...ok. i realize that i was just in milwaukee as recently as sunday morning...but that was the result of a last minute spur of the moment megan-induced decision to go see ian moore in concert...i had actually made plans to go to milwaukee to see my friend mikey bales of UHQ way back like a couple days before that. so monday i went up to milwaukee, aGAIN, so i could hang out with mikey. i had never spent any real time in milwaukee, so he was going to show me around since he was pretty much a native. the drive up there wasn't bad at all. it only took me an hour from lake forest. i think i got lucky because it was monday traffic. after spending a little time w/ mikey's parents & his sister sara at an outdoor concert, mikey & i headed towards downtown by the river. we parked across the street from this elaborate structure called the Pabst Theater, which i found hilarious that such a fancy looking building would be named after the old blue ribbon brew. there was no doubt about it. i was in wisconsin.

...actually, i really love the architecture in milwaukee, especially the old buildings. and we had just made it for the hour of the gloaming...the massive tall stone structures were all beaming golden in the light of the early summer evening sun's descent. the weather was so perfect for a july evening in the midwest. it was the type of weather that just made you giddy and high. the light was so beautiful...

...mikey & i walked along the river...i think it was the milwaukee river? kinda like how the chicago river runs through chicago's downtown, ya know? well, milwaukee did a great job w/ its riverfront.

/p>... if you lived in chicago during the past several years, you would be familiar with the sculptures of cows that were on display all over the downtown area. well, milwaukee has these things called 'beasties.' they actually do look like beasts of burden, and they were all over the downtown area by the riverwalk. we found this one that was playing the accordion, and i named it 'erik' after erik brandt, the ringleader of UHQ who plays the accordion. if you don't believe me, look at this picture:

...uncanny, isn't it? anyways, there were a bunch of other beasties but i'm not going to post all of their pictures here because i just don't have the room.

...mikey was so much fun to hang out with. and he was great for taking photos because he wasn't shy at all about posing. that makes a photographer so happy cuz it's no fun just taking pictures of buildings and objects; sometimes you want your buddy in the picture so you remember who you were with when you had that nikon moment. overall, downtown milwaukee and the riverwalk were much better than i had imagined they would be. and i know i said this before, but the weather just made everything that much better because it was so darn pleasant.

ok, so we had dinner at a place called beans and barley which had like, you know, healthy food. it wasn't totally vegetarian, but they definitely had the options. i had me a tofu burger, which may sound unappetizing to the average person, but you have to realize how far tofu technology has come over the years. i love that stuff. and it's good for you too. anyways, over dinner, mikey had the privilege of finding out what a wacked out life i've had...especially the last 12 months or so of it. it's always really hard to tell folks who don't know me too well or haven't known me too long what i've been going through. i think i'm getting better at it though, the more often i tell my "story." mikey was very understanding and a great listener. he didn't make me feel like a loser at all.

...after dinner, we drove by the lakefront and sat on the beach and watched the stars and sang american folk songs and songs from the soundtrack of o brother where art thou. mikey's so nice...he doesn't complain about my singing like most other folks would if i were singing in front of them ..the weather was actually a little chilly for a summer night, but it was still lovely to be able to sit at the water's edge of such a magnificent body of water like lake michigan. i need more nights like this one...it was just so perfectly beautiful!

oh, one interesting side note: for those of you who are UHQ fans, i have had the privilege of listening to the original original 'amelia's boot' tape!!! mikey had a copy of the first UHQ recording which happens to have the same name as their most recent album. you may have heard rumors (which erik brandt would neither confirm or deny) of the existence of such a recording, and i'm here to tell you that it's true! it's all true! it was a definite thrill to hear the early (EARLY) version of UHQ. they've, uhm, come a long way, you might say. actually, there were some songs on there that i think should go on a future album, but that's just me. whadda i know, eh?

so saturday morning, megan and i had breakfast w/ tim & his boys. i was really really wanting to go to milwaukee that night to see ian moore in concert again. so meg & i decide to do it. we got to the venue around 8:30pm and had dinner. it was the best bar food i've ever had. if you're ever in milwaukee, i strongly recommend going to the social bar and grill located near downtown at 434 s. 2nd avenue or street or whatever. i had the sweet & spicy curried veggies over saffron rice. it was to die for. especially since i thought i would be getting a grilled cheese sandwich, one of the few vegetarian options that most bar kitchens can accomodate. oh, the picture is of the ladies room. i liked the decor. i have this thing about taking pictures of ladies rooms. don't ask...i do things i don't understand all the time...

megan & i went up to see ian before the show. he was so surprised i came up from chicago and was actually just about to send me an email right when i entered the room he was hanging out at. chris, ian's tour manager & backup instrumentalist, came up and hung out w/ us too. it was great to spend some time w/ ian. megan and i got to request that he do one of my favorite songs off 'via satellite' ian's live album called wash away my troubles which is a sam cooke cover. that song totally makes me cry. the show was totally awesome--it was such a small venue (i LOVE the small venue!!!), and i pretty much stood right in front of the tiny stage so i could take some pictures. i swear, it was like being in heaven seeing & hearing ian perform live again...anybody who's talked to me since i discovered ian's music last wednesday night knows i'm not exaggerating when i say that...his music literally transports me through the roof high up above the natural plane we call earth, and i can literally feel my soul soar with the butterflies and fairies and angels who make that realm their playground. i wonder if i'll ever run into my dad up there...man, that must be another reason i love ian's music...it takes me to a place where i feel i have a better chance of being closer to my dad...ok. getting choked up...crimeny...

mikey bales & his friend tim came out to the show since mikey's been staying w/ his folks in milwaukee. i'd been raving to mikey about ian, so he was glad he could check out the music for himself. it was so glad to see mikey again...megan was so glad to see him too; she hadn't seen him since c-stone. i'm going to go see mikey on monday and hang out in milwaukee, his old stomping grounds, since i've never spent any time up there. ok. back to the show. yeah, it was totally awesome. i think the social may have very well run out of rum by the end of the night though because ian & chris were drinking mojitos all night, and after ian told the audience about how good they were, half the bar ordered mojitos. everytime i went up to the bar to get another one for chris or ian, the bartendress was making one for someone else. at the end of the evening, when i went up to close the tab, she thought i wanted another mojito and told me she needed to get more rum; they'd run out. ian totatlly should've gotten a cut of those sales.

after the show, megan and i hung out w/ chris & ian just being goofy & talking. we had absolute no liquor on us except what was already in our blood stream so we were pretty sober. i know i totally was. chris...well, i don't know...he had a lot of mojitos...but his blood seems pretty thick, so who know. chris actually ended up being a real sweetie. he & i are both into photography & we both have the entire pedro the lion and death cab for cutie collection on our computers. i thought that was uncanny. i didn't think he'd be an emo guy. well, he's not, really...he likes a lot of other funky stuff too. we had fun taking pictures--i can't wait to see the ones he took w/ what he calls his cheap digital lomo, which is just a cheap low pixel digital camera that he got for free from his ISP. he'd do this thing where he'd throw it up in the air to see what picture would come out.

so as megan & i were leaving, chris was nice enough to give us a parting gift, a consolation prize i guess. he gave me his rubber stress chicken. the chicken's body actually is a stress ball that you can squeeze to alleviate stress i suppose. he gave it to me on grounds that i had to send him pictures of it in weird places. i'm not even going to tell you how many pictures i've taken of that chicken already. i take my assignments seriously. alright, that's it for now...more later...

p.s. megan & i are definitely going to seattle for the bumbershoot festival labor day weekend! i'm gonna get to see wilco after all! not to mention all the beautiful seattlelites i miss so much and love so well...if only denison could get out of the studio to join us, that would be perfect!

stuff i've been playing on the cd player:
via satellite--ian moore (this is the live cd that is electric and kicks ass from here to timbuktu; it's frickin' awesome!)
ian moore's got the green grass--ian moore (take THAT, capricorn! this album is beautifully eclectic.)
keep it like a secret--built to spill
summerteeth--wilco
i break chairs--damien jurado & gathered in song
bourbonitis blues--alejandro escovedo
a man under the influence--alejandro escovedo
s/t--holiday runner

cover story

alright. so i got in a little while ago, and i did something out of the ordinary for friday nite's activity. i didn't go to schubas or the abbey pub or to the metro or the empty bottle or the hideout or fitzgeralds or uncommon ground or even the hidden cove. i went to joe's sports bar on weed street. it was a night out w/ my posse from high school, connolly & olarn. connolly planned the evening for us, and one of his favorite cover bands, catfight, was playing there. yeah, that's right, i said a cover band.

i gotta say, i was pretty amazed that so many people paid $8 to see a couple cover bands. i mean, there had to have been over 500 people in the room we were in. it was pretty crazy. the opening band, catfight, was an all girl band. it was like being at a professional karaoke contest. everybody loves singing along w/ a cover band. and these girls had that spice girls thing going on, with the tight outfits that show off the midriff and the platform sandals. i guess if you let a couple guys make the decision on what to do for a friday night, you take the risk of seeing an all-girl cover band.

well, they opened up for this other band called the aphrodisiacs or something like that. they were a disco cover band. yes, i'm telling the truth. it was fun just to watch. it was downright raunchy at times. these guys gyrating on stage just inches from your face--that's NOT where i wanted to be, but it happened. there were a couple times that i just wanted to hide behind connolly. i happened to be taking photos, and the lead singer decided to pick on me.

so if you love disco, and you enjoy male hip thrusting inches from your face and you don't mind being almost sexually assaulted, this is totally your band. fortunately, connolly wasn't set on seeing the whole show, and he took me home a little earlier so i wouldn't have to deal with the band.

even though i wouldn't get all excited over visiting a couple of cover bands. still...every now and then, you want to feel the music in your heart. actually, for me, i ALWAYS want to feel the music in my heart...

what i listened to today:
via satellite--ian moore (AN AWESOME ALBUM!!)
ian moore's got the green grass--ian moore (ANOTHER AWESOME ALBUM)
grace--jeff buckley
never mind the bullocks...--the sex pistols
the places you have come to fear the most--dashboard confessional

well, so the story continues...i went to a show wednesday night at schubas for a dude named ian moore. it was kind of a spur of the moment thing because the band playing at the fireside where i went for an early show was having too many technical difficulties (uhm, you could smell something burning...), and it was a death metal band to begin with (i didn't really choose this band; just kind of went to check out the fireside cuz i'll be shooting some shows there soon), so i left and went over to schubas instead. it ended up being an excellent and serendipitous choice.

first of all, the opening act, port eleki (kevin & anthony of the band 41 rivers), played some really pretty music. the whole show was entirely acoustic, and these guys were basically 2 guys & their acoustic guitars and their voices. kind of reminded me of the kings of convenience (who are coming to martyr's by the way on 8/9). they told me they basically put this outfit together in two weeks, so they didn't have any cds or anything. they're not as polished as the kings of convenience, of course, after only 2 weeks of existence in this form, but they're definitely worth checking out if you're into the 2 guitar-2 voice thing.

as soon as ian moore started playing his guitar, i was hooked. then when he started singing, i was a goner. i am such the sucker for the acoustic guitar dude w/ the incredible voice thing. ian would also tell these stories in between songs about austin, where he'd lived for years and years before recently moving to vashon island in seattle, and one of them was the exact same story that alan (alejandro's guitar player) had told me, the one about how embarrassing it was that austin has this big sign outside the city limits that proclaims austin as the live music capital of the world. ian also mentioned how much he was in awe of neil halstead (of slowdive and mojave3) and he did a cover of mojave3's "yer feet" which is a totally gorgeous song (as are all neil's songs) and ian did an incredibly lovely rendition of it. now ian can't sing like neil cuz he has too soulfully strong of a voice (more like jeff buckley w/ all the crazy trills & falsettos & what have ya), and frankly i think ian's a better singer than neil. so in between sets, i went up to ian and introduced myself. i told him i thought it was funny he was so in awe of neil cuz i thought he was a stronger performer. ian was flattered but of course begged to differ, and we came to an agreement that neil had a whole different thing going that was just really quietly beautiful that most people just couldn't touch. i then mentioned i was amused by all his austin stories cuz i'd been hanging out last weekend w/ a band from austin, and he's like which one, and i told him alejandro, and he starts laughing & says he was al's first fan when he moved to austin. he's known and worked w/ all the band members for years. i told him one of them had told me that same story about the sign outside austin, and he's like who told you? and i said alan durham, and he laughs and says HE told alan that story. he asked about all the band members, and i named off who was touring, and he knew them all really well, except for the drummer who's totally new. i guess alan fixes his amps and made the pedal board for his guitars and stuff. alan is quite the guitar gear whiz in austin apparently (alan's worked as charlie sexton's guitar tech).

so i bought ian a shot of whiskey & we talked about alejandro's gigs in chicago and about the biz, and it turns out he used to be on the capricorn label the same time bill & VoL were, so he knows bill. ian got totally screwed by capricorn too and one of his cd's liner notes details that account. ian's totally a great guy & an extremely talented songwriter with a voice and guitar that'll blow your heart away.

i have been listening to ian's live cd 'via satellite' all evening long and i am totally loving it. he plays one frickin' mean electric guitar. it's funny cuz wednesday's show was totally acoustic and this album is TOTALLY electric. TOTALLY. nothing acoustic about this album, believe me. he does these interesting covers, including depeche mode's personal jesus and this beautiful one of sam cooke's wash away my troubles. man that one makes me totally wanna get on my knees and cry...seriously...i'm listening to it right now, and i'm still sitting on my bum, but the tears are starting...'jesus wash away my troubles while i'm traveling here below, for i, i have enemies, you know...jesus take me on to glory, lord, when, when, when i die, for i know there's consolation, lord and it's coming on by and by, yes it is, yes it is, you know sometimes i feel like a motherless child, i'm a long, i'm a long way from home, you know sometimes i feel like a rolling stone, i'm a long, i'm a long way from home, jesus, take me on to glory, for it's so hard to bear, and i know there's consolation, lord, as long as i know you are there, yes it is, yes it is.' that's kinda how i'm feeling, ya know...

ian & the opening act, port eleki, did the encore together and did a cover of a song by neutral milk hotel which was so absolutely gorgeous that i am going to go out and buy the album. i listened to some sound bytes on cdnow.com, and the actual original sounds really lo-fi compared to the ian moore-port eleki rendition. man, when they sang "i love you jesus christ jesus christ i love you yes i do" it just sounded so shimmeringly beautiful i almost broke down right then and there. it's for times like that i'm getting me a mini disc player. photos don't do sound justice.

listening to ian's cd has left my heart just brimming over w/ thick marmalade emotions...i'm feeling the heaviness of it all...i've been so busy running around like crazy that it's been hard to stop and to reflect and to live deliberately...i was actually talking with my friend mikey just a little while ago about being able to rest, even if it's for just 5 minutes, under any circumstances. this cd is perfect for putting me in a reflective mode. i think i'm gonna hit the play button again...

side note--meg & i have decided to go to seattle labor day weekend because we found out there's an arts fest going on that weekend w/ TONS of kick-ass music!! it's the annual bumbershoot festival, and i'm talking wilco. i'm talking buddy & julie miller. i'm talking 764-hero. i'm talking damien jurado & gathered in song. i'm talking ani difranco. death cab for cutie, modest mouse, sonic youth, jonatha brooke, lou reed, the shins, and like a whole lot more...

what i've been listening to:
via satellite--ian moore (no, really, that's all i've listened to tonight)

do i have "GROUPIE" written on my forehead?

so i went to see drive-by truckers on saturday at the abbey pub at tim's suggestion. megan & i met @ tim's and drove down together, had dinner @ the pub and went to the show. i had listened to DBT's southern rock opera cds at tim's place earlier, and i was excited because it sounded like really awesome rock 'n' roll. sure enough, it was a totally rawkin' concert. the dudes had so much fun playing, and the crowd was just going wild. i love concerts where the crowd goes wild! like what's a rock concert if the crowd's a muted bunch of tennis match hand clappers, eh? if you're not there to rawk, then why waste your money & time & expose yourself to all that booze & smoke & sweat drenched atmosphere on a saturday evening when you could be at a nice airconditioned movie theatre?

after the DBT set, i was totally gonna buy the southern rock opera 2disc cd, so i went to the merch table. the merch dude for DBT was really nice (he's been touring w/ them as their sound guy too) and he noticed i'd taken pictures so he gave me a free copy of SRO in exchange for a promise that i'd email him some photos. so i got me a "three guitars or a life of crime" t-shirt instead. if you missed the show and you like good ol' southern rock (yes, there are 3 guitars involved) which i do, and some of you may not, but if you DO, then don't miss them when they come to the hideout on tuesday aug. 13th. pray for cool weather cuz that's gonna be a crowded show and you know how a/c in them venues get w/ all them bodies each emitting the equivalent of 100watt bulbs...

well, after the DBT, alejandro escovedo & his band were up. this was their 2nd nite at the abbey, and apparently the had sold out the previous nite, and this nite was pretty packed out too. i had never heard alejandro's music before although i'd heard of him. he was named artist of the decade by no depression mag, which is the alt-country mag named after the uncle tupelo song. i don't know how you can just pick one artist as the defining artist of such a large span of time, but alejandro definitely deserves more recognition than he currently gets in the larger market. this guy knows how to frickin' rock!! holy cowboy punk rawk, man! it was SOOOOOOOO AWESOME!!! i started out in the back of the room, where megan & i were chatting. and i actually ran into eric z., a really cool local musician-theatre dude i know through my friends jenn & john. he was hanging out near the a/c way in the back. as much as i wanted to stay cool, i was so drawn to the music that i slinked my way up to the front (stay low to the ground and you can usually make your way to the front no prob cuz there's more room down there where there aren't torsos & arms involved) and started taking photos.

what i loved about alejandro's music was that he could totally kick it and rock on w/ a song for a while, and then break into the most beautiful sad song you ever heard, and he even did this fun kid's song called the big 1-0 (the chorus goes like "i hit the big 1-0, i feel so old, and candy just doesn't taste as good any more!") which we all sang along to. you can tell that this guy just LOVES to play live. he played two encores, and the crowd would've let him play all night if he wanted to. they were that crazy about him. megan, who'd joined me up front by now, & i were totally digging the show and so high on the energy in that room. tim really came through for us suggesting we go to this show, although he was unable to make it himself.

so after the show, megan & i were standing by the stage chatting, and alejandro's guitar player comes up to us, shakes my hand and says, "hi! i'm alan. did you enjoy the show?" i was a little surprised, but megan & i chatted w/ him a while, and i guess he decided he wanted to hang out w/ us and convinced us to wait for him to get his gear loaded and go eat w/ him. so we took him to zorba's in greek town, since the band was staying in the loop @ the essex inn. it was pretty late, but we each had an omlette, and then we dropped him off at his hotel. he wanted to hang out the next day cuz the band was doing another gig and would be in town another night. so he hired me as his tour guide. unfortunately megan had to be in iowa the next day otherwise we would've all totally hung out. the next day, i went to church (yeah, after going to sleep at 6am...i was an hour late but i really wanted to go...) and hung out at the record stores & then @ powell's used books when alan the guitar player called me. so we didn't really have much time to see anything cuz the gig was an afternoon one @ the hideout, and we ended up just going for some deep dish pizza. steve the cellist & his 12year old son adrian ended up joining us, and then we caught up w/ andrew the bass player, got in the van, and i navigated to their gig.

the children's show was awesome! it was like 100000 degrees INSIDE the venue, and there were a million kids & their parents. that place was bursting at the seams, and folks actually got turned away at the door and were milling around outside. alejandro did some fun songs, including the big 1-0 song as well as a version of iggy pop's "i wanna be your dog" during which he had the kids barking up a storm. it was pretty hilarious.

after the show, the band guys decided to get together in one of the hotel suites & have a jam session. that was so awesome, cuz they did some classic neil young & bob dylan which is always totally cool. i love neil & bob! it was nice to just hang out and talk to the guys about life on the road. it's a hard life, but somebody's gotta do it, i guess. it was definitely a learning experience for me and gave me further insight into the whole rock 'n' roll lifestyle. it's definitely not all glam for most folks playing gig after gig town after town. made me really appreciate what these bands go through to play the music they love playing live for people.

stuff i've been listening to:
summerteeth--wilco (ok, i can't stop listening to this album. can somebody tell me why?)
moontraveler--aaron sprinkle
killing floor--VoL
murmur--r.e.m.
southern rock opera--drive-by truckers
nothing feels good--the promise ring
amelia's boot--erik brandt & the urban hillbilly quartet
straightaways--son volt
a.m.--wilco
summershine--VoL
s/t compilation--VoL
blonde on blonde--bob dylan
blood on the tracks--bob dylan
say your prayers--mike roe
little, big--terry taylor

well, i went to madcity thursday night to see erik brandt and the urban hillbilly quartet (UHQ). there were like EIGHT of them, so they were actually the size of two bands. the show was SOOOOO totally worth the trip! they played the student union terrace @ uw madison which is outdoors and right by the lake. there were hundreds of people there, as it was a lovely evening. the band had a blast playing, and they sounded GREAT! the audience was also great and really liked the music.

there's something about erik brandt as leader of uhq...he seems like such a calm, laidback type of leader. i really really love it when erik gets a huge smile on his face as he witnesses one of his fellow band members jamming on a song. or sometimes he gets this really peaceful contented look as he's playing his accordion and his eyes are closed. his english classes must be sooooo interesting.

ok, a little digression here. it's really noon on saturday as i'm resuming the blog. for those of you who visited this before i woke up at the lovely hour of high noon, this is what you would've read in place of the paragraph that is now in place: "i know that's a really dark photo for uhq. it must be one of the posters used to post the show on the aterline." i think that it would be a safe conclusion to make that i had fallen asleep at that point. i've written some crazy stuff while half asleep. some of you have been recipients of such hogwash. my favorite piece of narcolepticwriting was actually a letter i'd written my best friend josh after one of my 36-hour no sleep marathons (and after driving for 5 hours). the last paragraph of that letter went like this: "the park where the arch is, had a couple of hours free on sat. i mean the park had a couple of guest houses that was his 1st exposure to them. whatever. time to forget about emoticons. whatever. i'm falling asleep." i think i should write an entire book while half-asleep and see how it turns out. it might expose some interesting secrets about myself that i would've never known.

ok. BACK to the UHQ show on thursday night. i had so much fun seeing the band have so much fun. that's the cool part about live music, for all you folks out there who don't get out to many shows. there's something totally cool about being able to witness visually the artists' emotional involvement with their own music as it unfolds. just as there's an important difference between acting on stage and acting in front of a movie or tv camera, there's a difference in dynamic between live musical performance and a studio recording of the same music. i mean, to have the band jump into their version of c&c music factory's "everybody dance now" while a whole group of folks are boogying in front of the stage is just so perfect; you can't get that effect on a cd player. man, i love their version of that song. mikey bales doing the diva parts--it's so perfectly enthralling, i couldn't even begin to describe it. even when i'm busy taking photos, i can't help wanting to toss aside my equipment and cut loose on the dance floor when i hear them do that song! those of you who know my dancing style will know to stay out of my way.

so mikey bales (one of the UHQ fiddlers on this tour) just called me while i was typing this. ok. so i made the drive to the WRONG show it seems. their show last night was at this HEALTH SPA up in rhinelander, wi, and they all got professional massages this morning!!! i could really use one of those...my body is in a questionable state because it had almost forgotten about what it's supposed to do when lying down (i.e. relax), and i must have had a tense 10 hours of sleep last night. it was funny that mikey would call while i was writing about them and while i happened to be listening to amelia's boot. anyways, he told me that they had a good show last night, and that they sold a lot of cds relative to the number of people there. one woman bought ALL their cds and said that their music really touched her somehow. yes, folks! this is totally a true story! (hint: you can get your very own copy of amelia's boot at pastemusic.com: click here)

if you EVER have the chance to see the urban hillbilly quartet live, don't pass up that opportunity. you won't regret it. i really really want to drive up to madeline island to see them play tonight...but i won't. i guess i do have shreds of sanity left. or am i insane for not going? i can see it both ways, personally

p.s. it's really 1:48 pm on saturday as i'm finishing up this blog, not 12:34 am.
p.p.s. here's an interesting blog for all you folks into systems, the internet, freeflowing ideas, etc. [eleanor, pass this on to bruce--i think he'd like it]:
http://www.geocities.com/mikeybales/knowledgeblog.htm that's my friend mikey bales's blog, you know, the 'everybody dance now' dude of UHQ.

cds i've been listening to:
straighaways--son volt (cm--it's growing on me but not that quick. may take 6 months like it did for you.)
amelia's boot--erik brandt & the urban hillbilly quartet (i love these guys...and their music)
rural free delivery--whiskeytown
double nickels on the dime--minutemen
killing floor--VoL (God bless 'em cuz i love 'em!)
daydream nation--sonic youth
odd side of the street--mike merz (who used to play gigs w/ the UHQ a lot by the way--totally awesome songwriter!)
the subversive sounds of love--frisbie (a great band out of chicago! go see them live on 7/25 @ the abbey! it's a benefit w/ some other cool bands.)

i know this sounds crazy, but i think i'm going to madison, wi tonight. erik brandt & the urban hillbilly quartet are playing a free outdoor show on the UW campus, and i feel compelled by some unknown force to go. oh, wait, that unknown force is actually the memory of mikey bales's voice in my head yelling "so are you coming are ya are ya are ya" into aol instant messenger...he can be so virtually convincing...

ya know, i'm not like really all that spontaneous of a gal or anything (ok, i can totally hear my cousin kris laughing and calling me a liar...). i like planning my trips. but i firmly believe that when a unique opportunity makes itself available to me in a 4 hour radius of where i am, i should totally jump on it. and if the urban hillbilly quartet are not a unique experience, i seriously don't know what is. besides, my friend deb bloom just called and she's in, as long as i'm driving. which should be no problem since i have become the expert in driving north of the border. goodness gracious, i can't remember the last time i spent so much time traversing the highways and byways of cheese heaven a.k.a. wisconsin. but i'm excited to be seeing those guys live again. i hope they do words-wings! i better call mikey to remind him...

speaking of mikey, can you believe that dude is going to togo as in togo, africa?! what a rock star. sheesh. i'm so jealous. i've never even stepped foot in africa. some guys have all the luck. rock star fiddler by nights and weekends. polio eradicating superhero in exotic places by 3 months stretches. talk about a unique experience opportunity for someone who's part of the unique experience a.k.a. UHQ!

alright, gotta look alive and then it's off to my favorite midwestern town mad-city!

i'm just gonna end with something i read today in the message by gene peterson (it's like bible for the masses in today's language--you'd almost expect to see words like e-mail and internet in it), something i've been reading thanks to a friend. i don't usually go around spewing bible verses, but this is a cool translation & it's just cool, okay? it's like my kind of poetry, dude...

taken from the end of psalm 5:
"...you'll welcome us with open arms
when we run for cover to you.
let the party last all night!
stand guard over our celebration.
you are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers,
for decking us out in delight."

i'm all for letting the party last all night and getting decked out in delight! how 'bout you?

spread some love, y'all! i'm going to show mine to one of my favorite bands tonight! cheerio!

today i've been listening to:
odd side of the street--mike merz & can o' worms (mike merz is so totally RAWK!!!)
sound go round--dressy bessy
to the roof of the sky--vigilantes of love

ugh...where does the time go? seems like just yesterday i was frantically getting my crap piled in my car to drive off for cornerstone, pick up megan & meet up w/ caleb at a southside diner. that was like over 2 weeks ago!!! i really don't understand this passage of time thingie. when do we get to shed our ties to time so we can be still, perfectly still, in a single moment, frozen in place for that sliver of existence? or so we can zoom through millenia like they were an amusement park ride and nothing more, going forwards, in loops, round and round and back to where you started all over again?

well, it's been an interesting week since this past weekend. went to oshkosh for lifefest. had an absolute ball w/ bill & the trophy wives a.k.a. VoL. bill, billy, jake & kevin are so totally awesome. they're sweet, funny, and play great rock 'n' roll! i wanna play bass like jake...he's soooo awesome...i suppose i should practice my bass, huh? and i told caleb i'd try to learn to play my j-45 cuz it's a frickin j-45, man, and it should be played, not looked at. sheesh...better keep my nails trimmed...i have a feeling i won't have that j-45 for long if i don't play it like it deserves to be played...

ok, the following is actually adapted from an email i wrote a friend regarding the events of this past weekend, cuz after i wrote the email, i realized it was a journal entry, and i'm too lazy to type the stuff all over again, so if some of it doesn't make sense, it's cuz i'm actually writing to a specific person. anyways...

"if there's one thing my dad taught me, it was to live a passionate and radical life. for as long as i can remember, i have had the desire to take part in changing the world, as naively idealistic as that may sound to some practical people. i got into all this chrisitian social activism stuff about the same time i got exposed to dallas willard, and the combination of the two pretty much turned my christianity upside down. but that got halted along the way, but now i remember where i left off. i'm not going to start again exactly at that point, because i've changed and i'll never be at that same point in life that i was then. but i'm excited to remember where i was before my life was interrupted. does this make any sense at all? i wish i were a clearheaded thinker like you...

"now i don't wanna get into all this activism stuff for the sake of activism itself. instead, i really believe it's what the church is supposed to do to be salt & light & love and all that jazz that jesus wanted us to be in the world. i think it's knowing what the father's up to and taking part in his business. i just know he cares about this stuff. and i'm tired of christians and the church who get so much into theology and abstract spirituality and don't lift a finger to care for the fringe of society who really need it. and i'm totally guilty of this myself, and i'm tired of being a lipsyncing believer."

that's it for the "adapted from email" portion of this blog.

stuff i've been playing on the cd player:

vol--vigilantes of love
killing floor--vigilantes of love
roobrik--the world inside (another jesse sprinkle band)
sunsites--jesse sprinkle
bareface--aaron sprinkle (jesse's brother & original poor old lu-ser)
89/93 an antholgy--uncle tupelo
in between ep--rosie thomas
summerteeth--wilco
a.m.--wilco

real men cry--lost dogs
open mike: a tribute to the songs of mike merz--various artists (including zapruder point, eric z, justin roberts, cow lily, liam davis, etc.)
lucky shoe--september 67
stay what you are--saves the day
loveless--my bloody valentine
straightaways--son volt
wildflowers--tom petty
dear life--the trouble with sweeney
souvlaki--slow dive

ok another quick one here. so yesterday was a super rad day. got to give mike stand of the altar boys a ride from ohare to milwaukee as well as bob hartrey, member of the clash of symbols, an anaheim vineyardite, and the guy who produced mike's last album. it was an awesome ride! the altar boys were such a totally kick-ass band, and they can still kick the rear no questions about it. i SO totally enjoyed their concert, which i went to only cuz caleb told me i had to check 'em out, and he totally knows my taste in music, so i did, and man, did i have fun watching mike go totally nuts on the stage. holy schmole, i love that punk rock music...i told mike that my pastor rand was like totally inspired by them back in high school & college & that he's inspired now being in the ministry to see them still doing the stuff. mike was like so totally touched by that. he's like such a rock star on stage, but sitting all scrunched up on the passenger side of my little honda civic, he's so sweet and down to earth. i had a great time driving him & bob up to germantown.

so i barely made it down to berwyn in time for bill & the trophy wives (VoL) at fitzgeralds. the eisenhower is my enemy. i don't know why there has to be parking lot traffic at 10:30 pm on that road. it doesn't make any sense to me at all. it was a hard night for our boys. they'd had a long drive up from knoxville, had to fight traffic, and one of the amps was not doing all that great. but you know bill. he still plays his heart out. he did the joy division "love will tear us apart" intro to putting out fires w/ petrol, which is like my favorite favorite favorite version. i just totally love BOTH those songs and they go PERFECT together. i gotta get jake to teach me that bass line. or maybe geoff knows it. he seems to know a million songs, but i don't know if he ever got into joy division. man, i frickin love that song...i wanted them to do it again.

chris langill got into the show as my guest which was cool. it was great catching up a bit more w/ him and talking about the folks he's booked in the past, and just hearing old stories back in the days when i was oblivious to the music world. he told me he'd hosted jesse sprinkle back in the poor old lu days, and that he'd totally burned his breakfast, which i think is funny. jesse must have been a BABY back then--he was only like what, 14 when he started playing w/ POL? i wish i'd been paying attention back then. jesse is so totally rad. i love his new music. btw, ryan's band serene which jesse drums for (among other things) had their cd released 7/9 and it debuted at 100 on the CMJ charts. ryan was stoked about that, and i would be too. gotta check those guys out. and holiday runner and the world inside are other jesse and/or ryan endeavors more than worthy of the checkout. that's ryan by the way looking rather introspective. i took that photo back in the beginning of april when stickman jones opened up for clem snide, back when i'd never met tim white and never thought i'd actually meet ryan 3 months later at c-stone.

uhm, anyways, i totally digressed there. after bill & the boys' show, bill did a private show in the artists hospitality room for a fan who wanted a specific song played. it was way cool! we all got to sing along too. bill is so sweet...he must have been so exhausted. and hungry. well, after they packed up and loaded all the equipment in the van, i got like really sad at the thought of them leaving...i think bill has kind of represented jesus to me the way my dad had, and even though he's like way too young to be my dad, i see glimpses of my father in him--mainly the passion that marks everything he does--which really makes it hard for me to see him & the guys leave. bill really is the best of men. it's been such an inspiring and healing time for me to be around him, as he speaks so adoringly of his wife and as he just speaks love and kindness for the hurting world. you can feel the waves of love emanate from his being, and it just sometimes is overwhelming. i remember the first time i saw him, just him & billy holmes, and at the end of the show he was saying things like "be good to each other...practice random acts of kindness..." etc something along those lines, and for some reason, it really touched me, and because bill had said it, i wanted to do it. he really brings out the best in people.

after eating dinner w/ them and listening to all their stories, i drove home, and i just started crying because i really missed my dad. and now w/ c-stone over, and bill & the others leaving, and caleb gone, it was just a sad sad moment for me. i didn't understand why my dad wasn't around, and i just wanted to be with him as i sped down the ike at 3:30 am. i still don't understand.

my brother rigged up his record player for me so i could listen to denison's philadelphia songs lp, which has that one song "do i really have to let you go?" that denison said was for me...it was really hard to listen to...and other songs on that album made me think of my dad...i just couldn't listen to it last night. maybe later i'll be able to get through it. don't get me wrong--it's totally beautiful. denison is totally beautiful. and that song really really means a lot to me...i was just in a heavy mood last night.

so anyways, i can't stand the thought of bill leaving so i'm going up to oshkosh this weekend where bill & the boys are doing lifefest so i can see them play 2 more times. and hopefully i can get to spend some time w/ bill. he's so totally rad, you guys, i can't even express how absolutely totally rad he is.

stuff i've been listening to:
anthology 89-93 or something like that--uncle tupelo (billy holmes playes on moonshine, track #14!)
tim--the replacements
pleased to meet me--the replacements
making god smile (brian wilson tribute album)--various artists
audio lesson over--delirious
18--moby
audible sigh--bill mallonee & vol
summershine--vol

stuff i need to post on--
cornerstone
pedro the lion concert
the white stripes concert

i am really exhausted so i'm only going to share one thing. today, i was talking to rand my pastor @ the hyde park vineyard, and he said something that hit me like a million tons of goose feathers. in describing how god's been watching out for me lately, he compared my situation to being fed by ravens in the desert, which is a reference to how god cared for elijah when he was hiding out after his showdown w/ bad king ahab. it really hit me because it felt so accurate. i do feel like i'm in the desert, but that somehow i'm being cared for. the ravens have been in the form of folks like josh, denison, bill, tim, caleb, nan, rand, jen & john, jane, kris, connie, etc. it's been in the form of the music i listen to, like denison, bill & VoL, erik & the urban hillbilly quartet, ticklepenny corner, stickman jones, pedro the lion, rosie thomas, lost dogs, bright eyes, damien jurado, zapruder point etc. it's been in the photos i've seen whether they got captured or not, like the red damen bridge i love so well, daisies snuggled close to the forest floor, porchlights reflected in a fresh summer rain puddle, a rainbow arching across a late afternoon eastern sky, purple mountain range clouds gathered on the horizon at sunset, etc.

the desert. the ravens. i am not forgotten. i may have been given over to the birds, but at least i've got SOME sort of company.

oh, these photos are from cornerstone. just a few for now to fill in space. actually, that one of denison is probably my favorite photo from the fest. i've got probably a thousand photos to go through from the past week, between cornerstone, the shows at schubas on saturday, and pedro the lion's concert monday night. then tomorrow's the white stripes @ the metro, bill & the trophy wives & dolly varden on friday @ fitzgeralds and the vines/ok-go/sleeping at last @ the metro saturday. it's been like another mini cornerstone this week with all these darn concerts.

today's musical choices:
here's to hoping--annie's apology
the places you have come to fear the most--dashboard confessional
bone machine--tom waits
nothing feels good--the promise ring
helioself--papas fritas
the only reason i feel secure--pedro the lion
anodyne--uncle tupelo

today i learned how to play the bass part for catapult by r.e.m. like how cool is that?! ok, it's like 3.5 chords or something, but before today i'd never played more than one string at a time, so this is like a turning point in my life almost. turns out my friend geoff has this whole music studio set up that is so cool if i hadn't had an empty bladder i literally would've peed in my pants. he's the one who taught me the song. literally, all you need are bodies in this room and you'd totally have a band. well, maybe not just any bodies. bodies of actual musicians who can play the various instruments in that room--guitar, bass, drums, piano.

so i went to a really cool bar last night called 10 cat tavern on ashland just south of irving park. it's got the bar, some pool tables, and then this separate room in the back w/ tables and chairs and stuff. but wait--i forgot a very important part of the bar. before you get to that back room, there's a little alcove where the arcade games are. ya know, like that golf game, and a south park pinball machine (which actually looks pretty cool). and in between the golf game and the south park pinball machine is one of them old fashioned baseball arcade games!!! it's the one where one player chooses a pitch by depressing one of 3 buttons and spits out a pinball, and the other player has to bat with one of them pinball blocking gate thingies, and the ball hits these markers in the back that determine whether you got a single, double, triple etc or an out. it was so totally cool!!! i beat my friend geoff like 17 to 15 or something like that which like totally got me stoked cuz he's the arcade wiz and i'm just a novice. ok, anyways, then there's the back room which has a fireplace and places to sit and hang out. there were these musicians there--mainly guitar players but one fiddler. they didn't seem like a hired band or anything, just a group of informal jammers. they were actually pretty good and had a real fresh impromptu feel to them. then you go beyond the back room, and there's a lovely yard w/ patio furniture and japanese lanterns. it was perfect for tonight, which was a relatively cool summer night for chicago. i love outdoor places!!! they totally rawk! especially when there's some hot jammin' music floating outward created by an informal band of musicians that's grown from 1 guitar player & 1 fiddler to 1 fiddler & like 5 guitar players over the course of the evening.

a tall glass of guiness, a game of arcade baseball, outdoor seating underneath a cool wispfully clouded sky, the strains of an impromptu jam session dancing its way outside. it was all good.

stuff i've been listening to:

anodyne--uncle tupelo
trace--son volt
fight songs--old 97's
wrecking ball--emmylou harris
murray street--sonic youth
glm--the altar boys
pleased to meet me--the replacements
s/t--holiday runner (jesse sprinkle & ryan beatty--these guys rule!)
nothing feels good--the promise ring

hyde park is an awesome neighboorhood! caleb showed me around yesterday after church, which is ironic cuz he's the one in town from connecticut, and here i was the practically native chicagoan getting a tour from him. it was gorgeous. totally awesome! if i didn't work in lake forest, i'd live in hyde park.

ok. i fully realize that it's been over a week since i last posted, but i've been at cornerstone and really busy otherwise. i've decided i really can't post on cornerstone right now because there's just way too much there, so i'm going to eventually post something separately on that. i'm just going to pick up where i left off...some of this won't make sense until the cornerstone stuff is posted but oh well, so goes life...

here's a journal entry i wrote yesterday afternoon:

07.07.2002 12:56pm

i went to church this morning @ hyde park vineyard after almost 2 months of not going. i was late of course, and when i walked in, caleb & audrey were leading worship with their guitars. somehow, at that very moment, i got hit w/ a flood of emotions that nearly knocked me off my feet. i swear, you couldn't have stunned me more if you'd hit me over the head with a 2X4. i don't know where those emotions were coming from, and i don't even know what those emotions were exactly, even right now as i'm processing all this in retrospect. i guess it was like something of a desperation, and what comes to mind is a conversation i had saturday mid-morning while still in macomb, il. i don't know what that desperation means...i don't know why my heart would feel like it's being choked to death.

i'm still really defensive when i go to church these days, so i was a bit miffed that i'd let my guard down. i was pretty exhausted from the past week, i suppose. well, i basically spent the rest of the service trying to undo the knot in my throat, but i was unsuccessful. when i talked to rand (the pastor) afterwards, it took every ounce of concentration to keep from just breaking down. it was good to see rand, though, after such a long time, and i know he knew i wasn't ok, but he didn't push the issue with me, for which i was grateful.

and now i'm in my car w/ the windows rolled down, holiday runner coming through the speakers, parked next to nichols park. the sun is warm, but not stiflingly hot like @ cornerstone. the breeze sweeps away the stuffiness in my car. it's all quite lovely, really. a brood in the sun listening to beautiful music (yeah, holiday runner is definitely worth checking out). it's a great way to spend an afternoon, i'd say.