a look back at 2010 (and tiny peek into 2011)

I love music. I go to a lot of concerts. This is my attempt at trying to remember all the great shows I went to in 2010, and the ones I'm looking forward to this spring. Here we go!

January 2010 started off with a bang when Kid Cudi came to town. Minus the onslaught of openers which lasted way too long it was a fantastic show. "Daps and Pounds," "Pursuit of Happiness," and "Day N Night" were most definitely the highlights from the show. Now that he's more mainstream, I'm sure it will be hard to get him in an intimate setting like the Michigan Theater again. January also brought the 33rd Folk Festival. Highlights were for sure Iron & Wine who played some of the most gorgeous music my ears had ever heard. Also, Richie Havens who is always superb (and I got to meet him again!), Rosanne Cash, Ben Gibbard & Jay Ferrar, and discovering the high energy folk/bluegrass band from Philly, Hoots & Hellmouth.

In March I got to see the AMAZING Avett Brothers, with the also awesome Low Anthem opening. If you ever have the chance to see the Avett Brothers, for the love of all that is holy GO SEE THEM. They're headlining the first night of this year's Folk Festival and I couldn't be more excited. I also caught the Low Anthem on their headlining tour that came through Ann Arbor. If you're not familiar with them, they make the most beautiful songs with some old and sometimes unconventional instruments (they featured a saw on one song). For sure check out their first two albums "What the Crow Brings" and "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin".

October was an absolutely fantastic month for music in Ann Arbor, it was too bad that my midterms coincided with some of the concerts so I sadly had to miss out on a few good ones. But I was still able to catch a lot and made my ears ridiculously happy. I was able to see one of my favorite bands from the last couple years when Ra Ra Riot came back to Ann Arbor to play the Blind Pig. I absolutely love them, and they always seem to put on a fantastic show (based on the 2 times I've seen them haha). I also was able to see Arlo Guthrie again at The Ark, as well as Joe Pug with Vandaveer opening. Vandaveer was probably my greatest discovery this year and I was completely obsessed for months after seeing them play. Joe Pug is another one of my favorite artists to see live. He's gotten much much better at performing since he was given a one song slot at the Folk Festival a few years ago. This time instead of playing by himself, he was backed up by a pedal steel and upright bass. The version of "Hymn 101" with the pedal steel accompaniment was mind blowing (mostly because I may or may not have been nursing a significant obsession with the pedal steel at the time) but still, it was a great show.

By far the absolute highlight of 2010 was seeing Bob Dylan play at Hill Auditorium October 28th. My mom and I splurged on great seats in the 11th row and were not disappointed at all. He was in a great mood and played straight through for almost 2 hours. He played many songs from his newer albums, but threw in some of my favorite tunes, including "Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat," "Simple Twist of Fate," and the highlight for me was "Desolation Row." I was able to sneak into the front row for the encore and Bob and I totally had a moment where he looked right at me and smiled. Swoon. Hands down one of the best concerts I've ever been to.

Finally November and December brought The Weepies, Josh Ritter, and The Carolina Chocolate Drops to the area. I liked The Weepies well enough before seeing them in concert, but after seeing them play live, I'm completely enamored with them and hope they don't take another 4 year touring break. Josh Ritter was absolutely fantastic and adorable and had a huge grin throughout the whole show. I definitely will not be missing seeing him play again if he's playing anywhere close. The Carolina Chocolate Drops were totally amazing as well. You will not be disappointed by their show at all. In addition to hearing some great music you get little music history lessons in between songs that (if you're anything like me) will make you want to go spend hours at the record store looking through old jazz, bluegrass, and blues records. Other notable 2010 concerts included Abigail Washburn, Jackie Greene, and Ray Davies of The Kinks. I probably forgot some, but I can't remember where I packed all my ticket stub souvenirs. Sigh.

2010 was a fantastic year for music in the Ann Arbor area. With the 34th Folk Festival and Robert Plant coming in January, Jeff Beck coming in March, and a host of other shows in between, 2011 is looking pretty good. :)

2011 Folk Festival Headliners Announced!

One of my most favorite times of the year happens at the end of every January: the Ann Arbor Folk Festival put on by The Ark. I start to get super excited about it generally in late October when the line-up starts to be announced starting with the main headliners and slowly filling out the bills with smaller more regional acts. The first night of the festival is generally full of artists who are expanding the traditional folk genre. Past Friday night acts have been Ben Folds, Jackie Greene, Jeff Tweedy, Rufus Wainwright, and Jay Ferrar & Ben Gibbard. While the Saturday night headliners are usually the classic folk and roots music pioneers. Pete Seeger, Kris Kristofferson, Richie Havens, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, and John Prine have all been recent Saturday night guests. You can read all about the history of the folk festival and see previous line-ups here.

The Ark began announcing the headliners last week, and I'm already getting anxious for January to be here. Headlining on Friday night is one of the best bands to see live, The Avett Brothers. Words cannot express how excited I am to be able to catch them live again. Also playing Friday will be Citizen Cope (I find it really odd that he's playing a folk festival, but maybe he's got some folkie gems hidden up his sleeve that I don't know about...) and local favorite Vienna Teng. Saturday night folk legend Judy Collins will play, along with Mavis Staples (!!!), and The Swell Season as the main headliner. I find it surprising that the main Saturday headlining spot didn't go to Mavis or Judy, but nevertheless I'm super excited to catch all three acts. There's also usually a "breakout" star of the festival, and I'm excited to see who that will be this year.

The countdown to January 28th, 2011 is on!

new obsession

A couple weeks ago, I caught Joe Pug at The Ark here in Ann Arbor. I've seen him a handful of times now, and he just keeps getting better and better live. He's really matured in the last year or so since I've seen him, and I LOVE the band he's playing with. The upright bass and pedal steel really add another layer of depth to his songs. I'm holding out hope that he might record a version of "Hymn 101" with the pedal steel because it was amazing.

But this post shockingly isn't about him. It's about his opener, Vandaveer. I had heard a couple of their songs before, and liked them ok, but seeing them live was unreal. Vandaveer is Mark Heidinger's folk project that brings in Rose Guerin for some of the best damn harmonies I've ever heard. Heidinger's lyrics pull you in and Rose's vocal additions effectively nail you to your chair and don't let you move until your ears are the happiest they've been in a long time. I've listened to "Dig Down Deep" at least 100x since the show. Seriously check these guys out. They just finished up a tour supporting Joe Pug, and will hopefully be back on the road sometime soon.

Woolgathering - Vandaveer (mp3)

Robert Allen Zimmerman

I was able to see Bob Dylan this past Thursday, and it was hands down one of the best shows I've ever seen. He played straight through for almost two hours, the band was tight, and it seemed like he was having an absolute blast on stage. I have a pretty sizeable obsession with Mr. Dylan, and had seen him live three times before, but this concert blew those out of the water.

Many people say Dylan should put a stop to his "Never Ending Tour" citing poor vocals and the reworking of his classics. Those people couldn't be more wrong. Sure, his voice has changed over the years but when he's on his game there's nothing like it. And to those who get upset about the reconstructing of some of his classics, I say shut the hell up. The man's been touring for 40+ years, he's allowed to do things differently. I'd get bored as hell playing the same songs the same way for that long. Stumbling through various reviews, I read something that pretty much sums it up. "Everybody struggles to make sense of Dylan, and all the while Dylan is stuck trying to make sense of all of us." Word.

He opened with a great rendition of "Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat" moved onto "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)". What a great way to start! Other highlights of the setlist include an awesome "Simple Twist of Fate," "Desolation Row," "High Water (For Charlie Patton)" and "Ballad of a Thin Man." I was able to sneak into the front row for the encore of "Jolene" and "Like a Rolling Stone" and seeing Bob up close was probably one of the greatest moments of my entire life. He was smiling the whole time, and I'm convinced we shared a moment when he looked right at me and smiled. Swoon. Three days later and I still haven't come down from the high. Here's hoping he continues the Never Ending Tour for years to come.

back!

Wooo. I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything but just wanted to take a quick study break and post a couple songs that I've recently acquired that I'm loving right now. First up is off of Justin Townes Earle's fantastic new album Harlem River Blues. This album is in my constant rotation, and I was really looking forward to catching him live next month, but it seems that he ran into a sticky situation in Indy and has suspended the rest of his tour (more on this here). But I wish him a speedy recovery and can't wait for him to be back on the road making people's ears happy. Definitely check out the album if you haven't already done so.

One More Night in Brooklyn - Justin Townes Earle

And the other track is off of Ra Ra Riot's new album The Orchard. I know I'm way late on the blog hype with this but whatever. I love Ra Ra Riot, I love the new album, and I can't wait to catch them when they're in Michigan in a couple weeks. Enjoy!

Boy - Ra Ra Riot

Well, that's it for now. But I'm sure I'll update again sometime soonish. October is looking to be an awesome month for concert-going. I've got Broken Social Scene, Ra Ra Riot, AA Bondy and The Walkmen, Joe Pug, Arlo Guthrie, Dr. Dog, and the one and only Bob Dylan on my radar so here's hoping school doesn't get in the way of my music enjoyment!

Namibian artist #1...Jackson Kaujeua..RIP

It seems I discovered him about 4 days too late. Influential Namibian musician Jackson Kaujeua passed away from kidney failure on May 27. I literally just discovered his music an hour ago, and it's very hard to find his songs online, so this weekend I plan on picking up an album or two at the music store here in town. Until I can get my hands on full songs, here's one of his songs on Youtube, "Kalahari." For a little more information about him, here's an article in The Namibian:






UPDATE: found a better video that has a compilation of a bunch of his songs...check it out!

terrible pop music and slow internets in Namibia

Oh boy. Do I ever need some good tunes. I'm currently in Namibia on an internship for grad school, and though it is totally awesome here, my ears are certainly paying a price. I am forever being bombarded by Celine Dion, Richard Marx, and Justin Bieber while I'm at the office working. It's usually the same 10 songs just repeated for 6 hours. I usually can't wait until I get home and can open my computer and play something that doesn't make my ears bleed. Glad I was able to snag Josh Ritter's FANTASTIC new album before I left, but in my haste (aka leaving EVERYTHING to the last minutes before I left the US) I didn't get a chance to grab the seemingly 4000 other new albums that came out in the last month or two (not to mention the ones being released in June). Now I'm left feeling like a junkie who just doesn't have the money for a fix. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but internet is so painfully slow it takes 20 minutes to download one song! Ack!

My aim while I'm in Namibia is to check out the local music scene and hopefully post some updates on what music (besides terrible terrible American pop) people are digging here. So stay tuned...hopefully I'll make some good finds! For now, enjoy a song off Ritter's new album. The whole thing is completely amazing, and if for some crazy reason you haven't bought it yet, do it NOW!

Another New World - Josh Ritter