9 Days away...........

At this point I think Kristen is A) thinking she married a cool guy that has turned into a dork over the past few days, and B) is so ready for my friends to come down and we go to ACL so I quit talking about it. I do have to admit that I am getting a little excited. The weather here has been gorgeous; two of my real good friends are coming down for it, one from Oklahoma, and another I haven’t seen since Sloan was a baby. So I am very excited for the festival, but more excited to see some friends and experience it with them.

It’s getting a little busier at work for me with football in full swing, as well as volleyball. Plus I am working on men’s basketball stuff, and that is getting me excited even more for that to start. When I got to Baylor it was the low point of men’s basketball, and being able to experience firsthand the rise of the basketball program just makes it more exciting for me to be able to work with them and watch it get even better. This season should be exciting for me, even as exciting as last season.

Well on to the topic that is driving my wife crazy at the moment, Austin City Limits Festival. At this point I have studied the line up more than I did for most tests in school. There are a handful of bands that are a must see. More than anything though, just going down and actually getting to take some time off and hang out with friends is what I am more excited for. Just the experience I get to have will be worth it. Next year the family is going down for hopefully all three days. Which that will be even more fun just to have Kristen and Sloan with me at a concert.

On another note, it’s a big weekend for me as well. It’s OU/texass weekend. Although I will be at the Baylor football game and the volleyball match after, I will find time to watch the Sooners beat the shorthorns. If you ever get a chance to go to Dallas to experience that weekend do so, it’s a lot of fun.

This week’s Music:

The Band of Heathens-One Foot In the Ether
Ok, as most of my friends know, I HATE country music. This is why I am in a battle with this band. They are on the edge between country and rock. I guess you can say they are more Americana than anything. This band from Austin is really good. Check out the song Look At Miss Ohio.

Lucero-1372 Overton Park
I think I may have mentioned this band before , but this is another band that I am a little at odds with. They have the country feel to them, but they are definantly closer to rock. Great band from Memphis, check at the song call Can’t Feel A thing.

The Soft Pack- The Soft Pack
I have mentioned them a few months back. They are going to be at ACL along with the other three bands. The more and more I listen to this album, the more I like it. Check out the song C’mon.

The Calls, Texts, messages, and finding my happy place

So with things getting back to normal for Kristen and I, or at least somewhat for the two of us, we have been able to spend a little more time with each other. For me, not that I have ever forgotten, but the time together lately made me realize why she always makes me happy. Yes I know it sounds sappy, but sometimes with both of you going in a million directions you miss that connection. The past two months, we have been like two kids and it has been fun. I can tell that both of us are glad that the stress of nursing school, etc. is over and we are having fun again like we use to. I have felt a reconnection of sorts with Kristen and it has been great. Sometimes I think you have to go through some stressful stuff together to remember how much the other person means to you. I can only imagine that those stressful situations are going to come in the form of a 7 year old little girl that lives with us for now on!

Well, the calls, texts, and messages have started to be a little more frequent from my two really good friends that are coming down to Texas in a few weeks. Not only are we going to a great music festival, but just to be able to have that experience with two great friends make it even more worth while. I have officially (although Kristen probably thinks it happened sooner than this) turned into a geek, for the simple fact that I downloaded (among may other thousands of people) the new ACL App they came out with this week. So good thing is with this app, my 5 followers can see me tweet and Facebook pictures and who I am listening to over the weekend. Yes, I did turn into a nerd in the past few hours.

So looking over the bands, most people know the popular ones, and some of the medium size bands. So I am going to hit on some of the bands I can’t wait to see in two weeks, and some of their albums to check out.

Friday’s Bands:
1. Ponderosa
2. The Band of Heathens
3. The Kicks
4. Chief
5. Girls
6. Vonnegutt
7. The Soft Pack

Saturday’s Bands:
1. First Aid Kit
2. Lissie
3. Two Door Cinema Club
4. Local Natives
5. Gogol Bordello
6. The Temper Trap
7. Broken Bells

Sunday’s Bands:
1. Foals
2. Blind Pilot
3. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
4. Portugal. The Man
5. The Henry Clay People
6. The Constellations

The VMA Music “awards”

Well, yes it’s that time of the year for yours truly to rant about how horrible music is and MTV pushing that trend. I have to put some of the blame on American Idol, for turning Americans into people that wouldn’t know good music or singers if Emily Haines stood there singing for them. The VMA’s have always been more hype than anything to do with music, but at least some of the acts were great musicians when they started this. I am sorry but throwing out future douche bag Justin Bieber to entice the crowd is just plain sad. Honestly watching his performance (and I use that term loosely) confirmed the fact that the kid is already a DB, he had a letterman’s jacket (once again, I use that term loosely for that kid, doubtful sports was ever involved with him) with a B on the front and Bieber on the back, to watch him lip sync (yes kids, and grown women, he lip synced) and dance on stage wasn’t music, it was for ratings.
Now onto the next train wreck, Lady GaGa, why is all I have to say. Looking across a pictorial of the “Princess of Pop”, all I see are more and more pictures of her really wishing she was Madonna. I agree, her pop songs are catchy, but she is not and will not be the end all be all. I put her in the same category of the Black Eyed Peas, they are more flashy entertainment, than music. A meat dress, spiky things on her head, shoes that you can’t walk in, acting all “rebellious” out in public. To me she was old a long time ago, but us being dumb force fed Americans just gobble it up.

Now on to the “hey look at me” spotlight……Taylor Swift, I am sorry but when Kanye busted you last time, it was funny. I laughed, was Kanye a prick, yes, but it was still funny. Now we have to write a song about it for our next album. Come on, it was done, it was a “tragedy” to some people, but get over it. Is a song that necessary? Oh Kanye, don’t think you are laying low for this one, not only did Taylor Swift write a song about the incident, so did Mr. West. Two songs over something that honestly scarred 15 year old girls everywhere.

So there were some shining lights during the VMA’s, Katy Perry just being there is one. Yes, she is on my list, I will admit to that. Ok, on to the other shining moments, Florence and the Machine sang Dog Days Are Over, which was awesome. Eminem came out and did his thing, and his new album is great if you haven’t heard it. Drake did his song Fancy, I think Drake could be the next big thing in Hip Hop, could. Linkin Park coming back and doing their new song, was cool, I can go either way with LP. I was also surprised to see Broken Bells actually up for new comer, I didn’t think MTV believed in good music any more. Plus how in the hell did an amazing band, The Black Keys, actually win an award on MTV? Well they did, I am surprised they didn’t find a way to give it to Lady Gaga.

Let’s move on to some good music……………here are some music picks for the week.

1. Lissie-Catching a Tiger (Check out the song In Sleep)

2. Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs- God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise
(Check out the song New York City’s Killing Me)

3. The Boxer Rebellion-Exits (Check out the song Lay Me Down)

4. School of Seven Bells- Disconnect from Desire (Check out the song Babelonia)

5. Sleigh Bells- Treats (Check out the song Tell’em)

Next Up………Portugal. The Man

Well, things have been getting busier and busier for me at work. Not to mention juggling my work schedule, Kristen’s work schedule, and having a second grader in Girl Scouts and Gymnastics. As you can tell we are very busy. The best thing that has come out of this is that Kristen and I are trying harder to set aside one night a week for us. It’s working so far, and hopefully we can expand that to two nights, but for now one is fitting perfect for us. I will take this schedule over the one we have had for about four years of getting Kristen through school, and both of us working. We actually sliding back into this family thing again and I think both of us are happy about that. I know enough of the family talk and get to telling us about music.

So next up on my Austin City Limits band tour 2010 is Portugal. The Man. Along for the ride this week are the Local Natives, Blind Pilot, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. So let me start off with Local Natives.

Local Natives are along the lines of Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend, and a little Grizzly Bear. They are from Orange County, California; and have played here in Texas before at SXSW. Their first studio album Gorilla Manor, was a self funded indie album, and has got some great reviews along the way. They are playing at ACL on Saturday, and of course they are one of many bands I have sandwiched in to see during the weekend. Check out the single “Wide Eyes”.
Next up is a must see band from what I hear, it is Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. There are 10 members that are listed for this band, and I hear it seems like even more are on stage. Rolling Stone declared the group an artist to watch in 2009, calling them a cross between Arcade Fire and the Mamas & the Papas. They can summarize their effect the best: “Fans are known to be so overcome with emotion at their live shows that tears of euphoric joy are not uncommon.” If that is true, I can’t wait to experience this live. Check out the single “Home”, I just love this song.

Almost getting to the band of the day, but first I want to talk about Blind Pilot. If the few of you that read my blog remember, I talked about them about a year ago. Blind Pilot is a band from Portland, which has really become popular over the past year. They are a laid back folksy indie band, and not only do I get to see them at ACL, we are also going to see them in an aftershow at Stubb’s on Friday night. This should be a great night on Friday, with seeing The Black Keys, The Strokes, and Phish. Then an after show at the famous Stubb’s. Check out the song “Look at Miss Ohio”.

I took a chance on this last band and decided to give them a listen a few years ago and got hooked as soon as I listend to The Satanic Satanist. Portugal. The Man, surprisingly enough part hail from Alaska (yes, the same hometown that provides the setting for Sarah Palin’s Alaska…..yes something good from there) and the other half come out of Portland. They have an alterna-pop feel to their music, which what is starting to get them a following. So much so, they finally got signed to a major label. To add to the odd name and great odd album names, after releasing their first major label album “American Ghetto” they have decided to record their next album in of all places El Paso. Check out my favorite song of theirs “People Say”.

This week’s music:
Well, if feels good to get back to some writing, even though it’s breaking down some bands that some people won’t listen to that read this, however I like to get the word out about bands that are good and should be heard, with that said one of my favorite bands released their latest album this week. So here are four new albums to check out this week.

1. Interpol-Interpol : check out the song Summer Well
2. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros-Up From Below: Check out the song 40 Day Dream
3. Ra Ra Riot-The Orchard: check out the song Shadowcasting
4. First Aid Kit-The Big Black and The Blue: check out the song Sailor Song