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.”

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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.

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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.

It's time to play the music. It's time to light the lights.

Colors can trigger emotions, and can also have a significant effect on developing minds.

I still remember my first experience of watching a Pink Floyd laser light show at Hayden Planetarium in Boston all the way back in November 1991.  Reclining in the chair, sitting amongst my friends (Robby, Greg and Hammer) and listening to the songs that I had previous only heard on the stereo in Jason's house.  Combining the audio with the visual, the songs began to take on a different meaning, particularly when I started to think about the lyrics of the ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ song ‘Breathe’: “Long you live and high you fly / And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry / And all you touch and all you see  / Is all your life will ever be”. 

I can also recall a God Street Wine show at the Bayou in Washington DC in May 1995.  This show took place to support the release of their first major record label album (“$1.99 Romances”).  Signing with Geffen Records seemed to officially mark that the band was “big time”.  However, the only reason I knew something was up is that the lights showering down on stage started to change during their set.  It was so noticeable that the band even commented mid-set that must have “made it” since they could all confirm seeing different colors of wash lights.  At a time in which I was first starting to put my toes in the water of working professionally in the music industry, this sequence initiated the thought in my mind of the different levels of success in the world of touring bands.

Or there is the story my friend Pete recently retold to me about attending the band Lettuce’s show at Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, CO in October 2017.  There could have (most likely) been other things involved, but he will argue with all due respect to Grammy Award winning guitarist Eric Krasno, that he was more fascinated with the light show than the set list.  This is not a knock on the musicians band, but a testament to the thought that venues and artists put into live concerts.  It also speaks to the multiple facets in which people choose to enjoy a concert – again combining the audio and the visual.  And in the same jamband circles that Lettuce earned its reputation, a lot of the same fans will tell you that Chris Kuroda (aka Topher) is the fifth member of Phish. . . .His instrument is the light board.

Thanks for reading.