Ferris wheels, cotton candy, crickets singing, thunder storms, carnivals, road trips, watching the light from the rushing water beneath you flicker and dance across your legs, rocking chairs, and imagining how others live and what they think about. These are just a few of the images that flicker through my mind as I listen to Amos Lee’s latest CD, Supply and Demand. He sings about life; you know the kind regular people live because he’s a regular person too. He signs of things we all ‘get’, broken dreams, love, loneliness, empathy, sunsets, joy, watching children grow, and those infamous southern skies. He’s one of those musicians that could easily end up in mega stardom, (which luckily is different for singer/ songwriters than say Brittney Spears) but for now he is still a regular guy, who happens to spend most nights in front of hundreds of fans singing while touring and writing about the lives he intersects with along the road.

Continue reading "Supply & Demand" »

Posted by the 520 gang at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is something really cool about dreams – especially when they are fought for, and worked at, and they materialize into reality. Cool isn’t really the right word for it, amazing perhaps? Miraculous? Certainly rare, and definitely inspiring. Jodie Manross is living her dream, and it’s been an honor to watch her grow. Now, I will say that there is something to her being gifted in making her dream a reality, her voice is truly a gift. But she has also worked long and hard not only in practicing her singing, and teaching herself guitar, (with Laith’s help of course) but also in all things business. And that’s no easy task. I had the privilege of working with her and the Jodie Manross Band back in the day and her hard work; theirs actually, is still inspiring to me. It’s no easy task being on the road, living out of cars and crappy motels, performing for 3 hours and making $150, getting lost, driving through snow storms, and always having to have your ‘game face’ on. I know many people say they’d love to be a rock star – but those are mostly people that have no idea how hard it is. The only reason I can see for all the sacrificing it takes to become a rock star is because performing your music is like breathing for the rest of us, it makes you feel alive.

Continue reading "Dreams" »

Posted by the 520 gang at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friday the 13th was the 10 yr anniversary of when I broke my back, seemed an excellent time to go for a soak in Hot Springs, NC. Especially since two of the friends that were instrumental in my healing wanted to drive in and soak as well. Jill and her husband Tim came in from Indianapolis, Lisa from Cleveland. We all met at Paddler’s Pub on Bridge Street at 3 PM. Now, that may seem like an insignificant detail but it isn’t. See, there is one thing you won’t see in Hot Springs, NC - people talking on cell phones. There is a pervasive quietness that permeates the place. Not in a lonely, oppressive, big, old library kind of way, but rather a blue jeans and hat, mountain town one. The lack of cell phone coverage slows things down, things happen more as they naturally flow and less as they are ‘forced’ to. It’s a refreshing break from ‘city’ life, actually a break from the 21st century. But it does mean that you have to go back to early 90’s mentality and plan ahead. According to the locals there was already supposed to be coverage. Now they say maybe by next spring? I say enjoy the cell free zone while you can.

First we hiked the Pump Gap Trail. (Which is just over the French Broad River, make that first left, make the next first left, and follow it all the way back till you see a few parking places. There may be a map here, http://www.bluffmountain.com/-Unguided.) There are TONS of places to hike, bike, ride, raft, you can get your Google on or do like I do and just talk to people and ask for places they like. That’s how I found Pump Gap. See, the ‘strip’ A.K.A. Bridge Street, A.K.A. the AT, A.K.A. the Appalachian Trail, is a great place to get hiking recommendations. (Did you get all those A.K.A.’s? Hot Springs has one main street which is the Appalachian Trail.) You are just as likely to meet a family from Florida as a thru hiker doing the AT. One thing you can count on though is that people are friendly in Hot Springs.

Continue reading "Got a robe?" »

Posted by the 520 gang at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

(Reflections on the raw & naked art of Citizen Cope at Blue Cats, 2005)

It’s at least half way through the show and I’m swept up with the rest of the crowd lost deep in the music when my mind is suddenly jarred back into reality as this guy leans over and asks, “Who is this playing?” And I’m thinking, ‘what - you must be the only person in here that doesn’t know who this is, or you are looking for an easy way to break the ice?’ I give him the benefit of doubt and tell him it is Citizen Cope, while continuing to bop my head and sway to the beats in unison with everyone, mesmerized. Turns out Chuck and his friend Casey are from Portland, Oregon road trippin’ for the summer, they will end up in Orlando eventually. However, tonight they happened to be here at Blue Cats. I asked a couple times how they knew this was the place to be and never quite got the answer? And while it may seem like a random meeting at a random show, I don’t think it was. The air was literally dripping with ‘there are no coincidences in life’, with the awareness that it’s in these moments which things that are so much greater than us; like hope and love, thrive and grow in, and that everything happens for a reason. I think we often shut these moments down, put them in boxes and only let them out to play during feel-good movies, church, and fairy tales. We don’t let things like hope and love out to play nearly enough and we don’t let them lead us where they would have us go. There is so much of life that goes unnoticed by most, Citizen Cope notices though and cultivates these moments for others to enjoy and experience.

Earlier in the evening, I felt a presence next to me; you know how you can tell when someone is looking at you at a stop light? Sure enough it was him, Clarence Greenwood AKA Citizen Cope, out in the crowd checking the acoustics of the room. I watched him head to the boards and the lights started tripping out as he sampled their flexibility. The crowd immediately started hollerin’ (we are in Knoxville after all, besides there’s nothing wrong with hollerin’) because they think he’s about to begin the show. Little do they know he’s behind them, checking out the details, and I’m struck with what that says about him as a person and as a musician? How much he truly cares about what he’s doing, truly cares about his music and the entire experience of his live show. And it wasn’t that he was late to sound check, he had been early, this was just icing on the cake. I smiled, already impressed, and he hadn’t even played a note.

Continue reading "If I were a rock star..." »

Posted by the 520 gang at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

As we walked down to the show, I saw a friend of mine I hadn’t seen since June when we went up in the mountains one Saturday evening to watch the fireflies do their thing. Turns out he had won the contest through West 105 and was going backstage to meet Ben! How funny life is, when you get a front row seat to watch someone else get what you’ve wanted for so long. As we walk down to the show with them, he shares his shock and excitement about winning, ‘I’m so happy for you’, I finally to get out, with a bit of effort. I am happy for him. Actually I’m happier for Ben, because Tony is a huge fan, an original, and I bet Ben will really enjoy getting to chat with him for a few minutes. We head straight up to the front, and my friend quickly points out a curly, white haired woman in her 50’s or 60’s dressed in purple and says, “There you are at 60.” I hope so. If I’m still going to see Bob Marley’s kids and Ben Harper live under the stars at 60? Shoo, now that’s a worthwhile goal to me!

Continue reading "Be brave." »

Posted by the 520 gang at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)