"Rivers and Roads" by The Head and the Heart

I've been a music fan for a long time.  When I first became a fan I would obsess over one good song for weeks. I can remember buying Coldplay albums, finding those "go to" songs, and literally listening to them on repeat for days at a time in my car.  I remember when I picked up "X & Y" by Coldplay I listened to it once through and then for weeks afterwards I listened to tracks 2,4,10 and 11 repeatedly.  When I opened up my musical tastes a little bit and got into different styles of music, it seemed to happen less and less that one song would hold my attention for an extended period of time.  There have certainly been some jams like "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver, "Helplessness Blues" by Fleet Foxes, and some others that have done this, but none have matched "Rivers and Roads" by the Head and the Heart in recent years for me.

I was a counselor at Suncrest Camp a few weeks ago, and one morning out there Jake Nelko told me I needed to listen to the Head and the Heart, I said ok and was going to go back to drinking my morning coffee, and then he explained that I needed to listen to them immeadietly, so I looked them up on my phone, and they caught me pretty quickly.

It is nothing new at this point that Americana folky sounds are popular right now.  There are a lot of bands doing this well, and there are a lot of bands that are doing this because its cool.  I'll be honest with you and tell you that I dont know very much about the Head and the Heart and I havent seen them in concert, so its tough for me to say if they're jumping on the bandwagon or not.  I hope this band isnt just a flash in the pan because their energy, harmonies, and intelligent lyrics have had me captivated for two weeks now, especially the song "Rivers and Roads."

In my office for the past two days I've put on a youtube playlist of live performances from KEXP in Seattle, and I think there are only like 6 or 7 songs on the list, but I've kept them on all day.  Yesterday, I chose not to go to lunch because I didn't want to stop listening to their music.

"Rivers and Roads" has been a song that really hit home these past few weeks.  This song is about life changing and about how "nothing is as it has been."  In bittersweet tones it talks about people coming and going in and out of their lives, and how even when that is a good thing it doesn't make it easy or fun, and then like so many good songs it talks about the struggle of getting back to that one person that they aren't willing to just let go without a fight.  It's a great song, with simple lyrics that builds into this explosive ballad with beautiful harmonies and wonderful sentiments about loved ones.

I think this song has been so powerful  for me the last two weeks because I am in a time of changes like they are talking about. For just under four years I have had the privilege of being a pastor at a church of people that I really care about and love.  It has been a wonderful opportunity and one that has changed my life.  I have grown as a person, have had the chance to spend time with a lot of people that I love and care about, and to work as a part of a great team.  Two weeks ago today I was offered a position as a Resident Director at Geneva College, and over the past few weeks I have been telling the community that has shaped my life over the last four years that I will be leaving.  I am really excited to begin this next step in life, but the last few weeks have also held some unique challenges.  In that time there have been a lot of moments shared that have been really difficult, and at the same time there have been really beautiful human moments.  It is a privilege that we have to let people know how we feel about them, it is an honor that we have to have people that care about us speak into our lives.  These are things to embrace and not take for granted, because we never know when a year from now all our friends will move away...or when we will be the friends moving.

I hope you enjoy this video.

"Beautiful Things" by Gungor

Life has been pretty crazy lately.  Since I posted a month ago I have been out of town a few times, been really busy, and just haven't made it around to thinking through a good blog post.  This morning is really no different, but I saw the link to this video on Scott McGough's facebook, and knew that I should take a couple minutes for a quick blog.This is definitely a change up in the SOTD world.  I do not listen to a lot of "Christian" music because I think that a lot of it is of lower quality, both in regards to music and depth.  However, I am all for people making good music and living out their faith when it is done well, and I think this song by "Gungor" is great.

I didnt know much about this band before I went to write, and since this is a quick post I didnt look up very much, but a few noteworthy things surfaced.  The bands name does not match their sound.  If you asked me to listen to a band called "Gungor" the first thing in my mind would be that I am about to listen to some kind of music that ends in "core" and probably doesn't have any words in English.  Not the case.  In this track "Gungor" features beautiful harmonies,moving lyrics, and delicate strings and xylophone (or some other mallet type of percussion instrument).  According to Wikipedia, the source of all truth, Michael Gungor describes the bands music as "liturgical post-rock."

I think the song stuck out today because of the rain and thinking about everything growing in the springtime.  Great meaning, and its cool to think that the trees and flowers arent the only thing that experience change and turn into "beautiful things."

Hope you like it...

"Oliver James" by Fleet Foxes

This is really the song of yesterday, but I never got around to writing this post.

I love Mondays, and I love Beaver Falls Coffee and Tea (BFCAT).  Mondays are my day off so its normally a nice day to wake up slow, play with my dog, read a book, and meet up with some friends for lunch.  Another regular part of my day off is a stop at BFCAT for a macchiato or a nice cup of coffee.  BFCAT is kind of like my Cheers.  Its just nice sometimes to walk into a place where you can see lots friends and get a good cup of coffee without supporting the corporate machine and needing to remember the difference between tall and venti.  Yesterday was also a nice soaking rain on a warm(ish) spring day, so I had my macchiato on the porch while the rain was coming down.  A little bit later we were inside and Oliver James by Fleet Foxes came on, and instantly it hit me that this was the perfect song of the day.

Fleet Foxes is a Pacific Northwest band that became popular on the music scene with their self-titled 2008 release.  The bands rise to prominence isn't necessarily one that I love, but their beautiful harmonies and wonderful music outweigh any doubts I have about them as talented musicians.  The Fleet Foxes gained a lot of their notoriety and exposure through online venues, and while they are certainly not the only good band to achieve success in this way it isnt the way I would like to see it happen.  It isn't that I think bands that do this are bad, but I think that sometimes they bypass an important part of becoming a good band... the struggle.  I think there is something special about a band that pays their dues playing at dive bars where no one has ever heard their music, driving around in a beat up van they borrowed from their second cousin that keeps breaking down, and exerting as much energy into finding a place to shower as they do into their set lists.  I think it is good for an up and coming band to struggle with success and limitations, to grow together, and to really put in the time and effort that makes them great together before there music matters to the world at large.  The Fleet Foxes, like a lot of other bands in our time, haven't really gone that route, but man can these guys sing.

In a review by Simon Price on a website called  "The Independent" the band is described as a blend of "West Coast hippie rock with Elizabethan madrigals." This band takes their harmonies and vocal energy to a beautiful haunting place that sets them apart from a lot of other indie bands out there.


"Oliver James" does a wonderful job of demonstrating the powerful vocals, and beautifully written music that is found all throughout their self-titled album.  The song caught my ear yesterday as I was looking at the rain outside while the band was singing "Oliver James washed in the rain no longer."  This song, which is seemingly about someone dying, is an enchanting, and the video is incredible.  Enjoy, and I would love to hear some songs that you are listening to right now.

"Salvation Song" by the Avett Brothers

Life has been busy, and i really haven't had a lot of time consistent blocks of time to listen to good music or to write.  There are still a lot of albums that have come out recently that I need to pick-up.  This week I will definitely get one of the albums on my list. Most of the time a SOTD will come out of music that I am already listening to and for some reason it just feels write on that given day.  Today I was just reading and checking my email in the wonderful Beaver Falls Coffee and Tea and the line from Salvation Song that says "And they may pay us off in fame though that is not why we came, and if it compromises truth then we will go."

I've said to lots of people in the last few years that the Avett Brothers are writing the best music being made right now.  The lyrics they write are transparent and moving, and when they perform there is an electricity that fills the air with every song.  Im not southern, and I've never been to a "family reunion," but when I'm at an Avett Brothers show I feel like I'm at a big southern family reunion where a couple of cousins broke out there guitars and banjos and everyone started jamming.  The Bros just have this effect on a crowd that people of all different ages are just stomping their feet and singing along.  

Salvation Song comes across to me like a mission statement for the Avett Brothers.  When you hear the song they lay it right out there and say that they came for salvation, families, breaking the bad, and cheering the sad.   The song is is full of great lines, and while lots of their music lets you see experiences the Brothers have had, this song gives you insight into who they want to be as a band.  Give this song a shot, and please give the Avett brothers a shot if you haven't already.  Salvation Song is track number 18 on their 2004 album Mignonette.  The album has a lot of awesome tracks like "Swept Away," "Pretty Girl From Cedar Lane," and  "Complainte D'Un Matelot Mourant" ("Lament of a Dying Sailor").  This album is a couple albums before the Avett Brothers really broke out nationally with Emotionalism in 2007.  


I hope you enjoy the video, I think it does a great job at displaying their showmanship and incredible energy.  I love the way the video ends with the Bob lightly plucking the bass, Scott tapping on the high hat, and the trios powerful vocals shining through.  Buy tickets for the Pittsburgh show on May 27th, you wont regret it.

"Behind Me Now / El Camino Reprise" by Amos Lee

A few posts ago I said how there was a lot of good musicians releasing albums this year that i was looking forward to hearing.  I didn't include Amos Lee on that list, and that was a bad decision on my part. On January 25th Amos Lee released "Mission Bell," and about two weeks ago I gave it a shot.  I enjoy Amos Lee.  I blogged about his soulful voice a while ago, and he displays that same style of singing on this album.  In fact, the album is pretty similar to a lot of Amos Lee's other albums with a maybe just a touch more of a Gospel and South Western Country style.  Amos features some talented guest singers on the album like Sam Beam and everyones best friend Willie Nelson.  If you have enjoyed his previous albums then you will definitely want to give this album a listen.  I enjoyed listening to the album the whole way through as one track builds into the next, so I would recommend to give it a try while you're spending a night at home doing work or reading a good book.

The song "Behind Me Now / El Camino Reprise" is the last song on the album, and it definitely ends the album on a high note.  I read a review once that described Amos Lee's songwriting as music for the heart but not for the head, and I could not disagree with that more when it comes to this song.  When you read the lyrics for this track they are really moving. Lee is writing about the cycle of relationships and some pretty sad stuff.  The culmination of the song for me was when in a quiet, humble voice Lee sings "All my ships have sailed away..."  Lee is good, the album is good, and hopefully if you've gone through a rough relationship or two it will work like the line in this track that says "yes I've loved and lost and loved again."  It's sad, but its not a hopeless kind of sad. 


I don't think that Lee will ever be the biggest name in music because he isn't really a cutting edge guy or a controversial guy or anything like that, but he's a solid musician.  Give him a listen, he's worth the ten bucks for the album.  I couldnt find a live performance of these two songs together, so the video below has the studio version of El Camino Reprise.  The older country singer with a little bit of gravel in his voice accompanying Amos Lee on this song is Willie Nelson.




Amos Lee - El Camino (Reprise) ((feat... by EMI_Music

"Fight Outta You" by Ben Harper

Ben Harper is a talented musician. I don't have a great reason why this is the song of my day, I was just driving down the road and the line "I would rather take your punch than not give you a shot" popped into my head.  So I gave the song a good listening, and it is definitely a good jam.

Harper has a unique and varied musical past.  He has some music that rocks pretty hard, and at the same time is known for skill on the guitar and his soft soulful voice.  I remember a few years ago I read in a relevant magazine interview that Ben had either broken or dislocated ribs from screaming so hard at a concert.  I know that sounds far fetched and tried to find that article online but didn't have any luck, so you'll have to take my word for it or find it yourself. Harper has partnered with Jack Johnson on his label Brushfire Records, and in 2005 won the grammy for best traditional soul gospel album.

The song "Fight Outta You" comes from his 2007 album "Lifeline."  Lifeline is an album that demonstrates Harper's tremendous voice and skilled acoustic guitar playing.  This has been an album that I have gone to over and over again since its release in good times and bad times.  It has good music, a lot of soul, and doesnt get boring.  "Fight Outta You" has tons of great one liners, in a song about taking a chance on someone.  I remember sitting at my good friend Ron Cepek's house when he lived in Rochester and we were hanging out talking about that moment with a girl where you really aren't sure if she's into you or not, and you're trying to decide whether or not its worth taking a shot.  When we were talking that night it was shortly after I got this album and I referenced that line and then like 10 minutes later a song from the album came on the music channel that was on the tv.  I enjoy those moments in life where you sit around with friends listening to a good song and not really saying anything because you're just taking it all in.

I hope you like the song, dont let it take the fight outta you.

"June Hymn" by the Decemberists

The potential exists for a lot of good music to come out this year.  So far there have been lots of good things heard from bands like Iron and Wine and The Decemberists.  I'm expecting good things from Bright Eyes, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, My Morning Jacket, Radiohead, Coldplay, and last but certainly not least G. Love.  In fact, G. Love's album, which was produced by the Avett Brothers I think, just dropped the other day, and "Fixin' to Die" was close to being the SOTD today.  It wasn't though, because I really got a good chance over the last few days to listen through the new Decemberists album... and I have liked what I heard.

The album "The King is Dead" came out on January 14th of this year.  This album is a solid contemporary folk rock album.  It is a significant change up from a lot of the heavier sounds of their 2009 release, "Hazards of Love," but they don't lack passion, and a few of the songs still venture into harder rock.  This is the bands third album released by Capitol Records, and it demonstrates what many have come to expect from The Decemberists in the way of intelligent lyircs, wonderful harmonies, and unique instrumentation.

I would really love to feel the warmth of spring again... like last week.  I want to go take my dog for walks, play disc golf, and ride my motorcycle.  I think that "June Hymn" is a great reminder that warm weather is just around the corner.  This song is a hopeful and seemingly serious ode to the early summer month of June.  The vocals and harmonies are definitely the carrying force of the song, and the acoustic guitar, harmonica, accordian, bass, and maybe even a little wurlitzer do a wonderful backing job.  "The Decemberists" are very good at sounding old.  This song reminds of a Northwestern town in the woods that has made it through a hard winter, and is awakening to the warmth of summer, but not a town we would visit today, a town like a hundred years ago. I like the vibes, I like the lyrics, I even like the album cover.

The Decemberists are a band that stands on the merits of their music.  They aren't flashy, they certainly don't look as cool as Justin Bieber and Usher, but I think they bring good things to the world of music.  The sun is shining today, and June will be here pretty soon... not really soon, but sooner than yesterday I guess so give "June Hymn" a try.

Summer concerts are taking shape so make sure to check out tickets now.  The Decemberists will be in Pittsburgh on May 21st at the Benedum Center, and if you have the loot I'm sure it will be a good time.


This is a performance from MusicfestNW in Portland this past year.  A perfect song for Portland.