On A Personal Note -

Ok, so just to let you in on what's been going on in my world lately ---- Way back in early February the condo unit above me had a water heater bust & overflow. I was awakened around 5:30 or 6am by a knock on my door.  I was pretty confused b/c no one EVER knocks on my door in the morning. It was my neighbor down the hall telling me he thinks there is a problem because water is dripping from the ceiling outside my door.  I was still waking up so it took me a minute to process what was going on....

I looked into my bathroom and saw water everywhere with multiple places dripping  from the ceiling. It was not the best way to wake up on a Monday!! I immediately got bowls and buckets to catch what water I could, got towels for the floor, and moved anything I could to the bedroom.  Then I made calls to the building management & the owner above me.

Things got cleaned up for the most part but there was definitely some damage. The owner before me had put these aluminum looking sheets over the entire ceiling so once the contractor pulled that off, I discovered mildew and water stains covering most of my ceiling. Not pretty.

Anyway, I decided that if I was going to have to replace the ceiling that I might as well make some changes in the entire bathroom. (which I had wanted to do for a while now) It made sense to do everything at once - Yet, if I had known what was to come, I might have thought about it twice before doing anything.

What should have taken MAYBE 3 weeks at the most, has now gone into the 9th week!! I kept being told, "one more week & it will be finished"....um, yeah right! I should have known after the first delay that more was to come. It's all a long story which I will spare you from the details but let's just say, it hasn't made my life easy the past few months.

I have a small place and with no bathroom/stuff everywhere/dust/etc - I had to stay with my parents during most of this time. Now, I truly love my parents - they are amazing and have helped me tremendously throughout the entire ordeal BUT for me, I was NOT meant to live with my parents again at this point in my life. They were fine, I just missed my space/privacy/schedule/location and many of the little things we don't consider when living on your own.  Especially when I think it will only be a couple of weeks!

The entire experience made me think of the movie, The Money Pit with Tom Hanks. Have you seen it? If so, you know what I'm talking about. The good thing is that it has taught me lots of patience & made me appreciate my condo way more than I ever thought I would. I'm not saying I didn't shed some tears but I've done my best to stay hopeful and happy.  ;)

Ok, you are probably asking yourself "What does any of this have to do with MUSIC?" Well, yesterday when I went by to check on the progress (since it's actually really close to being finished) I noticed that the shower doors had finally been installed. In my mind, the shower doors represented a milestone b/c that meant all that was left was clean-up. I can't tell you how excited those SHOWER DOORS made me at that moment!! I literally jumped up and down. Yep, I did.

So, I hung out for a lil bit and decided to listen to some music. Then I started making a playlist of how I had felt over the past few weeks and what all it took to get to the end. I also wanted something to listen to when I finally get to move back in....

It's pretty funny & actually a good playlist. I wanted to find songs with themes or words about what I had experienced with the re-model. I surprisingly found quite a few that fit but then got off on a random tangent of the most played song on any given album.

Here is the playlist which may be added to in the coming days:
1. The Mall & Misery - Broken Bells (lots of trips to home depot or in this song "the mall" & it was misery)
2. Over The Edge - The Go Find (many times I said to myself that I'm on "the edge" or have reached my limit of patience)
3. Things Go Wrong - Chris Issak (this is an understatement - everything went wrong)
4. Better Be Home Soon - Crowded House (you get the picture of how I felt)
5. Ode To My Family - The Cranberries (because I might not have made it thru without my parents)
6. Where Will I Be - Emmylou Harris (after a while, I didn't feel like I belonged anywhere & didn't know If I would ever be back in my place)

The rest are where I started to go off on my 'most played' songs tangent even though I still tried to keep with the theme but it's harder to explain the connection so I will just list it....
7. The Limit To Your Love - Feist
8. D******d - Kate Nash
9. Wherever You Are - Madi Diaz
10. Exit Does Not Exist - Sun Kil Moon
11. This Must Be The Place - Talking Heads
12. Harder On Me - Via Audio
13. Like A Tattoo - Sade
14. Poor Leno - Royksopp

I've listened to it while I've been writing this post and I must say that I'm very happy with the way it's turned out. ;)

If your a friend of mine on facebook, stay tuned for some before & after pictures of the re-model in a few days. I will also try to post a few up on here for those who might be interested in home improvement.

I know most of us make playlists for road trips & such but do you ever make one for a random experience that you've gone thru? I say try it and see how it comes out -

Show Surprises -

Happy Wednesday folks! I hope all those in Nashville are outside enjoying the beautiful weather.

I wanted to mention that I went to see Jessica Lea Mayfield at Mercy Lounge a couple of weeks ago. I had only first listened to some of her music a day or two before the show. I liked what I heard so I was looking forward to hearing her live. Well, let me just tell you that getting to see her guitar player, Ritchie Kirkpatrick, was alone worth the price of admission...My friend Shelly said he was a local from Murfreesboro so I'm pretty sure he had some support/fans in the crowd. He put on a show all on his on - the moves & faces he was making were quite entertaining! It reminded me of something that would come out of Spinal Tap. He was a definite fun surprise to the show. Not only was he a fun addition to watch but he actually is a very good guitar player. I did enjoy Jessica as well - It was actually hard to believe that she wrote some of her songs and she is only 21yrs old. Always amazes me when young artists seem to have old souls.

So I encourage you to go hear some music that you may not have even heard of or know very well. You just never know what kind of surprises might pop up or what you might end up seeing! :)

Below are some links with more information about Jessica & Richie. You can also watch a video of them playing on The David Letterman Show but Kirkpatrick is a lot more tame than he was in Nashville.

JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD

RICHIE KIRKPATRICK

Let's Play!

So while listening to my ipod for the challenge, I realized that I would keep trying to guess the song or artist that randomly came on before it got to the chorus. This made me think of the game show Name That Tune which I sometimes watched in syndicate back in the day.... I love to turn anything I'm doing into a game. (being a game freak that I am)

I decided to check out some clips of the ol' game show in hopes that I could remember exactly how it was played. It's hilarious to go back and see what people were wearing, the old sets, hosts, etc. --I kinda wish there was an updated version of the game so I could play along. I think I would be pretty damn good, I am in my car at least!
The following is a short clip of the part of Name That Tune that I remember most. Sorry the sound is so low but all the clips were pretty rough:
(For those who have heard my office story - PLEASE note what the guy wins at the end, cracks me up & I think that was the original one we had in the office!)
NAME THAT TUNE
While searching for clips, I came across another musical game show that I had never heard of called Face The Music.  It seems pretty entertaining as well and is an interesting take on the use of songs/what people have to figure out?!  Here is a funny clip from that show:
FACE THE MUSIC

Well in talking about these games & songs, I tried to come up with a few tunes that included the word game or was about playing games...
Short List:
* Love Is A Losing Game - Amy Winehouse
* The Name Of The Game - ABBA
* Wicked Game - Chris Issak
* Name Game - (not sure who it's by but the one that goes "Cristy, Cristy bo bisty, banana fanna fo fisty...)

Do any of  you try to guess the song or artist after hearing the first few notes? How many notes can you name a tune in?  I can name that tune in 1 note!! Yep, I'm that good ;)

Brought to you by the letter C

Before I get to my ipod songs in the group of C, I wanted to let those of you who care that Queens Of The Stone Age was a fantastic show! I recommend going to see them if you get a chance in the near future.  As I noted to my friend Shelly, it felt like a boys sweaty locker room - lots of testosterone ladies so possibilities of meeting a man are high, if single. ;)

Ok, now to the letter C songs:
It started out pretty good but then got funky towards the middle. The songs didn't flow as well as they had with B....but it kept things interesting.  It may have been the couple of Christmas songs that snuck in that threw me off. I'm already on letter F at this point and I can tell that my C songs are not gonna be the best letter after all is said & done.  (This seems so nutty to be talking about by the way but oh well)

Here are the stats & random findings:

Total C songs = 249

Come:  the word included in the most titles at 13 songs
Can't, Change & Cold:  2nd most included in titles at 7 each

Some of my favorite songs from C have City in the name:
Milosh - The City
The Go Find - City Dreamer
U2 - City of Blinding Lights
Yes - City of Love
The Weepies - Citywide Rodeo
(maybe that's why I like livin in the citaaay, ha!)

Hidden Gems that had slipped my mind:
Jellyfish - Calling Sarah
Ingrid Michaelson - Cover of Can't Help Falling In Love
Cat Stevens - Can't Keep It In
Enya - Caribbean Blue
Sun Kil Moon - Carry Me Ohio
Laura Veirs - Cast A Hook
LIVE - Century
Candlebox - Change
Radiohead - Climbing Up The Walls

Most Entertaining & made me laugh a lil:
Little River Band - Cool Change
Poco - Crazy Love

Shortest song in C:
Outkast - Cruisin In The ATL ( 19 seconds)

If you don't recognize some of these songs or artists, I encourage you to take a listen & see what ya think.....have a good one folks!!

Tis The Season

Since Spring is just around the corner (official first day of Spring is this Sunday) - it makes me think about the Spring/Summer Concert Seasons.  Music lovers get excited about all the big tours coming in town...at least I do!

One of my favorite things to do is attend an outdoor concert or music festival of some sort - even if I have to travel to get there. Something about good weather & good music just makes me happy. The only issue is funding these music adventures. I've always intended to start a specific savings account for entertainment which the bulk would pretty much go to shows that I wanna see throughout the year.  Seriously need to make that happen....I'm also curious to know how much money I spend on music in a year.  (actually, i probably don't need to know that fact)

I started thinking about some of my favorite outdoor concerts from the past -

* Road trip to Colorado to see Trey Anastasio at Red Rocks. I really didn't know or listen to Trey's music but I didn't want to pass up an opportunity to see a show at Red Rocks. It was amazing! I felt like an undercover reporter because of the huge hippie scene. My friend let me borrow some of her clothes & accessories so I think I pulled it off pretty well. ;)

* Going to see the band LIVE at Starwood Amphitheatre and sneaking up to the front row just in time to hear the last couple of songs.

* Ani D Franco at River Stages when my friend & I snuck in wine by putting it in ziplock bags underneath our clothes. (come on, you know you've done it)

- just to name a few off the top of my head.

Well, I'm starting the "season" off right by attending Queens Of The Stone Age this FIRST DAY OF SPRING,  SUNDAY at the Ryman. It's not outdoors but I will certainly find one to enjoy the lovely weather soon.

What are some of ur favorite outdoor concerts from the past?  Are you looking forward to any shows coming up this season? Any recommendations?

---next week I will catch up on my ipod challenge with the letter C

The Return Of Music Videos!

Ok, so this past Sunday I went to The Basement here in Nashville to see Angel Snow & Peter Bradly Adams perform. It was a fantastic show and the place was packed! Even though I'm a friend of Angels, I wouldn't go to her shows multiple times and talk about her music if I didn't truly love it. It really speaks to me every time I hear it.

I realized on Sunday that her lyrics mean something different to me every time I listen. I can apply them to something I just recently experienced as well as things from my past. This particular show sounded even better to me which I think was because she had a full band with a few new twists to the songs. It filled the entire room and that is something I love about going to a live performance. I'm all about really feeling the music. (yes that sounds cheesy but it's true)


All that to say as I was listening to a particular song - Coals & Water - I closed my eyes for a minute (I was standing in the back w/ limited view anyway) and I started visualizing a video in my head to go along with the lyrics. I haven't done that in forever!! I use to listen to songs all the time and picture what I would do if I had to make a video out of it. I remember most of the videos involved me riding in a car at some point, staring out the window as it rained - nice, eh?! Actually most videos probably use that type of scene all the time.....


Anyway, I'm glad that I ended up doing it again that evening because it's quite fun. I hope to continue this random, creative way of enjoying music at times since it's kind of another way to dream. ;)


Has anyone else ever done that?? Do you remember the song or what it involved?


Oh yeah- in the Coals & Water video, I was walking away (i most likely across some coals) then suddenly looked back with tears in my eyes. NICE!!

"Voices Carry"

I've had so many things come up recently that I've wanted to write about. It's been hard to figure out this weeks post! 

I finally settled on some fabulous artists that I've been enjoying recently.... 

First up - this past Friday evenin, i enjoyed a show at the basement with my friend Katy. I didn't have any idea who was playing until I googled the band about an hour before I got there. It ended up being Chris Stapleton's new band THE JOMPSON BROTHERS. I only knew of him from THE STEELDRIVERS (which was a great show I caught at The Station Inn) but this new band was a completely different avenue from the bluegrass of before.....I wasn't sure if I was gonna like him doing something other than bluegrass but was pleasantly surprised when I heard it.  I was reading a post about The Jompson Brothers from a DJ who blogs about various music and I would totally agree with what he says about Mr. Stapleton (even if he is a close friend).  His voice is very distinct and fills the room. It makes for good music no matter what genre you put him in.

Check out the post here: A Fifty Cent Lighter & A Whiskey-  seems like an interesting blog overall, love that title!

Second - I'm discovering that when I really like a band or artist, i won't shut up about them for what seems like a long period of time or I will keep telling everyone I know to listen to it. Then the said artist will be on every upcoming compilation/"mixed cd" (or what use to be called mixed tapes, yeah I just dated myself - whoops) which I make for friends & family as a little gift on special occasions. It makes me laugh now to think about it - I'm still making MIXED TAPES - but it's a fun- yet random- hobby to me. If you can call that a hobby?!

Anyway, I figured out my latest music obsession that hasn't gone away since I first started listening to them--  ELBOW -  A british alternative rock band that my good friend, Carrie, introduced me to a couple of years ago. (fyi - i really don't care for genres b/c some artists just don't fit into any in my opinion)  Find more information and fun facts like how they got the name for their band (i'm always interested in that kind of stuff) here: Elbow Info

I remember liking them instantly but the more I listened, the better they got....brilliant stuff! I'm not saying it's for everyone - of course we all have different tastes but for me, I still get excited when they suddenly come on the jukebox (like I did just the other night) Good times :)  
After liking both their 3rd & 4th albums, what stands out to me now is his voice. It's not like most other musicians out there which makes it refreshing to listen to these days. BUT the lyrics are brilliant as well (as the brits say)  I want them to tour in America but all i ever see are shows in Europe...which makes me think I should just go there to see them! (excuse to travel- hmmm)

I love every song on both albums which is hard to come by these days - Leaders of the Free World is how I was introduced to them & later picked up Seldom Seen Kid. I would check them out, if I were you ;)

Ok, Third - to bring together the whole "voices that stand out" theme on this one - I suggest that if you are in Nashville, TN and looking for some talented unique voices to listen to - You need to bring yourself to The Basement THIS SUNDAY --- March 6th at 8pm to hear PETER BRADLEY ADAMS & ANGEL SNOW perform! For a free download of Peter Bradley Adam's song "For You" click here-> Basement Show  & to get a little taste of what you will hear....Both of these artists bring something new to the table o tunes.

All that being said, you will probably hear about Elbow (as well as the other above mentioned artists) in future posts since I tend to get hooked on certain music that comes along.
Enjoy another beautiful day Nashville!!