A thank you to Murph on the day of his birth

...or should I have said Burph?...

I've always been pretty terrible at keeping in touch with firends and family and especially atrocious at remembering birthdays.  Because of that, I think I'm really starting to enjoy this Facebook thing.  I still don't carry on long conversations with friends or anything because of my entry into social networking, but my friends and I can at least casually stalk each other through our various picture posting and status updates.  Also, I can tell when friends and family have birthdays coming up.  Recently, my Facebook page alerted me to the upcoming birthday of my friend and old roommate, Murph.  In the words of another friend, "everyone needs a buddy called Murph."  I couldn't agree more.

I met Murph on the first day of our freshman year at Dear Old State and after establishing that we had similar taste in music, we explored central Pennsylvania's musical hotbed (for those of you who've never been to State College, its about as hot a bed as you can get when there are 10s of thousands of kids running around and nothing outside the town other than cows).  The discovery of the wonderful City Lights music store on College Ave and the live shows at the Crowbar were especially influential in shaping my taste.  I've lost track of the number of times I got a cheap ticket to a great show at the Crowbar - with or without Murph along for the ride.  Man, I miss the Crowbar.  Murph was always an eager companion for the local shows and surprisingly just as eager to hop in the car to see a show at a moment's notice. 

I think these conversations are almost 100% to-the-word accurate:
A Thursday in fall 2000...
Seabass: "Want to head into Pittsburgh and see John Mayer at a little club in Oakland then get up and drive back into town for the noon football game?"
Murph: "Sure."
Mid to late winter 2002 (with the usual amount of PA snow on the ground)...
Seabass: "Guster is playing in West Virginia.  Want to head out and catch the show?"
Murph: "Sure."

Between road trips, parties, procrastination sessions over pizza and video games, and other downtime, we got to delve deeper into the bands we liked and the bands they were like.  I'd like to think I steered Murph toward some great tunes over the years.  I know for sure that he's pointed me in the right direction a number of times.  So as a little birthday tribute, here are two bands that I give Murph full credit for opening my ears to:

Belle and Sebastian

Somehow, I managed to miss out on these members of indie rock royalty (kings and queens?  dukes and duchesses?) until Murph clued me in.  If I remember correctly, my introduction to B&S was a compilation of a few EPs they had put out.  I knew about 2 or 3 songs in that I was going to be throwing some money down at City Lights on an album or two on my next trip in.  Sadly, I had to pass on my only opportunity to see them when Murph grabbed some tickets to a show in DC a few years ago.  Yet another reason why I shouldn't have ever grown up and got a desk job.  Daggone limited vacation time ruining all my fun.

The Old 97's

I think the Old 97's became a staple of some always enjoyable and sometimes raucous thursday night gatherings at some point (I'm trying to use intelligent sounding words in case my parents see this and think I wasn't spending my Thursday nights studying in college).  Regardless of how often they were played at parties, the music was always good.  Murph and Goose (another friend with a nickname because nicknames are fun and real names are usually boring...unless you're Rivers Cuomo...that dude's name is awesome) saw the Old 97's live and quickly reported that they may be the best live act in the world.  My wife and I got tickets to see the 97's play the 'rocking river cruise' here in Annapolis about a year and a half ago and I can definitely vouch for the awesomeness of the 97's as a live act.  The video above is actually from that show, on a boat somewhere in the Chesapeake Bay with only a couple hundred people aboard.  We had a nice summer breeze, some quality pulled pork sandwiches, some great rowdy tunes, and Rhett Miller almost cracked his head open jumping around on the main deck of the boat.  We have a video of our own buried somewhere on my wife's laptop and I'll post it as soon as I can.  For now, I'll rely on what someone else shot.

In closing, happy birthday to Murph and thanks for the tunes!

(11/2/09 - Updated with bonus coverage of the Old 97's Rocking the Chesapeake Bay from my wife's very own camera.)

An Audio Guide To Cross Country Travel

When I think about people I admire, there is a common trait that runs through the group. These are people who pursue their passions and find joy in what they do in life (and often in their work). My wife's job allows her to do work that has a real impact on making companies more environmentally friendly. My parents spent their careers teaching and are living proof that the profession can lead to a rewarding life. My friend Darren created a high school ultimate frisbee league that quickly grew to be one of the most successful in the country. It may be cliched, but as the Life Is Good motto says: "Do what you like. Like what you do."

In a bit of a roundabout way, this leads me to the main point of my post. I've been happy to call Drew Kennedy a friend for the better part of a decade, though I haven't seen him in at least a few years (way to move to Texas, Drew). As long as I've known him, Drew has been following his passion as a songwriter and music lover. Now that I think of it, without Drew around, I might have never made the previous Jay Farrar related post. He turned me on to the whole alt country/americana /whatever you want to call it genre. Thanks, Drew.

Today marks the release of Drew's new album, An Audio Guide To Cross Country Travel (the title seems appropriate to me, having first listened to his last album from front to back while driving through the mountains of central Pennsylvania). I'm certainly biased, but I really like Drew's work. I think he has really matured as a songwriter since I've known him and I don't think there's anything anywhere close to a throwaway song on the new album. I'm glad to see Cincinnati make it back onto an album, as it is an old favorite. I've only listened to the new album a couple of times at this point, but St. Abilene and Caroline are sticking out as especially enjoyable. So, for anyone who is a fan of americana, country, bluegrass, friends of mine, good music of any kind, supporting independent songwriters, or all of the above, give the album a listen and buy it if you're feeling the least bit generous.

If any of my Texas based friends read this, stop by one of Drew's shows and buy him a drink. And finally, for your viewing pleasure, here's Drew and his band beard playing Rolling Around in the Bed:

One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur

So this is what happens when you mix Jay Farrar, Ben Gibbard and a book full of Kerouac's prose.  I just found out about this project at the end of last week, but the documentary (addressing Kerouac's attempt and eventually inability to kick his drinking habit) and the accompanying soundtrack came out on Tuesday the 20th.

I managed to stumble across the Farrar/Gibbard pairing while perusing the recent Morning Becomes Eclectic
shows at KCRW's website.  The KCRW site is a great source of music to stream at work and I especially enjoy the Morning Becomes Eclectic program.  Its usually pretty laid back and there are a lot of stripped down, acoustic or solo sets that are a great way to ease into a day at the office.  They had Farrar and Gibbard in the studio last Friday to perform songs off of the One Fast Move or I'm Gone soundtrack.  I took a listen and I'm liking it enough that I may have to try to talk the wife into a trip to our local music store.  Check it out for yourself and see what you think.  It shows that Farrar was the primary songwriter for the project, as the music is very reminiscent of his Son Volt work.  I think anyone who likes Son Volt and their moody alt-country should give One Fast Move or I'm Gone a try.  Anyone with a chance to see the documentary should probably take it, too.  It'd be nice to see more of these types of collaborations make their way to the theaters instead of just an endless stream of remakes.

Know Better, Learn Faster: Music for a Slow Friday

Things are dragging a bit at work today.  Let me rephrase...I'm dragging more than usual at work today.  I've been letting the little tiny DJ that lives in my computer dictate the music for the morning (when I wasn't in meetings discussing project funding...so much fun and excitement), but I think its time to take the reins.  So for the time being, this is what I'm listening to.  Spinner.com has an awesome little section that lets you stream a selection of full albums, some before or during their release week.  Thao With the Get Down Stay Down (in addition to being a good band name) produces some good tunes that I predict will kick off my afternoon quite nicely.  It might even give me the energy required to make it through the stack of plans I want to review before I go home for the weekend.  I am especially enjoying the title track from the album, "Know Better Learn Faster."  I'll probably give the new Middle Distance Runner a try after Thao and the gang are done.

To the 2 people who might read this, feel free to share with friends, family, people you pass on the street, etc.

Okay, part two. Now Clear The House.

Last week, I had the pleasure of heading into Baltimore with my wife for the Avett Brothers show.  And what a show it was.  We always make it a goal to get to a show in time to see the opener in the hopes that we might find a new group/artist to listen to.  We were pleased to find out that we can add another to the long, long list.  Jessica Lee Mayfield set the mood with some smokey, blusey, rootsy tunes and her brother (playing lead guitar) was mostly insane.  I'm looking forward to getting our hands on an album sometime soon.

The Avetts and their bandmates were just about all you could ask for in a live act.  They had the audience jumping around and belting out choruses from song #1 on.  The bassist wore a sweet bow tie.  Most importantly, it was easy to see that the band was absolutely loving what they were doing.  Whether they were playing a boot stomper, a pretty little love song, or something in between, their energy was pretty much infectous and the crowd ate it up.  They didn't even play the two songs I was most familiar with and hoping to hear ("Murder in the City" and "I and Love and You") and I couldn't have cared less.  The show really was that good.  They closed with what is quickly becoming my favorite song on the new album, "The Perfect Space" and the house lights came on to a whole slew of people who weren't ready to go home yet.  Where's the second encore when you need it?

P.S. Thanks to YouTuber 'projectwhere' for posting pretty much the whole show.  It looks like the YouTube is going to be a much-mined resourse for my little blog.

You Are My Sweetest Downfall: A Recap of Last Week

Last week was eventful enough to deserve a recap post to kick things off here at Sebass Says.  So here are the highlights:

Sunday: Went out to the Maryland Rennaissance Festival with a group of friends to see our favorite Scottish War Tunes band, Allbanach, throw axes, savagely eat turkey legs, and have ourselves a few brews.  Also, it was Pirate Weekend.  As you can see, I wore my most appropriate hat to blend in:

Tuesday: Big day.  My wife and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary.  I continue to be amazed that someone would be so happy to spend their life with me.  Needless to say, I love my wife.  She bought me my very own Pleepleeus hoodie (everyone should go ahead and watch Three Sheets) and got us tickets to see The Avett Brothers on the 15th in Baltimore.

Wednesday: Our anniversary celebration continued with a trip into DC for the Regina Spektor show at DAR Constitution Hall.  Regina Spektor is quite good live.  Actually, quite good isn't nearly enough to describe the show.  I found a couple of clips from the show (thanks, YouTube): Dance Anthem of the 80's and a snippet of Samson.  I highly recommend heading out to a Regina Spektor show and having it screw with your energy level for the rest of the week because you didn't get anywhere close to enough sleep on the night of the show.  Well worth the sleep deprivation.

Thursday: Happy hour followed by a kickball victory!  I am the greatest shortstop in the history of the sport!  Actually, we're all just in it for the beer.

Friday: My wife's office held their annual crab feast on Maryland's Eastern Shore.  Our crazy dog joined us for great fall weather (I got to rock my Pleepleeus hoodie), excellent food, and good company.  I'd include a picture if we remembered to bring the camera.  We watched "Away We Go" when we got home and I think it was a near perfect movie to cap off a week filled with celebrating our anniversary, and being around our friends.  The movie (written by my favorite author, Dave Eggers, and his wife) follows a couple around the US (with a short detour to Canada) as they try to figure out where they should settle down and raise their soon-to-be-born daughter.  Another strong recommendation, especially for all of our friends who find themselves at similar points in their lives.

Songs my mp3 player chose for me while I typed this up: Bandages & Scars - Son Volt, Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz, Jersey Clowns - Josh Rouse, Sweet Lil' Gal (live) - Ryan Adams, Half-Life - Duncan Sheik, If I Am a Stranger - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Cigarette - Ben Folds Five, Lover's Rock - The Clash