Spitball Army

This week I picked up the November issue of Uncut, the one touting Jack White as the “Man of the Decade” on its cover. That was intriguing enough. But what really grabbed my attention was their list of “THE 150 GREATEST ALBUMS OF THE 21ST CENTURY…SO FAR!”

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My mother, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina, sent me an envelope full of news clippings last week. Among them was The Post and Courier’s weekly trivia quiz. This one was all about The Beatles.

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On October 13, 2009, Lightning Rod Records will release Live in Europe, a document of Texan James McMurtry’s first European tour.

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Holy time capsule! Where did some of these artists go? Rees Shad? Gillman Deaville? (Who is Rees Shad, anyway?)

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The Sleepy Jackson, a band from “Down Under,” made a rare tour through the United States in the Spring of 2004 in support of their Lovers album. Their stop in this part of the country was at The Nick – the dirtiest club in Birmingham, Alabama.

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Besides other humans, dogs are probably the smartest animals that we come in contact with on a daily basis. I’ve known some dogs that are most definitely smarter than some humans I’ve known, but that’s another story. Dogs play with us, they keep us company, and they make us happy. It is no surprise, then, that after humans (in, for instance, love songs and murder ballads), the next most popular animal represented in song is man’s best friend.

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Here’s another video clip from Josh Ritter’s April 16th in-store at Laser’s Edge. This one doesn’t suffer from the shaky and unsure camera work that characterized “Wings.” This performance of “Bone of Song” features a nice, delicate little guitar break beginning around 1:50.

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Josh Ritter, not long after the release of 2003’s Hello Starling, performing a solo acoustic set at Laser’s Edge in Birmingham, Alabama. This video contains the last half of his song, “Wings,” in a very, very quiet – but far from empty – room.

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An in-store performance by Ben Kweller, at Laser’s Edge Compact Discs in Birmingham, Alabama, on 22 April 2004. Ben pauses mid-song to point out the Led Zeppelin boxed set sitting on the rack.

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This long sought-after single by Smiley Joe Omohundro was unearthed from a box of items that had been in my father’s house. I think.

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