i finally have an audience to ignore me.

Ive never been more proud of a friend. This is the record that they were meant to write. I can’t wait until the world hears it. We’ve come so far together. Three years and 3000 miles ago I’d call him freaking out about deciding to quit my job and tour. He’d talk me down and convince me to go straight ahead. He’d have his rough times, I’d know what to say to make him know it’d be okay. We’re best friends and we can be worst enemies. We know one another’s strengths and weaknesses alike. We know when to call bullshit and we know when the other person calls bullshit, they’re probably right. We’ve had our fights. But at the end of the day, he’s one of my closest friends. He believes in me through it all. And we’re both finally on the brink, about to make our dreams a reality. It’s bizarre how we’re so parallel. So many big things ahead. My heart is so happy seeing him happy and knowing that he’s doing what he was born to do.

thank youuuu. 

Best seat in the house.

he said it was a cliche. and that it didn’t make sense. and for a long time, i stopped saying it. and in all fairness, for the sake of being literal, no one thing is my “entire life.” but music is damn well as close at it gets. 

sometimes, that’s dangerous. not only does it account for my job, but it accounts for my social circle. there’s really no big divider between the two. 

i wouldn’t change it for anything. i have no idea where else i’d be or what else i’d be doing. this has been the only thing i’ve wanted to understand for years. and although it’s not always the easiest world to be a part of, i’m really happy that this is where i am. 

also, if you couldn’t tell from my most recent post, i really miss the east coast. in a painfully irrational way.

sometimes the internet is my favorite place on the earth, haha. 

when years after you played a song too many times you can turn back to it and fall in love with it the way you did in the first place. 

via alexasunshine:

THE SITUATION - In a Washington D.C. Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.
About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:
In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? If so, do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made; how many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

this past sunday, march 14th, i went to see five for fighting in orlando. i opted to see five for fighting, a band i don’t know much about musically (past radio hits), over the mountain goats, a band i love to bits that were playing down the street. within a minute of watching five for fighting, my decision was justified. 

there’s a significant difference between a “concert” and a “show.” i went to my first concert on my 8th birthday. it was to see billy joel and elton john’s “face to face” concert, and it was april 1995. this was (obviously) light years before i ever knew about what goes in to making these sort of events happen, and thus, i could be amazed and captivated without thinking about anything but the moment i was in. i knew every word to every song, and i was happy beyond happy to be there. that event sticks out in my memory stronger than most (if not all) of the events that i’ve attended since. 

i remember being in high school and my mom having two tickets to see paul mccartney. she asked if i wanted to go, and my response was about as excited as you’d expect a teenager to be when doing anything involving leaving the house with their parents. i went and remember being completely drawn in by the show, the songs, but most importantly, by how personable and entertaining paul mccartney was on stage. through that set, you felt like you were a part of something bigger than yourself. 

my foundation of music was built by artists like billy joel, elton john, bryan adams, the beatles, carole king, james taylor, boys II men, and mariah carey (before she sold out and started doing whatever shit she’s trying to do this week to stay relevant).  i remember getting allowance and going to the local specs or blockbuster music (stores that hardly exist anymore) and buying cassette tapes and CD singles. i was happy to own them, too. they played on repeat and i dance and sung along until it was time to flip the cassette over or restart the CD. 

i remember begging my parents to take me to the record store every time a new album i wanted came out because there was no other way to get it. the days that i’d walk around with a walkman and a case of my favorite CDs. when you had to love something enough to carry it around and keep it scratch-free. when you’d drop it and the batteries would fall out and the CD player would start skipping. i own(ed) three copies of (a) new found glory’s nothing gold can stay because i lost two copies to a mix of wear and tear from dropping my walkman and non-stop play. 

we take for granted our iPods that pack in everything we (don’t even) own and can be carried at no expense to the weight of whatever bag we’re carrying. but in some sense, the things that have made things easier (and lighter) for us, have made it impossible for us to focus on quality. as a generation, we have chosen quantity.

i digress. the five for fighting concert brought me back to the first time i had seen live music. it reminded me of what made me fall in love with music in the first place. my face lit up and my eyes were glued to the stage. my cell phone was in my bag and i didn’t care about anyone trying to get a hold of me or what social networking websites i was behind on. at one point, the singer realized one woman in the crowd was standing because his piano blocked her view. he asked if she’d like a better view for the song, and brought her up on stage to sit next to him while he played “superman.” the biggest song that band has on their resume, and here’s this woman, sitting right next to john. john is more than a singer, he’s a performer. and that’s the difference in this change of music. singers are a dime a dozen. but we don’t need singers, we need performers.

bands these days treat fans as if the FANS should be lucky to be in the audience. it’s as if the bands think the fans owe them something, when in retrospect, it’s the exact opposite. five for fighting put on one hell of a show to a theatre of people. when they finished, they came out and signed autographs and took pictures for every person who waited. i was standing off to the side and minding my own business with one of my friends (who was waiting for a friend of his on the tour), when he began talking to john. john came to me, introduced himself, and was sweet as can be. it threw me for a loop. everyone in this “scene” is so self important that they forget what’s actually important… as if they knew in the first place. 

the music world we find ourselves in these days seems to be more about who you are and who you know than the music you write… which is complete bullshit. seeing this show is one of the things over the past week or so that has helped me remember what i fell in love with and why i always wanted to be a part of it. 

five for fighting played a song called “slice” (video posted below)… and it just captivated me. i swear i was born 20 years too late, sometimes. 

ericadagley:

Record grooves under an electron microscope

so cool!

coolest. ever.

dyinginback:beliefsuspending:tiresome:pepsis0da:freewingz:littl3misstrange:

do you fall asleep to music? if so, what?

i usually fall asleep to a mix of dredg [select song from tp,tp,td & catch without arms], as tall as lions [yctiwy], brave citizens [revolutions EP & ashland sessions] and/or lydia [illuminate].

these four bands are really familiar and make me feel safe and comfortable.

your turn!

My headphones are my best friend. They always know what to whisper in my ear to make me feel safe and not so alone.