Life in Your Way/With Honor

okay, once there was a band, Life in Your Way. They were hardcore/post-hardcore/christian.

Todd Mackey played drums for this band.

Eventually, Todd moved on and became the lead singer for With Honor, a Punk/Hardcore band that was awesome.

Thing grew a bit heated and apparently Todd either left or quit or something, but was out as the the lead singer of With Honor, replaced by some scrawny screamo kid named Whitey.

Both guitarist/singers from Life in Your Way have also left their band, which brings us full circle because, yes, Todd Mackey is rejoining Life in Your Way as a guitarist/singer along with corey stroffolino from Risk Taken.

yea

The View From Here - R.I.P.?

So my good friends in The View From Here might be calling it quits

The group has posted a blog on their myspace page informing the people that guitarist and Nicolas Cage impostor, John Zanette, has left the band to move to Portland, Oregon with his wife. The band hasn't confirmed that this spells the end but knowing the guys and the fact that they've been together since at least 2002 (formed from the ashes of The Ukraine), i don't see them finding a new guitarist.

Justin, lead singer and vox, is the Director of Worship at Lookout Mountain Church and i know he's super busy, and Tahoe recently bought a new house with his wife that is a lot of work, see here.

Anyway, these guys have put in a ton of hard work in the recent years trying to make a name for themselves and they're just part of a recent run of semi-successful musicians to come out of Colorado Christian University (Meese, Brian Davis, Josh Dykstra, Flowers for Algernon, 519...), and John Zanette was no exception, i wish him luck in Oregon, he will be missed.

John's last show will be this Friday at the Garage in Arvada. Doors open at 6p.

Albums of the Year

I've had a pretty eventful 2007 with the birth of my daughter, buying a new house, minor heart surgery, multiple run-ins with family, trading away my truck and about one thousand other events not all bad. Luckily music is the greatest way to remember events and i wanted to share whats been basically my soundtrack since January.

These are the 10 albums that I've pretty much worn out in the last 6 months:

Haste the Day - Pressure the Hinges (Mar '07). This album is going to end up the best album of 2007. Everyone i run into from Tahoe, Alan, Drew, Capone and everyone else, i recommend this album to. It's amazing. Its a great blend of metal, hardcore and just plain rock, with choruses that are seriously addicting and great to sing along with. A few key tracks include White Collar, Needles, Minor Prophets, and Stitches.

Means - Sending You Strength (Mar '07). This album is the best unknown album in hardcore. I never knew Canadiens could rock so hard, well, beside Comeback Kid. This album is my go to album to just go crazy to with tracks like Sending You Strength, Connected, and Throw Open the Gates. Seriously, if you like hardcore check these guys out!

Anberlin - Cities (Feb '07). Anberlin's third full-length is great. These guys just keep getting better and their live show is the best. Aaron described these guys as "Sting singing for a punk rock band". I don't know about that, but either way you look at it this band is great to sing along with and this album packs a ton of energy. Some tracks to look for include Whisper and a Clamour, Dismantle Repair, *Fin, and Godspeed.

Matt Wertz - Everything in Between (Feb '07). I've already talked a ton about Matt Wertz and this album is awesome. I've been listening to it a lot lately and its right in line with his other two full-lengths. His music really reminds me of how John Mayer sounded before he got huge, ya know, just good simple song writing and fun catchy riffs. A few tracks to look for are 5:19, The Way I Feel, Carolina and Like the Last Time

The Almost - Southern Weather (Apr '07). This album is a little bit of a change a pace for me but i was really looking forward to checking it out. I love the singers voice (drummer for underOATH) and the music wasn't as heavy as i had expected. Its just good rock n roll and it has a few super catchy songs like Say This Sooner, Dirty and Left Out, Southern Weather and Amazing Because It Is.

Bayside - Walking Wounded (Feb '07)
Life In Your Way - Waking Giants (Mar '07)
Eric Clapton - The Road to Escondido (Nov '06)
John Mayer - Continuum(Sep '06)
Bebo Norman - Between the Dreaming and Coming True (Sep '06)

Edwin Owns!

So just as i had predicted, Edwin owned last night. He's the best singer/songwriter/story teller of this generation and yet, he still seems undiscovered.

The Soiled Dove Underground is a pretty nice venue, everyone is super close to the stage, the sound was good, and despite not having chairs for everyone who was general admission, Kass was still able to grab a seat.

The opening act was pretty weak, some dude named Jason Villegas or something. He had a great voice, pretty generic guitar riffs and weak lyrics. Everyone song was sung about "You", and most of the songs started off sounding like an Adam Sandler song with palm mutes and short, choppy words.

Anyway, it only made Edwin sound that much better. I'm not gonna spend a bunch of time telling you all of the details because, well, i feel like i already have told you so many good things about Edwin.

So here's a short recap. He brought his percussionist, Kenny Smith, and a lead guitar dude, plus Craig (horns) so we got to hear a few different songs that he usually doesn't play like See Off This Mountain and Go Be Young. I just love how Edwin tells the stories behind the songs, and its not long-winded, but usually humorous, he has really good timing and knows when the audience would rather hear some music rather than talk.

anyway, here's the songs he play, not in any order, my memory isn't that good:

Darwin's Children

Go Be Young

See Off This Mountain

Sign on the Door

Lost in America

Gramercy Park Hotel

Shooting Stars

Could Not Ask For More

I'll Be

One Thing Left To Do

Edwin McCain is Coming

So i'll say this from now until the show, but this is a Can't Miss Show!

Edwin is so good live, i'm not lying! The first time kassie and i saw him was at the Soiled Dove in Denver across the street from Coors Field. It's a tiny little club, and Edwin played acoustic with his buddy Craig who plays horns, keys, and anything else.

We also saw him play in Boulder last year, which was great.

I tell so many people about Edwin, and his music, and how his live performances are just great, yet, no one ever takes me up on going to the show. in fact, i don't know if anyone besides our buddy Jen have even listened to Edwin.

Anyway, the show is July 2nd at the Soiled Dove. If you're cool you'll be there. I don't know what else to say except that this will be my favorite show of the summer.

Rage Against the Machine

Apparently they're up to something, check out their website:

http://www.ratm82407.com/

Songs of my Life

So i decided to make a list of the songs that were the most impactful relating to that season of my life. Instead of going year by year, i went by school years ya know, like 04-05 to 05-06. anyway, this was a really fun list to make, thinking back to high school and even jr high and what i was listening to at the time. so here it is: The Songs of My Life

1. 6th Grade (1993-1994): Boyz II Men - Thank You. My first CD player, and my first CD
2. 7th Grade (94-95): Garth Brooks - If Tomorrow Never Comes. I played this in the jukebox at Round Table Pizza every time we went there
3. 8th Grade (95-96): Skankin' Pickle - Fakin Jamaican. A quick ska phase thanks to Lindsay Strannigan and Shep Sheppard
4. 9th Grade (96-97): MxPx - Chick Magnet. Guiltripp was formed and we covered this song, it was like the first song we learned
5. 10th Grade (97-98): Dropkick Murphys - Barroom Hero. My punk years begin with a sampler from Hellcat Records, and seeing the Murphys at Bo Jangles
6. 11th Grade (98-99): Straight Faced - Against. I loved these guys in High School, everyone had their band and mine was Straight Faced.
7. 12th Grade (99-00): AFI - Malleus Maleficarum. AFI was our favorite band as a group and went and saw them in SF, one of the greatest shows of my life.
8. Freshman College (00-01): John Mayer - Comfortable. At CCU i discover a new stye of music and love it. This song was close to me because my HS girlfriend and i finally broke up and this was the song i was listening to at the time.
9. Sophomore College/Engagement (01-02): Ky-mani Marley - Buffalo Soldier. Discovered this great track and it became the theme song for the Lasalle House and all of our YMCA basketball games.
10. 1st year of marriage (02-03): Edwin McCain - Anything Good About Me. Kassie introduces me to Edwin and I'm hooked!
11. 2nd year of marriage (03-04): Lumindee - Uh Oh. Kass and I go to Hawaii for our anniversary and this song played on the radio over and over. we still listen to it.
12. 3rd year of marriage (04-05): Black Eyed Peas - Shut Up. Kassie and I become obsessed with BEP and even get to see them with Gwen Stefani.
13. 4th year of marriage (05-06): Comeback Kid - Wake the Dead. So i listen to Killing the Dream's ep and realize i miss hardcore/punk. I get back into my roots and this song by Comeback Kid sealed the deal.
14. 5th year of marriage (06-07): Bebo Norman - I Will Lift My Eyes. I've always listened to Bebo and his latest cd is amazing. We got to see him play a few months back and its one of the few artists that kass and i both get overly excited to see. (the others would be BEP and Edwin McCain).

So there you go, what an interesting list, and it brings back so many great memories. i encourage people to make the same list, you could even post it in the comments section of this blog.