti-war poems I’ve heard, putting Dylan in the ranks of e. e. cummings and Wilfrid Owen. I think he would be proud.
1. Dig It by The Beatles: From the Let It Be album. This is the best Dylan song ever. If you’re a Dylan fan you have to listen to it.

If Only This Had Been A Real Album

Favorite Dylan song that’s not a Dylan song: “Girl From North Country” by Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. Bob doesn’t even sound like himself on this duet. This is just a flat-out great song, even if both the legends singing on it had a deficient sense of rhythm and couldn’t harmonize with each other no matter how hard they tried.

Two American Legends

And did you realize that "Like A Rolling Stone" wasn't on this list?

Bob and Larry

2011-07-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

By Nick

Not this Bob and Larry

Bob Dylan is one of the most influential singers and songwriters of our time. His influence has spawned countless imitators such as Connor Oberst, Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Dylan.
There is not one Bob Dylan. There are many Bob Dylans. There is the 60s Greenwhich Village Folk Scene Dylan, the Electric Dylan, The Nashville Skyline Dylan, The 70s Leisure Suit Dylan, The Artiste Auteur Dylan, the 80s Dylan (“Jokerman” sounds like a lost cut from the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack.) The 90s Comeback Dylan, the Living Legend Dylan, and the World-Weary Troubadour Dylan. (Coming soon: Retirement Home Dylan.) In the movie I’m Not There, a really weird Dylan biopic that I have not watched, he is played by 6 different actors, including a woman. (I pity any woman ugly enough to pass for Bob Dylan.)

One phase that many people don’t know about or dismiss is the Saved Dylan. From 1979 through 1981 Dylan was a born-again Christian and recorded two Christian-themed albums. But unlike many secular artists who become Christian and then make lame music for Jesus, Bob Dylan didn’t dumb down his songwriting when he became a believer. You won’t find Jesus-is-my-girlfriend ballads on Saved and Slow Train Comin’. Instead, Dylan takes his style and Christianizes it, with good results. Unlike many Christian rock artists of today, his songs deal with theological concepts like covenants and sanctification. And not only did Dylan have good Christian lyrics, he backed it up with good Christian music. The music on Dylan’s Christian albums sounds like Gospel cranked up to 11. Listening to “Solid Rock“ or “Saved“ might give you the impression that it would be enjoyable to be a Christian. I’m sorry, but you can’t do the praise hand to anything on Air1.

Dylan and Gospel: an unlikely Combination

When Dylan was a Christian he had a brief acquaintance with Larry Norman. Larry Norman is often thought of as the first Christian rock artist. This is not true: the first Christian rock band was David and the Five Smooth Stones. Norman’s music seems babyishly tame today compared to Air1 staples like Skillet or Flyleaf (How come Christian bands can’t come up with cool names?), but in his day he was criticized for playing rock with a Christian message. He was also known as the Christian answer to Paul Simon and Bob Dylan. Larry’s music was very much worldview music. He took his Christian worldview and applied it to different areas of life. For example, in “I Am The Six O’Clock News,” he criticized the media’s reluctance to take a moral stand on what it reported, and the way it transformed tragedy into entertainment. Try finding anything of that depth on Christian radio. Another personal favorite is “Christmastime”, with lyrics like “I gotta buy a present can’t remember who it’s for/but I’ll see you in an hour when I get back from the store.” Larry seems to have anticipated The Clash’s “Lost in the Supermarket” by several years. And finally, there’s “Baroquen Spirits,” a tale of lost love from the point of view of someone living in the 1500s. Not your average subject for a rock and roll song.

Serious Songs With Larry

Larry was a good songwriter, but he was often hampered by his pre-millennial theology. One of his best known songs is “I Wish We’d All Been Ready,” a somewhat melodramatic 70s ballad about the Rapture. Regardless of whether you agree with its lyrics or not, it’s still a gorgeous song, and we can be glad that even though Larry believed premillenially, he acted postmillenially.

Why Should The Devil Have all the Good Music?

Secondary doctrine aside, both Bob Dylan and Larry Norman reached back to the roots of rock music: gospel. Rock music’s heritage is black and white gospel music of the south. Jerry Lee Lewis used to crawl up underneath a black church with his cousins (some kids named Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart.) and play air piano. Elvis was briefly a member of the Blackwood Brothers and sang Gospel music throughout his entire career. Little Richard started out in church (?) and briefly became a minister. Don’t forget Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the highly influential guitarist. Even the AC/DC hit “Highway To Hell” sounds like a Gospel song gone wrong.
Yet today’s Christian rock scene ignores the gospel roots of rock music and instead gives us bland soundalike pop acts and metrosexual metal bands. For those of us who haven’t had frontal lobotomies, there’s very little to choose from that has both good music and good lyrics. If you’re looking for solid Christian rock music, you can do no better than to start with Larry Norman and Bob Dylan’s Christian albums.
And no discussion of Bob Dylan's Christian Albums could be complete without mentioning the awesome tribute Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan, which features covers of Dylan's Christian songs by great artists like Shirley Caesar, Aaron Neville, Mighty Clouds of Joy, and Sounds of Blackness.

Gospel Albums by Dylan: Saved!
                                       Slow Train Comin'
                                       Shot Of Love (Don't have this one.)
Larry Norman's Trilogy: Only Visiting This Planet
                                     So Long Ago the Garden
                                     In Another Land

Patriotic Rock Songs (!)

2011-07-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

By Nick

Not the best picture, but it's all I could find.

Rock Music is not known as a bastion of patriotism. The majority of rock songs are apolitical, and those that are political are usually tired variations on the "I-Hate-George-Bush" theme. Many of the best rock bands are hardcore liberals, and "patriotic rock" is usually a codeword for Ted Nugent. And before I go any further, I will say that I am a conservative and I can't stand Ted Nugent's music.
Many rock songs fall into the somewhat vague category of Anti-War or Protest songs. Many protest songs are very good, such as Bob Dylan's "John Brown". At their best anti-war songs show the horror of wars and put to shame any people who try to glorify war. Any true conservative is anti-war. At their worst (and they're far more at their worst than at their best) they are short-sighted attacks on the military that keeps them safe. It's easy to criticize your leaders if you live in a free country like America. There are plenty of American/British rockers who have criticized George W. Bush and are incredibly famous. I don't know of any Korean rockers who have criticized Kim Jong Il and gotten away with it. Going back to the main point, their are very few rock songs that speak highly of the US military.
Alice in Chains, the 90s grunge/rock band, is not known for patriotic songs. Most of their songs fall into the general category of "I hate [Fill In The Blank]." But on their 2nd album, Dirt, from 1992, they performed one of the best military anthems of all time, "Rooster." This is not just one of the coolest pro-military songs ever, but one of the coolest songs ever period. Alice in Chains guitarist (and wah-pedal addict) Jerry Cantrell wrote the songs about his father, Jerry Cantrell Sr., who served with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam, and who was nicknamed "Rooster" as a young man. The lyrics speak of the horrors of war while praising the warrior who fights for his country. Musically, the song alternates between the soft, almost psychedelic verses and the huge electric guitar buildups.

Ain't found a way to kill me yet

Eyes burn with stinging sweat
Seems every path leads me to nowhere
Wife and kids, household pet
Army green was no safe bet
The bullets scream to me from somewhere
(Commentary: The soldier in this song is trying to survive so he can get back to his "wife and kids.")

Yeah they come to snuff the Rooster
Yeah here come the Rooster, yeah
You know he ain't gonna die
No, no, no, you know he ain't gonna die
(Commentary: words on a page cannot convey how awesome this chorus is. You just have to listen to it.)

Walkin' tall machine gun man
They spit on me in my home land
Gloria sent me pictures of my boy
Got my pills 'gainst mosquito death
My buddy's breathin' his dyin' breath
Oh God please won't you help me make it through
(Commentary: In the 1960s many of the peace protestors were very rude to veterans coming back from Vietnam, spitting on them or calling them baby-killers. The naive protesters, then and now, do not understand what the soldiers go through in combat in foreign lands, away from their wife and children with their combat buddies dying. The song's singer cries out to God to help him get home alive.)

Yeah they come to snuff the rooster, ah yeah
Yeah here come the rooster, yeah
You know he ain't gonna die
No, no, you know he ain't gonna die

Also in the realm of rock songs and the 4th of July, check out "Independence Day For A Petty Thief" by House of Heroes from their album Suburba. It's not particularly patriotic (although House of Heroes has done some good pro-troop songs on their World War II album, The End Is Not The End.), but it's rockin'.

Current Listenings: The Great Hylian Revival by Jay Tholen, Helplessness Blues by Fleet
Foxes, "Gravedigger" by The Dave Matthews Band.

Country Music and Patriotism

2011-07-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

Part 1 of what is now a 3 part music series.

Country music is a broad category entailing many kinds of songs. Sometimes in listening to "country stations" on the radio, I am confused about what country music is. There are defining music styles and themes that clearly identify some songs as country. Among the many recurring themes or ideas found in country music is love of country, in this case, the country being the United States.

What country singers often celebrate in family, grandparents, a loving wife, a farm, or a road leading home is personified in the United States as a country. It should be no surprise that many country artists, including Johnny Cash, have been military veterans. It should be no surprise that many country artists devote time to touring and performing for American troops overseas.

Country music heralds the flag, the military, freedom, and the unity of the idea of "God and country." Like all patriotic sensibilities, sometimes it is overblown, often it echoes that much maligned concept of "American exceptionalism," and sometimes it is blind to America's faults. But country music has often contained its own critiques of American actions.

None of this can be used to easily put all country artists in the right wing of the Republican Party. Many of the older musicians, like Bill Monroe, were old-time New Deal Democrats. Ralph Stanley, in 2008, endorsed John Edwards (whose subsequent downfall looks like a country song) and later President Obama. (In fact, Stanley was personally recruited by Pres. Obama.) Del McCoury's CD Moneyland, which appeared around 2007, was a veiled call for a replacement of the Republican administration. Some of the songs were drawn from the era of the Great Depression and were bemoaning the Hoover administration.

Still, it is hard to find many true blue liberals among country artists. Either they are politically conservative, religiously conservative, or culturally conservative. (And like even left-wing entertainers who profit from the free market sales of their work, they are business conservatives.)

Patriotism finds reason to celebrate the ideals and potential of this country even amidst the many flaws.
Perhaps the most popular patriotic country song of our time is Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA." While Greenwood has actually enjoyed many hits, this one has been the most successful and defining for him. Like much good music, it has crossed the charts and is popular in all kinds of audiences and settings, but particularly patriotic settings.

Notice the words (and comments) below:

If tomorrow all the things were gone,

I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away.

(Commentary: An abiding belief in this country is the freedom we enjoy and the opportunities we have under that freedom. So, in times like these when the economic situation is threatening "all the things...[we've] worked for all [our lives]" we still have the belief that freedom is better than material goods, that the love of a family can sustain us, and that freedom cannot be taken away.)
And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

(Commentary: The freedom exists because men have fought and died for it.)
From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.

(Commentary: There is a unity that is geographic and cultural. The idea of what an American is--which has been a topic of discussion for centuries--is found in our pride of nationhood.)
That I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

(Commentary: The repetition of the ideas and words of this song--accompanied by the music--reinforces the love of country based on freedom. The prayer and wish for the song is for God's blessing on this country.)

We hope to highlight some other country songs that are patriotic in the days ahead.

Notes from the Music Teacher (and others), part 3

2011-06-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Messrs Berry, Buck, Mills, and Stipe,
We're sorry, but your music does not fit our needs at this time. We feel that your singer does not have enough hair, and his voice is too nasally. Also, a name like REM will not appeal to many people.
Signed,
The Record Company Man.

Dear Mrs. Johnson,
Jack has been placed in detention for skipping class to go surfing.
Signed,
The Economics Teacher

Dear Mrs. Daniels
Your son Charlie is being removed from choir. He refuses to sing properly, and instead shouts in a loud voice.
Signed,
The Choir Director

Dear Mrs. Daniels,
Your son Charlie is being removed from Orchestra. He plays his violin too fast and uses improper technique. He refuses to sit down to play his instrument, and he gives the other musicians bad feelings.
Signed,
The Orchestra Director.

Dear Mrs. Daniels,
Your son Charlie is disrupting my class. During my lectures on the Civil War he repeatedly shouts "The South's gonna do it again." If this pattern of behavior continues, I will have to take action.
Signed,
The History Teacher.

Dear Mrs. Daniels,
Your son Charlie is failing comparative religions class. He keeps insisting that "The Devil went down to Georgia", even though this has no basis in any known religious tradition.
Signed,
The Comparative Religion Teacher.

Dear Mr. Ives.
Your current image does not reflect the record company's needs. A recent poll shows that audiences prefer singers who weigh less than 200 pounds. We insist that you change your image to suit this development. Also, we do not believe a Christmas recording would be commercially viable.
Signed,
The Record Company Man

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Crosby,
Your son Bing sings too softly for choir class. He needs to improve his vibrato.
Signed,
The Choir Teacher

Dear Mrs. Armstrong,
I am not making any progress with Louis. I suggest you point him to a different hobby, such as checkers.
Signed,
The Voice Teacher

Dear Mrs. Stevens,
Your son Sufyan is failing choir. He does not pay attention during class. When I try to teach he sings to himself, or scribbles on his music. His voice lacks definition, and he sings too quietly. I suggest moving him to shop class.
Signed,
The Music Teacher.

Dear Mrs. Bach,
Your son Johnny shows absolutely no aptitude for music whatsoever.
Signed,
The Conservatory Director.

Dear Mrs. Malmsteen,
Remind Yngwie that he will only become a good guitarist if he practices.
Signed,
The Guitar Teacher

Dear Mrs. Rodgers,
Tell Jimmie that yodeling is not part of our music curriculum.
Signed,
The Music Teacher.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Tubb
Ernest is a disturbance during choir. He spends all of his time winking at the girls.
Signed,
The Music Teacher

Dear Mrs. Carter.
A.P. is not aware that in choir one must sing at all times. "Bassing in" is not a recognized feature of classical vocalism.
Signed,
The Music Teacher.

Dear Mrs. Beethoven.
No matter how much I rebuke him, Ludwig never seems to hear what I'm saying. I suggest you discipline him at home.
Signed,
The Teacher.

Dear Mrs. Stravinsky,
Your son is failing music theory.
Signed,
The Professor.

Dear Ms. Hildegard of Bingen,
You are failing music theory class. You need to watch out for those parallell 5ths.
Signed,
The Professor.

Mr. Adam Duritz (Counting Crows)
The correct way to say the phrase is "Mr. Jones and I."
Signed,
The Grammar Teacher.

Dear Mr. Dave Matthews,
Thank you for sending us your demo CD. We regret to inform you that it does not fit our current needs at the time. We suggest that you work on your enunciation and write shorter songs.
Signed,
The Record Company Man

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Williams,
After much consideration, I am dropping Hank from the choir. His voice is not suited to the choir's needs. His voice sounds thin and stretched, he does not widen his mouth enough, and he is unable to enunciate words properly. He has shown up late for class, or skipped class several times, and has given as his excuse that he was "honky-tonkin', honey baby", or that he was "down on the bayou." Yesterday he greeted our piano teacher with "Hey good lookin', what you got cookin'?" He also seems to have problems with depression and social awkwardness. He told me that "he was so lonesome he could cry." I suggest setting up an appointment with the school psychologist. I think that deep down Hank is a good kid, and I hope that he will see the light.
Signed,
The Music Teacher.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Yankovic,
Your son Alfred shows talent and potential on the accordion. I think that if he continues to practice it could help him overcome some of his social difficulties.
Signed,
The Music Teacher

Bluegrass Music--Penetrating the Veil

2011-06-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

Ralph Stanley: Short Life of Trouble--Songs of Grayson and Whittier

A few days ago, while listening to Ralph Stanley sing the songs of Grayson and Whittier, I was reminded of the phrase Louise Cowan uses in her essay "Epic as Cosmopoesis." She refers to the primary feature of epic literature being the "penetration of the veil separating material and immaterial existence" or "the veil separating the human from the divine." The point that led to this thought relates to the themes of so many of the songs on this bluegrass collection as well as songs lodged within the broader scope of bluegrass, mountain, folk, southern, and rural music.

These songs deal with brutal, cruel, sad, and tragic aspects of life. Not every song has a somber theme, for sometimes trains, love, women, dancing, and dogs lift the spirits. Yet, the darker side of life is ever present in bluegrass music. Consider the song "Rose Conley" in this collection. The story in this song is about a man who kills the woman he loves. This idea comes up repeatedly in bluegrass and folk music. The passion and irrationality associated with love and hate can evoke the strangest of actions. It is unthinkable, but men have responded with jilted love or unrequited love by violence. It is the human heart in emotional chaos. While it does not happen often, the fact that it does happen is enough to unsettle the soul. And bluegrass music is soul music.

"Short Life of Trouble" has a theme that is self explanatory. In this song, the young man has been rejected by the girl who promised her love only a week before. This is a heart-ache quite familiar to many people. Rejection is painful, but the lyrical experience of a poem or song expresses the pain of a moment. That moment of pain, however, seems to be extended into eternity when it is happening.

Short life of trouble
A few more words to part
Short life of trouble dear girl
For a boy with a broken heart

"Nine Pound Hammer," despite its jaunty air, is a lament of the pains of physical labor. Bluegrass music grew out of the experience of farmers, miners, lumbermill workers, factory hands, and other folks who sweated long and hard to survive. A teacher like me who works in an air conditioned building could never write true folk and roots music about my experiences. (Consider "I was lecturing on the history of the War Between the States...." to the tune of "Tennessee Waltz.")

"He's Coming to Us Dead" is a mournful song about a man waiting for his son at the train station. As the song develops, it becomes clear that the son was killed in battle and his body was being returned home for burial. The homecoming is a sad one.

"A Dark Road is a Hard Road to Travel" works on the biblical imagery of light and darkness.

A dark road's a hard road to travel
A light road is always the best
A dark road will lead you to trouble
A light road will lead you to rest

Those troubles can include jail and other miseries. These things may come out of the choices men make, but the troubles are painful all the same.

"On the Banks of Old Tennessee" deals with loss and displacement. The singer laments not having a father, a mother, a brother, sister, or true love. They are all resting on the banks of the Old Tennessee. Whether it is a specific tragedy or just time, he has been separated from family. There is an empty sadness in this kind of song. Again, that is a momentary emotional response fitting for lyrics.

It is interesting that fans and artists in the bluegrass arena gravitated to so many doleful, melancholy, shocking, and saddening themes and ideas. No doubt this was because of the proximity of human woe and depravity. Folks either experienced these sad times or they had kinfolks and neighbors who experienced them. Life experiences were not sanitized. Death was not ignored. The tunes, often driving and perhaps upbeat, reflect an attitude that accepted the tragic dimensions of life because life here on this earth is only part of the story. Music was a coping mechanism that enabled hurt people to press on with life under the sun. Only God knows the reasons for all our troubles. The music penetrates the veil separating us and our woes from God and His glory.

It is no wonder that Ralph Stanley, along with his brother Carter, borrowed from the obscure duo known as Whittier and Grayson. Those two Virginia boys recorded about 40 songs from 1927 to 1929. "Train 45" contains fiddle playing that, when done well, sounds like a train. Bluegrass, country, and folk musicians were fascinated by the world-changing nature of trains. Trains could become means of leaving, returning, sinning, hoping, or figuring out life.

Gilliam Grayson, 1888-1930, was basically blind (he had a small amount of vision), so he turned to the only outlet for a man in his situation: He learned to play the guitar, harmonica, mandolin, organ, piano, and fiddle. He teamed up with Henry Whittier, a guitar player. Their small body of bluegrass songs (before it was defined as bluegrass) included such tunes as "Tom Dooley," "Little Maggie," "The Banks of the Ohio," and the songs listed above. Their short singing career included an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry in 1930, but later that year, Grayson was killed in an auto accident.

Sad to say, but there is no available collection of Whittier and Grayson themselves, but other artists like Stanley have kept the music alive. This collection was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 1998.

Pioneers of Roots Music: Gilliam Grayson and Henry Whittier (c. 1928)

Ivan and Alyosha

2011-05-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

Nicholas and I have been delighting in our reading and discussion of one of our favorite books, The Brothers Karamazov, by one of our most admired authors, Fyodor Dostoevsky. (Read recent posts on The Brothers Karamazov). We were, therefore, pleasantly surprised when our friend George Grant recently mentioned on his website that free downloads were available from a singing duo named Ivan and Alyosha.
(Free Noise Trade download of the fantastic Ivan and Alyosha EP: (http://bit.ly/j65dPJ)

In The Brothers Karamazov, Ivan is the probing atheist who asks the most serious questions and raises the most serious objections to a belief in God. Unlike all too many atheists, he realizes where his position leads. "If there is no God, then everything is permitted." Alyosha, in the novel, is one of the most powerful Christian characters ever created in fiction. He is the angel, or the messenger, to all the other characters in the story. His faith is pure and deeply held, but his Christian living is not filled with fluff, syrup, or sugary sweet answers. His is a powerful Christian love, motivated and taught to him by Father Zosima.

We have enjoyed getting acquainted with this talented young group--which actually includes two other musicians. Their music has a harmony like that of Simon and Garfunkel, with a very comfortable feel, even for a fellow deeply rooted in country music, like me.

I will let Nick take the helm and further describe the music and the musicians.

Ivan and Alyosha

Ivan and Alyosha is an indie rock band from Seattle. Their music ranges from driving indie pop in songs like "Father's Be Kind" to the symphonic indie of "Everything is Burning." Their lyrics range from traditional love songs ("I Was Born To Love Her") to songs that deal with less traditional themes, such as having a child ("Living For Someone"). Their most defining song to date is the Bob Dylan-esque "Glorify." The song, like good poetry, is heavily ironic and open to multiple interpretations. I'll let the song's lyrics speak for themselves.

I left my family and my home
to fight the battle on my own
I stole a car and drove away
but in my hate St Paul did say

Glorify the Lord above
with your drink and making love
Glorify the Lord, my son
with your whiskey and your guns

I shot my foe, now I feel bad
I beat my wife, now I feel sad
I curse my brother and my friend
I broke my mother's heart again

Glorify the Lord above
with your drink and making love
Glorify the Lord, my son
with your whiskey and your guns

And I'll tune my heart and tune my strings
and see what giving thanks might bring
For all I have was always thine
but I was fool to think it mine

We'll glorify the Lord above
with your drink and making love
Glorify the Lord, my son
with your whiskey and your gun

Well if you stay or if you go
or if you stand or you're brought low
We'll drink the wine, we'll eat the bread
But don't forget what Jesus said

Glorify the Lord above
with your drink and making love
Glorify the Lord my son
'till your work on earth is done

I said to glorify the Lord above
oh if you've plenty, if you've none
Glorify the Lord my son
with your whiskey and your gun

Much like The Brothers Karamozov, the song doesn't seem to provide any easy answers. It seems to be about how people are supposed to do everything to the glory of God, but instead do wicked and awful things, like beating their wives. However, it does not seem to be an attack on Christianity-- notice the lines "For all I have was always thine/but I was fool to think it mine." It seems like the band is recognizing that people are not glorifying God like they should.

We hope to learn and share more about this group in the future.

Not the Hits-Great songs off the album.

2011-04-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

By Nick
These are just a few good songs from albums that didn't become radio hits. Sometimes the hits by a band are good: Chicago's album songs are often unbearable. In other cases, such as The Fray and OneRepublic, the album cuts are the best songs. These songs are in no particular order.

"Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite." by The Beatles. The Sgt. Pepper's album had a lot of good hits on it--scratch that, every song on that album is good. The Beatle's musical diversity was so great that they could write a circus music song with lyrics taken from a circus flyer from the 1800s, and it was still good.

"Reflections" by the Charlie Daniels Band. I don't know if this song was a hit or not. You can find it on the 3-disc collection of his music. Songs like "The South's Gonna Do It Again" and "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" were good. This one is great. It's a tribute to musicians who have passed on, specifically Elvis, Janis Joplin, and Ronnie Van Zandt of Lynyrd Skynyrd (The most underrated of classic rock bands). "Heaven should be proud."

"Hundred" by The Fray. The Fray is best known for their hits, "How To Save A Life", "Over My Head." Those songs are awful compared to the cuts from their first album. Unlike many piano-pop bands, The Fray actually has a talented pianist, and this ballad shows him off at his best ability. All the other album cuts are very good too.

"Oh My God" by Jars of Clay. Off the Good Monsters album. Probably the best song on a life-changing album. I can't describe it, just listen to it. I will warn, however, that it makes more sense in the context of the album than listened to on its own.

"Four Walls of Raiford" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. A lost Skynyrd track, and their best song. Most of the Skynyrd songs that get played on the radio are either not that good to begin with, or played to death (There should be a moratorium on Sweet Home Alabama). This song is about a Vietnam vet who is thrown into prison for a crime he didn't commit, and is escaping. It's heart wrenching.
And in an A.D.D. moment, another great Vietnam vet song is "Rooster" by Alice in Chains, which is definitely in the top five patriotic rock songs of all time.

"All Fall Down" by OneRepublic. OneRepublic's best music is hidden. This one is an acoustic-guitar driven song, complimented by some tense strings. Despair never sounded so good, except on the other good despair songs, but that's a topic for a later post.

"Why Not Smile" by R.E.M. From the Up album, although I have never heard it in the context; I know it from a compilation. The first R.E.M. song I heard, a haunting acoustic ballad. Michael Stipe doesn't even sound like Michael Stipe on the song.

"Dearest" by Buddy Holly. The best Buddy song, free from the mindless rockabilly of his earlier music, or the mindless syrupy fluff of his later music. Buddy had a unique voice, was a great stylist, and definitely had not reached the peak of his potential when he died. If he had continued to write songs like this, he would be even more remembered.

"Life In Rain" by Remy Zero. From the Villa Elaine album. I don't know why, but most of these songs are ballads. I guess it is because the record companies pick out the fast, catchy songs for singles. This song is particularly relevant because it has been raining a lot around here lately. If you listen to it, you can feel the rain.

"The Dangling Conversation" by Simon and Garfunkel, off the Essential album, one of the songs put in as padding in between the songs like "Sounds of Silence", "Scarborough Fair", and that gospel song. Simon and Garfunkel were the first to write rock songs with intelligent, thoughtful lyrics. Bob Dylan, who came around the same time period, wrote songs with all the hallmarks of intellectualism except for intelligibility. Anyway, this song shows what good lyric-writing should be. I think Paul Simon was right in choosing Robert Frost.

"Lady Jane" by The Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones at their worst turned out crass, stupid pop music, were personally vulgar and snotty, stole music from authentic black American musicians, and sang in a stupid fake Southern accent. At their best they did songs like this, a pseudo-elizabethan ballad. The mellow Stones beat the loud and rowdy Stones or the old and ugly Stones any day.

"On Fire" by Switchfoot. From the Beautiful Letdown album. Switchfoot's ballads are killers (in a good way, not in a Jack-the-Ripper kind of way), and this is one of the best. Still not sure what it's about, but the passion in it makes up for my confusion.

"Sooner or Later (Soren's Song)" by Switchfoot. From the New Way To Be Human album. Coming in the tradition of Paul Simon (see above), Jon Foreman writes a rock song about a philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard. And it's a really good rock song, too. Coincidentally, the song "Leaf" by mewithoutYou also mentions Kierkegaard's book Purity of Heart is to Want One Thing. It seems that Christian Existentialism is a popular theme in intelligent Christian rock music, and this should be explored more deeply.

"Red Hill Mining Town" by U2. From The Joshua Tree. You gotta love the good old sorta Christian liberals. The multi-millionaire rock star Bono knows so much about the working class. I mean, he's got pink glasses, so he must know everything, right? In all seriousness, this track from U2's breakout album is good, despite the fact that it probably has some sort of "share all your money" theme behind it. Back in the day, before they became big time rock stars, U2 was capable of writing lots of very moving songs. They still are, occasionally.

Do you have any favorite songs by artists that weren't radio singles? Post a comment and tell us.
Currently Listening: Abandon Kansas EP, Abandon Kansas.

Music for Easter Week-end

2011-04-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

The Christ--His Passion--Remembering the Sacrifice

This CD is a family favorite and might be found playing anytime during the year. I especially enjoy it during my morning reading time. It is a marvelous collection of meditative contemporary Christian songs, all dealing with the theme of Christ's suffering and death. It was an introduction to us of many Christian artists we now know and enjoy. I first picked this CD up off of a bargain table at the local Baptist Book Store. It had no price tag, so the clerk just gave it to me. What an amazing gift.

Songs and Artists on this CD:

I Remember You - Mac Powell with Gene Eugene

Jesus Went To The Garden - Derri Daugherty, Paul Colman, and others

Kyrie Eleison - Leigh Nash (My children have often sung this short prayer from this CD.)

Marvelous Light - Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken

Were You There When The Sun Refused ToShine - Maddy Madeira

Precious Jesus - The Choir with Leigh Nash

With Every Breath - Leigh Nash & DanHaseltine

Beautiful Scandalous Night - Sixpence, None The Richer & Bebo Norman

Lamb Of God (Agnus Dei) - Bebo Norman & Mark Hall & Megan Garrett (Casting Crowns)

Yes I Will - Bebo Norman and Joy Williams

Communion - Cliff & Danielle Young & Phil Keaggy

Were You There When They Crucified My Lord - Phil Keaggy

The Stone - Jars of Clay

Another favorite CD is Songs Inspired by the Passion of the Christ.

Songs Inspired by the Passion of the Christ

The songs on this collection are more wide-ranging and eclectic, some not even exactly Christian, yet overall, quite a moving collection.

This CD includes

1. How Can You Refuse Him by Hank Williams and sung by his granddaughter, Holly Williams

2. Stranger in a Strange Land, sung by Leon Russell and the Shelter People

3. Are You Afraid to Die, with a clip from a Billy Graham sermon. This is a great Ira Louvin classic, sung by Ricky Skaggs, one of the best Bluegrass artists around today.

4. Please Carry Me Home, sung by Jessi Colter (Waylon Jennings' widow) and Shooter Jennings (Waylon's son)

5. Ave Maria by Delores O'Riordan, a beautiful heretical song. Some Protestant with Latin training needs to correct the song.

6. Why Me by Lee Ryan

7. Darker with the Day, sung by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Haunting and strange.

8. Where No One Stands Alone, sung by Elvis. He often professed who the true King is.

9. Harm's Way, sung by The Ghost Who Walks.

10. By the Rivers Dark, sung by Leonard Cohen. Very strange song, but I like it.

11. Precious Lord, sung by the Blind Boys of Alabama. The Blind Boys are among the best.

12. Not Dark Yet, sung by Bob Dylan. Dylan often hits the nerve of reality. Great poetry.

Good Friday Lyrics

2011-04-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

The Stanley Brothers--One of the most talented music teams ever

Central to the music of the Stanley Brothers was their Gospel songs. Not only did they sing lots of old songs from the hills and hymnals, but they also wrote and performed lots of good songs. Ralph Stanley wrote a powerful song called "Will He Wait a Little Longer?" Originally, the lead part was sung by Carter Stanley, who was one of the best vocalists in the field of country music (a pretty tall order). When Carter sings those words, "A vision of a mangled body, I can see his nail-scarred hands..." I find myself shaken to the core. This is a beautiful Gospel call for believers to pray for the salvation of the lost.

Will He Wait a Little Longer
by Ralph Stanley

On cruel Calvary where he suffered

There he died upon the cross
That we might be saved my brother
Freed from sin and not be lost

Will he wait a little longer
There's so many out in sin
Will he wait a little longer
Give us time to gather in

A vision of that mangled body
I can see his nail-scarred hands
When He calls me way up yonder
I will hear and understand

Many loved ones gone before me
They've made their peace for the final day
But should He call before they're ready
I can almost him them say

Will he wait a little longer

There's so many out in sin
Will he wait a little longer
Give us time to gather in

Notes from the Music Teacher, part 2.

2011-04-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

When music teachers get the blues

Dear Mrs. Zimmerman,
Our orchestra does not include harmonica and Robert (Or Bobby or Zimmy) does not meet our standards for singing. I suggest you urge him to find another interest other than music.
Signed:
The Music Teacher

Dear Mrs. Johnson,

I regret to inform you that Robert is not doing well in music class. His voice is scratchy, and he does not widen his soft palate. He shows up late to class regularly, claiming that he has "hellhounds on his trail", or that he had to stop at "the crossroads." Your son has potential, and I think that if he applies himself he could be a successful vocalist.

Signed:
The Music Teacher

Dear Mrs. Johnson,
Your son is failing geography class. Please explain to Robert that Chicago is not in California, nor is it prefaced by the phrase "Sweet Home."
Signed:
The Geography Teacher

Dear Mrs. Price,
Your son Ray is doing well in choir class. I urge you to let him take voice lessons. If he applied himself, he could be a successful opera singer.
Signed:
The Music Teacher

Dear Mrs. Charles,
I had to rebuke your son Ray at his piano recital. He moves back and forth too much, and insists on punctuating Beethoven's Piano Concerto in C minor with shouts of "what I'd say." Unless he changes his behavior, I will have to drop him as a student.
Signed:
The Piano Teacher

Dear Mrs. Penniman,
Please tell little Richard that if he continues to scream often he will damage his vocal chords. Please also tell him that it is not appropriate for choirmembers to shout "Oooh, my soul!" at the beginning of each piece. If he continues to do so I will have to remove him from choir class.
Signed:
The Choir Director

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Berry,
Your son shows no aptitude for the fine art of guitar playing. Despite all that I try to teach him, Charles continues to insist on playing the same three chords over and over again. I think he would be better suited to another hobby, such as origami or ultimate frisbee.
Signed:
The Guitar Teacher

Teacher to Principal
Young master Hewson continues to insist on signing his papers as "Bono", so I have sent him over to you for discipline.

Dear Mrs. King,
I am sending your son BB to the school psychologist. He appears to have a severe case of depression. He tells the teacher that "every day he gets the blues", and refuses to do his homework because "the thrill is gone." I suggest that we put him on some Ritalin to deal with his depression problems.
Signed,
The Principal

School Psychologist to Principal
I believe that young BB's problems with depression are related to problems with his home life. He says that "nobody loves him but his mama, and she might be jivin' too." I suggest increasing the dosage of Ritalin.

Dear Mrs. Burnett,
Please inform Chester that his name is not "Howlin' Wolf."
Signed,
The Principal

The Ember Days-Your Eyes Light Up

2011-04-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

The Ember Days is a musician's band. From their songs it is evident that they give more attention to guitar tone and technical details than the average pop band. The Ember Days doesn't go for pop songs with catchy choruses (which in the Christian music world become pop songs with endless choruses). Instead, they prefer to stay in their own niche, alternating anthemic rock songs with more piano driven, ambient songs. The band is mainly the project of the husband-and-wife team of Jason and Janell Belcher (What an unfortunate last name.) Their first CD features three vocalists, the two mentioned above, and a third, the soft-voiced Eliot Norton, who is no longer a member of the band.

The Album.

The songs on the record sound like the band took their time writing them, as opposed to just slapping together a song with a few chords and a riff stolen from U2. The guitar tone is almost perfect, the drumming is technically skilled, and put together, they sound excellent. The best songs on the album, though, are the slower, more ambient songs sung by Janell, such as "Cocoon", "Love Song", and "Dreaming." Unfortunately, these are the least overtly spiritual. Musically, though, they sound like nothing I've ever before, and it would be worth buying the album just to hear those few.

Lyrically, there's no mistaking where The Ember Days are coming from. Unlike some Christian bands that try to be as vague as possible, (I'm looking at you, Switchfoot), The Ember Days are explicit about their faith. However, they have a propensity to devolve into evangelical mushiness and questionable lyrics. In "Chasing the Wind", a song from the viewpoint of Jesus, Eliot Norton sings "Please don't ever say you don't need me, 'cos I need you." This doesn't quite square up with Biblical theology. YHWH is a Trinity-the Father enjoys perfect fellowship with the Son and the Spirit and so on. God did not need to create man, or to send his Son to die for them, which makes God's love even more amazing. It's also a little disconcerting to hear, in "Love Song", lyrics like "Your beautiful eyes holding mine won't let go, for in them I've found a home", which are ostensibly about Jesus. It doesn't seem very reverent to talk about Jesus like he is your boyfriend. Sorry to be the cranky Presbyterian here.

The band in its current lineup. The guy with the mustache is Jason Belcher, who bears a surprising resemblence to Mario.

Even weirder is the screaming in "Selah." It's out of place, especially given the more upbeat nature of the song, and seems more like a bone thrown to the hardcore kid audience than anything else. It would probably fit more if the song was "The Wrath of God Descends Upon The Unrepentant Unbelievers", which sounds very Presbyterian, and will probably appear on some CREC-approved worship album. The rock songs are a little repetitive, and Jason's voice gets a little strained on the choruses, while Janell's is underused.

I criticize bands, and yet they still let me take my picture with them. :-)

Now that I'm done attacking this musical bull elephant with a squirt gun, I will go on to say that The Ember Days are a great example of giving up your life for Christ. If they were a secular band, they would be a smash, at least in a sane world. If they did Christian pop anthems, they would be all over KLove. Instead, they take the path of most resistance, spiritually and musically, and crafted a musically worthy first album where their passion for the Lord is clearly evident in their songs. For that, I congratulate them, and recommend them to you.
You can visit their website here. Not only are The Ember Days accomplished and talented musicians, they are also very generous and they give away all their music for free download. You should probably donate to them, because musicians are poor, and also because their van is legendary for breaking down.

Moody Men's Collegiate Choir

2011-03-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday night, Nick and I attended a concert of the Moody Men's Collegiate Choir at Fellowship Bible Church here in Texarkana. The choir sang a number of great hymns celebrating the power of God and the saving work of Christ. There is something quite amazing about the blending of strong male voices. Both the depths of the basses and the strength of the tenors give such choirs real punch. The song selections were outstanding. In a day when Psalms are all too often neglected (or tied to painful tunes) and traditional hymns are forgotten, hearing this choir sing Psalms and hymns was encouraging.

They also had some popular music in their concert, and a couple of comedy skits. The choir director, Dr. H. E. Singley, said that many of the singers had never heard the song "When I Fall in Love" until they learned it in their choir. That song, made famous by the great Nat King Cole, is a good one for Christians to take and bring into our world, for it fits the Christian worldview quite well.

This choir will be going to Egypt and Jordan in the late spring and early summer. Our prayers go with them and our appreciation for their God-honoring music.

Christian Music and Worship at LRBC

2011-03-21T16:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the family and I had the great privilege of attending worship at Little Rock Bible Church. I would have loved to have heard a sermon from the senior pastor, Lance Quinn. I don't know him, except through his contribution to and expansion of the book The Five Points of Calvinism: Defined, Documented, and Defended by my former pastors David Steele and Curtis Thomas. (That book has convinced many a Bible student of Calvinistic soteriology.) But instead of Pastor Quinn preaching, the sermon was given by George Lawson, the student ministries pastor. Normally, I cring at hearing a "youth leader" preach. I felt encouragement and conviction, but no cringing. Pastor Lawrence's sermon was tremendous. It was on evangelism and was thoroughly Reformed and Biblical, and it included quotes by Martyn Lloyd-Jones and R.C. Sproul.

For purposes of this blog, I want to celebrate the great music we heard and participated in. All too often, Reformed worship includes deep, but obscure hymns sung to tunes that are dirgelike and extremely hard to sing. (You would never find yourself whistling the tunes while working on your car or scanning a T.S. Eliot poem.) On the other hand, my wife and I attended a college chapel worship service recently that had music that was most unappealing. I think it is called "Praise and Worship" music, although it leads me to neither response. It was repetitive, shallow, tuneless, and pounded out with loud drums.

Claude Goudimel was a great Dutch Christian and leader in the Dutch Reformation of the long-time agos. When Abraham Kuyper was showing that Calvinists and the Dutch also produced artists in his classic Lectures on Calvinism, he cited Goudimel as an example. I am sure that Brother Goudimel produced some lively, singable tunes. They just got lost. The ones that I usually experience are hard to sing, obscure, and often leave me dragging. I call them the "Tunes of the Unknown Singer: Known But to God."

Back to yesterday's worship: I was thankful to enjoy a mix of more recent Christian music, along with older, but familiar hymns. Yes, there was contemporary Christian music in the service, including one song by that Christian hipster, James Montgomery Boice, Presbyterian theologian and pastor, who died a decade ago. His hymn was built upon a paraphrasing of Romans 8. And the Little Rock Bible Church had an orchestra, but instead of the musicians putting on a performance fit for either the "Screaming and Hollering" youth music crowd or the "Round Mouth" grey-haired concert goers, the music was fitting for a worshipful environment and fitted for enhancing the songs. Trumpets, after all, ought to be used in every "Regulative Principle" group.

All in all, I was thankful to find that what I kept thinking must exist, does exist.

Nick's European Tour and My Music Listenings

2011-03-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

Nicholas, on the left, with classmates and friends touring the Parthenon

The music scene around the House-household has been all-together too quiet this past week. Nick left last week to go with some of his fellow students and others on a tour of Greece and Italy. With his MP3 player full of the eclectic range of his musical interests, I am sure he has been listening to lots of music. Hopefully, he has been able to experience some of the music of the Mediterranean world.

Meanwhile, back home, I have been listening closely to the 1980s song hit "Some Old Side Road" by the late Keith Whitley. It is hard to believe that he and I would be the same age, if he were living. His talent was incredible and potential unfulfilled. Ralph Stanley discovered Whitley and another boy by the name of Ricky Skaggs. These two kids were performing old Stanley Brothers songs so well that Dr. Ralph thought the music was coming from old recordings. Stanley hired the two boys who had to balance their playing with Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys along with high school. (If I had the talent, I would trade all my high school for a year of perforning alongside of Ralph Stanley.) Just as Skaggs went on from the bluegrass beginnings to play traditional country music for a good many years, so did Whitley. Even in the days when he performed with Stanley, alcohol was a demon for him. Keith was incredibly talented, married to the lovely and talented Lori Morgan, and successful. Alcohol sent him to an early grave. My consolation for him is the great gospel song he wrote titled "Great High Mountain."

You don't have to move that mountain

Just help me Lord to climb it
You don't have to move that stumblin' block

Just show me the way around it

We must climb a great high mountain

To reach God's gracious kingdom

In His words you'll find the strength

If you will just believe them

Well, the way is filled with pitfalls

And sometimes we may falter

You can have His grace, my friend

On your knees down at the altar

You don't have to move that mountain

Just help me Lord to climb it

You don't have to move that stumblin' block

Just show me the way around it

Letters from the Music Teachers and Others

2011-03-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

Dear Mrs. Presley,
I had to discipline young Elvis in class today. He wiggles and squirms too much during the singing; he is overly concerned about fixing his hair; and he distracts the other students, particularly the girls.
Signed:
The Music Teacher

Dear Mrs. Lewis,
I regret to inform you that your son, Jerry Lee, has been removed from the piano class. After repeated warnings, he continued to play in ways that are inappropriate for a piano and he continually puts his feet on the keys.
Signed:
The Principal

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Cash,
The principal and I have decided to move John R. from music class into shop. He does have some potential in the baritone section, but he tends to sing in a monotone style and sings out of the side of his mouth. We think he might be much better off working with his hands.
Signed:
The Music Teacher and the Principal

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Webb,
After having taught your daughter Loretta (Lynn) in music class, I have come to the conclusion that she cannot be a part of our choir. She seems unable to enunciate her words properly. Usually, this comes out in her inability to pronounce the "g" sound in words ending in "ing," such as loving, living, working, drinking, etc. She simply must have some speech therapy before she can return to music class.
Signed:
The Music Teacher

Dear Mr. Monroe,
Bill's vision problems are hindering his ability to read music, but the more serious concern is his voice. We have no soprano slots open in the choir for young men. After his voice changes, we can reconsider
Signed:
The Music Teacher

Dear Mrs. Stanley,
I am sorry to inform you that Ralph is failing music. His voice does not exactly...blend well with the choir. I think you should encourage his interest in agriculture, especially in raising pigs. I have also notified the counselor of some of his particular comments.
Signed:
The Music Teacher

Counselor to Music Teacher:
You are exactly right. Young Mr. R. Stanley has an unhealthy and morbid view about death and graveyards. His brother, Carter, shows the same tendencies, but with an emphasis on the death of his mother. I am concerned about where these two boys are headed.

Dear Mrs. Parton,
The multi-colored coat you made for Dolly does not fit in with our choir outfits. Therefore, she will not be able to participate in our upcoming concert.
Signed:
The Music Teacher

Principal to Music Teacher:
Please drop Jennings and Nelson from your fifth period music class. They have both been expelled from school.
Signed:
The Principal

Note to Principal:
If Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington, dont get that hair cut off, they cant come back to my gym class. I done told them twice.
Coach Skinner

A Country Legend: Stonewall Jackson

2011-03-03T16:28:00.000-08:00

Stonewall Jackson's Greatest Hits sung alongside a host of Country Legends

In the late 1980s, people began discovering, or actually rediscovering, traditional country music. Singers like George Strait, Randy Travis, and Alan Jackson awakened large numbers of people to country music and drew huge crowds who fell in love with their traditional country sounds and styles of singing.

With the popularity of the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” in 2001, once again people rediscovered traditional music. Periodically, when these rediscoveries take place, the music listening public seems astounded by the new music, featuring acoustic guitars, fiddles, and steel guitars. The songs, emphasizing loves lost and loves found, heartbreak and happiness, and cheating and fidelity capture the range of human emotions and experiences. The emotions of the songs resonate with the souls of people. Even people who have never lived in the country or in the south and who do not have ties to a little country church, music on the front porch, or falling in love with the girl next door find themselves attracted to the music.

So, no matter what trends come and go, no matter what extravagances occur in the music industry, and no matter whatever harmful actions are taken by music producers, traditional music will survive. It will periodically re-emerge and appeal to whole new crowds of people.

There are, however, some singers who have always sung traditional country music. Before Elvis and after Elvis, before the Beatles and after the Beatles, and before the advent of the orchestrated, violin dominated Nashville sound and after that, some folks stuck to singing traditional country music. In fact, it is something of an oxymoron to call it “traditional country music.” If it is, in fact, country music, it is traditional.

Saying this is not to criticize other music genres, artists, and tastes. Beethoven was great, but he wasn’t country. And it is true country music that we speak of here.

Stonewall Jackson is a true country singer. Of course, with a name like Stonewall Jackson, a man would have to be tied to the deepest rooted parts of southern life. Jackson began singing in the 1950s. He was quite a popular country star during much of the time from the 1960s to 1980s.

The whole period from the 1950s through the 1980s was a golden age for country music. That time period encompasses the careers of the greatest of country singers. The art of the music was defined by the combination of technology—records and radio—and ideology, by which we mean defining beliefs about the music. The temptation to change the style of the music was always there, and the pressure of trying to appeal to newer, younger audiences was always present. But the heart of country music was middle class, hardworking folks who had grown up in a time when entertainment largely consisted in picking up WSM’s Grand Ole Opry on a Saturday night.

Country fans were loyal and solid. When they heard an artist sing, they politely applauded the new songs, but they expected to hear the old songs. If a number one hit from 1963, sung a thousand times by a singer was not sung, the country loyalist felt cheated.

These were people who listened to country music on the radio, who watched the Saturday afternoon country music shows, and who made a pilgrimage or two to the Opry at the old Ryman auditorium in Nashville. Because these kind of people were the bedrock country fans, they never grew tied of the traditional country sounds.

The vast majority of those country artists are now gone. I can remember hearing Tex Ritter sing “I Dreamed of a Hillbilly Heaven” on the Opry. All of that generation that included Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, and Ernest Tubb are now dead. In the past several several years, we have lost Porter Waggoner, Billy Walker, Charlie Walker, Hank Snow, and (quite recently) Hank Locklin.

Thankfully, we still have some legends around, like Ray Price (who in his eighties is still performing), George Jones, and Stonewall Jackson.

This CD collection of Stonewall Jackson’s hits sung by him with is friends is a gem. Over a dozen of the artists who appear on these songs have died since these songs were recorded. This collection is a virtual “who’s who” of real, roots country music.

Great Jackson hits like “Don’t Be Angry” (which every husband needs to sing to his wife every day), “I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water,” and “That’s Why I’m Walkin’” are all here. And yes, of course, his great hit “Waterloo” is the concluding work where he is accompanied by a vast throng of singers.

These selections may not often be heard on the radio and this CD may not be found in your local stores, but it is worth getting hold of. If you never have heard of Stonewall Jackson the singer, or if you, like me, have been a fan for many decades, you will enjoy this collection of music.

"Stonewall Jackson and Super Friends" can be ordered from
The Ernest Tubb Record Shop .

Fleet Foxes

2011-02-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

My Sony mp3 player happily informs me that “every moment has its music” whenever I turn it on. This is partly true. Due to the advent of mp3 players, people can now take their music everywhere. This can make life exponentially better. Instead of taking a walk in the park, you can take a walk in the park with The Beatles or The Shins. Or, to put it in a more negative way, trips to Wal-Mart can become made worse by having Nickelback blasted into your eardrums.

However, some of us dislike the claustrophobic closeness of the earbud. Listening to music with earbuds is like having a conversation with a close talker-no matter how interesting it is, you feel like your personal space is being violated. Around-the-ear headphones are better, but the pair I have are emblazoned with huge skulls, thus making me look like I should be pierced, tattooed, and listening to The Misfits.

CD players, computers, and those nifty chords that let you hook up your mp3 player to the stereo system if you press the “Aux” button, are all good, but when it comes to listening to music somewhere other than the comfort of home or the car, I am at a loss. A boom-box would be pretty retro, but I would feel wrong playing anything on it that wasn’t old-school hip-hop. Carrying my own instrument would be a good idea, but I don’t own a strap for my acoustic guitar. Personal minstrels are out of the question. I would simply have to do without, and hope I that the stores I want to go to play Jefferson Airplane and not Miley Cyrus.

What if, to solve this problem, music was supernaturally played at appropriate times and places? For example, say you’re walking along and you see someone and know that she’s your soul mate. (Assuming you’re a guy.) Suddenly, music from Air Supply magically begins to play. Or every time you were coming back from some event where you had to wear a suit and had to run into Wal-Mart to get some eggs, “Sharp Dressed Man” by ZZ Topp was heard in the immediate radius. It seems like some music is tied to specific sorts of places or situations. Just try to work out and listen to Jack Johnson.

If walking out in the woods just before dawn had a soundtrack, it would be Fleet Foxes self-titled debut album. The album brings up images of early morning sunlight coming through the trees. The four-piece band from Seattle plays a spectral brand of folk-rock, with a bit of a retro pseudo-60s sound. Don’t expect any blues jams or screaming guitar solos.

Fleet Foxes mixes different folk styles, blending American folk with British, Celtic, and Renaissance music. “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” actually sounds like a real folk song. The music on this record sounds like it was coming from a cave, or maybe a room in a castle. The reverb-heavy approach is a recipe for boredom in less talented bands, but fits perfectly with Fleet Foxes’ minimalist style. Lead singer Robin Pecknold’s voice is a bit odd, (He pronounces “staggering as “stagger-eein’”) but is not in the least annoying, and has a strange beauty. He’s backed up by a shimmering electric guitar, and some subdued drums. The drums and guitar on this record are probably the least obtrusive I’ve ever heard. They don’t try to upstage the vocals; instead, they support them. The songs aren’t highly technical, but they’re very tight. There is not a wasted note on the record. Fleet Foxes manages to have a lot of diversity on their record, from the rousing “Ragged Wood”, to the calming “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song.” The record is full of good melodies and even better harmonies. The harmonies are so tight, it seems like one person is singing, and the reverb-laden backing chorus is the high point of this album. The album is essentially flawless.

This record is great for listening to early in the morning while drinking coffee, at night when the moon is full, or any other time that is full of atmosphere. It is haunting without being depressing If you like 60s folk rock like Simon and Garfunkel or Steeleye Span (Great Celtic rock band), or if you’re looking for something new and different, check out Fleet Foxes and their self-titled CD. Words cannot accurately describe it. It must be heard to be believed.

You can check out Fleet Foxes' Website and by some of there music here.
Currently Listening: Stockholm Syndrome, Derek Webb.

Recent Concerts, Part One.

2011-02-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

Bradley Hathaway, Us and the Ship

Location: The old I Love Evelyn building

Friday, January 28

Due to a prior commitment, I arrived at the Bradley Hathaway concert about thirty minutes after the door opened. When I walked in I found that the show had already started, but was surprised to see that Bradley Hathaway was already playing. It turned out that, in order to make sure everyone stayed at the show, the out-of-town headliner was playing first, and the local band (Us and the Ships), was playing last. Not exactly how it is supposed to be, but this is Texarkana.

I didn't actually take this picture, but I didn't have my camera at the concert.

Bradley Hathaway, sporting long hair and a mustache, sat alone onstage accompanied by his acoustic guitar. I did not get there early enough to hear very many of his songs, but his style consists of his playing a simple, repetitive line on the guitar and talking over it. The only artist I can think to compare him with would be mewithoutYou if Aaron Weiss got into Americana and mellowed out considerably. His style was challenging, and it will probably take repeated listening to him to fully appreciate him. There was a lot of giggling in the audience when he got to the lines in one of his songs, “Adam and Eve were naked in the garden, and I want to get naked too. Let’s all get naked. But no, I can‘t do that.” etc. Although it makes sense in the context of the song, it seems as if the song lyrics are directed more toward shocking or amusing the audience as opposed to making a genuine artistic statement. Perhaps I’m wrong.
After he finished playing his songs, he recited a couple of his poems. Bradley Hathaway is no Wordsworth. He falls prey to most of the pitfalls of modern poetry, its egotism, its morbid introspection, and its total ignorance of any poetic devices such as similes.. And his poem about wanting Jesus to give him a hug seemed to skirt the edges of irreverence. However, his poem “Manly Man” was a humorous take on the difference between true Christian manliness and the world’s definition of manliness.
Once Bradley Hathaway finished his poetry recitation, he went to the tedious business of selling T-shirts and Us and the Ship took the stage. I found that this band was fronted by lonely poet Keith Tubbs and one of the members was Skyler House, who had played rhythm guitar for Israel and Fordreamsalike when I saw them open for Abel. The band’s style was described to me as hardcore-influenced indie, sort of in the vein of Edison Glass.

Guess which one can change a tire.

Us and the Ship’s was a band that tried too hard. Keith Tubbs, who is already unable to sing without sounding like he has a stomach virus, gave us a new feature to his onstage persona-dancing. Flailing would probably be a better word-the poor guy looked like he either had some sort of nerve disorder, or that he was being attacked by a swarm of angry wasps. The rest of the band did synchronized head banging, which looked very amateurish. The drummer‘s idea of being good was playing as loud as possible. The songs felt like they lasted forever. A good band can take a twenty-minute long-song and make it go by in a heartbeat. Us and the Ship dragged out five-minute long songs into eternity. I’m not in any way against experimental song structure, but if you are a beginning band, it is a good idea to keep to the tradition verse-chorus-verse structure. It’s pleasing to the ear and makes it easier to write good songs. Amateur songwriters may claim that it makes their music “too pop”, but anything that is not classical or traditional folk music is pop.

I didn't take this picture either. This is why you should always remember your camera.

Us and the Ship’s songs had the typical features of indie bands that try too hard. There were repetitive sections of the music that lasted too long, tempo changes, a pseudo breakdown. Keith even pulled out a harmonica, to do his Dylan-wannabe bit. The final song was the best, one of those indie songs that tries to swing with a bluesy rhythm, but the lyrics were complete gibberish.
My biggest complaint was not with the band, but with the audience. Despite the loud rock music being played onstage, and the energy of the band, they stood stock-still during the entire performance. This is completely unacceptable. It is just as rude and disrespectful to stand still at the front row of a rock concert as it would be to jump and scream at a symphony performance. Standing still during the band’s set says to the band “I don’t care.” I was informed that this was a Texarkana thing, and I can see why. Since Texarkana has almost no music scene to speak of, most people have never been to a concert before, and have no idea what to do once they’re there. If you go to see some sort of rock band, don’t stand still. Jump up and down, clap your hands, bang your head, do the Charleston, do something. But don’t stand still.

You can visit Bradley Hathaway's Facebook page here and Us and the Ship's Facebook page here.

While you're here, read and comment on the other posts. There's some good stuff waiting to be read.

Currently listening: Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes.

Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper

2011-02-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

It was perhaps 1970 when my parents carried me to Nashville and to the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium. Actually, we went to the Friday Night Opry. We lived with a Scottish parsimony, so we were staying in a camping trailer at a time before camp grounds could be readily found in the area. That same frugality explains why we attended the cheaper Friday night show. But it didn't matter. My folks did wonderful things for me, and since I was the youngest by six years, they were able to do wonderfully kind things for their weird son. Why weird? Because I was growing up in the late 60s and early 70s and my musical tastes were all in the direction of country music. And that did not mean just the popular country singers of that time, like George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Glen Campbell, and Johnny Cash. I liked the old country stars, meaning, those whose heyday was back in the 40s, 50s, and early 60s.

The trip to the Ryman on that Friday night was euphoric. I was there seeing and hearing Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, the Willis Brothers, and other favorite singers. Early in the show, one of my favorite acts came out. Jim Ed Brown, who still performs at the Opry, said something like, "Let's give a big hand to my next guests, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper and the Clinch Mountain Clan."

I don't remember what they sang. I know it was powerful. Wilma Lee was belting out on of the old mountain or gospel songs that they had made famous and all the while she was playing a guitar with zeal. Stoney would play some fiddle in the background and join in on singing the chorus.

They were great, but there was a sense even in 1970 that this couple were walking on stage from out of the past. Their looks, their outfits, and their songs seemed more like something from the old barn dances and radio hillbilly music shows of yesteryear than the product of the late 1960s Nashville sound.

Their tradition was the old pure country and mountain folk music. It is what is now considered bluegrass music. It was music learn't at the barn dance, the church singin', or the front porch on an evening after working on the farm. They were singing in the way and with the vigor of those early country artists who thought music was hard work and performing meant giving the crowd a good time. And while many of those singers nearly starved on the road, they reckoned that the singing lifestyle beat living at the end of the dirt road and struggling to grow corn on a mountain slope. (The other alternative usually involved moving to the city for a factory job. Those who did that provided the audiences for those who sang.)

I was thrilled a few days ago when Nicholas told me about seeing a Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper Greatest Hits music CD at a local convenience store. Nope, you don't find them at our rather weak Walmart and Target music centers, and there is not music store in Texarkana. I know I could have gotten the music from an on-line source, but I never did. So, I went into the convenience store, bought the CD and some peanut butter crackers. I am looking forward to listening to it in a few days. I hope it transports me back to that wonderful evening in Nashville many years ago.

More background on the Coopers:

Wilma Lee was born in 1921 in Valley Head, West Virginia, and she grew up singing with her family's gospel music group. In 1939, Wilma Lee married Dale T. "Stoney" Cooper, who was a fiddler and vocalist for with her family's band. They formed their own group known as Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper and the Clinch Mountain Clan. For years they performed on the Wheeling, West Virginia's WWVA-AM radio program and then joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1957.

During their successful years in the late 1950s and early 1960s, they had several hits including "Big Midnight Special" and "There's a Big Wheel." They also continued performing gospel songs like "The Tramp on the Street" and "Walking My Lord Up Calvary's Hill." Hank Williams once said that Wilma Lee was the best female country vocalist around.

Stoney Cooper died in 1977 from heart trouble, but Wilma Lee stayed on the Opry as a solo star and did occasional bluegrass recordings. Her performing career ended in 2001 when she suffered a stroke while performing on the Opry, but she was able some time later to return to the Opry to greet the fans.

Although largely forgotten today, they were a musical treasure from the Golden Age of Country Music.
For more on Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, click here and visit the Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper Fan Page.

Today's Listenings Include...

2011-01-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

From Ben:

Nicholas found the Ralph Stanley CD, Short Life of Trouble: Songs of Grayson and Whittier, at one of our finer music outlets in Texarkana, the Goodwill Store. He bought it and a Del McCoury CD for me for Christmas. In this collection, Dr. Stanley sings the songs of a couple of Virginia boys, named Gilliam Grayson and Henry Whitter. Grayson and Whittier are part of the older tradition of bluegrass, mountain, and folk music. By this I mean that they were writing and performing songs back when Ralph and Carter Stanley and even Bill Monroe were all young men. The Stanley Brothers had a long tradition of collecting and recording old songs, and these songs are powerful. As expected, the songs are of love, loss, labor, death, and trains. A fine work of classic music by one of the best artists of our time.

All three of the recording sets called Will the Circle Be Unbroken are great. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did the first voume of the set years ago. I have it on vinyl records. They brought in the singers they admired and recorded the songs of those people with some on-going commentary, jokes, starts and stops, and spontaneity. The original recording especially featured Mother Maybelle Carter. Her abiding influence is felt on this third production of the band and friends. For these songs, they assembled a number of country, blue grass and other types of musicians. Names include big starts like Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson, Del McCoury, Tom Petty, and Emmylou Harris. Several of the artists have passed away since this CD collection was released, such as Johnny Cash and June Carter and bluegrass king, Jimmy Martin.

I pulled this CD out of the shelf today because I wanted to hear an old Stanley Brothers song, called "Lonesome River."

Ben's Best of 2010

2011-01-04T17:36:00.000-08:00

Papa speaks:

In his famous essay, Isaiah Berlin compared "The Hedgehog and the Fox." Borrowing from another older writer, a well-worn tradition, he quotes Archilochus who said, "The Fox knows many little things. The hedgehog knows one big thing." In his essay, he went on to compare that Russian literary titan Tolstoy, the "fox," to Dostoevsky, the "hedgehog. As explained by a commentator, Berlin was dealing with two diffeent ways of approaching reality: the way of the far-ranging generalist and/or the way of the concentrated specialist.

Berlin could have referenced this blog and its two contributors for something of the same comparison. Instead, he chose Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Nick and I cannot fault Berlin since he wrote his essay and passed on long before this blog was launched (in the spring of 2010). Nicholas is the fox of this blog. I would not say he knows many little things, but his knowledge of music in terms of genres, current musicians, techniques, history, trivia, and other details is quite impressive. What he doesn't know, he asks his cousin, named Google. I am the hedgehog. My knowledge of music is much more limited, much more tied to a few specfic variations of country music, and more tied to my past experiences listening, not as a critic, but as a fan.

So, it will be interesting to compare our "Best of 2010" selections. I thought through mine last night, mainly because I couldn't sleep. A full moon and perhaps a caffeine overdose left me wide awake. I kept thinking back over favorite musical experiences of the year. Nick and I are both limited in our ability to pick up the latest CDs and run home to critique the hottest music. We are generally broke, the Texarkana area has been without a decent music store for nearly 3 years, and we both have too much school homework (or household chores). So, we rummage through the bargain bins of a few local outlets, search the internet for cheap CDs, or listen for the thousandth time to both CDs and record albums (those antique vinyl things that folks used in the early through middle 1900s).

Nick's range of interests and artists continually feeds into the narrow channels of my mind. Thanks to Nick, I have come to enjoy such hot artists as Simon and Garfunkel, the Beatles, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Yes, I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s. However, future biographers will be doubtful of that fact since I was so out of touch with the music of that time. During the 60s and 70s, I learned to love Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and Glenn Miller. I wish I could blame that on peer pressure, but I had no friends with the same interests and inclinations.

Here goes:

1. American VI: Ain't No Grave by Johnny Cash. Nick and I have numbers 3, 4, 5, and 6 of Cash's American series. We hope to add 1 and 2 to our collection. Nick and I are agreed as to the worth and wealth of this CD. The title song is haunting and soul wrenching. It has the effect of when Marley visits Ebenezer Scrooge. Except in this case, the darkness of the grave and the chains we forged in life are both overcome by the resurrection a believer experiences. That title cut alone carries the album along.

2. VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. Nick and I are in total agreement on this and the previous album. This was a find. We discovered it one day in Benton, Arkansas at a Hastings Records. You feel like you are sitting in a front row seat with Johnny and Willie just a few feet away. Cash jokes about his lack of guitar playing skills and both discuss the stories behind the songs. This CD is a powerful experience.

3. Still by Nathan Clark George, Mark Stoffel, and Ross Sermons. In the last month, Nathan Clark George and I have corresponded on a few occasions. I first fell for his advent music after getting his previous CD Midwinter Eve. All too much of the standard Christmas music wore me down, but George's gentle guitar and voice, with the addition of his companions on the mandolin and bass, provide me with soul comfort in the mornings. I will soon start listening to one of George's CDs that is not for Advent.

4. The Stanley Brothers. Oh, I am supposed to name a CD. Okay, how about The Stanley Brothers: Twenty Bluegrass Originals or The Stanley Brothers: 16 Greatest Gospel Hits? There are dozens of collections of the Stanley Brothers work. None of this is meant to lessen the value of Ralph Stanley's many recordings since Carter's death in the mid-1960s. My revived interest grew out of reading Ralph Stanley's autobiography. While reading about his and Carter's music, I would find myself going back and listening more closely to the songs I have heard for years. One incredible performance is "It's Raining Here This Morning." Ralph plays the banjo on this heart-break and prison song in a manner that sounds like rain hitting the roof of a building. Carter could tear your heart out when he carried the melody of a sad song. He loved singing songs about "Mother." Strangely enough, his mother outlived him, but he did many a song remembering a mother who has died. When Carter sang a sad song, his voice would break with the emotion. Those two boys had better be put in the Country Music Hall of Fame or else.

5. Cowboy Copas. In this case, I don't have a CD. All I have is a much cherished record, titled Alabam. That song was Copas' come back hit in 1963. It was climbing the charts when he was killed in a plane crash with Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins. The words to that song are funny, "Some folks say that a tramp won't still, but I caught two in my corn field, I'm on my way, I'm going back, to Alabam." It was the guitar rhythms that drove the song. It is, as the saying goes, a toe-tapper. Copas was the among the last of a breed that included Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, and Carl Smith. These were the guys who could belt out a honky-tonk song and follow it up with an old Gospel number. Both kinds of songs came from the heart and experiences of those boys.

6. Hearing Voices by Will Ackerman. Nick and I are in agreement here. This artist and CD were discovered in a Salvation Army bin. We both wondered if the $2.00 bet was a winner or not. But we listened and listened again and read the liner notes and listened again. Will Ackerman doesn't have the Calvinist orthodoxy of Nathan Clark George. (I figure he is nowhere on the horizon of orthodoxy.) He doesn't have the country roots and feel of the Stanleys or Cowboy Copas. And he is not like Johnny Cash. But his music is good background music. It is more mountaintop than elevator.

7. Riders in the Sky: Cowboy Songs. Another bargain find: 50 cents! Riders in the Sky are a popular singing group who are members of the Grand Ole Opry and may be even better known for some songs they did for one of the Toy Story movies. These boys, Ranger Doug, Too Slim, and Woody Paul, perform true Western Music (the other end of the Country and Western tradition)in the tradition of the Sons of the Pioneers, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry and many others. This delightful recording includes such songs as "Cattle Call," "Back in the Saddle Again," and that great favorite from boyhood, "Rawhide." It also includes a strangely cheerful and upbeat version of "Ghost Riders in the Sky." (When Johnny Cash sings that song, it not only sends a bolt of fear through the lone cowboy, but through me as well. It has a powerful gospel message: Repent! Makes me questions the Riders in the Sky interpretation.) I should add that this CD includes some of the finest of that lost art of yodeling.

8. Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers. Back in their heyday, people like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash worked as opening acts to a brother team of Ira and Charlie Louvin. Charlie, by the way, is still living and singing. The songs of this brother team were incredible. Some of their great songs were "My Baby's Gone," "When I Stop Dreaming," and "How's the World Treating You?" They also sang lots of Gospel songs, and being brothers, their sibling harmony was unbelievable. In this tribute, folks like Vince Gill, Merle Haggard, Dierks Bentley, and Dolly Parton sing the unforgettable songs of this almost forgotten duo.

9. Bluegrass Christmas Collection: Christmas Times a Comin'. I don't know whether this fine collection made the cut because we are just now concluding the Christmas season, or if it is because of the outstanding performances of Bluegrass greats, like Monroe, Stanley, Del Coury, and others.

10. All the CDs that I keep pulling out and playing again and again over the years. This includes music by Ricky Skaggs, Hank Williams, Caedmon's Call, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Bob Dylan, Lefty Frizzell, The two George's of Texas--George Jones (whose song "He Stopped Loving Her Today" is unsurpassed) and "The other George," George Strait, Vern Gosdin (whose song, "Set Em Up, Joe" ranks right up there among the best songs ever), Dolly Parton, Ray Charles (who was a great friend of country music and a superb stylist), Alison Kraus and Union Station, Alison Kraus and anyone else, Stonewall Jackson, the incomparable Ernest Tubb and Friends 3 CD collection (with more than five years of repeated playing, still a favorite with me and the kids), Music Inspired by the Passion of the Christ, Ray Price (I cannot believe I missed the concert 3 years back), Charlie Daniels (even now, America is gonna do it again), Patsy Cline (the greatest female singer ever), Percy Sledge, Eddy Arnold, Bob Dylan, Jack Johnson, Bach, Vivaldi, Shirley Caesar, Faron Young, the Carter Family, Randy Travis, Nat King Cole, the Wilburn Brothers, Jimmy Martin, Handel, Glenn Miller, Bing Crosby, Wagner (Richard), Waggoner (Porter), Brad Paisley, Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys, and both Marty's--Robbins and Stuart.

Best of 2010

2011-01-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

The Best of 2010
by Nick

This is not a traditional year-end best-of list. Most lists like this list the best albums and songs that came out during the year. However, due to the lack of available funds, the proprietors of this blog were not able to buy all the new albums that came out this year. If you want to help change this, send us money. This list is of the best albums and songs that I have listened to this year. It does not matter when the song or album was first released, only that I listened to it this year. In many ways doing a best-of list is challenging. It’s easy to pick out the number-one best song of the year, but incredibly hard to pick out number eight, and to decide whether it should be eight, or perhaps nine, or maybe even not on the list at all. I hope you will bear with my inconsistencies and faults.

Best Albums of the Year

Album of The Year: Tie American VI: Ain’t No Grave, Johnny Cash, and VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, by the above.

American VI: Ain’t No Grave: Whenever Johnny Cash releases an album, it is automatically the best album of the year. Despite the inconvenience of no longer being on this earth, Johnny Cash posthumously released his sixth installment in the American series, billed as his final studio album. The record starts off with the haunting rendition of the old spiritual “Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down”, complete with chains and a banjo played by The Avett Brothers. The song is at once beautiful and haunting. Go buy this record and go deaf listening to it.

VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. Two legends on one stage with just their acoustic guitars. Johnny and Willie swap stories and songs during the whole performance. Listening to the record is almost as good as being there.

2. It’s all crazy, it’s all false, it’s a dream, it’s alright, mewithoutYou

I really wanted to give the second place to a certain band of heroes who sang about the suburbs (No, not the Arcade Fire). But after listening to this record, I had no choice but to put it second. mewithoutYou has come a long way from screaming hardcore punk to American folk. I was afraid at first when I heard Aaron Weiss switch from his trademark talking during the song to actual singing, but no more. The melodies are beautiful, but they don’t take away from the rest of the songwriting. Musically, the album is flawless, without any of the annoying bits that would come up in mwY’s earlier albums. The album blends American rock-and-roll, folk, and classical music with mewithoutYou’s signature songwriting. Every song is great.

3. Suburba, House of Heroes.

The best new melodic band would have taken 2nd place with this record if mewithoutYou hadn’t swooped in and stolen it from them. Suburba redefines everything you know about pop, rock, and modern non-indie music in general. The music sounds like updated classic rock, blending elements of great classic rock bands (Zeppelin, Queen, Mellencamp), without falling into the trap of making every song sound the same. The shining moment of the album, though, is the vocals, both Tim Skipper’s lead, and the five-part background vocals that back him up throughout. House of Heroes is a fresh, new face in the tired world of modern rock, and will soon be defining the genre.

4. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Starr, &co.

It takes some really good albums to dethrone the Fab Four from first place. The best melodic band ever gives their best and most defining performance on this album. Sgtt. Pepper’s introduced so many new techniques and ideas to the mainstream audience. The first, self-titled track combines American blues jamming with English pomp, and the rest of the album follows suit. The Beatle’s defining moment, and one of the most momentous albums ever. Nothing would ever be the same afterwards.

5. Revolver by The Beatles

While not quite on the level of Sgt. Pepper’s, (What is?), this album shows them dipping their toes into the musical ocean they would come to dominate. The album ranges from the rock to raga, with everything from a somber piano ballad (“For No One”), a soul tribute (“Got To Get You Into My Life”), an extremely weird psychedelic journey (“Tomorrow Never Knows”) and the greatest conservative rock song ever, “Taxman”. Dig that groovy solo!

6. Stockholm Syndrome, Derek Webb.

Derek Webb is probably the best Christian songwriter of today, and he always keeps it fresh. In this album, he makes the leap from the retro-sixties rock of The Ringing Bell to an electronically based, beat-heavy, futuristic sound. It’s what you’d expect to hear in the Jetson’s flying car, except that the lyrics are anything but pop. Derek Webb doesn’t settle for smarmy breakup songs or overdone worship lyrics. Instead, he tackles everything from the government to abusive relationship to the church, firing on all cylinders. For those looking for nice, tame, inoffensive Christian music, look elsewhere. If you want something that will make you think, look here.

7. God And Guns, Lynyrd Skynyrd

The new Lynyrd Skynyrd doesn’t hold a candle to the old Lynyrd Skynyrd. Once you get over that fact, the album is pretty good. Sure, it seems geared toward modern country and Three Doors Down fans, and there are a few clunkers, such as the self-praising “Skynyrd Nation.” But for the most part, Skynyrd, or what’s left of it, delivers solid Southern Rock, from anthemia ballads like “Unwrite This Song” or “That Ain’t My America” to the guitar-heavy “Still Unbroken.” What truly makes the album, though, is “Floyd”, the swamp-rock collaboration between Skynyrd and Rob Zombie. The song pairs a haunting ghost story with a riff as powerful as Ozark moonshine.

8. Hearing Voices, Will Ackerman

Will Ackerman is not a pop artist by any standard. His songs are ambient, minimalist guitar compositions. On this album he enlists the help of a slew of singers in multiple languages. It’s relaxing and ethereal without descending into gooey, New Age-y nothingness. It makes great music to listen to exploring the ruins of a lost temple somewhere, but if you can’t do that, listening to it while drinking coffee in the morning will do. This album soars effortlessly where others thud.

9. En Concert, Jack Johnson.

Who wouldn’t want to be Jack Johnson? Not only is he a surfer, a musician, and a really nice guy, he also makes a great live album. Jack Johnson’s live show is so relaxed and chilled out, it feels like he would perform the same way whether he was playing in front of ten people or ten thousand. Jack plays all of his classic hits, blends them with songs from artists like Jimi Hendrix and Paul Simon, sings a song with Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam, and sings an even better song with Paula Fuga, one of his opening acts. The record has enough of a relaxed, jam feel without descending into ten-minute long solos. Bottom Line: Everything Jack Johnson does is good.

10. Love Loss Hope Repeat, Carbon Leaf.

Carbon Leaf pulls of the tricky feat of being at once fresh and familiar, sounding like you’ve heard them before without sounding like you’ve heard them before. The band delivers solid, folk-influenced pop/rock, which ranges from heartfelt (“Block Of Wood”) to driving (“A Girl and her Horse”). The best track is “The War Was In Color”, where a Grandfather tells his Grandson the story of his WWII experience through pictures. It is powerful.

Honorable Mentions: Fair to Midland came from out of nowhere, or, more correctly, out of the Friends of the Library sale, with their indie-flavored brand of hard rock. Darroh Sudderth’s huge vocal range couldn’t help the album from dragging in the last few tracks, but it gave a few good moments of high-pitched glory, and reinvigorated a tired genre. The Avett Brothers have a good thing going with I and Love and You, with piano-driven folk-rock. The Avetts have not only played with Johnny Cash, but they are also the only folk group I know of that screams. New Zealand worship band The Ember Days’ first album is a tad too heavy and repetitive, but the group’s passion for Christ is evident, and Janell Belcher’s voice shines when she sings on the album. Landon Pigg, best known for the song on that commercial, sings in a jazz-tinged singer-songwriter style, with some influences from U2 thrown in. In a sane world he would dominate the radio. The only major downside to his album is the pink color to the inside of his album. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant seem like an unlikely pair, but their voices blend so well that often you can’t tell them apart. On Raising Sand, they sing a mix of ambient folk, rockabilly and roots music, with an Appalachian ballad to top it all off.

Best songs of the Year

1. Song of the Year: “Ain’t No Grave” Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash’s rendition of this classic American spiritual is spectral and frightening. Johnny’s haunting voice is matched by the clanking of chains for the rhythm section, bringing up mental images of ghosts rattling chains. Crank it up!

2. Song of the Year that isn’t performed by Johnny Cash: “The King Beetle on The Coconut Estate.” mewithoutYou. Aaron Weiss tells this parable about beetles, his vaguely Celtic melody accompanied by beautiful orchestral arrangements and climaxing in a frenzy. It must be heard to be believed.

3. “Old Enough”, The Raconteurs featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe. Anything that has Jack White is good. Anything that has Ricky Skaggs is good. Anything with Ricky Skaggs and Jack White performing a bluegrass song together is automatically great. The fact that the song was amazing in its own right makes this recording excellent.

4. “Wishlist” by Pearl Jam. The music is a simple, repeated riff, acting as an unassuming stage upon which the lyrics play their part. And the lyrics are amazing. The 90s were one of the best decades for rock music, and music in general.

5. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Nirvana. No matter how many times “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has been parodied, the fact remains that Nirvana was a revolutionary band. This track, from their Live Unplugged CD, is actually an old Appalachian ballad that Kurt Cobain learned from the lead singer of The Screaming Trees, who in turn learned it from Leadbelly. Incarnations of this song have been done by artists as diverse as Bob Dylan and Bill Monroe, but this version holds its own. The cello adds a touch of major in the song before it dives back into minor, and Kurt’s vocals go from whispering to a full-throated scream of anguish at the song’s close.

6. “Independence Day For A Petty Thief”, House of Heroes. This song is the guitar anthem of my generation. That’s all there is to say.

7. “Floyd”, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Rob Zombie. A southern ghost tale straight from the bayou. The banjo fits in perfectly with the heavier guitars. Just try to listen to this song without singing along with the “aye-aye-aye’s.”

8. “Firecracker” by Frazey Ford. Another Southern Gothic song with a banjo, albeit a bit more subdued than “Floyd.” Frazey’s weird vibrato adds to the strange atmosphere of this song, with its dark overtones.

9. “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise”, The Avett Brothers. The best Avett Brothers song, taking the familiar theme of a journey, and making it into something strangely beautiful. Check out the video, too.

10. “Amaranth”, Nightwish. This song is perfect. The gothic choir and strings never clash with the heavy guitars. It sounds like the soundtrack to the greatest fantasy never made. A mix of fierce guitars and beautiful piano, topped off with Annette’s powerful vocals. Every part fits in perfectly with the rest.

Honorable Mentions: Grace Potter and The Nocturnal’s are beloved of indie-rock fans, but their music sounds like a mix of Cream, Pat Benatar, and Jefferson Airplane. “Paris (Ooh La La)” is a blast from the past, with Grace Potter’s loud vocals competing against the funky guitars. Fair To Midland’s magnum opus “Dance of The Manatee” shows off Darroh Sudderth’s amazing bass-to-alto range, going from quavering to guttural screaming. Best Coast’s song “Boyfriend” sounds what you might listen to late at night. The music is top-notch but the lyrics are kind of corny. Real men listen to songs that have the chorus “I wish he was my boyfriend.” Occasionally. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant’s standout track from Raising Sand is “Polly Come Home Again”, which has about the heaviest bass ever heard in an ambient song. Those looking for subtle, intellectual, lyrically based music will be disappointed by Dragonforce. Those looking to have their mind blown by amazing guitar solos will not be disappointed, especially by tracks like “Heroes of Our Time”, “Operation Ground and Pound”, and “Through The Fire And Flames.”

Best New Artist: Israel and For Dreams Alike.
I must confess that I am a little biased in this case, as the lead/singer songwriter of this ever-changing band is a friend of the author. The elusive Israel of the band’s title has yet to put out an official recording, but occasionally puts on live performances throughout Texarkana for his (mostly female) fans. The time I saw him and his band in one of their incarnations, they put on an amazing show, so much that they drew a bigger audience than the headliner band. Israel’s music brings in influences like U2 and Mutemath, and then turns them upside down, incorporating every kind of twist and turn imaginable. Rumors say that the band’s direction has now turned toward synthesizer music. Hopefully there will be some recordings coming out soon, but in the maelstrom of Texarkana music, who can say?

Best New Artist That People Might Actually Know About: Will Ackerman
This was a hard choice. I was faced with the anthemia pop of Carbon Leaf, the technical rock of Remy Zero, the folksiness of The Avett Brothers, the high-pitched frenzy of Fair To Midland, and the classic rock revival of Grace Potter and The Nocturnals. However, for the highest level of artistic achievement, I must choose Will Ackermann, the guitar virtuoso. Ackermann’s music is unassuming and unpretentious. Instead of wowing the listener with highly technical solos, he prefers to take a minimalist approach, instead playing a simple pattern over and over. In the hands of a lesser artist this would be mindless monotony; but with Will Ackermann, this becomes amazingly beautiful music.

Best Really New Artist that I didn’t Discover at Goodwill: Abel.
This New York arena rock group combines soaring pop in the vein of Coldplay or U2 with indie and post-hardcore influences. The band outdoes Coldplay on many counts, with challenging songwriting matched with indie-flavored vocals. The lyrics leave many other similar Christian pop groups in the dust. Also, they now give their music away for free online. Watch for Abel slowly start to take over the musical world, then suddenly start doing collaborations with Lady Gaga and various rap stars once they become famous.

Weirdest Artist of the Year: It’s a Beautiful Day. A true hippy band. This band holds the dubious distinction of being weirder than Jefferson Airplane. The band, which was sort of a second-tier psychedelic rock act from the west coast, had a small popularity in California, and even had Jerry Garcia play on one of their albums before they broke up. Their self-titled debut is a jumble of pseudo-Indian melodies, a five-string violin, female vocals, and atonal sounds. The music screams, howls, and sounds, frankly, like nails on a chalkboard, occasionally going into ballad mode, like the spooky “Girl With No Eyes.”

Band Of The Year: House of Heroes. What can I say? Modern rock music is tired, negative, and increasingly cliché. Out of mass of uninspired emo bands crawled House of Heroes, a band that decided that the best way to do new, original music was to go back to classic band such as the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. House of Heroes’ three major albums all have a different sound to them, unlike many bands whose songs even all sound the same. This band has the talent to become legendary.

Isn't it weird how much Chad Butler looks like Keith Urban?

Most Anticipated Albums of 2011: Switchfoot is slated to release Vice Verses this year; that is, if Jon Foreman doesn’t come up with another side project, and they don’t spend a year-and-a-half in studio recording it. Symphonic metal band Nightwish is in studio recording another epic album; no word on when it will be done. U2 may release Songs of Ascent this year. No one is quite sure what the album will actually be like, or if U2 will just talk about releasing an album instead of actually releasing one. The bearded Seattle indie band Fleet Foxes is set to release the follow-up to their self-titled debut. Progressive screamo band We Came As Romans is also coming out with a follow-up to their record To Plant A Seed. Whether they will stay with their semi-symphonic hardcore sound or branch out into something different remains to be seen. House of Heroes will possibly be releasing another album--I’m not so sure on the details, and bluegrass diva Alison Krauss is also set to drop another album of who-knows-what on the public this year. Kanye West will follow up his latest hit record, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, with his next landmark album, It Ain’t Easy Being Stupid. Lady Gaga will release her second album, The Search for More Money, in which she will dress up as a sofa, a plate of spaghetti, and a 1989 Ford Explorer. Britney Spears will have her fifteenth comeback with Hey Guys, Remember Me?. The widely anticipated album by Blind Alroe Dylan and The Microwaves, Music to Patch Bicycle Tires To, has been put on hiatus again, but will hopefully be released sometime in the summer or fall. Weezer also plans to release five albums this year. When lead singer/songwriter Rivers Cuomo was asked about this plan, he replied “We’re Weezer. It’s what we do.”

Currently Listening: The Spirit of the Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987, Rush.

If We Make It Through December

2010-12-29T09:38:00.000-08:00

Not all of the songs of December and the Advent season are happy. The sound of sleigh bells, children singing, Christmas gifts, the Christmas tree in the city square, the celebrations, the worship services, and the like all heap festivity upon festivity. But the realities of economics, loneliness, and failures are still a part of life.

It is not just Ebenezer Scrooge who reacts with a "Bah Humbug" to the season. After a few trips to the mall, to Target, the Wal-Mart, I felt the same reaction. Now in the post-Christmas collapse, with a whole day being tied up with returns and exchanges, I remember the darker songs of the season.

The most well-known dark Christmas song has been Elvis' "Blue Christmas." The tone of the song has a hope of promise in it. The shadows are of what might be, not what unchangeable will be. It's up to her. Of course, if you are Elvis, prospects are pretty good that she'll come back. Most folks whose talents, wealth, and looks are below those of Elvis have to deal with less certain odds.

Ernest Tubb, who influenced Elvis and lots of other singers, had a great song many decades ago. Titled "Christmas is Just Another Day for Me," it bemoans having a broken heart beneath a Christmas tree. "Old friends call me up and say, 'Have a happy holiday,' but I can't bear to say you're gone, and I'm so alone..." It is as good as any country heart-break song. Like country's music's southern and black cousin, the blues, this song will tear your heart out.

Bluegrass singer Jimmy Martin hit all the right notes in a song called "Lord, We Sure Could Use Some Rainbows in December." As he sings, "We got gifts to buy and all the same old bills are overdue." I have, myself, sung that line many times in recent weeks.

And the older, classical, and Baroque tradition has its own melancholy song. "The Coventry Carol," an incredibly beautiful combination of words and music, is a lullaby sung to keep a baby asleep. The reason was to keep the baby quiet during Herod's slaughter of the innocents.

On of my many favorite songs, although we don't usually classify it as part of the Advent music collection, is Merle Haggard's hit of a few decades back, called "If We Make It Through December." I did hear it played on a local radio station that played all Christmas music. Haggard's appeal in that song, and in many other of his fine works, was to those who had endured the hard-scrabble life, whether it was that of Depression era farmers, or Okies in either Muskogee or California, or working class people whose lives are on the outside boundary of the American dream.

Yet, these songs, like those of coal miners, small farmers, factory hands, and other hard-working people holds out a bit of hope. In this case, the hope is for warmer weather (it is cold and rainy outside as I write this), a better location, and some new chances to start again. The pain of the song, the singer having lost his job and having a sad little girl, testifies to an underlying, never stated, love. Love for family with a willingness to persevere.

Jesus came into a world of people wondering if they could make it through December. California can only properly been seen as a metaphor of the Kingdom of Heaven (although not a good metaphor). The hardships the song relays reminds me that the bloated credit card bill that will arrive next week is only a minor hill to climb.

"If We Make It Through December" by Merle Haggard

If we make it through December
Everythings gonna be all right I know.
It's the coldest time of winter
And I shivver when I see the fallin snow.

If we make it through December
I got plans of bein in a warmer town come summer time
Maybe even California
If we make it through December we'll be fine

I got laid off down at the factory
And their timings not the greatest in the world.
Heaven knows I been workin' hard
I wanted Christmas to be right for daddy's girl

Now I don't mean to hate December;
It's meant to be the happy time of year,
And why my little girl don't understand
Why daddy can't afford no Christmas here.

If we make it through December
Everythings gonna be alright I know.
It's the coldest time of winter
And I shivver when I see the fallin' snow

If we make it through December
I got plans of bein' in a warmer town come summer time.
Maybe even California
If we make it through December we'll be fine

A Christmas Bowl

2010-12-24T09:48:00.000-08:00

By Nick
At this festive season of the year, the radios and loudspeakers in stores bombard us with a barrage of Christmas tunes. There is nothing wrong with this; Christmas is probably the only time in which the Gospel is (unwittingly) promoted in major retailer and on mainstream radio stations, and I would certainly rather do Christmas shopping to Bing Crosby than Bon Jovi. However, the same songs and same versions of songs being played over and over again starts to wear on you, and after one has heard "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" for the tenth time, one is tempted to swear off Christmas completely. One local radio station, 101.7 Bob FM, has done a good job in combating this musical staleness with an amazing variety of music ranging from the popular to the incredibly obscure. However, variety does not always mean quality, and along with some great new songs I have also heard some holiday clunkers (More on those later). This means that the dedicated listeners will resort to CDs.
The proprietors of this blog managed to purchase some excellent CDs at that great storehouse of musical excellence, Big Lots, for the bargain price of $2 per CD. The first CD that we purchased was generically titled Peace with a stock photo of snowy woods on the cover. Also on the cover was a blurb with the artists featured on the CD, which included Jars of Clay, Keb' Mo', Kate Bush, Alicia Keys, and Johnny Cash. Naturally I had to buy this.

The CD starts off with Vertical Horizon's alternative rock interpretation of "I Believe in Father Christmas", followed up by Jars of Clay's "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen." The album then takes a jazzy, minimalistic turn with "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Aimee Mann, the Gordon Lightfoot-penned"Song for a Winter's Night" by Sarah McLachlan, and the traditional "Love Came Down at Christmas" by Shawn Colvin. These songs all have a lazy, midafternoon relaxing feel. Next comes not just Johnny Cash, but Johnny Cash backed up by the Statler Brothers. The song sounds like a younger Johnny Cash, and the sound quality is not great, but it's Johnny Cash, so I'm not complaining. Johnny is nearly upstaged by bluesman Keb' Mo' and his improvisational "Jingle Bell Jamboree". Keb' Mo's plays and sings in such a relaxed manner that you could easily imagine him playing all day without stopping. This song is the highlight of the album, combining raspy vocals with fluid guitars and adding an extra-large dose of Christmas cheer.Kate Bush comes next with her weird and experimental rendition of "Home For Christmas." This is appropriate because Kate Bush is weird and experimental. Chris Botti, the trumpet guy, serves up the romantic "Perfect Day", about how his woman makes every day like Christmas, and Rachel Yamagata gives us the romantically weepy "River" ("I wish I had a river I could skate away on.) The only clinker on this album is Alicia Keys' vaugely-gospel tinged "Little Drummer Girl." The heavy beats and overdone delivery on this song clash with the minimalism of the rest of this album. Five For Fighting finishes out the album with "Silent Night", making use of his falsetto vocals and understated guitar.

The second bargain CD purchased was "Stockings by the Fire", put out by Starbucks Entertainment. Starbucks has managed to select a good mix of of classic Jazz/Swing and modern indie/soft rock on this collection. It starts out with Ray Charles and Betty Carter performing "Baby, It's Cold Outside". Voices like those only come around once in a millenium. Sarah McLachlan follows it up with a minimalistic spin on "I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day", written by that Yankee Imperialist, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The everpresent Frank Sinatra and his I'm-singing-through-a-carboard-tube vocals show up next with "I'll Be Home for Christmas (If Only in My Dreams.) Love him or hate him, there's no denying the man's talent. The folk-rock band Hem (not to be confused with the Gothic Rock band HIM) gives another minimalistic (see a pattern here) take on "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Ella Fitzgerald does an amazing job on "Sleigh Ride.", although I'm convinced that if Ella Fitzgerald sang "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" it would have been good. Rufus Wainwright gives a nasally rendition of "What Are You Doing New Years Eve?" While it's almost impossible to ruin such a good song, Wainwright's alternative rock stylings clash with the Tin Pan Alley feel of the song. Herbie Hancock joins forces with Corinne Bailey Rae doing their version of "River", which, like many jazz songs, is slow and sort of tuneless. It's by no means a bad song, but it sounds very little like the original, and Rae, like most vocalist, flubs the "fly-y-y" in the middle of the song. Jack Johnson, steps in to save the day with possibly the best rendition of "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer." Jack adds a new verse after the traditional verses where Rudolph tells the other reindeer "I see through your silly games. How could you look me in the face when only yesterday you called me names?" the bird and the bee give us their weird and futuristic version of "Carol of The Bells", which changes keys multiple times. A Fine Frenzy gives us a weak version of "Let It Snow." While it holds up musically, the breathy femals vocals make the song flabby and indecisive. Nat King Cole, who deserved the "King" in his name, gives us his Christmas classic "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)." Anyone who doesn't own a copy of Nat's rendition of this song should consider themselves deprived. The tipsy Dean Martin swaggers his way through "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm." The amazing Diana Krall sings "Winter Wonderland", complete with all those amazing jazz solos that are in every Diana Krall song. Gospel legend Mahalia Jackson sings "Do You Hear What I Hear" and Gospel-influenced John Legend and family sing "It Don't Have to Change", a song filled with Christmas memories of playing football and basketball and singing all day. This contrasts with my Christmas memories, which are mainly of playing video games and eating all day. Aimee Mann (Remember her from the first CD?) closes out the album with a soft "White Christmas."
These two albums are great for listening to at any time of day, but especially midafternoon. For those looking for a break from Bruce Springsteen screaming "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", and flop artists ruining classic Christmas songs, check out these two CDs.

Currently Listening: Andre Rieu and Friends, Superstar Christmas, The CDs mentioned above.

Bluegrass Christmas Music

2010-12-21T17:37:00.000-08:00

Bluegrass music has a natural affinity for Christmas themes. After all, Christmas is a time to praise God, gather with the family, go back to the homeplace, enjoy mountains, music, and snow, and a time to sing and celebrate. Bluegrass music is a music of the folks, a bowing to tradition, the rhythms and cadences of ordinary life with pauses to celebrate. And bluegrass music has a strong Christian component. The naturalness of the acoustic instruments, the gifts of the musicians, and the heart-felt themes are all testimonies of a Christian worldview. And bluegrass music combines the shameful indulgence of a Saturday night bootleg whiskey drinking and brawling binge with the Sunday morning reconciliation found around the cross, or the manger, of Jesus.

In 1950, when the music was both reaching greater and greater defining points and yet was already a definite genre of its own, Tex Logan, a scientific engineer with Bell Labs in Texas, penned the first bluegrass Christmas song. Titled "Christmas Times a'Comin," it was a made to order sure fit for bluegrass master and originator Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys. Just read the lyrics:

Snow flake's a-fallin'
My old heart's a-callin'
Tall pine's a-hummin'
Christmas Time's A-Comin'.

Can't you hear them bells ringin', ringin'
Joy, don'tcha hear them singin'
When it's snowin', I'll be goin'
Back to my country home.

Refrain: Christmas Time's A-Comin'
Christmas Time's A-Comin'
Christmas Time's A-Comin'
And I know I'm goin' home.

White candle's burnin'
My old heart's a-yearnin'
For the folks at home when
Christmas Time's A-Comin'.

Can't you hear them bells ringin', ringin'
Joy, don'tcha hear them singin'
When it's snowin', I'll be goin'
Back to my country home.

The dropping of the 'g's at the end of each line reflects the English (as in, from England) pure roots of Southern language. (See Cleanth Brooks' The Language of the South.) The use of words like "home," "folks," and "yearnin" all reflect very powerful themes within bluegrass music's closeness to what William Faulkner called "that fierce pull of blood." In other words, people working up in Detroit, or off in Houston, or elsewhere could identify with that strong urge to get off work, maybe as late as December 24, hop in the car with the family and get back to the country to see the whole family.

Strangely enough, Monroe's song remained one of the few bluegrass Christmas songs for years. Country artists added some additional Christmas songs. Gene Autry was, after all, a singing cowboy, and his great hit was "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer." And Elvis was, along with every other niche he fit into, a country singer, and his big hit was "Blue Christmas," which was covered by quite a few country artists. In time, country artists produced a few more Christmas songs and albums.

The Bluegrass musicians still did not produce much. Perhaps it was because bluegrass music thrived from the 1960s on through the festivals. Following a revival of folk music, starving bluegrass artists suddenly found ready audiences in such places as Newport, Rhode Island and Bean Blossom, Indiana. But the festivals did not take place usually in the Christmas season. And bluegrass albums cut a small piece of the music sales pie. With the popularity of Celtic instrumentals at Christmas, it is surprising that bluegrass didn't have a greater impact.

Little by little, bluegrass artists have recorded more and more Christmas songs. Both Ralph Stanley and Ricky Skaggs have Christmas albums. Still, some of the best bluegrass Christmas music can be found on collections featuring various artists.

One I recently acquired and one that is a real bargain is Christmas Times a Comin': The Essential Bluegrass Christmas Collection. Produced by Time/Life, this truly is a wonderful assembly of artists and songs. Monroe does the title song, along with another called "That's Christmas Time to Me." The Stanley Brothers perform "Christmas is Near" and Ralph and his band do "That's Christmas Time to Me." Del McCoury and some of his gang, including Mac Wiseman, perform a fun song, "A Bluegrass Christmas," and then later one of those heart-rending songs about Momma, called "Call Collect on Christmas." Add to all this, Emmylou Harris, the great Jimmy Martin performing "Old Fashioned Christmas," Larry Sparks and others. That ain't an intruder in the group. Banjoes, fiddles, mandolins, bass fiddles, acoustic guitars, and the high lonesome tones of bluegrass singing dominate the whole recording.

After a day of enduring malls, traffic, human clogs of shoppers, over-stimulation of the senses from the bombardment of the stores, this album is a trip along a dirt road, up ahead, I can see the homeplace, a tree can be seen in the window....

Bing and Burl

2010-12-16T11:02:00.000-08:00

By Nick

In this blog's "Advent Meditation" series, we have been highlighting some lesser known Christmas CDs. In this post, however, we intend to dig back into the (metaphorical) record bin and pull out some great classic Christmas albums.

The fifties were known as an era for great smooth voices. There was the smug Frank Sinatra, the tipsy-sounding Dean Martin, Perry Como, and dozens of other "crooners." Perhaps the best smooth male singer of the fifties, though, was the velvet-voiced Bing Crosby. Bing's voice is amazing, even (or especially) after sixty years. Hearing Bing's smooth baritone is a pleasant surprise in a musical world which is so highly influenced by Elvis, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan. And yes, I am a fan of Elvis, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan, but vocally, none of them (except perhaps Elvis) could hold a candle to Bing.

Bing's signature Christmas album is White Christmas. On it, he performs a wide variety of Christmas songs, ranging from Hawaiian ("Mele Kalikimaka"), to Irish ("Christmas in Killarney"). Unlike many crooner albums, which seem to drown in a sea of syrup, Bing masters the art of mixing the sweet with the hot, as the old school jazz cats would say. His recording of "Jingle Bells" with the Andrew's Sisters is a swing masterpiece, with great musicianship from the players and singer's alike. And no one could sing ballads like Bing. Besides the title cut, there is his reverent treatment of the hymn "Faith of Our Fathers", his sweeping "Silent Night", and "Adeste Fideles", which the Latin-illiterate know as "O' Come All Ye Faithful." Bing, being a purist, sings the song in both Latin and English. The album is an essential part of anyone's collection.

There is also an excellent budget CD floating around called Bing and Friends Christmas. Half of the songs are by Bing, the other half are by artists contemporary with him. This CD is excellent because it contains Bing recordings that are rather hard to find. Bing sings three duets with the amazing Ella Fitzgerald on this CD. Interestingly, their version of "Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer" has extra verses detailing what happened to Rudolph after he became famous, and tell of his riding in fancy cars and smoking big cigars. Imagine trying to play that on contemporary radio. Also on the collection are the silky voiced Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, whose "I-eat-gravel-for-breakfast" voice is almost a polar opposite of Bing and Nat's, the everpresent Frank Sinatra doing a greasy rendition of "The Christmas Song", and Vera Lynn, who gives us "The Little Boy That Santa Forgot." She obviously didn't get the memo about "tis the season to be jolly."

Bing Crosby also performed and recorded some country songs along with his more pop efforts, saying that he was the "biggest hillbilly of them all."

On the flip side of the coin, you have the Santa-esque Burl Ives. In his time Burl Ives was a pre-Dylan folksinger. However, he is probably best known now for his Christmas hit "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas", and the album of the same name. Burl's voice is very warm and joyful, and he sounds like he could be your uncle. On this album, he combines his folk singing with a more pop style. However, he keeps a folk sound on songs like "Christmas is a Birthday" and "The Christmas Child." Whenever I listen to Burl Ives, it is like he is in the room, telling me a story personally. Burl's and Bing's standout Christmas albums should be in everyone's collection.

Currently Listening: "Christmastime is Here", Vince Guaraldi Trio. "Silent Night", The Temptations. "Sing Me to Sleep", Fran Healy featuring Neko Case.

Comment and Maybe Win a Christmas CD

2010-12-10T13:32:00.000-08:00

In conjunction with the Nathan Clark George Web-site, we are promoting a GIVE-AWAY of George's newest Christmas CD, Still. This collection consists of more traditional Christian celebrations of Christ's incarnation and birth, performed with acoustic guitar and mandolin. George is joined by Mark Stoffel and Ross Sermons on the collection.

If you want a small sample of the music on this CD, go to the web-site at

http://www.nathanclarkgeorge.com/.

To register to WIN a copy of this CD, simply COMMENT on this blog OR e-mail me at Veritas@cableone.net.

The drawing from our collection of commenters and e-mailers will be held next Wednesday, December 15. The CD will be mailed to the winner from the Nathan Clark George web-site and store.

Christmas Baroque, Traditional Latin, and Christian

2010-12-09T08:18:00.000-08:00

More Pleasant Music for the Advent Season

The Musical Heritage Society produces loads of classical and concert music collections. You may find yourself getting their offers in the mail for so many free CDs if you agree to buy several more over the next year or so. The offers are good deals. My only problem is that I forget to mail in the cards rejecting each month's special. That aside, the musical collection shown above, Julianne Baird & The Aulos Ensemble: A Baroque Christmas, was given to us some years ago. The music is powerful and Julianne Baird's voice is incredible. I especially like the Coventry Carol. This is more good, calming morning Advent music, best accompanied by a good book and strong coffee.

Veni Emmanuel was produced by Classical Academic Press, a publisher of curriculum for Classical Christian schools. These traditional Latin hymns and carols are rich reminders of the wealth and heritage of Christian and Advent music reaching back through the centuries, blending the classical learning of Antiquity with the glorious relevation of Christ.

From the product description:

Veni Emmanuel, the debut music CD from Classical Academic Press, is a collection of hauntingly beautiful carols, written centuries ago by great scholars, musicians and poets for the celebration of Christmas. Some tunes will be familiar, and some new to our 21st century ears. All in Latin, laced with theology and beautiful poetry, rediscover the rich heritage of sacred Christmas music through the ages. The collection includes carols with lyrics or music from the fifth century through 1900. Recorded with harp, piano, recorder, violin and voice.

Still the Greatest Story Ever Told

2010-12-07T16:24:00.000-08:00

Posted by Ben

Some years back, Stephanie and I went to a Gaither Family Concert in Shreveport, Louisiana. The tickets were a Christmas gift from a family member. Not only was the concert quite good and encouraging, but I first heard the song "Mary Was the First One To Carry The Gospel" at that concert. Some time later, I bought the CD Still The Greatest Story Ever Told becasue it that contained that song. (I should mention that Reformed people are not supposed to like the Gaither Quartet, Southern Gospel, and popular Christian music. I have gotten odd looks and comments when I mentioned the Gaither Family Concert in TR circles.) Critics and Scrooges aside, this CD is a marvelous collection of music.

The lead song is a powerful John Donne-like celebration of Mary's wonderous role in redemption's plan. The harmonies of the group are great, and I love it when the line is sung "what the prophet told has come to pass: a virgin has conceived" and there is a scream of delight in the background. (Some John Donne poetry calls for screams of excitement.)

The other songs on this collection are mostly Gaither Quartet arrangements and creations. The only traditional Christmas song is "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...."). One of the greatest songs on the collection is Mark Lowery's "Mary, Did You Know?" That song sends chills up my spine every time I hear it. Modern song writers do not always pen the greatest lyrics, and we usually only sing a slim selection of the great song writers of the past, but they all have their high points. "Mary, Did You Know?" is certainly a high point in Lowery's song writing career and a great praise song.

The Gaither Quartet at the time of this recording had a remarkably smooth blend of singers. You have harmony, with volume, with strong masculine voices, with excitement, and with musical slides that are amazing. With Guy Penrod, who can wear long hair and look manly, Mark Lowery, equally talented as a singer and comedian, David Phelps, an incredible tenor, and Bill Gaither, the guiding inspiritation of the group and the greater Gaither productions, this was a gathering and blending of extraordingary talent.

The songs on this CD are much more lively and upbeat than the songs on the CDs previously highlighted. This is not coffee drinking/theology reading music; rather, it is great for getting revved up for the day. This is dominion theology with lyrics and melodies designed to focus the heart and mind on the season. This music reminds us of the joy of the Advent season.

SONGS ON THIS CD:
1. Mary Was the First One to Carry the Gospel

2. New Star Shining

3. Reaching

4. Little One

5. It's Still the Greatest Story Ever Told

6. Christmas Song, The

7. Mary, Did You Know?

8. Go Tell Everyone

9. Hand of Sweet Release

10. He Started the Whole World Singing

Advent Meditations

2010-12-04T10:26:00.000-08:00

Posted by Ben

Cultivating the right moods and attitudes about the upcoming Christmas season and the Advent season is difficult. This past week, I was busy preaching a sermon on Sunday, completing a writing assignment (that consumed the Thanksgiving holidays) on Monday, preparing progress reports and teaching classes, taking 2 kids to Upward basketball practices, and attending three Christmas music programs (with a piano recital this afternoon).

There is hardly a time to sit back and relax and enjoy the season. Life in a fallen world is busy; life with 4 children and a wife is busy; God has called us to labor. So meditation, thought, relaxed time with family, books, and music are all difficult to cultivate.

I love the music of the season. I love the traditional songs, the classic renditions done by Bing Crosby, Louie Armstrong, and others, the hymns, the wintery songs, the silly songs, the sentimental songs, the instrumentals, the choral productions, the name artists performing traditional songs, etc. And yet, I find myself frequently bored with the Sappy Claus songs. Some of that is fine for the radio while negotiating Texarkana's traffic clogs, but at home, with coffee and a book, I want a sound that is comforting, largely acoustic, with an older feel, and a seasonal warmth (not a confrontation).

That is why I am enjoying the two albums featured below so much.

A Midwinter's Eve by Nathan Clark George & Mark Stoffel

http://www.nathanclarkgeorge.com/

First featured last week on this blog, this CD has the relaxing feel pictured on the album cover. The music consists of George playing guitar and vocals and Stoffel playing mandolin with occasional vocals. Several of the 14 songs are instrumentals. Some of the songs are traditional advent hymns, such as "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night," "Silent Night," and "What Child Is This?" Then there some of the songs that are truly the greatest for the beginning of Advent, such as "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" and the hallowing "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence." A song I really love is Christina Rossetti's "In the Bleak Mid-Winter." (Rossetti is one of our greatest Christian poets.) There are other songs brought in from the greater traditions of Christendom, such as "Es Wird Scho Glei Dumpa." This instrumental, the title translated as "It will soon be dark," is a traditional Christmas folk song from the Southern Tyrolian Alps. Also, in the "not familiar category," is "O Little Sweet One," which is an old German melody whose lyrics and harmony are by Johann S. Bach. Perhaps my favorite on the CD is "Remember, O Thou Man," which is by Thomas Ravenscroft, from "Melismata" (1611). Consider the verse from this song given below:

Remember, O thou man, O thou man, O thou man,
Remember, O thou man, that God above,
Long before time began knew of the sin of man,
And laid Redemption's plan, for He is love.

Watch this blog (or Houseblog) for a great upcoming offer to WIN a copy of Nathan Clark George's newest Christmas CD, Still. Or, if you cannot wait, rush over to Nathan Clark George's website (linked above and on the side bar) and cyber shop, picking up several of George's CDs.

I am also enjoying listening to If On a Winter's Night by Sting. Last year, my friend and our school librarian, Becky Ramsey, loaned me and Nick her copy of this CD. We all--the whole House family--fell in love with this music and had to buy our own copy. This album also consists of soft, largely acoustic songs with a strongly Medieval feel.

From the back of the CD case:

"Inspired by Sting's favorite season, If On a Winter's Night... takes traditional music from the British Isles as its starting point and evolves into a compelling and personal journey with music spanning over five centuries (including 2 of Sting's own songs). An evocative collection of lullabies, carols and songs, Sting's new album celebrates the many facets of winter--before the snow melts and the cycle of the seasons begin once more."

Time would fail me at the moment to comment on all the songs. "Soul Cake" and "Gabriel's Message" are just two of the powerful and moving renditions on this collection. Nick will probably be adding a more thorough review of this great collection soon.

Coming Soon: More Advent favorites, Christmas Bluegrass selections, Christmas Bluegrass and Country selections to find in your stocking on Christmas morning, and more.

Readers: Let us know of some of your favorite Advent music and especially of music that is similar to the titles listed above.

The Beginning of Advent: Musical Preferences

2010-11-27T17:13:00.000-08:00

Posted by Ben

This morning while working on a sermon from Luke 1:5-25, I listened for the first time this season to a favorite CD. A Midwinter Eve by Nathan Clark George and Mark Stoffel is a wonderfully relaxing and meditative selection of familiar and not-so-familiar Advent songs. George plays an acoustic guitar, and occasionally Stoffel joins him on the mandolin. It was cold outside, but not snowy as in the picture. The music was a calming delight. I can smell the coffee right now and so I may listen again at this late hour as I return to my labors for tomorrow's message.

Nathan Clark George is a talented musician and a dedicated Christian, husband, and father. He is also the grandson of one of the 20th century's great Christian thinkers: Gordon Clark. A teacher of philosophy, Gordon Clark paved the foundations for Christian scholarship for many Christians. He wrote books on philosophy, historiography, science, and theology. He had as students, such men as Carl F. H. Henry and Ronald Nash. He has influenced such folks as Ruth Bell Graham, John Frame, R. J. Rushdoony, R. C. Sproul, Henry Wood, and me. God's covenantal faithfulness to the Clark family is a testimony to what God can and does do with all faithful believers.

Below is George's most recent CD. I am chomping at the bit to get the chance to order it.

Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward Men.

2010-11-15T18:01:00.000-08:00

By Nick.
While at Goodwill the other day, I picked up a few CDs. Goodwill is sort of a musical grab bag. There are good finds there, but you have to wait for them to come in. It's sort of like hunting, only you don't have to sit in a deerstand for hours in the cold.

How Strange, Innocence by Explosions in the Sky. The first album by the instrumental rock group. I keep wanting to call them Explosions in the Sky with Diamonds.

Alison Krauss, bluegrass diva. Robert Plant, Led Zeppelin's lead singer. T.Bone Burnett, the guy who produced about a million country albums, including the O' Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack. And they're all together on one record. The only downside? No bluegrass rendition of "Stairway to Heaven."

Currently Listening: Raising Sand, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant.

House of Heroes-Suburba

2010-10-31T16:21:00.000-07:00

House of Heroes was a band that didn’t immediately strike me as something. When I first heard them I dismissed them as just another nasally, pretentious rock group. It was only after multiple listening to Say No More over a long period of time that I grew to appreciate the group’s lyrical style and musical chops. Seeing them live was another turning point in my House of Heroes’ experience, as was purchasing their World War II-themed CD The End is Not The End. It was this record that convinced me of their merit as good songwriters, and showed off their melodic talents, putting them in my roster of my favorite modern bands. Their House of Heroes Meets the Beatles EP was another solid step in the right direction, proving that they could cover Beatles songs without totally desecrating them. Then came Suburba, the group’s Springsteen-esque tribute to growing up in the American suburbs. I was afraid when I saw the early buzz about Suburba that it would be a pop album. Well, it is. And it’s one of the greatest pop albums ever made.

Many reviewers have compared this record to Queen, on the merit of its five-part, auto-tune free background vocals. While there are echoes of Queen on the record, this is only part of the story. Suburba sounds like every classic rock band, and a few modern ones, thrown into a blender. There are echoes of Styx, Roy Orbison, Springsteen, Mellencamp, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Rush, and others. Only a truly great band could write a song that has touches of both mewithoutYou and Motley Crüe.

From the beginning of the record, it is clear that House of Heroes has updated their style, without doing a complete 180-degree turn. The slightly proggy, heavier rock of Say No More and the pop of The End… have been perfectly fused and further perfected to a sound that can be described as pop/rock with brains. The guitar tone and drum tone is perfect throughout the record, and the band has managed to get rid of the annoying parts of songs which hampered their first two efforts. The “Whoa-ohs” and shouts of “Hey!” are still here, but instead of sounding like amateur songwriting, they are expertly incorporated into their songs. The biggest change from the previous records, and what makes this record gold, are the five-part background vocals, recorded without any Auto-tune or Pro-tools.

The record kicks off with “Relentlessly”, a song that defies explanation. Listen to it, and see how House of Heroes took a song that could have been a clumsy intro, and made it into a great tune. The second track, “Elevator”, sounds like nothing ever heard before in the world of rock. “Love is For the Middle Class” has the wittiest House of Heroes lyrics to date, alternately biting and loving. Of course, only a Christian band could write a song about a girl wearing a one-piece swimsuit. “So Far Away” has a fifties vibe, and sounds like it could have been sung by Roy Orbison, had he lived long enough. The band comes up with an updated classic rock sound on “God Save The Foolish Kings”, which harkens back to the House of Heroes tradition of taking a pop song and throwing in as many curveballs possible. Football rivalries, girlfriends, talking to God, and this isn’t even country music. Side 1 ends with “Salt in the Sea”, which solidifies House of Heroes as one of the best new melodic bands. The only complaint I have with this song is that the lyrics are a little vague: I can’t tell whether the song is about God, or a girl, or both.

A major problem with The End Is Not The End was the way that the second half of the record felt like it was packed with relatively uninspired filler-songs. This is not an issue on this record. The second half starts out with a gospel-music snippet at the end of “Salt in The Sea”, and segues into “Independence Day For A Petty Thief”, the album’s guitar anthem. This song rivals “Lose Control” from The End… Halfway through the song fades out to the sound of fireworks and the gospel-music snippet plays again, this time given a new significance due to the lyrics of the song. The solo in “Independence Day” sounds like Tim Skipper is trying to re-write The Edge’s solo from “Bullet The Blue Sky”, but instead of being a cheap derivation, it fits into the updated classic rock milieu that the band is working in. “Somebody Knows” sounds like John Cougar Mellencamp stole Queen’s background vocals, and Tim even works in a little gospel call-and-response. “Disappear”, the only song on the record that sounds anywhere close to lackluster, brings back some of the old House of Heroes, with their untraditional song structure and long instrumental sections. “She Mighty Mighty” is the ultimate song to crank up loud and sing along wildly. Then comes “Constant”, the song House of Heroes recorded because their label wanted them to have a radio single. This brings to mind the bands that have great album material, but lame singles (OneRepublic). House of Heroes exceeds expectations again, and “Constant” is one of the best songs on the album, along with all the other ones. The final track, “Burn Me Down”, is surprisingly upbeat for an ending track, unlike most of those songs about girls dying that become ending tracks on records. It achieves everything that “Field of Daggers” (From their last record), was reaching for, without the annoying repetition of “Field.” After the song proper fades out, the band pulls out a reference to one of the earlier songs, (I won’t spoil it for you). This is another House of Heroes tradition, as the coda to Say No More incorporated a lyric line from the first song, and the first track on The End… was the string quartet part from “Baby’s a Red”.

Lyrically, many of the songs on the album tell stories, especially straight-out story songs like “Independence Day for a Petty Thief.” The album feels like it was originally planned as a concept or story album (it was), and so, like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it has a continuity without actually telling an actual story. Unlike many bands who play up the Christian content of their earlier releases, and then move to more “subtle” lyrics, House of Heroes actually explicitly references the Triune God on this record, on “God Save The Foolish Kings”, “She Mighty Mighty” and “Constant”, and makes other Christian references on the record, such as quoting the apostle Paul on “Burn Me Down”, or the gospel interlude on “Independence Day for a Petty Thief.” Anyone who is worried that House of Heroes has started performing sappy worship songs can rest assured that their songwriting is still challenging. “Constant”, far from being a syrupy “Jesus-is-my-boyfriend” song, is about Christians going through problems in life, and having faith in the face of struggle. Some listeners may complain about the change from the dark poetry of Say No More, but this is a different album with a different focus.

House of Heroes is the rare band that takes classic rock music and progresses, as opposed to simply imitating it. House of Heroes is also the rare band who can record three albums that sound fresh and different, without being eclectic for the sake of being eclectic. And House of Heroes is a band that can perform songs in different styles without coming off as dilettantes. Suburba is the best non-Johnny Cash record of this year, and is the perfect record for driving in your car with the windows down and the sound system cranked up. Suburba proves that pop isn’t for Lady Gaga-esque hucksters, and in a sane world these songs would be all over the radio. House of Heroes has many influences, but sounds like no one else. Go buy this record. Now. You will not regret it.

House of Heroes has gone a long way from being a band that mainly appealed to emo kids, (I think that I was the only non-emo fan in my town when I saw them live), to a sophisticated pop outfit. From here, the possibilities are endless. The band is so talented, that they could play any genre that they pleased, from hard rock to punk to pop to country (I’m still waiting for the bluegrass album). If they continue to progress and get better, they will go from one of the greatest modern rock bands to one of the greatest bands of all time.

Currently Listening: "Gloria", Laura Branigan, "Beautifully Broken", This Beautiful Republic, "What If I Stumble", DC Talk, "Loser", Beck.

Nick Visits Chicago

2010-10-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

Nick is currently in Illinois visiting Wheaton College, the C.S. Lewis museum located there, and the City of Chicago. I envy him for the first two, with reservations about the third. I once changed planes in Chicago in one of the rare flights I took across the nation, but have never actually visited the city. My main connections to the city are as follows: The 1968 Democratic Convention (a disaster for the nation), famous Chicagoans from Al Capone to Mayor Richard Daley to some others, and Carl Sandburg's poem. I grew up in the 60s, but know next to nothing of the singing group Chicago. As you might have figured out, I was Country before Barbara Mandrell was cool.

Carl Sandburg was a socialist. His poetry was a rambling, freee verse, Whitmanesque style. He was a poser. Robert Frost accused him of standing in front of a mirror messing up his hair before an appearance. He had an obsession with Abraham Lincoln (one of the few sets of books I ever got rid of was Sandburg's Lincoln volumes). He was mediocre as a poet. Not only is Frost much better, but even some of the lesser poets of that era, such as John Crowe Ransom and Donald Davidson, were better. Still, Sandburg could whip out a good poem here and there ("Grass" and "Fog" are favorites of mine), and "Chicago" certainly has a rugged bolsterous sound to it.

And for those who are wondering: A music blog should include poetry. Poetry is musical and music is poetic.
CHICAGO

HOG Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
kill again.

And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
faces of women and children I have seen the marks
of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse.
and under his ribs the heart of the people,
Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog
Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Country Music and Books

2010-10-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

Nick and Ben both love music. We are both eclectic in our taste. Yet we have our preferences, and there are those times when the mood calls for certain kinds of music, and nothing else will do. I, Ben, have learned a lot from Nicholas, who is a walking encyclopedia on certain kinds of music, and he knows he will get a thrashing (even at age 17) for criticizing traditional country music and bluegrass music, but he is on safe ground, since he likes it too.

And we both like books. And sometimes, I like books on music, particularly country music. Most of the country music books are biographies, and most are fairly light reading. That is part of their appeal. I read serious history, literary classics, and theology for a living. I groan about my work when propped up reading, but I actually love it. The books on country music are read purely for relaxation.

And yet, even the biographies and autobiographies of country singers reveal a lot about American culture, Southern folkways, writing poetry (songs), economic conditions of the country, and that most complex of all God's creation--man fallen and redeemed. I hope to post a list of good books on country artists soon, but for now, I want to highlight two books I picked up used and cheap.

Many a time years ago, I listened to Ralph Emery on WSM radio. He was one of the biggest names in Nashville, and he was a key disk jockey and radio host on the station (again WSM, 650 AM) that hosts the Grand Ole Opry, the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jubilee, and many, many country shows. I really confused this book, The View from Nashville, with his autobiographical book Memories. Hopefully, I will find it later, and find a copy just as good (like new) and just as cheap ($1). This book, by the way, includes stories about "country singers" ranging from Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, and Johnny Horton to Roy Orbison and Ray Charles.

Stars of Country Music: Uncle Dave Macon to Johnny Rodriguez is written by Bill C. Malone and Judith McCulloh. It is published by the University of Illinois Press. Ain't it sumpin' that not only do university presses publish books about country music, but that many of those books are published up there in Illinois?
On the back cover, this book lists the titles of a number of books from the U of I Press series called Music in American Life. There are at least a half a dozen I would love to have. This book was found in good shape, with some tears to the dusk jacket, and it sold for a whopping big $2.

It contains biographical sketches of quite a few singers, many of whom are pictured on the cover, including the founders of country music, like the Carter Family and Jimmy Rogers; the early great stars, like Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, and an Alabama boy named Hank Williams; stars of the 50s and 60s, like Flatt and Scruggs, Loretta Lynn, and an Arkansas boy named Cash.

I am $3.00 poorer. Somehow, I don't feel poorer. I just wish I could find some music equally as cheap.

Happy Birthday, John Lennon.

2010-10-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

By Nick
Today is John Lennon's Birthday. He would be 70 years old if he were alive.

John Lennon is an enigmatic figure. He was the archetypal rock-and-roll egotist. He used people all through his life, including his wife and fellow bandmembers. His life was characterized by doing all sorts of crazy and selfish things, not the least of which was ditching his wife Cynthia for that ugly Japanese chick. His personal beliefs swung wildly from Indian Mysticism to Christianity (briefly), to hardcore atheism. Many of his famous solo songs- "Give Peace a Chance", "Power To The People", "Instant Karma"- are repetitive, gospel music knock-offs, hitting you with Lennon's philosophies like a sledgehammer. "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" is on my list of the top all-time worst Christmas songs, mostly due to Yoko Ono's piercing, off-key vocals. And then there's the ridiculously overrated "Imagine", John's atheist Sunday-school anthem. The song sounds like the made-in-Red China version of "Let It Be." John, of course, didn't seem to be too serious about the whole "imagine no possessions" bag, as he was a multi-millionaire when he died.

And yet the fact remains that he wrote some of the best Beatles songs ever. "Strawberry Fields Forever" (In my opinion the greatest Beatles song ever written.), "Across The Universe", "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", "I Am The Walrus", "Come Together", "Revolution", "A Day In The Life." "Strawberry Fields Forever" is probably the best example of the late Beatles' style, combining their classical and rock-and-roll elements in a perfect symmetry. "Lucy In The Sky" and "I Am The Walrus" are classics of surrealism. I dare anyone to produce a song that has a better melody than "Across The Universe." The sad thing is that even when he was writing these great Beatles song, his massive egotism came into his lyrics. "Across The Universe", "I Am The Walrus", and "Strawberry Fields Forever" are all self-centered, navel-gazing anthems. John even wrote a song about himself, "The Ballad of John and Yoko." His songwriting style contrasts with that of fellow Beatle Paul McCartney, whose songs seem to exude a warm sense of community, inviting everyone listening to sing along.

Cynics may be tempted to sing "Imagine no John Lennon/It's easy if you try", but he has had a definite influence, for better or worse, on the world of rock music, and music in general. If only his talent wasn't ruined by his wacky political views, his bloated pride, and his intense desire to be a jerk.
John Lennon on "Strawberry Fields."

"I was different all my life. The second verse goes, 'No one I think is in my tree.' Well, I was too shy and self-doubting. Nobody seems to be as hip as me is what I was saying. Therefore, I must be crazy or a genius—'I mean it must be high or low'"

Yours Truly as a Beatle. Not John, though. Some kids told me I looked like George Harrison.

Currently listening to: "Just Like Starting Over (2010 Remix)", John Lennon, "The Ballad Of You And I",

Melee, "All You Need Is Love", The Beatles.

The Battle Of The Bands

2010-10-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

By Nick.
The eponymous Ben of this blog dislikes it if I steal his thunder and write a post right after he writes a post. I reply that this is not right (or write), because musical events need to be covered as soon as they happen.
Last Saturday I played at a talent show at the Texarkana Quadrangle festival. While I was there, I heard about their battle of the bands competition later that day, featuring three bands, Outcry For An Echo, Bridging the Gap, and Jerrod Lee. Not much of a competition, but in Texarkana, you take what you can get.
When I arrived later, (After a dreaded trip to Wal-Mart.), Outcry For an Echo was into their second song. This was odd, as the show was scheduled to start at 6:00 and I arrived at 6:05, and there was no obligatory day.

Outcry For An Echo, despite its indie-sounding name, is a three man blues outfit. Their second song that I heard was meat-and-potatoes blues, with some cool soloing (a wah pedal makes everything cooler). They closed out with a Beatles-esque rocker, which boasted a rocking guitar on the chorus, but was hampered by lame lyrics thanking the audience for coming to their show.
Bridging the Gap, a Pentecostal rock band, was up next. They began their set with a seventies-esque blues song about being "baptized in a horse-trough in Arkansas", which was pretty classic, and followed it up with the slower "Jesus Name Blues", giving the lead guitarist a chance to show off his considerable skills. They closed their set with a cover of "How Far Is Heaven?" by Los Lonely Boys (What happened to those guys?), hampered only by a weak ending, where the lead guitarist and singer reminded us several times that the song fades out on the album.

This is actually a picture of The Shins, but since I couldn't find any pictures of Bridging the Gap, I decided to post a picture of The Shins, because they're so cool.
During the first two bands, my friends and I noticed that there were several hardcore kids wandering around, odd for a blues show, and this led to the speculation that the Tyrants had come to crash the party. This was confirmed after Bridging the Gap left the stage and the announcer, who talked way too much through the entire thing, introduced hardcore/screamo band Like Tyrants. He also congratulated them on their ability to adapt, telling us how, since there was a wasp nest behind the stage, they all went over to the other side of the backstage. Wow!
Like Tyrants underwent some changes since I had seen them last. They replaced their lead singer/screamer with a full-time screamer, and their bassist changed his hair color from black to brown. The lead guitarist invited everyone, meaning parents and girlfriends, to come close to the stage and cheer them on.

This picture makes them look a lot cooler than they are.

     The Tyrants' setlist was essentially the same as their last show. Their new screamer was absolutely wretched. He had no range, his scream sounded like someone throwing up, and he barely had a chance to scream during any of the songs, which seemed to have very little vocalising in them. Halfway through the first song, they went into a breakdown, which makes no sense without a mosh pit. The pitiful Jake Williams, bless his heart, couldn't even keep up with the rest of the band through the breakdowns, or the rest of the songs, for that matter.
     The Tyrants began their second song by inviting the audience (read: parents and girlfriends) to clap along, with lead guitarist Nick Wagner remarking that this would be what won them the competition. This song, like all the rest of their songs, lasted about six minutes, and consisted of an endless series of verses and choruses, spiced up with the occasional breakdown. And why do all the bandmembers do this weird running-in-place thing onstage. It does not look cool at all. To give credit where credit is due, Nick Wagner is a talented guitarist, a good singer, and even a good screamer, but he's being held down by unskilled bandmates.
     After the eternity of breakdowns that was Like Tyrants' set, Jerrod Lee and his friend got onstage to set up and play us some much needed folk music. Lee had a unique set-up, sitting on a suitcase with two pedals set up, one of which was a drum kick pedal set up to kick the suitcase and the other which activated a tambourine. The soundmen had a mess of trouble setting up the mics for this, and the announcer seemed baffled that anyone would do something that cool.
     Once the suitcase percussion had been set up, Jerrod Lee began to croon out some folk-rock. His voice sounds like Gordon Lightfoot, and unsuited to his sparse acoustic music. Electric folk or Bluegrass would suit his voice better. His songs were very much in the American folk genre, mostly about lost love and traveling. One song incorporated the nursery rhyme "Hush little baby, don't say a word/Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird", and then added something about "Mama's gonna buy you a bottle of wine." Weird. Despite his unusual lyrics, and a voice that seemed too powerful for his style, he put on a good show. Who cares if he went fifteen seconds over his allotted time.
     The bands had played, and the decision as to who would win was made. The judgment was supposed to made by a "panel of professional musicians", but I noticed one of the judges sported a bleach-blond mullet. My guitar teacher, who is a truly good musician and has no mullet, was on the panel, which was a plus. So I waited for the results. And the winner was.....

Like Tyrants.
     Are you kidding me? The three other bands that played weren't exactly the Rolling Stones, but giving the award to a band who can't even stay together during a song, whose screamer sounds like he's gagging, and who were sort of like the Bob Dylan of hardcore-songs that last forever with no variations. Not wanting to have to sit through a seven-song set, or, more likely, two songs stretched out to ten minutes each, I left and went to McDonald's.
     Conclusion: The battle of the bands was lackluster. Blues music is like pizza-it's good even when it's not good-but it is a very easy genre to learn, and writing blues songs does not require the same kind of effort as writing indie or alternative songs. The Quadrangle used to be a festival with lots of local bands and interesting stuff, but now it seems past it's prime and ready to die. And why can we not find local bands to play in Texarkana. A few years ago it seemed like there were tons of bands in Texarkana-Olive and Iron, Goesl's Parade, Mute The Misfire. Back when I Love Evelyn was up and running there were local acts like Day In Day Out and Nova who were playing shows. And I'm sure there are tons of teenage kids who would jump at the chance to be the next Ramones. So why are we stuck having to listen to the rhythm-challenged Tyrants?

Currently Listening to: To Plant A Seed, We Came As Romans.

I Still Miss Someone

2010-10-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

One of the powers of country music is its ability to pull the deepest emotions from us. That is the traditional function of lyric poetry, and while many of us love to read poetry, we also love hearing poetry with musical accompaniment. There are songs and singers that, to quote from George Jones,"tear our hearts out when they sing."

Without a doubt, part of the force of Johnny Cash's singing was that sense in which he not only touched emotions, but he created emotional responses. When Cash sang a sad song, you felt sad. When he sang a song about an arrogant, defiant criminal named Sam Hall, in a song by that name on American IV: The Man Comes Around, you experienced the attitude of Sam Hall. My family never gathered around and sang hymns, but when I listened to "Daddy Sang Bass," I could hear my (non-singing) father singing bass, my (rarely singing) mother singing tenor while me and little brother (actually two sisters) would join right in there.

One of Cash's sad lyrical songs is "I Still Miss Someone." It is a traditional country (and poetic) theme: the loss of love. The song is set in the autumn season with the melancholy feeling that the season evokes. There is a pained emptiness and a nagging wonder whether things could have been different.

Because of the emotional power of the title, several web-sites devoted to Johnny Cash's memory use the title, even though the complete song would not exactly fit. But the feeling fits: the pain of a loss, the power of memory, the questioning of the past, and the emptiness of not having someone here that we love. Read the words to the song below:

At my door the leaves are falling,
A cold wild wind has come,
Sweethearts walk by together,
And I still miss someone.

I go out on a party,
And look for a little fun,
But I find a darkened corner
because I still miss someone.

Oh, no I never got over those blues eyes.
I see them every where.
I miss those arms that held me
When all the love was there

I wonder if she's sorry
For leavin' what we'd begun.
There's someone for me somewhere,
And I still miss someone.

I thought of that song this morning as we were riding to school. As is often the case, we were running close to late. The radio was on, and Nicholas said, "Well, at least we are getting to hear Marty Robbins."
This set me to thinking, with a bit of sadness, of a few of the singers that I miss.

1. I miss Marty Robbins. He died way too early. I still remember seeing him perform on the Grand Ole Opry, circa 1975, when it was still in the old Ryman Auditorium. Robbins always played the 11:30 to midnight portion. Most performers heading up an Opry segment do a song or two. Robbins would open up with a song, introduce his guest, then he would sit at the piano and crank out one after another of those powerful hits that only he could sing, such as "Don't Worry About Me" and "Carmen." No one could do a southwestern ballad better than Robbins. His singing of "El Paso" is a marvel, and you find yourself hoping that this time he doesn't have to die in the arms of the senorita he loves. Along with the western songs and gunfighter ballads, Robbins could turn to do a love song with equal power. "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife" is as beautiful a testimony to marital love as has ever been sung. "Devil Woman" is a powerful song of forgiveness, metaphorically picturing what happens when we are forgiveness, and "even the sea gulls are happy, glad I'm coming home again." (Nature is restored in redemption!)
On the night I saw Robbins sing, I got his autograph after the show. He came out front to meet his fans. I climbed up the concrete banister beside the steps. He signed the Opry program I had, looked me in the eye, and nodded. He was a tanned and rugged looking man, with a strong hint of Hispanic heritage. He performed the late night show because he was usually racing cars earlier in the evening.
I still miss Marty Robbins.

2. And I miss Bill Monroe. It was probably around 1969 when I saw him perform on the Friday Night Opry. I know this sounds strange, but one of the most fascinating features of the Opry was that singers were always standing around on the sides of the stage waiting before their performances. They looked so normal, so mortal, so human. I always found it odd that Monroe performed at that stage in his life, wearing glasses and not wearing his characteristic cowboy hat. I have repeatedly watched the video "High Lonesome," which covers the history of Bluegrass music. Monroe was intimidating and shy, powerful and weak, incredibly musically talented and hardly communicative. God worked slow grace into Monroe's life. All through his singing career, Monroe sang Christian songs. In fact, he introduced gospel quartets on the Opry. Many of his Gospel numbers were his own creations or arrangements. He sang the song that asks, "What would you give in exchange for your soul?" He knew the answer, but it took years for that answer to change his heart. Late in life, being baptized in the Jordan River, Monroe came up out of the water, saying, "I believe God put me here on earth to perform music."
I still miss Bill Monroe.

3. And I still miss Patsy Cline. She was already dead when I first discovered her music. I had a collection of music that included a Patsy Cline song. My mother loved the song, so when I discovered a Patsy Cline record in the sale bin at Montgomery Ward's, I bought it. I was in junior high; it was around the year 1968 or 1969. None of my friends liked country music. Most people I knew who did like country music tended to listen to whoever was then popular. Patsy Cline's last recording sessions were out of the realm of normal singing. As she was tearing hearts out with such songs as "Crazy," "If You Got Leaving on Your Mind," "Faded Love," and "Walking After Midnight," her record producer asked her husband, "Did y'all have a big fight last night?" Patsy Cline and her husband, Charlie Dick, had more than enough arguments, but the passion and power was coming from her soul, not from a recent brawl.
I often wonder how she would have fared through the years if she had not taken that fatal air flight. The picture of her at the last concert in a white dress is simply beautiful. I think she would have made a grand older lady of country music.
I still miss Patsy Cline.

4. And, of course, I miss both Johnny and June. This past spring, we bought Cash's American VI: Ain't No Grave. The title song is an old spiritual. The ruggedness and scratchiness of Cash's voice in his last years was haunting. I don't mean that it was spooky or scary, but that it was transforming. You knew when you heard him in his last years that this was a man who was looking at the chasm, the gulf dividing life in this world from that in the next. In the song "Ain't No Grave," the main instrument is chains. There is a hint of old Ebenezer Scrooge's partner, Marley, coming back from the grave wearing the chains he forged in life. It heightens the message of the song. Cash went to his grave with the chains from his life, but the grave couldn't hold him. His song testifies to salvation, one of his favorite themes.
On the album cover of American VI, the front is a boyhood picture of Cash, toothy and innocent and smiling, little knowing what life had in store for him. On the back is a hazy looking window. In the bottom corner, an elderly Cash is looking in. It gives that sense that Cash is still telling us what really matters: God, faith, marriage, love, music.
I still miss Johnny and June, and Mother Maybelle, and Sarah and A.P. Carter, and Carl Perkins.

My reworking of the song:

At my door the leaves are falling,
A cold wild wind has come,
On the radio hits are playing,
And I still miss someone.

I listen to hear them singing,
And remember the days before,
Their songs are still my favorites
because I still miss someone.

Oh, no I never got over meeting
Marty Robbins on those steps.
I can still hear Bill Monroe playing
With Bluegrass Boys that night.

I wonder how she'd be singing
If Patsy had lived til now,
And Johnny and June still thrill me,
And I still miss someone.

Concert Review: The Ember Days, Cedars Return, and some Thoughts about Modern Worship Music

2010-09-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

Back in the summer, when I went to go see Abel, there was another band lined up to play after Abel's set: The Ember Days. This group was said by many witnesses to be amazing, but they didn't show up. The story was that "they had van trouble", although there was a rumor going around that they were really Russian spies on the run from the CIA. Actually, there wasn't a rumor to that effect, but it would have been really cool if there had been. To get to the point, when I found that The Ember Days were playing at Trinity-and for free, no less-I had to come and see what the buzz was about.
It was a dark and stormy night when I went up to Trinity Baptist Church. After sloshing across their front lawn to find an entrance, I finally came to the door with a piece of paper marked "Concert" taped on it. The door opened up into a creepy stairwell, which made it feel like I was attending some secret gathering, and made the concert twenty-percent cooler.
Once I reached the top, I found that there was no one wearing a "To Write Love On Her Arms" T-shirt, the obligatory garment for a Christian indie rock concert. (There's usually at least one person wearing one at a concert, just like how in college propaganda there's always a guy wearing a Dropkick Murphys T-shirt.)
This startling omission made the gathering ten-percent less cool, and it was probably due to how few people there were. In all I think there were only thirty or forty people (maybe less), and that's counting the bands.
The room of the concert had a big backdrop at the back of the room with Christian slogans written on it with glow-in-the dark markers. (My favorite was the Latin inscription "Sanctus Est".) Eight or nine rows of chairs were set up, with few people filling them. And for some odd reason, no one sat on the front row. Maybe it's a Baptist thing.
After a few minutes of listening to the weird indie music that always plays over the loudspeakers at I Love Evelyn concerts, (This time it sounded like a Christian version of Coheed and Cambria) Cedars Return took the stage. This band has a personal interest to me, as its lead singer is my Latin teacher's son-in-law. After they took the stage, lead singer and acoustic guitarist David Farren of the amazing goatee (Prime cause of the sin of envy among other youth pastors.) invited us to come up here and "just worship." A small crowd gathered in front of the stage, and the band began an obligatory feature of the "ambient worship" band concert-the prayer accompanied by some ethereal guitar part that seems lifted from one of those New Age-y 80s Celtic albums. After the prayer, the band segued straight into their first song. David Farren has a pleasant vibrato voice, like a higher pitched Eddie Vedder, and the female lead singer, Kaitlin Rogers, has a nice Christian pop feel to her voice. On the downside, the song lacked any good structure, sort of falling apart instead of ending, the drumming was uninspired, and the chord progressions sounded like every other worship song. The next song had an interesting concept, (“Before this note rings out…have I forgotten you?) but any chance of milking it into an intelligent song was ruined by it launching into one of those epic, neverending, eternal worship choruses. It ended with a fairly cool guitar solo by Ryan Danger Rainer, but why do guitarists in these worship bands stomp on the floor to keep time? And what is it with Christian bands and chubby guys. I know that you can’t change the body build you were born with, but Rainer looks like he could use a few trips to the gym. Andrew Beaujon, in his insightful book Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside The Phenomena of Christian Rock, amusingly suggests that because Christian men are married to the same woman for life (hopefully), they think it’s OK to chow down the extra hot dog.
All weight related comments aside, Cedars Return left the stage, and they were followed by The Long Delay. This band had a long set, consisting of dead silence drowned out by the Sanctified Coheed and Cambria sound-alike playing on the loudspeakers. After The Long Delay, The Even Longer Soundcheck took the stage and played their set.
After The Even Longer Soundcheck left the stage, to no applause, New Zealand rock band The Ember Days took the stage. Unlike the pitifully normal Cedars Return, The Ember Days were in full musician garb. The drummer, who’s arm was about as skinny as his drumstick, was decked out in huge glasses and suspenders. (10% Cooler) Their lead guitarist looked a bit like Drew Shirley from Switchfoot, and their bass player had an unseemly resemblance to David Bowie‘s turn as the Goblin King in Labyrinth. (20% less cool) The best look-alike of all, was their rhythm guitarist and singer Jason Belcher, who with his mustache and unmusicianly barrel-chested figure, looked like he could become a Mario imitator if the band ceased to be an option, which made this event 50% cooler.

All the extraneous lights were turned out, and the stage lights bathed the band in an eerie purple glow. The Ember Days asked everyone to stand if they wanted to, told us that they would be playing a lot of instrumentals, and invited everyone to sing their own song during the instrumentals. (No one did.) The band then proceeded to play “The Never-Ending Song”, as made famous by the Glorious Unseen. This song featured lots of choruses with simple, repetitive guitar parts, an unchanging, unsyncopated beat, and copy-and-paste vocals, interspersed with slow, ethereal, guitar instrumentals. Lead singer and pianist Janell Belcher’s voice sounded reminiscent of Leigh Nash, and, strangely enough, Katy Perry, but she was afflicted with the common curse of women singers-having to sing over the rhythm section. As a result, her voice lacked the soft, airy quality it has in studio. Jason Belcher (Isn’t it great when both the vocalists in a band are named Belcher.) had a voice which sounded like central casting Christian Pop/Rock-not amazing or strikingly unusual, but fortunately not breathy or effeminate.

The Ember Days introduced one of their songs by talking about how they loved to feel the presence of God, and asked us to feel the presence of God, but I just wasn’t feeling it. In fact, I feel this way at about every Christian worship concert I go to. I begin to worry if I am afflicted with a lack of piety, but I like old Southern Gospel music. Modern Worship music, especially “ambient” worship like The Glorious Unseen or The Ember Days, seems to have several serious problems.
1.) Repetitive, Uninspired Music. Most of the songs by the Glorious Unseen or The Ember Days have long choruses or sections consisting of an unvarying drumbeat and two or three chords on the guitar repeated in a loop. While this may create a nice crashing effect, it is, to put it bluntly, boring, and is not good musicianship. Every Ambient worship band also has the same sort ethereal guitar effects. I assume it is supposed to sound like U2, but most Christian bands that try to sound like U2 end up sounding like lame U2 rip-offs. And why do Christian bands try to copy U2 all the time. Why not The Cure or Counting Crows or Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd or a myriad of other bands?
2.) Repetitive, Uninspired Lyrics. Hymns have intelligent, theological, lyrics. Southern gospel songs can have insipid lyrics, but they can also have lyrics that are intelligent, theological, and even witty. Worship songs take a lyric line-”Jesus, I love you.”, for instance-and spread it like butter over an epic chorus. Bob Dylan can take a three or four minute song and squeeze some poetry into it. Why are Christians afraid to do the same? Which is God most glorified by, a song with intelligent lyrics in a poetic structure, such as “Be Thou My Vision”, or a seemingly endless repetition of an phrase which, however true it is, is said over and over again until it has lost all its force.
3.) Lack of song structure. There’s a reason why the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus structure is used so much in music: It works. A love of structure is built in to the human psyche. Songs must have good structure in order to be good songs, just like a building must have a good plan to be a good building. A song or building without good structuring is pitiful, no matter how many embellishments it has. Listening to “Ambient Worship” is like watching a fish out of water-the songs tend to flop around and go nowhere in particular. The songs have no sense of movement or progression, just an excited sense of not going anywhere, which is what worship music is doing right now. Take a cue from Mozart.
4.) Overwhelming Expectation. Many Christian Ambient bands compare themselves to Sigur Ros. This is unfair. Sigur Ros has beautiful, angelic vocals, and a subtle ear for music. Christian “Ambient” bands usually take their vocal cues from Coldplay or Switchfoot, and feature bombast instead of finesse. In other words, they don’t know how to write a song without a heavy, power-chord driven chorus. And why are these bands categorized as “ambient” when there is almost nothing ambient about them? Sigur Ros’ futuristic, layered soundscapes ambient. I do not see why a loop of repeated power chords on the guitar is any more ambient than a song by Switchfoot or Coldplay or Matchbox 20 for that matter. The guitarists in these ambient bands play around with all sorts of cool sounding guitar effects. In the hands of great musicians such as The Edge from U2 or mewithoutYou, cool guitar effects can be musical poetry. Your guitar effects are only as good as your songwriting, and here it seems like the cool pedal effects are wasted on mediocre songs.
5.) The Unsuitability of Rock Music for Worship. Nothing against rock music. I love it, from The Beatles to Sufjan Stevens to Air Supply. (Yes, I like Air Supply.) But I feel, as a Christian, a musician, and a rock music fan, that rock music as we know it is unsuitable for worship. What I expect from worship music is something that is meditative, and conducive to a worshipful state of mind. Rock music makes me want to dance or headbang, especially when the guitarist breaks out into an awesome solo. (Kudos to Ryan Danger Rainer for the awesome solo.) Headbanging, though, is still frowned upon in worship circles, so I guess I would have to close my eyes and lift my hands up in the air or something. I don’t intend this to be a slam upon all worship songs or hymns written after 1500. There are plenty of new songs that are good and God-honoring and plenty of older hymns, which, musically speaking, I can’t stand. (Does “The Church ’s One Foundation” ring a bell.) I am not necessarily advocating a return to only old music, I am just saying that I don’t believe rock music is appropriate for church. That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it-I believe that other genres, such as jazz or some types of classical music are inappropriate for worship, but not for simply listening to. This problem could be resolved if the bands weren’t promoted as “worship”, but instead as “Christian entertainment”, like many Southern Gospel groups.
The Ember Days finished their set and their guitarist began to give his testimonial. My inner Presbyterian began to cringe in fear, hoping that it was not going to be corny or sappy. However, his testimonial was actually quite good and theologically right on. Plus he had an awesome New Zealand accent.
After the show I bought two albums for the generous price of five dollars-that’s right, two for five dollars-and picked up some free download cards to give to my friends. While I may not be a fan of the Ember Day’s music, I appreciate their passion for God and their generous approach to music. I realize that God can use imperfect music to accomplish his will, and while much of the Ember Day’s music may be sub-par (In my opinion), it is heartfelt. Just don’t call them Aussies.

The Ember Days Official Site http://www.myspace.com/theemberdays
You can download their music for free here http://www.comeandlive.com/CLD/TheEmberDays/index.html

Classic Reviews-Led Zeppelin IV

2010-09-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

Transcript of Music in Review Volume 1: 9-6-2010

Me: Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of "Music In Review". Today we'll be reviewing the exciting Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin, which is-.
Enthusiastic Led Zeppelin Fan: The Best Album Ever, by the Best Band Ever. No mortals ever walked the earth who could compare to the gods of Rock. Not even Steven Seagal!
Me: Thanks, that's nice.
Enthusastic Led Zeppelin Fan: They were the greatest band ever. Just listening to their music makes you awesome. Just looking at their records, even, makes you awesome.
Me: Yes. Anyway, Led Zeppelin's fourth effort starts out with a bang with "Black Dog"-
Enthusiastic Led Zeppelin Fan: Which is the greatest beginning to an album ever! Just look at the amazing Lyrics.
"Oh yeah, oh yeah, ah, ah, ahh.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, ah, ah, ahh."
That is genius. Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Bob Dylan-they were all just Robert Plant rip-offs.
Oversensitive Beatles Fan: Dude, what are you talking about. Robert Plant sounds like some girl when he's sings this. The song sounds like it's staggering out of bed to get some hangover pills after last night's binge.
Enthusiastic Led Zeppelin Fan: Exactly. It's one of the greatest rock-and-roll moments ever.
Oversensitive Beatles Fan: Ever Heard of "Helter Skelter". It's like this song, only it has rhythm, and the singer doesn't sound like some namby-pamby girlyman.
Enthusiastic Led Zeppelin Fan: The Beatles are horrible-worst band ever. Led Zeppelin is the greatest band ever. Never doubt that truth.
Uninformed Music Critic: What the heck? What is this music? It doesn't sound like Linkin Park.
Enthusiastic Led Zeppelin Fan: Nothing Sounds like Led Zeppelin. The Bandmembers weren't born: They just suddenly appeared from the cosmic vibrations.
Me: Thank you for that opinion. The second track.
Anorak: You know, there's this band called Vanilla Fudge, and they were like Led Zeppelin, only they were around before Led Zeppelin, and they were better.
Me: Anyway, the second track, "Rock and Roll"-
Enthusiastic Led Zeppelin Fan: is the definition of Rock and Roll. It is the ultimate Rock and Roll song! Led Zeppelin invented rock and roll.
Oversensitive Beatles Fan: No, you fool, Elvis invented Rock and Roll.
Anorak: Actually, Xavier D. Elmsley invented Rock-and-Roll twenty-two years, three months, and two days before Elvis began his musical career.
Uninformed Music Critic: Dude, I thought, like, Guns and Roses invented Rock and Roll. And Nirvana, and stuff.
Me: The question of who invented Rock and Roll is still up for debate. Anyway, the song is propelled by Jimmy Page-
Enthusiastic Led Zeppelin Fan: The Greatest Guitarist Ever! Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Clapton, Van Halen-they were all talentless losers. Jimmy Page invented the guitar.
Oversensitive Beatles Fan: Are you crazy? All Jimmy Page did was steal music from black people and play it through his static-y sounding amplifier really loud, and people thought it was cool. Hendrix is a great guitarist. Jimmy Page is a lousy, rhythmless white guy.
Uninformed Music Critic: Have you guys ever listened to Atreyu? That guy is a good guitar player. Or Slash from G'n'R. Or the guy from Breaking Benjamin.
Me: The third track, The Battle of Evermore-
Enthusiastic Led Zeppelin Fan: The soundtrack to my Life. I listened to that whenever I was getting ready to have an argument with my girlfriend.
Me: Your girlfriend?
Enthusiastic Led Zeppelin Fan: Yeah. She broke up with me, because she didn't like how I would kiss the first four Led Zeppelin albums every night before I went to bed.
Me: That is a bit disconcerting.
Enthusiastic Led Zeppelin Fan: If I was gay, I would write Love Letters to Jimmy Page. But I'm not gay, I swear.
Me: OK, then. Back to the song-
Oversensitive Beatles Fan: Robert Plant switches from a high-pitched feminine whine to a stomach virus growl on this track, which is the most boring, slow, acoustic track ever written. Other than that White T's song that all the chicks like a couple of years ago.
Anorak: "Hey There Delilah."
Oversensitive Beatles Fan: Yeah.
Anorak: It was written for:
Me: That concludes the discussion of that song. By the way, guys, can we use abbreviations? The guy who's typing all this out is getting kind of tired.
ELZF: Sure thing.
Me: Thanks. Side one ends with Led Zeppelin's master piece, Stairway to Heaven-
ELZF: THE BEST SONG EVER WRITTEN! Listening to that song is heaven! It's just proof that The Led Zeppelin bandmembers are the most powerful beings in the universe, even more powerful than Apocalypse from X-men.
OBF: You are certifiable. That song is one of the worst, most annoying songs ever written.
Me: That's a little harsh.
OBF: After you've heard it for the 14,876,765th time, you'll feel the same way.
Me: Well, it's not my fault you listened to the classic rock station too much.
Anorak: You know, if you play Stairway to Heaven backwards, you hear Highway to Hell by AC/DC.
UMC: Dude, I didn't even get to interject my opinion on the last song: I thought it was too slow. Staind has better acoustic songs. And this Stairway to Heaven stuff is stupid. It's not the Best Song Ever Written- There are better songs by Good Charlotte, or FallOutBoy, or Linkin Park. And It's so long! I mean, even that one song by Avenged Sevenfold isn't that long.
ELZF: THE BEST SONG EVER WRITTEN!!!!!
ME: And with that...interesting thought, let's move on to side two
The Doorbell Rings
Me: It's the Pizza Delivery Boy.
Pizza Delivery Boy: Hey! This will be $20.43
Me: David Grohl?
David Grohl: Yeah.
Me: But...Why?
David Grohl: The recession, man.
Me: I'm feeling you. What's your opinion on Led Zeppelin.
David Grohl: I can't say anything against them-I'm in a band with their bassist.
Me: Oh Yeah. What's that on your belt.
David Grohl: That? That's a lock of Kurt's hair. I take it out ever night and venerate it, and ask the Spirit of Kurt that he might lend me some of his amazing songwriting talent. Amen.
Me: Umm....Interesting.
David Grohl: This is strictly off-the-record.
Me: Of course.
ELZF: THE BEST SONG EVER!
Me: Thanks for the Pizza. I think I'm going to have to go finish this. Anyway, the next side of the album features "Misty Mountain Hop" and "Four Sticks".
ELZF: AMAZING SONGS! THEY ARE THE-wait, I don't have to use all caps. Forgive me, John Bonham. I was saying, those songs are amazing.
OBF: No they aren't. No intelligent person wants to listen to Misty Mountain Limp, and that awful Four sticks garbage.
Anorak: Vanilla Fudge-
UMC: Have you heard that new song by Kings of Leon. Awesome!
ELZF: How could you say that? Those songs are classic. They are essential. Every kid should listen to them from the time that he's three through the rest of his life.
OBF: Are you advocating Child abuse?
Me: Actually, I haven't really listened to those songs, so I'll skip to the next song, Going to California-
ELZF: It's so Beautiful. Robert Plant is even cooler than a Corvette. That song inspired me to move to California.
OBF: I would go to California if it meant I would never have to hear that song again.
UMC: That song was lame. That Katy Perry California Gurls song was better. That's my jam.
Me: That leads us to the final song, When the Levee Breaks, a cover of..of...
Anorak: Memphis Minnie.
Me: Yes, Memphis Minnie. The song features a wailing harmonica, driving guitars, and Robert Plant's screaming vocals. What drives this song the most, though, it John Bonham's drumming-
ELZF: JOOOOOOOOOOOOHN BOOOOOOOOOOOONHAAAAAAAAAAMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I'm shaking with delight!
OBF: You sick man.
ELZF: I'm crying Tears of Joy!
OBF: You are a disgusting loser.
Me: Anyway, that wraps up the album and-what happened to the Led Zeppelin Fan?
Anorak: He collapsed. I think he's crying.
ELZF: John Bonham...so beautiful....I love you.
OBF: He's Hopeless.
UMC: Kanye's got some pretty sweet jams.
Me: Led Zeppelin, comprised of Robert Plant, Jimmie Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham-
ELZF: AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! I LOVE YOU!
Me: Produced several successful albums, wrote Stairway to Heaven, and are credited with inventing Heavy Metal-
ELZF: Jumping off the Floor You are right. Led Zep invented heavy metal. Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Alice Cooper, Iron Butterfly-They were all posers. Led Zeppelin was the BOMB!
OBF: You loser! The Beatles invented Heavy Metal.
Anorak: Actually, Vanilla Fudge invented Heavy Metal before Led Zeppelin.
UMC: Dude, Guns 'n' Roses invented Heavy Metal. And Like, Motley Crue and Nirvana, and Disturbed.
Me: Thank you. This concludes this episode of Music in Review. Tune in next time to see me square off against a legion of 50 year old weed smokers-in other words, Grateful Dead Fans. Good night and good luck.
UMC: Dude, Breaking Benjamin is better than any of this band's stuff. Led Zeppelin isn't metal, Linkin Park, and Devil Wears Prada, and Disturbed- Now That's Metal. What about Korn? Does anybody here listen to Korn. Hello? Hello? Where is everybody? Oh well, at least they left the pizza.

Nick's Birthday

2010-08-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

Nick with one of his and my favorite singers, the legendary Ray Price at the Perot Theater

Nick with one of his favorite bands: House of Heroes

Today--August 31, 2010--is Nick's 17th birthday. As parents we are quite proud and amazed at Nick. God has blessed him with musical talent (largely from his mother) and a voracious appetite for reading (largely from his father).

As you might note from his reviews, Nick has an incredibly eclectic range of musical knowledge. Thankfully, I still know more about the Golden Age of Country Music than he may ever know, but he knows music by moderns and oldies, by rockers and blue grass artists, by folks of every race, musical genre, and style. He knows details about music that are astounding. He often tells me things like, "I wonder why X went from playing bass for the Something or Others in the 1970s to playing in a some-other-kind-of-group band in the 1990s. Why he even did a cover for Y."
He might as well be talking about calculus as far as my understanding is concerned. (And he is taking calculus this year.)Just look at his list of favorites on the right.)

While I catechized him in the great traditions of country, bluegrass, gospel, and some other types of music, he has widened my range of interests. I was country before Barbara Mandrell thought country was cool, so I grew up listening to Roy Acuff and Bill Monroe, rather than the musicians of the 60s. I was mourning--long after the fact--the sad early death of Patsy Cline while people my age were listening to what I wrote off as long haired noise. Thanks to Nicholas, I have grown to like Simon and Garfunkel, Lynyrd Skynyrd, U-2, B.B. King, and some of the more recent Christian rock bands (which I used to think was a contradiction in terms). I must add that I can only take this loud stuff in small doses and have to retreat back to where I can listen to Ernest Tubb, Ricky Skaggs, or Ralph Stanley.
Nick and I have encouraged each other in our love of Bob Dylan.

With all his factual knowledge of music, he is also a really good singer, an ever improving guitarist, a potentially good piano player, and a promising song writer. Not bad for a student whose major interest is literature and history.

Of course, as a teenager with an older father, we have real serious communication and relationship battles. He doesn't agree with me over James Fenimore Cooper or Jim and Jesse McReynolds or Eddie Arnold. And I don't know if the poor kid could accurately distinguish between Henry Wallace's politics and those of George C. Wallace. I continually warn him of the consequences of his mental lapses and rebellion. These and a few other serious flaws aside, God has blessed me and Stephanie and the rest of our family and friends with Nick.

Happy birthday Nick.

The Gig

2010-08-24T06:12:00.001-07:00

By Nick.

Lately the other proprietor of the blog has been giving me some grief about how few comments I have on my posts. The only conclusion I can draw from this is that I am so hip and cool that no one who reads this blog can understand my ultrasophisticated musical taste. Or something like that. Anyway...
Possibly the hardest task in writing is to review yourself. This can go in one of two equally bad direction. The first is to come up with some sort of prideful listing of your accomplishments:"I did this and this and this..." No one wants to read some guy who talks about himself the entire time. The second trap is to come off with a feigned humility, with something like "Well, I went and did such-and-such, but it wasn't very good, because I'm bad at everything. I'm even bad at Dynasty Warriors." (By the way, if you are bad at Dynasty Warriors, then you are probably a complete and total loser. My condolences.) The only way to avoid this trap is to let someone else review you. This is hard when it comes to a concert review, but I'll try.
The event that I was performing at was a "Teen Night" (sounds suspicious) at the local mall, which was comprised of an open mic and a fashion show. It had been a long time since I had played an open mic, and now that I had learned the lesson to never perform Johnny Cash songs in public, it was time to dust off the old six-string and head back out into the world.
When we arrived at the event, we were about halfway through the fashion show. This consisted mainly of people walking down a catwalk while some guy talked loudly about their rhinestone-studded clothes and ended every presentation with "She's buying this outfit for the low price of $200." Behind the stage I could see a drum kit, and it looked like a band was going to play, which was weird, given the fact that it was the mall.
I went backstage and using a combination of threats and bribes, was able to get myself squeezed in to the lineup.
The first singer to get up and perform was a fifteen-year-old-looking girl whose name I did not catch who was singing some karaoke. Halfway into her first song, I realized she was performing a piano rendition of Lady GaGa's "Poker Face" (Which is a very innapropriate song.), so I exited the scene.
The aforementioned fifteen-year-old girl's sister was slated next, and I caught the last strains of "Lead Me To The Cross" when I got back. A bit of a contrast with "Poker Face", I thought.
After her, one of the girls who had been a model in the show got up to sing and play guitar on a song that she wrote "for a guy she liked." Let's hope the guy liked girls with strained sounding voices. After that effort, and a karaoke song that she performed, it was time for yours truly to perform. You can find the video of my lackluster performance of the Beatles' "Across The Universe" on Central Mall Texarkana's Facebook page. That's all I'm going to say.
My performance ended to the sound of thunderous applause. This was because I was introducing the next band, Like Tyrants

This was the inaugural show for the band. This was also the the part where my mom left. Like Tyrants is a Hardcore band. For the uninitiated, Hardcore is what happened when Metal and Punk had a child who sat in his parents's basement and played Dungeons and Dragons all day. The first song that they performed sounded like incoherent noise, partially because of the fact that none of their microphones were working. Their next song had working vocals, but was dragged on like most hardcore songs do. The vocals were run-of-the-mill Emo/Hardcore, except for the lead singer's extremely annoying high-pitched scream, and the entire band seemed amateurish. The worst problem, though, was the singer's lack of stage presence: He had the entire catwalk to work with, but he remained glued to the one spot. This was unforgivable in a genre where theatrics usually (and in my opinion, should) take the place of musical talent as the main draw. A charismatic vocalist like Matt Shelton from the Wedding, for instance, would have taken advantage of the unique setup.
I can't complain too much. There are so few places to go see a concert in Texarkana, especially if you're under eighteen, that having something like this in the Mall was a welcome break. I eagerly hope that the Mall hosts more events like this, and look forward to attending and reviewing them. Just please book something other than only Hardcore bands

The Stanley Brothers

2010-08-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

In reading Ralph Stanley's memoirs, I have been struck (and saddened) by the hardships they faced as musicians. They traveled the country, spent long nights driving from show to show, worked their hardest, held high standards for their performances, assembled great bands, and still barely survived. The music business is always hard, but it was particularly hard for folks who adhered to certain types of music that they--and a coterie of loyal fans--loved, but that did not reach broader audiences.

With the passage of time, the Stanley Brothers have achieved high honors and fame for their music. Politicians and musicians have hailed their works. But in their day, they were barely surviving. Elvis and the youth revolution in music was devastating to many country musicians. It is ironic because Elvis loved old time country and gospel music. Many in country music responded with electricity, changes in hair and dress styles, and productive techniques to produce "the Nashville sound." Lots of good music came out of "the Nashville sound," but it was compromised, modernized, and urbanized. The older musicians went hungry.

What salvaged Bluegrass music and Mountain music was the folk festivals. Crowds of wild, often not-very-country looking young people flocked to the festivals to hear accustic, old-time folk music with tunes and lyrics reaching back in time to the hills of Appalachia and the further back to the glens and dales of Scotland.

Even though the Stanley Brothers were fighting to survive, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs were enjoying amazing success. Flatt and Scruggs appeared at Carnegie Hall; Flatt and Scruggs provided the theme song for the popular Beverly Hillbillies show and they also appeared on occasion on the show; Flatt and Scruggs provided the theme music for the movie "Bonnie and Clyde." Flatt and Scruggs were traveling the country in a big bus, enjoying fame and financial success.

Yet, the Stanley Brothers were equally as talented as Flatt and Scruggs. Carter Stanley was one of the better songwriters and stylists of his time. Ralph's banjo method was different froom Earl Scruggs, but then, only Bach could have come close to playing an instrument as good as Earl. (I'll bet in heaven, Bach sometimes says, "Bill (Monroe), you take the next licks on this song.")
The Stanley Brothers had assembled an outstanding band with a great array of music from their own compositions and other things they had gathered here and there.

Success was slow for the Stanley Brothers. Carter died in 1966 and Ralph trudged on. Often Ralph was instrumental in fostering the musical careers of young musicans like Keith Whitley and Ricky Skaggs. Finally, when the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" came out, the world discovered Ralph Stanley. It was the key song of that movie--"Man of Constant Sorrow"--that was originally a Stanley Brother classic. It was Ralph Stanley who shook the world with his haunting, a cappella rendition of "O, Death" in the KKK scene of the movie, and it was another Stanley Brothers' song, "Angel Band" that was played at the end of the movie.

After that movie, Ralph Stanley enjoyed an incredible amount of attention and financial success. He was 75 at the time. A major recording company signed him on. He was inducted into the cast of the Grand Ole Opry. He became a 75 year old overnight success. Even political leaders courted Stanley. Unfortunately, Stanley, being an old Truman Democrat, has been duped by such politicians as John Edwards and Barack Obama. (He supports Democrats because he thinks they help the more poor and needy.)

The Stanley Brothers have yet to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Along with Cowboy Copas and a few others, these fellows should recieve that ultimate honor.

Fair To Midland-Fables From A Mayfly:What I Tell You Three Times is True

2010-08-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

Trips to the Friends of the library sale downtown usually don’t reveal much. Other than classic literature (I.e. Dickens, Byron, etc.), most of the books tend to be pulp fiction, New Age conspiracy theory texts, and great novels like Fat White Vampire Blues (I kid you not. That is a real book. It was featured.) The music section is similarly deficient. Some old show tunes records, tapes of generica, and Cds of unsuccessful country artists is what generally shows up, and nothing new ever comes in. I should retract that statement-occasionally something new comes in. While combing through the Cds one more time, I found the oddly titles Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True by the equally oddly names Fair to Midland. I was intrigued by the fairy-tale influenced album art and the title (The second part of it comes from a Lewis Carroll poem.), and since it was a dollar, which is less than what you pay for “Crazy Train” on iTunes, I picked it up. It was worth the dollar.
Fair to Midland’s sound can best be described as a blend of indie rock and heavy metal. The band is signed on to Serjical Strike records, which was started by the singer from System of a Down, probably the most spastic metal band either. Most of the songs feature the sort of headbanging choruses found in heavy metal bands. The oddly named Darroh Sudderth’s vocals are high-pitched and quavering, like an indie singer, and he sounds similar to Falling Up’s lead vocalist, with occasional reminiscences of Edison Glass and Michael Stipe from R.E.M. Sudderth has a greater range than all the above, as he can go from piercing high pitched singing, to a low-pitched growling. Unfortunately, the only song he showcases his range and screaming on is Dance of The Manatees, the opening track, and most of the other tracks have him staying in his higher range, which I assume is his comfort zone. The guitars have an indie vibe to them and the keyboards add some scope to the record. The only musical problem with this record is the corny synthesizer sound that occasionally shows up, as in “April Fools and Eggmen.” It sounds like it was taken from some really cheesy 80s record.
The record starts out with a bang with “Dance of The Manatees”, the band’s swan song. It has sort of a radio single feel, and features the only example of Sudderth’s guttural growling. (He sounds like he’s saying “Run DMC” over and over again.”) The band kicks off into “Kyla Cries Cologne“, another rock anthem, and then into the dark brooding “Vice/Versa”, which alternates from indie flavoured verses to modern rock choruses. “The Wife, the Kids, and the White Picket Fence” provides the major key song for the album, and then we have another rock anthem, “April Fools and Eggmen”. This segues into a sort of classical interlude, which is interrupted by the fierce opener of “A Seafarer’s Knot”, whose intro is the most metallic this record. The song’s tune almost has an Irish feel, kind of like “The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald”. After this, the album suffers from what almost every harder rock record suffers from-lag. The last half of almost all hard rock records I have listened to has felt boring and sluggish. The band throws in an Irish fiddle intro on “Tall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes”, but by that time, I’ve fallen asleep. The energy can only go so far, and after about six or seven minor key songs with slower choruses (The fancy term for this is soaring choruses), I’ve lost interest. I guess I’m not cut out to be a metalhead. The final song, “(When The Bough Breaks) Say When”, is lighter than most of the songs, and also partially major-key.
Fair To Midland’s song writing is some of the weirdest in the world, and the song titles make no sense at all. I won’t even try to analyze any of them. Some lyric lines, like “They left us in the dark. They buried the sun, so I carried a torch”, make some sort of sense, but others are purely indecipherable like “let me introduce you to a pair that strikes crude oil, but I see pyrite”. Then again, what do you expect from a band of System of a Down’s singer’s label.
Fair to Midland does an interesting job of blending indie vocals with metal music, but their singer’s vocal strength and range is not displayed on most of the tracks. I also can’t help shake the idea that this is an unchristian version of Falling Up (Disclaimer: Falling Up was around before Fair to Midland.). Fans of Falling Up and people looking for intelligent hard rock might enjoy it, and it’s definitely worth a dollar. If you like none of the music, the album art is still pretty cool. And here's the band with the singer rocking the banjo and the overalls. He doesn't play the banjo on the record, though, which is sad.
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iTunes purchases and music discoveries

2010-07-31T14:23:00.000-07:00

By Nick
This time, I am combining the iTunes purchases post with exciting stories from the field of music hunting, which is almost as thrilling as bear hunting.

"Walk Away Renee" by The Left Banke
A string-laden gem by a 60s one-hit wonder group. It was a staple of the oldies radio station in my area before the station changed format. Reminds me of the days when pop did not mean club music. Actually, I didn't live in those days, but you get the point.

"1977" by Ana Tijoux
A free Mexican hip-hop song from iTunes. Nothing bad, but nothing to shout about.

"A Little Opera Goes A Long Way" by Sky Sailing.
Sky Sailing is a side project of Adam Young, who is better known as Owl City. This song sounds like Young took his Owl City hit "Fireflies", re-did it with acoustic instruments, and passed it off as a different song. Young's awful, effeminate enunciation ruins all of his music. Not worth the $0 paid for it.

"Maquinado" by Miguelito.
Another iTunes freebie. It sounds like some little Mexican kid chewing out his mom in Spanish. Lesson learned: Child singers are always bad, kiddie hip-hop songs are bad, free songs are almost always bad, and the combination of all three is so bad it's almost classic.

"Come With Me" by ceo.
Another free song. If you haven't guessed by now, I download lots of free stuff. It doesn't cost money. This is a decent nasally-vocaled electronica/dance track. Pro: the vintage sounding harp and string section. Con: The annoying samples which keep playing over and over again.

"Firecracker" by Frazey Ford.
The only free song I've downloaded that actually makes an attempt at greatness, as opposed to merely not being awful. The singer has a weird, vibrato voice, and the song is powered by a banjo. Which is to say, it's awesome.

"Tempo para Enamorarnos" by Isklander.
The thing about these free songs is that most of them are forgettable. Especially if they're in Spanish.

"Wishlist" by Pearl Jam.
A more obscure Pearl Jam song that my guitar teacher told me about. Combines lighter music than most Pearl Jam songs with good lyrics.

"Old Enough (Featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe)" by The Raconteurs.
The best song I've downloaded from iTunes, and possibly the best song I've heard all year. The Raconteurs take a rock song and turn it into an amazing bluegrass song. Ricky Skagg's mandolin picking is red-hot, Ashley Monroe's vocals are beautiful, and Ricky Skagg's and Jack White's voices blend perfectly. The song is absolutely flawless. Kudos to Jack White for going beyond rock music and supporting traditional bluegrass.

An interesting pair.
Music Discoveries

A recent trip to the Friends of the Library sale revealed a secret gem:
Tales From The Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True by Texas group Fair to Midland. The album sports some surrealistic Alice In Wonderland-esque album art, and the group has a sort of Falling Up sound with wierd lyrics.

And at Starvation Army, I found a copy of Remy Zero's Villa Elaine. I enjoyed Remy Zero's song "Fair" on the soundtrack to Garden State, so hopefully this will be good too. Reviews of both Cds are coming soon.

A Pig or a Banjo?

2010-07-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

Posted by Ben

God's Providence is an amazing combination of His purposes and our human actions. In his autobiography, Man of Constant Sorrow: My Life and Times, Dr. Ralph Stanley relates a story that led to his ultimate development as a musician and compiler of old mountain tunes.

He tells the story of a decision he faced when he was approaching his eleventh birthday. He was due for a present and his mother told him that he could either have a banjo or a pig. At that time, he was studying agriculture in school and he lived on a farm. And he liked pigs.

His Aunt Roxie had a banjo and she raised hogs. An old sow had a litter and there was a little sow pig that Ralph admired. The banjo she had was an open-backed, tattered and frayed instrument. She wanted $5.00 for the banjo and the same for the pig.

Stanley writes,

"Now, you make up your mind," my mother told me. "I can't buy you both of them. So do you want the pig or the banjo?" I took the banjo, and I'm mighty glad I did. I don't think I'd make much of a pig farmer. My mother had a little grocery store where she peddled her produce, and she traded out in groceries with Aunt Roxie so I could get the banjo.

All too often, now-a-days, we would feel compelled to buy our sons both the banjo and the pig (translated into the electric guitar and the I-phone for moderns). Stanley had to make a choice, and his mother wisely encouraged his and his brother's musical interests. (She had also been a banjo player before children and home duties caused her to put her own banjo away.)

Many country musicians have stories of life choices they made which resulted in their musical careers. Of course, not every choice was a good one. Many singers abandoned home, steady jobs, family ties, and even church ties to pursue the doors that music opened. In God's goodness, quite a few also found the time or occasion to pause and return to the things that mattered.

[Nick is at camp this week, so I have finally been able to post something on this site.]

Exciting Music News #1

2010-07-23T06:16:00.000-07:00

By Nick
Jack White, Singer and guitarist for the White Stripes and about fifty other bands, gave Ben's There And Nick Heard That new details into his newest side project, The Tenacious Stripes, a collaboration between him and actor/singer Jack Black.
“I thought it would be cool, because we have last names that have colored-themes, and also have a strange addiction to old watches and Ramen noodles.”
White and Black met at a Wolf Expo concert earlier this year somewhere in Indiana. The concert was attended by only three people, one of whom left because “The rest of their songs didn’t sound like the one on Eclipse.” This gave the two Jacks some valuable bonding time.
“We’ve learned a lot from each other.” said White, noting that Black gave him some weight-gaining tips and in return White told him the secret to never getting a tan.
The upcoming CD, Skinned Knees and Existentialism, is set to release at an undefined time. Meg White, also a member of the White Stripes, plays drums on the record using her most experimental kit yet, consisting of a crockpot, a toy piano, and a box of cheerios. Meg tells us that she’ll set up a copy of the healthcare bill for her kick pedal during live performances when Jack White is not looking. MewithoutYou vocalist Aaron Weiss will be not playing bass, and White has hinted that the late drummer of Avenged Sevenfold will be contacted via séance to play the accordion.
Musically, the album promises to go in a bold and fresh new direction. “We’re working on a raw, experimental sound for this record, without guitar solos, kick drums, or tunes.” says White, who also told us that it combines “[T]he energy of the Stripes, the energy of Tenacious D, and the energy of an ice chest full of Vaults. At one point Meg got so energized that she started hitting her drum kit with a sledgehammer. It was awesome.”
The guitars are more experimental on this record too, as White has gone beyond traditional amplifiers and hooked his guitar up to a Sony Walkman, a beehive, and a guy holding the other end of the cable making vaguely guitar-like sounds with his mouth. The album also showcases White “playing a tuba with a guitar pick. Jack [Black] swore it wasn’t’ possible, but anything is possible. I even trained a choir of Gila Monsters for one of the songs.”
Jack White is also involved with his other side projects, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather and the Microwaves, and is also in the running for the Ugliest Man contest, competing with Steven Tyler, Allen Greenspan, and your mom.
“On this record, we’re going for the rawest, grittiest sound possible.” says White, who is set to appear on the television show Glee performing a disco version of “Seven Nation Army”. “We want to be a band that’s authentic and real, not one of those commercial sell-outs.” White’s compositions have appeared in insightful, artistic films such as Eclipse, Napoleon Dymamite, and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
“I’ve been privileged to work with some great artists on this record, like Jack Black, Bob Dylan, and the nice plumber who came by an unclogged the studio toilet. For a while I was jumping up and down on one leg, so to speak.” White also says there’s a possibility of another side project in the work, inspired by his work with Aaron Weiss. “I want to start a band with myself, Weiss, Till Lindemann of Rammstein, and Soulja Boy Tell’em, thus combining the four most unmusical people in the industry.”
On the possibility of adding new members to the Tenacious stripes, White is hesitant. “We’ve considered adding Judge Joe Brown, but the name White, Black and Brown just didn’t flow. He’s also not a musician, but that’s not much of a problem.”
On the whole, White is optimistic about his new band. “We’ve already gotten two pre-orders for the record, (Thanks, Mom!), and we’re planning on touring with Ray Price, Iggy Pop, and The Dancing Terror Pigeon Revolt to support this album. We’d like to thank our fan for his support.”

Recent iTunes purchases-pt. 2

2010-07-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

By Nick
Due to the fact that iTunes prices all the good songs thirty cents higher than everything else, I was not able to download any of the good stuff (I.e. "Crazy Train"), so I settled for these musical discoveries.

"Live It" by The Cherryholmes.
A free "discovery download". It's kind of sweet and mild-don't expect some sort of super depressing Ryan Adams alt-country-but it's bluegrass, and bluegrass is like pizza-when it's good it's good, and when it isn't good, it's still pretty good. This is good.

"Where Did You Sleep Last Night" By Nirvana.
And on the other end of the bluegrass spectrum, we have this haunting track from Nirvana's landmark Unplugged In New York. Nobody could sound like Kurt Cobain, and his raspy voice fits this dark Appalachian ballad perfectly. The cello adds a faint glimmer of hope, and Cobain's screams at the end capture the sense of loneliness and desolation. Admit it, haters: Nirvana is awesome.

"Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" by The Killers
And also in the category of country songs redone by rock artists, we have this gem from the Killer's B-side album, Sawdust. The musical arrangement isn't very different from the original Kenny Rogers version. What sets this version apart is the difference between Kenny Roger's whispers and Brandon Flower's well-developed, though restrained, tenor.

"Life" by Beckah Shae
Yes, I admit-I am a sucker for electronic pop. Ever since I heard "Believe" by Cher and "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" by Eiffel 65 (You know, "I'm blue, if I was green I would die..." and so on.) I have periodically lost my musical credibility and indulged in the world of electronic beats and synthesizer powered anthems. This song is a decent pop effort, though a little weak on the lyrical side, but it was free.

"My City Was Gone" by The Pretenders
You may recognize this as the theme music from the Rush Limbaugh radio show. Aside from its ability to bring fear into the hearts of liberals, it's a good song in its own right. It's got driving drums, a funky bassline, and rockablilly-enfused guitars, but the real star of the show is Chrissie Hynde's vocals, which take us back to the time when girl singers relied less on vocal affectations (Oooh-ooh-ooh!), and more on the ability to belt it out.

"Devil's Dance Floor" By Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly blends pennywhistles with punk on this track. Sounds like the soundtrack to a pub brawl or a pirate attack.

"Summer Thing" by Troy Olsen
Another free track. It's by-the-numbers radio country, but it's not bad, and it's not Kenny Chesney, which are two things in its favor.

"Paris (Ooh La La)" by Grace Potter and The Nocturnals
If this song had come out in the Seventies it would have been a number one. It sounds like Heart meets The Eagles with some Cream thrown in. Be on the lookout for Grace Potter and The Nocturnals to make some of the best classic rock music ever, then become famous and start making techno songs.

The Band Who Wasn't There

2010-07-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

By Nick
House of Heroes was scheduled to play a show at I Love Evelyn on the 11th. Being a huge fan of the group, I naturally wanted to go. The last two Evelyn shows were in the Broad Street Park, a sort of enclosed place in the middle of downtown with some picnic tables and such. The doors were supposed to open at 7:00, so I headed down their about 6:45.
As I passed the "park", I could not see anyone there. There were no tables set up like last time. There was no tell-tale fifteen passenger van. It was completely empty. It was like one of those poorly-written end-of-times movies-"Where did everybody go?"
After cruising around downtown for 45 minutes, and finally getting some help from a helpful dude (props to you, whoever you are), I found out that I Love Evelyn was not having any events until a film screening on the 31st. This was aggravating. All the online tour dates posted on Myspace and Facebook showed House of Heroes playing in Texarkana on the 11th. There was no sort of cancellation notice from I Love Evelyn in any form, except for a cryptic message on their old building to the effect that they were "taking a break", and would be "coming back stronger". The entire sequence of things was surreal. Given my fertile imagination, I have come up with several possible scenarios of why House of Heroes never showed up.
1. They all got drunk. In Christian Rock circles, the hip way to say this is "Their van broke down".

2. The band was in a hospital in Minnesota, waiting for the return of their bassist's spirit to his body from his travels through hell, purgatory and heaven. He plans to write a book later titled AJ's Divine Comedy.

3. Their drummer, Colin Rigsby, was in love with a Russian spy, and as a result the entire band had to go to Washington to testify to his innocence.

4. The group took a wrong turn going from Dallas to Texarkana and ended up on the gulf coast, where their van and equipment was ruined by an oil slick. After that, they came up with a genius plan to plug the leak which involved stuffing the members of Seabird in the hole headfirst. The plan was abandoned as it involved the possible destruction of endangered species, and they decided to use the bass player from the Wedding and stuff him in the hole instead.

5. The members of House of Heroes are in actuality superheroes, and were busy saving the world from thugs, terrorists, and The Backstreet Boys.
6. Jared Rigsby, their guitarist, had to take time off for his other job as a stunt double for Jerry Seinfeld.

Jerry Seinfeld

Jared Rigsby

7. They were kidnapped by pirates. They are now at work recording their newest record, Yo-ho-ho And A Bottle of Rum, in the belowdecks of the Leviathan. A recent interview confirms this.
Interviewer: How is the new album shaping up?
Tim: Aargh!
Colin: It be just fine, thank ye.
Interviewer: Are you going to add any new sounds to the record?
Tim: Cannons!
Colin: And screaming people!
Interviewer: What is that parrot doing on Jared's shoulder.
Tim: He no talk. The parrot talks for him.
Parrot: Squawk!
Interviewer: What do you feel was your personal song on the new record?
Tim: Methinks he asks too many questions. Make him walk the plank.
Colin: Toss the scurvy dog overboard.
Interviewer: But, this is for the fans. They want to know all about the new record.
Tim: Dead men tell no tales!
Colin: Have fun interviewing Davy Jones, hahaha!
Parrot: Squawk!
Interviewer: No, you can't, this is-
Tim: Belay the gab, landlubber.
Transcript ends here

Carbon Leaf-Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat

2010-07-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

By Nick
During a recent trip to Little Rock, the proprietors of this blog were able to enjoy the many benefits of travel. Texarkana's stagnant air, squalourous living conditions, and lack of record stores make it the perfect place to get away from. But here, in the highlands of central Arkansas, Hastings is just a few exits away, and the record stores flow with milk, honey, and cheaply priced CDs.

I picked up Carbon Leaf's CD Love Loss Hope Repeat for two dollars at the abovementioned store. I had heard good things about them from Laura Ingraham, (usually a good judge of music), so I decided to pick it up. I do not regret it.

Carbon Leaf's style could be described as guitar-centric pop, or rock without distortion. The guitar plays a moving line instead of traditional rock power chords. The vocals take a bit of getting used to (Their singer has sort of a weird half-British accent), but other than a bit of talking on the title track, its decent.

The opening track, "Learn To Fly", does what an opening track should: it showcases the artist's style without being overly long. The next song, the title track, is a fun pop number that for some reason in my mind associates itself with shopping for antiques in some town in Arkansas. All randomness aside, it's a solid song, other than the bit where the singer says "Take a walk downtown" in an odd talking voice. I guess its just to remind us that, other than Aaron Weiss, singers should sing, not talk.

The band goes for a harder edge in the intense "Under The Wire", picks a little mandolin in "Royal One", and delivers a great pop song in "A Girl And Her Horse", which should be all over the radio. The songs are upbeat, and you'll be singing along with the choruses the first time you listen. The biggest surprise, though, is the ballad "The War Was In Color", a song from the viewpoint of a grandfather telling his grandson about his experiences in the war. It's an incredibly well-written and moving song, yet it doesn't feel out of place among the songs about girls. After the set-piece, the album closes out with "Bright Lights" and "International Airport", two appropriately happy songs to keep the album from ending on a dark note.

Carbon Leaf's music feels like you've heard it before. Every song is radio friendly without being some sort of electro-pop nonsense, and the lyrics are solid. For great music to listen to over and over again, in the car, in your house, or incarcerated (we hope not), check out Carbon Leaf.

And also be sure to buy Carbon Leaf Cereal-part of this balanced breakfast!

Abel-The Honest Love

2010-06-30T17:51:00.000-07:00

One of the hardest things in writing about music is reviewing Cds that are neither great nor awful. It’s easy to get excited and write a glowing review when the artist is someone great like The Beatles or Queen. It’s also easy to cut to pieces a horrendous album with some well placed verbal knives. But to a review a CD that is good, but not great, puts a strain on the writer. If you don’t write the review well, the reader will come off thinking that it is either really good or really bad, which is not what you were aiming for in the first place.
Abel’s debut EP, The Honest Love, gives me such a problem. While I might not put it in the realm of amazing albums such as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Brother, Sister, or The Essential Kenny G, I would not hesitate to recommend it to any of my friends.
Abel’s sound could best be described as Christian arena rock mixed in with some indie influences. While the sound of the band faintly echoes Coldplay or similar groups, the song structure of the band shows less mainstream influences. Kevin Kniefel’s voice doesn’t sound like many of the Chris Martin imitations out their. He has sort of a quavering, nasally voice, sometimes sounding a bit like a higher-pitched and rawer Counting Crows, sometimes more like an indie Five For Fighting, and he uses it to its full potential, going from whispering to falsetto to yelling. Musically, it spices up the arena rock genre with syncopated bass and drums, and more complex guitar parts than are usually absent in this sort of music. “Dressed Like a King” features a lilting beat of the kind that’s missing in this kind of music, and throws in a frantic bridge that amps up the tension, before culminating in a guitar solo (and not one of those repetitive, three-note motifs that Coldplay passes off as guitar solos.) “Song Of Simon” (I assume that means Simon Peter) begins like a song to raise up your lighters to, and then suddenly becomes fierce and intense, with the singer describing Christ’s crucifixion, and ends on a redemptive note.
It’s the last three songs on the EP that shine, though. “The Honest Love” starts out sounding like something that might sound like something you might hear on a cruise ship, and ends as something driving and catchy, a great song to listen to driving in a convertible. A bossa nova version would be one of the most awesome songs ever. “My Melody” sounds like the song that Coldplay was trying to copy when they wrote “Yellow”. And the finale, “The World Sings”, features a great bridge that will have you singing along, and closes in some calm piano. Coldplay is musical white bread compared with Abel’s wheat.
Lyrically, the band is pretty solid. There’s no amazing poetry here, but there’s less repetitive choruses, and vapid sweet nothings than on many other more famous Christian pop-rock artists. The lyrics have a bit more bite than what gets played on mainstream Christian radio-can you imagine Sanctus Real singing “Though I am trying/I’m not like Christ at all.” The only problem with the lyrics is that sometimes they are a little vague or confusing, such as “You have held my heart with truest eyes so blue” (talking about Jesus), or the story of a child waiting on his dad to come home from war in “Dressed Like a King”, which seems to be sort of randomly thrown in. Occasionally poetry shows up, as in “Song of Simon” which begins with “I went to the cross and crossed my heart and hoped to die.” It’s almost a mewithoutYou line, and hopefully is a preview of good song writing to come.
The biggest downside to this album is its production. The drums are mixed in too loud, in my opinion, so that when the drummer starts hitting on the cymbals it becomes hard to listen to The echo-y sounds can sound cool, and in the hands of a master they can be amazing, but they can also give the impression that the album was recorded in a cave. Less polished production works for groups like The White Stripes because their music is less polished, but when it comes to arena/pop-rock, more polished production gives it a more ethereal sound. However, it is their first EP, so this problem may be solved in the future.
Abel may not be a revolutionary band such as Queen or Nirvana, but in a few years and with some more experience in song writing they could easily become a first-among equals in their field. Their music is catchy, pop enough to be radio friendly, and better than anything on K-Love or Air1. If you find this EP in some Christian bookstore, pick it up, or better yet, go to one of Abel’s shows and show your support for a new band with the potential to be a force in Christian music.

Concert Review: Abel and some others

2010-06-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

By Nick
In my town there is a serious deficit of musical entertainment. Besides the symphony orchestra, (which only plays that longhair roundmouth music, and doesn't play during the summer), the music venues mostly tend to be sleazy bars that book third rate country singers and rock bands whose claim to fame was that the singer of some eighties hair band was briefly a member before he went on to join [Insert Famous Eighties Hair Band Here]. However, for those of us who don't want to go see bands with names like Tragikly White or The Rednek Groov Team, there is hope. There is a Christian homeless ministry based downtown called I Love Evelyn, which is sort of a Jesus People outfit, albeit without incense, beads, or Keith Green. The way that this group raises money and "awareness", is through holding concerts featuring different Christian rock bands and local musicians who don't want to play "Pour Some Sugar On Me". This simultaneously helps solve Texarkana's homeless problem, and its lack of musical entertainment. Sort of.
I Love Evelyn concerts also have another good thing going for them-you get to see Texarkana's weird crowd come out of the woodwork. Whereas in a big city these circus-esque folk would be more ubiquitous, here in Texarkana it is rare for me to see them, probably because they never go to Wal-Mart. If you see anyone who doesn't have long hair, piercings, tatoos, blue hair, skinny jeans, or expensive looking clothes, it's probably either me or a musician's parent. I felt the same way at the House of Heroes concert that I went to last year. I think I'm too normal for this kind of music.

The first band, and the main reason I came, was Israel and For Dreams Alike. I have a personal motive in this, having been friends with Israel in junior high. I had seen him play an acoustic set opening for The Glorious Unseen (Better unseen.), but I had never seen a full band performance. He did not disappoint...much. After one of those super-long soundchecks, Israel and the band started off with one of those soaring power-chord drenched Coldplay-type songs. Only this was better than Coldplay or any similar arena rock, and (dare I say it?), almost as good as U2. OK, maybe not that good, but still. He played a song with a cool harmonics intro, incorporated one of the arias from Carmen into another, and incorporates tempo changes and stuff.

I have to give the downside though. This is musiccriticism, after all. I could not hear the vocals on most of the songs. I guess that's a given for small venues and this kind of music, but I like to hear the vocals and understand the words. Secondly, and more importantly, all of his songs seemed to drag on in the sort of slower arena rock way. His first song was decent enough, but it seemed to go on and on and on, and it wasn't the sort of fast driving song that you want to get audiences interested. All his songs seemed to have about the same beat, a flaw which seems to infect most Christian music, and there was almost no syncopation. I mean, isn't that what makes it rock?
The biggest flaw, though, was not in the band, but the audience. Through the whole set, and all of the rest of the bands, they either sat on picnic tables, or leaned up against the wall, and just blankly stared at the stage. That's it. There was no sort of enthusiasm whatsoever. It was not just this concert either. When I went to see House of Heroes there were people standing three feet away from the stage either stock-still or texting people on their phones. Is the Christian Rock community made up entirely of Baptists? I doubt it. So why doesn't anyone dance, clap, sway, hold up a lighter, smile, or anything else? This might answer the question: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/02/17/68-standing-still-at-concerts/. Then again it may not. Still, the site of people at a rock concert sitting still and staring glumly like it was the London Symphony Orchestra made me mad. Especially, because I'm a rhythmic guy, and I want to clap my hands, tap my feet, bang my head, etc., when I'm at a concert. Since no one else was doing anything remotely close to this, I felt like I would be drawing undue attention to myself if I busted out some sweet moves. So I didn't.

And I promise you, the bass player wearing the headband is not gay.
Israel's set ended and most of the teenage girls left, which was disapointing. The next band on tap was She's The Antagonist, which was a one man show featuring some guy on the guitar. First, I'll give the upsides. During this guy's entire set I sat at the same table as the guys in the headliner band. This was cool. The one musician who comprises She's The Antagonist, Keith Tubbs, is a pretty good acoustic guitar picker, and seems like a nice guy, so I don't mean to attack him personally, just musically.
To be honest, though, just seeing this guy made me mad. I felt like going onstage and beating him up. He was very small and pale to begin, and his large mess of hair (I imagine his mom calling it a "rat's nest") didn't help. Plus he was wearing some Daisy Dukes. Please, if you're a guy, dress in such a way that I can tell you're a guy if I see you from behind.
And then he started to sing. This guy's voice was simply awful. It sounded like Mushmouth mixed with a kid on crack. Bob Dylan could run circles around this guy. His modulation was terrible. Fans may say that he is "experimental", but I've heard two year olds experimenting with a pot and a wooden spoon. Doesn't mean it's good to listen to. Lyrically, he seemed to want to cram everything he could into a song. It sounded like the most pretentious Bob Dylan song to the nth power. The guy's lyrics seemed to betray a snarky and holier-than-thou. Most of his songs came back to the theme of "I'm an artist and no one understands me. People say they don't like my songs, but that's just because they don't listen to them." No, brother, people don't like your songs because they are awful. Play stuff like "Folsom Prison Blues" that people can understand and then they will like your music.
Many of the songs were also disturbing.Every song seems to be about death (and not in a Holy Sonnet X kind of way), and much of the theological content was creepy and unbiblical sounding. An example of this would be the one where in the song God says something to the effect of "I put you here, but then I'm going to leave you, but I'll come back when you die." I could (and probably will) do an expose' on Christian emo/alternative rock theology, much of which is weird, unsound, and depressing. And when I wasn't hearing depressing, wacked-out theology or meditations on death, I heard just plain lyrical tripe.You can't out-do songs with lines like "A grizzly bear walked up the stairs", (This guy must have a rhyming dictionary by his bedside) and "The President sits in his chair while homeless men die" (Last time I checked it wasn't the president's job to take care of homeless people, but obviously I know less than "the artist").
"I feel like puking!" he sung halfway through his performance, and I wanted to shout "So do I!" However, politeness prevented me.
His set lasted way too long, which probably led to Abel's set seeming kind of short. However, to his credit, he was a good guitar picker and a nice guy, and would probably be a good backup guitarist for some other singer. A solo career would not be good for him, or for the world's ears, unless there's some major change in his style.

Hey, but at least he's enthusiastic, which is more than I can say for the crowd.
After that execrable, and overly long performance from She's The Antagonist, which to be honest was the closest that music has ever gotten to causing me physical pain, (Maybe it's an emo wrist-slitting thing: Pain Music.),the headliner band, Abel, a group from NYC, took the stage. They were also sort of an arena rock band. (the buzzword for this is ambient.) Their sound was similar to Mutemath, although not close enough to be called copycat.They had more guitar solos than Mutemath, and their lyrics were more explicitly Christian, but Mutemath is the closest comparison. Other than one song where it seemed like they were getting off,(and I couldn't tell if that was on purpose or not), the musicianship seemed solid, the vocals were good, and the bass player was really getting into it. I found out after the concert that he usually has a mic, but since he didn't have one that night he just sang without one.

The group was good, but they weren't that good. Now don't get me wrong: they had some nice songs, and I bought their EP and T-shirt, but they don't seem to have anything special that set them apart from the pack of U2/Coldplay style Christian music, other than the fact that they were in Texarkana that night. I would have also hoped for some better onstage presence. The singer didn't talk much, mainly just saying "Thanks" after every song, and some band interaction would have made it seem much more real and nice. Good bands play, great bands steal the show. However, I shouldn't be too harsh on them, as they are a new band, and I haven't listened to their EP yet. Perhaps they are better in studio than onstage.

After Abel's set (of which I remember very little-it all sounded very similar.), The Ember Days, a supposedly amazing worship band, was supposed to play, but they weren't there. The story was that their bus had broken down. I personally think that they were really abducted by aliens, but that's just my theory. It was already late when they were supposed to play anyway, thanks to She's The Antagonist's mind-bogglingly long set, so I wasn't too disappointed. I talked with the singer from Abel, bought a CD, (which I will review later), and a T-shirt, and went home.

Summary: Israel and For Dreams Alike's set was the best of all (I've thought that both times I've seen him.) It must have been really disappointing to the other bands to see the first act draw the largest crowds. She's The Antagonist was horrendous, begging your pardon, Abel was good arena rock, and The Ember Days didn't even show up, so the best I can say was that they weren't bad. House of Heroes is coming to Texarkana July 11, so I'll probably be going to another I Love Evelyn Concert soon. I'll remember to dye my hair blue and put an earring in my tongue so I won't feel weird.

Introduction to Blue Grass Music

2010-06-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

Ben's There:

The question was asked in a recent comment about how one could go about getting acquainted with bluegrass music. That is a hard question to answer. The best way to get acclimated to bluegrass music is to have ancestors who were eeking out a rugged existence around the locks and in the glens of Scotland. From their hard-scrabble lives, they would have found joy in the gatherings of the clans where music was heard and lads and lassies could dance to the tunes. The music was timeless or always old, as though it had originated with the very hills and dales of that mystical land. From there, those ancestors would have imbibed the Calvinism of John Knox and Andrew Melville, which blended psalm-like devotions to their jigs and reels. Then after a few decades of persecution, along with the pain of the defeat of the rising of 1745, those ancestors crossed the Atlantic, slid on past the settlements on the coast and taken up new lives in the hills of Appalachia, which bore faint resemblances to the old country. Lots of possessions might have been left behind, but the catechisms and the fiddles would have been packed along for the ocean crossing.

As Bill Monroe, and you have to know that name to even begin thinking of bluegrass music, once said (when gazing at the surrounding hills and valleys while the bluegrass boys repaired a flat tire on the Bluegrass Express), "Just listen to those ancient tones."

There's got to be "the fierce pull of blood" (to borrow from Bill Faulkner) that causes those combinations of fiddle, guitar, mandolin, bass, and high tenor to create the ache, the joy, and the deep emotional tie to bluegrass music. Of course, it is much more complicated. Monroe picked up syncopation patterns from an old Negro who played guitar. All Southern music forms are integrated.

(Remember the movie O Brother Where Art Thou?
Junior: "Pappy, they's integrated."
Gov. Pappy O'Daniel: "Folks don't seem to mind that they's integrated.")

In fact, I long to see a compilation CD called Black and Blue Grass--Roots Music of the South.

Is there hope for urban-dwelling Yankees, haters of Southerners, high brows who can't saw down on a fiddle, stuffy music snobs, green and purple haired freeks who would shock Flannery O'Connor, non-Celtic tribes, and folks whose ears have been warped by too much screaming and hollering? Probably not if you fit at least three of those categories. But in a time of cultural renewal, perhaps folks can still cultivate an appreciation of bluegrass music. Remember, it was not all that long ago (c. 1940) when the governor of Tennessee (a Democrat) said that country music was an embarassment to that state.

The best way to learn about bluegrass music is to attend a bluegrass festival. The festivals began in the 1960s. They grew out of the folk music revival of that time. People discovering folk music (and often opposing the Vietnam War for different reasons) discovered that there was a whole class of folks who played accustic string instruments and who learned old tunes from granpa's, uncles, local bands, traveling preachers, and from an old radio show on WSM called the Grand Ole Opry. Elvis had revved up music's volume and others had electrified the instruments, but there were those who still played the old styles. They had blame near starved, but they had not changed their music. The festivals were their re-entry port into American culture and success.

And many discovered Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys, Flatt and Scruggs, Jim and Jesse McReynolds, Mac Wiseman, Jimmy Martin, the Stanley Brothers and others.

Local festivals are still held all over the country. The quality of the relatively unknown bands is usually quite amazing. Bluegrass festivals are generally held outside with rows and rows of folding chairs surrounding the stage and with groups jamming all over the campgrounds.

But since this summer is unusually hot, even for the south, I would recommend a few albums/CDs to that contain various artists who exemplify the best of Bluegrass music.

High Lonesome is a CD that accompanies a wonderful documentary by the same name. The documentary is the best introduction to the roots and development of Bluegrass music. The CD contains some outstanding music by Monroe, Jim and Jesse, Mac Wiseman, and some more recent artists.

One of the earliest, most famous, and still defining bluegrass festivals is held yearly in Bean Blossom, Indiana. Monroe was a key figure in the establishment of this festival and his influence still weighs heavily on the performances there. This live recording includes the applause, yells, and screams of the audience. It is a fine collection of music.

Back in the early 70s, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band gathered together in a music studio with some of their heroes. These included Mother Maybelle Carter, Roy Acuff, Jimmy Martin, Doc Watson, and Merle Travis. The result was a three record album collection called Will the Circle Be Unbroken?. In subsequent years, second and third compilations have been produced. While this collection is not strictly bluegrass, it contains lots of bluegrass music, instrumental accustic music, and music with deep roots. (I only own this on the old vinyl records, but I still value the collection.)

The movie O Brother Where Art Thou? introduced many people to the music that kept folks spirit's high while the nation's economic conditions were so low during the 1930s. Again, not all the music in the movie or on the soundtrack is strictly bluegrass. But it does contain some outstanding music.

In The Pines

2010-06-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

By Nick.
Pop songs come and go, but truly good music sticks around in some form or another. Such is the case with American Folk (And I don't mean that wretched Pete Seeger stuff.) Folk songs were carried off from England and Scotland to the Appalachians. From there they stayed in the hills and musically fermented, until the invention of trains and electricity and coal mining hit the area. It was then that folk music morphed into country, with a little help from luminaries such as The Carter Family and Jimmy Rogers. From there, the songs became country and bluegrass standards, were mostly forgotten by all but the dedicated during country's lean years, and then revived by alternative/indie rockers such as Ryan Adams or Connor Oberst looking for something more authentic than the latest pop faddle.
The song "In The Pines" is an interesting case study in the way that folk songs trickle down through time. It is a gloomy appalachian ballad alternately known as "Black Gal", "The Longest Train" or "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" The best known early recording of it was by Leadbelly, who learned it from another person who learned it from two early phonograph recordings. Not having access to the Leadbelly version, I had to make do with the three versions I had.
The Earliest version I had on hand was that by J.E. Mainer and his Mountaineers
from the CD East Virginia Blues, part of the series When The Sun Goes Down, which bills itself as "The Secret History of Rock and Roll". The CD, which is the only one in the series we have as of now, not only contains many interesting old Appalachian songs, but also song explanations in the liner notes. J.E. Mainer was no stranger to dark songs- his nephew Wade Mainer and his Friend Zeke Morris, who play on "In The Pines", do another song on the album called "Down in The Willow", which is a classic murder ballad. This version may strike modern listeners as being a little too upbeat for such dark lyrics, but it was keeping up with the times. Back in the 20s and 30s, many murder ballads and sad songs were recorded and sung with more upbeat rhythms and melodies, both to keep up with the popular way of playing them, and to make them more suitable for live performances. No self-respecting Appalachian fiddler would have wanted his songs to be melodramatic, although he probably would not have used that word.
Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys recorded a version in their early days, even more upbeat than the Mountaineers'. This version is pure Bill Monroe, complete with yodeling. The lyrics here are much less sad, and talk about "The longest train that I ever saw". The only downside to this recording is the train whistle sound that one of the bandmembers makes during the chorus. It's interesting at first, but after hearing it every time the chorus comes around, it gets kind of annoying.
The final version that I listened to was Nirvana's rendition on their Unplugged CD. Despite Kurt Cobain's status as "The Father of Grunge", he played this old folk song as the coda to his performance. While researching for this post on the internet,the only thing I found on this song other than the same article repeated a thousand times was a songs meaning site which had a bunch of comments, most of which were something along the lines of "Kurt Cobain wrote this as a song about his wife's infidelities", and "He didn't write it, Dude. Courtney loved Kurt." Conclusion: The internet is useless. Therefore I have had to come up with my own interpretation.
To anyone who knows about Nirvana, it's obvious that Kurt Cobain was into dark and often creepy stuff. Grunge music (or whatever you want to call it) was almost all about depression, at least until the Stone Temple Pilots came out and made it somewhat fun. That's a whole 'nuther story. Kurt Cobain obviously had some sort of liking for this song, but it's what he did with it that's amazing.
For starters, he played it in a minor key, unlike the earlier versions played in major. A cello plays the bass notes, making the song take on a major key feel until halfway through each verse, when it goes down back into minor. Kurt's raspy voice, famously showcased on the unintelligible and oft-parodied chorus to "Smells Like Teen Spirit", gives this song a more raw edge, which is kicked into overdrive when he screams the final verses. The most amazing thing is what he does with the lyrics. In a typical Nirvana-esque twist, he takes the lyrics to the different versions and rearragnes them into a rage-filled song about pointlessness. This was not directed at Courtney Love, this was directed more toward everyone, with no special preferences to anyone. The Lyrics to the Nirvana Version are below

My girl, my girl, don't lie to me
Tell me where did you sleep last night

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through

My girl, my girl, where will you go
I'm going where the cold wind blows

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through

Her husband, was a hard working man
Just about a mile from here
His head was found in a driving wheel
But his body never was found

My girl, my girl, don't lie to me
Tell me where did you sleep last night

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through

My girl, my girl, where will you go
I'm going where the cold wind blows

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through

Super quick addendum: I just listened to a sample of the Leadbelly version on Amazon. The Nirvana uses the same chord progression.

New CDs-A very short post for ADHD readers.

2010-06-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

From Nick.
Picked up some new CDs from some people who our family is going to have a garage sale with.
A Rush of Blood to The Head by Coldplay
The Greatest Hits of Mozart
The Soundtracks to The Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers and
The Patriot
Music For Relaxation III
The last one sounds like some sort of Lifescapes-type elevator music, but it's actually a collection of some very good and less-well known classical music.