music music

good music is everywhere we turn these days. right here in madison, favorite bands from my "i've gotta see these guys live!" short list keep popping up to play wonderful shows.

the decemberists came to town last week. oh, man. i love this band.

they didn't play it, but mariner's revenge song is a long story song heavily laden with accordion and big vocabulary words. my kids canNOT get enough of this song, and it takes at least 3 consecutive listens to bother me. here it is, for your listening pleasure, set to someone's brilliantly crafted shadow puppets.


but they did play this sweet old classic about star crossed lovers,

and they did play this, one of my faves. and it only solidified its place in my heart when it was introduced by the lead singer as a song originally written as little tune to get his kid to eat food. he sang, to the chorus tune, "hank, eat your oatmeal." so, you know, universal parenting struggles unite us all. parenting struggles, and music.

then, two short days later, brett dennen came to madison to open for the avett brothers. i couldn't dream of a better combination. brett is a ucsc grad, and we fell in love with his songs back when we were banana slug-approximate. the avett brothers are brothers who often host their talented sister and father on stage, from south carolina, and play music that tugs at your soul. here's  the happiest song.

and here is the avett brothers song that reed damon predicted would be next, 5 seconds before they started playing it. it was eerie, and i have never been more impressed with reed.

though they didn't play this one, it always make me cry a bit. i mean, i dare you to stay dry eyed over "always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name."

wait! one more...