BOUNTY: Go be friends with Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch) on MySpace here
We get back on schedule this week with “Atom Smashers,” by Chris Mills. It’s irresistibly catchy full-figured indie-pop, in a bouncy and energetic way. Yet Mills still manages to deliver his lyrics like he’s confiding valuable secrets to the listener. You want some more? He’s got a solo gig at the Rock and Roll Hotel in DC next Thursday, June 5th. I was looking for live clips of John Gorka, but instead I just found a music video to one of my favorite songs of his, "Houses in the Fields." It's a bit old-looking, but...
CULINARY: I finally obtained an mp3 clip of Top Chef contestant Andrew’s hilarious phallic quote here
Hatch Show Print
Angel Mural
CornerI really enjoyed our trip to Nashville this past week. The main street (Broadway) is like a smorgasbord of bands and music, even during the afternoons and during the week. One of my favorite acts that we saw was the Don Kelley Band. The guitarist who plays with them, JD Simo, was incredible – he was a very dynamic player to watch live, firing off countrified blazing runs with a little bit of bluegrass picking thrown in. I didn’t take any pics or video, but I was able to find a clip of them playing back in April at Robert’s Western World (where we saw them) - Check them out on “Walk the Dog.”
I was able to take in some good music during my brief Nashville vacation. One afternoon, I ambled around downtown Nashville and hung out at Tootsie’s for a bit, listening to Steven West (above) do an acoustic set. He sounds a bit like Tim McGraw with better vocals, and surprisingly, he’s originally from Jersey (yeah!). One of the waitresses, Lindsey Lawler, sat in on a duet of “Before He Cheats,” which was pretty damn good. There’s talent all over the place there.CC took me to the Grand Ole Opry for my birthday this past week, and it was very cool. It was a very interesting assortment of performers, new and old (including Little Jimmy Dickens, Billy Currington, and John Conlee). And Restless Heart. Here's a clip of them performing "The Bluest Eyes in Texas" at the Grand Ole Opry on 5/20/2008.
Well, I’m heading out to Nashville on vacation for the next four days or so. No posting, but I’ll be getting my fill of the Grand Ole Opry, barbeque, the Wildhorse Saloon, the Bluebird Café, and whatever else we can find that’s interesting. We’re going to the Opry on the 20th, and it looks like acts that evening incude Billy Currington, Restless Heart, Little Jimmy Dickens and Darryl Worley. 
I’ve been waiting on a new album from indie-popper Devin Davis for awhile, and I keep checking his MySpace, but it looks like he’s still in the process of recording it. Anyway, here’s a few older tracks to keep you for the week… 
First up this week, we’ve got Augustana’s track, “Sweet and Low.” Simply put, it’s beautiful, majestic pop with soaring vocals – kind of like harder-edged version of The Fray. Anyway, if you like what you hear, they’ll be at the 9:30 Club this Thursday, May 22nd, which leads us to … Well, Coldplay has released the video to their free track, "Violet Hill." Nothing amazing, but it's good to see them back, I suppose. And yeah, they're definitely emphasizing that pounding rhythm with the visuals. We're Coldplay. We rock now.
DRIVE: The 50 Most Memorable Movie Cars – so says Rotten Tomatoes
Motley Crue has got a new album (The Saints of Los Angeles) dropping June 24th, but you can take stream the title-track over at their MySpace here. It’s nothing ground-breaking, but it’s some pretty good sounding vintage later-era Motley with a singalong chorus that’ll stick in your head. In the meantime, here’s one of my favorite Crue tracks of all-time… 
HEADSPACE: In case you were one of the thousands that wasn’t able to make it out to the swamp that was Nissan Pavillion this past weekend, you can download FLACS of the show here (thanks, Jeff)A new Damnwells record is in supposedly in the works, and I'm anxiously awaiting it. But in the meantime, I'll just have to entertain myself with the acoustic videos that lead singer Alex Dezen has been posting of new tracks. Here's "Like It Is," with Angela Dezen singing harmony.
A Case of the Fridays is on Monday again, but we’ll just roll with that. We kick off this week with Lucky Day’s track “Why’d You Have To Go.” It’s sweet-sounding female vocal-voiced wispy pop, complete with ethereal piano fills – and it goes down like a cool glass of lemonade on a lazy summer’s evening. If you like what you hear, they’ve got their CD release party at IOTA in Arlington this Friday, May 16th. I had never listened to Badfinger before until I heard Matt covering their their little gem, "No Matter What." And now I'm hooked on their power pop goodness. For some reason, I had always assumed they were a much harder band, due to their name. Anyway, here they are playing "No Matter What" live on The Midnight Special back in 1973.
My band, Jeter, has got a show this Saturday, May 10th, at Bistro Europa in Old Town Alexandria. We'll be rocking from 10-12, and then Willy Nilly will be going on from midnight until closing. There's no cover, so come on out, and bring your mothers along to rock with Jeter!
DUCKBILL: I knew the platypus had some interesting characteristics, but I never realized that the platypus was venomous and lacked nipples (yet it still lactates through its skin!) 
Don't forget, kids - My band, Jeter, has got a show this Saturday, May 10th, at Bistro Europa in Old Town Alexandria. We'll be rocking from 10-12, and then Willy Nilly will be going on from midnight until closing. There's no cover, so come on out, and bring your mothers along to rock with Jeter!I'm so glad I sucked it up and went and saw Matthew Ryan last night at IOTA. It was great to finally see him live with a band to properly flesh out his magnificent songs and put a little rock muscle behind that raspy voice when he needed it. It was excellent. And here's one more video clip ("Beautiful Fool") from that 1998 show in Germany.
Local Justin Trawick has got his CD release this Saturday (5/10) at IOTA. He’s got a nice folky vibe with a voice that reminds me a bit of Bob Schneider. It should be a good show, with Shane Gamble and the Gentlemen rounding out the bill nicely. I especially like Gamble’s alt-country-tinged track “The Story of Mary,” with its haunting atmosphere and beautiful, anthemic choruses.Matthew Ryan will be at IOTA tonight, and hopefully I'll have enough energy to make it out. Anyway, it looks like somebody just posted videos from a 1998 show he did back in 1998 in Germany that was broadcast on TV. And it's pretty awesome. Here's "Guilty."
TOYS: Been wanting a new car and maybe the Batmobile (Tim Burton vintage) might do the trick? It’s for sale. PLAYAHHH!!!! Wow, I just can't resist those super-addictive BeeGee-esque harmonies in the choruses. There's some falsetto-abuse going on around 2:43 - we're talking reeeeeeally high. But I was pleasantly surprised to hear the guitarist rip a nice little solo at the end of the track.
In case you need your Dizzee Rascal fix before he gets here (he’s coming to the 9:30 Club on Thursday the 8th), here’s “Where’s Da Gs,” featuring Bun B & Pimp G of UGK.Would I have liked to been there to see David Gilmour up standing in the spotlight on The Wall, soloing to "Comfortably Numb," during Pink Floyd's very brief 1980 tour. This is pretty cool, even though the audio appears to have been updated from a later CD, as per the notes on YouTube.
I’ve fallen behind a bit on Case of the Fridays, so here’s a bonus edition for y’all. Band names are traditionally the hardest thing to come up with, but Brooklynites New York Times just literally ripped one from the headlines…errr…the masthead. Their track below, “Monster Eyes,” is classic rock diluted into the basics - sinister riffs and wailing female vengeance. They’ll be at the Velvet Lounge this Saturday, May 10th. 
My band, Jeter, has got a show this Saturday, May 10th, at Bistro Europa in Old Town Alexandria. We'll be rocking from 10-12, and then Willy Nilly will be going on from midnight until closing. There's no cover, so come on out, and bring your mothers along to rock with Jeter!Honor By August may not have won the Last Band Standing contest a couple of weeks ago, but the do have a new video for "Into the Light" here for you to check out.
CUISINE: Iron Chef America – the video game? It’s coming! So do you think there’s going to be new Wii controls especially made for this, like a Wii knife, or a Wii immersion blender? 
You might remember Edwyn Collins from his 1994 hit rocker “A Girl Like You” Anyway, I just found out in this CNN article that he suffered a major stroke back in 2005 that pretty much erased all of his songs from his memory. It's pretty scary stuff. Among other things, he’s had to battle with dysphasia (struggling to find words) while relearning his own material. But he’s back performing, and supposedly his voice is in fine form. 
