Long Overdue

I do apologize for the lack of updates. Things always get a little crazy this time of year! I warn you...this will be a long one :)

Alrighty, to start off, October was my music month and I kicked it off with a weekend in SF. The Friday (last day of September) my mom and I went and saw The Jayhawks at Slims. She has played their stuff since I was a kid so I'm fairly familiar. They just came out with a new album with all the original members, so this show was kind of a big deal. Carrie Rodriguez opened the show and was really entertaining. The Jayhawks played for over 2 hours and seemed to be enjoying it as much as the audience. Unfortunately, we ended the night by returning to the car to find the back window smashed and our bags missing. Now, I carry a purse about 2% of the time. I knew I was going to be out all weekend so I had some extras with me. My mom however has a "mom" purse with all kinds of important info. We covered everything up and the seat was pushed back slightly over the bags so someone had to be watching us get out of the car. I mostly lost my keys, Rx glasses, and camera. I felt worse for my mom who now had to replace a window, cell phone, ipod, and other key info in her purse like her RN license and Chemotherapy certification. Way to start the weekend :(
Well, the next day we decided to not let it ruin our weekend since there was nothing we could really do at that point. We took my car and headed back down to SF for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. That day could not have gone better! The weather was brilliant, we found reasonable parking, and someone called about finding my mom's purse. This girl found it thrown across a sidewalk about 2 blocks from Slims. She collected it and managed to find a phone number. We met up with her on our way home. The phone and ipod were gone but all her other essentials were there! After seeing Patty Griffin, The Belle Brigade and A.A. Bondy, (who all put on great sets!) we had really turned things around.

The rest of October was filled with some great shows. The most anticipated was the opening night of Dawes & Blitzen Trappers co-headlining tour. They played at the Mystic Theater in Petaluma. It was my first time there and I thought it was a pretty cool venue. Dawes closed the show but I have to say Blitzen Trapper was quite the act to follow. They put on an amazing set and rocked a lot harder than I expected. Another act that I was pleasantly surprised by was The Head and The Heart. They give off so much energy, it's just infectious! They played the Independent with Release the Sunbird.

The Fling rounded out the month with a small opening set at Bottom of The Hill. I saw them play a couple of songs at The Fillmore when they opened for Delta Spirit but this was much better. I love getting to see bands when they're still up-and-coming. After suffering through a local band opener (yikes) I got to hear them play almost, if not all, of their new EP What I've Seen. Needless to say I bought it right after and it has been on constant repeat at my house. They are coming back in a couple of weeks with Yukon Blonde...already have tickets!

The Fling "Dogpile" (Official Music Video) from Chad Huff on Vimeo.

Halloween came and went. I actually dressed up and went to Lindsey's so it wasn't too bad. Work at the store has been weird. The girl I work with keeps getting really sick and then takes off for days. It's been stressful but hopefully she is done with that for a while. Saw Dawes and Blitzen Trapper again at The Fillmore...just can't get enough! John came down for Thanksgiving. It has been sooo long since I've seen him so I was pretty happy.
Now December is here with some of the nicest weather. It's so weird. My family is headed to Disneyland for Christmas this year. Timing isn't great for my job but it is what it is at this point. I've got most of my X-mas shopping done, now it's just pack for LA. I'm so excited to be having any kind of vacation. I can't remember the last one. It's gong to be so fun seeing Disneyland with the first timers Dillon and Travis!
Thanks for hanging in there and I'll be updating more, sooner than later.

Hello 2011

Hello new year! Sorry that I let things go for so long. The last little bit of 2010 absolutely flew by and being sooo busy didn't help things. Where do I start?!...the beginning seems like a good place...short & sweet

November:

Consisted mostly of work, babysitting and promoting the Dawes show. I got super lucky and got free tickets for working so hard on promotional stuff. The Romany Rye were supposed to open the show but their van broke down and they didn't make it. :( But I did find this little gem on The Romany Rye's tumblr...

The show was AMAZING and I'm seriously considering seeing Dawes again in February. Thanksgiving was nice with the family. Last but not least, I rented the trailer on the DuVander Ranch. Affordable and all mine, no roommates!

December:

A fantastic Delta Spirit show (The Fling opened),

family drama, and spending money like crazy on my new place and on Christmas. I went from my little bedroom to a full house. I need so much stuff. That got put on the back burner the closer Christmas came.  Work was so busy! I was totally impressed by the generosity of our customers though. I got all kinds of candy, wine and Starbucks gift cards. Thanks again everyone! I got some overtime but had no time to shop for Christmas. It doesn't help that I'm a horrible shopper and got sick a few days before Christmas. I whipped it out though, and we had a really nice weekend at my parents. Uncle John, Sandra and Aunt Regina all came over. Dillon got some rockin' stuff and I got a lot of things for my new place. John built the new computer that I am thoroughly enjoying since my place doesn't have internet. Hopefully that will change soon.

So now here we are in 2011. Pretty exciting but hard to believe. Time is absolutely flying. I'm hoping to have a Housewarming/Birthday party on Sat the 22nd. Your all invited! Today is Ashley's birthday though. She is out, while I watch my crazy nephew Travis. OMG he is getting so big and we are definitely getting into the terrible two's. It's so much fun though ;) Here he is on the new bike he got for Christmas.

Here's to a happy and exciting new year!

Coming To An End

I have the whole house to myself right now. It's great but so weird. Unfortunately I'm feeling sick so I can't really live it up.
How was your Christmas? The week before Christmas was awful for me (hence my lack of posts) but things picked up and Christmas was a success. My aunt an uncle came and it was Travis' first Christmas. He seemed a little overwhelmed by all the chaos of flying wrapping paper and the intense excitement of getting a much wanted item. My uncle got my family a 42in HD flat screen TV. I never wanted one really bad but now that we have one it's so great! I got simple things like sheets, pj's, dvd's but it was fun to help mom set up her new ipod touch we got her. It makes me want an iphone so bad! Some sad new though, my last day at Macy's was the day after x-mas if you can believe it. We are still employed until Jan. 22 but we have no hours, unless we get called in, and then we go in and do an "exit interview." I would rather not be let go on my birthday but, whatever, some things are just the way they are. (I'm still super excited for my birthday!)
Some amazing news: Delta Spirit announced the release of their sophomore album "History From Below" and they will be coming to SF on March 8th!!! Who's going with me?!
I see all these top 10 lists for the decade or for 09 and for the first time I'm going to participate. I think I was slacking this year on new music but out of what I did get, here is at least my Top 5 albums of 2009:

5.) Dawes "North Hills" -I was introduced to this band earlier this year and was impressed by their live show. It's not a cd I would just play anytime but there is so much underlying talent packed onto this disc it had to be included!

4.) Silversun Pickups "Swoon" -You can't love these guys on one listen because there are too many layers. They are a little harder than I usually go for but sooo talented and I really grew to love all the sounds this album had to offer.

3.) Paramore "Brand New Eyes" -I have to admit I haven't given this one the attention I gave to RIOT because I don't think it's as strong but it's really close. It's nice to hear them slow down for a few songs on this one. And again Haley's vocals are flippin' amazing!

2.) MuteMath "Armistice" -This album wouldn't come out soon enough for me and when it did I was all over it. It has a much different sound from their first album but that isn't a bad thing. I was lucky enough to even see them live, true performers.

1.) White Rabbits "It's Frightning" -Easily my best discovery of the year! Found them shortly after their sophomore album came out and quickly fell in love. Saw them twice (really nice guys), and still can't get enough!

*Honorable Mention: All-American Rejects "When The World Falls Down" -It took me a couple of listens to really enjoy this album but then "Gives You Hell" got crazy overplayed. There are still some really great moments on here.
*Looking forward to:
New Delta Spirit, Local Natives first release, some things I missed from 09 ;)

Have a happy new year!

Cold Day in the Sun

Today was a hard day.
There is a chill in the air that I can't quite seem to overcome. Each person I come in contact with today has been hardened by it. It's December now but it came hard and fast...just something to get used to now.
I don't work tomorrow so I think I'm going to try and do some Christmas shopping. I can tell it's going to basically be here tomorrow so I figured I would try to not wait until the last minute. What do you want for Christmas? Why was that question so much easier to answer like 10-15 years ago? I made a little list, but to be honest I really want an iPhone. I know they are probably way over hyped but seriously, I really want one. I think I will treat myself for my birthday and get one...depending on the job situation. They're super expensive!
Ok, so I want to leave you with a song but I'm not sure which one tonight. I probably showed you this already but in honor of me possibly going to see the White Rabbits a week from tonight, I leave you with a clip of them performing at Slim's about a month ago. (By the way you can totally go to the show too, if your interested!) Enjoy this alternate version of "The Lady Vanishes" with a slide right into "The Salesman."