I realize I don’t talk about it much on the blog, but I’ve played music for most of my life. I started learning band instruments when I was 7 years old and have done various school bands and orchestras. In college I moved over to more contemporary instruments and adopted the bass guitar as my […]
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As someone who grew up in the entertainment spectacle of the 80’s, endured the brooding alternative scene and ennui of the 90’s, and then dove into the new social media/influencer culture of our current day, I’ve started to have a strong distaste for a lack of authenticity. It’s not so much that authenticity hasn’t been […]
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I’ve played instruments for the majority of my life, and playing music has been an enriching and enjoyable way to express myself creatively. I grew up playing band and orchestra instruments (violin, alto horn, clarinet) but in high school and college moved over to guitar and bass guitar. Those have been my instruments of choice […]
Read moreI got into the early access of YouTube Music, and after a few days, I’m genuinely confused. When I first pulled up the interface, it looked very similar to Google Play Music, however with just a darker theme. Many of the buttons and graphics look the same, and that extend into even the fly-out menus. […]
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A week ago my wife and I got a message from our friend Mike. He had plans to take his wife downtown on Friday night and catch a show at the Dakota Jazz Club, and since the table he found, available, seated 4 people, he decided to surprise her by inviting us to show up. […]
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Many times when at the office I like to put on instrumental music while I work. Today I pulled out an old album from 2011 by my good friend Michael. His instrumental work is amazing, and the album I chose for today, Six By Six, is an amazing piece of work. It was the perfect […]
Read moreMany years ago, while traveling through Illinois, I was exposed to a Catholic Sunday mass that contained no music. This meant no hymns, or any instrumental accompaniment. Everything was spoken word, with a short chant here and there from the priest at various portions of the liturgy. I love the quiet reverence of a service […]
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This past week we’ve been up on the North Shore, and on Thursday we got the opportunity to partake in a truly unique experience. Minnesota artist Jeremy Messersmith is in town to play a show at Voyageur Brewing Company. However, before the show at the brewery he gave a free show out on Artist’s Point, […]
Read moreYesterday my wife happened across a video of Yo-Yo Ma with Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile. I love these types of collaborations and this one was put together brilliantly. It turned out that the video was from a recording session in 2011 for an album called the Goat Rodeo Sessions. Needless to day […]
Read moreIn college and high school I enjoyed a lot of alternative music, including some of the more popular punk bands. One of the bigger bands during my college, and post-college, years was Blink 182. They’ve had spotty recording since the 90s with band breakups (and reformations) and other tragedies, but just this year they came […]
Read moreAt work my desk is set up with my laptop off to the side, and my main screens and keyboards right in front of me. This means that using headphones at my desk can be somewhat difficult. I could use wired headphones, but I would need a very long cord. My desk also is equipped […]
Read moreThe news broke on Monday about the death of David Bowie. Much of my social media feed has turned into remembrances from people who grew up listening to Bowie. I was never that much into his music, which is to say I never bought any of his albums. However, I was familiar with most of his […]
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Second Runnings 