Category Archive

music

High Fidelity: 5 reasons we love our record player

Really, find a turntable, a receiver, speakers and some wire and put it together yourself. Find a music snob, or someone over 50 to help you. It’s worth it. After years of playing mp3s through my crummy computer speakers, I feel like I’m finally listening to music again.

Halloween costumes based on song lyrics

Calling all music geeks for a Halloween question! If you were going to create a Halloween costume that was based on specific lyrics or a character from a song, what song comes to mind? One example would be “Devil With a Blue Dress On” which has lots of descriptive details in the verses and the chorus. Any other suggestions for costumes based on songs?

Empowering songs to pump you up after a break-up (or anytime)

Even if you’re not using it to run, empowering, upbeat music could help get you through something like a breakup (or a job rejection, or almost any disappointment) and remember how awesome you are. These tracks are more about loving yourself, surviving, not needing anyone else, or feeling powerful, and less about hating an ex. I’m going to share some up-tempo, self-empowering songs, then I’ll open it up to the Homies and see what they suggest.

On being an aging weirdo

A aging nightlife colleague posted this online recently: “Really need to work on the whole “being fun” thing a little more. It’s too easy to just sit around being comfortable and old.”

I see these kinds of things a LOT from my peer group of aging freaks — right around 30. It seems like all of a sudden it’s staring you right there in the face: the stuff that we spent our 20s doing (in my specific case, dancing all night while intoxicated) suddenly doesn’t have quite the same pull, and there’s part of you that screams NOOOOOOO! I’m getting OOOOOOLD! And then there’s this reflex of MUST FIGHT IT MUST FIGHT IT.

Having a baby didn’t stop us from touring with our band — we just bring him along

While there are plenty of things that haven’t made touring any more difficult with our baby, there are also plenty of considerations we take that probably seem first nature by now. We have to figure out nap times. We keep bedtime in mind. We’re always surveying our venues, hangouts, and potential non-motor-home sleeping quarters for baby-friendliness. Luckily, we’re self-sufficient: we have two forms of heat (propane and electric), plenty of blankets, and everything we need inside our mobile house.

An ode to the music shop: what was your first music purchase?

I have had a long term relationship with music stores since I was 11. My mom took me to see That Thing You Do! and I fell hard for everything: the dudes, the band, the music. I immediately asked if we could get the soundtrack, and shortly thereafter took my first intentional step into a music shop. Sure, I had been into them before, but never with a purpose — never when I was looking for something that would change my life.

I don’t wanna hide my vinyl: Let’s talk about record display and storage

I have recently come into a pretty amazing vintage record collection. I hope to find a way to incorporate the album art into my decor. Does anyone have a good system for showing their vinyl the love it deserves, beyond the bookcase?

Gifts for musicians and music geeks of all levels

That guy I married is a sound engineer at work, and a huge music geek at home. Most of my closest friends are professional musicians. This means I have years and years of music-related gift giving tricks up my sleeves. My fellow musician-lovers, you might want to get your credit cards ready, because I’m about to find all of your gifts for you…