Category: Music

Pop, rock, alternative, classical, indie, folk, lo-fi, any thing with a tempo and a beat and some rhythm

  • Cover roundup: Fields of Athenry

    Fields of Athenry, a traditional Irish folk song from 1979 by Pete St. John, serves as an unofficial national anthem for Ireland.

    Perhaps the most recognized version is by the Dublinners, sticking to the songs folk origins.

    The Drop Kick Murphys channel fury into the lyrics and guitars.

    The Ohio St. marching band gave a good rendition

    The vocal harmony of Sina Theil & Caitríona O’Sullivan brings a resonance to the lyrics.

    With the Ireland national team about to be eliminated from the 2012 Euro soccer tournament, the Irish fans began singing.

  • Cover Roundup: Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan

    One of the most infectious pop songs in recent memory, Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan, is already creating a cottage industry of covers.

    Rick Astley takes an earnest and genteel approach.

    Orville Peck’s baritone brings a soothing quality.

    Of course there’s a reliable Kelly Clarkson rendition.

    What about an all women’s chorus, The Virginia Belles, hitting those harmonies?

    Medieval bardcore?

    Tinges of roots rock?

  • The Cobain 50

    When Kurt Cobain’s journals were released, they contained a list of his 50 top/favorite albums. KEXP has been doing podcast series, The Cobain 50, releasing an episode a week for each album. The series is now in the final stretch.

    Each week, The Cobain 50 podcast digs into albums from this famous list and how they may have influenced Cobain and Nirvana. While learning the individual histories of the different albums on the list, we gain new insights into artists on the fringes as well as some of the biggest groups of all time. The podcast takes us through the legacies of acts like Sonic Youth, Pixies, The Breeders, Public Enemy, PJ Harvey, Black Flag, Mazzy Star, The Shaggs, Shonen Knife, and more.

    What’s great is how the hosts tie the albums to elements in Nirvana’s history or catalog.

  • Michael Shannon and REM

    Actor Michael Shannon will tour again, performing REM songs.

    On February 14, Shannon will begin his second tour inside of a year devoted to R.E.M. It will take him to more than a dozen cities in the US. Interest in the shows has been so high, with some tickets for a stop in Athens, Georgia, on the secondary market going for north of $600, that dates have been added in England as well.

    And most of the songs they are performing come from the early years of REM’s catalog.

  • Chappel Roan takes Pink Pony Club on a ride

    From first singing, the song, Pink Pony Club in front of 50 people in 2021 and thinking it too a 150,000 person sing-along in 2024.

  • My 2024 best of list

    Originally posted to Instagram

    Now that we are in the final days of the year, here are 🎵a few of my favorite things 🎶

    (TV, movies, music are all from this year. The book list are my favorites that I read this year, but may have come out earlier)

    TV

    • Shrinking
    • Penguin
    • Arcane
    • Shogun
    • Slow Horses
    • Abbott Elementary
    • Geek Girl
    • Las Azules
    • Interior Chinatown
    • Fallout

    Books

    • Adam Higginbotham – Midnight in Chernobyl
    • Kathryn Schultz – Lost & Found
    • Scott Carson – Lost Man’s Lane
    • Matt Dinniman – Dungeon Crawler Carl series
    • Tananarive Due – The Reformatory
    • Travis Baldtree – Legends & Lattes
    • Adrian Tchaikovsky – Children of Time
    • Rick Remender – The Sacrificers vol 1
    • Matthew Desmond – Evicted
    • Patrick Horvath – Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees

    Movies

    • Mads
    • The Last Stop in Yuma County
    • Wild Robot
    • My Old Ass
    • Caddo Lake
    • Rebel Ridge
    • Inside Out 2
    • Hundreds of Beavers
    • Late Night with the Devil
    • Self Reliance

    Music

    • Etran De L’Air – 100% Saharan Guitar
    • Haley Heynderickx – Seed of a Seed
    • Glass Animals – I Love You So F Much
    • Cassandra Jenkins, My Light, My Destroyer
    • Runnners – Starsdust
    • Rosali – Bite Down
    • Zach Bryan – The Great American Bar Scene
    • Kelly Lee Owens – Dreamstate
    • Ghost Funk Orchestra – A Trip to the Moon
    • Dehd – Poetry
    • Pearl Jam – Dark Matter
    • Phosphorescent – ‘Revelator’
    • Itasca – Imitation of War
  • Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music

    If this isn’t infectious, I don’t know what is. Questlove drops a trailer for a documentary about 50 years of SNL musical guests.

  • Cover roundup: Dammit by Blink 182

    And it’s happened once again
    I’ll turn to a friend
    Someone that understands
    And sees through the master plan
    But everybody’s gone
    And I’ve been here for too long
    To face this on my own
    Well, I guess this is growing up
    Well, I guess this is growing up

    Sometimes a cover takes an original in a new direction or changes the weight of a song. Dammit, by Blink 182 can turn haunting or weary.

    Dead on a Sunday takes Mr. Kitty’s “After Dark” synth banger but sings “Dammit.”

    It also works with country twang, here’s Alexandra Kay.

    Serj T from System of a Down turning it into a ballad.

    Or a one man ska band, bring horns for a lively punch.

    And in 2020, an entire album of “Dammit” covers came out.

  • 31 days of live music summary

    Thirty one days span the month of August. In those thirty one days, I saw, experienced, and absorbed live music. Everyday.

    The days ranged from loud, raucous, sweaty, boozy, sober, smokey, smoke-free, quiet, infectious, challenging, enthralling, boring, fun. Much like a mix cd with thirty one tracks, some shows surprised me with how much I enjoyed them, while others I bided my time to meet my minimum. For a show to “count”, either a set or 45 minutes must pass. Occasionally, I stayed longer, especially if it was a Friday or Saturday night and more than one band lined the bill. The other rule I kept myself to (for the most part) was to only go to a particular venue once a week. I could easily venture to The Live Oak two or three times a week and see live music.

    The idea of see a full month’s worth of live music stuck with me since I read about a guy who saw a 100 bands in 100 days (which spanned oceans). My ambitions never pushed me to go for 100 days, but doing a marathon month of consecutive live music concerts seemed doable. And with my recent move to a more central part of Fort Worth, the goal appeared attainable. August approached, and with no significant travels, I committed myself to the challenge.

    The challenge began on a sweltering patio of 100 plus degree heat with the sparse acoustics of Terry Rasor and ended with Fou’s dream pop, in the final hours of the last day, as the TCU and LSU football game took an ESPN sanctioned long halftime.

    Drinks for a month of live music
    Drinks for a month of live music

    All along the trek, I kept track of who I saw, the venue, how much I paid for a ticket, food, or drink. I only paid to get in to a show five times. Sometimes, I only bought a drink, or if family joined, I bought food and drinks. Ten times, I paid no cover and did not buy a drink. All in all, I spent $344 on the months concert related entertainment. $55 for cover/tickets, $289 for food and drink.

    My costs for a month of live music
    My costs for a month of live music

    To discovery my daily concert entertainment, I relied primarily on Fort Live. DFW.com lacked the depth of concert listings and Worthgoing.com contained hardly any listings. Daily, I’d check Fort Live, peruse the weekly picks and listings, playing a game of logistics in my head. My main criteria was “is there a show at a decent time”? 9:30pm shows on Tuesday for my cube dwelling soul would wear me down quickly. Alternatively, I sought out afternoon shows on the weekends in order to kick back in the evening. My second criteria considered the venues, in my attempts to not go to the same venue more than once a week. When I had some leeway with my first two options, I mapped out the distance and if the artist might be interesting, checking out the venue and Google the artists for samples to get a sense of what they sounded like.

    As an aside, this is the part where I confess my disdain for the Stockyards. It breathes character, thrills the tourists, and stands as living history of Fort Worth. A half dozen live music venues call the Stockyards home. However, as a wheelchair user, it’s borderline accessible, uncomfortable to stroll around (bumpity bumpity BU-UMP bump), and accessible parking is about as common as milk in a saloon. What I’m saying is: I avoided shows in the Stockyards, except for a fun family Sunday adventure to the Whiskey Girl Saloon, where my father asked for an Arnold Palmer.

    Where I saw live music in Fort Worth
    Where I saw live music in Fort Worth

    Using Fort Live’s geographical breakdown, most shows I attended happened in the West 7th, Near Southside and Downtown areas. I made it to 19 different venues, several of which were new to me. Queen City impressed, Mambo’s felt weird, and Chubby’s was chill. I didn’t make it to marquee venues such as Lola’s, Tomcats, Rail Club, Wherehouse, Billy Bob’s or the Aardvark. Some are just plain inaccessible–The Cellar, Basement Bar and 1919 Hemphill. For 1919 Hemphill, I fully prepped myself for 45 minutes of metal, only to find a stairway leading up to a room of shredding guitars.

    Live shows by genre
    Live shows by genre

    But what about the music in the rooms (or field) I did make it into? The music range from enthralling (Jessie Frye), captivating (Michael Hearne), okay (Bobby Duncan), tolerable (The Phuss), fun (Leftover Cuties), surprising (jazz quartet at the library). I focused on finding a way to appreciate every act I saw, even those I did not like (The Phuss, Bobby Duncan, CiCLOP). These are people out there making something, putting effort into creating music. That takes skill, a mix of musical instrument proficiency and confidence to perform in front of people. Aside from Cookie Monster, if you’re someone who loves cookies, you’re not going to love all cookies are you?

    (The Fort Worth Library gives away cookies during their Third Thursday Jazz Series.)

    With a little digging, it’s easy to see how vibrant of a local music scene Fort Worth holds. The best singer songwriters regularly make appearances at The Grotto. During a soulful set by Kilane (I’m still not 100% sure on her name, but she was amazing), she sang a ballad about she and her husband. I couldn’t help but also notice a lesbian couple holding each other close during the song. At Fred’s, Joey Greene led an earnest sing along of Eli Young Band’s “Even if it Breaks Your Heart”. Grizzled veteran Terry Rasor brings a partner for an honest set of unplugged Texas Country.

    Even when the bands are plugged in, The Live Oak welcomes the indie bands. During Leftover Cuties’ set, I witnessed a first date (it HAD to be a first date) between two high schoolers. Buttons hosts the funk and soul, and judging by the 200 plus people crammed into the downtown library’s grand atrium, the city nicknamed Cowtown has a love affair with Jazz. The metalheads roam clubs, too, although I never made it out to see any of them. The Stockyards remains well stocked with various takes on country.

    Approximate number of shows per night in Fort Worth
    Approximate number of shows per night in Fort Worth

    Across it all, there’s something for everyone. Monday ekes out a half dozen shows, but by Friday and Saturday, 70 or more live music shows strike out into the night. I’d be willing to bet, on a per capita basis, that’s high for a city the size of Fort Worth. Maybe someone smarter than myself can figure out that math.

    For thirty one days, I used a calculus of internet searching, interest and commitment to see this through. There are many things we do every day, and there are some things we do occasionally. To consistently do the things we do occasionally, and make a habit of doing them, takes a certain amount of fortitude. This wasn’t a do or die thing. It was fun, with a degree of serendipity, and I could quit any time and say, “meh, I’ll watch some Netflix tonight”. Life is purposeful. You choose it.

    Everyday.

  • Show #31 – Fou at Zio Carlo’s

    During the TCU-LSU halftime, I rolled down to Zio Carlos’s to catch Fou. The three piece played jangly dream pop as part of a benefit show for To Write Love on Her Arms.

    Thus mark’s the end of 31 straight days of live music.