My 1st Annual Dudes in the Woods Weekend

I attended my first-ever church-affiliated (or anything-affiliated) men's retreat this past weekend. My wife and I have been regular attendees of Christ Community Church in Franklin, TN for three years (members for the past two) and I realized a few months back that I didn't really know anyone at the church very well, save for the dozen or so couples in our small group and a handful of acquaintances.  I figured branching out and hitting up the Men's Retreat would be a great venue to meet up with some other guys in the church -- particularly older/mentor-ish types. I have great parents and parents-in-law, but I feel like, maybe, there's still a guy on this earth designed specifically to serve as my "mentor" in some shape or form. Someone who's been around, seen a few things. Someone I would admire to a 'T' and would respect. Someone approachable, who wouldn't intimidate me but also would just tell me things I want to hear. Someone who doesn't cost me $115 an hour.

I'm way digressing. All that to say, I didn't exactly find that person this past weekend. Who knows, maybe he was there and we just never talked; but nothing was set in stone, by any means. I found this past man-filled weekend an interesting socio-cultural experience. There was the expected time of worship, messages on men's feelings and small group breakout sessions. But what interested me - and shouldn't have come unexpectedly at all - was the free time and what guys did with it. I've never been to a women's retreat either, but I imagine, from what Emily tells me, that women's retreat consist of the same general plan: worship, messages on women's feelings and small group breakout sessions. Only, the small group breakout sessions turn into four-hour long pow-wows on any given subject (probably mostly sex...as much as women don't want to admit they talk about it, they totally do. And I would venture to say more so than guys!). These sessions usually consist of unofficial bathroom breaks, sweet-n-salty snacks, some sort of nail painting. Women spend their free time together. Talking. Crying. Trimming cuticles. 

When left to their own free time, men, as I witnessed this weekend, are a little different. Half of them stick their hands in their pockets, walk out of the building on their own and disappear into various entrances of the woods just to wander. Stare at a tree stump or a carcass. Explore. No talking, some thinking, lots of freedom. Some guys grab guns (real ones) and shoot clay pigeons. Others grab guns (paintball ones) and shoot each other. It's second grade recess all over again. I opted to spend time with a few of my buds, and although we talked about feelings a little, we mostly just drove around in the hick Kentucky town 15 minutes away and scratched off lottery tickets for fun (Disclaimer: Jeremy paid for them, I just scratched!) outside a BP Quik-E-Mart. Anyway, it's fascinating to me to see how guys are so similar to each other. How comfortable we are with being alone with our thoughts, but also how much value can be found in walking through life with brothers who all long for the same ultimate results in life: to be faithful and excellent husbands, loving and respectable fathers, loyal friends and, ultimately, men earnestly seeking the heart of God. 

Easy like a Saturday morning...

It's 7 a.m. The sky is blue, framed by a brilliant lace of the sun's fiery orange and red. It's beautiful outside, but at the moment, it's the right time for my "Rainy Day" mix on my iPod. Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You" is now playing through our Bose Soundock and was preceded by dreamy ballads by Keane, The Shore and someone else I can't remember anymore. Five feet from where I sit on the living room couch, Emily and Alex are on the floor playing in their fort, which is actually the cardboard box used to ship Alex's new car seat with holes cut out for windows and a blanket thrown over the top to cover the box's entrance. Alex finds this simultaneously hilarious and creepy at the same time. He's laughing, but he wants out. In an hour, we'll meet some friends for breakfast, but right now, it's so perfect not doing anything on a Saturday morning, for a change.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend Turns 1

Alex celebrated his first birthday yesterday. Actually, he didn't celebrate at all. He had no idea it was his birthday, which is fortunate because most of the evening, I was hovering over Nashville trying to land during a very stormy flight coming from Dallas. We managed to snap a couple pics of him stuffing cake and looking all festive when one half of his grandparents were in town a couple weeks back. And the pictures are what he'll really remember, not the lack of partying on the actual day of his birth. Ignorance is bliss, right?

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That: It's all in the game of sitting next to pop singers...

My buddy Zach and I went to a taping for CMT's Crossroads last night at The Factory in Franklin. Sara Evans was the country singer of note, but the obvious draw was that she was dueting with Maroon 5. Adam from M5 sang a couple of Sara's songs with Sara's band and then they switched things up and Sara sang a few M5 songs with M5. Lots of pretty people there.

Right before the show started, I noticed that the reserved seats next to ours were reserved for an M.Branch. I leaned over to Zach and said, "Dude, I guarantee you that's Michelle Branch." Sure enough, as the lights started coming down, Michelle walks in with her crony and they sit in those two seats. True story. Didn't really say much to her, but we did exchange pleasantries via acknowleding head nods. If we would have talked any further, I'm sure she would have told me to say hi to you.

I'm no Jack Kerouac, but...

...the past couple of weeks have definitely acquainted me with the open road throughout the U.S. Since starting the odyssey two weeks ago, my good friend/artist Matt Maher and I have traveled along both coasts, making stops at radio stations in Birmingham, Atlanta, Augusta, Johnson City TN, Charlotte, Columbia, Asheville, Jacksonville, Tampa, San Luis Obispo, Fresno, Sacramento, San Jose, Los Angeles and Riverside to  schmooze with radio folk and enlighten them a bit on Matt and a song he wrote called "Your Grace Is Enough" (yes, that song) in an attempt to get it some airplay. It's not easy to be away from Emily and Alex for week-long periods of time. Usually by Wednesday night, I'm aching to get home to them. But I really can't complain about having a job that allows - no, pays - me to travel and take people out to nice restaurants on the company's dime all over the country, giving me opportunities to see places I've always wanted to see, like the dinosaurs in Cabazon, California. If you're somewhere between the ages of 24 and 30, you probably remember these guys from 80s classics Wizard and/or Pee Wee's Big Adventure (and yes, Jimmy Wood's lunch box IS still inside, right where he left it. Unbelievable! Here's picture proof. Obviously, not the real deal, but it quenches my childhood fixation that certain aspects of movies did actually happen. Wow, am I digressing). ANYWAY, Matt and I had to drive a little out of the way en route to a lunch meeting to find them, but the reminiscing that came from that quick stop was totally worth it. Excuse the bare midriff...life-sized Brontos make me do crazy things, I guess.

Next up for Matt and me, a short jaunt down to Houston, Austin and Dallas and then a week in the Midwest (Minneapolis, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Columbus, Louisville and South 

Bend - the old stomping grounds!).

Writer's block

Sitting at my computer trying to write a feature on a rock 'n' roll band that's coming to Nashville soon. I've written four different story leads, only to delete them and return to the stark white Word document I started with 15 minutes earlier. Maybe if I type a little on my blog for no journalistic purpose, something deep within my being will spark an idea that will eventually set flame to a series of ideas that will all be brilliant and inspirational and go on to give this band the article it deserves. 

Nothing yet. Maybe I should take up painting instead...

Best Of 2007: Music

As I sit down to formulate my annual list of the best sounds of '07, it's hitting me that this wasn't my favorite year as far as music releases go. It started out promising early-on, with decent releases by The Shins, Fall Out Boy and Bloc Party, but nothing this year really blew me away. Not to say there wasn't some really good stuff that I came into contact with this year -- there was -- but it's becoming more and more evident that albums as a whole are losing ground for me. I want the instant gratification of a project's 1, 2, maybe 3 best singles and really don't want to wait to find out if the rest of the album will eventually grow on me or not. Blah, blah...I've said enough. Here are my top 10 favorite albums, followed by my top 25 favorite songs, of 2007:

1. FIELDS - EVERYTHING LAST WINTER (Atlantic)

The best blend of shoegaze rock and catchy indie-pop I've heard in awhile. I know two minutes ago I said nothing really blew me away in 2007, but the album -- from start to finish -- came very, very close. I heard the lead singer used to be an English teacher and the bass player never learned to play bass until he joined the band. Why don't I ever run into guys writing awesome music like this who are just looking for an average bass player??

Favorite tracks: "Charming The Flames", "You Brought This On Yourself", "Song For The Fields"

2. JIMMY EAT WORLD - CHASE THIS LIGHT (Universal)

I never expect to be let down by a JEW album -

 mostly because I've never been let down by a JEW album since I happened across the band's second release Clarity in 2000.  Chase This Light contains everything I love about Jimmy: equal mastery of rock-outs and ballads, instantly accessible melodies, loads of harmonies and at least one song about driving at night.

Favorite tracks: "Always Be", "Carry You"

3. INTERPOL - OUR LOVE TO ADMIRE (Capitol)

After the first listen, I was in love with this album's lead single, "The Heinrich Maneuver", but it wasn't until I saw the band perform live at the Ryman in September that I was completely sold on the album as a whole. I don't know what it was, but watching the Carlos D and Daniel waltzing around the stage in their capricious manner and soaking in Paul Banks' haunting baritone echo through the walls of that old building gave me a much greater appreciation for OLTA songs like "Pioneer to the Falls" and "The Scale".  Interesting fact: "The Pace is the Trick" is currently the most-played song of 2007 on my iTunes/iPod.

Favorite tracks: "The Pace Is The Trick", "The Heinrich Maneuver"

4. ROONEY - CALLING THE WORLD (Geffen)

It sounds like bragging, I know, but I couldn't write this without mentioning that I first heard this album in the summer 0f 2006 when when I was interviewing Rooney in the band's tour bus

 during a stop in Nashville for a show at Mercy Lounge and guitarist Taylor Locke and keyboardist Louie Stephens excitedly demoed the songs to me just days after they finished recording them. Even with the added pressure of needing to match their enthusiasm weighing heavily on me, I was instantly enraptured by their incredible knack for writing very fun and sunny surf-pop songs a la The Beach Boys that most music critics generally hate. I love it and I don't care what Pitchfork thinks!

Favorite tracks: "When Did Your Heart Go Missing?", "Don't Come Around Again"

5. UNTIL JUNE - S/T (Flicker)

There's probably a small conflict of interest with this choice, since this band's on the label with which I'm currently employed and all, but it's my blog and it doesn't matter. I love this album. It's West Coast, piano (mostly)-inspired pop-rock that unfairly gets lumped into the Switchfoot category because they're, in fact, West Coasterners. But there's something darker, more soundtrack-y and pensive to this album that should blow all comparisons to the 'Foot out of the water...in a perfect world. 

Favorite tracks: "All I Have", "What I've Done", "Unnoticed"

6. TRAVIS - THE BOY WITH NO NAME (Independiente) 

It wouldn't be a Matt Ingle-created Top 10 list without a Brit rock band thrown into the mix somewhere. This album barely received any positive press (or press whatsoever, for that matter - especially in the U.S.), but this album sounds like Travis to me...which is a very good thing...to me, at least.

Favorite tracks: "Closer", "Under The Moonlight"

7. RADIOHEAD - IN RAINBOWS (ATO) 

Speaking of Brit rock bands...I didn't think I would like this album at all when it first became available for download on Radiohead's website. I just assumed it would be a bunch of sloppy, ambient dirges that would bore me to tears. Instead it's a brilliant mix of their atmospheric, guitar-driven sound from The Bends and the moody electronica of Kid A. 

Favorite tracks: "Jigsaw Into Place", "Reckoner", "Bodysnatchers"

8. MAE - SINGULARITY (Capitol) 

I've come to the conclusion that I'll probably like everything this band ever puts out. I think a big part of that is the memories the band provokes from when I first started listening to them when Destination:Beautiful came out during my senior year of college. These guys are unabashedly writing heartstrings-tugging pop songs songs that they hope girls will like, but I guess they've attracted me in the process. Hope that's cool with them.

Favorite tracks: "Release Me", "On Top"

9. PATTY GRIFFIN - CHILDREN RUNNING THROUGH (ATO) 

Despite the fact that I live in Nashville and everyone and their mom in this city loves Patty Griffin, I had zero desire to listen to her stuff until I overheard this album playing in the background at a party I attended last summer. Interestingly enough, Patty's publicist sent me a copy of the album a month or so earlier and I had no intent of even taking it out of the seal, much less enjoying it. Nevertheless, I am now a big fan of PG and it's because of this album and the inspiring, wonderful world it sends me when I listen to all fortysomething minutes of it.

Favorite tracks: "Getting Ready", "Heavenly Day"

10. OFFICE - A NIGHT AT THE RITZ (New Line) 

Male/female harmonies galore; hooky pop sing-a-long melodies; loads of synth; nerdy beyond hope and able to deal with it and have fun in the process. Good times had by all!

Favorite tracks: "Company Calls", "The Big Bang Jump!"

Honorable mention: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club "Baby 81"; Keyshia Cole "Just Like You"; "Kings of Leon "Because Of The Times"; Band Of Horses "Cease To Begin"; Anberlin "Cities"

TOP 25 SONGS OF 2007 (in no particular order):

1. "Charming The Flames" - Fields

2. "On Call" - Kings of Leon

3. "No One's Gonna Love You" - Band Of Horses

4. "Closer" - Travis

5. "Weapon Of Choice" - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

6. "Release Me" - Mae

7. "In Transit" - Albert Hammond, Jr.

8. "Say This Sooner" - The Almost

9. "What I've Done" - Until June

10. "Something To Believe In" - Aqualung

11. "Calling On You" - Paulson

12. "Sweetie" - Josh Rouse

13. "Give Me Words To Speak" - Aaron Shust

14. "Songbird" - Willie Nelson

15. "When Did Your Heart Go Missing?" - Rooney

16. "The Night Starts Here" - Stars

17. "I'll Do Whatever You Want" - Memphis

18. "The Pace Is The Trick" - Interpol

19. "Higher" - Soft

20. "Lose It" - Cartel

21. "Battle" - Colbie Caillat

22. "Don't Stop Now" - Crowded House

23. "Whatever It Takes" - Lifehouse

24. "Always Be" - Jimmy Eat World

25. "Home" - Great Northern