Yim Yames

My Morning Jacket: Good coverage

Few would argue that in today's neo-folk/rock explosion, My Morning Jacket reins supreme; the "Big Bang" if you will. It began in 1998 in Lousiville, KY, and their popularity has been expanding ever since.

Courtesy of Rolling Stone

Frontman Jim James (or Yim Yames, depending) has become an iconic figure in music today and, with a scruffy beard and a set of pipes fit for a choir of angels, is revered by fans and fellow musicians alike. He (and the rest of the band) was even recently animated and featured in a November episode of "American Dad." James was the bromance of the main character in the show.

It took me a while to be bitten by the MMJ "bug." I saw them open for Pearl Jam in 2006 in Albany. I had been listening to their 2005 release, "Z," for a while and had been passing it around to friends. The band had a huge sound live and surpassed all expectations.

I was surprised when someone told me they began as a country band. In fact, I thought it was bullshit. So, I did some research and saw they're debut album was entitled "The Tennesee Fire." I wasn't sure what to expect. After listening to the brilliant mellowdramatic melodies on Z, a country album would have turned me off. Well, it turns out whoever told me that couldn't have been more wrong. Tennessee Fire is an album that captures the raw intensity of the band, and, while the song "From Nashville to Kentucky" has a little twang in it, was everything I hoped it was. It has some real gems on it, in fact. No Alan Jackson here ...

"Z" wound up on many "top 10 records of the decade" lists and the band's 2008 release "Evil Urges" continues to blow minds.

I saw a cool link on RollingStone.com this morning. It is a compilation of the cover songs MMJ has done over the years. The band is very liberal with its taping policy, so there are many live records floating around.

The fan site is called, You Ain't No Picasso.

Check out some of the covers, ranging from Dylan to Danzig, Lionel Richie to Kool and the Gang. "Don't Fear The Reaper w/ Wilco" is pretty core.

Enjoy!

Coelho and realizing your dream

I'm sitting in a cubicle on a Tuesday morning, Web publishing stories I chased down the previous week. A rat race, where I'm competing with other print media in the area to scoop fluffy community news for a weekly newspaper.

It's not glamorous. I'm not seeing the world or curing diseases. But it's often said that where you are is most important, and I agree with that. I would also add that it is important to live your life with your ears tuned-in and your eyes wide open. There is a lot you can learn from your surroundings if you know where to look.

Not to mention, I'm grateful to have a job during the Great Recession. A recent poll showed that 45 percent of people who have a job, even now, still aren't satisfied.

I think it's human nature to seek more out of life, so I can understand this. But many people don't realize their dream and the freedom they inherit when born in this country.

This conundrum was dealt with by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho in a book I recently read, "The Alchemist." It is a "worldwide phenomenon," so you may have heard of it. I had a tough time getting my hands on it. It was always checked out at the library, but a friend recently let me borrow it. It spoke to me directly, as I'm sure it did for the ten's of millions of other readers. Like the ancient story of Narcissus in the author's intro, the fundamental truths dealt with in the story are timeless.

The book follows a shepard boy who sells his sheep and sets out to find a treasure, buried near the Great Pyramids of Egypt, that he saw in a dream. Along the way he meets people who teach him life lessons and guide him toward his treasure, while also teaching him to speak The Language of the World and find his Personal Legend. He had always longed to travel and see the world, but after traveling from southern Spain across the desert to the Great Pyramids, and being tested along the way, the boy learns that the treasure he sought was at home, with his family and sheep, all along.

This made me, a "boomerang," feel pretty good. A "boomerang" is the term that has popped up in media jargon of late. It is what they call kids that have gone off to college only to return home after graduating.

Even though the keynote speaker at my college's commencement told my class to essentially, go out and chase your dream now, before it's too late, I never felt too compelled to go move to an expensive city after college to prove something to myself or somebody else. Sure, that might be the conventional way of doing things, but I came to realize that the area in which I live is pretty damn good, and I wouldn't be happy in a place where I didn't have a large group of friends who I grew up with. Chances are, I won't find a person in any city far or wide that can remember going to a Little League game in the back of a pickup truck at age 10. Those moments are what made me who I am, which make you unique, which make you happy and content.

That said, the shepard didn't find his treasure until he had experienced the world and tested himself, so in that sense, I guess I should try my best to experience more of the world around me. There have long been tales of men my age going on a "great adventure" to test themselves. I don't think college is that great adventure, and many have proved that you don't need to go to college to be successful. Instead, I think that great adventure is unique from person to person and may occur at any given moment. Each person has his or her own Personal Legend to follow.

I'm going to go back to listening to World Cafe at my cubicle.

Here's to realizing the dream.

-J

Head for the hills

Here is an illustration I did a while back. I thought it would be fitting given the early snows that have helped out the local ski hills of late. Too bad the last snowstorm that hammered the D.C. area totally missed its target. From what I've heard, heavy winter weather in December was predicted by the Farmer's Almanac as well as most meteorologists (go figure). Well, Yeee Haww. I'm beyond ready to get my ski rack set up and head for the hills (queue Iron Maiden).

Shadow Drop Tees

I liked the banner design enough that I got a little carried away with it.

I hope to be ROCKing this T-shirt soon. If anyone wants one, let me know a size.

New banner

BAM! I figured the new banner would keep things fresh and possibly inspire me to increase the frequency of my posts a bit.

A couple inspirations for the design:

The above T-Shirt design for Dave Matthews Fall 2007 tour was done by FarmBarn Art Co. It appeared in Print Magazine's design annual, which has worn pages after doubling as my reference book for the past couple years. I think it's a pretty sick nasty design. (Sorry, choppy pic taken with my cell phone)

The above graffiti art is done by artist, illustrator and hip-hop musician, Kid Acne. An eye-popping design by an all-around creative dude. It appeared on his blog, which is pretty impressive, but check out his music too. Although, I can't figure out what nationality he is. He sounds like a Piker from the movie "Snatch."

Happy Holidays

-J

Review: Umphrey's @ Northern Lights

Rawk show.

There have been plenty of Umphrey's McGee references on my blog and if you know me personally, I'm not shy about pledging my allegiance to the jam/prog-rockers.

After seeing them at a couple festivals over the summer, I was able to see them twice recently in the forum where they really shine: the club setting. First, at Higher Ground, in Burlington, Vt. on Nov. 13, and then at Northern Lights, in Clifton Park, NY, on the 17th.

They definitely brought their A-game and even welcomed Mike Gordon, of Phish, to sit in at Higher Ground. The sit-in was a 'gift' for their full-time bassist Ryan "Pony Boy" Stasik on his birthday. Here is a link to a review I wrote of the show at Northern Lights: LINK . Here is a link to the soundboard you can purchase and download for $9.95. It has remained on the "Top 5 Downloads" since the show and that probably won't change until New Year's. I also have it if you want a copy. I highly recommend.