Living In Rhythm

David Nail.

Honestly, I could just leave that here, a link to his site, and let you guys discover him on your own, but...I just can't.

That said, I don't know if I can explain this properly either. This is my attempt...bear with me.

I was listening to a random song from 2006 yesterday (Josh Turner's Your Man) on Youtube, and one of the 'related videos' was a song by David Nail. I'd heard the name thrown around from time to time, but our exposure to really good acts out of Nashville is limited up here in Canada. I listened to his song Red Light.

And then every other song I could find.

Then one of my fave artists (Josh Hoge) tweeted about David Nail.

And then I bought his album.

Every once in a while, you buy music that, before you're even done listening to the album in its entirety, you know that it's going to be a favourite of yours. I'm trying to remember the last time this happened (other than The BP3). I have a feeling this album, I'm About To Come Alive, is going to get me through to January. Sure, there are albums slated for release before then (notably, John Mayer's new one) that I'm looking forward to, but I have a feeling this one is going to be a standby.

It'll be one of those albums that you just put on any time. Driving, working, reading, writing, doing housework. Whatever. It's got a good vibe to it. At the risk of sounding like a total weirdo, it feels warm somehow. It feels like Nashville (a city I've been trying to get to for years and years). There are a few country artists who feel like Nashville to me. Miranda Lambert is one (she sings backgrounds on this album, by the way). Chuck Wicks is another, to a degree. Lee Ann Womack is another. And there's a difference between being country and sounding country, and being country and sounding like Nashville.

That sounds completely absurd.

I'm going to shut up now and just let the guy's music say what I can't.

David Nail - Red Light (official video)

This post is archived under david nail, josh hoge, music

So we all know I can cry big ugly tears over music/songs/lyrics.

Almost every musician I know can also do an odd high-pitched laugh that is born from complete awe and admiration of something they hear. It's something that is absurd, really, but the most common reaction to some kind of musical brilliance is to laugh. And it's a great sound. Sitting in a roomful of musicians and listening to Pino Palladino's basslines on The RH Factor's Hard Groove album was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. Just laughter. It's almost like we don't know how else to express ourselves in those moments when we're amazed.

I also tend to get a big, wide, ridiculous smile on my face. Probably the biggest kind of smile you'll ever see from me. Teeth and all that.

Very, very rarely will one song elicit all these responses from me. Very rarely.

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room is one.

And this: Patty Griffin - Let Him Fly (Live)

Let Him Fly was the first Patty Griffin song I ever heard, and it was like something shifted in me. Literally, something changed. I wasn't the same after that. I think I've listened to this song a thousand times (no joke). Often imitated, never duplicated. This song is just so, so damn perfect. Literally, one of the most perfectly constructed songs I think I've ever heard.

Youtube just took me to this live version, and I had a little moment in my office. Smiling, but tears in my eyes, then I laughed a little. My best friend, who works in the same office as me, walked by and asked if I was okay.

More than okay.

This woman changed my life. I will never forget sitting in my basement apartment in Toronto, my computer set up in the little corner in my bedroom, listening to this song for the first time.

I know I talk about Patty a lot. Don't expect that to change.

This post is archived under music, patty griffin, pino palladino, the collection, the rh factor

Every so often, I'll be listening to music and I'll have a thought that blows my mind.

(For example: What if Julian Lennon and Stella McCartney got married? What if they had a baby? I know I sound like a total stoner, but that right there is freaking craziness.)

Anyway....

I have been listening to a lot of rap lately, specifically Common, Jay-Z, Kanye, Lupe (basically, the best rappers around, in my opinion...and my standards for rap are pretty high). I was listening to D.O.A. today because I am hopelessly addicted to The Blueprint III right now, and the line "Only rapper to re-write history without a pen" stuck out to me. (So does "The more space I get the better I write, Oh, Never I write. But if ever I write, I need the space to say whatever I like.")

Now, I've heard producers - I think it was Kanye, actually - talk about just being present when Jay-Z is in the booth. How during 99 Problems, they just started the track and Jay just started rhyming, and he was doing all the voices on the spot without writing anything down. That's effing ridiculous. That's genius.

So I was thinking today about Jay-Z just being this brilliant artist and amazing mind, and I got to wondering. I wonder if Jay-Z is ever listening to the radio and someone else's song comes on and he comes up with his own shit in his head, you know? Like, I wonder if he ever listens to Kanye's records and has a hundred different things in his mind that he would have put on the track instead.

When you think about all the things Jay-Z says, you have to wonder about all the things he doesn't say.

...Or maybe that's just me...

Doesn't matter if it's a writer, a rapper, a musician, a painter, whatever, there's always a million things going on in an artist's head - I think I can safely say that. So that's why I carry around a pen and pad of paper wherever I go. I'm always looking for that quote, or listening for that line in a song. Or I'm thinking of something that I need to write, and I have to pull my car over and scribble it down. I do this a lot. Before I invested in what I affectionately call my 'Hook Book', I used to write on receipts or pay-parking slips. Or my arm. Once I wrote on the back of my Blockbuster card because I had nothing else.

Basically, all this contemplation today lead to the idea/thought/confirmation that the most complex place on the planet is probably inside any artist's mind.

This post is archived under common, jay z, kanye west, lupe fiasco, music

Finally finished the A's in my collection. I think I underestimated how long this experiment is going to take. I might have to up my game a little bit. Especially considering there are over twice the amount of B's as there are A's.

So here are just a few notes on the first leg of the journey; things I thought and had the sense to write down in my little journal so I could share with you.

- Aaliyah's self-titled 2001 album could be released and every single track on there would/could be a hit. Absolutely brilliant. She was the one who worked with Timbaland before working with Timbaland was cool.

- Ryan Adams is the coolest weirdo ever. I say weirdo with love. Cold Roses is one of those albums in my collection that I can always put on. Always. If I don't know what I want to listen to and I put on that record, it becomes what I want to listen to. I don't know if I've explained that well, but it's true.

- Most people would probably say Cryin' is their favourite Aerosmith ballad, but mine is Angel. Love that song. Love the album it's on.

- Jann Arden With the VSO is an incredible live album that anyone with ears should listen to on headphones. Make yourself some tea, light a couple candles, put on headphones, enjoy.

- India.Arie. Pure love. Uplifting. Spiritual. Beautiful.

-Augustana is one of the few bands that I would rather not listen to on headphones. There's something about putting their music on real loud in the car, or real loud in the house and just letting it swallow you. Sweet and Low is one of my all-time favourite driving songs.

And now, on to the B's. There are easily 35 albums in this section. This could take a while!

This post is archived under aaliyah, aerosmith, augustana, india.arie, jann arden, music, ryan adams, the collection

I very rarely ever remember my dreams. It just doesn't happen often. Maybe (mayyyybe) once every three months, I'll remember something I've dreamed.

Now I've remembered two nights in a row, and they've been shockingly similar. The same person was in both, in completely different situations, but with the same outcome. I honestly don't know what to think about this. Part of me wants to just ignore it and chalk it up to a very emotional week, but I don't know if it's just that.

I tend to get just a little neurotic, especially concerning the unknown. Because as I recall these two dreams, I can't help but wonder if there have been others. Maybe I've been having the variations on the same dream for weeks, or months, or hell, years. Who knows? Not me. That freaks me out. Because what if these dreams mean more than I think they do? I don't necessarily believe in dream interpretation or any of that, but it is really odd, at least for me, to have essentially the same dream - and remember it - two nights in a row.

I really don't want to over think this. But like everything that comes with the particular person in these dreams, I can't help but over think. That's the way it's always been. I'm not sure if that's the way it should always be.

Last night, for the first time in ages (literally, since I can remember) I cried over something that wasn't a song or a television show or a movie or a commercial.

It just hit me all at once, and I realized that now there's another thing connecting us, but it's still not enough.

And crying isn't fun when you have something legitimate to cry over.

A few songs got cut out of the image. They are:

Cold Desert - KOL
Butch Cassidy - Josh Hoge
Now That You're Gone - Ryan Adams
Forgive Me - Missy Higgins
Stay - Gavin DeGraw