Mardi Gras recap and MNIJM tours

Well I have survived my fifth Mardi Gras intact. Got to see my favorite parade (Muses) from my favorite spot (Magazine and Napoleon) which is definitely a great way to start up my personal parade season. Kat and I were able to introduce Mardi Gras to our Iowa-bred roommate who loved it for the most part. We spoiled her rotten by taking her to some invite-only stands downtown though. I know people who were born and raised here and have never had the opportunity to do that so I know her fellow Teach For America-ers will be envious. Mardi Gras this year also marked my Lenten promise as I decided to start it early: I have given up beer for Lent this year.

Why beer? Why not? It weighs you down I suppose. This means I will not be seeing Judy over at Cooter Brown's until April. Sorry Judy. I'll be back I promise.

In other news, today marks the first day of the first weekend in a long series of mini-tours around the Southeast for MyNameIsJohnMichael. We begin in Baton Rouge and Lafayette today and tomorrow and will soon travel to cities like Jackson, Austin, Birmingham, Atlanta, Memphis, Houston, Nashville, Mobile, Oxford, etc. Keep your eyes and ears peeled people. We're coming to your town!

Finally, it seems engineers occasionally receive statues for their work on a Grammy winning record. Which means I may have to start a trophy room after all. We'll see. I'm keeping all of my fingers and toes crossed for this one.

Jackson, George Street, and the Brothers

So it's Mardi Gras and I find myself 200 miles north of ground zero in my hometown of Jackson, MS. Today marks my father's 60th birthday and I just had to come up to help celebrate. After a nice lunch and a great dinner complete with stories from his childhood I had not up until this point been privy to, I adjourned to the somewhat famous George Street Grocery.

If you know Jackson nightlife, you know George Street. It is known for it's great music, good crowds, hard-working bartenders, and it's utter inability to stay in business. This place changes owners honest to God every 18 months (after the requisite 3 month boarding up and grand reopening period). Either way, it's nice to be home while I have a chance to actually go.

The band playing tonight is a group of local 30 somethings with a mixed set of classic rock covers (though tasteful) and southern rock originals. They were playing an Allman Brothers song when I walked in and while I'm not much on cosmic signs, this may be a sign. To what, I'm not sure, but I suppose it's the world's way of telling me that I should hop back on the road for ABB's 40th anniversary later this year. It's as much of an opportunity as it is an excuse not to find another job due to the fact that I'll have to leave said employment to go on the road. We'll see where this year takes me.

The Arkells!

If you have been reading this blog for a time, even just occasionally, you may have run across my post about a Canadian band Charlemagne I had fallen in love with. Well, a few legal troubles and bit of good luck later, they're now called the Arkells and are still going strong. They've released their first major record on Dine Alone Records (in October...sorry for being so behind) and it sounds great. The songs are still incredible and there's a new energy and sheen to the music (energy good, sheen still undecided).

I love the inclusion of the standards I had grown to love, even humming them months after listening, and the new songs are just as strong. There are Springsteen caliber anthems, The Edge guitar riffs, and incredible everyman vocals. I love his vocals because I can sing along easily. He has that Dr. Dog thing where he's not quite singing, not quite screaming (sometimes).

The final song, Blueprint, used to send shivers down my spine by the slave song-esque opening. On the record, it jumps right in which is unfortunate but they still nailed the song. Can these guys do no wrong? Go buy this record!

Dr. Dog live at One Eyed Jacks

So last night I went and saw Dr. Dog at local venue One Eyed Jacks. I was disappointed at the get go simply because it was packed. I naively thought that Dr. Dog was still fairly unknown and I was expecting a medium crowd full of big fans. Instead, there was a monstrous crowd full of huge fans.

That being said, it really was a great show. Dr. Dog is able to take everything they do on their fantastic records and recreate them very well in concert. Most impressively, they nailed all of the tight vocal harmonies that initially sucked me in upon first listen. The bassist/singer (one of two "lead" singers) poured his heart out on stage and into the microphone which was refreshing but at the same time a little daunting. If he had been nearly screaming (while still singing) into the mic the whole show, my ears would have been fatigued. Enter singer #2: a soft spoken, confident singer and guitar player handled the more emotional songs and did very well.

Overall, the show is a must see for any Dr. Dog or similar band fan. A must see. They played exactly what was on the record which is perfect for some fans, and a let down for others. Personally, I would have liked to see a little movement from the record but it's hard to complain when they hit every note and harmony lick for lick.

By the way, be sure to check out Dr. Dog's Tiny Desk Concert from NPR. It's tough for a band to perform this way and they nailed it.

Need new music?

I've been listening to a lot of new music recently and there's one I absolutely must share. Because I am often behind on the new music trend, I feel it would be a waste of time to tell you about Bon Iver, Nick Cave, Fleet Foxes, etc. However, I feel that Port O'Brien is one of those bands that has remained under the radar for the most part. Therefore, I command thee to rush to iTunes and buy the album All We Do Was Sing.

It is a little Les Savy Fav, a little Tapes N Tapes, and a lot great. Two vocalists blend great together. It's as if the coolest people on your hall freshman year got together and formed a band writing songs feverishly they never planned to play.

So while you're at iTunes checking it out and hopefully purchasing, go ahead and buy their first effort (a compilation of sorts from self-released tracks) as well.

Live Recordings by moi!

Recently I've been getting a little bit of business with live recordings and I'm really trying to get it off the ground. With my gear I'm able to go to venues around town (that are big enough) and do a multi-track recording of the shows for a remix. So, if you're a band interested, please don't hesitate to contact me.

I've recorded and mixed bands at Jazz Fest, Tips, and Blue Nile including recently Antenna Inn, MNIJM, the Revivalists, and High Tide Blues.

As a reference, here's MNIJM live at Blue Nile from November of '08:

MNIJM Live at Blue Nile

Huuuge Update

Sorry I'm such a hack when it comes to blogging while at home. I just get into a rhythm of blogging on the road and when I get home I forget all about it. So I'll give you readers a monster update about my life since Nov. 1.

First of all, the LA trip with MyNameIsJohnMichael was a huge success. We played two great shows out there for the right people and got killer contacts. We also had a generally great time out there and it went very smoothly. The nine of us were able to polish off a 36" pizza in one sitting (it was a team-building exercise and it was gross), I got to have In-N-Out again, and go to mecca: Amoeba Records. It was a short trip but definitely worth it.

After returning, we were scrambling to finish up the 52 songs for the project while preparing for recording a record and play the last show of the year. We knocked out the 52 songs, played a killer show, and recorded the record. We started recording on December 13th and didn't stop (except for 3 days over Xmas and New Years) until January 8th. Spirits remained high and we recorded 17 songs. They are very high quality thanks to Ben Lorio at the console and I'm really excited to get mixes back from our mixing duder TJ Lipple.

The CD will come out at a One Eyed Jacks show on March 28th and after that MNIJM has five (five!) festivals this year: SXSW, Jazz Fest, Bonnaroo, ACL, and Voodoo Fest! It's a busy year. We've recently started up a blog for all things MNIJM so please check that out: mnijm.wordpress.com.

In other news, an album I mixed won a Grammy last night so that gives me a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside (though no statue to start a trophy room). Things are looking up.