VINCE HERMAN (LEFTOVER SALMON, GREAT AMERICAN TAXI)
What will you remember most about 2009?
I will remember 2009 as the year my son Silas became a kick ass guitarist, and I started doing gigs with him. proud papa!
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Todd Snider filled my ears a lot this year great timely, funny tunes for a year with lots of weirdness.
I don’t have much showing up in itunes but my CD player has been busy with:
David Via All Night Long (Dig-O-Matic Records)
Punch Brothers Punch (Nonesuch)
Levon Helm Electric Dirt (Vanguard)
Speedy West Guitar Spectacular (Sundazed)
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
My favorite show of the year was the Traveling McCourys with the Lee Boys at Magnolia Fest. Rocking bluegrass-gospel-boogie. This combo was way overdue. Great combination of styles.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Elephant Revival is going to blow up this year. Great songwriting, singing and playing. Bonnie Paine is an absolutely unique washboard player and a heart wrenching singer. These guys should be in your ears.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
This will be the DJ decade. As we move to real instruments and songwriting in the next decade, we will wonder what we were thinking listening to laptops!
*****
CHRIS CRISCI (OLD CANES)
What will you remember most about 2009?
There’s so much to remember! We started the year out with tons of hope. Bush relinquished his evil grip on January 20th. On January 21st Obama was officially to blame for the recession brought about by 30 years of conservative economic policy. Then came the Summer Of Screams, “You Lie!”… the Birthers, The Deathers, The Tenthers, The Deniers yada yada yada… The year is winding up with Droopy the wolf in Dems clothing blocking any meaningful reform in the bloated health care industry.
Don’t get me started.
All theater aside, what I’ll be remembering from 2009 is watching my little boy grow up. He’s one now. He’s had his first words, first steps, first pretty much everything this year. It’s amazing that we all started out like that. Tiny, tottering, know nothings. It’s enviable.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
NPR was what I listened to most when I had time to listen to anything… which is rare. I listen to a ton of music, but most of the time it’s because I’m working on it. Either mixing, or tracking, or playing a show… my life is filled with music, it’s just never on iTunes. That said:
Albums I’ve been really into this year, even though I may have listened to them once: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Startdust (David Bowie), the first Van Pelt EP, Doolittle and Surfer Rosa (Pixies), The Stone Roses, 20009 (Drakkar Sauna), Bitte Orca (Dirty Projectors)
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
We played a show with Cursive in Denton TX just a few weeks ago. That was an amazing show. I’ve seen them many times over the years, but that night was the best I have ever seen them. From the start the crowd was into it, singing along, pumping fists during the hooks. The band was loud. The lights. The energy. We sold a ton of merch. It was a good night.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Definitely Drakkar Sauna. They have a new record out (previously mentioned) called 20009… which is not pronounced twenty thousand and nine… they prefer two thousand ousand nine. Lyrically the best band in the world ever.
There’s another band in Lawrence, that is unsigned at the moment, called Muscle Worship. They have kind of a Polvo, Braid, plus surf rock sound. Awesome live. I want to record them.
Someone else was telling me there’s a really cool little known underground band called Radiohead that gives away their albums for free. Good luck with that! Oh that’s right… we’re all giving our albums away for free now, aren’t we.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
I don’t know if artists have that much influence or longevity anymore. The wildfire spread of digital media piracy has made it impossible for labels to put time and money into nurturing artists. Now, if they don’t sell on their first and second outing, they’re thrown by the wayside. It’s a hype only world out there. That said, and in that context, the decade can be broken down. Early there was the Rapture, and The Strokes. Then there was The Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene. Then there was Devendra and Sufjan. Now it’s Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective.
I like a lot of those bands. And though was a lot of hype around all of them, hype isn’t necessarily a bad thing in terms of the music it surrounds… sometimes it is… but most of the time hype surrounds a band that has it’s own voice, and is doing something new… or perceived to be new… or not new, but done in a different way… There are a lot of bands out there though, the ones that I tend to like the most, that are not the right fit for the hype… but their music is amazing. Keep searching.
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