An audio Guide to...my night in Richmond

A week ago, my wife and I took a little road trip that I wouldn’t have thought twice about in the past.  Drive down to Richmond to see a show and drive back in the same day/night?  Sure, why not.  Its only 2 and a half hours each way.  I remember going to see Josh Rouse on a whim in college.  My buddy (who was supposed to be the on-duty RA for the evening) and I got in my car, drove 3 hours, got to the venue in time to order food and beer, took in the show (very good, by the way), got back in the car and drove the 3 hours back to school.  No sweat.  This time, we needed to find someone to take care of the dog while we were gone, make sure we met up with friends for dinner, etc (and this was all after the initial debate over whether we even could spare the time to leave town for a night).

Well, we decided to go for it and we don’t regret anything about the decision.  The show in question featured my friend Drew Kennedy and his friend Austin Collins.  If you’ve stopped by Seabass Says before, then you already know how I feel about Drew’s music.  After the show, I can definitively say that Drew keeps some good company down in Texas.

That's Drew talking and Austin tuning (with a giant flaming martini glass growing out of his head)

Instead of the typical opener/feature setup, Drew and Austin basically traded songs in what amounted to more of a songwriter showcase for the evening’s entertainment.  I knew what I was getting into with Drew’s music: stories littered with cleverly turned phrases, framed by his big and bright guitar and some catchy melodies.  On the other hand, Austin’s music was a bit of an unknown.  After a few songs, I was happy to find it to be a great contrast to Drew’s music (the bitter to Drew’s sweet, if you will).

Austin’s music struck me as honest, introspective, and a little bit sad.  To me, that’s a good combo.  For some reason, I tend to lean toward songs that leave a heart on a sleeve and a rough edge or two.  Austin’s songs had a feeling of yearning to them and a bit of anger bubbling under the surface.  His music reminds me a little bit of Jay Farrar’s work with Son Volt.  A couple of songs in particular stuck out, including "Unapology" which we took video of, but it turned out less than good (I blame the table full of chatty ladies next to us for the din).  Instead of putting you through straining to hear Austin in our video, I'll post something I found poking around YouTube.  Here's Austin with his band, The Rainbirds, playing "Roses are Black."


Austin Collins - Roses are Black




P.S. You must check out the new commercial for I-95's most popular (at least by billboard count) attraction, South Of The Border:





And check out more about Austin Collins (new CD coming out soon) and Drew Kennedy (new album out now).

If you walk my way...

This time of year, specifically this middle stretch of December, can be pretty hectic for those of us that celebrate Christmas. Adding holiday shopping, decorating, traveling, and all the other stuff to your normal life of deadlines at work and trying to maintain a semblance of order around the house makes for a muddled head full of mile long to do lists. Its hard to follow good Mr. Bueller’s advice and stop and look around.

That’s why I’m glad there is winter music to help slow me down. I’m not talking about the newest pop sensation’s reinterpreted version of Good King Wenceslas (I’m assuming the Jonas brothers of Taylor Swift or someone has this covered). Some music just feels like winter. There are three different kinds of winter music for me: the kind that feels like looking out over a vast snow covered landscape (I’d put my favorite Icelandic band, Sigur Ros in this category), the kind that feels like standing in the woods with the wind cutting through your jacket (listen to Bon Iver, you’ll understand what I mean), and the kind that feels like sitting in front of a fire with a big ol mug of spiked hot chocolate.

The third kind of winter music is what I want to highlight in this post. I’ve been listening to Lisa Hannigan’s debut album “Sea Sew” a good bit recently because of its nearly tangible warmth. For anyone who isn’t familiar with Lisa Hannigan, she was the sweet to Damien Rice’s sour on his two albums, sometimes lending a smoky backing vocal and sometimes a haunting solo (this one’s appropriate for the time of year) to his work.

While Rice’s albums hold a simmering rage waiting to break through most of his songs, Hannigan’s solo work has a cozy sweetness to it in songs like “Ocean and a Rock.” I like that it isn’t all sugar coated and feel good, though. A couple of the songs on the album rough up the edges a bit and lines like “I stumble out into the afternoon / Still salty from drink and the late night pool” remind me that she’s Irish. I don’t think anything sums up the feel of her music more than the video below. I’m just sad I missed her touring with David Gray. That would have been a great one to catch.


Lisa Hannigan – I Don’t Know:

Dear Internet, I've Missed You

To the internet at large and my many loyal readers (Hi, wife!), I apologize for being away for what seems to be eons.  I've missed you and I'm back and ready to share some tunes.  I was in fabulous Las Vegas, eating Thanksgiving dinner in the nearest restaurant without a giant wait and losing/winning back some money.  Oh yeah, my best man got married, too.  Small detail.  Mainly, I was gone for awhile gambling, consuming adult beverages, and catching a cold.

Also, due to some additional unexpected travel, I'm going to miss out on both Ha Ha Tonka shows (tonight and Sunday) in my area.  So someone should go in my stead and report back.  I have a feeling I'll be missing a great show.  They're opening for Cross Canadian Ragweed in case anyone was wondering.

In other news, I'm looking for an adventurous soul or two to join me on a mini road trip to see my buddy Drew play the last show of his tour of the southeast in Richmond, VA on December 12.  I think Drew should name his tour something along the lines of "The Drew Kennedy Not Close Enough To Seabass To Be Overly Convenient Winter Tour 2009."  That would be a sweet concert T-Shirt.  Drew, make it happen and I'll definitely make the trip.

Back to the original intent of this post...as an apology for my absence, I offer this little slice of awesome (embedding was disabled, so you'll just have to follow the link and trust me).