Not Your Daddy's Dylan - Jakob Dylan

Ten years ago, if you would have suggested that I listen to Jakob Dylan, I would have been like "Eh, I'm good." I wasn't at all disappointed when in 2001, we missed the Wallflowers as the opening act for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers at the Gorge due to car troubles on the way. Sure, I liked the Wallflowers' songs One Headlight and 6th Ave. Heartache (which when I first heard it, I swore it was a Counting Crows song, I was partly correct, Adam Duritz does sing back up on the song.) Except now I find One Headlight somewhat difficult to listen to. It's the last verse that gets me. It reminds me of my Grandmother who passed away, it explains exactly how I feel about it:


"I'm so alone, and I feel just like somebody else
Man, I ain't changed, but I know I ain't the same
But somewhere here in between the city walls of dyin' dreams
I think her death it must be killin' me"

But I wan't really a textbook "fan" of Jakob Dylan or the Wallflowers. Why? Well, you see at this point in my life, I didn't really care for Bob Dylan (WHAT!? I know!) and therefore didn't really care for his offspring. After taking a class my first year of college where we studied Bob Dylan (and the '60s counterculture) and actually listening to Bob Dylan, I've since come to my senses. I am now both a fan of Bob, and therefore also Jakob. So, sure the aforementioned Wallflowers songs are a couple of my favorites, but it's Jakob Dylan's solo records that really brought me in as a fan.

In mid 2008 I had gotten the single Something Good This Way Comes off Jakob Dylan's first solo record Seeing Things from the iTunes song of the day download from Starbucks. I enjoyed it immensely. A short while later, I believe it was my sister Linda who gave me the entire record. Knowing the Wallflowers music, and only hearing the one single, I wasn't really sure what to expect from the rest of the record. But I gave it a go. And well, I love it. The record is mostly acoustic, and folky; it's more like classic Bob Dylan than Wallflowers. The songs are stories. Stories of war, life, nature, love, death. All of them pure musical goodness.  My favorite tracks on the record are Will it Grow, This End of the Telescope, Up on the Mountain, and Something Good This Way Comes.


A couple years later I heard that Dylan was recording a follow up record. On April 16, 2010 Women and Country was released. Again, it was my sister who supplied me with this amazing record. I think I love Women and Country more than Seeing Things. And when I say love, I mean LOVE. Women and Country seems more folky than Seeing Things, and it has a slightly different feel to it; it feels slightly more country. Again the record is mostly acoustic, with the exception of a steel guitar. A few songs have an awesome horn section, so bonus there (there's just not enough horn sections these days.) Dylan is joined by Neko Case and Kelly Hogan on backing vocals on several songs. The lyrics again tell stories, stories of life on the plains, life in mines, life in the country; life. These songs are incredible. Seriously, the lyrics are thought provoking and brilliant. I've said before that I'm a lyrics girl, and this record, this whole record, is one that I absolutely love every lyric to every song. I'm constantly listening to this record, constantly have one (or more) of these songs stuck in my head, it's one of my Desert Island Records (What are my other Desert Island Records? U2 - The Joshua Tree, Bryan Adams - So Far So Good, Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, The Beatles - Revolver) So out of all the glorious tracks on this record, which are my most favourite? Everybody's Hurting, Holy Rollers for Love, Truth for a Truth and Smile When You Call Me That. But this whole record is well worth the time you will spend immersed in the amazing music contained in these eleven songs.

For now it looks like Dylan is putting the solo career on hold, as the Wallflowers are set to release a new record, Glad All Over on October 9th. I've heard the single from the record, Reboot the Mission, and like it. It's funkier than other Wallflowers stuff I've heard. I'm excited for this record (which will get a review here when it comes out.) While you're waiting for that, go get Seeing Things and Women and Country. You will not be disappointed.

This is the one in which I told you about - Field Report

Have you ever become completely enthralled with a band after hearing only one song? I have. And after hearing a few more songs, I fell in love with this band. And after seeing them live, well, lets just say I still love this band. What band is this you ask?  Field Report. Field Report is another band discovered through the Outlaw Roadshow; they played at the showcase at SXSW and toured with Counting Crows on the second leg of the touring Outlaw Roadshow. I really hadn't listened to Field Report when I was discovering the bands from the SXSW showcase in March, but when they were announced as one of the bands on the second leg of the tour, which I would be seeing, I figured I should check them out.



The first song of their's I heard was Fergus Falls.
After listening to it, my only response was "Good gourd" I couldn't really come up with words to describe just how beautiful the song is. The words, the music, the feel of the song. It's truly brilliant (So brilliant in fact, that Fergus Falls is currently the top played song on my iPod. Sure, I've only had this ipod for a couple months, but still, that's an amazing feat for a new song.) I then listened to the other songs that at that point (in late June) were available for download from their website: Taking Alcatraz and I Am Not Waiting Anymore. I also downloaded the session they did for Daytrotter earlier this year. Same feeling. These songs were amazing. There truly must be something in the water in Wisconsin.

Field Report's self titled debut record, released September 11, 2012 is an epic masterpiece of musical goodness. It's one of those records that will make you happy no matter your mood, one of those records that you can listen to over and over and never tire of, one of those records that you will attempt to get all of your friends/coworkers/strangers on the street corner to listen to. This record is probably my #3 pick for record of the year (#1: Counting Crows' Underwater Sunshine, #2: Foreign Fields' Anywhere But Where I Am) These songs are more than just songs, they are stories, tales of life in the Midwest, Chris Porterfield a sort of troubadour, the lyrics extremely wordy, but good wordy. He paints a picture as he's singing, it's like you can not only hear the songs, but see them as well. Porterfield, a former bandmate of Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, takes his knowledge and experiences of Midwest living (Wisconsin and Minnesota) and turns them into these lyrical masterpieces. I used the phrase "soliloquy of the soul" to describe Little Brave's songwriting, I'm gonna apply that to Porterfield as well, I think it may even apply to him more. Every time you listen to a song you discover something new about it, something makes more sense, something jumps out at you, something clicks. Chris Porterfield is backed by the musical talents of Nick Berg, Ben Lester, Jeff Mitchell, Damian Strigens and Travis Whitty. After Fergus Falls, Taking Alcatraz is probably my second favorite track on the record, my favorite lines from the song:

"And if we die here, at least we'll make the choice
And if we're fine here, we can tell the boys
That a line in the sand don't matter if you don't care;
That a bird in the hand is worthless if you're too scared"

I also love Incommunicado and I Am Not Waiting Anymore, but the whole record really is quite stellar. This is another one of those records where it's hard for me to come up with the right words to describe it. All I know is that it's amazing and defiantly worth checking out, worth the $9.99 from Amazon to buy it.

I had the pleasure, nay, honor of seeing Field Report live at the Outlaw Roadshow in Sandpoint, Idaho. They were fantastic; more than fantastic. Sadly, not everyone in the crowd around me was as excited about seeing them, most people hadn't even heard of them, some of them complaining that their music wasn't music you could dance to. I didn't care, I loved it. I'm fairly certain I was one of the only people singing along to them, the only other person I saw singing along was Adam Duritz of Counting Crows, as he stood at the side of the stage watching them perform. I enjoyed their whole set, and wished they would have played more. After the show I met Chris Porterfield and told him how much I enjoyed the band and was excited for their record to be released.

This fall Field Report is touring with Aimee Mann. You should go see them. For reals. They are playing in Seattle on October 3, but sadly I can't go, as it's mid week and I have classes and such. But all my Seattle-area friends should go. You can find info on that tour on their web site: www.field-report.org/ While you're there you can listen to a few tracks of the album, then you will for sure want to buy it. Just kidding, what am I saying, you'll only need to listen to one song, then you'll want to buy it. Or just buy it without listening to it, it'll be the greatest surprise ever when you put it in your CD player (or whatever) and press play. Seriously, this band have been given praise by Rolling Stone, Time Magazine,  Esquire Magazine, and Billboard. Get on this.

My Summer of Music - Summer Concert Recap

This summer has been quite eventful, music wise, for me. I'd have to go on record as saying it's been one of the best summers of my life, and I've had a few really good ones. Compared to last summer, which was spent mostly at school (though I did have a really awesome geology class) and working, I think I only went to two concerts: U2 (in June) and Counting Crows (in late September, which I guess isn't summer.) But this summer, this summer I went to seven shows. I know this doesn't seem like a lot, some people go to this many shows in a month, but for me, this is a lot, especially because all but two of them involved driving over 100 miles for the show.

Although technically not summer, the show that kicked off my Summer Concert Series was on April 13, at the ShowBox Sodo in Seattle. This was show number one that I drove 275 miles (each way) to attend. And for the band that night, I would do again in a heartbeat. The band, Counting Crows. I went to this show with my sister Linda, and we had an amazing time. We got to the club early, so we could be sure to get a good spot in front of the stage. I get really bad concert anxiety, and hate being late to a show. Lucky for us, we were some of the first through the door, and made it right up to the stage, just off to the right, in front of David Immerglück and Dave Bryson. While waiting for the show to start, the Crows' drummer, Jim Bogios, came out on the stage and was chatting with some people next to us. We also started chatting with him, about their new record, Underwater Sunshine. He also signed our ticket stubs for us.

 The opening band that night was a band called Mean Creek. They were pretty good. They will be on tour again this Fall with Counting Crows. After a brief set change over, the tell-tale sign of the show starting, Lean on Me played over the speakers and the Crows took the stage. The band was amazing, but they always are. One really cool part of the night was when my sister turned to me and said "Immy just looked right at your tattoo and smiled" (I have a tattoo on my left wrist that is the shooting star from the cover of the Crows's album Recovering the Satellites) and a couple other times during the night, I made eye contact with him and he smiled at me. So that was pretty cool. The whole night was beyond fantastic, standing two feet away from some of my favorite people all night, getting so sucked into the music that I didn't even notice the hundreds of other fans behind me (I also really don't like large groups of people in small spaces, but for Counting Crows, I'll deal with it.) The high from that night kept me going for weeks. 

The next show I saw wasn't until May 27. Luckily, that show was here in Spokane so I didn't have to go to far for it. That band, Brown Bird. Brown Bird is an amazing folk duo from Rhode Island. I won't go too much into that show, as you can read all about it here. 

There was a lull between the Brown Bird show and the next show I went to, which was July 5, in Seattle. The going to this show wasn't planned, it was very spur of the moment, I decided just a couple days before hand that I would go. The band this time, Kasey Anderson & The Honkies. I had known that they were playing the show in Seattle on the 5th, but wasn't sure if I could/would go, but then a couple days before the show, my ipod seemed to only want to play Kasey Anderson & the Honkies. I posted about this on twitter, asking if it were a sign that I should drive out to the show. Kasey Anderson replied, saying "I AGREE WITH THIS" so of course I had to go. Luckily, I just happened to have the 5th and 6th off so I could drive over for the show. I went with my sister Linda (she's my go-to concert buddy) and her boyfriend. While we were sitting at the bar waiting for the show, we saw Kasey walk by a couple times, bringing in his equipment and such. Linda kept urging me to go introduce myself, but I didn't want to bother him while he was busy with band stuff, however, I didn't have to introduce myself, one of the times as he walked by, he looked over at us, and said to me "You made it!" So that was neat, didn't have to introduce myself, he knew who I was. After the show I got a picture with him and thanked them for the awesome show. 

The rest of July was uneventful. My next show was Heartless Bastards on August 2. Again, this show I won't go too much into, as you can read about it here. This show was here in Spokane, and I went with my cousin Heidi. We had a great time. We got to meet the band, get pictures and autographs, and listen to some amazing rock and roll.

Probably the greatest, most amazing show of my entire summer was the Outlaw Roadshow in Sandpoint, Idaho on August 10. The show was four bands: Kasey Anderson & The Honkies, Field Report, Tender Mercies and Counting Crows. Here is the full review of that show, and all the wonders that it entailed. In short: I got to meet Adam Duritz and Dan Vickrey of Counting Crows, Chris Porterfield of Field Report, again being like 4 feet away from my all time favorite band. Tender Mercies were brilliant, Field Report phenomenal (I can't wait for the record to be released) and the Honkies great as always. The whole night was fairly magical, OK more than fairly.  

A couple weeks later it was back to Seattle for Brown Bird again. This band really is brilliant. It's truly amazing the music they can produce with just two people, with MorganEve Swain playing the upright Bass, cello or fiddle, and Dave Lamb on guitar or banjo and doing the percussion with foot pedals. Fantastic stuff. The show was at the Tractor Tavern in the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle. When we got there we hit up the merch booth and got an uber cool tour poster, said "Hi" to Dave Lamb and their tour manager guy (I can't remember his name,) who remembered me from the Spokane show. I was impressed by the size of the crowd at the show, it was great to see so many people there to support Brown Bird. Everyone was very into the music. When Brown Bird thanked the crowd for coming out, Dave mentioned that someone came all the way from Spokane to see them. That's me. Totally got a shout out from the band. 

The show that ended my Summer Concert Series was a band that I'd already seen twice this summer, but a band whom I very much enjoy: Kasey Anderson & The Honkies. The show was on September 2. I was surprised that I was able to go to this show, that I was able to get the weekend off, being that it was Labor Day weekend. But alas, I found myself on the 275 mile drive from Spokane to Seattle for some rock and roll. My trusty concert buddy, Linda, and I ventured out to the Tractor Tavern for the show. The Honkies played second, first up was Star Anna, accompanied by Kasey Anderson and Ty Bailie. The Honkies' set was on FIRE (not literally, of course.) Although this was the third time this summer that I had seen Kasey Anderson & The Honkies, I have yet to hear them perform my favorite song of theirs: Don't Look Back. But there'll be more shows, more time for that. One thing that I noticed, or really my sister noticed, about the crowd at that show, as while it was abundant, most of the people were well out of our age demographic. Pretty sure we were some of the youngest people there, and we aren't really that young. Still, the show was great. We didn't stay for the final band that night, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, we had to get home to my sister's kids. 

So all in all I had one amazing summer. Pretty sure I put at least 2500 miles on my car this summer, just driving back and forth to Seattle and Idaho for shows (this is not including the two other times I drove over for family events) Sadly with Fall coming up I won't be able to travel as much for shows, as I'll be starting school at Eastern Washington University to finish up my B.S. in Geology. This is extra sad because I won't be able to catch Counting Crows on their fall tour, which would require more than a road trip, but an air trip, coz they aren't playing anywhere here in Washington. But I know they'll be back, someday. I hope next summer can live up the memories of this one. It really was quite epic for me.