I am in Love with The Wood Brothers

I came across this band as I was looking at the top 100 root rock bands of 2012 and now I am totally in love and obsessed with them.  I can't stop listening to their songs to the point where one of them keeps popping up in my dreams and I wake up tapping my toes.

Such a toe tapper!


Ya gotta love the beat!


I love it!

So Appropriate, So Pointless

Some of us have been shouting about certain things.  Nothing ever changes, except more lies.



I've been silent for much too long
Now I'm telling everybody what's been going on
It's time to shout now it's time to scream
It's time to wake up from this bad dream

I'm gonna shout till the devil gets on his knees
Shout till the angels say pretty please
Shout till I feel it runnin' through my veins
Shout till everybody thinks I'm insane
I'm gonna shout now, oh
I'm gonna shout now, oh
I wanna wake up

I've been broken and I've been bruised
I've been lied to and I've been used
It's time for dignity it's time for pride
It's time to get out what's been brewing on the inside

I'm gonna shout till the devil gets on his knees
Shout till the angels say pretty please
Shout till I feel it runnin' through my veins
Shout till everybody thinks I'm insane
I'm gonna shout now, oh
I'm gonna shout now, oh
I wanna wake up

I'm gonna shout till the devil gets on his knees
Shout till my angels say pretty pretty please
Shout till I feel it runnin' through my veins
Shout till everybody thinks that I'm insane
I'm gonna shout now, oh
I'm gonna shout now, oh
I wanna wake up

I Can Totally

I can totally see myself driving the new 85 mph tollway in Texas while this song is playing in the cd player.

Feeling So Much Better

I was very upset and angry this afternoon over how inconsiderate someone was, and how much their "it is all about me" attitude was making it so hard for me to do my job, and to take care of others.  I was so upset that I thought about driving to Kroger, getting a chocolate pie and eating a good portion of it, but my TOPS lesson this week was about saboteurs, and watching for food cues, and anger is obviously one of mine, so I stayed out of my car and chewed gum instead (a lot of gum!). 

The more hours that went by the more upset I became until I actually made myself physically ill.  I kept trying to find a song that would make me feel better, but to no avail.  I finally posted the following message on Facebook: "I can't think of a song right now to express how angry I am. Anyone know a song that would help a short, redhead with steam coming out of her ears express her anger?"

Two minutes after I posted that message my cell phone rang. It was a friend who has worked with this person telling me she didn't have a song for me, but she was sending me a hug and before long she had me laughing.  Once the phone call was over though I went back to my dark place.

My emotions have been all over tonight because the situation with this person is so difficult to deal with and I know tomorrow is going to be hell. Just as I was about to hit rock bottom I noticed a  reply from my Facebook friend Tim that made my night better: "Hair of the Dog." You would have to take Son of a out of the lyrics though.You could replace Son of a with redheaded" 

I pulled out that song and made the word replacement, then I danced around singing it over and over for a little while and felt much better.  I think singing it in my head tomorrow will make the day go much better.  I like the idea of thinking "Now you're messing with a redheaded B&$#@" and smiling while this person goes about their self-absorbed day."

Baloney Moon

Saturday night Loni, Kathleen, Brenda and I went to see Baloney Moon at Banter in Denton, TX.  My oldest and his girlfriend met us there.  

Cindy Maloney is one of Kathleen's friends and the lead singer.  Cindy can belt out a song.  They sang mostly their own songs, but there were some old favs in there too.  Van Morrison's Moondance, one of my happy songs, and Chain of Fools (Aretha made it famous, but I like Cocker's version).

It was a fun evening.  I would definitely go see Baloney Moon again.

Hear Baloney Moon:

The Bridge
 The Bridge

Unwound

 Unwound

What a Great Minister of Music!

This guy is great.  I will never be able to listen to this hymn again without giggling.

Music in My LIfe

Even though I can't sing, and the instruments I can play, I play badly, music has always been a huge part of most of my life.  My brother was always in a symphony or a band and my parents did not believe in babysitters, so I was always around to hear him play as a child.

As a teenager, songs started to take on special meanings and associations, and still do today.  There are some songs I cannot listen to without crying because of the association they bring to mind.  Some songs just remind me of certain people in my life.  

The Beatles' "Yesterday" was dedicated to me  during art class in 8th grade as a goodbye song by David L because I was supposed to move to Kentucky over the summer.  When our house was not completed in time and I went back to school in 9th grade, the song the played for me was "Guitar Man" when I finally moved at the end of the first semester.  Cindy, my best friend, had a Bread song played for me because we spent endless hours listening to Bread while playing canasta and babysitting her sister.

I cannot hear "I Dreamed Last Night" by the Blue Jays/Moody Blues without thinking of Randy.  It was our song.  It is how he ended all his letters to me.  We had a discussion about it when we first started talking again after 30 years.

Zac Brown's "Keep Me in Mind," "Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" by B.J. Thomas, anything by Adele or Lady Antebellum all make me think of a really great friend and often make me cry.  

"Jumping Jack Flash" takes me back to a wonderful summer night in Ohio when I was visiting with my old friends.  It was the last time I saw one of them, as he died in a car crash before I could visit with him again.

The Band's "Last Waltz" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" take me back to Jan and the summer he and I dated. He was several years older than I was so dates did not mean a movie and a fast food place.  Dates with Jan were picnics with foods different than I had ever tried, and trips to Lexington to go to nightclubs or nice restaurants.  He took me to see "The Last Waltz," and "Freebird" was playing the night he left to go back to New York.  He was not a great love in my life, but I appreciated our times together.

The list goes on and on, but there is one person in my life who I have never attached any one song or band to, and that is Raymond.  Oh I hear a new song or band and wish he could hear it with me, but nothing that is just "us."  We listened to music, but it was just background noise to our conversations. I still find it odd  that I knew and dated him for four years, and we were married just shy of 24.5 years and there is not a special song.  Of course, I will never forget the time that he walked to the mall from the tire store to get me a Robert Earl Keen cd he knew I wanted even though he was already having trouble walking due to the undiagnosed tumor in his pelvic bone.  

When you get right down to the real music in my life it was Raymond. Everything he said to me was music in my ears, even when it wasn't nice, because not all songs are love songs.  He made my heart sing every day, and I'll never forget that feeling.  

I know I will never find another Raymond, but I won't settle on just any man to have a man either.

For Raymond:

Joe Cocker Concert ~ July 20, 2012

What can I say, it was Joe Cocker.  The only thing that could have made it better is if Bob Dylan, and Van Morrison were on stage too, and I got to pick the songs.

Some of the songs from last night:

Hitchcock Railway
The Letter
You Can Leave Your Hat On

You Are So Beautiful
Unchain My Heart
She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
With a Little Help From My Friends
Cry Me a River

I wasn't crazy about his female singers, but his musicians were fantastic. 

At 68 he isn't as twitchy as he used to be, but he does jump high and come down at the end of each song, must be hell on his knees.  He also was drinking a lot from a water bottle during each song, which made me wonder how he kept from running to the bathroom at his age.

I so enjoyed seeing one of my favorites.

Concert Night ~ 1st Up ~ Huey Lewis and the News

I was so excited to find out Joe Cocker was coming to the Meyerson Symphony Center this summer. It has been years since I have gone to a concert that wasn't a free and outside, but I love Joe Cocker, and he is getting older, how many more chances could I get?

My only problem I had with the concert was that Huey Lewis and the News was also part of the night.  Not one of my favorites when they were at the top of the charts, and certainly not my style now.

Despite Huey being part of the night, I decided to go.

Friday, July 20, was the big night.  I decided to go with an open mind and give Huey a chance, but by the third song I was bored.  Huey did provide me some entertainment with his moves.  He seemed to have four of them: white boy dance, marching band, wiggle butt, and drop down to one knee and take on the Thinker pose.  Huey must have been in the marching band in school based on his form during the marching move.

I did get tickled when he would turn his back to the audience and do this little wiggle butt, whether intentional or not.  All I could think about was the movie "Music and Lyrics" and Hugh Grant's character.

I spent a good portion of the Huey part of the night twiddling my thumbs and people watching.  I also made a trip to the bathroom, and talked to some other person wandering around.  I enjoyed watching the people that really love Huey and were into it, and it was fun watching them dance.

Huey Lewis can blow a harmonica though and the song they did off their Soulsville cd (a tribute cd) was good. He also knows how to work his fans.  All the musicians were very talented, it just isn't my style of music. 

Frisco's Music in the Square

For the last couple of Friday nights I have been attending Frisco's Music in the Square.  The concerts have been very pleasant and I have enjoyed myself tremendously. 

One week I went to see Dave Walser and the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Bluegrass Band.  Dave used to be part of Beatlegras.  He put a new video of his new band on his Facebook page.  They sounded great!

Last week I went to see Mark Wayne Glasmire.  He had some good songs.  Likes to talk a lot between songs, but he had enough good songs to make up for having to listen to him talk and overuse "ironically" and "literally."  His current song on the country charts is:

 I won't be able to attend the last two concerts, but I look forward to next year's series.

I'm So Excited!

I am going to see Joe Cocker tonight!  I have loved his music forever.  

I am not one to go to concerts, but as part of my "Finding Me" I realize that I need to take advantage of opportunities available to me.  I saw the notice that Joe Cocker had a concert in Dallas, and I decided to go.  After all I may never get this chance again.  

The only downside is that Huey Lewis and the News is on the same venue.  I was never crazy about their music, but that is okay.  Their music doesn't make my ears bleed. 

Spotify

My oldest set Spotify up on my computer.  It is a way to listen to music.

I have to say I am addicted now.  It is so easy to listen to all my favorite artists old and new that I have trouble turning it off.

Currently Linda Ronstadt is playing.  I love "Long Long Time."

I have been setting up playlists.  So far I have Van Morrison, Joe Cocker, Phoebe Snow, Ray LaMontagne, Billy Idol, Lady Antebellum, David Bowie, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Kasey Chambers, Robbie Robertson, Misc. Favorites, Gorillaz and Linda Ronstadt.

I am enjoying Spotify so much I am going to have to bake that boy an apple pie.

The Band's Last Waltz

When I was between my first and second year of college, I started dating a member of my brother's band.  He was a few years older than me and from New York.  His name was Jan.  We had a lot of fun together.  We would go to clubs, out to eat, the movies, or just a nice park to hang out.  I don't remember a lot about some of our dates, but one has always stood out in my mind. Jan took me to Lexington, KY to see The Band's Last Waltz. 



I was not familiar with The Band, but I fell in love with the music that night and the cd's from that movie have been a staple in my collection for many, many years.  Obviously, a lot longer than Jan.

As a side note, Raymond was not fond of Jan.  We ran into each other one night when Raymond was on a date at the movies, and I was with Jan.  Raymond looked like he wanted to punch Jan out and would later laugh at the fact that I dated a balding, short man with such a goofy mustache.  What can I say, he was a nice guy and treated me like a queen.