Rediscovering the Old

I'm a fan of old music. 1970s old music. I love Clapton. I like the Doobie Brothers, the Eagles, the Allman Brothers Band, Kenny Loggins. Every once in a while, I'll get on a kick and listen to some of my favorite (and some forgotten) oldies.

I recently bought the newest Jeff Beck album. He's an old guy that got his start with the Yardbirds in the late 1960s and is one of the guitar greats from the 70s. It's mainly an instrumental album. I love it. I'd have to say that instrumentals are a tough first album to get for getting into a new artist (at least new to the listener), but this one was a grand slam. If nothing else, find "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Jeff Beck somewhere on the Internet - it might just rock the socks right off your feet.

Another old group that I just got into is Led Zeppelin. I knew their songs before, but never had an album. I "phoned a friend" who knows anything you could ever want to know about Led Zeppelin. I asked which one I should get if I were to only get one. He paused and then said, "That's a tough one." He ended up giving me the Cliff Notes version of what each album was like for I, II, III, ZOSO, Houses of the Holy, Physical Graffiti, Presence, and In Through the Out Door. But then he added that ZOSO was probably the best, in his opinion, at showing their diversity. To say I have been pleased with choosing ZOSO would be an understatement. It makes me wish I had been a teenager in the 1970s so I could have been there to experience all the great music that was happening then. I guess it's pretty good these days, because I don't have to wait 9 months for the next album to come out - they've been out for 40 years!

4/14 Update

I'm excited to say I'll be playing a show this weekend. I was asked to play the Narthex: Unplugged event on Saturday night. I'm also hoping to get it recorded for a live EP. Look for it available FOR FREE in a couple weeks.

I Want to Be the Best

I want to be the best. Not second best. Not tied for first. THE best.

Oh, BTdubs

I also got to attend the John Mayer concert. It was entertaining because he's a great guitar player, not because he's an entertainer. Make sense?

Too Much Music

Where to start?

I really wanted to go see Eric Clapton this last Saturday night here in Nashville. A week before the show, I asked my dad if he wanted to go. He said they didn't have the money. The next day, his best friend called and asked my dad to go to the show. Dad replied, "Sure, just don't tell Brad." I did get a shirt out of it though. And I bought 3 Clapton albums (Slowhand, Money and Cigarettes, and Behind the Sun) to make myself feel better for not seeing the show.

I've also acquired a lot of new music:

Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome
Train - Save Me, San Francisco
Nick Jonas - Who I Am
Lady Antebellum - Need You Now
Miranda Lambert - Revolution
Carrie Underwood - Play On

and a few single songs off iTunes:

David Archuleta - Crush
Andrew Peterson - Gather 'Round, Ye Children, Come
Kenny Loggins - Playing with the Boys
Harold Faltermeyer & Steve Stevens - Top Gun Anthem
Jessica Harp - A Woman Needs
Owl City - Meteor Shower
Ke$ha - Tik Tok
Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock, & Keith Urban - Lean on Me
.38 Special - Caught Up in You
Travis Tritt - Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde


It would take quite a while to review all this. I'll sum it up as this - I have listened to everything but Clapton's Behind the Sun and Slowhand and Derek Webb's Stockholm Syndrome. Everything else I don't regret paying for. Even the pop beat (because it's not really music) Tik Tok. I just finished listening to Money and Cigarettes the first time through, and I can say EC was rockin' it back in 1983.

Also, I've been going to this once-a-month songwriter's workshop. It's like AA for songwriters. I've really enjoyed it, and I can't wait to go back and share the song I cowrote with a friend of mine last night entitled, "Never Here." We'll see what my peers think of it next month.

Hopefully it won't be another 4 months before I post again.

Long Time Coming

It's been a while. But I haven't had much time (or energy) till now. Two new albums to talk about:

Billy Currington - Little Bit of Everything

I'm diggin' it. He brings a smoothness to country singing. He comes at country from a different angle with "Heal Me" and "Everything." He rocks it with "That's How Country Boys Roll." He longs for love that could have been in "Walk On." This was definitely worth the $12 I wasn't planning on spending.

John Mayer - Battle Studies

Has anyone else noticed that the initials for his new album are BS? Anyways, one friend of mine said it was "whiny." I think he's just showing more emotion. Whatever you think, JM has some awesome guitar tones and fabulous licks up and down the track listing. Immediate fave - "Assassin." I also love the feel of "Heartbreak Warfare."

Happy listening.

Power of a Song

It never ceases to amaze me the power of a song. Just tonight I was cruising around downtown Nashville after dinner with two friends. The three of us were in the car with the windows down, blaring Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A." when a very attractive (and very busty) young woman came up to the car and started shaking her stuff. After she walked away, we laughed for a good while. Good things happen with music.