Good Music Monday: Issue #5

Every Monday, I'm going to start posting info on a musical artist that I think needs some attention, whether it's because they are unknown, under appreciated, or I think they just need a little spotlight. The reason this is "Issue #4" is because I've kind of already spotlighted a few bands in the past. I'll start this week by actually going back and looking at last week's artist.

• "All The Rage" is the debut release from LA-based singer/songwriter Cary Brothers. These four songs run the gamut from power pop ("Supposed To Be") to acoustic folk ("Honestly"), but they all share one thing in common - as Cary says, "They're all pretty much straight from the heart, whether it's being broken or put back together." Cary's song "Blue Eyes" is also featured alongside tracks from Coldplay, The Shins, and Simon & Garfunkel on the soundtrack of the film GARDEN STATE. A native of Nashville, TN, Cary has been writing and performing music since he got his first guitar at thirteen. His influences include early R.E.M., Brit Pop (from The Stone Roses to Radiohead), acoustic folk (Simon & Garfunkel and Nick Drake to Badly Drawn Boy), and a healthy dash of 80's New Wave. Two years ago, Cary was spotted playing at an open mic by acclaimed LA troubadour Gary Jules, who subsequently began booking Cary at the famed Hotel Café in Hollywood, where Cary has become a regular among a group of some of LA's best up and coming talent.

If you go to Cary's website, you'll find ahandfull of free songs. Everything I have heard from him thus far is great. Simple, acoustic, folk like music. It's relaxing, I think that's the best way todescribee it. He also has a My Space page. If you like his music, add him as a friend to keep up with his latest information.

Now on to this week's musician.

• There are some unspoken rules in the jazz world. Rules that say acoustic-oriented jazz musicians are not supposed to have platinum and gold albums or sell out large auditoriums night after night. Rules that straight-ahead jazz releases are not supposed to reach the top of Billboard's pop charts. Rules that jazz artists shouldn't expect to receive standing ovations at Lilith Fair or compete with Santana, TLC, the Backstreet Boys, and the Dixie Chicks in a GRAMMY® category. For the past ten years, someone has been breaking these rules and demonstrating that a jazz musician can, in fact, enjoy mass appeal without sacrificing her jazz foundation. Her name is Diana Krall. Not only has the Canadian singer/acoustic pianist become the top-selling artist on the Verve roster, she has become jazz's top selling vocalist, period. She is a crossover phenomenon who has remained faithful to her bop and swing roots.

This woman has to be one of the best jazz musicians I have ever heard, hands down. Yes... even better then Norah Jones (it's funny how I was looking something up on Norah and found Diana). This is the way jazz is suppose to be. I suggest everyone take a listen. She has previews of her music on her website.

Diana Krall - I Can't Give You Anything But Love

I can't give you anything but love, baby
That's the one thing I've got plenty of, baby
I dreaming awhile, scheming a while you're sure to find
Happiness and I guess all those things you always pine for

Gee it's nice to see you looking swell, baby
Diamond bracelets Woolworth's doesn't sell, baby
Till the lucky day you know darn well,well baby
I can't give you anything but love

Previous Issues:
Cary Brothers
Joydrop
Mr. T Experience
Medeski, Martin, and Wood

deviantART

I have just updated my deviantART page. Check it out. I added a lot of old high school work and then a few other things randomly from my undergrad work. It's not organized at all, but it's still fun to look at. Once I get my Purdue account back up and running again, I'll design my own portfolio for everyone to see... it will be neatly organized. w00t!

There IS More Then Corn In Indiana...

Yeah, not so much. Some friends and I went to Indiana Beach yesterday. It was free, so how could I say no? We had a good time, although it got pretty hot, pretty quick. There wasn't a whole lot of people there, so we were able to ride every ride with little wait. That's always cool. I think the longest we had to wait for a ride was for the "log ride." But, it is a water ride, so on a hot day, that's understandable.

A little research material before we leave

We have arrived!

Signs like this scare me

A view from above... THE GROUND!

Bumper cars!

So that was Indiana Beach. There are more pictures on my MOBLOG if you want to see more. We were only there until about 4:00. By that time, we had ridden everything worth riding, eaten everything worth eating, and played everything worth playing. While fun, Indiana Beach still has a long way to go before it matches anything like a BIG amusement park.

I haven't been in Indiana Beach in about 10 years, but it's still like I remember it. It hasn't changed much, or at all for that matter; somewhat disappointing. It was fun, just a little short-lived.

No Title

It's a painful silence in my head...

Why do I put myself through this?

Oi Vey

I want to write something. I'm in a place right now where I feel I NEED to write. Problem is... I don't know what to write about. And I'm not really talking about in this blog, but in general. I use to write a lot, and now it's rare. I hit a writer's block about three years ago; that's a tough wall to get over. Maybe it's not necessarily that I want to write, but I want to be creative. Working on a photo project would probably help with that. I'm not motivated right now. I'm in a stand-still. What sucks even more is that there is inspiration all around me and I'm not taking advantage of it. I've got to get out of this slump, and soon. I can't be like this when school starts. Grad school is going to be hard enough as it is without me being a lazy bum.

I think one of the reason I feel this way right now is because of the lack of people in my life. Not a whole lot of my friends are here anymore. I don't really have too many friends, not close ones at least. That can be a lot for a person to deal with. I don't mind not having a lot of close friends; I kind of like it. It's just hard when those few friends are gone, or I'm no longer in contact with them.

I was at my barber's yesterday, and I sat around and takled with him for about an hour. His name is Joe, and he's a good guy. I think that's the appeal of going to a barber. You can create friendships with your barber. You can talk just about anything with a barber. I've been going to Joe since I was a little kid. The barber shop used to be owned by my Uncle's friend, but then Joe bought the place a couple of years ago. He is quite the character. Joe is a 58 year old, piano playing, Harley riding, barber. Where else can you find someone like that? He's had the life. It great hearing him tell old stories. He actually has an "album" of his music. It's rough and home produced, but it's still pretty good. If you're interested, let me know and I'll send you a few tracks.

BTW... I've been sick for like the last week. My throat has been killing me and it's not getting any better. Let's hope it's better before Saturday. I'm going to Indiana Beach on Saturday, and I would really like to be in "okay" shape.

Ok... I Did It

I've been playing around with the idea of changing to Blogger, but I've finally decided to do it. It's just better then Live Journal. You have a lot more freedom to alter your blog, it's appearance, lots of settings, and hell... even the spell check works. So goodbye Live Journal and hello Blogger.

So I guess after the holiday weekend, it's mandatory that I tell you all what happened. Friday night I went biking after a crappy day. Saturday night went out to Jake's. Sunday I went to my friend's place to go over his wedding reception. Monday I sat on my ass. It was pretty uneventful. Besides not going anywhere or doing anything, I did get a lot of house/yard/animal work done. If you check my MOBLOG, you'll see pics from giving the animals baths. Here's a taste...

Nice, isn't it? No, I didn't piss my pants, that's the result of Bruiser jumping out of the bathtub. Oh yeah, fun times.

I saw Batman Begins today, and I must say; not all that great. I was kind of disappointed. It just didn't feel like BATMAN to me. I don't know, everyone else seems to like it, maybe I'm just weird, but I wasn't all that impressed. The reason I'm only seeing it now is because working at Gamestop has certain perks. There were some left over movie passes to see the film from a promotion that the Batman Begins game had. The tickets expired today, so they gave out the left overs to the employees. Cool. We also have a bunch for Fantastic 4, so I might see that one for free too. Good thing, because I have a feeling it's going to be bad.

I went over my finances today, trying to figure out when I can start looking for an apartment. It turns out, that I might actually have enough money saved up to start looking in a couple of weeks. That's good news. I really didn't want to wait until the week before school started to find a place. It's going to be hard enough as it is. This will at least get a little stress off my back for now. w00t!

EDIT: I have moved my entire Live Journal to this site now, so everything is still archived. Also, I couldn't do edits like this on Live Journal... SWEET! :oP

Good Music

Cary Brothers - Blue Eyes

Wish enough, wise man'll tell you a lie
Window broke, torn up screens
Who'd have thought that you'd dream
Of a single tragic scene

I just wanna sing a song with you
I just want to take it off of you

Cause Blue Eyes
You are all that I need
Cause Blue Eyes
You’re the sweet to my mean

Fess it up, dot on the palm of your hand
I can help you to stand
Saved it up for this dance
Tell me all the things you can

I just wanna sing a song with you
I just wanna be the one that's true

Cause Blue Eyes
You’re the secret I keep
Cause Blue Eyes

All the lights on and you are alive
But you can't point the way to your heart
So sublime, when the stars are aligned
But you don't know
You don't know the greatness you are

Cause Blue Eyes
You are destiny's scene
Cause Blue Eyes
I just wanna be the one

I just wanna sing a song with you
I just wanna get it on with you

Cause Blue Eyes
You’re the secret I keep
Cause Blue Eyes
I just wanna sing a song with you…