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CD Monday

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Another Toddler YHT pick. OK, so she was indiscriminately pulling CDs out of the rack, but once she’d assembled her options, she was resolute about this one.

I actually got to see some of these songs performed by an orchestra at Bonnaroo in 2004. I remember waiting around for what seemed like forever and wondering what the hell was happening onstage, and while it wasn’t perfect — I think the strings struggled with intonation because of the heat and humidity — it was a neat experience. Definitely a fish-out-of-water moment, both for Trey, who was taking a risk performing that style in that setting, and for those of us in the audience: I’m not sure how widely known this plan was, but I couldn’t have been the only one who showed up expecting to see a bunch of noodly guitar solos. That kind of friction doesn’t come about without a fair amount of bravery, and that bravery is a big part of why I look back on that performance (and this album) admiringly.

It’s a grab bag stylistically. Some great Copland-y passages, though, and “The Inlaw Josie Wales” is sweetly done. I’ll report back later in the week about “Guyute” — interested to see if this version is as epic as it seemed when Phish was in more regular rotation.

Trey Anastasio — “The Inlaw Josie Wales” [Spotify/iTunes]

Friday News and Notes

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Lucy

I’m having a really hard time breaking out of my Brexit WTF stupor, but here is a picture of my daughter wearing a hat that’s way too big for her, and here are a few news and notes items, for what they’re worth:

  • CD Monday update: Loved Mudcrutch’s second album. It’s tighter — doesn’t have that loose, spontaneous feel the first one had — but it’s a testament to the enduring efficacy of well-written rock songs. They just work. Remember when people would say things like “Rock and roll is here to stay” when the genre was first getting started? This is what they were talking about.
  • Congrats to Sleepwalkers on wrapping up their tour with the Lumineers. Joey Wharton’s photos continue to roll in, and they’re stunning. Funny story — I just missed them in Chicago. The last stop on that stretch of the tour (you might have seen the marquee in Wednesday’s record store report) was at the Chicago Theater the day after Mrs. YHT’s brother’s wedding. I think we were even in town at the same time. Not sure what hotel they stayed in, but I think ours was next to the ping pong bar in this Instagram post…
  • Sara Watkins’ new album is well worth the First Listen. I was trying to remember if she played any of those songs when I saw her share the Modlin Center stage with Patty Griffin and Anaïs Mitchell… Not sure, but Young in All the Wrong Ways is definitely worth checking out.
  • Jason Isbell put on a pretty much perfect rock show at the Altria on Tuesday. This may sound hyberbolic, but I really believe it: He’s entering the Beyoncé zone, where you look at someone and say “You just can’t do that specific thing any better.” I hope y’all get to see him on this tour. Playing songs from two A+ albums, singing loud and clear, even during the quiet sections of songs, multiple standing ovations… It’s a demonstration of how firm the ground below your feet becomes when you speak and write and play from a place of self-knowledge and truth.
  • One more quick thing about that show: Frank Turner was great. I didn’t know a ton about him, but he was so engaging and fun, and his songs have this great spirit. Defiant. Resilient. It totally clicked why he would have called his last album Positive Songs for Negative People. I didn’t get a copy there, but it went on my Discogs wantlist.
  • Friday Cheers comes to a close tonight with Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors and Norfolk’s Major and the Monbacks. I’ll be gigging tonight at Triple Crossing, so I’ll have to miss it, but I’ve heard excellent things about Holcomb. And Fear of Music at the Broadberry would make a nice after party…

Record Store Report: Chicago

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RSR4

Was just in Chicago for Mrs. YHT’s brother’s wedding, and I managed to sneak in a couple record store stops.

I struck out at the Madison Street location of Reckless Records — just a few blocks down State Street from our hotel — on Friday afternoon, but I took advantage of a free hour on Saturday morning by Ubering over to Dusty Groove, which was a couple of miles away. I had to hurry, which was unfortunate, because their jazz section was something to behold. Dozens of albums behind each alphabetical divider. I’ve become monomaniacally focused on finding this one Chico Hamilton album — El Chico, thanks to AnEarful — and they didn’t have it, but I would have happily flipped through every jazz record thy had, just to take in the panoramic beauty of that kind of collection.

RSR2

I quickly poked around elsewhere. I ended up passing on a new repress of Max Richter’s Songs from Before, which will probably haunt me, but I did latch onto a copy of the posthumous Allen Toussaint album that just came out. I’ve been listening to it via Spotify a bunch, both at work and at home. I first gravitated toward “Mardi Gras In New Orleans,” a song I played repeatedly in the hotel room while Mrs. YHT and I were in New Orleans in December. That was Professor Longhair’s upbeat version, but this version is slower, almost elegiac. Really affecting, especially given Toussaint’s recent passing.

RSR3

The other song I’ve gravitated toward is the cover of Paul Simon’s “American Tune.” It suits Toussaint’s soft voice, and having a hard copy of that song might have been justification enough for buying the record and schlepping it all the way back to Richmond, but Side D sold me. The three bonus tracks — not available on Spotify as of yet — including two extra Longhair tunes and “Moon River,” which tends to rip my heart out of my chest every time I hear it. I’m typing this on the plane ride home, so I haven’t listened yet and don’t know if it’s instrumental or if Toussaint sings those sweet, fatalistic lyrics. If it’s the latter, I may never recover.

Allen Toussaint — “American Tune” (Paul Simon cover) [Spotify/iTunes]

CD Monday

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Nelly Kate

Yesterday was a pretty dark, emotional day, and the sadness I feel in association with what happened in Orlando isn’t dissipating. I feel hungover, really, but it’s not the type of hangover that goes away with Advil.

I thought about skipping CD Monday, but I’d like to instead share an album (Nelly Kate’s Ish Ish) that I find very helpful when it comes to emotional processing, which is an important part of the aftermath of horrific events like Sunday morning’s. Regardless of whether you lost someone in that club, got scared half to death because you have friends who were in Orlando at the time, don’t know a single gay person but just really don’t want the government to take your guns away, or you’re overwhelmed thinking about the disproportionately large effect a single small mind can have… I’m certain that everyone can benefit from honest introspection about what comes next.

Find the corners of your mind. There just might be nuggets of truth — newfound clarity or unexpected empathy — in those places that can help us all move forward from this. Not away, but forward.

Nelly Kate — “Minds + Corners” [Discogs]

Friday News and Notes

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Friday Cheers

Lots of fun stuff to check in about:

  • CD Monday update: New Lions & the Not-Good Night is a gift that keeps giving and giving. Even more in love with it than I was before. The band is heading out on tour today — get a taste of what those shows will be like here, and join the band in figuring out what their tour hashtag will be (current frontrunner is #thisisandisnotTOURture2016).
  • One Week One Band did Punch Brothers this week! I  read a fair amount of it, but I’m planning to go back through and make sure I saw everything. Might be my favorite OWOB week since I started following along. Really thorough.
  • Y’all see the Lincoln commercial where Sharon Jones covers “Midnight Rider”? It’s fantastic. You even get a little Matthew McConaughey at the end.
  • It was so rewarding following along on social media as Sleepwalkers played Red Rocks two nights this week. This may be the most excited I’ve been for shows that I wasn’t even going to. The pictures are breathtaking — hit up their Twitter account to check a few out. Prepare for goosebumps.
  • I dunno about you, but I’m fixin’ to hop on that there Bonnaroo live stream a fair amount this weekend. I wrote a thing a while back about about how much I love festival live streams. As a substitute for being able to co-locate and do all of the things at all of the times, they’re pretty snazzy.
  • Another song from the new Avers album hit the interweb! It’s called “Santa Anna” and I’m enjoying it very much. Listen over at USA Today’s FTW site. Speaking of FTW, they came out with a list of the 16 best songs of the first half of 2016 and Clair Morgan’s “Rogue Island” is ranked #5, between Chance the Rapper and ANOHNI. How cool is that?!?
  • No gig tonight, but I feel compelled to share with the world that, at last Friday’s gig, I got to say — all in seriousness — the following sentence into a microphone: “This one’s for the dude in the bouncy castle who requested Skynyrd.”
  • Tonight’s might be the season’s most anticipated Friday Cheers show — Kurt Vile and Richmond’s fast-rising phenom, Lucy Dacus — and I will most assuredly be there. Might even bring my copy of No Burden in hopes that Dacus will sign it. I did just that with my copy of Phil Cook’s Southland Mission album and, while I definitely felt like a nerd doing so, it was well worth it. Also bears mentioning that the National has a crazy run of shows coming up: Death Cab for Cutie tonight, M83 on Sunday, Fitz & the Tantrums on Tuesday, Violent Femmes on Wednesday… not too shabby. And the Broadberry has Lucius on Wednesday. Lots of good stuff to see.

See y’all at Cheers!

CD Monday

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Clair Morgan

A belated happy birthday to Clair Morgan! I am…

  • Thrilled to have had a chance to meet and interview Clair, who is extremely nice and talented
  • Still smitten with New Lions & the Not-Good Night, which is utterly delightful and brilliant
  • Extremely psyched for Toddler YHT to get to know the album (between requested performances of “Old McDonald,” which is getting darker and darker, given that Old McDonald apparently had snakes, tigers, and alligators)

Clair Morgan — “Bryn Mawr” [Spotify/iTunes]

Friday News and Notes

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Kennedy Draws

A few Friday News and Notes for y’all kind people:

  • I saw Béla Fleck and the Flecktones last night! I didn’t realize it but it seems that this is some sort of reunion tour. They mentioned last night being their “second show,” which caused a little cognitive dissonance, given how long they’ve been around. I also didn’t realize (though I think I knew at some point) that Victor Wooten is their bass player. Dude is a magician. As is Béla. What a talented group. And I can now say I’ve seen a steel drum jazz solo, so there’s that.
  • The Head and the Heart’s new album just became available for preorder!
  • Xenia Rubinos’ new album is out today — definitely worth checking out. She was very, very good at Saturday’s Son Lux show. I wish I could go back in time and do that night differently. The show was happening during game 6 of the western conference finals (which turned out to be pivotal and wildly entertaining), and instead of DVRing the game and watching after, I sat at the bar and kept the game going on my phone and glanced up and down and up and down and ended up feeling like I didn’t really see either. Dumb. Lesson learned, hopefully. I’ve listened to “Lonely Lover” a bunch of times since, and I know I’m taking the lyrics out of context, but the “I just need to breathe today” line resonates so deeply. Especially this week, given that my daughter barfed all over her car seat on the way to daycare on Tuesday.
  • Top album lists for the first half of the year have started popping up, and they’re making me feel like an idiot for not listening to the new Chance album yet. That’s my goal for the weekend. It was awesome to see Lucy Dacus made the Spin list, and on an unrelated note, it was also awesome to see pics on social media from people who were at her Tiny Desk performance this week. Can’t wait for NPR to post video.
  • I’ll be gigging tonight, but Friday Cheers looks awesome — the Revivalists and the Seratones — and I can’t recommend strongly enough also heading to Gallery5 for tonight’s collaborative Girls Rock! RVA fundraiser. It’s a Jennifer Kennedy gallery exhibit AND a show featuring Lady God, Christi, Avers and Lobo Marino AND they’ll be selling Kennedy’s new coloring book. I’m a huge fan of Kennedy’s work — she draws musicians while they’re performing, and it’s astounding how much kinetic energy she manages to capture — and I love Girls Rock! RVA’s mission, which is to “empower girls, gender non-conforming, and trans youth through music, art and activism.” Learn more about Girls Rock! RVA here and listen to Doug Nunnally’s interview with Jennifer Kennedy here.

That’s it for now. Catch y’all next week, assuming I still exist next week. It’s also Greek Fest weekend, and I might end up eating so many gyros so fast that I break space-time and disappear completely. Hopefully not though.

CD Monday*

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Jeff Bennett

This week’s CD Mon(Tues)day goes out to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Even in defeat, they were magnificent. KD is amazing. Russ is a freak. Steven Adams is unexpectedly hilarious and kind of a badass. I wanted Golden State to win — so they can win the title and fully validate the absurd number of hours of Warriors basketball I watched this season — but I hate seeing KD sad. Dude needs to win at some point, in OKC or elsewhere. Same for Russ — his maniacal efforts deserve to be rewarded. Hopefully they’ll stick together and win one eventually.

Jay Bennett — “Survey The Damage” [Spotify/iTunes]

Friday News and Notes

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Toddler YHT
Toddler YHT is clearly ready for the weekend — are you?

  • CD Monday update: Mudcrutch was a hit. My daughter dug it. I dug it. A great time was had by all. There’s a great looseness to it — I’m not sure how long recording took, but it reminds me of the great, lightning-in-a-bottle spontaneity of that Shouting Matches album. Thanks so much to Marcus my coworker for loaning it to me!
  • I saw Car Seat Headrest on Monday night in D.C. I have thoughts about it. While I try to get those thoughts organized and typed up, I recommend reading this Doug Nunnally-penned RVA Magazine interview with Will Toledo and listening to anything and everything of his you can get your hands and ears on.
  • I could have met Bob Boilen on Monday night but got too nervous. So pissed at myself.
  • New Debo Band album!
  • This week’s is a must-see Friday Cheers. RVA Music Night. Natalie Prass. Sam Reed. Lady God. I’ve seen the first two, and am crazy about both, but this will be my first time seeing Lady God. Very much looking forward to it. We’re going to book it down to Brown’s Island after work, and by “we” I mean the whole family. Fingers crossed everyone gets in their respective car seats in a timely fashion. I’M LOOKING AT YOU, MRS. YHT.
  • This is a two-show weekend, actually, because I have a ticket to go see Son Lux at Strange Matter tomorrow night. I was psyched to see that the opening act, Xenia Rubinos, has a new record streaming over at NPR. I’ve yet to hear the whole thing, but what I have heard is varied and intriguing and I’m hoping I can show up early for this one as well.

See y’all at Cheers. First round is on Toddler YHT! (JK she’s broke as a joke.)