Just because you can sing a song or write a song does not give you the right to be haughty. To act like you’re something that you ain’t. And to get away from your raisin’. That ain’t gonna be done. It’s not gonna be done.

In Their Words: The Avett Brothers | Our State Magazine

Love this oral history of the Avetts from Michael Kruse. Looking forward to reading the full piece in Our State soon.  This is a quote from the brothers’ father.

Source: ourstate.com

This is so freaking incredible.  Something for all those Twitter users asking “who is Bonnie Bear??” after the Grammys…

From the description:

[A] truly unique Bon Iver performance, featuring Justin Vernon and Sean Carey. On recent tours fans will have become accustomed to seeing Vernon flanked by an eleven-piece band, with the swell in numbers lending a grandiose element to even his most delicate songs. Sidestepping expectations, the idea Vernon presented for this session was to provide a wildly different experience. […]

Vernon was joined only by Carey, with the pair positioning themselves opposite one another at two grand pianos. Although neither Justin nor Sean’s first instrument is piano, they were able to remodel the songs in a way that showcases their complimentary vocals and, perhaps more strikingly, a seemingly effortless ability to experiment with form and structure.

As such, fans are treated to jaw-dropping interpretations of several songs from both the new album and the ‘Blood Bank’ EP, as well as a cover of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me”. And interpretation is an apt word, as these songs are artfully abstracted from their original incarnations. Rather than layer the sound as on ‘Bon Iver, Bon Iver’, the focus is on paring back, in part evoking the minimalist approach of contemporary classical music, while remaining true enough to the source material to retain those elements characteristic of Bon Iver.

Bon Iver was awesome on SNL last night (video above).  But as I watched it this morning I couldn’t help but crack up trying to imagine the people for whom last night’s line up (Bon Iver with Channing “I was in that GI Joe movie that made you forget why you loved GI Joes as a kid” Tatum) would have been the perfect pair.

Well, thanks to Twitter search we have a few winners.  This is my favorite:

channing tatum AND bon iver on snl this week?! home run, lorne. every woman will be watching on saturday.

I didn’t pry into these Twitter users’ profiles, because that seemed creepy and because I didn’t want to be disappointed.  Here’s what I hope is there:

I enjoy male abs, horrible over-acting, Step Up 2: The Streets and emotionally vulnerable multi-instrumental indie pop.

Great live performance by Ryan Adams on KCRW.  Includes an interesting interview too.

Source: NPR

I got hooked on Kathleen Edwards thanks to this great post on Music vs. Misery.  Here’s the video for “Change the Sheets”, one of a bunch of great tunes on her new album.  She worked with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and you can hear some of those influences.

I’ll miss my friend, his sax, the force of nature his sound was, his glory, his foolishness, his accomplishments, his face, his hands, his humor, his skin, his noise, his confusion, his power, his peace. But his love and his story, the story that he gave me, that he whispered in my ear, that he allowed me to tell… and that he gave to you… is gonna carry on. I’m no mystic, but the undertow, the mystery and power of Clarence and my friendship leads me to believe we must have stood together in other, older times, along other rivers, in other cities, in other fields, doing our modest version of god’s work… work that’s still unfinished. So I won’t say goodbye to my brother, I’ll simply say, see you in the next life, further on up the road, where we will once again pick up that work, and get it done.

Big Man, thank you for your kindness, your strength, your dedication, your work, your story. Thanks for the miracle… and for letting a little white boy slip through the side door of the Temple of Soul.

- From Bruce Springsteen’s eulogy for Clarence Clemons.

I loaded up my 4th of July mix with some of the E Street Band’s greatests in the Big Man’s honor.

More than a year ago I posted a video of ukelele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro.  Here’s his TED 2010 performance: “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Amazing.

Wow, Stars is a completely different band unplugged.

Via NPR.

Lots of music posts lately.  Must be the weather.

Source: NPR

Cesar plays this once a day at work and it sticks in my head all afternoon.

Big brother’s band The Legendary Oaks live in the KEXP studio.  (That’s my brother on drums).

Music vs. Misery: 20 Albums I Couldn't Quit in 2010

There’s a lot of great music in this post.  Click through to find a song from each album.

musicvsmisery:

If I sat down to write precisely why all of these albums especially resonated with me this past year, I’d probably be here till 2012. So, to save myself some time, I’m just going to share a favourite track from each and let you go from there. Here’s to another great year of music!

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