Spring Fever

...more like Dawes fever!

Hello Hello, lots to update on tonight...
On the 3rd I saw Middle Brother at The Independent with Blake Mills (and The Botticellis) opening. Needless to say, I was kind of freaking out.
Blake's set was brilliant! Danielle Haim was on drums and Taylor Goldsmith sat in on bass for most of the set. It was so neat to see them play together. I know they've been friends forever and their chemistry is obvious. "Wintersong" is my favorite and I was so excited to hear it live. I wish there was some footage of the set but a few pictures will just have to do.

Photo by Jay Blakesberg

Then it was time for Middle Brother! Everything sounded great and they performed every song on the album. They just have a ton of fun with each other. Matt ran from mic to mic during a song, John was dressed like a hippie after he claimed to have ventured to Haight & Ashbury during the day, and at one point Matt carried John offstage so Taylor could perform a song. They were joined onstage by Griffin Goldsmith on drums, Wylie Gelber on bass for some songs, and of course Blake Mills. Jonny Corndawg was missed but not forgotten. They evening was perfectly wrapped up with Matt Vasquez, acoustic, on the sidewalk of Divisadero St. I heard him do "Lovers Waltz" by AA Bondy and then "Trashcan" by Delta Spirit. So much fun but made me really antsy for some new Dawes and Delta Spirit.

Which leads me to this amazing news...
New Dawes album "Nothing Is Wrong" is set to be released on June 7th!

 

I could go on about the new album for days so I'll restrain myself tonight.

Continuing on the music theme I got The Head and The Heart's album this week. I was hoping to see them Wednesday but the show sold out before I got my act together. So sad... Next time maybe?!
Dillon and I went to see Young the Giant at Slim's on Friday. That was good times. Strange Birds and Man In Space opened. Strange Birds are from southern CA and are good friends, if not related to, the guys in Young the Giant. Man In Space is a local group who are mostly ex-members of Dizzy Balloon. Their set was great. You can tell they know what they're doing. Their music is just really fun and has a unique funk/pop/hip-hop sound. I got their, I guess it's an EP. Listen to it here!
Now, this was my 3rd time seeing Young the Giant. The first time they played to about 40 of us while a rave was going on in the other, larger, room. The second time was at The Rickshaw Stop to a decent but comfortable crowd. This was little more crazy. I felt like one of the older folks in the audience. People were pushing and fighting their way to the front. Super rude and annoying. Just tried to not trip off it and enjoy the show. As you can see, by the last song craziness ensued. Caught my first stage dive ;)


This post is taking me forever to put together but I have to at least tell you about Travis' Birthday. The little man is 2 now! Ashley had his party at Howarth Park and he loved it. Every time the whistle on the train would blow he would stop, and his eyes would get all big, and he'd grab the nearest person and try to run to the train. So cute! James and his mom and aunt came. Candy, Vicki and Matthew came. Also, some of Ashley's friends including Matilda and her dad. They watch Travis every Tuesday so it was nice to finally meet them. Lots of toys, cake and the park. Mother Nature was on our side and gave us some sun too!

I still feel like there are things I'm leaving out but this will just have to do for tonight! Hope you had a Happy Easter!

Full of Fluff

This is long overdue, I know. My only excuse is that nothing exciting has been going on. Easter was good but low-key. It poured all day. The next Sunday was Travis' birthday. It rained again of course, but it was nice and Travis had fun.
In his Birthday outfit

Cupcake time

New Toys

This was taken tonight. Dillon cut holes in and painted this old cardboard box to make it look like a little house. Travis posed so perfectly while playing in it that I just had to throw it in.

I've been working a lot so I haven't had time to do too much fun extra stuff or I've just been too tired. I'm getting my car worked on tomorrow (cross your fingers they don't find anything weird.) That pretty much sums up my April so far.

Since this is a pretty boring post I'll try to jazz it up with some fun new music stuff that has had me all excited this month:
I heard about this song just last week. Now, I'm am not a hip-hop fan. There are good songs here and there but I usually pass. This song however features a Hayley Williams from Paramore. I'm pretty sure it is the only reason I like this song. Once again her vocals are amazing and this is a nice little chorus.

Ok, that was fun, now check this out. This is a little youtube clip that Hayley posted herself. Don't like Lady GaGa? Well, you will now!

I spent a huge chunk of money on concert tickets this month, let me elaborate...
First I'm going to see 30 Seconds to Mars w/ MuteMath on May 13. I can't believe how close it is already.
Then I bought tickets to a Local Natives show after I procrastinated on their first one and it sold out. Their new cd is in the mail, as we speak, on the way to my house. Enjoy this live version of "Camera Talk"

Another highly anticipated show isn't until October but it will be worth the wait. Jack Johnson is coming to the Greek and I'm going (for a pretty penny). Here is his new single "You & Your Heart." I think he directed the video which is cool but gets repetitive pretty quick.

And last but not least is my favorite guys Delta Spirit. This is off their new album and this clip is actually from the SF show I went to in early March.

This little gem is also off the new album. This is a stripped down version that I just cannot get enough of. His voice, the piano, just amazing! The full band version is great too but this is pretty special.

This post really took on a life of its own tonight. Fun stuff! Well, time for me to go to bed. Goodnight ;)

Change is in the air

It's probably not the best time to be starting this (11:20pm) but now is when I know for sure I'm going to have the time! I have been so busy this week. It started on Monday with an amazing concert with Delta Spirit!!! It could have gone bad because around 1pm, the person that was supposed to go with me decided to bail. I really lucked out when I called my other buddy and she was totally available. It didn't rain the whole drive there and we got awesome parking for FREE. It's almost impossible in SF but I have managed a couple of times now. Anyways, we got there a little early and stayed warm in the car. We could hear everyone doing sound checks. Christina and I joke about opening a venue together so we were scoping out the place for things we liked and didn't like. The bands were getting food as everyone was coming in. I decided not to say hi for whatever reason. I always think how weird it must feel to have total strangers coming up to you and knowing all kinds of info about you, and saying how in love with you/your band they are. I guess it must not be that bad (unless the fan is a total creeper) because what is a concert without the screaming fans right? Wow, I keep going on little tangents. I will try to refrain.... The first act was a singer/songwriter with just an acoustic guitar. He called himself Elephant Micah. It was hard to really hear and enjoy what he was doing. Everyone was so amped and he was so mellow. I could totally see him in some little coffee shop like Aromas. The second act was We Barbarians.

Now a little fun trivia, We Barbarians are neighbors to Delta Spirit (when they are actually home) so naturally friends too. This little stint that Delta Spirit has been doing has been lacking Sean Walker. The lead singer of We Barbarians has been filling in, and doing a good job I might add. I sure do miss Walker though and have a bad feeling that he has taken off for good. I guess we'll find out when the album gets released on June 8th. But I digress... Finally, Delta Spirit took the stage. I can't tell you how awesome it is to see these people live in person. Besides being completely infatuated with Matt Vasquez

They opened with the familiar and great "Bleeding Bells." A lot of the other stuff was off the new album. A lot of that I have heard quite a bit already so I was singing along to some of the new stuff ;) They even did "Motivation" which was a huge treat! They were all just busting with energy and seemed to be really excited to play their new stuff. So, so much fun!
And that was just Monday...ha this is going to be longer than I though. It's now midnight and I've moved to my bed. Time springs forward in two hours and I'm going to loose another hour of sleep. Oh man...

Thursday I drove Ashley, Travis and myself to San Leandro/Oakland to meet with my grandparents for lunch and to go to the Oakland Zoo. I was so excited to take Travis to the zoo! I haven't been to the Oakland Zoo in a really long time and it was nice to see my grandparents as well. They live in Oakdale (near Modesto) so we don't get out to see them as much as we all would like. Travis slept the entire way there! He NEVER does that so I knew we were off to a really good start. I found the restaurant real easily and we got there on time. The zoo was fun. Pretty typical lions, tigers and bears...but seriously the little sun bear was sooo cute. He was rolling around on his back and playing on this little platform. We saw bats and lemurs, flamingos, and monkeys of all sorts. It ended with a little train ride, Travis' first train ride. Travis did so good the entire day. He got a little cranky around dinner time but that was expected. Then it was time to say goodbye and head home. Traffic was rough between Berkeley and Richmond basically, and Travis cried about 75% of the way home. I think he was just overly tired. It all worked out and I would totally do it again.
While we were gone I had gotten a call from my Aunt. When I called her the next day she told me a position at her store had opened up and asked if I wanted to come in. She owns the UPS store in Healdsburg. I am so thankful to be getting a job again. I go in first thing Monday morning. Wish me luck!
And finally, I am going camping next weekend with Crystal, Anthony and a few other people. It's a place in or near Duncans Mills. I think it will be fun. They are heading out Thursday but because of my new job I'll be going on Friday. So, things are really chugging along around here, thank god. Hopefully with some money coming in now I can do more fun stuff like camping, concerts, and fix my car and save for my own place. Geez, wouldn't that be awesome! That's another late night.

New blogs and holidays

I felt the need to write tonight....don't know why except maybe that it's been ages since I've written anything over a paragraph in length. Even this is cheating...there is no pen in hand. I wonder if in 3 years my handwriting will be really different....
I love those little dots of a trailing thought not totally finished but not worth a whole lot more.
The last hour of November is ticking by as I wait, and hope not to hear, a whine from Travis in a fuzzy baby monitor. I can't believe how fast time goes these days. It seems that everyday this month I looked at the calender and went "Really?!" Working full time now does not help the situation. Don't get me wrong I'm really happy to be working but it intensifies that drive for what's next in my life. I'm so ready to move out of this safety spot I have occupied for the last...well my lifetime so far. This house has brought many challenges these last few years but they weren't really mine. Wow, sappy sappy all ready... you would think I would have waited a bit longer to dive into that one, right. Ok, I'll focus on Thanksgiving weekend since it's all fresh in our minds. I worked the day before and then my Uncle John and Aunt Regina came Thanksgiving morning. It's always nice to see my Uncle, my Aunt too but that can be a bit more challenging for me these days. I was really happy for Dillon to have that time with her because I know it was all he was looking forward to all week. They day was really quiet, as usual. The cooking, the snacking, the video games, movies and the inevitable napping. Travis was super cute in his little Thanksgiving outfit I got for him. (I even got one for Christmas so he's all set!)


My Aunt and Uncle spent the night but my mom had to go to work so she napped with everyone else and then was off, which may sound weird but I'm pretty use to it these days. The next morning I was up at 4:50am for my shift for Black Friday. Seriously people, your insane! There are so many sales going on all the time I really don't see how it's worth it to fight the crowds and the early morning hours for a discount, you'll make up for, bargain shopping the rest of December. I guess electronics are good Black Friday buys but I just can't get into it. All the customers were really cool and I only had one jerk to deal with, which to be honest, was better than I expected. I've been lucky enough to have the rest of the weekend off and go back tomorrow. (Friends and Family sale starts Wednesday so if you want a coupon for 25% off almost everything, let me know because I have extras.) So, anyways my Aunt and Uncle left Friday night. Dillon had a hard time but that was to be expected. He recovered fairly quickly and we were all off to bed. Super boring, not sure why I feel the need to share all the details but now you know ;)
Anyone been to any good shows or discover any new bands? It's all I've been doing lately. Saw White Rabbits at Slims on Nov. 4th and was blown away. They are such nice guys too. I would love to catch them do a shorter set Dec. 9th at Bimbo's for Live 105's Not So Silent Night's pre-party week of shows. I work until 9:30 which might be a stretch to try and make it to SF in time, but I was considering switching a shift with someone so we'll see. Local Natives were a band that opened for them and I was so impressed. I just found out today that the US release of their album will be on Feb. 16th so that will be something to look forward to. See Aquarium Drunkard and Daytrotter for amazing sounds to make you smile. If you like, download the Daytrotter session for free! I think I got spoiled seeing them live first but that's not a bad thing. I think I'm going to try and be brave and write to some venues in SF this spring and see if I can get in anywhere. It all depends on how broke I am at the time but wouldn't that be the most rockin' thing?! (Pun intended...lame I know)
I seriously cannot believe how well Travis is sleeping tonight! Kind of bummed I, well he, ...we wasted a bottle tonight, but if it's because he wasn't waking up I'll take it. Trader Joe's moved to holiday hours so on Ashley's night shifts she works until 1am. Kind of a bummer but I'm usually falling asleep between 12 and 1am. Of course right as I was writing that sentence he makes some weird sounds making me think he was waking up....Good news: false alarm!
Hello December
Now the big question.....were do I post this thing? Do I really want to give the whole world access to my thoughts tonight? Live Journal was a bust for me....did I ever delete that account....? No one uses Myspace anymore, although I still think it has a better format over Facebook and is better for musicians. Facebook doesn't really have a good place to post these things and I hate trying to figure something new out on Facebook. Maybe I should start my own personal blog page that way it's out there but no one will know unless I tell them. Why don't I just get a notebook in that case?! Social Networking has become so crazy yet we are all so addicted. I guess it helps us feel more connected....
Ok I made a blog....the one you are looking at now....to house my little thoughts. It only took my 45min to set it up and edit this thing.

Goodnight and take care in these winter months, even if it is sunny all the way through.