Rock 'n' Roll

So I popped into the Dakota Tavern on Tuesday for the last Weber Brothers show they'll be doing there for awhile. It rocked as usual and they did a nice little tribute to the great Levon Helm.

Levon Helm

Levon Helm's family just announced that he is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. We all need to join together in sending our good vibes out into the universe for Levon. He has not only been a huge influence on me personally but also on pretty much every band and musician I love. Levon wrote some of The Band's greatest songs including "The Weight" "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" "Cripple Creek" and "Ophelia". I cannot emphasize enough how much I love this man and his music and how sad this makes me. I am not sure I am mentally or emotionally prepared to live in a world without Levon and where Justin Bieber is still making music. I will likely name my first born son Levon (although through a quick google search I just found out that Elton John named his son after Levon Helm).

 

Dear Friends,
Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.

Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration... he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage...

We appreciate all the love and support and concern.
From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy 

Man choir

I didn't watch the Grammy's. I definitely can not sit through the several hours of ego parading, self- congratulating, and god- thanking "musician" acceptance speeches. But I did watch clips afterwards, so YAY to Adele, in my opinion the one of the only true artists at that level of fame. Also yay to Bon Iver and haha to all the ignorant masses who didn't know who he is and called him "Bonny Bear," really?! There were actually some good performances, although wtf to Niki Minaj, that girl is terrifying, what was that shit show? How can you call something a song when there is no melody?

Seeing the Beach Boys perform was super endearing. Brian Wilson looked confused about being on stage again but also really excited. The overall lead up to their performance with Maroon 5 and Foster the People was pretty cool. Mike Foster definitely didn't do his best vocal performance ever, which is too bad because he has a great falsetto, but I think he was affected by stage- fright because he had somewhat of a terrified expression on his face.

The Beach Boys in their hay day were a magnificent group and Brian Wilson is one of the greatest songwriters in pop music ever. Their harmonies are unreal, and have influenced our music to a degree, particularly in our song "I'm too young to have your baby, baby." I love love love female pop harmonies, but I reallllllyyy love man- harmonies. It is my not so secret dream to one day have a all-man backing choir, bearded and dressed in PLAID. yessssss! So in that spirit I thought I'd share a selection of my favourite Man- choirs (for lack of a better term).

Bon Iver manages to consistently create new and wonderful ways of performing this beautiful song. This example is so simple yet wonderful. When we went to Claire's parents oceanside cottage and recorded "Ballads from the Boudoir," after a long day of hard work, we would relax in the evenings listening to "For Emma, forever ago" light the fire, and sit in the rocking chairs reading. Just thinking about it now makes me feel sooo relaxed and cozy, siiigghh.

Speaking of a cabin on the sea, I love this video of Stan Rogers. Stan Rogers is one of the greatest Canadian songwriters and his rich baritone is swoon-worthy. Stan tragically died in a plane crash in 1983 at the age of 33. I love this video, because these guys look like they're just getting drunk and having a time! Sea shanty's are the freaking best! This maritime tradition inspired our song "Sailor," which also has probably my most favourite fiddle part that Claire has ever written.

Ahh The Band, my greatest love of all time. Levon Helm is an incredible songwriter who is still going strong. His album "Ramble at the Ryman" just won at the grammy's. His voice is just delectable, and personally I think he was quite the babe in his day. Here is a clip of "The night they drove old dixie down" from the masterpiece film "The Last Waltz" directed by Martin Scorsese.

And for good measure, here are the Beach Boys in their prime. Just listen to all those vocal layers, bom bom bom, oooo, help me Rhonda etc.