Albums

My End of the Table

/ Deb / Leave a comment

It’s definitely fall around here. I went for a walk this morning while it was still dry and crisp outside. I heard a Black Crowes song and thought to myself — gosh, today would be a good day to listen to The Black Crowes. Usually when fall hits, I am compelled towards U2 and, more specifically, towards The Joshua Tree. (Was that album even released in the fall? Is it the moody music? I associate it with fall, but is that just because I discovered it during an autumn of teenage heartache?) Regardless, while The Joshua Tree will always mean fall to me, it shouldn’t get all of my autumn attention, and so it was nice to get a reminder of The Black Crowes and have something to dive back into. If I were ever forced to compile a list of favorite albums, their The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion would absolutely be on it (along with The Joshua Tree, of course).

Anyway, as often happens, I got sidetracked and had continued my day, Black Crowe-less. Then a friend texted me to tell me about a new Jason Isbell album of cover tunes, Georgia Blue. He was alerting me towards a cover of The Black Crowes’ “Sometimes Salvation”, which just happens to be on The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. I laughed and told him that I had, just that morning, been thinking about The Black Crowes.

So of course on his recommendation, I listened to the Georgia Blue album, and it’s great just like he said. Imagine my surprise when I saw that it also contains a cover of R.E.M.’s “Nightswimming”. Just a few weeks ago, a podcast episode about that song sent me down a noodle-filled R.E.M. rabbit hole. I mean, really……isn’t this all some strange culmination of universal nudges?

And so as I continue my rock-stepping, I realize that my best times are not just when I have music, but when I talk about it. Music brings us together, and so do our musical memories. Those long conversations, when stories of concerts, albums, and songs come out. Maybe it’s around a dinner table, or a campfire, or on a beach. Even people who I don’t know very well — if I know your music stories, I feel like I understand you. Maybe that’s because the inverse is true — if you know my music stories, you know me.

Tonight I have the house to myself, and I am writing at the dining room table with my dog nearby, music playing. I happened to look back at my very first blog post, and had a full-circle moment. Plans and ideas are flowing as easily as the tunes on a favorite album.

Stay tuned.

The Beginning of the Soundtrack

/ Deb / 2 Comments

Thirteen years ago this morning, I awoke in a hotel room, walked tentatively to the window and opened the blinds, and was relieved to see a perfectly blue August sky.  We had planned an outdoor wedding on the side of a mountain at a spot we had both fallen in love with, and there was no contingency plan for bad weather.  The gamble, thankfully, had paid off.

A few hours later, I cruised LBJ (‘Little Black Jetta’) down I-90 with my sisters, wedding dress laid across the back seat….Dave Matthews Band “Live at Red Rocks”, disc one.  My car didn’t have a CD player, but, being the resourceful type, I had taped my CD so that I could listen in the car:  Seek Up, Proudest Monkey……Two Step, with my favorite jam in the middle.   My husband hates those jams that make the song drag on forever; just one of our many differences that help us to balance each other.

12:00pm is not exactly the time for a dancy, party kind of wedding.  Our plan was to get hitched, have some food and cake, then get the heck out of Dodge and fly to San Francisco for the night, before heading out the next morning on our Italian honeymoon.

No dance floor, but I did feel compelled to hire a DJ to play background music during the reception.  He gave me a list of suggested standards, and asked that I edit it to let him know what I wanted him to play.  I made big X’s across most of the list and gave it back to him, along with lawyerly-typed instructions of what not to play (“under NO circumstances are you to play that Celine Dion song from ‘Titanic'”).  Looking back on it, I suppose it was a little Bridezilla-ish, but why did he give me a list if he didn’t want input on it?   During the reception, he sat solemnly off to the side of the bar.  Someone must have requested an obnoxious song, because I learned later that he was overheard explaining “sorry, I’m just here to play background music”.

The weather held.  I did not slip on the grass while walking down the aisle.  We made promises to each other in front of our family and friends, Mount Si bearing witness in the background.

Hours later, we were whisked away to the airport by our oldest and dearest friend, who had been my husband’s best man.  Sunburned and shiny, we boarded the plane, and the adventure began.  What a trip it’s been so far….and always with background music.

Call Me Randall

/ Deb / 2 Comments

Today I re-discovered a gem hiding in my CD collection. How had I forgotten about The Black Crowes? I don’t know what inspired me to grab it today, but Southern Harmony & the Musical Companion was the perfect music for a grind-it-out, errand day in the car.

I’ve always liked their bluesy, southern rock-ish sound….and this album has a bit of 70’s funk to it as well. In 1992, in the midst of grunge, they were so different than every other band. Right before I started law school, I moved home for the summer, and I devoured this album. (My other musical memory of that summer: listening to Pearl Jam, my dad walking in and proclaiming, “Geez, that’s depressing music”.  Dad, I love you, but don’t diss Eddie.)

So today, in my minivan, I got to feel a bit funky and (almost) 21 again. And on my way to Ballard Market, what did I see? That’s right, a huge flock of crows. I love it when stuff like that happens.