Feeling that grinding, soul-crushing sensation that comes with holiday rerun music about 30 days into the shopping season? Wish Christmas music could be new and joyful again, like it used to be? I’m a strong believer that knowing how to […]
Thank God for karaoke rock bands. Last night the excellent players and supporting crew of Metalsome brought the house down at my company’s Christmas party, backing me and my nerdy coworkers on everything from The Black Crowes’ “Hard to Handle” […]
Every year about this time we get treated to the newest batch of Christmas albums from artists across the spectrum. These Christmas albums are often the low points of artists’ careers, money-making schemes that seem foisted on them by record labels. But […]
Tonight I was listening to some Baroque-period music on the radio, and it took me back – not to the 17th century, but instead to my early childhood. It’s so rare to hear classical music of this kind these days, […]
“Reading can take you places!” You’ve seen this cheesy-but-true marketing slogan splashed on the walls of many a library. But while I love books, I’d argue that music can also be pretty damn effective at carrying you across time and space as […]
Most people don’t fall in love with certain kinds of music because of time signatures, good rhythm, or even particularly good melodies. There’s little element of music theory appreciation in most people’s love of music. People love music because it takes memories, associations, feelings […]
Tonight I went out for karaoke with a group of libertarian friends. As a bunch tied together by common interests and beliefs and work in the area of political philosophy and economics, you wouldn’t think of us as the outgoing creative […]
If you’re going to learn one style of popular partner dancing, east-coast swing is surely the most versatile. You can use it for dancing to swing and big band music but also for boogeying to blues, Western swing, and rockabilly. There’s a wonderful […]
I work in the fast-paced world of software and live in the fast-paced city of Atlanta. It’s sometimes easy to forget that four years ago I was working at a hardware store and mowing grass on my family’s farm. Like […]
One of the real pleasures of summertime is stumbling upon that one big hit that everyone you know starts blasting, that every radio station plays, and that seems to be the soundtrack for every fun summer event. Remember “Call Me […]
The Psalms are some of the world’s oldest and most universally-known pieces of poetry. There’s never a time when you won’t scream out in pain or shout out in joy in ways that can’t be expressed in the Psalms. They […]
So there I was, listening to a ________* song as one does, when the Spotify’s app Genius integration decided to give me the backstory on one of the songs: “By now, everyone’s heard about _______’s beef with _______ and _______.” “OH, […]
Most people know Disney movies for the excellent songs, like “Let It Go,” or “How Far I’ll Go,” or “Under the Sea” (extraordinary song, that one). But less appreciated is the work of the composers who score these films. Here […]
They say FM radio is dying. And to some extent, they’re right. FM radio is playing only the hits. But Spotify, Apple Music, and the like have made it possible for just about anyone to play any song, anywhere, at any time. […]
From time to time, the most rational and serious and wise thing we can do is to embrace the silly and the seemingly contradictory in our personalities. We all adapt to get through our days in a changing world. But the mental states we need […]
Music has gone through a lot of changes over the years, but some things always stay the same. Music has almost always been about people in love. And if you know anything about people falling in love, you know that […]
This is now my third day in a row of blogging about snow. Don’t worry – the Atlanta snow is melting quickly. Southern snow days only come along once in a while. And if you’re like me, you like to have […]
I was at a concert last week where the lead singer-songwriter actually bemoaned being happily married. As she put it, she is now so happy that she can’t write good songs. There is this idea out there that it’s not possible to […]
If you’re a music-lover, you know the best concerts are something like religious experiences. You leave feeling elevated, and you leave feeling that the world has more beauty and purpose than it did before. Tonight the Secret Sisters and Jill Andrews […]
Music is one of the main ways I experience meaning in everyday life. Naturally, I’m the kind of person who likes to have music playing everywhere. Here are some of the Spotify music streaming playlists I’ll turn to throughout the […]
Over-produced anthemic music with danceable beats. Over-the-top music videos reeking of popular appeal. Zealous overuse of synthesizers and hairspray. 80’s music is an easy target for music critics. I know I used to hate it. But the more I listen to […]
Love fiddles, flutes, and bagpipes? Did you watch Braveheart and get a hankering to move to Scotland? If so, you’re probably already a casual fan of Scottish folk music – or at least music inspired by Scottish folk styles. The […]
I’ve become something of a Carly Rae Jepsen fan recently, and I’m not sure how I feel about telling you that. She’s the epitome of bubble-gum pop music (remember the summer hit “Call Me Maybe”?), not a genre I normally hit […]
There are two ways to write a song about your feelings. In the first, you can tell us what you’re feeling. You can tell us that you’re in love. You can tell us that you’re lonely. You can tell us that you’re […]
Last weekend I drank from the bluegrass firehose. Wilkesboro, NC’s Merlefest is one of the US’s largest bluegrass and Americana music festivals, started back in 1987 by folk guitarist Doc Watson to honor his son Merle Watson. All of the greats […]
I just got back from the Midnight Jam at Merlefest, America’s top roots music festival started by legendary blind folk guitarist Doc Watson. Ever since then, the festival has featured and fostered some of the world’s best bluegrass talent, from Jerry […]
Happy Monday to you, wherever you are. If you’re gearing up for a new week of work, you know that one of most important tools is your Spotify account. And if you’re any kind of creative type, you know that […]
I’m pretty open about my nerdiness. I love listening to film scores. If I ever need to make my work week feel just a little more epic, I’ll turn to Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings score or a favorite John Williams piece. […]
Confession: I am an avid fan of country music. No, not the country music you may have heard in a truck commercial (though this is actually a great one). I’m talking about Western swing, alt-country, string band music, bluegrass, progressive bluegrass […]