A Few Notes

Do you like music? I do. No, that's a lie. I love music. I run to music. I work to music. I listen while I blog. I listen while I Facebook (is Facebook a verb, too?) I sleep to music. 

James McMurtry (right) at The Mill, Iowa City, Oct. 4, 2011

 Here's a funny confession: I used to hate live music. Or rather, I hated live versions of songs I knew only from studio album/radio exposure. I wanted to hear the music the way I knew it, the way it was familiar to me. Not so anymore. Maybe it was my affair with jazz that opened my ears to the joys of infinite variety in familiar songs. Not only does live music in general have more life in it, more energy, more inspiration, but I've grown to anticipate the custom tweak an artist adds to a tune on stage. Maybe he throws in a joke about a friend. Maybe she alters a place name to fit the locale. I can still see where I found that annoying at one time, but I love the newness of it.

That said, sometimes a musician gets stuck in a rut, perhaps a little road weary. The patter between numbers grows stale, the same quips and jokes from town to town. Well, I'm ready to forgive 'em that. Those folks work hard. And I'm guessing anybody below the superstar tier of the Springsteens and Joels and Beyonces is doing it for a meager paycheck. 

Local band Thrillsville revives the '80s,
Galesburg Railroad Days, June 25, 2010

 Anyway, the point here was to encourage you to check out the links in my running playlists. With rare exception, the songs are absolutely random. I may have one or two playlists loaded on the Nano but the rest is iTunes auto-fill and she's usually set on shuffle. To some extent my tastes are apparent, but bear in mind I have a vast library, much of which I am not familiar with. (I "inherited" said library, about 250GB of music and comedy; my original library was about 38GB, so I'm now pushing close to 300 gigs.) So, while my penchant for '80s "lifeless, soulless, corporate rock" -- my beloved music snob buddy's endearment -- may be apparent, or my affinity for Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, much of it is just what shuffle implies: absolutely random.

Just listen ... new music awaits.

 I love being turned on to new music. My music snob friend has given me some great stuff. He nurtured my love of Warren Zevon and turned me on to the great James McMurtry. He's tried to impress upon me the importance of, or at least the greatness of, Neil Young. I'm sorta on board that train. But Kent, that's his real name, sorta, doesn't have much use for '80s music. And that's fine. Like my dad says, "if everybody liked the same thing there wouldn't be enough to go around." Well, I don't suppose that quite holds true in the digital age, but you get the idea anyway.

Hopefully the playlists I include will introduce you to some new music. Never heard of "Kiko and the Lavender Moon"? Who's this Ryan Patrick guy? Where does James McMurtry come up with his amazing tales of Americana -- "are those songs real, or do you make 'em up?"? Click on the links. Or maybe you'll see an old '80s fave (maybe it's your guilty pleasure). Click on the link. Is the video as cool as you remember? Does the cheese factor upset your lactose intolerance? Or has time given you a new appreciation for something you once disdained?

Do yourself a favor, check it out. Just forgive the ads (people gotta make money, honey).