Turning off the Lights

What is it that makes us recommend music to each other?  What brings on this feeling that eats at you until you just have to tell someone about it?  For some, I'd guess there's some desire for affirmation.  For some, a lifelong goal to show people that they are better than the rest because they know about the most obscure band around.  For most of us, though, I think that we just feel a universal need to share great art.  Music is meant to be shared.  That's why we attend concerts, why iTunes and Pandora exist, why people like me start blogs, why record stores hold a special place in the music subculture (admit it, you love High Fidelity and Empire Records for reasons you might not entirely understand).  Sadly, we must say goodbye to one of the few independent stores left.
The end of January marks the end of an institution.  After a quarter century of sharing music with (and selling music to) the residents of State College, PA, Greg Gabbard is closing the doors of my favorite music store in all the lands.  City Lights Records (at least it it's physical, brick and mortar form) will be no more.

I've known Greg since 2000 or 2001.  I'm not sure when it was exactly that I took the trip down the stairs, under the clothing store, and into the narrow aisles of City Lights.  I'll admit, I felt a bit intimidated at first.  I imagined a scene like in High Fidelity (the movie...I can't remember if its in the book or not and I can't find it in the disorganization of my den to check) where a guy gets berated out of the store for asking for the wrong album.  I didn't want to make the wrong reference, ask about the wrong band, etc. and never be welcomed into the store again.  I learned soon that my first impression was wrong.  Greg isn't one to ostracize someone based on their taste or lack thereof.  He's happy to BS with and sell to anyone who sets foot in the store.  The obvious problem is not enough people are setting foot in the store any more.  Greg has finally given in to the economic strain of the shifting music industry.

The thing I like most about Greg and his store is that he's never come off as being in it for the money.  I don't think you could fool anyone by trying to convince them that owning an independent record store is the path to riches.  What I mean is that I've never seen him just ring someone up and get them out of the store.  He's always ready for a conversation about music.  Greg has always been good for a recommendation, a story about a recent concert, news on who's coming to play next, tickets to the next great local show, etc.  But it doesn't just end there with Greg.  Everyone can have the conversation where you just go back and forth saying "Have you heard ___?" "No, but have you heard ___?  They're awesome."  Greg always takes the time to talk about why the band is good, why you'd like it, and (if you have the time) to blast the music around the store to prove it.  Over the years, Greg has been directly responsible for my love of Sun Kil Moon, supplied me with my collection of Josh Ritter albums, and shared many enthusiastic conversations about the quality of Duncan Sheik's songwriting.  There is a joy in his voice when he starts talking about music, even in the midst of a conversation about the inevitable closing of his store, and that joy is infectious.

The last time I was in State College (toward the end of the football season), Greg broke the news to me that he had decided to close the doors.  I'd had similar conversations with him in the past, but those usually ended with him saying he'd try to hold on just a little longer.  This time, there was no back and forth.  He was done holding on and ready to move on to something new.  Greg plans to continue City Lights online and I plan on linking to it as soon as I know he's online and ready to go.  I can only hope that he continues the conversations and not just the transactions.  If not, I'm afraid we'd lose a great voice for the merit of the independent music store and the sharing of great art.  It just won't feel right walking by that storefront on College Ave. without seeing Greg's handwritten poster advertising the new releases downstairs.

Greg, thanks for the music and thanks for the memories.  I'm sorry to see the lights turn off and the door close for good, but the internet is a great place to share.  If I'm able to get something going here, surely you can, too.

Below is a short, 5 minute documentary created by a Penn State student (Matt Steck, who I've never met, but was kind enough to put his video on YouTube) for a film class that I think shows the Greg Gabbard that I've come to know and respect.  He comes off as a bit of a beaten man in this, but check out how he lights up when he reminisces about his introduction to the Beatles (about 45 seconds in) and when he talks about his favorite part of the job (about 4 minutes in).

Call the surgeon, mend the pieces

I'll try to be short and sweet due to work, kidney stones, and a big post coming later in the week.

I've lost track of how many times in the last two days that I've listened to "If You Would Come Back Home" by William Fitzsimmons.  It is just plain gorgeous.  To me, it has a bit of a Iron & Wine meets Rockwell Church kind of sound, which are both good things.  Especially the Iron & Wine-ness.  I must have a soft spot for big bearded musicians (no promises on a ZZ Top post).  It also doesn't hurt that Fitzsimmons shares a hometown with me.  I now feel obligated to listen to as much of his stuff as I can.  Us Pittsburghers have to stick together.  I guess that means he has to read my blog now.  Anyway, this is my favorite version of the song that I've seen/heard while poking around.  I especially like the out in the wilderness setting with the crickets attempting to keep the beat.

William Fitzsimmons - If You Would Come Back Home

You'll be happy and wholesome again when the city clears and the sun ascends

I either need to find more disposable income or listen to less music.  There's no way I could talk myself into the latter, so maybe its time to win the lottery.  My list of music to buy and concerts to attend is growing exponentially faster than my bank account.  In fact, its part of the reason why my bank account doesn't grow as fast as it could.  I find a new band to check out, listen to a few songs, and add them to the list.  The thing just grows and grows.  Sometimes I forget to update the list and a band slips through the cracks (and the bank account rejoices).  Then the random playlist on my computer or mp3 player spits out a track I haven't heard in awhile and I immediately wonder why I didn't throw those guys on the list.  Then it just keeps growing (and the bank account winces).

As you might have guessed, the random playlist just struck again.  I have a few songs from a Mumford & Sons BBC 1 Radio session and my favorite, "White Blank Page," came up and reminded me why I want to get on board this bandwagon early.  Mumford & Sons is an English folk rock band that only just released their debut album in the fall of 2009.  Yes, I said folk rock, so consider this a warning to my unadventurous friends, the following videos contain banjo, mandolin, etc.  I suggest even the unadventurous among you check out the band, even though the name kind of sounds like some obscure mom and pop specialty store (Mumford & Sons Haberdashery, Mumford & Sons Apothecary...you get the idea).  There is a warm, familiar feeling to the band's music, with Marcus Mumford's growling vocals and sing along choruses backed by the right splashes of banjo and crescendos (I'm a sucker for a good crescendo).

Below are two songs from an acoustic peformance for the Bookshop Sessions, "Winter Winds" and the aforementioned "White Blank Page."

Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds


Mumford & Sons - White Blank Page

Join the Listening Party

Just a short little heads up, Spinner.com has some great new releases up in their "Listening Party" section.  Check out the groups you'll find there: Eels (E is the man), Spoon, Editors, Aziz Ansari (funny stuff, but don't listen to it at work with the volume pumped up too high), the Crazy Heart Soundtrack (Ryan Bingham is winning awards for his work on "The Weary Kind), Horse Stories, and Dawn Landes (very good live when we saw her open for Josh Ritter).

That's all.  Go.  Listen.  Enjoy.

A man needs something he can hold on to...

In the spirit of a young tradition here at Seabass Says, this post is made in conjunction with a birthday.  This one is more meaningful to me than the last couple, because today is my wife's birthday.

You have to understand...she puts up with my overexcitement about new bands on a nearly daily basis (luckily, she normally likes them, too), like when she humored me the other day as I listened to 4 different versions of the same song trying to figure out if I liked it or not.  She lets me drag her to shows on weeknights and doesn't complain when she can't focus at work because of sleep deprivation.  More importantly, she willingly lets me spend too much money on us going to said shows.  In fact, it has become a tradition of ours to give each other tickets for gifts (usually on everyone's favorite February Hallmark Holiday).  I think my favorite show to come out of that tradition was probably the Gomez/Ben Kweller show at Sonar in Baltimore awhile back.  Having someone to share great moments at shows with is such a cool thing.

One of my top concert experiences ever was when she made me wait around to get a poster signed by Josh Ritter and then got him to promise to play at the coffee shop that I have dreams of opening one day (sadly, it costs money and guts to open a business you have little to no experience in).  Slim chance of follow through on that one, but we got the verbal commitment.  More recently, we even celebrated our anniversary with a concert (Regina Spektor in DC).

My favorite wife and music related memory is our discovery of Ray LaMontagne (which is French for "The Montagne").  We had recorded Austin City Limits because Ben Folds was scheduled for the show.  After a night out and about with friends, we got back to the apartment, put on ACL, and sat down on the couch with a beer.  Ben Folds' set ended about a half an hour into the show and then Ray took to the stage.  Out comes this skinny, hobo looking guy with an acoustic guitar and his band, which consisted of one dude with an upright bass.  Our skepticism was washed away the moment Ray opened his mouth.  The soul and power that came out through his scruffy beard left us astounded and I don't think a sound was made until the song was over and one or both of us let out a "Wow."

Ray LaMontagne - Jolene



And as a little bonus, here's "our song" with a video to remind us all why the 80s rocked (I want that green jacket).

A Moment, A Love, A Dream, Aloud

I think I want to be the guy who gets to pick music for commercials.  They must get sent a ton of great stuff and, in the end, they get to pick some of the coolest, freshest music around to broadcast to the country.  Or at least the part of the country that isn't fast forwarding through the commercial breaks.  One of the few times I wasn't fast forwarding (thanks Tivo), I was transfixed by a car commercial.  It wasn't the car that drew me in, but whatever kick ass song was playing behind the ad.  I grabbed my trusty Droid and cued up the Shazam app.  In a matter of seconds, my phone told me that I was listening to "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap.  Man, I dig technology.  Not a week later, my wife and I finally got around to checking out (500) Days of Summer, which I have to say is well worth the price of at least a rental, and there was that driving guitar and airy voice again.  The song was haunting me and begging to be shared. 

Just to make sure I wouldn't be pointing people in the direction of a band with only one song in them, I dug through some of the YouTube links and was pretty happy with what I heard.  The Temper Trap is hard to shoehorn into any one genre.  "Sweet Disposition" is an atmospheric song that kinds of reminds me of the "IO (This Time Around)" by Hellen Stellar, but "Fader" (their most recent single) is reminiscent of the insanely catchy pop of The Format.  I'd imagine that The Temper Trap's album is full of twists and turns and flirts with at least a few different genres.  I, for one, welcome that kind of range in a band.  It doesn't seem like these guys are experimenting just for the sake of experimentation.  I'll let you judge the quality for yourself with two quite different versions of "Sweet Disposition"


From Jimmy Kimmel Live:



From some other show:

There's something I like about this year

A bit of catharsis to kick off 2010 at Seabass Says with "Square 9" by Frightened Rabbit.  Check out Frightened Rabbit's first Daytrotter set for a great recording of this song and some others from the brothers Hutchison and company.

Frightened Rabbit - Square 9


...so calm
stay calm
right there behind your ribs
and grab my hand

stages are just stages for us to pass

you should peel those ears
'cause its important that they hear
my hopeful words...

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).