i pretend to be sleeping / when you come in in the morning

Certain songs just have the power with me, through a very simple and unadorned turn of words, to evoke a perfect whole sadness. I don’t recommend playing this contest at home, but in this ongoing tally-game I have running in my head, one of the very saddest songs I know is “Top of the World” by Patty Griffin. It’s the first song of hers that I ever heard (due to a long-running college flirtation with the Dixie Chicks), and it was a gut-punch from first listen.

I hear it as a story of an emotionally-distant man who is looking back at his life and grieving the ways he hurt those who loved him (“think I broke the wings off that little songbird…”). Something in the line, “I pretend to be sleeping / when you come in in the morning / to whisper goodbye, go to work in the rain, I don’t know why, don’t know why….” makes me live for a solid moment inside that grey early morning light and hear the rain fall on the eaves, and feel like not moving from under the covers, and not knowing why I am avoiding those who love me. Lines like that are part of what make Patty Griffin one of my very favorite songwriters.

Top Of The World – Patty Griffin

This Saturday (December 8), Patty Griffin is headlining Denver’s RootsFest (with support by Todd Snider) to benefit Swallow Hill Music, and Fuel/Friends is thrilled to be one of the presenters! Patty is an incredible, heritage-of-American-music artist, and I cannot wait to see her for a complete live set. Todd Snider opens; I once listened to some of his songs on the long road to Marfa, TX, on the way home from SXSW. Seemed perfect.

WIN TICKETS! I have two pairs of tickets to RootsFest this Saturday give away to readers – please leave me a comment to enter. I am still familiarizing myself with Patty’s vast and wonderful body of work over the years (there is a lot), so feel free to tell me what your favorite song from her is, and why.

I’ll pick winners on Thursday, and encourage everyone else to get their tickets in advance. As part of Swallow Hill’s rad commitment to music education (really, they are doing some of my favorite stuff in Colorado), they are also offering a class on Saturday led by local roots musicians Martin Gilmore and Patrick Dethlefs, focusing on the songwriting aspects of roots music. Each musician will include a performance aspect of their classes, playing songs and then answering questions, and giving explanations of writing techniques, tips and pointers. The workshop is FREE with your ticket to RootsFest.

Win tickets to Ben Howard and Michael Kiwanuka

Two absolutely phenomenal shows from the Communion Records family in London are coming through Denver a day apart from each other at the end of September, and Fuel/Friends is excited to get to give away a pair of tickets to each!

Ben Howard is playing the gorgeous Boulder Theater in a (sold-out) show on September 29 with Marcus Foster. He was on my spring mix with the glorious, slow-building warmth of “Old Pine,” and also added his unique spin on that cover of “Call Me Maybe.”

Michael Kiwanuka is playing the next night, September 30, at the Fox Theatre with Bahamas. All of these things are good on so many levels; Michael Kiwanuka blew me away at SXSW this past March, and he was on my summer mix. That new Bahamas record has been on constant rotation (and I also love his first album, still listening to it regularly).

WIN TICKETS! Please leave a comment on this post with an interesting fact about something cool. Also indicate which show you are entering for! I will pick a random winner for each concert sometime in the middle of next week.

As a reminder, here is what happens when all these folks make music together. Communion Records is so squarely in my wheelhouse, just curating some of the best music out there lately:

(Filmed at Cacophony Recorders, Austin TX during SXSW Communion Records artists Michael Kiwanuka, Ben Howard with his band, India and Chris, Ben Lovett, The Staves and Johannes from Bear’s Den jam to John Martyn’s ‘Over The Hill.’)

And a feature from NME about the ethos and philosophy behind Communion Records with founders of the label: Kev Jones (who took me out for lovely pints in London in November) and Ben Lovett from Mumford and Sons.

You might want to check out Communion’s New Faces record, to see what other goodness they have waiting in the wings.

Meadowgrass it up this weekend

This Memorial Day weekend you’ll find me in a yurt on the grounds of Black Forest’s 400 wooded acres at the La Foret conference center (the historic summer home of local philanthropist Alice Bemis Taylor) for the fourth annual homegrown Meadowgrass Festival, just north of Colorado Springs.

I’ve never been to this fest before, but it’s growing in stature and quality (last year Damien Jurado, Horse Feathers, and John Doe from X played!) and sounds like it will be simply incredible. Denver luminary Nathaniel Rateliff is headlining Friday night before he heads off to the UK to open some more shows for Mumford & Sons, and the incomparable alt-country progenitors SON VOLT will rock Saturday night in their only Front Range show of the summer! Also notable in the lineup are The Barr Brothers and Alela Diane, as well as local blues-wunderkind Grant Sabin, and The Flumps. Sunday morning will feature a Bluegrass Mass (!), Telluride style.

Many musicians stay on-site, and the festival welcomes back any artist that’s played there in the past to come enjoy the fest’s current iteration, so I am hoping for a neat Doe-Bay-feel to the environment with little division between artist and festivalgoer.

I’m very much looking forward to the campfire jams both nights for folks who are camping, where everyone is encouraged to bring their instruments and head on down to the fire pit. There’s a swimming pool on-site, Bristol Brewing beer tent, and all kinds of cool events for the kiddos, like the Millibo Art Theatre and also Mountain Song Community School where the little ones can make musical instruments.

WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS! I have a pair of day passes to give away (you pick the day: Friday, Saturday, or Sunday) to a lucky reader! Email me if you would like to be entered to win, and I hope to see you all out there.

Come for the weekend: twenty-one bands are playing!

they may take my joe pug cd, but they’ll never take our freeeeedom

The thief that busted my car window last night and stole the stereo that my dad gave me for my birthday also took the excellent new Joe Pug CD that was stuck inside of it. I hope the thief listens to it and then feels very very bad and convicted about being an earnest man who is worth something in this world; I also hope he goes out and buys the rest of Joe Pug’s superb catalog and changes his life. And stops being a jerkface jerk.

Hymn 76 – Joe Pug

In the meantime, I will attempt to anesthetize my wounds by going to see Joe’s afternoon BBQ show tomorrow, part of the Larimer Lounge’s excellent BBQ Series. This is a good way to spend your Saturday afternoon and you should come with me.

CONTEST! I have two pairs of tickets to give away for the Joe Pug BBQ (3pm tomorrow). Email me if you would like one of the pairs! Tickets are gone! Come anyways!

Also: this interview I did with Joe is still one of my all-time favorites.

[photo above was totally taken at my house, actually, by the wonderful Todd Roeth]

You Won’t tomorrow night in Denver? Oh I most certainly will.

One of my favorite live experiences at SXSW this year was seeing the buoyant and catchy music of You Won’t. Not only is their debut album completely irresistible, but during their live show they won my heart by playing their drums with kitchen utensils (because it made me pretty sure they’d wash their dishes if they ever come through Colorado Springs and stay at my house), and generally making everyone want to dance, even though it was Saturday and all our feet were blistered. Listen:

Right?!

CONTEST! WIN TICKETS: You Won’t is currently on tour with Alcoholic Faith Mission, and Fuel/Friends is co-presenting their Denver show tomorrow night at the Hi-Dive! I have two pairs of tickets to give away. Please email me if you want to check out the show and I’ll pick some folks tomorrow morning! It is going to be totally terrific, and a lot of fun — help kick this grey drizzle right out of town.

[photo by the lovely Brittney Bush Bollay, from the band's KEXP SXSW show at Mellow Johnny's]

would you throw me back lightly?

Seattle songwriter Damien Jurado has been making exceptionally good music for a very long time. His latest record Maroqopa sees him paired up again with Richard Swift (who produced Damien’s incredible Saint Bartlett in 2010, and also that great Mynabirds record, and the forthcoming Pickwick debut). I still stand by my previous three-word review of Maraqopa: “ghostly doo-wop sadness.”

With his newest record, there came a small stack of 7″ singles, with six additional incredible songs. This song absolutely BREAKS MY HEART, and it is a bonus track. I mean COME ON Damien, it is unfair the crazy talent that flows out of this gentleman.

Diamond Sea – Damien Jurado

COLORADO CONTEST: Damien is playing Denver’s Hi-Dive tomorrow night. This will be one of the very best shows of the springtime in Colorado, guys. You can buy tickets here, and also email me to enter to win one of the pairs I have to give away! I can’t wait til tomorrow night. Come join me.

AND: In addition to immediately buying Maraqopa and coming to the show tomorrow night, you’d also be well-advised to listen to other Seattle luminaries covering his songs, via the Seattle Times (or, you know, on a rooftop).

DAMIEN JURADO SPRING TOUR
Apr 17 – Hi-Dive – Denver, CO
Apr 18 – Velour – Provo, UT
Apr 19 – Neurolux – Boise, ID
Apr 21 – Biltmore Cabaret – Vancouver, Canada
Apr 22 – HOLOCENE – Portland, OR
May 16 – Schubas – Chicago, IL
May 17 – Warhol Museum – Pittsburgh, PA
May 18 – Davis Square Theater – Somerville, MA
May 19 – Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
May 20 – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA
May 21 – Black Cat – Washington, DC
May 22 – King’s Barcade – Raleigh, NC
May 23 – The EARL – Atlanta, GA
May 25 – The Basement – Nashville, TN
May 26 – Russian Recording – Bloomington, IN
May 28 – Sasquatch Music Festival – George, WA
Aug 09 – Haldern Pop – Haldern, Germany
Aug 17 – Green Man Festival – Wales, United Kingdom

[photo by the talented & lovely Sarah Jurado]

win tickets: Other Lives & JBM (this Wednesday, 12/14)

Before Other Lives comes back through Denver in March 2012 to open for Radiohead, and after I sat next to fellow Oklahoman Wayne Coyne for their midafternoon set at Sasquatch last May, you should come see them Wednesday night in Denver at the Hi-Dive.

Fuel/Friends is presenting the show, and elegant, intricate favorite JBM opens, so that makes it double fantastic.

WIN! I have two pairs of tickets to giveaway – please email me if you’d like to be entered! And I’ll see you there.

For 12 – Other Lives (from this year’s Tamer Animals)

In A Different Time – JBM
(from his excellent album on Partisan Records, with a new one called Stray Ashes coming in Feb 2012)

Pearl Street Music Festival is this weekend! Win Dr Dog tickets

This weekend the inaugural Pearl Street Music Festival embarks on its maiden voyage of awesomeness, taking over its namesake thoroughfare with terrific music and art.

Friday night I am seeing The Lumineers, Ian Cooke, Gregory Alan Isakov, Mason Jennings, and a night-closing set on the marvelous low stage of the Boulder Theater by The Head and The Heart. I couldn’t pick a better lineup if I tried. And on Saturday night –for those of you not coming to my house show and if the psychedelic jangle-pop is more your thing– you get Boulder Acoustic Society, the lovely ladies of Paper Bird, and headliners Dr. Dog!

Dr. Dog’s Shame, Shame, Shame album is one of my belated favorites of last year, and I just honorarily added this track into my Springtime Mix a few days ago when I was out on a run and it came on so flawlessly in the sun and budding trees. I think it fits best as track #16, after the Cuyahoga cover:

Shadow People – Dr. Dog

WIN A PAIR OF SATURDAY PASSES to see Dr. Dog (and all the other bands/venues) at the Pearl Street Music Festival, by emailing me and expressing your desire. I will pick someone by Thursday! Update: tickets have been given away!

The festival is also cool in the uniquely integrated way it takes advantage of the location right there in the heart of Pearl Street, with all its quirky shops, drum circles, culinary delights, and street musician hippies – bless their souls. With your festival pass, you get discounts on a bunch of rad local shops and restaurants, including things like a free cookie from Boulder Baked, a free glass of wine at Absinthe House, or a free yoga or JiuJitsu class, for those feeling adventurous and not-hungover on Saturday. Hi-YAH!

Tickets are still available for both Friday and Saturday, so check out the schedule, and I will see you Friday night.

it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Wake up kids: today is the Christmas, birthday, and Valentine’s Day of the indie music world all rolled into one. Record Store Day is in its fourth year today, and you would be smart to head down to your local independent record store to celebrate the vibrant role they all play in keeping good music alive. There are also a slew of Record Store Day exclusives being offered today, so maybe break that piggy bank to take with you as well.

In the spirit of celebrating everything that’s right about Record Store Day today, Fuel/Friends has a special giveaway pack for one lucky reader.

To note all the excellent new releases that will be available today for the first time, the first item in the pack is the debut record from The Head and The Heart on vinyl. Sub Pop is releasing their album today, now remastered and with “Rivers and Roads” on it, with expanded liner notes / sweet art. You know by now why I like them; or you can read what I wrote for Sub Pop. Can’t wait to hear the record on warm, crackly vinyl.

The second item in the gift pack is to note all the re-releases coming out on vinyl today. For the first time, Matt Costa‘s 2006 debut record Songs We Sing is coming out on vinyl through the good folks at Brushfire Records. This is a sunny acoustic gem of an album that will serve you well all summer long, also one that will sound great on vinyl.

And finally, Fingerprints Records in Long Beach –a terrific independent record store– is contributing a signed poster from the in-store they are doing today with Brett Dennen. I bet your local record store is having musicians play amidst the stacks today as well.

Fingerprints is doing their part to keep music vibrant with excellent in-store performances (that sometimes spill out onto the street) and a top-notch selection of music.

To enter to win the Fuel/Friends RSD 2011 prize pack, leave me a comment telling me what you are doing today and why. I’ll pick one winner at the end of the weekend. I am in Chicago, so a whole new city beckons. I have my Reckless Records tshirt to guide me.

there is nothing you have done that has been wasted

I am pretty excited about the Pacific Northwest Invasion (take 2) that is happening this weekend, with the show I am presenting Friday night at Moe’s in Denver (win tickets below!), and then the super-rad intimate Fuel/Friends House Show on Saturday night. All the bands playing are amazing. But I am holding a special reserve of anticipation and trembling for the power that I know comes with Kelli Schaefer.

Kelli opened my very first house show I held, back in November. I have not seen anyone like her. The way she can transfix a room with her somber, strong songs is astounding and when she lets her rock howl loose, hairs stand up on end. Back in November, I recognized the vibe in that room when she played to Jeff Buckley and the Grace album – the bluesy guitar sang and wept while Kelli punctured each song through with startlingly dramatic imagery and beautifully conflicted lyrics. I think we all felt something special crackling in that voice.

She is coming back through here on her tour down to SXSW in support of her masterpiece new album The Ghost of The Beast. I had a really difficult time picking which track to feature from the album, because it is so varied that no single song is representative of Kelli. But this is the song I immediately listened to the most, a benediction of the steadfastness of love and the quiet joy found in holding up others even when our arms are shaking. Listen to that scritchy-scratch opening loop; this song also showcases the intricate ambient noises that Kelli works throughout her music, like you are digging them out from the sounds of the day.

And when she sings here that there is nothing we have done that has been wasted, I believe her.

Gone In Love – Kelli Schaefer

Similar to the organic growth of Drew Grow (who produced the record), Kelli’s full-length comes from collecting a series of singles that she has released in Portland over the last year through the Amigo/Amiga label.

It’s a scavenger approach which yields a surprisingly cohesive album here, but one that defies classification nonetheless. There are times the record feels like waking from a dense sleep (on songs like “Trinkets,” layering through ambient noise), as if Kelli is somewhere singing through dark cotton and vintage microphones. Other songs layer her vocals into an enchanting siren choir (“Home”), or let loose with riffs that would make Led Zeppelin turn an ear. Kelli sings honestly about something called “The Fury,” which one could imagine is an artistic inferno, or the struggles we have within — or something else entirely. In one of my favorite lyrics on the album, she sings:

God would you send me somebody
who understand the fury
who understands the fury well?

He’s gonna have to be a fighter
gonna have to know the story
strong enough to tell it to me when I’ve lost my head
when I’ve lost my head

The way she sings it (that last line, especially) gives me chills every time. This is a woman who seems to see inside of me in a way that not many female artists do.

My other favorite is found in the gothic sonic layers of the title track, “The Ghost of The Beast.” Listen below; it’s sharper and shows some of Kelli’s punkier chops. I’ve spent repeated listens trying to figure out what that sound that starts the song is, and I finally just learned it is Drew Grow scraping a shovel across the ground, and looping the noise. It is disconcerting and perfect.

I contributed to her successful Kickstarter campaign, and earlier this week the album arrived on vinyl. The cover art features a ribcage cut delicately out of paper – protective but delicate, able to be torn. If you come and see her this weekend in Colorado, or buy the album and listen with headphones, I guarantee you will be transfixed.

TICKET GIVEAWAY
I have two pairs of tickets to give away to see Kelli Schaefer tomorrow night (Friday) at Moe’s in Denver, next door to the Gothic. She is opening for The Head and The Heart & The Moondoggies (all of whom will be playing my house show Saturday night!). It is going to be a tremendous show. Please email me if you would like to be entered for a pair. Come early – Kelli is on first Friday, around 8pm, and you do not want to miss her.

[top image credit Charity Burggraaf]