A New Discovery, A New Treasure.

Anybody who knows me will tell you “Twitter is not a good place for Tim.” A character limit of 140 characters is torturous, and impossibly limiting. It takes more than 140 characters to order coffee. But, Twitter is great in some ways, finding new music has been a blessing. Musicians seem to be able to use the medium to promote and market themselves remarkably well. Recently, I heard some amazing music from a rising star, Matt Steady.

Many people know I am a big Grateful Dead fan. My friend John said they only had one song, and it went on for years. Possibly, but the thing about the Dead was their music, the lyrics, rhythm, and melody blended into a glorious cacophony, very much like life. It was a ride on a musical roller coaster, highs, lows, and all stops in between. A whole infinitely greater than the sum of its parts. Matt Steady is that kind of musician.

Complex stringed music and powerful moving lyrics combine into songs of life. Brief, beautiful, celebrations of mankind lift the listener to strange, familiar places. His songs are the kind it is easy to get lost in, and when they are over leave one wanting more.

He is a story teller on the scale of Neil Young, and a musician in the mold of Richard Thompson. It is impossible to gauge his age, his huge, shaggy beard hides most of his face, but his lyrics carry the power and intensity of an old troubadour,. And his music is nothing short of 1960s fantastic. When his music comes on you can't help but be transported to another time, a time when music had a universal message. A time when music was the best (to me, anyway) that it could ever be.

I am not sure why Twitter is such a marketing tool for musicians. Most days my feed is overwhelmed with things I don't even read. Maybe it is just easier to find new fans than Facebook. But, of all the music that has come across my devices this is by far my favorite.

Since I can not pick which song I enjoyed the most, I am choosing the song I listened to most recently. But, don't stop with this song, listen to all you can, you can thank me later.

An amazingly talented artist, going a long way, and I will be following him to the top. So should you.

Live Full House, It Has No Equal.

Last night, for some reason, I took a stroll through my younger days. It is not something healthy, there were many mistakes, in the words of Ian Anderson;

"Many's the sadness I've left behind me,
Many's the day when I have done wrong."

But, sometimes it isn't too bad, and there are some good things to be found among the rubble.

For instance Live Full House, from the J. Giel's Band. Chicago Style Blues wrapped up in a rock and roll coat, screaming defiantly at convention.

Normally, live albums are not among my favorites, but Live Full House is a very happy exception. It is raucous, wild, exuberant ride through some blues classics, and some original music. Obviously, this band has some chops, but pays tribute to the giants that came before them.

Smashing and torching Homework by Otis Redding, and hammering a killer version of First I Look at the Purse from Smokey Robinson makes great music indeed. But, they were no slouches in song writing either. Hard Driving Man and the greatest harmonica song ever Whammer Jammer round out a killer album.

I had to head over to iTunes and grab a copy, less than $8.00 and the price is the same on Amazon, and probably Google Play, too.

Driving to work this morning I put the album on, without even using shuffle, and I almost always use shuffle, turned up the volume and jammed all the way to work. Peter Wolf singing, J Geils scorching the guitar, Magic Dick working magic with a harmonica, and Danny Klein on the electric bass from outer space, Seth Justman wailing on organ and piano, and Stephan Bladd keeping time on drums, made the commute fantastic, I can't wait for the drive home.

I know the poker hand on the cover is not a full house, but I don't care, that is how good this album really sounds. I may have been a lot smarter in my youth than I thought

The Boy from the Crowd. Now is the time to follow them.

We, here at Life Explained are proud to announce the birth of our new blog, the first of several, Life Explained, Explains Music, sort of.  We call it that because, in our opinion there is no point in even trying to explain music, to quote the Lovin' Spoonful;

"I'll tell you about the magic and it'll free your soul
But, it's like tryin' to tell a stranger about rock and roll."

So when we say "explains music" what we really mean is "not explains music," or anything else, really, we just make a post about things, and this blog is dedicated to posts about music.  The idea came from Jeremy Crow, from the Whacko Series of blogs.  So, thank you, Jeremy.  

And, here we go.

Recently, about three years ago, I started to look around the internet, joining Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and other sites.  It was fun, but it was also confusing for a man my age. It seemed difficult to sift through the chaos, and find the calm.  Eventually, it fell into place, and some amazing things have happened. Some have restored my faith in humanity, a little.

One of their many very
cool tshirts.

Take, for example, a band I met on Twitter, "Boy From the Crowd."  There was something, it is hard to say what, that made me think, I should follow these guys, and I did, soon there was a message, thanking me.  With a link to their song "Revelator." kind of a indie rock, blues number with a driving back beat, biting lyrics, and grinding, thrashing guitar.  It was really refreshing, and despite being new, and exciting, took me back to another time.  It was kind of like the Clash meets the Dictators, they buy a machine shop and build a band.  

I thanked them, and told them how much it had been enjoyed.  They sent me a link to download the song.  I am still working on that, technology is still foreign and difficult.  Plus, with the new iPhone, and Surface Pro 3 there is a lot of wrestling and cursing, but I will get the song added, and listen and be very happy I did.

Here is the amazing bit, though.  Here are two guys, trying to do something they love, and putting everything they can muster to make this work. Bringing all they have to bear on the dream of making a living making music.  We are separated by almost 4,000 miles (or 6,200 kilometers) and an ocean and this band is willing to offer their song.  

Learning an instrument, writing songs, practicing is just the beginning.  Now comes the marketing and distribution, and hustling, and contacting people who may be critical, lord knows the internet is not the friendliest place to be.  And, these guys are making a run at success.  There is always some luck involved in becoming successful.  Talent alone will never be enough.  But, we should all root for these guys.  

Theirs is the kind of story that gives hope to dreamers, and a sense of renewal to a man looking for something to renew some good will towards the human race.  So, listen to their music, buy their song, you will enjoy it.  And, when the time comes grab your tickets to see them in concert, and buy a tshirt, (I really like the pumpkin model) tell them I sent you.