Featured Music - Ray LaMontagne

So I kind of suck at blogging... mostly because I spend about 8 hours a day on a computer at work, and it's the last thing I feel like doing when I get home. But anywho...

In the second installment of Featured Music, we move from one bearded troubadour to another: Ladies and Gentlemen.... Ray LaMontagne. (lah-mon-tain)

LaMontagne took a rather unlikely journey to his musical career - he was already in his late 20s before he started playing music. At the time, he was a loner working in a shoe factory, who - as a result of a somewhat sketchy upbringing and a lot of moving around - had barely graduated highschool. But after being inspired by a Stephen Stills song on the radio, he picked up the guitar and started writing music. Now he has three albums out - Trouble, Till the Sun Turns Black and the newly released Gossip in the Grain. As a performer, introverts such as myself can relate well to LaMontagne. He is rather reclusive, almost painfully shy, and rarely gives interviews. He's admitted he sometimes has to force himself to leave his hotel room while on tour, and has been known to perform shows in the dark to separate himself from the crowd.

Ray's signature sound is his raspy voice - often drawing comparisons to Joe Cocker among others. Except LaMontagne manages to enunciate everything beautifully. He milks the emotion from every syllable, but without making it feel overdone. Musically, he's been compared to a host of people - Van Morrison, Tim Buckley, etc. For some reason he reminds me the most of Jim Croce. I'm not going to claim that everything he does is magic. Some of his songs make me go "Meh, that was ok." But some of them are pure gold. Here's the song that first caught my attention - from Trouble, this is "Jolene":


Ray gained a bit of popularity when a couple of American Idols covered songs off his first album - Taylor Hicks performed the title track "Trouble", and Kelly Clarkson performed "Shelter". I have to admit I discovered LaMontagne first and found out about that afterwards. But anyway, here's an old, rough, extended version of Ray singing "Trouble" followed by a great version of "Shelter":




I know I'm practically linking to his entire first album, but what the heck - here's the last track, a beautiful ballad called "All the Wild Horses":


And in case you think he can't rock out, here's a song from his second album, Till the Sun Turns Black. It's called "Three More Days":


And for the pacifist in all of us, this is "Within You":


I haven't had much of a chance to acquaint myself with his newest album, Gossip in the Grain, but here are a couple good ones - "You Are the Best Thing", and "Let it Be Me":




So there you go, Ray LaMontagne. Check him out.

The WBC

I'm sure everyone has been following the World Baseball Classic with rapt attention... Well, last Tuesday, I got a chance to check it out personally as Round 2 came through San Diego. Mom and I braved a very busy and drunk St. Patrick's day crowd down town for some dinner, then headed to Petco to watch Japan take on Korea...


















We had killer seats in row 17, just to the left of home plate.
The crowd was relatively small, but extremely loud and surprisingly coordinated - especially the Koreans. They were also very...interesting.










































Pitching for Japan was young phenom Yu Darvish - 22 years old with a consistent fastball @ 94mph, a good 2-seamer, a cutter, a wicked curve, and an unhittable slider coming in around 72mph. Crazy good. He had a rough first inning and gave up a few runs, but then he settled down and just cruised. Here's a clip of him striking out former Mariner Shin-Soo Choo.

Unfortunately, team Japan just couldn't get anything going. Here's Ichiro reaching on a fielder's choice... but that was about as good of a night as he would have.


And here's Akinora Iwamura striking out for the final out, as Korea won to advance to the finals in LA. The WBC definitely has some flaws - I'd love to see some format changes before next time around - but it was a sweet experience, and I'm glad I got to check it out.

Welcome Back, Junior

Of course this is old news now, but after weeks of speculation and conflicting reports, Ken Griffey Jr. has officially returned to the Mariners.

Last weekend, I caught up with life-long baseball fan Cohen Allen to get his reaction:

ME: "Hey Cohen, did you hear the news?"














COHEN: "What news? You're finally gonna change my diaper?"
ME: "No, your mom can do that. But the Mariners just signed Junior!"














COHEN: "Oh my gosh. OH MY GOSH! Are you serious?!?"
ME: "Yeah! It's a one year, 2 million deal. The press conference is on in a few minutes!"














COHEN: "I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!"

A FEW MINUTES LATER, WATCHING THE PRESS CONFERENCE...

ME: "What's the matter, Co? I thought this would be a happy moment!"














COHEN: "Oh it is. It is. It's just...so emotional.... I'm getting a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves..."

After the presser was over, and he had a chance to collect himself, Cohen summed up his thoughts on the signing...














COHEN: "Strictly from a baseball sense, I know this isn't the greatest signing, and likely has minimal impact on the team. Griffey is nowhere near the player he was when he left the M's, and doesn't really have that much left to contribute. However, contingent upon the Mariners utilizing him properly, it's not a bad move either. He should be platooned against leftys, and should definitely stay out of the outfield, but he can still rake against rightys, and thus has value as a DH. From an emotional standpoint, it's a slam dunk for all involved. If there were ever a year to bring Griffey back, this was it. While they do have a long-shot at contention this year in a weakend AL West, realistically, this is a building year while they wait for some bloated contracts to come off the books. I'm looking at you, Washburn. Anyway, new General Manager Jack Zduriencik has had a tremendous off-season so far, and even if you view this signing as a concession to nostalgia, it will buy him immense amounts of goodwill from the local writers and casual fanbase - potentially giving him greater leeway to further improve the team in 2010. For me, personally, I'm afraid Junior transcends all reason and logic. And seeing #24 in a Mariners uni again for the first time...It might be the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me in my whole life. Well, you know, other than being born a few months ago. But you catch my drift."

Yes we do, Cohen. Yes we do. I couldn't have said it better myself.

Spring training is in full swing, the season starts in about a month, and the Mariners organization has done a complete 180... For the first time in years, there's reason to be excited about the future of baseball in Seattle.

Old Ties, New Digs

So obviously I'm way behind at keeping up with this blog, and people in general... What can I say? I've been busy. The weekend after we got back from our snowy trip to Idaho, Jesse and Sarah came through San Diego and we got to spend some time with them. They were going to Mexico to do some cross-cultural training in preparation for joining Sacred Road ministries in Yakima, and we were able to have them stay with us on both ends of the trip. It was really awesome to see them - it had been a while and we had a really good visit. We just spent some time relaxing - walked around the beach at La Jolla, and had a BBQ over at Mom and Bill's with Grandma and Grandpa and Adam and Shonna. Good times.











































Then shortly after they left, we ended up moving to a new apartment. It's in the same complex we were already in - but it's a 2 bedroom! I know! We're moving up in the world. No more moving Cohen's playpen in and out of the living room twice a day - he has his own room! I absolutely hate moving, but we're pretty settled now and it's a very nice change.

So now it's just work that I'm pretty much swamped with... But I'm hoping things will calm down there soon and I can get back to being a better friend/family member/blogger. Although baseball is starting though, so we'll see... :)

In "Honor" of Tomorrow's Inauguration...

This, from America's finest "news" source.


p.s. I like using quotation "marks."


Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Have It All

Have It All - Ace Troubleshooter

Counting down, expecting latest, greatest

Newest model maybe, hope

Wishing, hoping, praying to outdo the Joneses

Heaven tomorrow

Heaven, my chance to have it all

Squalor, impulse, crowding, 'tis the season

Do the days turn just for these

Savior born in manger, please forgive us born in the inn

Heaven tomorrow

Heaven, skies open, pour out hope

See all my glimmering weakness

Here's my world, come on, will You come in

Brought to my knees

Child I'll play for you

Child enters in this world, it's broken

Angels sing and men sleep the night

Though it's brazen and defiant, please be born in my heart

Heaven tomorrow
Heaven, my chance to have it all

See all my glimmering weakness
Here's my world, come on, will You come in
Brought to my knees
Child I'll play for you

Featured Music - Iron & Wine

Ok, so here's the first installment of "Music That Jerry's Been Digging On Lately And That You Should Try Too"... For lack of a better method, I'll be featuring songs via YouTube, which means that several of them won't even be official videos, but just random user videos. So for the most part, ignore the visual, and concentrate on the audio. Though there will be a few that I feel enhance the music, so I'll be sure to point those out. Also, while I won't be posting any songs with questionable content, if you run across some by an artist I'm featuring, I can't be held liable.

With that out of the way, first up is Iron & Wine.

For the most part, Iron & Wine is the stage name for a bearded, soft-spoken Floridian named Sam Beam. He does tour and record with a band these days, but he'd been doing the solo gig under that name for long before that. Any self-respecting indie kid worth his tight jeans knows I&W well, but I just got turned on about a year ago, and I've been on a major kick as of late. His music (particularly his early work) is the lushest lo-fi you will ever hear. His voice is often a hushed wisper, layered with tight harmonies; and when combined with mellow guitars, lap steel, banjo, and other assorted instruments, it's the most relaxing musical experience ever.

Here are a few songs from his first album, "The Creek Drank the Cradle"

"Faded From The Winter"


"Lion's Mane"


This is just a beautiful song - one of my all-time favorites, "Upward Over The Mountain"


Another absolute favorite from this album is called "Muddy Hymnal" - but there wasn't a great quality video around to post. His second album, "Our Endless Numbered Days," was more of a studio effort, but still retained most of his lo-fi sound.

Here's the official video for "Naked As We Came" (This is a video I enjoy.)


"Free Until They Cut Me Down"


"Each Coming Night"


His latest album is called "The Shepherd's Dog." It's rather large departure from his previous work - utilizing electric guitars and a full band. I'd say it's my least favorite of the three, but it still has some good stuff.

"Pagan Angel And A Borrowed Car"


"Flightless Bird"


"Boy With A Coin" (Another great video.)


In addition to those three full length albums, I&W has put out numerous EPs and singles. Most notably, he covered "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service for the "Garden State" soundtrack. And pretty much every song on the 6 track "Woman King" EP is just excellent. Here's one of them,

"Jezebel"


So there you have it. You can find more on YouTube, the official site for Iron & Wine, or at Sub Pop Records. Check it out.