Why I Am

Tomorrow is arguably the greatest day of the year for me...wanna know why? I'll tell you. Tomorrow morning, at precisely 10:00, I will be sitting at my computer in my Elvis pajama pants, ordering tickets to see Dave Matthews Band on September 11th, 2010, in Dallas, Texas, at the Superpages.com Center. To most people, this seems unimportant...some anti-Dave individuals will probably even scoff at this. But to me...it's the reason I have 14 versions of "Two Step". It's the reason that last year, when I first saw Dave Matthews Band live, I knew what song they were going to play judging by the guitar Dave had in his hands. It's why I have so many memories linked to Dave Matthews Band songs. It's why my best friends and I shush the heck out of each other so we can hear Dave's tongue-roll in the scat section of the Live in Europe version of "Cornbread". Need I continue? When I'm 100 years old, if I even live that long, I will look back on my musical career and remember two artists that influenced me beyond any reckoning...The Beatles, and Dave Matthews Band. I was in the 8th grade when I first heard Dave, and when I first decided that I wanted to be a musician for the rest of my life. I heard and saw how aggressively and uniquely he played his guitar, and I knew that's how I wanted to play. So I did, and I still do. I'm not saying I'm anywhere near as good as Dave, but I try to be. Dave got me in to Berklee College of Music. Dave got me a violinist for the first band I created. Dave got me through high school.

I was gonna try to make a list of my favorite studio versions of Dave songs, my favorite live versions, my favorite Dave & Tim versions...but I can't do it. I really can't. I know this sounds really petty to most of you, but let me put it this way. When I'm depressed, I listen to "Stay or Leave". When I'm hacked off, I listen to "Don't Drink the Water" (specifically the Central Park version). When I'm ridiculously happy, I listen to "Seven". You get it? Dave has a song for every emotion, and most artists don't. I listen to a ton of music. If I'm not making music or listening to music, it's in my head. Every artist I listen to does something to me, does something for me, and I think that's why I love finding new artists...though I admit, I do get some satisfaction out of being the guy that people asked to make mixes for them, it's a nice feeling. But, I digress. No matter who I listen to, I always go back to Dave. And The Beatles, but they're half dead, so I can't write a blog about how pumped I am about seeing them. I know some of you will understand what I'm saying, even if you don't like Dave...most everyone has an artist that they can really relate to. So many people today listen to whatever is cool, or whatever they think makes them look cool, and they don't even know what's really out there. To quote a line from a great track off of DMB's album "Stand Up" entitled "Louisiana Bayou"..."It's a damn shame."

I can't really explain it all that well, I suppose. All I know is that I'm going to be a very happy 19 year old tomorrow morning at 10:00.


Get it, Dave.

An Avett Night

Tonight is an Avett Brothers type of night. If you've never listened to The Avett Brothers, I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend them, especially their newest album entitled "I and Love and You". It's one of those albums where every song on it is great and you never hit the skip button...which is becoming more and more rare in today's musical climate. Anyway, I was sitting here thinking about what wisdom I could impart on my blog tonight...because in all honesty, I didn't really have a plan for this post, I just felt like it was time for a new one. But I think I've thought of something at least relatively important to say...so, here we go.

In general, my current life...is pretty sucky. I mean, overall. Which happens, I know. I have never once expected my life to be totally great the whole time, and I am 100% aware and accepting of the fact that without life's struggles, the good things that happen to us wouldn't be good...they would just be things. I guess that's the point, in a way. And obviously there are good things in my life right now. I have great friends, a great family, a relatively enjoyable job, and a Taylor 714...which is a guitar, for those of you who weren't sure. But here's the problem.

I have no idea what I'm doing.

Two semesters ago, if you would've asked me if I would've been okay with living at home, I probably would've been tempted to use an expletive to express my utter contempt at the mere mention of such an act. I am tired of Canyon, and I am REALLY tired of Texas. I know that lots of you probably think that Texas is the greatest place on the planet...but if so, then this planet is really crappy. Anyway, I am totally rambling, but here's the gist of what I mean...I feel stuck. Utterly and hopelessly stuck. And it's fine for you to say that I'm not stuck, and I know that I'm not stuck, but that doesn't change the fact that I feeeeeeel like I'm stuck. You know what I mean? There's a pretty substantial difference in feeling and knowing. And it doesn't help that I have no money to go anywhere, and even though I'm getting a decent amount of hours, it would take me a long time to get enough money to go anywhere, let alone attend college. I should probably stop thinking about this before I freak myself out. I guess it's kinda lame for me to post this on the internet, but I guess that's also the point of having a blog. I mean...I'm not requiring you to read this, haha.

I wish I knew what I was doing. Or at least had something concrete to work towards. I mean, obviously I know my ultimate goal...but I wish I had some solid, something I can look at and say "I want that.", you know? And I don't. I'm not even close. Let me know if you have any suggestions. Goodnight.


The Avett Brothers