Stateside Presents has booked Andrew Bird in Tucson for a Valentine's Day show at the Rialto. It's a nice bit of synchronicity because Bird is another of the musicians I threw into the wedding mix (cocktail hour) this weekend. Performing with Wilco is also guaranteed to raise a musician's stature in my eyes.
He's an amazing songwriter who let the world in on his recording and writing process this summer on The New York Times' Measure for Measure blog. In it, he describes the craft in such detail that I found myself almost hearing parts of his new record, Noble Beast, which is due out in January. He introduces what would become the first single, "Oh No," in the very first post, saying it began for him as a way to capture the sound of a 3-year-old child crying on an airplane. The mournfulness stuck in Bird's head, and he worked out a guitar part that fit together with a violin loop he'd been toying with.
Then, in June, Bird wrote about the song again, saying that he decided to add drums on what was already a "complete" song changed it completely - and for the better.
So whatever this new record holds, I'll come to it from an entirely different perspective, as an observer who got to see part of it being made along the way.
And then two weeks later he'll be in town to perform, and I'll watch the music created right before my eyes. Perfect.
Ticketing options: • $22.00 – 27.00 Reserved (plus 1.25 Facility Fee) • MusicToday presale - ($4.00 scg) - on sale Nov 18 • Orpheum box CASH, CHARGE - (no scg) - on sale Nov 21 • TicketMaster.com - ($10.00 scg, $5.15 hand)) - on sale Nov 21
Feb 3 - 930 Club Washington, DC Doors: 7 - Show: 8 - All Ages with Loney Dear
Ticketing options: • $25.00 Advance, Day-of-Show • Brown Paper Tickets - ($1.62 scg) - on sale Nov 18 • Venue Box Office - ($1.00 scg) - on sale Nov 20 • Tickets.com - ($6.00 scg, $4.00 hand) - on sale Nov 20
I started this weekly year-by-year shuffle thing a while back, before setting it aside, and now it's time to jump back into it. See 1979 and 1980 if you're interested, but for now, sit back and join in on a randomized journey through the great 1981:
1. Bruce Springsteen - Child Bride - Best of the Lost Masters A Nebraska outtake that would be radically reworked into Born in the USA's "Working on the Highway," this is yet another bit of proof that the Boss isn't only one of the best American songwriters, he's also one of the most prolific. That his four-disc collection of studio outtakes a decade ago didn't begin to include every quality song he's buried away is hardly a surprise, but it's stunning nonetheless.
2. Tom Petty - A Thing About You - Hard Promises This was the first time I've heard this song, a pure-Petty chunk of sing-along rock 'n' roll. The double whammy this summer of watching Peter Bogdanovich's Running Down a Dream documentary and seeing the band live in Golden Gate Park spurred me to dig completely into Petty's back catalog. It's hard to believe this song wasn't a single and a Greatest Hit, but like the Boss, Petty is nothing if not consistently excellent.
3. Agent Orange - Everything Turns Grey - Living In Darkness Agent Orange is one of the punk bands I'd heard a lot about and tried getting into back in high school, but I ended up going for the 1990s stuff that was less abrasive. Not exactly a very punk rock way of going about things, but to my ears, NOFX was where it was at. These days, I'd rather be listening to punk that I dug back in the day, so I just might have missed the Agent Orange boat all together.
4. Emmylou Harris - Tennessee Waltz - Cimarron Yet another legendary musician whose back catalog runs so deep and so great that it's intimidating to step beyond the simple hits. The other versions I have of this country classic are by Roy Acuff and Sam Cooke. Some songs truly get treated like kings.
5. Replacements - A Toe Needs A Shoe (outtake) - Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash (reissue) A Bob Stinson-written instrumental outtake from the sessions for the Replacements' first record - I don't really know what to think of this. It ain't bad, but I 'spose there's a reason it's stuck on the end of a deluxe reissue.
6. X - When Our Love Passed Out on the Couch - Wild Gift The first two X records are non-stop powerhouses and give the band every right to take victory lap tours to this day. John Doe and Exene sing together like no two people ever have.
7. U2 - I Threw A Brick Through a Window - October The rawer end of the U2 catalog never seems to hold many clues of what sort of a band they'd become just a few years later. It hardly bears saying that this is a lesser song from a great band, but it's fun to hear them attempt a run through some of the rougher, moody stuff that characterized the great UK bands of the time.
8. Social Distortion - Under My Thumb - Mainliner A live staple that later found it's way as a hidden track onto the band's 1996 White Light White Heat White Trash, "Under My Thumb" first showed up as a 1981 single, later collected under Mainliner in 1995. I've always loved Social D's version of the song and how mean Mike Ness turns it. A great example of a singer truly coming to own someone else's song.
9. Rolling Stones - Waiting For A Friend - Tattoo You A decidedly un-rock type of song that features Sonny Rollins and a we've-been-millionaires-for-decades type of laid back beat, this song is proof that even as the Stones aged and changed, they remained great.
10. Bob Dylan - The Groom's Still Waiting At the Altar - Shot of Love That his Christian period produced a booty-shakin' sort of gospel music like this tune (originally a b-side that was included in the CD version) isn't much of a surprise. Viewed from nearly three decades later, that whole period in Dylan's career makes quite a bit of sense, but I'd have loved to be a big-time fan in those days just to experience the shock of his many transformations.
So, this run through 1981 seems to indicate the year had either legendary musicians still plugging away (often on slightly lesser material) or punk rockers set to break the whole music world open. The thing is, it rings fairly true. Thanks, shuffle, for the history lesson.
Not every wedding features fire jugglers giving the bride and groom their first taste of peril as a married couple. But, that's the type of people I run with - the joyous, vibrant and adventurous spirits who'll not only invite vagabond jugglers to their wedding, but embrace the show.
That same happy couple brought in one Catfish Vegas as the wedding dee-jay, turning over the speakers for about 13 hours worth of music once all was said and done with the rehearsal BBQ (not much rehearsing done there, as a matter of fact), cocktail hour, dinner and one hell of a dance party.
It's the second wedding I've been asked to supply tunes for, and I gotta say that it's a wonderful way to boost the enjoyment of the night. There's nothing like the feeling of knowing and loving every song that plays throughout the evening.
Mr. and Mrs. Guy Toronto are two of the most tremendous people I know, full of humor and love and open hearts for everyone they meet. I was honored and thrilled to not only throw down the music, but to stand up front as they exchanged vows that even included a reference to the Denver Bronos ("We're a team, like the Denver Broncos, but different").
The whole week was a blur, from the moment Guy and the El Circo del Tres Gringos blew into town. Later that night we lifted Mr. Chair and his girl from the airport, hardly interrupting a fairly thorough bar tour of Downtown Tucson. We fit seven people comfortably in a Ford Grand Marquis. Felix Hurn flew into town the next night. Stu LeBlanc, the General and a host of other good souls painted the town with us. A sunset and some carne seca fell perfectly into the mix. Then there was the rehearsal and wedding and the tunage set a beautiful tone for a weekend of great friends, laughter and a sense of harmony with the entire universe.
This a somewhat vague and cryptic way of saying thanks to everyone involved for making the whole last week the most incredible time I've had in a great long while.
I'll leave y'all with two songs - the first one an Iron & Wine song the groom performed himself at the reception and the second a Magnetic Fields song the best man sang during the service.
Here's a show that really crept up on me - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals and Ezra Furman & The Harpoons, at Club Congress Tuesday.
With both bands traveling a good long way to get here (Potter from Vermont and Furman from Chicago) and both relatively new - and on huge upswings - I'd bet this is the first show in Tucson for either one.
I'd heard a lot of good things about Grace Potter surrounding the Outside Lands Festival, but I opted for Broken Social Scene while she was on another stage.
Potter's sound is great - at times like The Band, or the Stones at their most Americana, or like a Bonnie Raitt-fronted Black Crowes, belting out a rock sound that's full of soul and blues.
Potter's latest, This Is Somewhere (2007, Hollywood Records), got loads of great reviews. NPR called the record "Equal parts Tom Petty and Wilco," which is a compliment of the highest order in my mind.
I first heard about Furman roughly this time last year, on Andy Whitman's blog. This barely-20-year-old was flying completely under the radar, but made one of the best records of 2007, with a raucous folk sound, part Dylan and part Mountain Goats & Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
Furman's Banging Down the Doors was a hard-charging record that grew better the more I listened to it. And from the first tracks I've heard, this year's Inside the Human Body is a more rockin' follow-up.
Furman is bursting with talent and his songs are as catchy as Potter's are soulful. Though I wouldn't necessarily expect the two bands to show up on the same bill, this ought to be a great show.
So the hiatus is done with over here at Catfish Vegas Presents... Thanks for your patience to those folks who stuck around these past few months.
I wanted to kick back into gear with a mix - to give the people a whole bunch o' tunes at once.
And given that us here citizens of these here United States just went ahead and picked ourselves a new president - an inspiring choice, if I do say so myself - I thought I'd kinda stick in that vein.
So here are some tunes that are vaguely political, some explicit in their celebration of America, and others that sort of capture the feel of what was at stake this year.
Some are joyous, others are defiant. There's struggle and hope, and some sarcasm and humor, and anger and pride, all tied together in a bunch. The songs of protest are a reminder of what fights have come and gone on this road. The happy songs are a reminder of what's always been at the core of America. The soul and the blues and the folk tunes are the history of this country, a history that wasn't always fit for the newspapers. These are all songs of engagement - and they're all damn good, so give the mix a spin.
Download: Victory 2008 mix (add the folder to your library and then "import" the xml file to create the playlist)
Vic Chesnutt - a Southern songwriter, friend of Howe Gelb's and yet another of those musicians who has plenty of love for Tucson - is back in town tonight, playing at Club Congress, alongside Elf Power.
Chesnutt & Elf Power have just released a new album together, and from what I've heard, it leans more toward rock 'n' roll than Vic usually does.
Barack Obama is the new president of the United States of America, soon to be the 44th man to hold the office, and without a doubt his election is the greatest and most positive even to occur in my lifetime.
Four years and a few months ago, after his star-making speech at the last Democractic National Convention, I wrote that I expected to cast a presidential vote for Barack Obama someday. And, way sooner than I expected, I got that privilege.
This is my president. At 29 years old, I feel more American, more an active and influential part of this tremendous country, than ever before. This is the history I will tell to my children someday, describing how this wave of enthusiasm overcame the country and surge, at the perfect moment, pushing the destructive and depressive Bush years aside in a heartbeat.
Last night at the Marriott, among some 2,500 other joyous folks, I watched as big screen projected Obama's victory speech. Amazing. My friends were the millions around the country watching with pride and a surging sense of possibility in this shared future represented by Barack Obama.
I had plenty of other stuff to do last night, and I slept in, but on my drive to work today, I heard Otis Redding's version of the Sam Cooke classic "A Change Is Gonna Come" on KXCI - and that flood of joy from the night before came back, more real in the bright light of another day than it had been the night before.
So, to celebrate this election, which I cared about and fought and worked for so much these long months, here's two more versions of that classic American song - one from some great friends and one from a legend greater than any other. And somehow this promise of the Obama presidency seems to make it all that much closer to my heart.
We're just two days from watching this country take a dramatic turn back to sanity, back to the notion that everyone can and should thrive, back to the right way of doing things.
This is the Yes We Can era. And what Tuesday's election will do is slam the door shut on the Can't era, as embodied forever by the Bush Administration's self-serving demolition of the fundamental principles of this country.
Plenty of writers and artists and thinkers and activists and everyday people have described what they've witnessed, but for my money, look no further than James McMurtry for someone who captured the whole thing with an eloquence that drew on sadness, anger, and the truth.
So in the last days of this dying era, before our country pulls its latest Phoenix maneuver and begins another new life, take a few minutes to think about just how low this joke of a cowboy dragged America. And then let's celebrate the new day.
The intersection of two very cool things can form a whole that is significantly greater than the sum of its coolness, or something that is generally bunk.
Wilco on the Colbert Report last week is undeniably among the coolest things of all time.
Here's Colbert's interview with Jeff Tweedy:
And the debut performance of the brand new "Wilco the Song":
Here's a stunning collaboration: Horns and pedal steel from Calexico giving a completely new life to Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle," with Jim Adkins joining his fellow Arizonans on stage:
A mix, to tide everybody over. No song list on this, you'll just have to trust me. It's excellent, I promise. As on the last couple, it's a zip file containing all the songs and an xml file. Add the songs to your library and then "Import" the xml file in iTunes and it'll pop up as a playlist. Enjoy!
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