Only One.

Kevin Costner’s character in the 1988 movie ‘Bull Durham’ said, "Know whatthe difference between hitting .250 and .300 is? It's 25 hits. 25 hits in 500 at bats is 50 points, okay? There's 6 months in a season, that's about 25weeks. That means if you get just one extra flare a week. . .you get a groundball with eyes. . .and you're in Yankee Stadium."  My boys play a lot of baseball and although they favor the long-ball, they also know that a single is necessary to complete the cycle and sometimes a single base hit means knocking in one more run.  

When I think of the word single, I know that it has numerous meanings, especially when it comes to music.  I recently went to see the band Judah and the Lion perform.  Attending the concert by myself, I was able to absorb a lot of what was going on around me and was excited when the band announced that they were about to play their first single, “Take it All Back”.  Although it has not yet charted on Billboard, this first song from their new album, “Folk Hop n' Roll”, further blends the musical styles of hip-hop to folk, which I believe we will be hearing more of in 2017.

I definitively favor the album format, but I can admit that I used to purchase cassette singles (aka the "cassingle") as well as CD singles to hear what I thought could be cool, alternate versions of songs.  One of my favorites from 1993 was the Beastie Boys' “So Whatcha Want” with B-Real (from Cypress Hill) rapping a verse; however, the version of “So Whatcha Want” that I am listening to in 2016 is by The Record Company.   And the album that I cannot wait to listen to from start to finish is A Tribe Called Quest’s, “We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service”, not just the song labeled “the single”.   

I found myself focusing on the word single again this past week.  Although I am happily married, I recently played the role of Michael Keaton’s Jack, from the 1983 film “Mr. Mom”.   For 8 nights and 7 days while my wife traveled internationally, I was with my boys when they woke-up, got them to school, worked on homework right after school, fed them at dinnertime, made sure that they showered and went to bed.  We would then get up and do it all over again the next day, except on the weekend when we worked in time for basketball and pinball.

As much as I enjoy doing a lot of things on my own, this past week reminded me my family has become my team.  My wife is now back safely in Pittsburgh, my boys are becoming much more reliable in helping with chores around the house and I also realize that I do not need to be the power-hitting first baseman all the time to get things done.   I can go back to my collection of music singles, listen to Del Amitri's "Learn to Cry" and remember the line, "A familiar face with a loving smile greets you every day", and think that even when I am flying solo, I am a part of a great crew.

Thanks for reading.           

Passport to Culture.

Based on multiple sociological studies, music is widely enjoyed by people from diverse backgrounds and by numerous cultures.   I find it unique that various cultural activities can bleed into music and as a result make music a welcoming part of that culture.  Patsy Cline sings in her 1958 single "Come On In (And Make Yourself At Home)":  "If I had one wish, I wish I could / Go back to my old neighborhood / Where the good folks they all love you as their own / Then I'd go over to my neighbor's house / Knock on the door 'n they'd all sing out / Come on in and sit right down and make yourself at home". 

Bon Iver sings on his new 2016 song "33 'GOD,'" “I'd be happy as hell, if you stayed for tea”.  I have been listening to this song a lot lately and upon arriving in New York City recently, the first thing I was offered by my friend/host/ was a cup of tea.  She is originally from Ireland, and I have learned that for her, having tea in the house is a top priority.  Offering the visitor a cup of tea is the backbone of Irish hospitality.  In fact, I have heard that Irish homes must never run out of either tea bags or toilet paper. 

Other countries have different, but no less important, customs.  Most Asian cultures from Vietnam to India and Singapore to Japan have deeply entrenched traditions about removing shoes before entering homes.  Although he is of Czech and Slovak lineage, Jason Mraz sings in a 2014 song, "Whatever mama say / You better listen to your mama . . .Take your shoes off at the door / Don't track no mud along that floor".   In Asian countries, the entrance to a living space is usually lower than the rest of the home. You step up into the house and this design allows for all dirty and wet gear to be left in the entrance, hence the house stays clean.  According Asian Lifestyle and Design, "this has a physical and psychological purpose: the motion of stepping up to a different level, allows one to be aware that they are entering someone’s private space".

Another way that culture and music can intersect is with spiritual song.  L'chah Dodi is a Judaic song recited Friday at sundown to welcome Shabbat prior to evening services.  It is part of the Kabbalat Shabbat ("welcoming of Sabbath").  L'chah Dodi means "come my beloved," and is a request of a mysterious "beloved" that could mean either God or one's friend(s) to join together in welcoming Shabbat that is referred to as the "bride": likrat kallah ("to greet the [Shabbat] bride"). During the singing of the last verse, the entire congregation rises and turns to the open door, to greet "Queen Shabbat" as she arrives.

There is nothing like the feeling of being comfortable either in your home or when traveling.  And if your host is willing to introduce you to the blend of South Asian samples, London slang and U.S. hip hop music of the Swet Shop Boys, featuring Heems (ex-Das Racist) and Riz MC (actor Riz Ahmed), I think you will find a way to relax and feel welcomed.

Thanks for reading.

Generation Z.

My wife always used to compare my time on the road as a booking agent/tour manager with that of my experience of being a camp counselor.  I saw some similarities with that analogy but I see many more now, as a parent of two young children.  As my boys grow older, I am experiencing more and more deja vus, and sometimes, my sons say or do things that take me right back to my days of being in and out of concert clubs.  

For example, whereas I used to coordinate the details of a show with a club and make sure that bands had clean towels in the dressing room, I am now asking my boys to wash their hands before meals and after using the bathroom.  Also on show dates, the line-up of a show determined what time sound check was and what time we had to be in the club.   In my life today, every morning, I am reviewing the boys’ homework, making sure the boys' lunches are packed and that we are out the door on schedule to get to school on time.  I also remember paying close attention to the liner notes of an album and seeing who the bands/artists would credit for making the recording possible.  This translates to my current world in the way that I remind my boys to say: “please” & “thank you”.

It does not end with everyday life, but also carries over to the conversations I have with my sons.  It just might be how my brain works, but music and lyrics are always cycling in and out of my head.  As a result, their actions and words allow me to introduce them to music from my past that is new to them.   Recently, my boys were trying to delay bed-time by walking around in circles and singing, “we’re walking in circles / we’re walking in circles”.  They did not realize that they were copping the 1998 Soul Coughing song “Circles” in which Mike Doughty sings, “need to walk around in circles, walk around in circles /Walk around in circles, walk around in.”  I immediately played them the song and they were laughing hysterically.  Or the other day when my younger son had a eureka moment about a question he had earlier in the day which led him to let out a dramatic “Ohhhhh” which quickly turned it into a chant “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh”. Of course, he never would have realized that he was directly lifting the New Kids on the Block lyrics from the 1988 song “Right Stuff”.

For as many connections my boys and I make on a regular basis, I am learning that we are not always traveling the same path to get there.  We recently went roller-skating and while I was asking the DJ to play Deee-Lite's 1990 song "Groove Is In TheHeart" they were excited to ask for Justin Timberlake’s 2016 song “Can't Stop the Feeling”.   Thankfully the DJ played both songs and we laughed in circles all the way around the Neville Roller Drome.

Thanks for reading!

Pay It Forward.

“Now I been lookin' for a job but it's hard to find / Down here it's just winners and losers / And don't get caught on the wrong side of that line / Well I'm tired of comin' out on this losin' end / So honey last night I met this guy / And I'm gonna do a little favor for him.”  For the past 10 years, I have lived a world in which bartering has been a form of currency:  tickets for haircuts, tickets for pizza, and tickets for drinks are a few exchanges that I have been a part of in and around Pittsburgh.  But surprisingly, it was an event that I could not land tickets to in which I received a life lesson and favor.

Living in Washington DC in the mid-1990s there was no hometown baseball team to root for during the season.  If you wanted to attend a game in-person you needed to drive a car out to Bowie for the AA-Baysox (the Calvin Pickering “Cheeseburger” chant story is for another time) or you needed to take the MARC train to Baltimore which dropped you off right outside Camden Yards.

In the spring of 1995, my friends and I figured out what date/game that Cal Ripken would break Lou Gehrig’s unbelievable record of consecutive games played.  We circled September 6, 1995 on the calendar and then went our separate ways for the summer.  Upon our return from the break, every one of my friends, for a variety of excuses, backed out of the trip to Charm City and I was left to fend for myself.

The atmosphere around the stadium was electric and between the memorabilia outside and trading with fans thru the iron grate fence for memorabilia only available inside, for me it was like a Middle Eastern shook meets New Year’s Eve in Times Square.  When I realized that I would not be able to score a ticket get into the game, I grabbed myself dinner and drinks and watched on a large screen right outside of the stadium.   And then once the game became official, I made my way over to the MARC train platform only to find that I had my return train ticket, but $0 in my pocket. 

Standing and waiting with another couple, an announcement was made that the next MARC train for Washington DC would not be leaving until 1 hour after the game concluded.  Immediately the other couple that I was standing with decided that they were going to hustle to Penn Station-Baltimore to see if they could catch an Amtrak train back to Washington DC. They were surprised when I did not want to share a cab with them to the station.  I quickly explained my financial situation and the man insisted that we would sort it out at the train station.  However upon arriving at the train station, the train was boarding and the man again said we would sort out the cost of the ticket on the actual train.  When we finally found ourselves situated on the train, he explained that he did not want me to pay him back, but down the line to provide tickets to someone else at no cost for a ballgame or concert.

In the cultural circle and parking lots surrounding the Grateful Dead and their live shows, “I need a miracle” has been one of the more common pleas for a ticket to that night’s show.  I worked for a concert promoter at the time of my experience in Baltimore and very quickly my +1 the remainder of that fall would go to the person standing in line in back of me at the box office window waiting to purchase a ticket.  The look of surprise and happiness never got old and still does not.   Now working in the ticketing industry and having the opportunity to help family, friends and sometimes complete strangers reminds me of other lyrics, “What would you do if I sang out of tune / Would you stand up and walk out on me? / Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song / And I'll try not to sing out of key / Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.”

Thanks for reading.

Death. Taxes. Cal Ripken Jr.

One of the first bands I promoted on my own when trying to break into the Washington DC music scene was the State College, PA-based band The Dirges.  Good band, but I still wonder why a mournful piece of music would be thought of as a clever band name.  What I did not realize at the time is that death will always be a part of music.  My friend Pete recently saw an art film at the Carnegie Museum of Art that was about Vietnamese funeral music and rituals called "The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music."  In 2016 alone, the music industry has lost the influential talents of Prince, Merle Haggard, Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor, Maurice White (of Earth, Wind & Fire) and David Bowie.  And with each passing, the tributes have been endless.

My friend JJ thought of an interesting new metric to measure in music.  Would bandmates cry at each other’s funerals?  And does that have any connection to the chemistry on stage during a live show?  His experience was recently seeing Aesop Rock & Rob Sonic and the answer was “yes”.   Rob literally finished Aesop Rock’s sentences when they were rapping together.  Aesop referred to Rob as his "brother" and talked about them both being genuine fans of each other's work.

Wondering about my own musical experiences, I immediately thought of the Beastie Boys.  Although I was not there, I can almost guarantee that Mike D and Ad-Rock did not have dry eyes at MCA’s funeral.   Sadly, the same might not be said for Don Felder at Glen Frey’s funeral.  I am sure there was extreme sorrow upon hearing the news, but knowing that the two were estranged, makes me think that another Eagles reunion show would not have been their best concert.

The significance of death and music can also be seen and heard at a "jazz funeral" or "funeral with music" which originated in New Orleans, LA, but also has links to other parts of the world.  The organizers of the funeral hire a brass band as part of the service and the band typically leads the mourners from the church to the cemetery.  Throughout the march, the band plays somber hymns, but after the hearse leaves the procession, the music becomes more upbeat, often raucous.  There is even a name to describe those who follow the band, just to enjoy the music on such a somber day: The Second Line.  Second line parades range in size, level of organization and traditions, but in all cases they can have the spontaneous energy of a block party, just moving one block at a time.

Reading Arthur C. Brooks' New York Times article, "To Be Happier, Start Thinking More About Your Death", I learned that it is believed that “Buddhist monks often contemplate death”.  But puzzlingly this “meditation on death is intended as a key to better living”.  It might make a person ask, “Life is precious, am I making the most of my time?”  Ideally bandmates are thinking along those lines when creating music either in the studio or live.  But I am not stating that you need to go check out as many of your favorite musicians as possible.  I am thinking more about how as a music fan, it might be best to enjoy each and every concert if you thought it might be your last.

Thanks for reading.

Seen & Heard vol. 5

SATURDAY, JULY 9 – Ferdinand the Bull at Deutschtown Music Festival’s Park Stage (Pittsburgh, PA)

I know that I only saw 0.005% of the bands performing at this year’s 4th annual Deutschtown Music Festival, but my family and I made the one set that we saw count.  Opening up this year’s festival was Pittsburgh’s own Americana/bluegrass band Ferdinand the Bull (FTB).  Excited by the release of their new album “Days We Forgot”, the energy of the 4-piece (mandolin, percussion, acoustic guitar & banjo) carried over to their live set even for an early Saturday morning.  In fact, guitarist Nick Snyder broke a string on the second song.

Sitting on the Allegheny Commons East, we listened, ate our sandwiches and then talked about the music.  My boys really liked the beats being made by the Mini-Cajon, I was a fan of the mandolin playing and overall FTB kept everyone tapping their foot or in my younger son’s case snapping his fingers.  Deserving of a larger crowd, I was happy to learn that FTB scored an opening slot for Josh Ritter at Hartwood Acres later in the month. 

But as the band’s set wound down, my sons’ attention were drawn to the Venture Outdoors rock wall and while they were climbing,  I was asked to be an extra in the upcoming Netflix series being filmed in Pittsburgh, “Mindhunter” (produced by actress Charlize Theron & Kevin Spacey and directed by David Fincher).  It was tempting to stay for the next band (which we knew nothing about), but easing my boys into the all-day music festival scene was more important to me this afternoon than “making” them listen to an electro-soul duo. 

Thank you to festival founders Cody Walters and Ben Soltesz.   We hope to spend even more time in Deutschtown in 2017!

TUESDAY, JULY 12 – Guns N' Roses at Heinz Field (Pittsburgh, PA)

In the fall of 1988, after I had purchased my cassette copy of “Appetite for Destruction” from The Music Staff, I honestly never thought I would see Guns N’ Roses (GNR) perform live.  Or at least a version of the band that included Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan.  Not that I did not have an interest in going to see concerts, but more that the shows that I had been attending up until that point were heavily influenced by my brother and older cousins.  And my brother and older cousins will be quick to point out that I owned my allegiance to GNR since they had zero interest.

But while the Heinz Field crowd arrived (fashionably) late, I walked out to the sounds of “Welcome to the Jungle” and for this moment in time, GNR placed all of the drama aside to play a rock n’ roll show for the fans that had been waiting.  And for the first time, I heard the influences in the band that I had first listened to at age 13.  Maybe it was their cover of the 1973 hit by Paul McCartney and Wings, “Live and Let Die”, the Pink Floyd-esque version of “Estranged” or the Led Zeppelin guitar sounds of  “Rocket Queen”, I was finally hearing where I think GNR is coming from.

And in 2016 (28 years later), although Rose, paced his voice throughout the set – passing on some notes and nailing a number of others, what really jumped out at me were the true power chords from Slash as well as the rhythms being held down by McKagan (who sported Prince’s “love symbol” on his bass) and drummer Frank Ferrer.  Ferrer was more than solid and although he now appears to be best known as the drummer for GNR, with whom he has played, toured, and recorded since 2006, I also learned he has worked with several high profile musicians including Tool, Neil Young and Perry Farrell.

I am glad I got to see this incarnation of the band at this point in time.  Because, not only did I ever think I would seem live, but in all of my musical travels, I never thought I would say that I worked at a GNR show either.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13 – Ryan Adams and The Shining at Stage AE (Pittsburgh, PA)

It was a busy night for concerts in Pittsburgh.  And I was very happy knowing that my evening would evolve from working in the box office for a teen-pop show to a concert featuring one of the leading American singer-songwriters.  

Using Pittsburgh’s under-utilized, underground transit system from downtown to the North Shore I felt a sense of relief mingling with the fans of Ryan Adams as opposed to the Bieber Fever that had taken over CONSOL Energy Center.  I cannot specifically put my finger on it, but it was most likely the age demographic and the fact that a majority of the fans in Stage AE were experienced concert-goers.  So finally amongst friends who had converged on Stage AE from around the U.S. to see Ryan Adams and The Shining, the subject of United States geography was (one of the things) in the air.  It was wild, standing in a group in which Athens, GA; Chanhassen, MN and Washington DC were represented and that was just the people I attended the show with.

And to keep the geography theme going - highlights of the night for me included songs, “New York New York”; “Dear Chicago” and “Oh My Sweet Carolina”.  Backed by the Shining, Adams’ band also brought their A-game and I was particularly impressed with organ player/pianist Daniel Clarke.  But it was clearly Adams’ show.  He worked the crowd like an old pro, engaging in banter with fans who were shouting out requests and in return being unapologetically self-assertive and head-strong in his responses.  Leaning back into the amps, posing with his guitar at the far end of the stage and just all around being a rock-star and when it comes down it, it was his name on the marquee.  Traveling with retro pinball and soda machines and stuffed animals as stage décor, but then backing it up as a triple-threat: good singing, solid songs and impressive guitar playing. 

Meanwhile 28 miles west of Stage AE, another rock-star: John Mayer was fronting Dead & Co. at First Niagara Pavilion – a show that I would have also like to have seen.  However, after seeing Ryan Adams perform “Magnolia Mountain”, it would be interesting down the road to see him play with surviving members of the Grateful Dead.

TUESDAY, JULY 26 – Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats at Stage AE (Pittsburgh, PA)

Nathaniel Rateliff is clearly an artist on the rise.  He has a career sitting somewhere between staff members at Stage AE not being familiar with his soulful music and having his own Kia Soul Hamster television commercial. 

Playing a vast majority of his set from his current self-titled album, Rateliff affectionately boasted that the crowd tonight would get to hear him and The Night Sweats “play the hits”.  Highlighted by songs, “I Never Get Old”, “Look It Here”, “Thank You” as well as the surprisingly unreleased song “Out on the Weekend”, the band kept the tempo of the show as well as all of those in attendance moving.  And the crowd was not the only people feeling the sounds filling Stage AE.  Keyboardist Mark Shusterman lost his hat during an enthusiastic solo and one of the horn players knocked over a microphone stand in the middle of his Chicago horn section-esque dance steps circa 1973.  Rateliff appeared equally as happy playing his guitar as he was dancing and keeping rhythm with a tambourine. 

Playing music with his close friends, the band looked happy and energetic.  He mentioned that he and bassist Joseph Pope III have been making music for 20 years, and I could get a sense that the band’s heavy touring schedule is paying off.  In fact the band has another 20 dates on the books through the end of September 2016.  

However as I listened to the music in a packed, indoor club on a humid night in Pittsburgh, it was his voice and the songs that were the star of the sold out show.  Time for the rest of us to discover Nathaniel Rateliff and the Wheel as well as his three solo records released between 2011-2013.

  

Seven Thirty Seven comin' out of the sky. / Oh! Won't you take me down to Memphis on a midnight ride.

It was once relayed to me that "rock 'n' roll is about getting in your cracked-up van and driving out to the middle of nowhere to play or see a show".  There is a lot of truth to that statement and it was very cool having that sentiment written out in an eloquent, fun style in Jesse Andrews’ book “The Haters”.  As someone who used to travel in a van from concert to concert, some of the trials and tribulations experienced by the main characters made me laugh out loud.

There is a tremendous amount of bonding going on while traveling with a band.  Now having the life experience of being married for over 10 years, I think back to those times and at some points it almost seems like the band members and I were a couple. Negotiations and compromises occurred regularly, on controversial topics like navigating directions to gigs (pre-GPS) and determining when and where to stop for the night. I remember one night where we got in our van after a 3 hour gig in San Luis Obispo, CA and traveled another 3 hours to Bakersfield, CA – mostly along a harrowing CA-Route 46 for at least half the trip.  The two-lane stretch from Paso Robles to Cholame was once known as "Blood Alley" for the large number of car crashes.  Upon learning this information, the bass player almost quit the band.

In another instance, one of the houses we used to stay in many times in Washington DC had a basement made for a band.   Old, stained furniture and nothing else that was not replaceable filled the room.  The concrete floor slept 6 people as comfortable as it could and the residents of the house were always up (literally and figuratively) for late night shenanigans.  In fact, the term “Tuesday Night Drunk” (no matter which night of the week it was) spun out of a visit to the now defunct Metro Café.  The reasons for both the journey to Bakersfield and the occasional off nights in Washington DC was not other performance opportunities, but free places to stay.

I recently read an article by Brian O’Neill called ‘Couch Surfin’ USA’ which went on to talk about a Pittsburgh-based band, Ferdinand the Bull, and their experiences of touring.  Throughout a recent tour thru middle America, they used the internet to find their accommodations for the evening.  The difference in having a comfortable, free place to stay along with a safe place to store gear was immeasurable until it came time to look at the band’s bank account and then the savings were even more easily measured.  It was a huge nest egg and even allowed some of the bands I worked with to have money left to make payments on the van and enable more touring.

With summer tours in full-swing, I hope you can all get out and see at least one show this summer!  Thanks for reading.