Let It Grow

A “coaching tree” is similar to a family tree except that it shows the relationships of coaches instead of family members.  Coaching trees are common in the National Football League and most coaches in the NFL can trace their lineage back to a certain head coach for whom they previously worked as an assistant.  After being asked the classic question, “What are you listening to?”, I thought a Song Tree would make sense (shout out to the social platform for music creation, sharing and collaboration).

If the idea of a coaching tree is foreign to you, along similar lines, there was a live music series called A.V. Undercover that lasted 7 seasons.  The concept of the show was that each season, a list of 25 songs was compiled. Bands were then invited to choose a song to cover and once a song had been played, it would get crossed off the list. The later a band came on, the fewer songs they had to choose from.  But in my song paradise, there are no rules with a Song Tree and a tune can be covered multiple times.

So take a break from your Spotify playlist or your favorite podcast and let’s explore my Song Tree idea.  The first often-covered artist that came to my mind is Peter Gabriel.  Jeffrey Gaines, Adam Levine and Better Than Ezra have all given impassioned versions of “In Your Eyes”, but for me I am going to take the branch with Peter Gabriel’s classic song “Come Talk to Me”. 

The lead track off of his 1992 album ‘Us’, Peter Gabriel follows-up his best-selling album “So” with a classic right out of the gate.  In my humble opinion, this is the best song on the album and sprinkle in Sinéad O'Connor on backing vocals and in my opinion, this cut clearly outshines the singles “Steam” and “Digging in the Dirt”.    One of the cool things about this song tree, is that a branch has now begun with Ms. O’Connor.  But instead of going off on that tangent, let’s follow the trail. 

Bon Iver goes on to record “Come Talk to Me” in 2011 and places it as the “B-Side” to his single “Holocene”.   While “Holocene” was nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the 54th Grammy Awards, and has been featured in multiple films, it is his version of the Gabriel song that caught my attention, not the award-winning track. 

Bon Iver then eventually pens his own tune “AUATC”.  This leads us to the Connecticut jamband Goose, who very recently covered the Bon Iver song.  My brother-in-law has had me listening to this up and coming band and now in the spirit of predictions for 2021, I wonder who if Joe May’s (of the band Pluto Gang) version of Goose’s “Hot Tea” will become popular and contribute to the sprouting of branches.

So as we venture into the new year, I ask that you continue to keep watering the trees and do everything within your power to discover new live music

Thanks for reading.

Spin the Black Circle

30 years ago, in the Spring of 1990, I was standing with Jason at Penn Station in New York City. We were underneath the big board that releases the track number for our return trip on the Raritan Valley Line when I looked up to see a man with a crate of records. 

From where we were standing, it looked like Mister Cee, Big Daddy Kane’s D.J. from his 1989 hit album, “It’s A Big Daddy Thing”. I quickly approached the man, but to my surprise, he laughed and told me I was confused and he was not the person who I thought he was. One might now be asking yourself, “How would the 15 year-old version of me recognize Calvin LeBrun?” Well, I am that person who reads the liner notes, checks who received credit for lyrics and admires all of the photographs and artwork that accompanies the albums that have floated in and out of my life.

I am one of the youngest in my family, so I inherited a stereo that played 8-tracks (“Born to Run”) and cassettes (“It Takes 2”). I did eventually add a CD component (“Back in Black”), but I did not realize until a few years ago that the gem of all my inheritance was the albums and 45s. 

I do not know seem to be the only one whose records are getting more use than the dusty pile of CDs. Based on a September 2020 article from ‘The Guardian’, “Vinyl records have outsold CDs in the US for the first time since the 1980s, according to data from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).” 

I don’t remember ever actually purchasing albums at Vintage Vinyl in Edison, NJ, but I know that vinyl is clearly now a (big daddy) thing. Already 6 years ago, I attended a Barr Brothers concert at The Andy Warhol Museum in 2014, and the band was only selling their self-titled debut album on vinyl. More recently, I worked my first concert since both the global pandemic stunted live performances and the opening act Nick Perri & The Underground Thieves, only promoted the vinyl release of their new album “Sun Via”. 

These days I go crate-diving and pick up $1.00 classics when I can. Most recently, I found the 1962 release of “The Best of Sam Cooke”. And I also revel in the many classic lines in songs that reference the act of spinning a record. Vanilla Ice simply pumping up the crowd with “If there was a problem yo I'll solve it / Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it” is only one example of artists singing about records. 

For me, I love the sound of the snap, crackle and pop made through my speakers. The three-dimensional grooves cut into the vinyl record represent how the sound waves can move through the air. It is also exhilarating to actually steady my hand to put the needle on the record. I can’t go back to Penn Station and ask the question to Mister Cee again, but maybe if he saw me now carrying my crate of records, he would have a different answer. 

Thanks for reading!

Every Breath You Take

Gavin Rossdale sings in Bush’s hit single ‘Machinehead’ – “Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out”.  

When one of my sons is up to bat, I remind him to breathe.  When my other son is shooting free throws, I remind him to breathe. I am trying to find a way at this point in time to breathe myself.  I find my myself constantly thinking about the impactful choices that my wife and I are currently facing: deciding to send our boys to school for in-person learning (yes that is a term now), searching for work that is accompanied by a paycheck, and making sure that the four of us consistently have enough groceries to eat ALL of our meals in our house.  But between all of those thoughts, I am finding ways to meander around my neighborhood, as it always seems to be easier to breathe when I am out in the fresh air of Pittsburgh.

To combat one of the pitfalls of spending all this time in my house, I have been trying to run more.  Right now, while I can, it is on the trails of Frick Park.  Right now, I do not listen to headphones or music, due the trails mostly being single track, and I have never seen a runner win a collision with a mountain-biker.  So as I huff and puff to finish a 4-mile course that I have outlined, my head clears and I am brainstorming blog ideas and potential podcast episodes; some that I believe are good which turn into actual posts, and some that will sit forever as post-it notes on my desk.  At the same time, I would be lying if I did not admit that while I am running, I also think of political conspiracy theories, 1980s & 1990s collegiate basketball players, a lot of music to remember to listen to and of course remembering to breathe.  

According to the American Lung Association, we breathe an estimated 17,000 breaths a day, and breathe in about 2,000 gallons of air—enough to almost fill up a normal-sized swimming pool. Most of us don't even think about it as we go about our daily routine. But what if your breathing technique was one of the most important skills to having a successful career?

Wind musicians rely heavily on training their lungs. I can only imagine Rob Wagner, saxophonist and clarinetist player for the New Orleans Klezmer All Stars smoking cigarettes.  And according to https://music.stackexchange.com/, there are hundreds of different types of breathing exercises for brass band players.   If Wendell Eugene was still with us, I can only imagine which of these that he prescribed.   Construction workers need to be mindful of their breathing based on all of the dust that surrounds them.  Even those who sit in front of a screen all day hunched over, according to scientists need to actively think about how they are breathing.

So as life around us continues to intensify, remember no matter where you are, escaping for those few moments of fresh air, or auditioning for the Hot 8 Brass Band, you should try and breathe.

Thanks for reading.

We Used to be Giants

John Fogerty sings “Got a beat-up glove, a homemade bat, and brand-new pair of shoes / You know I think it's time to give this game a ride / Just to hit the ball and touch 'em all / A moment in the sun / It's-a gone / And you can tell that one goodbye!”

In a previous life it was a badge of honor as a tour manager to barrel into a van with guitar cases, drum kits or even just friends and drive miles and miles to get to a concert.  These days, I am a dedicated equipment manager to my son and his aspiring baseball career.  Instead of a haul from Guitar Center, I find myself loading baseball bats, multiple gloves and catcher’s gear to get to Little League games.

Road-tripping once meant debating classic drive-time conversations like who was more influential, The Beatles or Led Zeppelin as we fought for control over the radio or CD player.  These days, my son and I just take turns playing music for each other on my iPhone that we might like.  Yes – I confess, I slipped DJ Shadow’s collaboration with Run the Jewels “Nobody Speak” into the mix and smiled so big when he hollered at El-P’s flow: “I'm unmentionably fresh, I'm a mensch, get correct / I will walk into a court while it wrecks”.

Traveling to shows also meant a certain amount of pride in performing 8 shows in 7 days, but now it is bragging about 10 games and several practices in 8 days.  Where my mapping skills used to take me to places in Pennsylvania like Media, Millvale and West Chester, these days it is Beaver, Harrison City and Saxonburg.  All special places in their own right, but these days my reason for adventure rivals why people traveled “to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom.”  With a wink and a nod to W.P. Kinsella and Phil Alden Robinson, I arrive at fields innocently.  Walking out to the bleachers; sitting in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon and watching a game and as if I was dipped in magic waters.  It reminds me of all that once was good and it could be again. 

We live in crazy, crazy times but I am taking a lot of positive energy from being socially distant at these games but at the same time rooting on my son and his teammates.  Borrowing from Rage Against the Machine’s song “Renegade of Funk”, these boys believe in each other and are following the mantra, “No matter how hard you try, you can't stop us now".  And just as his team has rallied in the bottom of the 6th inning, I am hoping that we can as people.   

Now instead of wanting to go to a gig at the Williamsport Community Arts Center we have our sights set on a game at Howard J. Lamade Stadium.

Thanks for reading.

Pac-Man Fever

I had never had an MRI before June 2020.    I have now had three, but even with all of the time in the scanner tube, I am still having issues identifying the house band that has been making all the sounds in the background. 

Although when most people hear the letters M.R.I., they think of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, my brain continues to turn to music.  And while some people hear jackhammers or a cacophony, I have been spending my different time intervals in the cylinder-shaped magnet thinking about the uniqueness of the sounds.

Could it have been Daniel Maman, better known by his stage name The Alchemist, trying to get the beats just right?  Tom Morello's 1982 Fender Telecaster practicing for the next Rage Against the Machine reunion gig?  How about everyone’s favorite Count von Count, the mysterious but friendly vampire Muppet from Sesame Street tuning his organ?  Had I simply landed inside of the arcade game Galaga?  Unfortunately, we will never know.  Radiologists are not people of many words (or clearly a sense of humor) and when I asked who got to enter his/hear initials for the game’s high score, I just received blank stares.

For the purpose of this post, let’s think that M.R.I. stands for Multi Recording Interface.  And for those who did not graduate from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA or Belmont University in Nashville, TN, an audio interface is a piece of hardware that expands and improves the sonic capabilities of a computer.  And in my experience, they are an absolutely essential component in audio production.   

Some strong memories jump to the forefront of my mind when thinking of sound recording equipment.  There is my former roommate and childhood friend Danny Marcus recording on a 4-track in the living of our Washington DC apartment.   Another flashback is getting schooled on Pro Tools by Doug Derryberry in his Brooklyn, NY recording studio.  And these days, I have my own equipment sitting in my house in Pittsburgh, as my friend Josh Green joins me from Harlem, NY while we figure out how to use Audacity to record our podcasts.

I know that I am not as talented as Charlotte Gainsbourg, who made the sounds of the MRI scan part of the music itself. Her third album, co-written and produced by Beck, was released in 2010 and titled “IRM,” the acronym for Imagerie par Résonance Magnétique (MRI in French), but what I am doing is trying to keep things in perspective when dissecting a mentally heavy procedure. 

I am not sure when I will have my next one scheduled, and multiple friends have suggested that I request headphones the next time that I have one booked.  I am open to suggestions as to what to listen to, but maybe the soundtrack has already been written?

Thanks for reading!

If I Were A Carpenter

On Facebook, I was recently challenged to name 10 albums that have influenced my musical taste and upbringing over the past 44+ years. You have all seen the posts: One record per day. No explanations, no reviews, just the cover art.  Not my desert island discs, not my top 10 albums of all time, but the 10 albums that are core memories.

For those that know me, seeing my first two listings, "Check Your Head" by the Beastie Boys and "Southern Harmony & Musical Companion" by The Black Crowes were probably not surprising, but then I started to dig deep.  In fact, it was Corey Glover's voice from Living Colour that started to ring in my head, when he sings, "Everything is quiet / Everyone's gone to sleep / I'm wide awake / But these memories / These memories can't wait".  It caused me to think of the early 1980s in Westfield, NJ when it was The Carpenters' "Close to You" that was being pumped out of my parents' faux-end-table size speakers.  I cannot even remember the last time before today when I listened to "We've Only Just Begun".  But it was at this point that the challenge really started to make sense. 

It also made me think that I can relate to my friend Jess who has been spending the quarantine in Moreton-in-Marsh, UK.  She recently wrote,  that she is "Nostalgic in normal times and fairly connected and social, I wondered if this overwhelming longing to hear from people I’m perfectly capable of not talking to with any regularity in other times was just me. Turns out it’s not. It even has a name, a good one. It’s called a memory avalanche, this feeling of nostalgic desire for connection with people from our past . . ."  

This comment made me think of the Disney Pixar film "Inside Out" when Riley, a happy, 11-year-old Midwestern girl gets her world turns upside-down when she and her parents move to San Francisco.  Riley's emotions do their best to try and guide her through this life-changing event in only a way that a clever Pixar film can.  Outside of entertainment, scientific studies find that our identities are defined by specific emotions, which shape how we perceive the world, how we express ourselves and the responses we evoke in others.  "Inside Out” similar to these times of quarantine is a film about loss and what people gain when guided by feelings of sadness.

So for me, it is not the loss of people, but over these weeks and now months, I have been taking the time to reconnect with music.  There have been some recent deaths of musical legends that have hit me right in the gut, leading me to reflect on what music has always meant to me.  I do not own any Bill Withers or John Prine albums, but when I heard the respective news of their deaths, I could not help but remind myself how much I like listening to classic songs like "Use Me Up" and "Lean on Me".  And for Mr. Prine, the memories of hearing  'Dear Abby' and 'Grandpa was a Carpenter' jumped to the forefront of my mind.

Don't ask me how I remember these types of things, but spending all of this time inside has allowed me to dust off some albums that I have held onto and it feels good to connect with these records from my past.  It has even allowed me to hear how I got from polished singer-songwriters who used the Wrecking Crew as their house band to hip-hop pioneers that played their own instruments.

Thanks for reading.

"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?"

"When things get back to normal . . .".   "When was the last time you went out to eat in a restaurant?" These are becoming all too common questions/phrases that we are currently hearing regularly in conversation.  In fact, I initiated an email thread a couple of weeks ago asking my long-time concert companion Jamie what were his first and LAST shows.  For those keeping score at home, for me it was August 28, 1991:  George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers with Johnny Winter at Waterloo (Stanhope, NJ), while for Jamie it was July 27, 1986:  Mr. Mister with The Bangles at  Saratoga Performing Arts Center (Saratoga Springs, NY).  And to keep us in the way-back machine, the first show that we ever attended together was November 23, 1994: G Love & Special Sauce at Maxwell's (Hoboken, NJ).  We have come a long from those days, but obviously not too far geographically since we were both spotted together most recently February 15, 2020:  The Play Trains reunion show at Crossroads (Garwood, NJ).

However, I have decided that I want to stop thinking about things from a perspective of first and last, but instead first and what’s next.   Is it the auto disco, The Micrashell (according to Robby, I can just wear the green blazer over the suit), drive-in shows, streaming concerts?  

The auto disco just doesn't do it for me, I would rather take a road trip and sing and dance in the car all the way to New Orleans instead of parked in one place.  The Micrashell is wild, an extremely futuristic idea and you will always be Halloween ready, but I can only see myself donning it for a Daft Punk show.

Drive-in concerts intrigue me, but similar to the fact that most amphitheaters were built outside of cities, so were drive-ins and not that I have never traveled for a show, but what happens if you don't call "Shotgun"?  Being relegated to the backseat for a show at the Riverside Drive In Theater in Vandergrift, PA makes me think that my friends will treat me like Morgan from 'Good Will Hunting' and that I just ordered a 'double burger'.

As for streaming concerts, I went old-school and watched the Rush in Rio live DVD in the Hickey’s basement with some fanatic fans, I also took the time to connect my laptop to my TV to watch Phish from my own living room as they closed out their 2014 tour at the Verizon Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, GA, but not surprisingly, neither experience captured the feeling of actually being there.

I realize that artists are going to continue to release new music and that they are going to want to present their songs.  In fact, I just read the New York Times '25 Songs that Matter' and I am definitively intrigued by Richard Dawson (the British singer songwriter, not the kissing bandit TV game show host) as well as the band Red Hearse and the idea of seeing these artists perform live.  So what do I think is next?

Well after watching SpaceX launch, I believe we are over-thinking all of this.  In my humble opinion, the same venues re-open, but at smaller capacities.  Concerts adopt the definition of social distancing and take-on the feel as if you are seeing the Avett Brothers at Club Cafe in 2006.  And when that happens you can once again say, "Remember when we saw G. Love & Special Sauce with 50 other people on the night before Thanksgiving."

Thanks for reading.

Rinse, Wash, Repeat

During this unprecedented time, a lot of people might feel that all of their days are blurring together.  Is it Monday?  Is it Friday?  Has the idea of wearing morning sweatpants versus evening sweatpants really become a thing?  I am doing my best to mix up my routine.  I am dipping into my vast collection of t-shirts accumulated over the years and wearing a different one each day.  But there are instances when I seem to be having a battle with the same ol’, same ol’.  I have not gotten to Pittsburgh meteorologist Phil Connors’ level of repetitive, but I find myself asking if I have seen and heard this before?

Most recently, I was stopped in my tracks after hearing the Primitive Radio Gods’ 1996 song, "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth" on Pittsburgh's WYEP 91.3 FM in my car on the way to the grocery store and then having it be the first full song I heard in my destination - Giant Eagle-East Liberty.  I am assuming that Giant Eagle was playing some well curated playlist from their streaming music for retail stores partnership, not consulting with the independent radio gods.  Why would they want to mess with one of the few remaining people that still regularly listens to the radio?

I am not sleepwalking through these endless days and weeks.  And I am sure the songwriters: Chris O'Connor and Leonard Feather were not trying to stir the pot, but the lyrics carry weight during COVID-19: “Am I alive or thoughts that drift away? / Does summer come for everyone? / Can humans do as prophets say? / And if I die before I learn to speak / Can money pay for all the days I lived awake / But half asleep?”.

At a different time in my life, I can also think of a handful of times that I sat in my apartment in Washington DC and played a handful of songs on repeat.  Not sure about the songs being penned in 1992, but the jam, “Taking Us Home” by The Samples from their album, ‘No Room’ as well as Jeffrey Gaines’ single “Headmasters of Mine” that included the B-Side cover of Peter Gabriel’s classic “In Your Eyes” were in heavy rotation on my Aiwa stereo.  There was also the 1996 release by the band Satchel (featuring the late vocalist Shawn Smith) which included the song, “Without Love”.

I could listen to these songs, over and over and I found comfort in their familiarity.  These days, I have found myself repeatedly listening to songs both old and new.  My “last” concert before seeing live music in person took a hiatus was Dermot Kennedy.  His song, “Rome”, speaks to me with the line, “All these memories run my mind in slow motion” or Billy Joel’s Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go OutOn Broadway) which written in 1976 still has an eerie relevance today:  “I've seen the lights go out on Broadway / I saw the mighty skyline fall / The boats were waiting at the battery / The union went on strike / They never sailed at all…”

Soon these days will be memories and hopefully they won’t repeat this winter.  Thanks for reading.

And You Can Tell Everybody This is Your Song

I have a lot of memories of my most recent family trip to Israel to celebrate my older son's Bar Mitzvah. However, there is one that repeatedly jumps out at me: playing the "telephone game" with 18 family members at Roza Restaurant in Gush Etzion Junction.  Even if the phrase was something simple like "Shawarma on a Spit", it was guaranteed, that this phrase would not get around the table intact.

The world has changed a lot since that December 2019 trip to the Middle East and these days, with social distancing, my family and I find ourselves on a lot of walks and runs throughout our neighborhood.  During these walks, the topics range from politics to starting your own business to what songs you are listening to when exercising.  At the same time, we also look to keep things light, and what makes me laugh during these unprecedented times is flubbing the lyrics to songs that you really thought you knew the words.  

Recently my younger son has thrown himself into the spotlight.  At the top of the chart this week is Bon Jovi's 'Livin' on a Prayer', which has been affectionately turned into 'Living on a Prairie'.  It reminded me of a Wayne’s World skit that I think would also work with the new Saturday Night Live (At Home) format in which Wayne & Garth highlight the 'Top 5 Misheard Lyrics' from their basement.  I have never forgotten #5 Peter Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey" being sung as "Jacques the Monkey".  

When the topic of this post came up, my wife also recalled a childhood friend that used to sing Rusted Root's hit "Send Me On My Way" as "Simmi & the Whale" and this woman would impressively go on to study at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  Speaking of colleges, while I was an undergraduate student at George Washington University, the team had numerous players with unique names:  Omo Moses, Kwame Evans and Vaughn Jones to name a few (shout out to Nimbo Hammons and Adama Kah as well).  And cleverly, the GW band changed the lyrics to Tito Puente's song, "Oye Como Va" with "Omo, Kwame, Vaughn".  I am sure there are some Colonials’ fans who never knew the origins of the 1962 Latin jazz and mambo Billboard hit.

The bottom line is that people are listening to a lot of individual playlists these days, but they are not alone in making up lyrics to their favorite songs.  I realize that I too have a couple of errors on the score sheet.  There is the time that I thought that Rush's lyrics to "Tom Sawyer" were tied to a 1980s video game that I played regularly at Warinanco Park in Roselle, "Today's Tom Sawyer, He gets high on you, With Space Invaders, He gets by on you'.  Or The Clash's "Rock the Casbah", in which I thought Joe Strummer was singing, "Kareem don't like it.".  As if #33 needed to be in another song other than Kurtis Blow's "Basketball"?

Good luck with Google Translate.  Thanks for reading.

Brothers don't shake hands, brothers hug

“Yes, no, maybe / I don't know / Can you repeat the question? / You're not the boss of me now / You're not the boss of me now / You're not the boss of me now, and you're not so big”.  As They Might Be Giants faze out of the speakers, the way I remember things is that if my older brother wanted to go to an arena-sized concert, my parents would give him the greenlight if, and only if, I was allowed to tag along.   U2’s ZOO TV Tour lands in East Rutherford, NJ at Brendan Byrne Arena and there I am in the parking lot drinking 16 oz. cans of Budweiser.  While I went to the show assuming that the highlight of my night would be “Mysterious Ways”, "Angel of Harlem" was the one that blew me away.  This song was my gateway to The Memphis Horns who appeared on the studio version of this song and nearly every recording for Stax Records that included a horn section, which if you connect the dots, leads to much of my present day taste of music.

I can certainly attribute some of my tastes in music to the fact that I grew up a younger brother.  My older brother’s interest in music and his vast  collection allowed me to spend hours upon hours (when I was not sorting Jason’s collection in Mountainside) to just sift through his records, which he then replaced with cassettes and then eventually CDs (thank you Columbia House mail-order music clubs!).  In one of the few non-physical confrontational efforts to get me out of his room and to stop poking around his stuff, he would make cassette copies of the music that I expressed interest in.  I remember my copy of The Replacements “Stink” and the closing song “Gimme Noise” which could not have been any more appropriate: “I give you my jacket / You give me your glamor / Gimme that record / Gimme that hammer / Are you sleeping / Are you sleeping /Brother John”.

All of these moments have led to my musical preferences in 2020.  A harmonious stew that even cookbook author Adeena Sussman would envy.  I learned to read the liner notes, lyrics and who played what on each track.  And learning the names of the players and the instruments took me further down the path of discovering what I seek out and listen to now: a lot of New Orleans brass, rhythmic vocals and the occasional piano or organ solo.  So even though my brother will be the first to testify that the majority of the music I listen to now is questionable, music is not just beautiful in the eye of the beholder, but who sits in the shotgun seat of the ’82 Pontiac.

My brother turns 48 tomorrow and we do not see each other nearly as often as we did when we were both on the East Coast. However, when we do connect, it is not strange for the conversation to focus on what we have been listening to or what live show we have seen recently.   And although I do not know the next time I will see my brother, let alone attend a concert together, I will continue to listen to music with a set of younger brother ears and look forward to the next time we can have a beer before heading to see live music.

Thanks for reading.

Like a bridge over troubled water

According to the web site Mental Health Connecticut, “Social isolation has been linked to higher blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, vulnerability to infection. . . .  Loneliness can affect your mental and emotional health as well as your physical well-being.”  Musicians have also weighed in on this same subject. Fiona Apple once stated that, “When you're surrounded by all these people, it can be lonelier than when you're by yourself. You can be in a huge crowd, but if you don't feel like you can trust anyone or talk to anybody, you feel like you're really alone.”  And even though I am lovingly surrounded by my wife and two sons, we are all battling the effects that this global pandemic is having on our daily lives – online learning and working from home. To cope with this stress, my wife turns to running on the treadmill, my boys like their video games and playing outdoor basketball, and for me it always seems to in one-way or another lean towards music.

Music is my happy space.  However, I have recently learned that, “Musicians are three times more likely to experience depression” (study completed by University of Westminster, London, UK).  The research surveyed 2,211 musicians, and over 68% stated they had struggled with depression.   This led me to ask myself, do all performers need to experience some sort of heartbreaking event to be able to create the songs that become the soundtrack of our lives?  My dear friend (and cousin) Jason and I have now been going back and forth for the past 48 hours with what seems like endless song titles (a lot of them with lyrics to match) that could be ripped from today’s headlines. 

Who knew that the Guns N' Roses song “Out ta Get Me” from their groundbreaking 1987 album “Appetite for Destruction” would carry so much weight in today’s unprecedented times:  “Been hidin' out / And layin' low / It's nothing new ta me / Well you can always find a place to go / If you can keep your sanity”.  Of course, there is more:  “Isolation” from Joy Division, "Armageddon's Back In Town" by the Drive-By-Truckers or "Don't Come Around Here No More" by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: “Don't come around here no more / Whatever you're looking for / Hey! Don't come around here no more / I've given up, stop”.

It is surreal to think that this is where we find ourselves in March 2020.  Nathaniel Rateliff at the Byham Theater – postponed, my trip to New Orleans for French Quarter Fest – postponed, The Rolling Stones NO FILTER tour – postponed.  There are now a lot of red question marks and Xs on my calendar where live music once occupied a spot.  Despite its absence, I still find myself relying on music in this extraordinary era and to a certain extent leaning on a band that encompasses popular music mythology. Although the Beatles can seem larger than life, sometimes it is their grounded lyrics that can bring us to safety: “And when the broken hearted people / Living in the world agree / There will be an answer, let it be. / For though they may be parted there is / Still a chance that they will see / There will be an answer, let it be / Let it be, let it be. Yeah / There will be an answer, let it be.”

Thanks for reading!

CONNECT 4

In my new job, I have taken to signing off emails with the line, “Looking forward to connecting soon.”  I don't write this line in vain because in fact, one of my main responsibilities on a daily basis at work is connecting with people.

Recently, I met with one of the premier special events rental companies in the greater Pittsburgh market late on a Friday afternoon.  At the end of our meeting we exchanged pleasantries and asked what each other was doing that weekend.  The gentleman, being my senior, mentioned that he and his wife would be going to a concert, and when I eagerly asked which one, he politely said that it was an artist before my time.  When I pressed him, he said “Arlo Guthrie” which I quickly responded that “It’s not Thanksgiving until you hear ‘Alice’s Restaurant’.  We then shared a quick laugh, but what really blew me away was that days later, I received a copy of “Alice's Restaurant 50th Anniversary Massacree” in the mail.

Music continues to be a constant in my life that connects me to my friends.  Both songs and bands often times link to me to people from various different points in my life. One of those bands is Phish.  And it is fitting that they are the group that sings a song called “The Connection”, "When I see the connection / Though I see, I don't stare”.  As I look into the figurative mirror of my life, they are the band that ties me to my childhood friends from New Jersey.   They were a constant in my college years in Washington DC and during my years of booking/traveling with bands.  They link me to my brother-in-law who lives on another continent and after seeing the band perform for the first time in a couple of years, I realized that even though I do not own any of their albums, they are a band that acts as a social glue for me.

  

I have yet to introduce my boys to Phish, but the song about connections that they have heard is Kermit the Frog’s “Rainbow Connection”:  “Why are there so many / Songs about rainbows/ And what's on the other side / Rainbows are visions / They're only illusions / And rainbows have nothing to hide.”  My intent of this blog is to share some of my ideas about music and how it plays a part in my life and I understand that by sharing those thoughts, I have put myself out there.  Hopefully in a way that you the reader can connect with . . .

As always, thanks for reading and enjoy my nominees/winners for what has become an obligatory year in review.  Happy New Decade!

Song of the Year:

Better Oblivion Community Center – “Dylan Thomas”

Black Pumas - "Colors"

Citizen Cope – “Justice”

Hozier - "Almost (Sweet Music)"

Daniel Norgen - "Let Love Rule the Game"

Concert of the Year:

J Roddy Walston & The Business at Point State Park - June 11

Cautious Clay at Schenley Plaza - June 29 

Grand Masters of Guitar at THIS IS RED - July 11 

Pink Talking Fish at Hamilton Live – October 12

Phish at Petersen Events Center – December 4

Album of the Year 

Bon Iver “I, I”

City and Colour – “A Pill for Loneliness”

Sam Fender – “Hypersonic Missiles”

Bruce Hornsby - “Absolute Zero”

Dermot Kennedy – “Without Fear”

Take a right turn at the old Isaly's off of Boulevard of the Allies

When Ben Gibbard of the band Deathcab for Cutie sings “And if you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born / Then, it's time to go”, it drives home that I have now lived in Pittsburgh, PA almost the equivalent amount of time that I grew up in my hometown of Westfield, NJ. 

I am not ready to give up my Garden State-issued Bruce Springsteen fan-card or give directions to places in Pittsburgh by way of landmarks that are no longer there, but New Jersey has now become familiar and alien at the same time.  The Exit 135 sign means so many different things to me - coming home as a teenager after seeing live music at The Stone Pony (Asbury Park, NJ); being close to getting a relatively decent night sleep as I traveled along the East Coast with touring bands; and of course making mix-tapes with DJ Feldi - "I'm Rob Base and I came to get down".

However, most of these memories are more than 20 years old.  I still talk with and see my Jersey friends, and we all still share music and live show experiences via email, but I just don't know if the entire crew will be able to recapture the magic.  There will always be the bands and artists that proudly proclaim New Jersey as their home: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Kool & The Gang, The Gaslight Anthem, The Smithereens and Skid Row, but sometimes I feel so far away.  I could choose to walk around with my head down, singing to myself,  “Remember yesterday, walking hand in hand / Love letters in the sand, I remember you / Through the sleepless nights through every endless day / I'd want to hear you say, I remember you”, but I now think about my adopted home city and how I relate to music here.

Good news/bad news is that my musical tastes have matured and diversified over those two decades since traveling "west".  I am ankle-deep with a modest collection of vinyl - thank you Pete K. and friends from Independent Brewing Co.  I also see concerts as a business transaction- thank you 12 years and 10 months at Ticketmaster.  However, to tip the scales, my 30s brought me a new appreciation of what is probably my favorite style of music - brass bands.   And I now also take some pride in the Pittsburgh bands and artists that preceded me.  I therefore feel I need to educate my boys since they lay claim to the southwestern part of the Keystone State as their birthplace.

We have already had many conversations about Mac Miller (we walk past ‘Blue Slide Park every day on our way to school), The Clarks, Art Blakey, Rusted Root and Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers.  And thankfully there is a link back to the Garden State.  Grushecky and Springsteen have co-written several songs together and shared the stage in many Pittsburgh locations.  So as I continue to bridge my past with my present, I will always think fondly of my many nights in Hoboken and the evenings to come at places like the Roxian in McKees Rocks.

Thanks for reading.

Buckle of the Bible Belt

There is something brewing in Nashville and I am not just talking about what is in the vats of Yazoo Brewing Company.  There are countless songs that reference the city, but the one that jumps out at me as I type this is the TragicallyHip’s “It Can’t Be Nashville Every Night”: "He said, 'Fuck this' and 'Fuck that' / And this guy's the diplomat / Stares into the blur of the tuner lights / It can't be Nashville every night".  But Nashville does seem to be on everyone's radar.

While my adopted city of Pittsburgh keeps landing on "Best Of" lists, "Music City U.S.A" is also experiencing a number of accolades.  Often labeled one of the 10 best cities in America for live music, too me it is the home of Ryman Auditorium (listed on Rolling Stone's 10 Best Live Music Venues in America) as well as The Basement East or Station Inn, and the hits just keep on coming.  Whether it be from current Nashville resident Taylor Swift (along with Brendan Urie) singing "ME!" or the songs that originated from native Nashvillian legends Gregg Allman and Duane Allman or the other Grammy Award winning family act: Kings of Leon - no can argue that the city is a hub for music action. 

However, sports in the city appear to be on the rise and I really like when my interests in music and sports collide.  The city's professional hockey team, the Predators competed in the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup and the 2019 NFL Draft was recently held on the streets of Nashville.  And on the collegiate level - Vanderbilt University sports are ascending to new heights.  New basketball coach Jerry Stackhouse has brought in NBA legacies:  Scotty Pippen, Jr. and Kenyon Martin, Jr., while their perennial contender baseball program recently landed next generation, Major League Baseball prospect Jack Leiter and already has the son of an NFL player, Kumar Rocker on their roster.  I know that when most people think of the SEC, they are thinking of top tier collegiate athletics, but I have also learned that SEC is a directive to perform a specific passage of a musical composition in a dry, cold manner – essentially the way a musician might perform a song after sitting for hours on a bus.

A solid 10 hour drive south and west from Pittsburgh, Nashville is on my short list of places to visit.  I know that I do not typically praise country music in this blog or reference Music Row, but as my musical tastes continue to evolve I certainly realize that the city and the artists hold a special place in the live music spectrum.  Jason Aldeansings in “Crazy Town”:  “Roll into town step off the bus / Shake off the where you came from dust / Grab your guitar walk down the street / Sign says Nashville Tennessee”.

  

Thanks for reading.

Take my hand, we're gonna go where we can shine

Crystal is the traditional gift for a 15th wedding anniversary. It is supposed to represent the clear and sparkling love between partners. The modern gift is glass or a watch, which is thought by many to be a symbol of the time you've had—and the hope that that there are many more good times to come. But these gifts do not work in my relationship. We break too many glasses for those to make a good gift and my wife has good timing. Meanwhile I received a watch from her in 1997, and as a result, I am on-time (most of the time). The bottom line, is that I need to think of something else to commemorate our special date.

As my 15th wedding anniversary approaches, I find myself thinking about the strength of people working together, which in music, are duets. We have heard them on records for a long time, and maybe even performed one or two on karaoke night. According to Study.com the earliest vocal duets, as we think of them today, began with opera in the early 1600s, music fans then moved on to “Captain” Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille singing: "I will be there to share forever / Love will keep us together" and they now live on today in the form of a duet that features two of my favorite musicians: Bruce Hornsby and Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) singing the song “Cast-Off”.

So now that I have crystal and duets on my mind a unique duet that I recently learned about is that of Crystal Gayle & Tom Waits. In 1982, Gayle collaborated with Waits on the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's film "One from the Heart". However, to me there is nothing particularly sentimental about the year 1982 or this film. This led me to more brainstorming and asking myself what duets were we listening to in 2004 - the year that we were married. Well at a recent BBQ hosted by my friends John & Toni D., I was educated that Crystal Gayle is the younger sister of country superstar Loretta Lynn.

Produced and released in 2004 is the Loretta Lynn and Jack White album "Van Lear Rose", which I am now listening to on vinyl as I type this. Although my wife and I do not connect to any of the songs from this album, it reminds me that just like a good tandem bicycle frame is more than just two solo frames stuck together, so is a musical duet.

The past 15 years have produced so many good times in my life as well as other notable duets and although it would be fun to say that our jam in 2004 was "My Boo" by Usher and Alicia Keys, I am more interested in a different style of duets when a couple is building each other up for success.

I believe the gold standard for this type of duet is husband and wife Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. I could go on and on about their level of collaboration, but what really drives it home is the way that they look at each other when either Tedeschi is singing or Trucks is playing the guitar. For me it is all summed up on their rendition of Harry Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talkin’”: “I won't let you leave my love behind / No, I won't let you leave / I won't let you leave my love behind.”

Thanks for reading.

Yeah boyeee!

Rappers have their hype men, athletes have their playlists.

As my friends and I prepare for our respective running races, I think of the different jams that we are all listening to that get us motivated to run a long distance.

I always subscribe to the fact that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion (as well as musical taste).  That cliché could not be more true in the city of New Orleans, where Josh L. trained for the Rock n’ Roll Half-Marathon while listening to “a financial advisor podcast or articles from the New Yorker”.  Meanwhile 6,800 miles away, my brother-in-law continues to prepare for the Jerusalem Half-Marathon with songs like Run the Jewels with DJ Shadow’s “Nobody Speak” – in which there are lyrics like “I'm unmentionably fresh, I'm a mensch, get correct.”   And for those of you wondering, the jams pumping out of my headphones as I run the trails of Frick Park are typically Rage Against the Machine, but most of all I am just trying to brainstorm new blog ideas.

Running is not the only sport I associate with music. I recently attended a college basketball game at my alma mater.  Stepping into the Foggy Bottom gym, I was reminded of the fact that when I was in school the team used to listen to MC Breed featuring 2Pac’s “Gotta Get Mine” before heading out onto the Smith Center floor.  These days, I couldn’t tell if it was Post Malone or Meek Mill, but whoever it was, I was pleasantly surprised that it got the student section on its feet.

I try to channel this same powerful musical energy for my sons, before their basketball games. I make every effort to play an upbeat song for my sons before they take the court for one of their games. Hands down, this season’s highlight was their response to G. Love & Special Sauce’s 1998 song “I-76”. 

And in my adopted home city of Pittsburgh, there is a song played at Heinz Field that defines whipping the crowd into frenzy.  Who would have thought when Tommy Shaw was writing “Renegade” in 1978 for Styx’s album ‘Pieces of Eight'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeRoi43azds that it would eventually be used to “rock” an NFL stadium ().

I would like to think that we have come a long way since Gary Glitter’s 1971 “Rock and Roll, Part 2” (aka “The Hey Song”) was the anthem at all arenas and stadiums, but it really boils down to the DJ knowing his audience or the hype man, knowing the right exclamations and interjections to increase an audience's excitement.

Thanks for reading!

School Dance.

In my best Bruce Springsteen impersonation, “I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd, but when they said, "Sit down, " I stood up / Ooh...growin' up”.   

As some of my friends start to have children, it has started to sink in that I am now a parent of older children.  While it may be unsolicited, I still find myself offering advice about 1 cent less in value than what Lucy Van Pelt was providing from her “Psychiatric Help” booth in the Peanuts comic strip.  “Years are short, but the days are long” is what I say.  One friend responded by booing me and threatening to punch me in the face, while the other has convinced me that I just said some “sage shit”.

Meanwhile, I am just a dad, doing the best I can. I am maturing by spending more time with my family, diversifying my interests, and improving my second language skills.  The only thing that I have not done recently is go see live music (55 days to be exact). But I think that sacrifice is worth it since it means I get to continue to guide my boys through their trials and tribulations.

The other night I was sitting in the parking lot of my son’s school waiting to pick him up from his first Middle School Dance.  Serendipitously, Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose” starts to play on the radio and I initially think of Ren McCormack’s small Midwestern town struggle.  Thankfully my boys do not face the same sort of uphill battle as Ren and my conversation with my son post-dance is asking him what the superlatives were for the evening. 

Or there was a different night listening to the Pharcyde’s “Ya Mama” jokes with my boys and all of us laughing out loud.  I realize how offensive the lyrics are “Your mom is so fat (How fat is she?) / Your mama is so big and fat that she can get busy / With twenty-two burritos, but times are rough / I seen her in the back of Taco Bell with handcuffs”, and you have to believe me that with each tear we wiped away from our faces, I was reminding them that these jokes are not appropriate. 

Next thing I am going to realize is that my sons are reading this blog from their mobile phones while taking a driver-less Uber from Squirrel Hill to downtown as they make their way to a Andy Grammer show at the Benedum.

Thanks for reading & happy holidays.

But you're just a line in a song.

My brain works in strange ways.  There are times in my life in which I have song lyrics swirling around in my head.  In most instances they are a way for me to connect a song with what is going on in my world.  Legendary songwriter and performer Dolly Parton stated that, “Songwriting is my way of channeling my feelings and my thoughts. Not just mine, but the things I see, the people I care about. My head would explode if I didn't get some of that stuff out.”    

Meanwhile Dave Grohl says something similar, but is able to tie it to our shared experience of fatherhood: “When you have kids, you see life through different eyes. You feel love more deeply and are maybe a little more compassionate. It's inevitable that that would make its way into your songwriting.”   

Watching my sons either running for touchdowns in flag football games or trying to turn singles into double brings Cake’s song “The Distance” to mind: “He’s going the distance / He’s going for speed”.   Or the next song on the virtual mix-tape: Florence + The Machine’s catchy “Dog Days Are Over”: “So you better run.  Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father.”   These tracks make their way into my head without even trying.   

There are also times when my boys feel weighed down by their schoolwork and I do not have to dig too deep to come up with a classic from The Beatles. Paul McCartney’s vocals on “Getting Better” are still relevant today: "I used to get mad at my school / The teachers who taught me weren't cool / You're holding me down / Turning me round / Filling me up with your rules."     

Dealing with the recent tragic events in my neighborhood, my mind races to Animal Years’ Mike McFadden belting out in his song ‘Meet Me’:  “I hope you never feel the way I feel tonight” and then it directly transitions to Citizen Cope’s “The Healing Hands”: “’Cause the actions of a few / Have put a world in harm’s way”. 

No one should have to feel the way my family did at the end of October living in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, but this has become life as we know it.  Senseless tragedies, active shooter drills in my boys’ school, but also the constant search to be strong and remain positive.

Right now, it is wishful thinking in zip code 15217, but I remain optimistic when I hear Van Morrison sing: “And we'll walk down the avenue again / And we'll sing all the songs from way back when / And we'll walk down the avenue again and the healing has begun”.

Thanks for reading. 

Let Me Clear My Throat.

Throughout the early 1990s, I envisioned myself attending Syracuse University's Newhouse School to study broadcast journalism.  At the time, I was having a fantastic time co-hosting radio programs on Super 640 WCYJ in Amherst, NH with my friend Josh G. and definitively thought I had found my calling.

In addition to my affinity for radio, I loved being around music, so for me, being a DJ seemed like a natural way to be a part of the industry.  To this day, I am still drawn to the ability to both paint as well as frame a picture of a song (or string of songs) with only your voice.     

My interest in being a DJ carried over to my free time.  I grew up watching re-runs of the popular TV show "WKRP in Cincinnati" and easily became fully invested in a faux-Cincinnati radio station switching from sedate music to top-40 rock 'n' roll.  How could I not be fans of DJs like Venus Flytrap and Dr. Johnny Fever?  There was also Casey Kasem's American Top 40.  Like many people my age, I was hooked on the internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program.  I had a soft spot for the weekly "long distance dedication" and I can still remember the "Come On Eileen" showdown with Michael Jackson in April 1983.   Dexy's Midnight Runners' song prohibited the "King of Pop" from having back-to-back #1 hits with "Billie Jean" and "Beat It".

DJs not only introduced me to new songs, but their knowledge and the information that they dispensed to their listening audience stuck with me.  There were many, many late nights in Westfield, NJ in which I placed my handheld radio near my pillow and listened to New York City's 660 AM "the Fan" WFAN and Steve Somers "schmoozing" until Imus in the Morning.  These days, even in the age of podcasts and streaming, I wake up to WYEP's (91.3 FM in Pittsburgh) Joey Spehar's "Morning Mix" and start my day with his segment "Wake the Dead".  I really enjoy learning a slice of Grateful Dead history and listening to a song from their vast catalog of songs to get my day going.

I am not exactly sure when or where I took a different exit on my career path and ended up booking bands which then lead to the world of ticketing and now to my newest opportunity.  However, I know that there will be individuals who always play the music that continues to be the soundtrack of my life.    

Thanks for reading.

More popular than Jesus.

I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit Israel this summer for the first time in 20 years.

Israel's Tourism Ministry is touting the country as a sunny destination and highlighting its two largest cities, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem by using Bobby Hebb's 1966 song "Sunny".  However on my recent two week trip to the Middle East, I had another group from the 1960s continually entering my conscious.  It started with a trip to an Israeli hamburger chain that we dined in multiple times named Burgerim broadcasting the tag line "Come Together".  While I do not believe there is a deliberate connection between the restaurant and the 1969 Beatles song from Abbey Road, this was not the only Beatles reference I came across during my recent travels.

As we traveled throughout the country, it seemed like our rental car's radio had a preference for playing a song by the Beatles.  First it was the Beatles (1964's "And I Love Her"), then a member of The Beatles (Paul McCartney's 1983 "Say Say Say") and finally a local artist covering The Beatles (Tatran's "Strawberry Fields Forever").  Once out of the car, and walking along Ha-Meyasdim St in Zikhron Ya'akov (an artist colony at the southern end of the Carmel mountain range overlooking the Mediterranean Sea) The Beatles were blaring from a street vendor's stereo.  On a different evening, I was sitting along Ben Yehuda Street, a pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, and witnessed a musical duo (one of the members was an Israeli soldier) jamming on an acoustic guitar and harmonica to what could have been their best rendition of 1963's "Love Me Do".

All of these audio signs had me wondering if there any truths to The Beatles loving Israel back?  And the answer is no.  Fifty-two years after a proposed concert by The Beatles fell by the wayside (1966 for those scoring at home and the reasons for the cancellation appear to be tied to the corruptive influence the band might have on Israeli youth of the day), Paul McCartney took the honors as the first Beatle to perform in Israel.   For the 45,000 in attendance at  the show in Tel Aviv's Park Hayarkon in 2008, they were treated to Sir Paul showering them in Hebrew with lines like "Shalom Tel Aviv, shana tova" and some greatest hits.   Not to be outdone, earlier this year Ringo Starr performed two nights at the Menorah Mivtahim Arena in Tel Aviv. These shows are highly anticipated, most likely due to many artists choosing to bypass this region.  But at the same time, there is something special in the air of cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

I am not well-traveled internationally, so my guess is that what I saw and heard in Israel is not unique when it comes to The Beatles.  However, in my opinion, it speaks to the magnitude of influence that the band continues to carry.  Please let me remind you that the band has been "broken up" since 1969, but there are still Beatles tribute bands like Israel's Magical Mystery Tour, who will be teaming up in October 2019 with the Israel Chamber Orchestra to bring the Fab Four's songs to life in a series of shows across the country.

Thanks for reading.