"My Wife Thinks You're Dead", Junior Brown

The great Junior Brown.

My Wife Thinks You're Dead...

IBL:mm

Hypothetical Tacoma, Washington 7 in 7

Some of you may know that I sponsored an event in San Francisco from 2005 to 2011 (each July) called the 7 in 7 (www.7in7.org). The idea was fairly simple: 7 bars on 7 consecutive nights in 7 different San Francisco neighborhoods. Danielle and I have moved to Seattle now, but due to the hospitality of Bid Daddy, we were able to spend four months this year in Tacoma as we got ourselves squared away in the Pacific Northwest. And, as my mind does wander, I began to think about what a 7 in 7 Tacoma would look like. No, it will likely never happen (so why would you keep reading? Honestly, I have no idea), but could it kill a person to have a week long Tacoma specific drinking adventure tucked into a back pocket in case of emergency? I think not...


Sunday Morning, 7:00 - Knapp's: a brilliant breakfast menu, reasonably priced and huge portions. The bar is from another era, low-slung tables and chairs, comfortable half-booths.
Monday Evening, 5:30 - Bob's Java Jive: beer and wine only, but a huge space, and the damn building is shaped like a teapot. Outdoor seating available.
Tuesday Evening, 5:30 - Beach Tavern: friendly people and, as the name might indicate, down by the water. Lovely views.
Wednesday Evening, 5:30 - Crown Bar: Wednesday is Burger Night; a recreation of a pub in Belfast, drab on the outside but beautiful in. Also, the consistently best music I've heard in any bar in a long time.
Thursday Evening, 5:30 - Lucky Silver: Rainier in the can, Wild Turkey shots and, I believe, shuffleboard. All you need to know, really.
Friday Evening, 5:30 - Harbor Lights: tucked into a restaurant whose name escapes me, the entry to the bar is a tiny hallway with two steps going up that gives you the feeling you've come aboard a small boat. I actually MISSED the bar the first time and I was looking for it. Beyond nautically cute, one whole wall is a giant window facing the water.
Saturday Afternoon, 4:00 - Joeseppi's Italian Restaurant: Happy Hour in the lounge till six with the fabulous Andy. Have him make you a Martini or two and order up, oh, I don't know, two meatballs and one Italian sausage for a total of FOUR American dollars. Joe, the owner, will even come by and shake your hand; among others, he coached Ahmad Rashad and Ron Cey in high school football.

(Note the First - four months in Tacoma with somewhat limited funds did not allow for the comprehensive research that I prefer, so this list is fairly North/Northwest centric, as that's where we were located. But you'll have to trust me when I say it's a solid line-up.

Note the Second - Seattle 7 in 7? Let's just say it's crossed my mind...)


IBL:mm

"Grateful For Christmas", Hays Carll

The first time I heard Hays Carll was late 2009 or early 2010. The song - She Left Me For Jesus ("the last time we made love/she even called out his name"). I knew immediately Hays and I were going to get along just fine.

An excellent singer and songwriter (that you likely have never heard of), this one comes from his outstanding album KMAG YOYO (2011; I was able to see him live in San Francisco on this tour). Beautiful, sweet and sad...

"But the ladies from the church said they might stop by/I brought you this picture, aw Mama don't cry..."

Grateful For Christmas...

IBL:mm

"Merry Christmas From the Family", Robert Earl Keen

Because it's infection by light's favorite Christmas song, and for no other reason. Also, because it's who we are here at IBL, all the best to you and yours...

Merry Christmas From the Family

Peace,

IBL:mm

Apparently There's This Thing...

...where if you bring water to a boil and then add something to it (wheat noodles, say, or brown rice), the water, just like that, can't remember how to boil anymore, and you have to wait for it to boil again. To be fair, it seems to have some kind of Strasbergian sense memory thing working, in that it does happen much faster the second time, but still - once I boil some water I expect it to stay fucking boiled. I'm not running a charity here.

IBL:mm

"Wait So Long", Trampled By Turtles

So, as far as I'm concerned, this is as good a "new" song as I've heard in awhile (not that I know exactly what constitutes "new" - Wait So Long is certainly new to me (I'd heard it maybe a half a dozen times over the past four months, but then twice this week which lead me to investigate further), though it was released in April, 2010). It may not be representative of everything I'm listening to, but it's certainly part of the pie. I can't help but think of the Pogues when I hear this, and clearly there is a familial relationship here to speed metal and/or punk. This MIGHT even fall under the classification of "cow punk", but I'm not sure how hard and fast the rules are there (or, to be honest, exactly what the rules are, if any). When Hank III talks about his mixture of country and speed metal he refers to it as "hellbilly" (his speed metal band is called Assjack, and I kind of wish I could tell you I was making that up). In any event, this is my first and only TB Turtles song, but I will be digging deeper.

Bonus Trivia - there is a sort of power pop/rock cover of this song you can peep on youtube by a band called Motion City Soundtrack. I know nothing about them but would appreciate any information anybody might have...

Wait So Long...


IBL:mm

"Lover's Cross" and "Operator", Jim Croce

When I did my 30 songs in 30 days in September, I knew I was likely to forget an artist here and there, so here we have two from Jim Croce. I was ten when his plane went down and it devastated me; I Got a Name was just going into massive airplay and I thought to myself, every time I heard it, "This guy CAN'T be dead, he has a brand new song on the radio." (The second guitarist here and four other people also died.) A lovely and emotionally honest voice to my mind. Mr. Croce would have turned only 69 in January, yet he's been gone nearly 40 years. Hardly seems possible...

Lover's Cross...

Operator...

IBL:mm