A Song in my Heart...er...Head

I have a question...does anyone ever wake up with a song stuck in their head? As in, it wasn't there when you went to bed, but it was there when you woke up? For as long as I can remember I have. Almost every single morning there is a new song just stuck in my head. Sometimes it's a song I like & sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's a song I heard just the day before & sometimes it's one I haven't heard in years. I assumed that it was something that happened to everyone, but the other day I was talking to my friend Dale (who happens to be as passionate about music as I am) and we somehow got around to this topic of conversation and I was shocked to find out that he DIDN'T wake up with a song in his head. So I started asking some more people...so far 6 out of 6 have said "nope" no song in their heads in the morning either. Interesting. I like having a song in my head in the morning, I wonder why I do? And how did it get there?

I, just like Eric Clapton, Have a Rock & Roll Heart Too!

I just got back from the Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck concert at Madison Square Garden. I can't even explain how amazing it was! AMAZING!! Here are a few photos from the evening.

Jeff Beck played for about an hour, then Eric Clapton played for about an hour, then they played together for about an hour. It was such a great show.

Guess What...

Someone just knocked on the door.
It was the Fed-Ex guy.
He brought an envelope.
Inside was a ticket.
It's for a concert.
The concert will be held at Madison Square Garden.
Thursday, February 18, 2010.
Wanna know who will be entertaining me?
ERIC CLAPTON and JEFF BECK!!!
Yay.

U2

So the Pags have been planning, for months, to go to the U2 concert in New Jersey at the Giants stadium. What wasn't planned, though is that Chris would happen upon two extra tickets and take his very grateful nanny with them! Yeah, that's right, I went to see U2 last night!! Cool, huh? We started the evening by doing the "tailgating" thing. Sandwiches and beer in the parking lot with the Pags makes me so happy! Then we went in (to the outdoor arena) (along with over 84,000 other people...yeah, that many. It broke a record) to see the show. The two extra seats weren't by the other four, so to begin with it was just Louise (Chris' mom) and I while the other four were much closer to the stage in their seats. But Chris sent me a text a few songs in that said there were empty seats by them so we should sneak down. It was so great. We had a lot of fun!

Rock On NYC...day two...

Sunday was day two of my Rock & Roll tour of Manhattan (if you didn't read about day one, go back a post and check it out). Day two was just as great as day one was, and just like day one there were WAY too many photos to share them all here, but here are a few of them:

One of the stops on the tour was at Washington Square Park. A plethora of musical wonderments! I spent so long just wandering around enjoying the beautiful weather and the people who set themselves and their instruments up all around the park. So great! This is me in front of the fountain and the arch.

This is me in front of The Bitter End. If you have a favorite artist, chances are they have played here. It claims to be New Yorks longest running night club, and the list of names who have played here is unbelievable

And here I am at Cafe Wha? Yet another amazing place, but I'm only going to write two names. Jimi Hendrix. Bob Dylan. WOW!

Speaking of Bob Dylan (one of my all time favorites, in case you didn't know) here I am standing on the street where the cover photo for the album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" was taken. This was such a cool thing to me. I was slightly overwhelmed at the actuality of it all and I really, really loved it!

And the last stop on the tour...where else? The Hotel Chelsea. It would have been hard for the weekend to have been any better for me than it was!

Rock On NYC...day one...

I'm not sure who in the blogging world knows this so I will say it as a precursor to my story. I LOVE music. I love almost all kinds of music with a passion that is hard to describe but I particularly love older Rock and Roll. The classic, groundbreaking, revolutionary, wonderfully amazing stuff. So when my mom sent me an email before I even moved out here (thanks mom!) about a self guided audio tour of a bunch of great Rock & Roll spots around Manhattan I was very excited. So I got on the website (citylisten.com if anyone is interested) and bought it (for $7.50) and downloaded it so I could do it today. The website said to plan on about two hours to take the tour, depending on how long you stay at each stop...I got through stop 10 of 26. Yup, all day long and I didn't even make it half way. It has been wonderful so far, and since its a long weekend I'm going back tomorrow to finish! Yay!

There are way too many pictures to share all of them, but here are a couple that I liked. I'm thinking the two day trip might turn into a scrapbook. Not a couple pages in a scrapbook, but a whole scrapbook all for itself, so ask me to see it sometime!

This is me on the train going into the city. I was so excited!

And this has been my favorite stop so far...although CBGB's was pretty cool...and I went on a non-scheduled (on the tour) stop to the Morrison Hotel that was also really cool...and the non-scheduled stop at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex was pretty neat too...

But that's not what this picture is of. This is the building pictured on the cover of Led Zeppelins' Physical Graffiti album! Cool Huh?!! I Know!! I seriously stood here and looked at this building for at least a half hour, at LEAST! It was really great! I asked a very nice guy to take a picture of me with the building in the background (he and his wife and daughter got very excited when I informed them what he was taking a picture of, by the way).

Anyway, that's it for today...I say that as if this post wasn't miles long, sorry :) I'll fill you in on tomorrows events later, you know, after they happen.

On Our Way Home

Tonight we went to dinner at the country club. Chris, Dorothy, Alex, Madeleine and myself. It was a great meal and great company. Such a beautiful night and we were all in wonderful moods. After dinner Chris, Dorothy & Mad went home in their car and Alex and I took mine. What a great ride home! As we were walking out to the car Alex was singing the song to his dad and I that he had just discovered he "loves!" In my humble opinion, it's a stupid song. Its called "Party in the USA" and its by Miley Cyrus. Anyway, he apparently loves this song and he told me that he was going to search the radio until he found it, and we couldn't go home until he found it either. We got into the car, and guess what was playing...you should have seen his face! It was priceless, he was so, so, so excited! He turned the radio up, opened the sunroof and sang and danced along. Then he kept telling me where to turn so that we could take the long way home and hopefully hear it again. We did take the long way home. And we heard the song two and a half (the first time it was almost over so it didn't count as a full time) times on our journey home. What a great kid. It was worth listening to the stupid song two and a half times to see his excitement about it. Great ride home!

Isnt Music Great?!!

Tonight my brother Brandon, his friend Parker, and little ole me went up to USU and paid Twelve whole dollars to watch an utterly amazing musician play some utterly amazing music. If you are reading this and you are not familiar with Kalai then let me give you some advice...BECOME FAMILIAR WITH KALAI!! He is so unbelievably talented! I knew of him and liked his music before the show, but after seeing him tonight I love him at least ten times more. He is one of those performers that can completely blow you away when you see him and his guitar on stage. Not to mention the fact that we spent the whole night laughing at his stories and jokes. He is an amazing entertainer, deeply talented and if/when I get the chance to see him again I will go without hesitation (as if I usually hesitate when we're talking about music...silly me) It was spectacular! Thanks B for inviting me, I had such a great time!

Happy Tom Petty Tuesday

Steph and I decided that today is going to be Tom Petty Tuesday, and I thought these adorable pictures of my niece Kinley rocking out while her grandpa played guitar were appropriate. I love Tom Petty. And I love Stephanie. And I love Makinley. And I love my dad.

Silent Rave

I heard on the radio yesterday as I was driving home from work something that sort of baffled me. Apparently the new, hip thing to do (this is one of those times I feel older than I think I should feel) is to have silent raves. NPR was telling their little story on my drive home about a bunch of teenager/college age kids getting together in Union Square in NYC, putting on their headphones and turning their iPods on at the same time then dancing around to their own music. I guess there were around 7,000 people dancing around and having a grand old time, each to the beat of whatever drum was playing on their personal musical device. I didn't really get it, they said they were socializing but they couldn't have been talking to each other or mingling so much because they had their headphones on. It must have been a sight though, 7,000 people dancing around and acting crazy in apparent silence. Wow, I feel a little old and out of touch!

Bob Dylan

I found out on Friday that one of my all time favorite artists was coming on Sunday to play in Park City. And even though there were minor obstacles in the way, like that I had nobody to go with and the fact that the show was actually sold out, I HAD TO GO! So, Sunday afternoon I loaded the trusty Subaru, hoped in, and took off in hopes that I could somehow get into the concert. Finding a ticket was no problem but lets talk for a minute about the rain. IT RAINED A LOT. I just heard on the news that it rained more yesterday than it did in the months of June, July, and the rest of August (all but yesterday) combined. Did I mention that this was an outdoor concert? WE GOT SOAKED! I can't remember the last time I've seen it rain so hard or so much!! It was totally worth it though. He played some great songs and I had a great time even if I was very cold and very wet

Bob Dylan

Park City, Utah

Deer Valley Resort
August 31, 2008

1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (Bob on keyboard)
2. When I Paint My Masterpiece (Bob on keyboard)
3. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again(Bob on keyboard)
4. Not Dark Yet (Bob on keyboard)
5. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (Bob on keyboard)
6. Million Miles (Bob on keyboard)
7. Desolation Row (Bob on keyboard)
8. The Levee's Gonna Break (Bob on keyboard)
9. She Belongs To Me (Bob on keyboard)
10. Honest With Me (Bob on keyboard)
11. Simple Twist Of Fate (Bob on keyboard)
12. Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on keyboard)
13. Queen Jane Approximately (Bob on keyboard)
14. Thunder On The Mountain (Bob on keyboard)
(encore)
15. Like A Rolling Stone (Bob on keyboard)

It doesn't mention it on this set list that I found on the Internet, but he also played the harmonica on a few songs which was awesome. What a great time!

Tough Question

Someone once asked a question that, to me, was impossible to answer. I'm not sure how it came up, and if you think about it logically it doesn't really work out but they asked this:

"If you were only allowed to listen to one artist or group for the rest of your life, who would it be?"

My first answer was "no" as in no way could I limit myself to just one. There is just too much good music out there! I had to think long and hard about this and ask a couple questions of my own before I could even attempt to give a real answer. Such as:

"If I pick an artist, does that include him/her AND the bands that he/she has been in?"
We decided...Yes

"Do I just get to listen to the music they have put out to date, or do I get to listen to new things they may put out too?"
We decided...Any and all music they have out or may put out would be allowed

So I thought, and thought some more and I was able to narrow it down. For me, I think it would either be Tom Petty, or Bob Dylan. I LOVE both of these artists.

Tom Petty has a few different styles of music, some are more upbeat while others are slow and soulful. He also has a ton of songs that seem to have been written to portray how I think and what I feel. Besides that he has a couple of different groups that he has been a part of, The Heartbreakers, Mud Crutch, The Travelling Wilburys.

Bob Dylan, well, he's just a genius. An amazing musician. An even more amazing songwriter. He has also done a lot of music with a lot of different people, too many to list.

The problem that I found with either of these choices, was that I love these artists so much that I would HATE to get tired of listening to them. If I was only allowed to listen to one artist, I'm afraid that is what would happen. A simple case of too much of a good thing.

So, I'm wondering if anyone knows who they would choose? I never made my decision. One artist for the rest of your life is... I don't even know how to explain it... a hard decision to say the least.

Any Day Now

Missy Higgins - Any Day Now

How long, how long, how long
Will we take to come undone
If you know the answer tell me now
And I'll write at the calendar for our countdown

'Cause what if what we see is all, is all we've got
Well say you've kept some fire aside
To set alight to me some surprising night
And say you've locked some fire away
To set light to me some surprising day

Any day now

How come, how come, how come
I'm now on a road holding out my thumb
If you know my destination please
Well find me the fasted car and throw me the keys

'Cause what if what we see is all, is all we've got
Well say you've kept some fire aside
To set alight to me some surprising night
And say you've locked some fire away
To set light to me some surprising day

Cause finger by finger we're losing grasp
And I'm questioning the reasons
Why nothing beautiful does last

Well say you've kept some fire aside
To set alight to me some surprising night
And say you've locked some fire away
To set light to me some surprising day
To me some surprising day

Any day now