August 27, 2007

This past weekend, I was treated to three of the best rock and roll sets of live music a man could ever ask to see. It all started Friday night with a performance by Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers at the Birmingham Museum of Art as part of their magnificent concert series Art On The Rocks. Simply put, this guy is a storyteller's storyteller. His live show comes across like Uncle Remus' on shrooms. Southern Gothic tale weaving at it's finest. It was a treat but just the beginning of my live music weekend.

Next up, I jetted over to Sloss Furnaces for yet another heart stopping performance from Alejandro Escovedo and his merry band of rockers. Is it possible that this guy gets better every time I see him? Literally, I have seen Alejandro perform 30 times in the past 15 years and not a single one of them was a disappointment. Escovedo has a Rock and Roll heart that beats ferociously pumping the blood of everyone from Hank Williams to The Rolling Stones to The Stooges through his veins and subsequently into the hearts and minds of the lucky audience members who are graced by his presence. Mark my words, Escovedo is a living legend. I can't state enough times that this man will one day be a central figure in Rock and Roll Folklore (if he isn't already).

I finished up my musical weekend with a scorching performance from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at Sloss Furnaces' Stokin' The Fire Festival. If Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley are the heart and soul of the Drive-Truckers, Isbell is the balls! I only wish his set had been right before Escovedo's. I probably would have gone into a Rock & Roll coma. And if his set full of Truckers tunes and new one from his solo release "Sirens Of The Ditch" (New West), one of my faves of the year, hadn't rocked my world enough, he ended the set with a smokin' cover of Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak". It is my wish that someone would figure out a way to get Isbell's music intoNashville and the mainstream country scene and let it wreak havoc on all those wussy rednecks pretending to play cowboy.

Sidenote (This has nothing to do with music)

As much as I love music and as important as it is to my life, it pales in comparison to watching my two boys grow up (although I do thoroughly enjoy when my two worlds collide like when they ask to listen to the Beatles or Marvin Gaye in the car or bounce up and down pumping their fists at a Matisyahu set). It is magical and this past week my boys showed me the meaning of life time and time again. For that, I can't thank them enough. I just had to mention them in this email because they make my world so much better to live in.

Peace,
Reg

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