Snapshots of Telluride

Sometimes I would take breaks from the bluegrass festival to walk around town or get lost in some old hippie book store or read down by the river.

 

And before you go, you must listen to a Telluride favorite.

The Favorites

So far, this winter has been hard.  Some days I feel so gray.  Sometimes there is hardness in life that isn't simply healed by more self-talk or therapy. 

And sometimes the only things that provide the soul healing I need is laying in bed all day reading my favorites.  My favorites are the books that are dog-earred, sticky-noted, scratch covered, stained from years and days of re-reading and re-re-re-reading. These are the books (and blogs!) that reaffirm a life philosophy, remind me of better patterns of thinking, breath in encouragement, provide visual inspiration in contrast to the drab gray sky and brown trees, that make me laugh, sigh, and want to get up in a certain lightness and make that mango chicken curry right now. 

Today I did exactly this. 

Here is a photographic list of the favorites:

/Self Help

 /Cookbooks

/Food Memoirs

/Blogs:
-Aura Joon
-The Longest Acres

And after one spends a day soul healing through reading, it is important to get up, and dance to both of these songs:
1) Darkness on the Edge of Town
2) Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

Telluride, CO Part II

Now, for the actual music festival part.

Telluride Music Festival has been in operation for 41 years.  It's a festival for those who love banjo and bluegrass music and can dance to it four days straight.

This is what the stage looked like.

Mountains to the left.

 Me with my fake mustache and tattoo. 

Making new friends!

Chairs in a line for tarp run numbers.

"all the freaky people make the beauty of the world"

Riding the gondola again!

The town of Telluride.

 

Our friend's house.

 A stop at Black Canyon National Park on the way home.

Goodbye Colorado, until next time!

Downtown Hoedown

What's better than a free, weekend long country concert?  In my mind, not a lot of things.  This past Sunday I joined 50,000 other people to enjoy some good country tunes.  This weekend is called the "Downtown Hoedown" and takes place right on the river in downtown Detroit.  The performer that I was most excited to see was the Zac Brown Band.  And boy did they perform!  Both Zac Brown and the violinist really rocked out.

The crowds against the Detroit skyline. 

Me and my friend Lindsay and our cliched cowboy hats.  Honestly, the majority of the population were wearing cowboy hats...I think it added to the spirit.

A barge going down the river.

A dark picture, but this is the Zac Brown Band!

Sing me some irish tunes.

Flogging Molly.

Some of my favorite music happens to be Irish (or Irish related) music.  I really love it all.  Whether it be live pub recordings or some of the soundtrack from P.S. I Love You.  Something about it makes me really giddy.  I will be often walking down the street on my way to class and be listening to a really good song and have to stop myself from skipping.  So, in the spirit of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day I thought I would post some of my favorite Irish tunes.

1) The Galway Girl- Sharon Shannon Ft. Mundy

2) Float- Flogging Molly

3) Love You 'Till The End- The Pogues

4) Rebels of the Sacred Heart- Flogging Molly

5) Irish Heartbeat -Van Morrison with The Chieftains

6) Siúlil a Run - Celtic Woman

7) Salty Dog- Flogging Molly

8) Live From Matt Molloy's Pub- The Chieftains

9) The Belle of Belfast City- The Pogues

10) If I Ever Leave This World Alive- Flogging Molly

Enjoy the Irish festivities and make sure to get your fill of green milk.  

*Picture from here.

Thought of the Day

I had one of those moments where the music I was listening to perfectly connected to the world outside of you.  It was about 9:40, I was freezing on my walk to class but was happy and at ease because I was listening to the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack (Your Hands Are Cold) and felt wonderfully stuck in the moment.  I really love those music to real life connections...oh and Pride and Prejudice in general :)

Music on the Radio Followup by Mike

My Musical Philosophy- Mike

Music falls into three categories: Incredible talent, Incredible message, and entertainment. Incredibly talented artists have truly gifted abilities to create music and display themselves in song. Artists with incredible messages have the intention to teach or show their listeners something with their music. All other artists and songs who do not fall into these categories, on purpose or of short comings in the musical process, becomes for the purpose of entertainment. I challenge you to think about what category the music you listen to falls into, and re-evalutate the meaning that music can have to you.

Some artists you have never heard of, some songs you wish you remembered, some songs that will captivate you no matter who you are:

Recommendations:

Some artists you have never heard of, some songs you wish you

remembered, some songs that will captivate you no matter who you are:

? and the Mysterians- 96 Tears

America- Ventura Highway, Sister Golden Hair

Arthur Conley- Sweet Soul Music

Del-Vikings- Come Go With Me

Dion- Runaround Sue, Teenager in Love, I Wonder Why

Drifters- Save the Last Dance For Me, This Magic Moment

Everly Brothers- All I Have To Do Is Dream, Bye Bye Love, Wake Up Little Susie

Four Tops- Ain't No Woman, It's The Same Old Song, I'll Be There, What Becomes of The Broken Hearted

Herman's Hermits- Silhouettes, I'm Into Something Good, Ms. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter

Hollies- Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress

Isley Brothers- This Old Heart Of Mine

Jim Croce- Operator

Kinks- Lola

Lovin' Spoonful- Groovin

Maurice Williams- Stay

Neil Sedaka- Calendar Girl

Otis Day and the Knights- Shama Lama Ding Dong (give it a chance)

Righteous Brothers- Unchained Melody

Spinners- Cupid

Tommy James and the Shondelles- Crimson and Clover, Crystal Blue Persuasion, Sweet Cherry Wine, I Think We're Alone Now

Wilson Pickett- Land of 1000 Dances, In The Midnight Hour 

Now for some overlooked songs from famous artists- their true music:

Beach Boys- You're So Good To Me

Beatles- No Reply, Do You Want to Know A Secret

Bob Seger- Night Moves

Cheap Trick- Ain’t That A Shame (Live)

Creedence Clearwater Revival- Lodi

David Bowie- Rebel Rebel

Elvis- Don’t Be Cruel

Franki Valli- Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

Jimi Hendrix- All Along The Watchtower

Led Zepplin- Rock n' Roll, Going to California, Hey Hey What Can I Do, Hey lady

Rolling Stones- Miss You, Beast of Burden

Rupert Holmes- Escape (Listen to the lyrics it is a beautiful song past pina coladas)

Actual Hip-Hop (it can have value!) 

Pete Rock and CL Smooth- When They Reminisce Over You

Common- I Used To Love HER

GrandMaster Flash- The Message 

My ultimate recommendation for real music:

Sam Cooke- He is an actual talent with the impeccable ability to transform life into a song and portray the emotion of life.

Another Saturday Night, What a Wonderful Word, Twisting The Night Away, You Send Me, Cupid, Change is Gonna Come

It is ok to listen to any type of music, but please pay caution to the true identity and worth of the music. Your experience with music can become so much more than noise and sound.

Music on the Radio

I get frusterated with the music on the radio- the "Top 40/Pop/HipHop/Rap" stuff.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming that it's all bad. It is definitely good for some things like exercising or if you do genuinely enjoy it (please don't get offended).  However, my personal preferences don't fall into that category (I'm also including some recommendations :)). 

Here's why:

First recommendation- The Beach Boys.

1) For me, I find it mindless (although sometimes we need mindless) and superficial. I always feel like when I do turn on the radio, I'm hearing the same voice altered lack of talent, music with the same beats and sounds. Nothing seems original or meaningful. The other Mike pointed out to me while listening to a Beatle’s song; they could really sing music with true passion and emotion. Nowadays, all I hear about is partying and "paparazzi". This leads me to...

Secondly, try out some Doobie Brothers.

2) Where is the lyrical depth? Where is the style, where is the thought? I don't find any of these qualities in this type of music. How is "I make the good girls go bad" add to my life? It's kind of like the garbage in, garbage out theory. Furthermore, I don't enjoy listening to rap or hip-hop that lacks total taste and morals. I can't stand listening to the derogatory attitudes towards women. Nor can I stand the swear words and same themes of clubbing, I'm so rich/awesome or I'm drunk and all the women love me.

My third recommendation is Muse, a more modern band with an interesting style and great lyrics.

3) Some people are way too accepting of what's given to them. A pet peeve of mine is when people listen to "pop or top forty" songs simply, because that's what’s on the radio, therefore that's what they "should" be listening to. Music is suppose to be inspirational, moving, relaxing, something you personally connect to. How are you supposed to have this experience if you do not pick your own music. Granted I know that for some people this is a personal choice and that's fine-rock on.

Had to include some country!  Brad Paisley is a personal favorite.

I conclude with this, there is so much more out there people! There's country, folk, classic rock, soft rock, 90's, world/ethnic, blues, jazz, classical, indie/alternative, techno and much more!

One Year Anniversary with The Boss

You probably already know that Bruce Springsteen is my favorite artist of all-time.  I've always admired and enjoyed listening to different music genres including rock, folk, country, indie, classical, soft-rock and oldies.  A bigger music aficionado than me, is Mike.  Since meeting him, my music library has expanded greatly to include a bunch of new title, artists and musical ideas.  So naturally, when I suggested going to the Bruce Springsteen concert to celebrate our one year anniversary, he was game.

Top Favorite Moments (In no particular order):

1) Clarence Clemmon's gold fingernails

2) Bruce's covers of songs are better than the originals. Check out Because the Night.

3) The band is so in-tuned (not musically) with Bruce and each other that they know when he's going to improvise, add, take away, change or prolong a song, and pull it off perfectly.  It's incredible to see in person.

4) He's still has it in his 60's.

Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen

My favorite picture of Bruce Springsteen and Clarence Clemons.

Bruce Springsteen is the Boss.  Period.  He has been and is still my favorite artist of all time.  His music has occupied my heart ever since I was little when me and my sister Alicia would recite all the lyrics to Thunder Road to my parent's friends for their amusement to me mending a broken spirit to Hungry Heart.  And that's exactly what Bruce's music is: music for the soul.

So clearly I am a little biased, however, his music is the perfect all around American rock.  He has gone beyond the burn outs of all other "rock" artists and is still producing hits and winning Grammies.  Furthermore, he has one of the best bands playing along with him...The E Street Band composed of some awesome musicians that have been with Bruce for 35+ years.  So why are some good reasons to go check out Bruce Springsteen?  His music is timeless and speaks to the hearts of millions of people.   In addition, he has always been a man of integrity, never allowing any members of his band to do drugs or engage in destructive addictions...which is hard to say for a lot of bands.  

So here are my top favorite Bruce Springsteen songs (If I absolutely HAD to pick one)

New Favorite Song: Because The Night (live)

Classic Favorite: Thunder Road, Born to Run, Badlands, Atlantic City

Favorite Love Song: Rosalita, She's The One, Sandy

Favorite Mood Music: Jungleland, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

Favorite Happy Songs: The Rising, Working On A Dream

Happy Listening!

*Picture from here. 

October's Playlist

This post is inspired by a certain friend who loves to find and listen to music.  She believes that the lyrics create the meaning of the song and the instrumental part creates the emotion (especially the drums).  Often, I end up loving an artist (she has great taste) simply because she has recommended one of their songs.  So in honor of her, I have made an October love playlist composed of all my latest favorite love songs....and besides who doesn't love a good heart-warming song?     

This picture has nothing to do with the post, I just think it's pretty.

1) Looking In The Eyes of Love....Alison Krauss
2) Secret Garden...Bruce Springsteen
3) Feels Just Like A Love Song....Sara Evans*
4) Only You Can Love Me This Way....Keith Urban
5) Sail Away....David Gray
6) Last Train Home...Ryan Star*
7) No Other Love....Chuck Prophet*
8) Cupid....The Spinners
9) Closer to Love...Mat Kearney*
10) You're So Good to Me....The Beach Boys
11) Hold You In My Arms...Ray LaMontagne
12) Then...Brad Paisley


P.S. To this certain friend (you know who you are), I starred the songs that I thought you would like the best.  

*Photo taken by Emily Patterson

Alison Krauss

This past July, I was listening to a good friend practice a song she was planning on singing for her older brother and his fiance at their rehersal dinner.  It was a simple but deep song called, "When You Say Nothing At All".  I didn't think much about her until August when I was downloading new music.  That's when I discovered Alison Krauss.

Did you know that she's won 26 grammys?  That's third over all EVER in the history of grammys.  I couldn't believe that I had never heard of her before.  So I kept downloading and downloading and fell in love...

Her music really speaks to me.  Whether I'm dreaming about Mike (haha) or making random to do lists I'm listening to her.  Recently, a good friend of mine gave me even more of her wonderful music to listen to while doing homework (Thanks Amelia!).   Her musical style is very singer/ songwriter with bluegrass.  

Some songs to check out:

1) I Will

2) When You Say Nothing At All

3) Restless

4) Looking In The Eyes of Love

5) Stay With Me Baby

6) Now That I've Found You

I hope you check her out whether you listen to her on the way to work, while doing your homework or maybe just one song to sample.  Also, if you're put off by country or bluegrass types of music, I swear you will still like Alison Krauss. 

*Photography credit goes to LiveMusicPhotography.info