Things I'm Thankful for and Summer 2009 Shows Currently on Sale!

The following is a list of things that I was/am thankful for in 2008 (in no particular order)

1) An extended Wilco spring/summer tour

2) My continuously rewarding position as Wolf Trap's Public Relations Manager

3) My awe-inspiring colleagues in the Communications and Marketing department

4) Having the opportunity to blog for all of you

5) Musical introductions to Joshua James, The Everybodyfields, Delta Spirit, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Cut Copy, Rocky Votolato, The Walkmen, Bon Iver, and Fleet Foxes

6) Squeezable Mayo containers

7) Paste Magazine

8) Red Sox baseball

9) My family (immediate and extended)

10) My residency in the young, vibrant, foward-thinking community of Northern Virginia

11) Tim O'Brien and Bill Frisell at The Barns in the Spring

12) My golfing buddies

13) Bad poker players

14) RSS feeds

15) All Songs Considered

Lastly, if you aren't already aware, we currently have 15 unique summer 2009 shows on-sale through http://www.wolftrap.org/, The Barns at Wolf Trap box office (open till 6pm on non performance days and 9pm on performance days,) or by phone at 1(877) Wolf Trap. Some of the best tickets in the house are still available, so call in, visit the web, or stop by The Barns to get your Christmas gifts early for friends and family. The list of shows is as follows:

A Prairie Home Companion w/Garrison Keilor - 5/22 @ 8pm and 5/23 @ 5:45pm, $22-$48

The Pirates of Penzance - 5/29 @ 8pm and 5/30 @ 8pm, $8-$48

Wolf Trap’s 20th Annual Louisiana Swamp Romp SM - 6/7 @ 2pm, $25 general admission

Celtic Woman - 6/8 @ 8pm, $25-$55

An Evening with Pink Martini - 6/9 @ 8pm, $40 in-house, $22 lawn

Rasta Thomas’ Bad Boys of Dance - 6/16 @ 8:30pm, $10-$38

RAIN—A Tribute to the Beatles - 6/19 @ 8pm and 6/20 @ 8pm, $40 in-house, $25 lawn

Riverdance - 6/26-6/28, $20-$70

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet - 7/7 @ 8:30pm, $10-$38

42nd Street - 7/17-7/19, $20-$70

An Evening with Gordon Lightfoot - 7/26 @ 8pm, $40 in-house, $22 lawn

Face of America: Glacier National Park Trey McIntyre Project - 8/19 @ 8pm, $10-$38

Peter, Paul & Mary - 8/22 @ 8pm, $40 in-house, $22 lawn

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Complete Film in HD! - 8/28 @ 7:30pm and 8/29 @7:30pm, $25-$55

Disney’s High School Musical - 9/1-9/6, $25-$80

Happy thanksgiving all...look for some new content next week!

Cheers,

Graham

Best Albums of 2008

I'm interested in reader opinions after receiving my copy of Paste's latest issue, detailing its editor's fairly offbeat, and uncharacteristically careless top 25 albums of the year. I could identify with close to 90% of 2007's best-of-list, but this year I'm just a little confused. Josh Jackson and company chose She & Him's Volume One as the #1 record of the year. Really? It's a solid sunshine 60's era pop record from guitar virtuoso M. Ward and actress/musician Zooey Deschanel, but I think this is a wildly irresponsible choice. Jackson's testament to his reasoning behind making this the magazine's #1 choice is basically just a biography of Ward and Deschanel, culminating in the statement "The 13 songs on Volume One are lovely throwbacks to blissful '60s pop, tastefully arranged and produced by the uber-talented Ward." That's it? I'm gonna need a little more convincing.

I am blown away by how Jackson and co. failed to include even one of the following albums...

-Radiohead, In Rainbows
-Dr. Dog, Fate
-Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Real Emotional Trash
-EmmyLou Harris, All I Intended to Be
-Coldplay, Death and All His Friends
-Aimee Mann, @#%&*! Smilers
-R.E.M., Accelerate
-Punch Brothers, Punch
-Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours

I'm not saying all should be on Paste's list, but how they ignored any of these in favor of My Morning Jacket's Evil Urges or The Raveonettes' Lust Lust Lust is a bit shocking. Oh well, I guess that's the beauty of subjective journalism!

What are your favorites of 2008?

If you have a few spare minutes, contribute to the All Songs Considered Poll. Results are announced on December 8.

-G

Exclusive Conversation and Music From Luke Brindley at Wolf Trap - Post # 2

Part 3



Part 4

Exclusive Conversation and Music From Luke Brindley at Wolf Trap - Post #1

As a follow up to my teaser last week, below are the first two parts of my interview with Luke Brindley at The Barns. I will post the final two sections tomorrow (which I think are the best) so please check back in with me in the PM for the remaining content. Special thanks goes out to Jerry Ferguson with Fairfax Public Access for filming, producing, and editing the interview, and to Bob Grimes with Wolf Trap for sound and lighting design.

Tickets are going quickly for Ari and Luke's performance this Thursday, so don't slack, get yours now! Myself and about 20 other Wolf Trap folks will be there, so be sure to stop by and say hello.

Cheers,

Graham

Part 1




Part 2

Duncan Sheik - Straddling the Fence Between Pop Stardom and Broadway Prestige

I remember listening to Duncan Sheik when I was a sophomore in high school (1996) and completely mistaking his single "Barely Breathing" for a new tune by Toad the Wet Sprocket. Even the most casual music fan should be familiar with Sheik and TTWS. If you turned on your local pop rock radio station in the mid to late 90s, you couldn't avoid hearing "Barely Breathing" or "Walk on the Ocean." Their sounds were pretty much indistinguishable, following a standard pop formula that led to hundreds of thousands in record sales for both.

12 years later, Duncan Sheik will perform at The Barns in front of a maximum of 382 people. He hasn't had a radio hit in close to a decade. He no longer sells close to a million copies of newly released records. But do not think for one second that his fall from commercial popularity is due to poor artistic expression. Where has Duncan Sheik been since 2000 you ask yourself? He has found success in another commercial marketplace. Broadway. Specifically, a wildly successful contemporary adaptation of the 19th century German play Spring Awakening. In collaboration with lyricist Steven Sater, Sheik helped transform the production into a lively modern day rock musical by way of his pop/alt-rock infused score. In addition to his mainstream pop catalogue, Sheik will perform selections from Spring Awakening during his show this Wednesday. A little half and half action :)

50 outstanding reviews, 2 Tony Awards and millions of dollars later, Sheik feels less burdened by the standard pop musician pressures. Gone are the days of struggling to write that next radio hit, or appeals to the mass consumers of modern day pop music. Not to say he won't write another "Barely Breathing" four years down the line, but for now he's happy straddling the fence between the two worlds. Check out this recent preview of Duncan Sheik's Barns performance in the Washington Post written by Michael O'Connell. Also, I implore you to browse this post written by music industry visionary Bob Lefsetz on his blog, The Lefsetz Letter.

Tickets are definitely still available so we hope to see you on Wednesday!

Graham

My Sit Down with Luke Brindley

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Luke Brindley, who carries along with him several associations; most notably as a nationally recognized musician/songwriter, and co-owner of Vienna based music club, Jammin' Java. Much to my delight, Luke agreed to sit down with me this morning at The Barns to film a 30 minute preview for his upcoming show w/Ari Hest on November 20. We engaged in a casual Q&A for about 15 minutes, touching on topics as diverse as, but not limited to, his inspiration for lyrical content, the sonic differences between Luke Brindley Band records and his newly released solo record, and his evolving strategies for future success.

After our chat he was kind enough to stick around and perform four songs. The piece was filmed by my friend Jerry Ferguson, expert photographer, producer, and editor who will air the film on Fairfax Public Access TV, available through a Verizon Fios subscription in several Northern Virginia Counties. Once Jerry finishes the editing process, I will post a series of lengthier clips on the blog, but for now, I thought it'd be fun to share a humble recording I took from my MPEG4 camera of Luke performing "Queen of my Heart", an unreleased song you can only hear through a select handful of bootleg recordings. Catch it here by opening the video posted below. I'll have the full interview up in a week, so check back in!