Rotary Downs on CurrentTV

The rebirth of the New Orleans music scene has lifted the spirits of a city that has fallen on hard times. Leading the charge, bands like Rotary Downs have been touring to packed houses in Louisiana and around the country. Their sound is a good mix of soulful NOLA jazz rhythms, modern guitar and inspired lyrics.

Rotary Downs on CurrentTV

Something's Phishy 'Round Here

Thanks to my friends at HT, I have spent the last 24 or so waking hours thinking about Fall Tour 1997. (My dreaming hours were about puppies for some strange reason. Cute and fluffy puppies. I digress...) This tour was so significant in my life as I met some people that would change the entire direction of my life. I am not sure exactly what direction I was going in at the time. It's possible I was just in limbo, waiting. I was literally in Purgatory. It was my first Fall post-IU and I was living in Durango, Colorado just kind of hanging out, working in the ski rental shop at the mountain. Instead of the usual Fall plans to hit shows in, say, Champaign, Cedar Rapids, or Louisville, I was now the furthest West I'd ever been in my life so our plans revolved around Vegas, Utah and Denver. I remember the moment I met the colorful people that would quickly become my best friends of post-college life, my Phish tour family, and who three years later would become my San Francisco family... who I still love very much to this day. And of course, the Jockey.

Today, livephish.com radio has been very helpful in reminiscing about the good ol' days with their broadcast of the entire Vegas '96 show. After turning up the speakers real loud and virtually sharing in the groove with friends all over Phish Nation via IM, I can remember how Simple things were. How phun!! Not that life is not it's own kind of fun now but... it's just... different, ya know?

Anyway, thanks Phish, as always. I still love you!

I Was There

The highlight came early and powerfully at the I'm Not There concert last night. It was song three, about 15 minutes into the show, when Jim James came out in a navy blue hoodie sweatshirt, his hands stuffed in its pockets. Calexico was "The Band" for this portion of the evening. Jim approached the microphone and perfectly delivered "Goin' to Acapulco" - his song on the soundtrack. His performance incited three separate bursts of applause from the audience (and three sets of extreme shivers from yours truly) when he belted and sustained the "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah!"

The remainder of the show was okay - "meh" as the kids like to say. Equipment and sound problems were distracting. Many of the performances seemed unrehearsed and somewhat uninspired. There was a memorable yet awkward moment when a gum-smacking Heath Ledger introduced some Devandra-esque barechested weirdo guy, Edward Sharpe, and his spun out girlfriend/vocalist, one of his Magnetic Zeros, to perform "All I Really Want to Do." Al Cooper did a rousing and horn-laden version of "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry." Ian Ball and Olly Peacock from Gomez brought some brightness to the stage with their cover of "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright." Yo La Tengo did their part as "The Band" and performed their songs that are on the soundtrack - "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "Fourth Time Around." But the house was not brought down again until the entire My Morning Jacket band came on stage to perform "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You." The energy level in the room skyrocketed especially as Jim sang "I can hear that lonesome whistle blowin'!!!"

Okay, fine. We (I) are (am) tend to have an extremely positive slant towards anything related to Jim James or My Morning Jacket around here. But this is my blog, so there. (And they just happen to be the best band on the planet.)

Poor Mason Jennings had to follow MMJ with an otherwise lovely acoustic "Times They Are A Changin'." The audience was told that there were a few musicians on the bill that missed flights and whatnot so we were going to be treated with a few surprises. Ooooh, who could it be? Tweedy? Trey?? Dylan himself??? Nope, it was this girl Tift Merritt, who came out with her acoustic guitar and completely shattered "Hard Rain." Sometimes the unknown surprises can be the best. The show ended with a robust and eerie "Masters of War" by The Roots and then an everyone-who's-still-backstage-come-on-out-and-sing version of "All Along The Watchtower."

All in all a good night of music punctuated by that amazing performance of "Goin' to Acapulco" by Jim. A feel-good celebration of the music of the great Bob Dylan. The thrown-together feeling might be preparing us for the jigsaw puzzle that is the film itself which I cannot wait to see.

By the way, have I told you lately that I love Jim James?

Check out the complete setlist along with some streams over at HT.

I'm So There

Just got an invite to go see the I'm Not There spectacular at the Beacon Theatre tonight. Woo hoo! Thank you very much.

This soundtrack has pretty much dominated my Rhapsody player this week. If you're gonna collect a bunch of musicians to record some of the most important music to come out of our contemporary culture, well you might as well shoot for the best. This thing is packed with brilliant versions of these songs. Not much I can say that can drive it home better than looking at the list of talent. Here they are:

1. All Along The Watchtower - Eddie Vedder
2. I'm Not There - Sonic Youth
3. Goin' To Acapulco - Jim James
4. Tombstone Blues - Richie Havens
5. Ballad Of A Thin Man - Stephen Malkmus
6. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again - Cat Power
7. Pressing On - John Doe
8. Fourth Time Around - Yo La Tengo
9. Dark Eyes - Iron & Wine
10. Highway 61 Revisited - Karen O
11. One More Cup Of Coffee - Roger McGuinn
12. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll - Mason Jennings
13. Billy 1 - Los Lobos
14. Simple Twist Of Fate - Jeff Tweedy
15. Man In The Long Black Coat - Mark Lanegan
16. Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power) - Willie Nelson

1. As I Went Out One Morning - Mira Billotte
2. Can't Leave Her Behind - Stephen Malkmus and Lee Ranaldo
3. Ring Them Bells - Sufjan Stevens
4. Just Like A Woman - Charlotte Gainsbourg
5. Mama You've Been On My Mind / A Fraction of Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie - Jack Johnson
6. I Wanna Be Your Lover - Yo La Tengo
7. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
8. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? - The Hold Steady
9. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues - Ramblin' Jack Elliot
10. The Wicked Messenger - Black Keys
11. Cold Irons Bound - Tom Verlaine
12. The Times They Are A Changin' - Mason Jennings
13. Maggie's Farm - Stephen Malkmus
14. When The Ship Comes In - Marcus Carl Franklin
15. Moonshiner - Bob Forrest
16. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine - John Doe
17. Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Antony and the Johnsons
18. I'm Not There - Bob Dylan
19. Trouble In Mind - Bob Dylan
20. Bunkhouse Theme - Calexico