Autumn Souvenir

Of the folks I know who caught them on their brief tour last year, the reviews were quite mixed. Evidently they just didn't seem all that comfortable in a live setting. After a season-plus under their belts, perhaps this longer tour will find them more relaxed. 4/6/09 Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center* Tampa, FL 4/7/09 University of Miami BankUnited Center* Coral Gables, FL 4/8/09 UCF Arena* Orlando, FL 4/10/09 Ryman Auditorium* Nashville, TN 4/11/09 Fox Theatre* Atlanta, GA 4/13/09 Constitution Hall* Washington, D.C. 4/14/09 Radio City Music Hall* New York, NY 4/17/09 Agganis Arena* Boston, MA 4/18/09 Tower Theatre (2 shows)* Philadelphia, PA 4/19/09 Kent State University* Kent, OH 4/21/09 Massey Hall** Toronto, ON 4/22/09 Massey Hall** Toronto, ON 4/24/09 Fox Theatre** Detroit, MI 4/25/09 IU Auditorium** Bloomington, IN 4/26/09 Overture Center for the Arts** Madison, WI 4/28/09 Aerie Crown** Chicago, IL 4/30/09 Fox Theatre** St. Louis, MO 5/2/09 Riverside Theatre (2 shows)** Milwa...

Before heading to the park for the afternoon, I figured I'd spend an hour or so listening to some 45's. It was a good decision. You're Gonna Make Me Cry - The Staple Singers Hotel Happiness - Brook Benton You Ain't Going Nowhere - The Byrds Looking for a Way Out / Take My Word - Uncle Tupelo My Kind of Soldier - Guided By Voices Mary Jane - Blue Mountain California - Courtesy Move Ain't No Doubt About It - Wilson Pickett And now I'm blastin' "Placemat Blues" by Slobberbone. You serve them Bizkits and Korn with a spoon But I think you just serve you Where's the place at the table for folks like us When there's no one that we can trust Where's the place for us

From The New Yorker The President’s Hero by David Remnick February 2, 2009 A couple of decades ago, when Barack Obama was on a break from Harvard Law School and visiting friends in Chicago, he carried around a copy of “Parting the Waters,” the first volume of Taylor Branch’s magnificent trilogy about Martin Luther King, Jr., and the rise of the civil-rights movement. Obama was staying with Jerry Kellman, his mentor during his three years as a community organizer on the South Side. Kellman said that he greatly admired Branch’s book. Obama brightened and said, “Yes, it’s my story.” Mind reading is a decidedly low form of journalism. Yet it is not hard to imagine that as Obama emerged into the noonday light last Tuesday to receive the oath of office, as he left the Capitol’s warm interior and saw before him the carpet of humanity stretching down Capitol Hill to the monuments miles distant, that he made a mental leap to Marian Anderson’s defiant concert at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, to ...

Bruce made his premiere appearance on Sirius on Jan 19. Here's hit set. Who knew he was such a fan of Jay Farrar of Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt. Jay Farrar Jarvis Cocker - Running the World Small Change Romeos - 1.20.09 Jay Farrar - Feed kill chain Rank and File - The Conductor Wore Black Ry Cooder - Sundown Town Sleater-Kinney - The Promised Land (Live) Jimmy Cliff - Sufferin' In The Land The Dubliners - The Rising Of The Moon 2Pac - Dear Mama Bob Dylan - Political World Little Steven - I Am A Patriot Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen King Crimson- The Court Of The Crimson King Public Enemy - Fight The Power Son Volt - Underground Dream Warren Zevon - Ourselves To Know Jelly Roll Morton - Stars And Stripes Forever James Brown - Funky President A Whisper In The Noise - The Times They Are A-Changin'

I am not exactly riding the FF hype machine. I think the record's fine and all, but the praise that they've received has been a bit silly. They're a good band who put on an average live show. Although bashing of major labels has gotten somewhat old, I did find their take on rumors of the band signing to Virgin to be kinda comedy. However, I hope they do realize that they're signed to Sub Pop Records, which is distributed by Alternative Distribution Alliance, which is owned by Warner Music Group. Ya know, just sayin'. After reports circulated that the Fleet Foxes had signed with Virgin, Pecknold put up a MySpace blog post to stomp them down in the most unambiguous possible manner: "So, I went to the (truly insane and heart-swelling) Dept of Eagles show at Neumo's tonight (sang along and bought a Tee) and a couple people said something about hearing we signed to Virgin Records and they are reissuing a 'special edition' of the CD LP. This is false. I ...

Smashed by Koren Zailckas, Memoir, 2005 : 8.8 The Forever War by Dexter Filkins, History, 2008 : 8.4