Or an extension of the soul?

There's a difference between being a guitar player and someone whose guitar has become an extension of their body. Two examples immediately come to mind.

John Frusciante
This dude makes his guitar SCREAM. It's incredible. I think one of the best examples of a typical Frusciante solo is the one at the end of "Wet Sand."
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Wet Sand
HO-LY FUCK. I'm convinced it's impossible not to air guitar to this part. The way John makes those guitar strings vibrate is incredible. It's intense, it's powerful, it's emotional, and honestly, it's a bit sexual.

Jimi Hendrix
I feel like this is obvious and doesn't need any explanation. Plus, I feel like this live recording of Hey Joe says it all.

I'm debating whether or not I'd include Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys on this list. Has he already stood the test of time? I mean, the first Black Keys album came out 14 years ago and they are still going strong. Some excellent blues inspired songs in that time span. And I think with Turn Blue, he may have finally put himself on this list. I'd link a YouTube video, but it seems the record companies have made sure to take those down. So instead, just go out and buy this album. Trust me, it's worth it.

So, who would you also include on this list? What song(s) make you realize that this person is more than just a guitar player?

Dave Grohl is PRIME.

I really don't know how Dave Grohl does it. Has there ever been a musician quite like him? Maybe it could've been Jimi. Maybe it could've been Morrison. But nearly a quarter of a century later, after picking up the drum sticks with the genre-defining Nirvana, Dave Grohl has hit his prime and doesn't seem to show any signs of stopping. I love it.

The Foo Fighters are set to release their new album later this year, and Dave Grohl has already stated his sights are set on making another soon after. But why? He's been making albums with Foo for almost 20 years now, so why does he do it? I'll tell you why. Because Dave Grohl is the fucking mayor of rock and roll, and he intends to hold office for as long as he can.

Pictured: Dave Grohl sitting in his office

Sometimes, when I hear 10+ year old bands announce a new album, I get an iffy feeling. I think "it's cool they are coming out with new stuff, but there's no way it'll be as good as their old stuff." And then The Foo Fighters drop "Rope" as a single, and before I know it my brain has shoved my foot into my mouth. Wasting Light was an incredible album, and while their sound has certainly matured, any one of those songs could find a comfy spot on their self-titled debut album Foo Fighters, or the follow up iconic album The Colour and the Shape. This should have us all excited for this fall, when the new album is released. It's unfair to have high expectations out of people, but if anyone can fill those expectations, it's The Foo Fighters.

The Black Keys - Turn Blue

I picked up The Black Keys new album Turn Blue this week from Guestroom Records. I decided to go with the vinyl version, which came with a pretty large poster and a CD copy of the album. Guestroom also threw in a smaller promo poster and a button, which I thought was very cool. I even heard that some record stores were giving away turntable slip-mats, which would've been even more cool.

Album cover, courtesy of The Black Keys Facebook page

After more than a couple listen-throughs, I've realized that I just can't get enough of this album. We're not even half way through the year yet, but this will go down as one of the best albums to be released in 2014. The Black Keys have found a way to progress their sound while still maintaining their style. The album does lack that certain grimey, blues rock sound that originally made me fall in love with the band, but I appreciate the evolution of their sound over the course of their career. By the way, they've been making albums for twelve years now! 

One of things I always appreciate is when an album can start off by blowing me away. That opening song is important, and The Black Keys waste no time introducing you to their matured sound with "Weight of Love." It's a 7 minute long psychedelic ride that flirts the line with progressive rock. This song has "classic" written all over it. Keep listening and you'll hit fantastic songs like the title track "Turn Blue", the current radio hit "Fever", and the more blues-y "Year in Review" before coming to my favorite song on the album, "Bullet in the Brain." Another song that blends elements of psychedelic, progressive, and blues rock into one amazing 4 minute trip. This song has it all. Great lyrics, hypnotic guitar riffs, and mood setting percussion.

If you were hoping for more of their old sound, wait until "It's Up To You Now" starts playing. This song sounds like it belongs on El Camino or Brothers. While I'm sure a few sounds were added in post production, this song goes back to their drum-and-guitar roots and, as usual, has a killer guitar solo that seems to begin at Dan Auerbach's heart and resonates through his body, to his fingers, into the strings, and out of the amplifier.



The album wraps up with "Gotta Get Away" which I could see getting all kinds of radio play. It's the perfect blend of pop and blues. It's impossible not to want to dance to this song. Seriously, give it a listen and see if you're foot isn't tapping the end of the song. It also just leaves you feeling in high spirits, which is a great way to end an album. If you fall into the same trap I did, you'll start the album back over and begin the journey again. And it's worth it every time.

Party mode engaged: Wick-It the Instigator and Archnemesis

Saturday was an awful day for me. Since this isn't a sports blog I won't go into too much detail, but Kentucky's win over Louisville Friday night soured my mood for the entire weekend. I woke up Saturday morning in a worse mood than the night before. It was cold, damp from the rain, and I had a hangover that wouldn't go away. After terrible service at a Denny's for breakfast, I basically laid on the couch all day in my sweat pants and binge-watched episodes of The Office.

Ever since it was announced on Facebook, I've had the Wick-It The Instigator & Archnemesis show jotted down on my calendar. I was very excited for this show since Wick-It was one of the artists I discovered at Forecastle, and knew he'd put on a great show at Headliner's, which is one of my favorite music venues. I wasn't super familiar with Archnemesis, but after listening to some of his stuff on Spotify, I thought he'd be a great opener. But day of, it was hard to motivate myself to go. Through some encouragement from my girlfriend and friends, I decided to swap the sweat pants for jeans, guzzle down a Red Bull, and head to the show.

When we got to Headliner's, we saw a concerning sight. The parking lot across the street was damn near empty and there was only one car parked on the street out front. Kind of odd for a weekend show at Headliner's. Usually the place is packed with a long line outside. We had come this far already, so we went ahead and purchased our tickets at the window and went inside. Inside was a pretty sad sight to behold. It was basically a ghost town. There were maybe 20 people on the dance floor, but they looked like they were having fun. I'm sure some people would turn around at this point and try to get their $12 back, but since I was all hopped up on energy drinks, we decided to b-line it to the dance floor front-and-center. I'm glad we stayed. While I'm sure both Wick-It and Archnemesis would've preferred more people, I really enjoyed the more intimate atmosphere.

Archnemesis was on the stage when we got there. If the colorful display of lights he had didn't attract your attention, his amazing fro surely would've. Watching that thing sway in front of the lights was mesmerizing. As was his entire visual set. While groovy electronic music rode the sound waves and penetrated our bodies, light was dancing and pulsing and flowing to the beat. One of the best electronic shows I've seen from a visual standpoint.

Archnemesis and his colorful display of lights

Even though there were only 20 of us on the dance floor, not a single body was motionless. As I looked around people were bobbing their heads, swinging their hips, shuffling their feet, wailing their arms, jiggling their asses, and shaking their shoulders. It was full-blown dance party with your host, Archnemesis. Not wanting to be the only one sporting the afro, he passed out an array of colorful afro wigs. It had to be an incredible sight to see from his point of view. My favorite song of his set that night was his Welcome to Atlanta remix, which did a great job of blending electronic beats with familiar ATL hip hop.

After Archnemesis closed down his set, Wick-It took the stage. There were more people in the building by this point, although I don't know if the population every broke 100. Even still, Wick-It had all of us dancing our asses off. While his set wasn't nearly as colorful as Archnemesis, he more than made up for that by doing a fantastic job of blending genres of songs. I never thought I'd ever hear a mash up of Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar" and Dr. Dre's "Still Dre." But Wick-It executed that perfectly.

The Instigator was also great at involving the crowd. As if he wasn't satisfied with just mixing his music, at one point he pulls an electric guitar out of [seemingly] thin air and shreds off a great solo. This is something in the electronic dance scene that needs to happen more. The incorporation of live instruments is really impressive. Wick-It even grabbed the mic for a song and flexed his rapping skills, which were pretty damn good. I'd love to see more of this stuff during future shows of his.
Some of my favorite songs he played that night included Nineties FTW, which is a fantastic mash up of the familiar 90s songs we grew up listening to, and Black Bug, which is an incredible mash up of The Black Keys and Big Boi. Wick-It is definitely an artist to see if he ever comes back into town. Bring a friend, because things are going to get groovy.

Wick-It the Instigator shredding

 

Opening bands that quickly became my favorites

Do you believe in fate? A life full of odd and random coincidences sometimes has me questioning if fate is a real thing. Perhaps Apollo, the Olympian Deity of music (among other things), or even Saint Cecilia, the Patron Saint of Music, are still invested in what people are listening to today. Some of my favorite bands and artists are people I never really intended to introduce myself to, but it appears as if the universe had other plans. Below are a few bands/artists that I never really heard about until I saw them live, and afterwards, they quickly became some of my favorite bands/artists to listen to.

Civil Twilight

Source: http://www.civiltwilightband.com/

Back in 2011, Jimmy Eat World came to Headliner's Music Hall and brought with them this relatively unknown band from South Africa called Civil Twilight. Until this night, opening bands were just filler noise to me. Something in the background while I work up a buzz at the bar or found my ideal spot among the crowd for the headlining act. But then along came Civil Twilight and they completely changed my mind. For a trio, I was amazed at the sound they produced. The amount of energy they put into every single song they performed was amazing. And they seemed to feed off the energy the crowd was giving them. For 45 minutes, Headliner's turned into a self-sustaining biosphere of rock and roll.



They performed their "hit" song "Letters from the Sky" which was phenomenal live. Here's a link to the music video:
http://youtu.be/9Wa7dFR09vU

But the song that impressed me the most was their cover of Massive Attack's "Teardrop." The guitarist, giving it his all and dripping in sweat, got down on his knees near the end of the song and began to shred his guitar making the crowd go WILD. It was incredible. Here's a live performance of that song (from a different venue) that doesn't even begin to capture the energy they emitted, but is still fun to watch:
http://youtu.be/RcO6xQq7oNs

Cherub

Source: https://www.facebook.com/Cherublamusica

It was Forecastle 2012 and I had only recently popped my music festival cherry with Lollapalooza the previous year, so I was all kinds of excited to attend a music festival in my own city. I took off work early that Friday, grabbed a few friends, and down to the waterfront we went.

The festival gates had pretty much just opened, so not a lot of bands were playing. We did a quick walkaround to see what all was where, and decided to stop at one of the small WFPK tents to watch this duo called Cherub. Their style was unique. They blended elements of electronic dance, funk, disco, and rock and created something that can only be described as "sexy." The type of music you can't help but dance to. There weren't many people watching them that early in the day, but I have a feeling everyone there is now a huge Cherub fan.

Some of my favorite songs of theirs:
"Doses and Mimosas"
"Around the World" (Daft Punk cover)
"XOXO"
and once they got a bit bigger, they ended up collaborating with Big Giantic on a fantastic song:
"The Night is Young"

Moon Taxi

Source: https://www.facebook.com/ridethemoontaxi

That same weekend in July, a friend of mine kept boasting about this rock band from Nashville called Moon Taxi. She knew the keyboardist through some other group of friends and kept singing their praises. So along comes Sunday and I decide to take a break from the amazing electronic sounds Minnesota was playing under the bridge to check out Moon Taxi.

How do I even begin to explain their set? It was one of the most fun concerts I've ever seen. Their sound was refreshing, they were masters of their instruments, and the energy they put into playing was astounding. I didn't know walking into Forecastle that weekend that I'd leave with a new favorite band. It's been 3 years and I still can't get enough Moon Taxi.

I could create a huge list of songs, but to keep it simple, check out these:
"Cabaret" live at Bonnaroo 2012  (dat keyboard solo...)
"Gibson" from their jam band days.
"Hypnus" A pretty cool acoustic version of their song. (album version here)
"Beaches" Starting to get a little more progressive. This song is amazing.
"Change" Just a fun song to see live.

Howell Dawdy

Source: https://www.facebook.com/HowellDawdy

When I saw Cherub was coming back to Louisville, I was ecstatic! They were playing at this small venue called The New Vintage and it was the perfect setting for a band like them. It was on a week night, but I figured it'd probably be over by midnight. So I knew I could go, catch some of their songs, and then make it home and hopefully get about 5 hours of sleep before I had to be up for work. Unfortunately, Cherub didn't even go on until almost midnight, so I never ended up seeing them perform. I did see the two openers though...

The first opening band was this guy named Howell Dawdy. He had a simple set up. A keyboard and a laptop basically. And he begun his set by speaking to the crowd and informing them that, although they may be disturbed in what was to follow, everything was going to be okay.

What followed was 30 minutes of some oddly funny, unique, and extremely creative electronic songs that he sang over. It was so...weird. And yet NO ONE could avert their attention. He sang about being a ghost, his need for a fire extinguisher, and his discontent with the insurance adjuster's disbelief of Pi's story in The Life of Pi among other topics.Things that just seemed to be on his mind, and so he put them down on paper with some music behind it.

After his set was over, my friends and I got some fresh air and reflected at how much he reminded us of James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem fame. His music isn't for everyone, but if you like offbeat oddities, check out some of his stuff.
"Boo, I'm a Ghost"
"Bananas Don't Float"
"Fire Extinguisher" (my personal favorite)

Do you remember your first concert?

If you know me well enough, then it'll come as a surprise to you that the very first concert I ever remember going to was a country music festival. It was called Jamboree in the Hills, and it's held every year on a farm just outside St. Clairsville, OH. I was 13 years old at the time, and the only thing on my mind in the days leading up to that weekend was "Weird" Al Yankovic. This was also the weekend I became a man.

This story is going to need a bit of context. In the summer between 5th and 6th grade, my dad relocated our family to St. Clairsville, OH. You see, the job he was working in Louisville (the one that caused us to move here from Canada) was about to end. After searching around and interviewing with various companies, my dad found a job in his career field in Shadyside, OH. Shadyside was a quaint town located on the Ohio River, a left over from the once-booming coal mining business that used to define the area. Now it was more of a manufacturing hub, and wasn't exactly the best place to raise a family. So we found a house in St. Clairsville. It was a short drive to Shadyside and was a much nicer town to live in.

It made sense to move there from our family's perspective. Even though I was starting to adapt to living in America, we still viewed ourselves as Canadians temporarily working and living in America. So moving to Ohio meant the rest of our family was only a 6 hour drive away, rather than a 10 hour drive. In the summer between 5th and 6th grade, I said goodbye to my neighborhood friends and moved to St. Clairsville.

Middle school was a tough time for me. I found it hard to make friends. People in school seemed reluctant to include me in their social groups. Groups that, because of the small size of the St. Clairsville community, had roots deep in their childhoods and strong bonds that they feared would break if they allowed the new, weird kid from Canada to participate. I had my parents, I had my dogs, and that was about it. I befriended one of my dad's work buddy's kids, but we didn't really have similar interests and I found it hard to really consider him a "friend." So I mainly kept to myself.

The house we moved in to was pretty nice. The basement was fully finished and was basically designed for entertaining guests. It had a pretty cool wet bar that looked out into a big open room that was split in half by a really nice (and huge!) stone fireplace. On one side of the fireplace my dad setup the couches and TV, and on the other he set up his stereo. 

Oh, that stereo. I love that stereo. A sleek looking Kenwood that had everything you needed. 6-CD changer, double cassette player, AM/FM tuner, turntable, an amazing amplifier, and two four foot high speaker towers with enough juice between them to blow women's clothes off. Or, in my case, enough power to knock down a Lego tower. But I digress. That stereo is what I remember using to play all of my music back when I started caring about it. That same stereo sits in my living room today, and is used almost daily to sing out groovy tunes, wailing guitars, masterful raps, and harmonic melodies.

Since I was a lonely kid, I turned to music to occupy my time. It was the first time I remember listening to something and actually thinking that it spoke to me. I'm sure you will all agree that the 90s was a great time for music. I listened to everything from R.E.M. to Nirvana to Chili Peppers, and even dipped into my dad's classic rock collection. However, I think my favorite artist back then was "Weird" Al Yankovic. 

"Weird" Al was great. His music was upbeat, hilarious, and always seemed to improve my mood. I think I owned all of his CDs released up until that point. Bad Hair Day was my ultimate jam. So I got really excited in the summer of 2000 when my dad informed me that "Weird" Al was coming to Jamboree in the Hills. Everyone in St. Clairsville knew what Jamboree in the Hills was. It was the biggest thing to happen to St. Clairsville. Hotels would be packed with country music fans, and for that weekend, St. Clairsville turned a buzzing resort of country lovin', cowboy hat and boot wearin', yee-hawin' friendlies. So I excitingly told my dad that I'd love to go. 

On Friday we loaded up a cooler full of drinks (beer for the adults, Capri Suns for me) and headed to the Jamboree in the Hills. A coworker of my dad had a sweet spot set up. The layout of Jamboree was pretty cool. A huge soft grassy area in front of the stage was reserved for people who wanted to stand and watch the concerts. This was the area notorious for bare-chested women, drugs, and, in general, where all the good fun was to be had. Behind that area was a large walkway, and then behind that was this gentle up-hill slope that people could stake out with tarps and canopies and things like that. We were front and center of this area.

It was fun for me to just people watch while some of the country music stars were going on. One of my favorite passer-bys was a man lugging around a huge cooler on a wagon. He was wearing a t-shirt that had the words "TITS FOR BEER" stenciled on it. It was a couple seconds later I realized that cooler was full of beer, and that if women wanted a free beer, all they had to do was flash the guy. I was 13 years old, saw my first pair of boobs in real life (even if it was only from the side for a brief moment), and caught my first glimpse of true genius.

"Weird" Al came on in the late afternoon. It was amazing. He played all the songs I loved, and even the adults seemed to be enjoying his set. I remember he played "The Alternative Polka" and I couldn't help but get up and dance. It was during his concert that I realized how awesome live music is. Thank you, "Weird" Al!

After his set was over, I begged my dad to buy me a t-shirt. So we both grabbed a drink (him a beer, me a Capri Sun) and made our way to the merchandise booth.  My dad got me this sweet "All About the Pentiums" t-shirt, which I still have to this day. While at the merchandise booth it began to rain, so we made our way back to the spot to take shelter under the canopy.

We got to the canopy just in time. It began to POUR down rain. A few people asked if they could take shelter under our canopy. I had no say, but the adults I was with didn't seem to mind. And that's when it happened. That's when I fell in love. I didn't even catch her name. All I remember is this beautiful, young woman dashing into our canopy from the wall of rain and grabbing a beer that one of the adults offered. She was this gorgeous girl, maybe in her early 20s, wearing absolutely nothing except a yellow raincoat and three tiny strips of duct tape strategically placed on her body. She saw me admiring her and drew closed her raincoat, but not without flashing me a smile first. And not without me getting a good look at what was going on underneath that raincoat. I never got to really talk to her (other than a lame "hey"), but she'd occasionally take a break from talking to adults to look over, see me staring (I'd call it admiring, but in hindsight...), and smile some more. Not long after the rain let up, she left, and that was that. 

Over a time span of only 15 minutes I experience both love and heart ache. And when she left, I felt sad inside, but somehow also accomplished. Maybe it was the fact that I somehow mustered up the courage to say "hey" to her, or maybe it was just that she acknowledged my presence by smiling at me. Whatever it was, it had me feeling like a real man. I decided to puff up my chest and strut around like I was hot shit. I think I may have even asked for a beer, not that any of the adults would've given me one anyways. So instead I reached down into the ice cold depths of the cooler and picked up one of my Capri Suns. Hands stinging from the cold water still on them, I stripped that yellow straw out of it's clear wrapper, punched it through that hole, and chugged that thing down with such vigor that anyone watching knew I was a man in my element.

And so it goes. If "Weird" Al wasn't on the artists lists for that weekend I never would've went. And if I never went, I never would've experienced my first love. So thank you, "Weird" Al. Thank you, Jamboree in the Hills. And most of all, thanks dad, for giving me all kinds of great music to listen to and taking me to see my first concert and my first set of boobs.

While that concludes my story, I'd like to take a quick second to comment on just how stacked the Jamboree in the Hills lineup was that year. It was the All Star game as far as country music goes. Some of the artists included:

Alabama
Gary Allan

Kenny Chesney

Billy Ray Cyrus

Lonestar

Martina McBride

Neal McCoy

Jo Dee Messina

Montgomery Gentry

Brad Paisley

Kenny Rogers

Randy Travis

Comedians Rodney Carrington and Tim Wilson (RIP Tim)

And The Beach Boys and Lynyrd Skynyrd! 

Sadly I didn't get to catch Lynyrd Skynyrd as a very bad storm rolled though before they were set to go on. Tents had collapsed, and even some buildings suffered damage, so we decided just to head home. Turns out Skynyrd waited for the storm to die down then took the stage and put on a hell of a show.

Discovering new music thanks to Forecastle Festival

When Forecastle Festival released their 2014 lineup earlier this week, I had an inexplicable sense of dissatisfaction. I heard the early rumor of OutKast joining the line up and that had me all kinds of excited for many and more large names that I recognized. So when the lineup was released, I thought "man, that headliner set is stacked, but what about everything else?"

You see, I was unfamiliar with pretty much every band from the 4th line down. So I hit up the social media sphere to see what all my friends were saying about the line up. It was a pretty healthy mix of people super excited about the line up saying it's the best one yet, and people like me who thought the headliners were excellent but that it lacked some popular bands in the middle. Seeing that my concerns were validated, I decided the best course of action was to get on Spotify and start exploring these bands I never heard of. And now I get the excitement.

Here are some artists that I want to catch Forecastle weekend:

Flume

Electronic DJ from Australia. If you're looking for a break from the typical bass shattering dubstep, this guy is definitely the one you want to check out. Check out his song "On Top" feat T.Shirt:
http://youtu.be/bnUhA3TOv_k

Reignwolf
I immediately fell in love with that gritty, nasty, chewed-up-and-spit-out blues rock sound they produce. I think it's safe to say if you like The Black Keys, you'll want to check Reignwolf out. Check out their song "Are You Satisfied":
http://youtu.be/gfJNAfzgEkw

The Districts
Indie rock with some southern influence. This is a band that will be amazing to see live. Check out their song "Lyla":
http://youtu.be/zN-NUC3zzwY

The Wans
Similar to Reignwolf with the dirty guitar riffs and the blues vocals. I was actually listening to Forecastle's Spotify playlist on random, which played their song "Want You" after a Jack White song, and I didn't even notice the transition. I won't be missing this band come Forecastle weekend.
http://youtu.be/HemHicVZFyk

Goodbye June
A little more on the progressive rock side, I really dug their music. This will be another set that I'm going to try my best to catch. I hope no one conflicts. Check out their song "Man I Am"
http://youtu.be/gQ6yuxZcFpc

Chrome Sparks 

Another refreshing break from, what a good friend of mine dubs, "the wub-wub" that is dubstep. Chromes Sparks is an electronic DJ that incorporates uptempo beats with mellow tones. Reminds me a bit of Mimosa. Spark one up and listen to the song "Marijuana":
http://youtu.be/5aeukmFc3sU

For more information on Forecastle, head over to their website