Playing to the Public

I've taken guitar lessons off and on for the past ten years. I started out on an acoustic but switched over to electric fairly early and now do everything on my wood Fender strat. His name is William, by the way. Delilah, my acoustic, was very annoyed with me when I abandoned her for his blond sleek good looks.

Anyway, I just noodle. I don't practice much because it always seems like there's something else I should be doing, but I love my teacher and I love having a half hour each week that's just for me, so I keep at it.

My problem is, he's nagging me about playing for his recital. I've gotten out of it the past few times with other conflicts, and frankly, I'm hoping RT conflicts with it this year, but I know I'm letting him down when I back out of it. But the truth is, it doesn't matter how good I might be at home. I'm not nearly comfortable with my skills to play in front of strangers. Music isn't my forte. I know this. It's not like when I was acting. I never really had any doubts about my abilities then. But this...man, it's terrifying.

He's giving me options, either play an ensemble piece that's harder or a solo piece that's simpler. I don't like either one, but I have to choose today. If I pick the ensemble and then screw up, I'm letting down other people which is frankly worse than sounding bad on my own. But the latter is scarier by a mile. I would very likely do "Beautiful Boy" which is a song I love.

Decisions, decisions.

The amazing Annie Lennox

All my Hozier love last week was validated last night at the Grammys. Of course, that's mostly due to his getting paired with the astounding Annie Lennox.

If you haven't seen the video, you must. I have loved her since the 80s when the Eurythmics pretty much defined my high school self. Her "Why" remains one of the most powerful songs I've ever heard. She is still stunning, mesmerizing, and absolutely astounding on stage.

And the song that started my lifelong love affair, from a performance in Japan on tour in 1987...

Obsessed with Hozier

I am thoroughly, utterly obsessed with Hozier. Seriously. And it's not because of "Take Me to Church," which, while amazing, is not my favorite song from his album.

It's because of "Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene."

This is his performance from last October when he was on SNL. Forget the fact that the man is so gorgeous. Or has bedroom eyes. Or gives great interview. This song is just stunning to listen to.
The man is a poet. Just read the lyrics to his songs. You can't deny it. And this one is in iambic pentameter as well. And has smart references. Not one person I've talked to about this song realized what "small death" referred to. He's absolutely not afraid to couch his social criticisms in beautiful words and sex imagery.
I've even gone so far to start learning all the songs on my guitar. My guitar teacher is getting a little tired of me talking about Hozier all the time, though at least I got him to admit how talented he is.
So...yeah. A little obsessed. He cites James Joyce as an inspiration for his music. What's not great about that?

More about music

Since I talked about all the musicals I have on CD just a couple days ago, I thought I'd talk about some of my favorite non-musical CDs today. I don't tend to play music in the house. I turn the TV on for noise. These days, most of my music listening happens in the car, and I rotate CDs out consistently. I'm kind of old-fashioned in that I just don't download songs. I don't listen to music on portable devices, so it seems like a waste. Plus, some of my favorite songs of all time were never released as singles. If I hadn't purchased the whole album, I never would've discovered them.

So while I have some current favorites - A Great Big World, John Newman, Lorde - they haven't been around nearly long enough to entrench themselves as all-time favorites. So when I pick my top three, they're all older.

1. Nothing Like the Sun by Sting: I LOVE Sting. I have loved Sting since I was in junior high and I was a huge Police fan. "Dream of the Blue Turtles" was the second album I bought with my own money when I was in high school. It's not on this list because his second album was just so much better. The pop songs are still there - "Englishman in New York" is impossible not to bop along to - but then there's sheer beauty like his cover of "Little Wing" and the moody "Sister Moon." I've seen him live more than any other artist, and he never fails to move me.

2. Bigger, Better, Faster, More! by 4 Non Blondes: I'm going to bet a lot of people have never heard of 4 Non Blondes unless they're a fan of Linda Perry. They were a girl rock band in the early 90s and only did a single album before Perry left the group. But I have probably listened to that album more than any other non-musical album I own. There's a bluesy, rock sound to most of their songs that just crawls under your skin. Add in Perry's raw voice, and oh god, it's a drug. The songs are poetry with an edge. "What's Up" was the only song to hit the charts, and it's great, don't get me wrong, but "Dear Mr. President" is some powerful stuff, and "Spaceman" is amazing. I followed Perry's career closely after that, and for those who don't think they know her, she's achieved most of her fame songwriting. She did Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" for instance. And in recent years, she married Sara Gilbert. And yet, I will always remember her for this gorgeous album.

3. The Cost by The Frames: I discovered The Frames after the movie Once, which made me fall in love with Glen Hansard. I own a ton of his music because of that movie, whether it's his band from before the movie or The Swell Season, which was his duo with Marketa Irglova. I got to see him and Marketa perform at a club in Salt Lake City a few years ago, and it was absolutely amazing. But this Frames album is probably my favorite of his outside of the Once soundtrack. I'm cheating slightly because it has "Falling Slowly" on it, which is probably in my top 10 songs of all time, but it has so much more. This one is more stripped down than a lot of their other work, which might be one reason why I love it so much. Glen and his guitar seem to be enough for me most of the time. His tone is both haunting and uplifting, displaying such vulnerability at times that it makes me ache. This whole album is like a quiet storm that just sneaks up on you. Spellbinding.

I think if I have a common theme on my music tastes...it's storytelling. I fall in love with songs that tell stories. In hindsight, that's not very surprising, now is it?

Christmas and musicals

This past weekend, we got our Christmas decorations up, which generated a lot of talk about what our holiday is going to entail this year. See, my family is scattered throughout the US. Getting together at holidays doesn't happen. My husband's family is in the UK. His parents came to spend Christmas with us every year after we moved to CA in 2004, but when my mother-in-law passed away in 2012, things changed a bit. This year, my father-in-law is staying home, which means it's just the four of us to celebrate the day. For the first time ever, we're considering going to see a movie on Christmas Day. What could compel us to do that? Into the Woods.

It's not just me. My kids know the music back to front. I've taken them to see it live. I'm proud of the fact that I've passed along my love of musical theater to them.

Of course, it helps that I have a ton of soundtracks, some from more than one production. The one nearest to my heart is Les Miserables. It was the very first professional musical I saw live. It was spring break of 1988. I was a freshman in college, and I spent ten days in New York City. In that time period, I saw John Malkovich and Joan Allen in Burn This, Kiri Te Kenawa in Cosi Fan Tutte at the Met, and Les Miserables on Broadway. All three were once in a lifetime experiences, but it was Les Miz that tore me apart. We had cheap student seats. For less than $20, we had a seat in the last two rows in the very top and back of the theater, but from that vantage, I got to see the full effect of the choreography. The voices carried all the way to us without fail, and as someone who didn't know the story (I read the book afterward), it was heart wrenching. What young girl hasn't felt like Eponine at some point in her lives? I was ready to join in the revolution myself. It was just the first time for me. I've seen it in four major American cities, in London, and it is the one show I own in the most incarnations. I have the original London cast, the original Broadway cast, the complete symphonic, and the 10th anniversary all on CD. I also own the 25th anniversary on DVD. So...yeah. That one's my favorite.

There is no way I can list all the individual shows I own. I probably own most of Stephen Sondheim's work. As much as I love Les Miz, the original Broadway cast performing the first act of Sunday in the Park of George might be as close to perfect theater as I have ever seen/heard. I mean, come on. Mandy Patinkin in one of his greatest roles. A heartbreaking Bernadette Peters. An incredible supporting cast that includes Charles Kimbrough, Dana Ivey, Brent Spiner, and Robert Westenberg. Its commentary on the creative process as well as how brilliantly it mirrored pointillism in the score is masterful to say the least.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed about Into the Woods. I ended up being disappointed by the screen adaptation of Les Miz, so I was holding out on getting excited. Then the trailers started popping up, and it looks and sounds great.

I just have to work out my issue with spending Christmas afternoon sitting in a theater.

Musical obsessions

My current musical obsession, A Great Big World, continues. I've been listening to the album pretty much nonstop. The other day in the car, I  realized that I could totally play, "I Don't Wanna Love Somebody Else," on my guitar.

I've been working on my fingerpicking for the past couple months, so it seems like the ideal song. Plus, it's forcing me to play F and Bb, which I usually avoid at all costs. My guitar teacher is having a concert in August, so I should be more than comfortable with it by then. The thing is, my teacher now wants me to sing while I play. Which, okay, it's not a difficult song. But the only place I sing anymore is in the car. I can say no, but my daughter has been bugging me from the start to sing along with whatever I ended up playing. I'm getting pressured from both sides. I'll probably end up breaking. Damn it.

Everyone Is Gay

Like a lot of people, I fell in love with the song "Say Something" by A Great Big World in recent months. It's just stunning. On a whim, I decided to pick up the CD last week and put it in the car.

My daughter and I might have a favorite new band. We haven't even made it through the whole CD yet and we think that. We keep hearing songs and going back to listen to them again, that's how much we love them.

For the most part, the CD is nothing like "Say Something" in mood. Where that one is melancholy and haunting, most of the rest are buoyant and positive. The melodies are often simple, but they are so damn catchy. Yes, it's pop, but I'm not ashamed to admit I can be a pop fan, too.

Our favorite, however, BY FAR, is a song called "Everyone Is Gay." My daughter's comment after we listened to it the first time was that while she loved a lot of the other songs out there that were in support of the LGBTQ community, it was great to hear one with so much joy and hope and humor. It embraces everyone, and do you know how great it is to see bi-inclusivity when bisexuality is often ignored/denied/erased? The song gives me hope, makes me laugh, and just utterly charms me.

When my husband got home, we made him listen/watch the video because it made us smile so much. We walked out of his office when it was over, and he immediately started whistling it. That's how catchy it is.


What sucks is that they're in our area this weekend for their tour and we can't go. Why didn't we figure out we loved them so much months ago? Damn it.

John Newman

In the past two months, I've developed a new music obsession. It's Yorkshire talent, John Newman. I heard the first fifteen seconds of a song called "Running" and promptly went out and bought the whole album. I rarely do that. The CD got put in the car for the drive to Las Vegas last month, during which time my daughter got obsessed with it.

We've been playing it nonstop ever since.

It's called Tribute, and it's just astounding. There isn't a weak song on it, though some are definite stunners. The London Philharmonic plays on it, and his use of sax and strings as well as the typical "band" instruments gives him a jazzy vibe on top of his soul tone.One of my favorites is "Losing Sleep," just love it.

A Stunning Cover of Stairway to Heaven

To close out the week, I just have to share this stunning cover of Stairway to Heaven as performed by Ann & Nancy Wilson. John Bonham's son is on drums, too. It made me cry, but it did the same to Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.

Have a great weekend, everyone!