"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

Well, I started unpacking CDs today.  I'm starting at the end of the alphabet this time around and working my way forward.  That said, I made it from Z all the way through S.  Might stay up late tonight and keep going, we'll see.  Either way, I'd like to have all of the music put away by the end of the day tomorrow. Let's see, what else happened today... I got the download code for both the audio and video of that Counting Crows show from DayTrotter.  It's 40 tracks, including stage banter, and it's amazing so far.  Haven't had a full three hours to listen to the whole thing, mind you, but I'll get there.  Hell, I was just happy that I found a pair of earbuds last night, so I can get back to carrying the music around with me.  SL commented the other day that she doesn't see me listen to music much.  I'm sure that will change some once we get married in October, but she's right.  I haven't done as much conscious listening of late.  Music

So, um, I don't know how to say this, but somehow it feels important... the internet isn't working at the house again.  Yep, that's right, they cut off the wrong account yesterday when we called in to cancel the second one they were charging us for.  Grrrrrr.  Having it fixed tomorrow between 9:30 and 1:30, though, so that's good news. Okay, now that the requisite internet update is out of the way (and good lord, am I getting tired of those), on to the business of the day. This morning, when the internet was still functioning, SL & I found a full Counting Crows concert on DayTrotter.com.  Now, in order to get access to both the full audio and video of the show, you had to sign up to be a member of their website for a year.  Between the Crows show and the Brandi Carlile session I listened to later on, it's already well worth the $24 the membership cost me. I didn't even come close to messing about with the turntable today, but I did get the good acousti

I avoided dealing with the turntable at all costs today.  Maybe tomorrow I'll pick up the fight again, we shall see.  What's funny right now is that I swear I saw a 1/4" adapter in one of the boxes that's left in the house, told myself where it was, and then proceeded to forget about it entirely. I listened to about half of that Regina Spektor interview on NPR.com today.  I'll finish it up tomorrow during the day. Overheard SL's side of a conversation today with the mother of the girl I start teaching guitar to next week.  From what I could gather, she's really excited about lessons.  So am I.  It's been a long time since I've taught, but I think it'll go well.  Tomorrow I need to start focusing in on playing again, so I go into the first run of lessons in good shape.  The other thing I need to start doing is planning out how I'm going to structure the first couple of lessons.  I'm pretty sure that the first one is just going to be y

Fought some more with the turntable today.  Was unsuccessful.  I feel like I'm missing either a cable of some sort, or a 1/4" adapter that I need in order to make everything work properly.  It's always so frustrating hooking up electronics in a new place, because it seems there's always something that goes wrong.  In the end, it's always something stupid, but still.  All I want to be able to do is listen to Bear Creek by Brandi Carlile on vinyl while sitting on my couch in the near dark at the end of the day.  Is that so wrong? Picked up 3 notebooks and folders tonight, in the hopes that I will have more than one student sometime soon, and will therefore be able to get them set up with a system for learning.  In a related story, SL gave someone she knows my email address and phone number after hearing them wonder out loud if anyone taught guitar in Cherokee.  Hmmm... this might just work yet. Started wading through this week's new releases tonight, too.  As

Listened to the first single from Dylan's Tempest (due out on September 11th) today.  The song's called "Duquesne Whistle," and the first thing I noticed about it, aside from the old timey opening, is that Dylan's voice actually sounded in good shape.  The song is cool, too.  Not quite on the level of "Tombstone Blues" or "Lily, Rosemary, & The Jack of Hearts," but a fun story song just the same.  Hearing it gives me hope that his run of late period masterpieces will continue. Also of note, NPR has a 40 minute interview up with Regina Spektor right now.  Haven't listened to it yet, but will likely do so tomorrow.  Regina is definitely an interesting, quirky artist who makes amazing music, so an interview like that ought to be an incredible listen. Tested out the turntable tonight.  One of the connections must still be off, because I'm not getting anything in the way of volume.  What that says to me is that my connection issue h

First time in bell choir today.  I know that's not guitar related, but nonetheless, it was a good feeling to be back among a group of people who play instruments in an ensemble setting.  We're off next week, so it'll be interesting to see how much of this morning's practice I retain when we meet next. Also of note today, I had my first guitar student say that they wanted to start lessons sometime in September!  Time to get back to thinking about how the lessons are going to be set up and organized.  Also, I'm not entirely sure whether I'll be teaching from the house, or whether I'll end up finding an alternative location.  At the moment, with the house not perfectly organized, I might teach out of the church.  SL has offered that as an option already, and honestly, that might make the most sense. Started watching a Netflix documentary on the making of Queen's A Night At The Opera today.  Didn't get all the way through it, but I'll work my way

Somehow it feels fitting that, on the day that matches how old I am in the new year, I get to write the first blog post from the new house.  Yep, after all that waiting, and all that going round and round, the internet is finally live in Cherokee!  Even this is not without its odd coincidences, but more about that later. So, tomorrow morning is my first Sunday in Bell Choir.  I knew I'd get signed up/volunteered for stuff once I got here, I just had no idea that it would be happening quite this soon.  I might feel better about it if I had ever played bells before in my life, but hey, it'll be a brand new musical experience, right? Fell asleep on the couch tonight, so I'm writing this right up against the deadline for posting.  There's more to say about today, but I'm going to call it there, so as to ensure posting on time, and come back and edit at a later date.  Good day today, though!  Was great to catch up on some of the music news I had missed in the last we

Another day, another post where I open by lamenting the fact that I still can't blog from home.  Tomorrow is their absolute last chance.  If we don't have service in the house by noon tomorrow, I'm going with MediaCom or some other company. Still, though, having to wait for CenturyLink/being on hold with CenturyLink provided me with ample opportunities to mess around on the guitar for a bit.  I pulled out the Beatles Complete Scores, and thumbed through until I stumbled across the song that was stuck in my head while I was on the phone.  It was "In My Life," off of Rubber Soul.  I've always loved that opening riff.  It's a simple run of notes that doesn't take long at all to feel comfortable underneath your fingers. After that, I paged through the score for the song, tracing the chord progressions as I went along.  There's so much to learn from studying the songs of The Beatles.  The way they linger just a little bit longer over a particular ch

Somehow I thought that this whole blogging thing from a phone and other locations thing would have worked itself out by now. Surprise, surprise, it hasn't. My only hope by now is that I'll be able to blog from home by the wedding in October. That doesn't seem like too much to ask for, but for all i know, it is. Never did hear from R. today about how the Dylan show was last night. Or whether she caved and bought one of the headbands they were selling at the merch table. I suppose I'll have to text her tomorrow. Today, I was otherwise occupied, being slowly reintroduced to the musical side of youth ministry at a day-long conference with SL. I divided my thoughts during the songs between singing and trying to decipher the chords the guitarist was playing by ear. Everything they played was kapoed at either the first or second fret, which got some reason wasn't a huge surprise. Why that is, I'm not sure, but that's the case. The Blues was the first thing to

So, R. is seeing Bob Dylan at Wells Fargo in DSM tonight.  I'm sort of jealous, I've got to admit.  I'm sure I'll hear awesome stories about the show at some point, though, so that makes it okay. Still blogging from SL's mom's house.  The internet people lied to me again.  Tomorrow, they claim, all will be up and running.  I wanted to laugh at them, but still. Picked up the guitar for a bit this afternoon, after all of the frustration of the CenturyLink people.  I'm not surprised that blues came out of my fingers.  Clapton stuff.  "Nobody Knows You When You're Down & Out."  Felt good to have some music underneath my fingers after spending what felt like an eternity on the phone. Started to get a few ideas for the long discussed power pop record, too.  That was a cool feeling as well.  I'm not sure why the optimism is flying as high as it is for me right now, especially considering everything that needs to get done in the next few

So, we were supposed to get the internet hooked up at the house today.  They had promised me that it would be done, and of course it wasn't.  Allegedly they're coming sometime tomorrow. Once again, SL's mom is being kind and allowing me use of her internet for blogging purposes.  Perhaps tomorrow will bring the first posting from the new house. Picked up the guitar for a little bit this afternoon.  Felt good to crank up the amp for the second day in a row. Trying to get all of the tab books in an organized place.  Haven't been entirely successful yet, but I'm getting closer.  They're out of boxes, at least, and stacked behind the vinyl.  At some point (hopefully tonight), I'll make it all the way through the living room and have it organized to the point of usefulness. Tomorrow's project (while waiting for the internet yahoos) is looking like it's going to be organizing the CD collection.  That should take all day, at the very least.  Then th

Haven't gotten the internet issues squared away at the house yet. That'll happen tomorrow, for sure. That being said, I got a lot done today music-wise. I set up the stereo in the new house, and the recording studio. I got the turntable hooked up, too, but I haven't tested it yet to make sure it works okay. The best part of the day? I actually got to play for a bit today!  I can't even begin to tell you how good it felt to actually crank up the amp a bit today.  I started playing around, trying to figure out chord progressions from the Kasey Anderson stuff and the Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers stuff.  Made some progress figuring out a couple of the songs, but not enough that I decided to write anything down.  That part will come tomorrow, when I'm less worried about getting things organized and more able to dig in a bit and actually get back to learning things. All told, it was a good day.  Definitely a day to build on for the future, music-wise. More tom

Blogged last night from SL's mom's house. Tonight the post is coming from SL's phone. Still having connectivity issues at the house. Hopefully we will get those solved tomorrow. That's really all I've got tonight. Better tomorrow.

Well, we got everything unloaded into the new house.  It's nowhere near unpacked yet, but I've got everything pretty well blocked out in terms of where it's going to go, musically anyway. The speakers for the stereo are all set in place.  The stereo itself?  Still in a box.  I'll get that squared away tomorrow sometime, though. I've got all of the recording stuff on the table it needs to be on, but that box needs to be unpacked as well. The CDs are another project for another day (likely Monday). The first three albums that got played in the new house: 1) Sigh No More - Mumford & Sons 2) Bear Creek - Brandi Carlile 3) Recovering The Satellites - Counting Crows At some point in the next day or so, after the turntable gets hooked up, I've got definite vinyl plans.  Especially with the Mumford record. Other stuff that needs to be heard on LP includes the aforementioned Bear Creek , and the newish live Counting Crows disc.  Come to think of it, I

Somehow, it seems fitting that the last thing I did before I left B&N is buy an issue of Guitar World .  If I remember correctly, that was the first thing I bought there, too. Still haven't packed up the guitars yet.  Knowing me, that'll be the absolute last thing I do. Not really all that much else to report today, there might be more once we get settled tonight, though, we'll see how long it takes to get things set up.

So, I'm writing this in advance of the 16th, although I will schedule it to post then, if only because I'm not sure what challenges tomorrow will bring.  Friday will be tough as well, but I haven't missed a posting all year, and I don't plan on starting now.  What follows will be a jumble of thoughts on the last five years spent at B&N, not well organized, but still coherent enough to be turned into something more polished later on. Thursday will be (with the exception of two days in the beginning of September) my last day in the music department at Barnes & Noble.  It's been an amazing five years, filled with highs and lows and crazy customer stories and lots of life changes.  My little corner of the music industry has been a personal rock in a time when the industry itself has undergone massive amounts of change.  While itunes wasn't brand new five years ago, it was certainly nowhere near as prevalent as it is today. To say nothing of the life less

I got through most of the selftitled Stephen Kellogg record today.  I'm really liking it.  I got both that record and The Bear imported into itunes tonight, too.  Felt good about that. Also, the recording studio and the stereo got packed up for the move tonight.  Felt a little bit sad about that, if only because the apartment feels less like somewhere I live right now, and more like a big storage unit. At this point, though, there are still guitars resting in stands, so that's helping my psyche at least a little bit.  I'll pack the electric tonight, but the acoustic will stay out as long as possible tomorrow, just because at some point in the evening, I know I'll need to sit in the quiet and play for a bit. The other thing I need to do tonight or tomorrow morning is sync the ipod.  Between the new Stephen Kellogg stuff, and the new single from Mumford & Sons, there's stuff that will need to be on there going into tomorrow.

So, my two Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers records came in today.  I started listening to the selftitled one in the car on the way home from work, and so far I was right, they're an amazing band. Funniest part of the whole thing is this... R. came over to help me pack tonight, and as I always do with new discoveries, I started to mention that I had stumbled across this band, and asked her if she was familiar with them.  She let out a heavy sigh and told me that I should tell her they were terrible, even if they weren't.  Apparently she had tickets to one of their shows, but couldn't go. I humored her for the night, but I'll send her the albums once I'm living up north, and she'll love them, even if she doesn't want to. I'm packing the stereo, the recording setup, and the guitars tomorrow night.  That , my friends, will be the moment this place stops feeling like home to me.  That process already started when the music got packed.  It wound up being

So, I know full well that I would be wise to save this post for a day like Thursday or Friday, when I'll be finishing up packing and then moving furniture up north, but I just can't resist writing about it tonight, so here goes: In one of the few down moments at work today, I looked up, out of curiosity, all of the major music releases between (essentially) tomorrow and October 9th, here's the list of stuff I either need , or need to check out before I pick it up: Havoc & Bright Lights - Alanis Morissette (8/28) Night Visions - Imagine Dragons (9/4) North - Matchbox Twenty (9/4) The Vaccines Come Of Age - The Vaccines (9/4) Tempest - Bob Dylan (9/11) Away From The World - Dave Matthews Band (9/11) Charmer - Aimee Mann (9/18) The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind Out - Ben Folds Five (9/18) Uno - Green Day (9/25) Babel - Mumford & Sons (9/25) Push & Shove - No Doubt (9/25) Glad All Over - The Wallflowers (10/2) Halcyon - Ellie Goulding (10/9) That

First off, T. from work, who was going to come over this week and check out my music collection, discovered that he had double booked himself, and therefore wouldn't have time to stop by and see my giant wall of music.  I'm bummed, but I'll end up sending him random CDs in the mail, so that will be fun. What that news really meant for my day was that I got to start packing CDs tonight for the move on Friday.  I'm three boxes in, and I haven't quite gotten through all of the overflow stuff from the past three years.  Something tells me there will be a LOT of CD boxes... and that's with putting cellophane around the CD spinners that I have to make transporting them easier. The thing that surprises me the most at this point is how many empty CD cases I'm finding.  Granted, I'm certain that all of those discs are in the folios that I have for music, which means the cases were brought down after I moved here.  Which, in turn, means I did a right terrible

Listened to "I Will Wait" today, the new single from Mumford & Sons.  It's amazing how much I've missed this band.  We heard their album so much at work for the last year and a half (or so it seemed, anyway) that I've taken the last few months off from the band.  Just hearing the new song has brought me back to them full force.  There's nobody out there that sounds like them.  I get that Phillip Phillips, the American Idol kid, is trying to sound like them (and his "Home" is actually a really good song), but listening to his single back to back with Mumford's just proves how vastly superior Mumford & Sons is. I ordered what I expect will be my exit purchases from B&N today, two records by Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers: 1) The Bear 2) Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers The selftitled record is from 2005, and The Bear is from '09.  He's got tons of music out there, though, both with the Sixers and on his own. I just ho

First off, R. sent me the new Mumford & Sons single today.  I haven't yet had a moment of peace to sit down and focus on listening to it yet, but that will happen before I sleep tonight. Babel feels like the big summer album release that we haven't really gotten this year, and the record doesn't come out until September 24th. I'm starting to stress out about everything that's happening with my move.  What I really need is a good chunk of time to just sit down and play some guitar.  Whether I'm actually going to get a big chunk of time, or whether it will have to come in smaller bits spread out over the course of the week, I'm not sure, but either way, it's got to happen, otherwise I'm going to flip out a bit by the end of next week. I really want to find some time to work on theory stuff this week.  And I want to do it in the context of the Beatles Scores.  I found a list online tonight of all Beatles songs in chronological order (based on

So, somewhere in the last 18 hours or so, I've stumbled onto Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers.  Or I've been re-introduced to them, I'm not entirely sure which. I had ended up on their mailing list somehow last year, and in spite of that, had never really ended up listening to anything by the band.  I've kept on getting emails from their band (they are on tour right now, and then going on hiatus at the end of the year), and finally last night I actually took the time to listen to some of their stuff.  They let you stream it on their website, so that part was easy. Then, tonight, I checked out some videos on youtube.  After looking them up at work, of course, only to discover that we can hardly get any of what Stephen has put out, either solo, or with the Sixers.  Something tells me that I'll be checking Best Buy and Half Price Books and FYE for their stuff before I leave the DSM. ZZZ Records might be a solid place to look as well.  I'd like to make one more pi

Started packing tab books and guitar magazines tonight for the move.  Trying not to over-pack that sort of stuff.  One or two more boxes ought to finish off that stuff. One of the things I'm leaving out to study and make use of in the next week is the Complete Scores of Beatles songs that I've had for a while now.  I think that, along with the theory stuff I've also left on the music stand will be provide enough fun (and enough work) to get me through the next eight days. I charged up my mini-speakers today, which opens me up to pack the stereo for the move.  As weird as that will be, I should be able to make it through a week with the ipod/speaker combination and itunes on the laptop. Slow day today otherwise when it comes to music.  I close tomorrow, and I'd love to do some playing in between the packing of boxes.  Come back tomorrow, and I'll have more to say, I promise.

A few things to report today. First, having gotten my blue kick-around acoustic into the new house yesterday, I finally found some time to sit and play a little this afternoon.  The strings on that guitar are indeed shot, but they held up well enough for an afternoon.  I'm going to have to find someplace up there to have strings changed, as I've never really learned how to do that well enough to trust myself not to screw it up.  Either that, or I could just learn how to do it.  That may well be an easier and more practical usage of my time. Second, somewhere in there, I found the start of a chord progression that I really like.  This, I think, means that I've started writing songs in an afternoon up there, where I've been a whole lot of blocked for that sort of thing in WDM for what feels like forever. Thirdly, I checked the Kasey Anderson vinyl for mp3 download codes while I was up there, found the codes, and brought them back down with me. It'll be nice to

Again today, I tried to find music... and again, I failed.  At the mall this time. Not sure what I'll crank up on the drive north yet.  I'll find something excellent, I'm sure.  Trying to fit as much in the car as I possibly can.  Right now it's looking like there's going to be room to slide my old blue acoustic that's all beat to hell and in bad shape in along one side of the back part of my car.  That way there will at least be a guitar up there, should I feel the need to disappear for a little bit.  The strings are old and shot, and the neck bows a bit up around the 12th or 14th fret, but it works just fine for basic chords, and therefore rudimentary songwriting. The only other thing that has happened so far that's even remotely music-related is that I set up the internet service for the new place.  It'll kick in on the 16th of August, which is one day before we move furniture, and four days before service stops at the apartment.  What does all th

I tried pretty hard to find myself some music today at work, and I failed.  I'm certain there was something I could've found as a birthday present, especially since I'll be driving up to see SL tomorrow (and to move some boxes into the new house).  But it was going to be a birthday present, and so it had to be perfect.  There will be something , I know, there just wasn't on the actual day.  I've got to stop at the mall quick tomorrow before I leave town, maybe I'll find something there, who knows. I got to work today, and wanted to share ZZ Ward with people... except that I forgot to sync the ipod before I left.  Guess they'll have something cool to hear on Wednesday. I did a bit of playing tonight, but not the rock & roll extravaganza that I had hoped for last night.  As has been the case of late, old ideas bubbled to the forefront and continued to worm their way back into my consciousness.  This time, however, it was old solo ideas that will, in al

Today was a really quiet day for music. Not much in the way of playing.  Not much in the way of listening, either, although I did crank up some Refreshments on the way to work this afternoon, so that was excellent. Might have discovered a cool artist today.  Through a Facebook ad of all things.  One of those "If you like Brandi Carlile, you might also like..." things.  The artist was ZZ Ward.  I was curious, and so I checked out her website, only to find that you can download a "mixtape" of her songs for free... which I did.  The mix is called 11 roses , and the music is cool.  It's got an acoustic-soul sort of base and hip hop rhythms.  All with a bit of blues thrown in for good measure.  She's got an official album coming out in September, and there's an EP that dropped earlier in the year... I'll have to check for it tomorrow at work.  There's a song on her mix called "Til The Casket Drops," it's an acoustic version, and it&#

I kept up with my Crows listening today.  I think it's going to end up being an extended jag, with a few slight pauses for other stuff thrown in the middle of it. So yeah, we made out pretty well from the merch table the other night.  Spent a pretty penny, but wound up with: 1) T-shirts for both SL and myself 2) A poster, unique to our show, autographed by all the members of Counting Crows and 3) Two Kasey Anderson albums ( Heart Of A Dog & Nowhere Nights ) on vinyl. Can't wait to get the stereo and the turntable up to the house in Cherokee, so I/We can crank those babies up.  I'm also hoping that the records come with digital download codes so that I can put the songs on my ipod as well. No real playing today to speak of.  Could've used it, too.  It was a long day with some stress that could've used more rock & roll.  

So, my favorite performances of "A Long December" are always the ones where Adam screws up.  Somehow it adds an extra level of emotional punch that isn't there in the perfect versions of it.  Well, he screwed it up Tuesday night in Kansas City, and it was beautiful . So, my hope is to turn the Crows show into a few days worth of posts, if only because there's that much that I want to talk about.  SL took detailed notes that included the setlist, and any other funny stories/comments from Adam that struck her during the show.  I haven't gotten a peek at her notes yet, but I figure that'll occupy a post, with a link to her writing about it (because I figure there will be writing about it). That said, the setlist below was one I found online for the show.  It seems accurate from my memory, but I'll compare it when I see SL's notes.  Here's what they played: Sullivan Street Untitled (Love Song) Another Horsedreamer's Blues Black & Blue

Oh, what a show! Long day today.  I'll post my thoughts on the Counting Crows show tomorrow when I've had a bit of sleep and a chance to breathe.  SL took detailed notes, and we have the setlist written down.  Aside from that, I'm kinda worn out tonight.