Friday, April 26, 2013

The new Frank Turner album came in the mail Tuesday, and it is pretty freaking good. Here is the first track off of it.


Thursday, April 25, 2013

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

I work in retail which means I hear a lot of piped in music. Depending on which manager opens, I either listen to a 70's station or a bad country (not that all country music is bad). The sad thing about the 70's station is it plays predominately disco. Disco is horrible, don't let anybody tell you differently. The great thing about the 70's station is they will occasionally play some great songs like Stevie Wonder. One of my coworkers is a very talented bass player, and when it is slow, we talk music. What I really enjoy about our conversations is how he can point out particular points in songs that he likes, not just "Oh yeah, this song is really great." He loves to go into detail about what grabs him and draws him into a song. These conversations make me listen to music closer than I usually do, and focus on what I particularly like. One song we talked about was "Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder. In particular, the bass line. Holy cow it it amazing. It bounces back and forth between simple rhythm back up to harmonizing with the horn section and at some points, carrying the melody. Listening to it makes me seriously want to buy a bass and learn how to play this song.


Friday, April 19, 2013

I was in the car with my parents a few years ago, when a story came on about a recently discovered dinosaur. The cool thing about it (I mean other than that it was a new dinosaur, and how cool is that?) was what the paleontologists decided to name it. Masiakasaurus knopfleri. That's right, they named it after Mark Knopfler, the guitarist for Dire Straits. I guess that really is the dream, to have a dinosaur named after you.


Monday, April 15, 2013

So it has been a while since I have posted anything and for that I apologize. I got to see Frank Turner headline a couple of years ago in a small venue in Dallas, and it was very different from seeing him open for Flogging Molly at the House of Blues. I love intimate venues especially for shows like that. But this isn't about Frank Turner, at least not directly. As my friend and I were walking to our car after the show, we saw Frank outside talking to a couple of people so we went and said hello and how much we enjoyed the show. He showed off his new tattoo that was inspired by his favorite singer/songwriter, a native Texan, Townes Van Zandt. I had heard the name before but couldn't think of any of his songs. It seemed like from that point on, I would hear the name at least once a month. A couple of weeks ago, I finally got around to doing some research on Townes Van Zandt and let me tell you, he is amazing. He has a very calm style that forces you to listen to his lyrics, not just push them to the background. Now that I have finally started listening to him, I want to kick myself for not doing so earlier. Like I said, he is amazing, and I can see how Frank Turner views him as the best singer/songwriter out there. But I'll let you judge for yourselves.