Week 18

What a good week of music!? This week saw a return to the complete eclecticism: R&B, country rock, indie, mainstream rock, classic rock, folk, blues. I didn't realy listen to any "bad" albums either. I will say that Wilco's A Ghost Is Born wasn't up to par with what I expected it to be, but all around the entire week was solid. Got to see a live show as well which exposed me to a new local band - Mount Moriah. They will be playing June 9 at Duke's Music In The Gardens with Lonnie Walker. Summer shows are in the air - time to for the music to share:

Guns N' Roses - G N' R Lies
Gram Parsons - G.P. / Grevious Angel
A Rooster For The Masses - Gallo Rojo
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Gate Swings
Megafaun - Gather, Form & Fly (CD & vinyl)
Aerosmith - Get A Grip
JET - Get Born
Aerosmith - Get Your Wings (CD & vinyl)
Al Green - Gets Next To You
Wilco - Ghost Is Born, A
Bruce Springsteen - Ghost Of Tom Joad, The

Gram Parsons is perhaps the single most influential person in Alt-country/Country Rock. He spent time in The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Byrds, but his two solo albums G.P & Grevious Angel contain some of the best work ever recorded in the genre. A Song For You, She, The Streets Of Baltimore, That's All It Took, Love Hurts, and the eerily surreal closer of his recordings and life - In My Hour Of Darkness. Both albums prominately feature Emmylou Harris, which was where her career took off. As lyrics from the the aforementioned state - some say he was a star/but he was just a country boy/his simple songs confess/and the music he had in him so very few possess.

This week couldn't have been much better as Gather, Form, & Fly finally got here. It felt like waiting for Christmas for this album to arrive; even though I've listened to it many times since beginning the project. This album is phenomenal!!!! Not only was I able to listen to the album this week, but I got to catch Megafaun fresh off a European tour live at Cat's Cradle with Mount Moriah and Great White Jenkins. The first time I saw them they opened there for Vetiver just after recording this album and before it was released. Seeing how the songs have evolved shows the bands willingness to push boundaries which makes every performance truly unique. Back to the album, The Longest Day is by far my favorite tune from the album, but it's not the tight harmonies of Brad, Phil, and Joe that shine on this track; rather Christy Smith's hauntingly beautiful delivery that makes you feel the pain built into the prose. The entire album is never boring as digital looping mixes with lo-fi banjo/guitar twang to create a truly unique sound. Megafaun is a band that I hope sticks together for many years to come.

Rocks is regarded by many (Slash included) as Aerosmith's best album ever, but my personal favorite album is Get Your Wings. Lord Of The Thighs and Seasons Of Wither are two of my favorite Aerosmith songs. Someone recommended that I learn how to play something I listen to each week on guitar; while that task is daunting I did heed their advice and tackled Seasons Of Wither. It's not a terribly complicated song, but that's where the true joy lies in the song. The best songs are simple, stripped-down, minimalist, yet powerful. Get Your Wings is that album. If you want to take flight with Aerosmith roots, then this album is the perfect place to climb aboard.