Gibbard’s essay is a good read. I could point to several different passages, but I like this one about fighting the accelerated pace of things.
I can unequivocally say that I’m so glad we were one of the last bands to break before the Internet got crazy. We actually had some time to develop. I hate hearing people say, “I went and saw this band—everybody’s saying they’re really great—but I went and saw them last night and they weren’t any good live.” You know why they weren’t good? Because they’ve never done more than five shows in a row, and now they’re two weeks into a tour—their first national tour. They don’t know how to get to the shows, they don’t know how to sleep right, they don’t know where to find food. They don’t understand how to make a set list somebody cares about. You can’t blame these bands for not being great yet. We were terrible when we first started playing. Our shows were so fucking boring.
For the opposite of boring look at this cinematic eight and half minute video featuring a song about a stalker from the band’s new album, Narrow Stairs (in stores May 13th).
There’s another important piece of Gibbard’s writing worth examining.
Before I made a living playing music, I used to work shitty job after shitty job and think “Man, as soon as I’m able to make a living in music, it’s really going to come together then, it’s really going be amazing.”
The point here is find a way to be happy where you are. Enjoy your path, because it’s never ending. Even when you make it as an artist, you’re still just a guy walking a path, living a life with ups and downs and all the rest.
I caught my first Spoon show last night in Fort Lauderdale. I’m so glad I did.
Several of the band’s song are still echoing in my head, including “Turn My Camera On,” “Cherry Bomb,” “Don’t You Evah,” “Eddie’s Ragga” and “Rhythm and Soul.”
Here’s a live performance of “Rhythm and Soul” from last fall in Nashville:
I wish I had video from last night to share. This band is beyond tight. Lead singer and guitarist, Britt Daniel, is a force of nature. The son of a neurologist, Daniel grew up in Temple, Texas, before heading to Austin for university. He now lives in Portland, Oregon–another musical stronghold. I mention his background because this is a smart guy heading up a smart band.
Spoon is also skinny jeans band. In fact, long tall Mr. Daniel sports a pair. But there aren’t any shoegazers at this show. Spoon “gets your hands from your back pockets.”
[MP3 Offering] “Rhythm and Soul” from The Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 8/20/06
Q. You made a name as an independent artist. How does it feel to be signed now?
A. I just see it as I’m me. Lost Highway’s been great and I’m really excited about the potential they give me, but at the end of the day it’s not about labels or publicists. You’ve gotta have the songs. If you don’t have the songs it’ll dry up at some point. Obviously, I work hard at my career and try to stay afloat, but I’ve always focused on that. At the end of the day, I’m a songwriter. Delivering on that allows all the other stuff … it just starts and ends with the songs.
I love that answer.
Hayes is solid.
I also like that he calls Adam Carroll, Walt Wilkins and Sam Baker, “true poets.” I’d never heard of these fine gents, but with Hayes recommendation, it took but seconds to click over to iTunes and buy Adam Carroll’s “Far Away Blues.” Wilkins and Baker, you’re next!
Hayes adds at the end of the interview, “In my perfect world, Todd Snider would be a platinum artist, Ray Wylie Hubbard would be winning Grammys and Adam Carroll would be selling out Gruene Hall. But that’s just my taste.”
And my taste, and many others’.
[MP3 Offering] “Drunken Poet’s Dream” by Hayes Carll (live at Waterloo Records, 4/8/08). Ray Wylie Hubbard co-wrote this song.
I’m listening to Hayes Carll’s new release, Trouble In Mind, out today on Lost Highway. It’s bound to be big in honky tonks from Odessa to Beaumont, for Carll drips Texas from every pour in his body. In a good way.
Another Texan I’m listening to these days is Jimmy LaFave. Pop Matters reviewed his 2007 release, Cimarron Manifesto, a record I have in my collection. Here’s a passage from the article:
LaFave’s sound is much more Red Dirt than Red State, although geographically speaking, it would be easy to assume that, if the media were to be unquestionably believed, it reflects a “Hey! Everything’s alright!” musical mentality. On Cimarron Manifesto, LaFave recognizes that everything is not alright. Picking up the protest song mantle, he delivers the oh-so-Guthrie, “This Land”, combining a folk-based, traveling road song with a subdued sadness and depression regarding the state of the country. Tackling the subjects of poverty and war, the song invokes images of a Steinbeckian dust bowl in a contemporary setting: “I see people / Just stranded by the road / They’re hopeless and forgotten / While the milk and honey flows.”
LaFave moved to Oklahoma during his high school years, and that state also plays into his writing and music. In fact, he put out an album named Texoma in 2001.
Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune calls some of the songs on The Raconteurs’ new release, Consolers of the Lonely “White Stripes B-sides.”
I respect Kot, but find this line of reasoning odd, because what I’m thinking is The Raconteurs are better in almost every way than Jack White’s original outfit. Not that I dislike the White Stripes. Maybe, I just need more than a two-piece can provide.
Dispensing with the usual months-long marketing campaign that accompanies a big release on a major record label, the Raconteurs last week announced that they would rush their second album, Consolers of the Lonely (XL/Warner), into stores Tuesday in all formats: digital, CD and even vinyl.
“We wanted to get this record to fans, the press, radio, etc., all at the exact same time so that no one has an upper hand on anyone else regarding [its] availability, reception or perception,” the band said.
It’s the latest indication that bands (and a few record companies) are wising up to the idea that the long lag time between finishing an album and actually releasing it to set up a proper awareness-building campaign is bad business. Now, it’s not unusual for fans on blogs and message boards to share unauthorized files of an album and dissect its contents weeks before its official release date. It’s a world in which a new album is often already old news by the time it shows up for sale on iTunes, Best Buy or the local mom-and-pop store.
After giving the record a couple listens, track four, “Old Enough” stands out. It opens with acoustic instruments and a from-the-hills-of-Tennessee feel. The lyrical setup is also intriguing. “You look pretty in your fancy dress, but I detect unhappiness. You never speak so I have to guess you’re not free.”
What’s The Wall Street Journal doing in Akron? Checking the air in Firestone’s tires? Negative. The venerable business newspaper is checking in with Pat and Dan of The Black Keys. The band has a new album coming out on April 1, and the Journal’s multimedia feature is part of the advance hype. Attack & Release was produced by Brian Burton, better known as Danger Mouse, and will be released on Nonesuch, a Warner Bros. imprint. In other words, it’s a big deal for this two-piece blues band, known for its stripped down low-fi recordings and kickin’ live show.
I’m glad I got to see Texas singer-songwriter Hayes Carll in Austin this week.
Carll went to high school in The Woodlands with my cousins, so I’ve been hearing about him and now I know why. Critics have likened him to Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. That’s a tough billing to live up to, and having seen him perform but once, I’m not ready to make those lofty comparisons. However, I am ready to say he’s got a good sense of humor and a gift for lyrical storytelling. I also like how he mixes ballads with barroom rockers.
Trouble In Mind, Carll’s major label debut on Lost Highway comes out Tuesday, April 8th.
Akron/Family, the self-proclaimed “progressive gospel” group from Williamsport, PA will be playing South by Southwest next week. They’re one of many bands I hope to catch live for the first time.
Thanks to their upcoming showcase dates at South By, I’m learning about Georgie James, a pop duo from Washington, DC for the first time.
Georgie James, a.k.a. John Davis and his singer-songwriter friend, Laura Burhenn, released “Places,” their first full length on Saddle Creek Records last Sept. Omaha’s Saddle Creek is home to Bright Eyes, The Faint, Cursive and Azure Ray among other indie notables.
Here’s a Georgie James offering from an earlier (by two weeks) EP: “Need Your Needs”
I didn’t think it possible for a modern day band to be any more Rolling Stones-like than Mike Cooley of Drive-By Truckers. But now that I’m listening to Detroit’s Deadstring Brothers, I’m not so sure.
Here’s a video from the label’s YouTube channel:
Speaking of the label, Deadstring Brothers will be playing Bloodshot Record’s SXSW showcase at Red Eyed Fly on Saturday, March 15th.
