Solid Sound Festival 8/13-15

It's hard to believe that it's been two weeks since the Solid Sound Festival ended. I meant to write something sooner but you know how it goes when you get back from vacation. Over the last two weeks I've been catching up with work, catching up on sleep, and trying to catch some pesky possums that may have been the culprits in wounding our cat. Just in case you were curious two of them were captured last night. Hopefully that will be the end of them...but enough about that; this is a music blog so here we go.


My girlfriend and I arrived at the Mass Moca a little later than expected on Friday night due to some plane delays (no surprise there) Once we arrived on site we were a bit tired but excited to soak in North Adams, the Berkshires and all the music we were about to hear. We pretty much just got our wristbands for the weekend, grabbed some food and checked out some of the Wilco related exhibits (including a poster retrospective) the first night. We did catch a little of Deep Blue Organ Trio's set while we chowed down on some local pizza and refreshed ourselves with a few Magic Hat Wackos. After eating and checking out the lay of the land we decided to head back to our hotel and rest up for a big Saturday.

On Saturday we had about a 20 minute drive into N Adams from Bennington VT (where we were staying) It was a breathtaking drive through the windy roads in the shadows of the mountains. After dealing with 115-120 degree heat index for a few weeks the highs in the 80's was a welcome relief. We arrived just in time to check out one of the comedians, Hannibal Buress. I had seen his name a few times in some magazines and Chris Rock even name checked him on the Howard Stern show so I was pretty excited. Well I feel that he lived up to the hype. He did about a 45 minute set and while there were a few slow points my girlfriend and I did have some laugh out loud moments. We also had a few minutes to check out the Vermont based Mountain Man...Which was actually three women mostly harmonizing, occasional picking up an acoustic guitar. The lady's voices were impressive. We watched about 3 or 4 songs and then decided to check out some of the art exhibits. After that it was time to go see "the big boys" and head out to the vacant field behind the art museum.

We arrived in time to throw down the blanket in a good spot to check out Mavis Staples. As the sun started setting Ms Staples come on stage and after about an hour set acquired many more new fans (including myself) She sang spirituals, original songs (including Jeff Tweedy on guitar for a few tracks or "Tweedy" as she referred to him) and did a great version of The Band classic, "The Weight." After Mavis left the stage we had enough time to get some food and do another beer run before Wilco. They came out opening with "Wilco (The Song) with I believe the same stage effects they had when I saw them in Richmond this past spring. Although it was a cool theater in VA it was a little more awe inspiring with the backdrop of the Berkshire Mountains. The band played a solid 2.5 hour set hitting all the albums (with a few rarities that I've never seen performed live) It was definitely an exciting show for all the Wilco geeks in attendance. After it was over my girlfriend and I had smiles on our faces and headed back to the hotel excited to know that another day of music was ahead of us.

When Sunday came around my girlfriend and I both realized we were going to miss coming to the Mass Moca. It had been a wonderful weekend of great music, food, culture and awesome weather...but we still had one more day to go. We kicked off the day by checking out The Autumn Defense (which includes Wilco members John Stirratt and Pat Sansone)(Well after checking out the Natural Land Bridge up the road) I hadn't heard any of their tunes before, but I enjoy their playing in Wilco so I was excited to hear them. I'd seen them described as a throwback to 70's radio rock drawing comparisons to Neil Young and America. Well the descriptions were spot on. The guys came out and played a mostly acoustic set of original tunes (except one cover by Big Star to end the set) I was pleasantly surprised by Sansone's and Stirratt's side project and look forward to checking out their new CD that I believe comes out in November. After the show we walked to one of the other courtyards to catch a little of The Nels Cline Singers. I'm a huge fan of Nels' guitar work on Wilco records and he's a bit of a maniac onstage which is fun to watch but his side project is more of an experimental jazz trio. Well after a few minutes we decided it wasn't for us so we decided to take one more walk around downtown North Adams.(see Mohawk theater picture above) After killing about an hour we headed back to the field to see Jeff Tweedy solo, the closing show of the festival. (If you look hard at the picture to the left that's Jeff on stage during his solo set)

I'd only seen Jeff Tweedy perform solo once before so I was pretty excited about the show. Once again we secured a nice spot of grass and grabbed one more round of beers to cap off the weekend. He came on and pretty much everybody remained seated so we had a great view of the performance and were able to lay back and soak in almost two hours of originals, covers, and collaborations. Besides a bit of spitting rain during the last performance the weekend was perfect. It consisted of amazing music, good food, no long waits at the beer tents, historic architecture, and gorgeous mountain views. There’s a possibility this won't be the last Solid Sound festival. I'm anxious to see what they come up with next year. Hopefully it will give my girlfriend and I another excuse to head up to the mountains!

I've attached one Jeff Tweedy solo tune and one Wilco track from the festival. To get a copy of the entire shows check out the bt. etree link on the left side of the site.

Simple Twist of Fate - Jeff Tweedy (Bob Dylan Cover)

On and On and On - Wilco

Tribute - Jerry Garcia

Today marks the 15th anniversary of Jerry Garcia's death. It's hard to believe that he was only 53. Would've been nice if he treated his body a little better. Who knows how many more great tunes we'd have to enjoy. I guess we'll never know, but he did leave plenty of amazing tunes for us to digest. Thanks for the great music. Here's one of my favorites.

All the years combine
they melt into a dream
A broken angel sings
from a guitar
In the end there's just a song
comes crying like the wind
through all the broken dreams
and vanished years

Stella Blue


When all the cards are down
there's nothing left to see
There's just the pavement left
and broken dreams
In the end there's still that song
comes crying like the wind
down every lonely street
that's ever been


Stella Blue


I've stayed in every blue-light cheap hotel
Can't win for trying
Dust off those rusty strings just
one more time
Gonna make em shine


It all rolls into one
and nothing comes for free
There's nothing you can hold
for very long
And when you hear that song
come crying like the wind
it seems like all this life
was just a dream
Stella Blue




Stella Blue - Live

Sunday Morning Coming Down - Bob Dylan

Ah yes here we go again, another Sunday night. Not to rub it in but I've got a short week coming up. My girlfriend and i are headed up to Massachusetts at the end of the week to catch the Solid Sound Festival . I'll report on how it went when I come back.

There's a few reasons why I selected this track tonight, one being that i hadn't heard this song for awhile. The second was this album was released in 1978. Hey that's the year I was born and my birthday is this week so happy birthday to me! Hope you enjoy the tune. Maybe I'll be introduced to some new bands at the festival that I can post about. Till next time......

Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)

Wild Card Wednesday! - The Zombies

I was a huge Monkees fan growing up. I had a few of their albums and I never missed the TV show when they used to play it on Nickelodeon. Anyways these guys remind me of that genre of music. (I'm guessing they were one of the influences for the Monkees)

I don't know about you but one of my favorite parts about the Zombie's music is the high involvement of the organ. Why this isn't more present in today's music I'll never know.

Alright hope you enjoy today's 60's flashback post.

I Want You Back Again

Sunday Morning Coming Down - The Gin Blossoms

I'm not sure how some people are able to sit at their desks all day and not listen to the radio. I found out that I was a bit of a minority at work because I actually listen to music/talk radio to make the day pass by a little faster. Sure I sometimes have to turn down the volume to concentrate or talk to a higher up but other than those times I need the constant noise.

I kind of got tired bringing in CD's everyday so I stumbled upon a few radio shows I enjoy online.

The other day I came across CBS radio with a station category called Class Reunion.(we're not allowed to download Pandora) They have every year from 1960 to 2007. Anyways once you click on your preferred year you'll only hear music from that year. I went ahead and clicked on 1996. I was pleasantly surprised to hear a mix of rock, R&B, rap and pop. Anyways it kind of brought me back to the high school years and one of the bands that had the most rotation during this time was the Gin Blossoms.

I actually got to see these guys play almost two years ago at the Charleston Fair. I was a little surprised when I saw them on the fair schedule. Usually it's some past contestant from American Idol or a country star that may have had one hit song. The fair can be kind of a creepy place but my girlfriend and I ventured off on a Thursday night to see what the boys sounded like. The icing on the cake was that we had free passes to get in. I didn't have high expectations but when the band hit the stage they sounded exactly like they did in 1995. I had forgotten how many hits these guys had. You could tell they were having a good time. They even made a few jokes about themselves playing the "fair circuit." After about the third song someone in the audience yelled "Hey Jealousy." the singer responded by saying, “Sir we actually don’t get paid unless we play that song. So don't worry." Alright here's one that you'll probably recognize. I’ve also included a link to the Reunion Radio. I think you'll enjoy checking out your year.


Until I Fall Away


Class Reunion Radio