Category Archives: Music

Plover! Plover! Plover! Plover! Plover!

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PLOVER!

It’s here!

Glen Phillips, who wrote and sang the songs for Toad the Wet Sprocket and still makes amazing solo records oozing wisdom and warmth!

My good friend Garrison Starr, who has a voice and a style like NO ONE ELSE and writes songs that will leave you suspecting she knows you better than you know yourself!

Neilson Hubbard, who has produced albums for both of them, and is an amazing singer/songwriter in his own right!

Put those three people together and you’ve got the power trio PLOVER …

… and their debut album is available NOW!

Right HERE!

Go listen to it! And then BUY IT!

You can even NAME YOUR OWN PRICE!

You’ll be supporting good music.

I promise.

I promise.

And then go check out Garrison’s other new project, Among the Oak & Ash.

(Isn’t she gorgeous as a brunette?)

Music is life.

Glen's on the mend!

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One of my heroes is Glen Phillips, who wrote and sang the songs for Toad the Wet Sprocket (with whom he still tours on occasion) and continues to make amazing solo music brimming with his trademark wisdom and warmth.

Glen recently had an accident with a glass coffee table and did some major damage to the ulnar nerve below the elbow on his left arm.

(This is particularly bad because Glen’s a left-handed guitarist.)

Glen filed this new report yesterday saying that he’s out of surgery; his doctor is confident, and Glen’s in good spirits and ready to get back in the studio and on the road.

I’ll be seeing Glen and my good friend Jonatha Brooke performing together in Pittsburgh on December 6; it’s going to be an epic meeting of two voices I’ve been loving since 1994 and 1995, respectively.

And you should check out their duet, “Sweetest Angel,” on Jonatha’s latest album, The Works.

Get well, Mr. Phillips! Your music has been a source of goodness and light in my life for a long time.

_______________

Previous Glen coverage here.

1937-2008

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Jerry Reed has passed away …

Associated Press: Singer-actor Jerry Reed dies at the age of 71

… and he will be sorely missed.

When I got my first DVD player, one of the first DVDs I got was Smokey and the Bandit.

I had everybody over and we watched it and we laughed at its hilarious, good-natured absurdity.

But even though Burt’s performance was (appropriately) cranked up to 11, Jerry Reed was my favorite character with his effortless smile and natural charm.

My friends and I loved Jerry Reed so much, in fact, that several of us took a trip up to Nashville, Indiana to see him perform at the Little Nashville Opry about 10 years ago.

He sang classic songs and told hilarious stories and posed for photos with us:

Put that hammer down in Heaven, son. You will live on forever in your movies and music, and you sure made a hell of a lot of joy while you were here.

Here’s a photo from when I met him:

(Please also click here for my friend Bob’s thoughts on Mr. Reed.)

The Whatever: Whatever Are You Up To?

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Welcome to this week’s (late) Whatever, where I ask you a question and you give me five answers.

This was originated, of course, by Bob, and you are welcome to go back and answer his old Whatevers and the ones I’ve posed since taking over.

Tell me five things you’ve done lately.

I …

1. … went to Indianapolis the day before Labor Day and atteneded one of the best cookouts of my life at Gabe and Beth’s house. Bob’s photos are here, and these two (featuring my best little friends Oliver and Lucy) are my favorites:

2. … spent a lot of time being concerned about things being chronicled on Bob’s new site, The Donkey Show.

3. … got some bitchin’ new headphones for Sweet Lorelai. (She’s my iPod.) My Apple-issue ear-buds were coming apart after years of use, and the new Sennheisers totally blow them away. First song listened to was Garrison Starr‘s “Beautiful in Los Angeles,” and it was like I was hearing all those swirling atmospherics and blazing harmonies (with Glen Phillips) for the first time all over again.

4. … tried out the Sitar Indian buffet near my new home on Bardstown Road in Louisville. It’s amazing. There’s a much better variety (for the cheaper price of $6.99) than the buffet at Kashmir, and instead of giving you one can of Coke (like they do at Kashmir), Sitar keeps the fountain soda coming. And that makes me happy. Highly recommended.

5. … ate at Havana Rumba with my friend Mindy. The pollo a la milanesa — a lightly breaded chicken breast covered in ham that’s covered in cheese with tomato sauce and rice and plantains on the side — was so big it was drooping off the plate. I ate over half of it and my plate was still literally full of food. The rest of it will be my lunch today, except for the bit of it I ate at about 9:30 last night.

Your turn!

Sat-Toad-Day: "Windmills"

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Here’s our good friend Glen Phillips — who wrote and sang the songs for Toad the Wet Sprocket and continues to release solo stuff brimming with wisdom and warmth — doing the Toad chestnut “Windmills” with Chris Thile from Nickel Creek.

“Take the darkest cloud. Break it open. It’s water to repair what we have broken.”

I’d give up a LOT to be able to write and sing and play like that.

Juliana Hatfield! Tonight Show! TONIGHT!

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Tuesday Morning Update: You can watch it right here. Just click to her segment at the end so you don’t have to sit through the whole show.

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Juliana Hatfield is performing the awesome “This Lonely Love” from her awesome new album How to Walk Away on Leno tonight.

Watch her! She won’t let you down.

She’ll be joined on bass by USA Mike, who was the guitarist for fellow 1990s power-pop legends Letters To Cleo.

Mike is married to LTC’s singer, Kay Hanley, who just put out a solo album of her own called Weaponize that Mike’s amazing production and guitar are all over. It’s one of THE best rock records I’ve heard in YEARS.

I love it that these artists I loved in the 1990s are still bringing the rock a decade later.

More power to them.

And it’s good for me, too.

Garrison Starr @ Monkey Wrench, 8/22/08

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Our good friend Garrison Starr played a last-minute show at Monkey Wrench here in Louisville tonight.

(Monkeywrench used to be a really gross Greek buffet, though Melissa will argue that.)

Click it to see the rest:

It was a shared bill with Brigid Kaelin, Peter Searcy, and Jim Bianco.

She did “Beautiful in Los Angeles” (which is still the all-time most-played song in my iPod, Sweet Lorelai), “Brightest Star,” “Unchangeable,” a smokin’ cover of “When You Were Young” by the Killers, “Fireworks,” and “Gasoline.”

And guess what?

She ROCKED.

Buy her records and hear for yourself!

The Whatever: Mix Masters

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Let’s do a Whatever.

(And you’re more than welcome to go back and do the old ones, too.)

What five songs do you have to put on every mix-tape you make?

These don’t have to be your favorite five songs of all time. They just need to be songs that you absolutely have to share with other people when you make them mix-tapes.

1. “Never Say Never,” by that dog.

You can watch the video right here. Please do. It rocks, and it’s ridiculously, deliriously fun. People always comment on this one. Anna Waronker’s lead vocal = hot. And the harmonies by the Haden sisters? Delicious. Moog AND violin on the same song? Check. Truly one of the greatest tracks of all time.

2. “Thankful,” by Glen Phillips.

Glen wrote and sang the songs for Toad the Wet Sprocket. “Thankful” comes from his monumentally awesome Winter Pays for Summer album, zooming along on smart lyrics with whirling instruments that could power a space shuttle. Plus it clocks in at under three minutes, which is good for a mix-tape because you can fit more songs on it.

3. “Summertime,” by The Sundays.

Music video here. The punchy horns. Harriet Wheeler’s voice. This song is like being on a ferris wheel with someone you love … in the summertime.

4. “Beautiful in Los Angeles,” by Garrison Starr.

An atmospheric power-pop rocker from a gal who sounds like no one else who’s ever made music. Backing vocals by our old buddy Glen Phillips.

5. “Think Bad Thoughts,” by Kay Hanley.

Two bands ruled the 1990s for me: Toad the Wet Sprocket and Letters to Cleo. Kay wrote and sang the songs for the Cleo gang; for my money, she’s got the best voice in rock music. “Think Bad Thoughts” is from her most recent solo album, Weaponize, and when I tell you that you need it in your life, you know I’m telling the truth.

A few others: “Bring Me Up” or “Let’s Forget About It” (video here) by Lisa Loeb, “Question” by the Old 97′s, “Delirious Love” by Neil Diamond, “F.N.T” by Semisonic, “We’re the Same” by Matthew Sweet, “The Morning Sad” by Veruca Salt, “Sweetest Decline” by Beth Orton, “All I Can Do” by Chantal Kreviazuk, and “I Want You” by Rachael Yamagata. That’s a lot more than five.

And every mix-tape I make from now on will probably end with “Sweetest Angel,” from the new Jonatha Brooke album, The Works, that I got in the mail yesterday. You should go to her store and buy one, too, because it’s awesome. “Sweetest Angel” is a duet by Jonatha and Glen Phillips; it’s a lovely, simple little acoustic number with effortlessly gorgeous harmonies by two of my absolutely favorite voices of all time. “So let me come as close as I can, lay me down beside you. Here’s a word I’d like to whisper; I’d like to have you listen.” Amazing.

Your turn!