just an update on josh ritter

you can listen to his entire album here , track by track

http://www.flashenhanced.com/joshritter/

josh ritter

My new favorite album of 2006 thus far!

..... The Animal Years by Josh Ritter!

A complete surprise, I hate typecasting but to pigeonhole him in any kind of genre, I'd suggest that he sounds very Americana, with a delicate sense of songwriting. Some of his sound is reminiscent of Ryan Adams but then a little Springsteen. But all in all, very, very well done. Check out his Paste Magazine double podcast interview/live performance here to decide for yourself:

http://pastecultureclub.com/2006-02-25.htm

http://pastecultureclub.com/2006-02-27.htm

news you could use

Love Monkey, the Tom Cavanagh comedy-drama that was canceled after only three episodes, will get a second life on music channel VH1. The network, which already ran the three previously aired episodes, announced it will air the remaining five unaired episodes beginning Tuesday, April 18.

Monkey told the story of a record-industry A&R man, played by Cavanagh, who longed for love in the Big Apple. The show was generally well reviewed, but CBS canceled it due to poor ratings.

One of the main features of the show was music, and the theme song "Someone Who's Cool" was performed by the defunct band Odds. The show featured many musicians in cameos, including Ben Folds, LeeAnn Rimes, and James Blunt. Eric Bogosian also played a supporting role.

Unaired upcoming episodes include appearances by Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer and rockers Aimee Mann and John Mellencamp.

Concert List

Lots of shows in the Bay Area released today - The annual KFOG Kaboom! occurs on May 13, and features a free show with Jackie Greene, KT Tunstall, and Los Lonely Boys, but of course headlined by a huge fireworks show.

The Mountain Winery list is up!! Highlighted shows include (but are not limited to):
T-Bone Burnett & Jakob Dylan - 6/9
Bela Fleck & the Flecktones - 6/25
Damien Rice - 6/26
Fiona Apple w/ David Garza - 6/27, 6/30
Nickel Creek - 7/1
Indigo Girls - 7/5
Chris Issak - 7/17 - 7/19
Shawn Colvin - 8/4
Toad the Wet Sprocket - 8/16-8/17

Goodbye Espresso Garden Cafe!

Well - Tonight's the last night of existance for what will now be the former best venue for roots and acoustic music in the South Bay. Thanks for all the memories! The cafe was in existance for almost a decade, though I only began visiting since catching Nickel Creek back in 2001. It will, unfortunately, become a sushi bar in the weeks and months to come, as if we didn't need another restaurant. Apparantly, as Brad Kava wrote, turntables are more important than traditional instruments. I didn't get to say goodbye officially, but the wait staff were amazing people, the "strangers" I met, and the musicians that played were always so friendly and personable. My last visit came a few months ago when I caught the Dukhs, sitting in the back before the show not realizing that I was having a conversation with the lead singer/writer of the band! Lots of similar and fun experiences between that and that first Nickel Creek show five years ago. So long! You'll be missed...
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Video of the day: Part of the video for "One Evening" by Feist - Awesome artist that's part of the whole Broken Social Scene posse. I love what they do with what little they had to produce this video.

Toad

Ahhh - My solo week is over! Last week I taught the entire week, created and implemented lesson plans, etc. and went through the whole gamut of things. Code Red drills. Supervising two hundred fifty students in a cafeteria. Seeing teachers picket. Seeing teachers at a school next to us go on a sick out. And last but not least making my first student cry on Friday - Oh how awesome it was! It's the ultimate test in giving in but I held my ground and made him stay for after school detention. Of course, five minutes is an eternity for a child...

The week ended with Noisepop! Caught the band We Are Scientists (think franz ferdinand meets the strokes) and in short, they were great! The album lends itself to a sonically loud show and they were true to the album's "noise". Didn't deviate too much but they show great stage prescence and are just an active band. The only problem was they closed a night where there were three openers and I didn't catch them until about midnight, with their set ending just past 1am - So... long trip back from SF back to San Jose : -( Ooh, before I forget - Also check out a band called the Grates from Australia - They're a bunch of fun with a lead singer who loves to dance

So - TOAD! I haven't seen the entire Saratoga Mountain Winery concert list yet, but first Nickel Creek will be there, then, yes, Toad the Wet Sprocket, my former love affair of a band will reunite for a few fun shows this summer across the country, hitting the Winery on August 16! Other dates can be found here.

Popmatters wrote a beautiful Paste-esque article on Sean Watkins (guitarist from Nickel Creek)'s latest solo effort - It's been out on digital download for a few months but JUST came out on traditional CD a few weeks ago - Check it out-Totally embodies exactly how I feel his prescence in Nickel Creek is shown.

Uh-oh. I just discovered how to use YouTube - I love it! I'm going to go insane on this blog putting up video links! First one here is Nickel Creek (obviously!) and it's just an insane jam they go on during the song, Lighthouse's Tale (this current tour's jam version-it changes every tour) Ahh...