1-31-12 - "Wait So Long" ~ Trampled By Turtles

Quickie post tonight; here's one I am digging lately thanks to my buddy Adam, who apparently discovered these guys on a recent road trip to Minnesota.  The band name is sweet, as is their musical talent.  I think the tempo of this song can only be described as "blistering"...

"And your heart rolls on, like a frozen freight train

you know that I'll  help you if I can

but I'm just a raindrop in a river

just a little itty bitty grain of sand..."

1-15-12 - "Ice Age" ~ Big Snow Big Thaw

So like I said late (really late) Friday night, both artists at the early show at Club Cafe were pretty okay.  Pittsburgh band Big Snow Big Thaw set the stage for troubadour Jeffrey Foucault (see how I used a French-type word to describe a guy with a French last name?!?!), and this was their closing tune.


I really enjoy the dissonance and resolution, maybe it's just me.  But the lyrics are pretty intriguing, and maybe you'll enjoy pondering them even if you're not quite as enthralled by the unusual chord structure as I.


Here's a concert video I filmed at Friday's show:

And here's another one that someone got at Thunderbird early last year - the track isn't part of their Winter/Spring dual EP, but hopefully it'll be on the new album (due for release quite soon, rumor has it...)

"how the hell'd I get here,

hangin' in the lurch?

can't reckon if I done myself

or you done done me worse..."

PS - check out another sweet song from Friday's show on my YouTube channel - new one "Homestead Grays".  Might make it a post of its own someday...

1-13-12 - "Mesa, Arizona" ~ Jeffrey Foucault

(juuuuust under the wire on Pacific Standard Time, thanks to midnight (EST) hockey and uber slow YouTube uploading before I had to leave...)


It's a rare and beautiful thing when you go to a show to see one artist, and another artist on the bill blows you away.  Not to take anything away from local bluegrass-core outfit Big Snow Big Thaw, because they were the reason I was there and their set was great, but Jeffrey Foucault just floored us.  (Well, except for a few folks loudly talking in the back of Club Cafe... jags.)  Just a man, a sweet guitar, and a ridiculous beard (oh, and a legit hat), but what a show he put on tonight.


Something about Arizona makes for good songwriting... here's a taste of what went down:

And here's a "live in studio" performance (with slightly better audio than my video above):

"And the sun gone down
In the pale thin pink
There's no one to talk to
All I can think
Is your eyes are full of train smoke
And your mouth tastes like rain
And I know when I know nothing
I will always know your name..."

12-27-11 - "Fixin' To Die" ~ G Love

I've been remiss for the bulk of this year in not posting this song.  I first heard it around this time last year, and was spinning it frequently throughout last winter, but apparently never whilst I was pondering which song to select for the day's blog post.  So here you go.

G Love teamed with The Avett Brothers (acting as producers, among other things) on his latest album, and since TAB are pretty swell in my opinion, odds were good that I'd like the collaborative effort as well.  This track is old-fashioned foot-stompin' bluegrassy rock, crying out to the good Lord as he ponders his final days and the fate of his poor children if'n he passes...

(Scott and Seth appear courtesy of their being awesome...)

"Well, I don't mind dyin',
but I hate to leave my children cryin'.."

_____________________________

PS - poke around on philadelphonic.com for some free stuff, if you so desire...

11-24-11 - "Wagon Wheel" ~ Old Crow Medicine Show

Holiday Quickie.  Here's a track that was cobbled together from the strains of a chorus composed by Bob Dylan.  Nostalgic and regretful, but with a hopeful attitude toward the future, the protagonist seeks redemption and rebirth as his journey to his hometown acts as a metaphor for his turning from evil, self-sabotaging ways and returning to his roots...

"North country winters keep a'gettin me

lost my money playin' poker so I had to up and leave

but I ain't goin' back to livin' that old life no more..."

"...and if I die in Raleigh, at least I will die free..."

8-28-11 - "After The Storm" ~ Mumford & Sons

Just a gorgeous little tune for you tonight.  Through eloquent lyrics, the singer elucidates the human condition and the struggles we each face in life.  He resolves to persevere through whatever trials life throws at him, and looks to brighter times ahead with hopeful eyes.  The melody and instrumentation are simple, which fits the theme.  And despite the mellow nature of the song, the boys manage to build the intensity by adding harmonies and through sheer force of will, drawing you in and lifting you up along the way.

Live at Bonnaroo:

" 'Cause death is just so full, and man so small..."

7-16-11 - "Pretty Girl From Annapolis" ~ The Avett Brothers

So we have a good buddy back in town this weekend, and hung out on the deck all evening.  Eventually the ol' six string was busted out, and we went through everything from The Head And The Heart to Brand New to some classic Avett Brothers.  I haven't posted TAB in a while, and this one was just sweet to sing with some good friends, so here you go.


It's a pretty simple song, about a pretty girl, from a place near Baltimore.  Sometimes love hits you fast and hard, and sometimes it's gone just as quickly.  Sometimes a relationship doesn't work out, sometimes it's a mistake, and sometimes you have to move on and learn from it, but that doesn't mean you can't look back fondly upon the good times you had...


"Pretty Girl From Annapolis" (grooveshark)


"And if I don't make it to the spring
May you catch the joy that a melody brings
From my dear brother's ragged six string...

...singin' the songs we're embarrassed to sing
may you never be embarrassed to sing..."

5-27-11 - "Never Been Alive" ~ The Avett Brothers

How can I choose just one?  Just saw The Avett Brothers perform live for the tenth time, and just like the previous nine times, they brought it from start to finish, and did not disappoint.  Well, to be honest, they did disappoint, but only in that they didn't play their entire catalogue... to be fair, they have to be in Columbus for another show Saturday night so we'll have to forgive them that one.


If you haven't guessed, TAB are pretty much my favorite band.  I'm trying to show restraint and not overhype them on the blog (I went all of April and most of May without using them) but after a show like tonight, I can't help it.


I'm going with a song that hasn't made an album yet, but surely will be on their next release... the first time I heard it was last year's Pittsburgh show, and it blew me away.  I'm glad to have heard it once more this year; Seth is my favorite (by a nose), and this one's lyrics are just swell.  Can't wait for the album version, but the live vid should give you a feel for the energy the boys bring every time they take the stage:

"Money won't do the trick,
but it will help
to open the doors we need it to
to help someone else..."

4-12-11 - "Dry" ~ William Elliott Whitmore

This is another one I found out about from my brother.  Whitmore has that classic bluesy/folksy tone in his voice, and the song just rambles over the banjo strumming in a pretty cool fashion.  The song has a traditional theme of persevering through hard times, and a hopeful eye toward better days ahead.

"And the Morning Glories and Queen Anne's Lace,
baptized by the wind,
these inspirations are my saving grace
in these times we're living in...



Whisper the truth into your childrens ears,
let them know, let them understand, let them hear..."

3-31-11 - "Laundry Room" ~ The Avett Brothers

This song epitomizes everything that is great about The Avett Brothers, and this particular live version even more so.  You get a feel for their softer side at the beginning, and it builds into a foot-stompin' ruckus by the end.  Scott throws in a witty aside between lines ("...disregard your father's word"..."...what does he know?"), and you get the mid-song instrument change after Scott breaks a string on his banjo.  They have a guy whose sole purpose during shows is to re-string guitars and banjos after they fail to withstand the frenetic strumming of the brothers.  The unbridled passion is evident in every show, in every song.


This one seems to be about young love...

3-6-11 - "City Of New Orleans" ~ The Seldom Scene

Heard this one on the radio tonight, and it's pretty sweet.  I do love a witty band name, and being a railroader of sorts myself, a railroading song can be quite special.  A little bit of lyrical depth too, if you want to listen closely.

"Midnight on the City of New Orleans,
changin' cars in Memphis, Tennessee;
we're halfway home, we'll be there by mornin',
through the Mississippi darkness, rollin' to the sea..."