Now...I Can Die Happy

Well folks, I did it. I saw Interpol (Wednesday, September 26, 2007)! Stubb’s. Austin, TX. It was incredible. Absolutely incredible. One of the best shows I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot of shows. I don’t care what you have to do…just go to an Interpol show. I promise that you will not be sorry. Here is a pic of the band that fateful night in Austin when all my dreams came true… Sigh…

I thought it would be fun to make a list of some of the better bands I have seen—and those that I would love to see, but have not yet. Sorry if it is a little long! I do so adore live music.

Rock:
Better than Ezra
The Black Crowes
Blues Traveller
Collective Soul
Counting Crows
Cowboy Mouth
Cross Canadian Ragweed
Drivin’ and Cryin’
Fleetwood Mac
G3 (Satch, Via, and Petrucci)
Goo Goo Dolls
Gov’t Mule (x4)
Hootie and the Blowfish
Ingram Hill
Interpol!
John Mayer (x2)
Jeff Tweedy
Jewel
Live
O.A.R.
Oasis
Pete Yorn
Phil Keaggy
Phil Lesh and Friends (w/ Jimmy Herring)
The Police
Train
Sister Hazel (x3)
Stone Temple Pilots
Styx
Sufjan Stevens
Switchfoot
Wilco

Country/Bluegrass:
Alabama (x2)
Alan Jackson
Charlie Daniels Band
Diamond Rio
John Anderson
Little Texas
Nickel Creek
Ricky Scaggs
Vince Gill

Christian:
Casting Crowns
David Crowder Band
Jars of Clay
Third Day

Jazz:
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Oteil and the Peacemakers
The Yellowjackets
Wynton Marsalis

Musicals/Classical:
AIDA (Italian Opera)
The Chicago Symphony
Guys and Dolls
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Les Miserables
The Lion King
The Nashville Symphony
Phantom of the Opera (x2)

Bands I’d Love to See:
The Arcade Fire
Bebo Norman
Coldplay
Dave Matthews Band
Death Cab for Cutie
Muse
Pearl Jam
Phish (you know they’ll do a reunion tour!)
The Rolling Stones
The Shins
The Strokes
U2

The Beatles

If you are anything like me, you go through phases in which you listen to certain bands or songs more than others. It is like we connect with certain music at some points in our lives that we just don’t at others. And I think that is natural; we do it with art of all kinds. There are, however, a few select bands that keep me coming back all the time. These are the bands with which there is always a connection, always a spark. And there are quite few that fall into this category.

But there is only one band that shines above even these bands, attaining the coveted status of “my favorite”—The Beatles.

When I was 10 years old I was listening to Boyz II Men’s II record one day in my room (it had just come out—that is how old I am!) and I overheard my mother singing along with their a cappella version of “Yesterday.” I thought she had been listening to my CDs without telling me. I was furious! I immediately confronted her about it. She called me an idiot and told me that this was originally a Beatles song—not a boy band song. I then politely informed her that Boyz II Men surely did it better—even if they had not written it. I went out a few days later and bought Help! in a feeble attempt at proving the superiority of Boyz II Men. Wow, was I wrong.

And so it began. It has probably been the best purchase of my entire life thus far—no kidding. It was in that record that I learned to love something for more than a few weeks at a time (I switched obsessions a lot as a kid). It was then that I found the first thing about which I was ever really passionate: music. I have probably listened to that CD hundreds of times—maybe more than any other record. In so many ways, it changed my life.

I have been listening to Revolver and Rubber Soul a lot lately. I love those records! I heard someone the other day say that in those records all the good songwriting began. I could not agree more. There really aren’t any bad Beatles records, but I think those two are my favorites. I don’t know, I love The White Album, Help! and St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band a whole lot, too.

I have observed over the years that my counsel is rarely appropriate in other people’s lives—although I am known to be freely giving of it! So I try to advise as little as is humanly possible these days. But this is one piece of advice about which I feel completely confident:

I recommend you just pick up a Beatles record. Doesn’t really matter which one. They are all great.

They really were the best band ever.

I Hate Country Music.

MusiYou know, I really do hate country music these days. I know it is so cliché to say that, but I do. The crap that is on the radio now is simply discouraging. Well, it really isn’t even country in the true sense of the word. It is, as I like to say, “pop-with-a-cowboy-hat.” With all of these guys from random places in the country and all over the world coming to Nashville, putting on a fake southern accent, and singing someone else’s unoriginal music, I just get sick. I think the worst is when country artists cover well-know rock/pop songs in an attempt to bring them to a different constituency. Would you not agree? Just the other day I heard Tim McGraw singing Elton John’s Tiny Dancer. He ought to feel truly ashamed for that. I am embarrassed for him.

But I harbor no disillusions that this is an accurate representation of classic country. Listening to men like Johnny Cash, Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams (representing the Gump!), and even some of the more recent guys like Lyle Lovett, George Straight, and Clint Black will make you sit back and realize there is still hope left for the world of country. It is, however, a hope that is almost completely unrealized. I think I take such an issue with it because country is one of the most purely American forms of music we have. I like that. I like knowing that we came up with jazz, the blues, and good country. When country is good, it is just about as good as it gets—it has emotion, originality, and integrity; but when it is bad, it is so much worse than any other form of music out there.

Oh, that more groups like the Beatles could come around—for all genres of music! They were so original, so talented, and not in the least apologetic. If modern music produced more bands like them we would see much more musical integrity than we do. But then again, if there were more groups like them, we would probably not appreciate them as much. What is it that country needs? More men and women like Johnny Cash and Lyle Lovett. I don’t know, it just seems like modern music needs a few wake-up calls—you know what I mean?