Omniblog

From now until May, the stuff I have tickets to just keeps growing.

Originally it was just my usual Leo Kottke concert at the Paramount in April, but in the past 2 weeks, it’s just exploded.

Let’s see.

• Wednesday, February 17 – Cirque du Soleil – Allegria (3rd time to see this particular show)
• Saturday, April 10 – Elton John – He’s always been on my “I’d love to see him if I ever got the chance.” list. Now, I get my chance. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, Feb. 20th. Next is Billy Joel, who Elton John is on tour with, but I keep forgetting to look up where the tour goes in Texas. This show is just Elton, no Billy, as far as I know.
• Friday, April 16 – Chelsea Handler – ’nuff said. I was hesitant to spend the cash on her first show, but when they announced a second show, on the same day, I figured it was a sign and bought pre-sale tickets thanks to a Facebook group I found. I scored seats in the middle.
• Friday, April 30 – Leo Kottke – The usual annual concert. I have missed a few, but I am not sure how much longer he is going to tour, so I have to catch him every year now.
• Tuesday, May 4 – Stomp – This will be my second time to see this show.

I have a feeling the list might grow. There’s a Celtic Woman concert in Houston/San Antonio May 1st and 2nd respectively. However, I saw them last year here in Austin, so I am going to probably hold off. Leo, Celtic Woman, and Stomp all in less than a week: Ye Gods that’s a lot.

There are very few, if any – I can’t remember, singers/groups in this world that I can listen to entire album(s) by that artist/group without skipping a single song.

Today, my friends, I have found one. I have been listening to 3 of her albums all day on shuffle and not once have I skipped a song. Damn, yes she is just that good, at least I think so.

Who do I have to thank for this? Two places: Pandora for introducing me to her and Amazon for having her albums in mp3 download format.

Who is this artist?

Charlotte Martin

Check her out. She even sings opera in one of her songs. It will blow you away.

I have 3 of her albums: On Your Shore, Stromata, and Veins

That list of albums will grow.

(You can thank ScribeFire that I mentioned last week for more blog posts from me. I am not sure if this is a blessing or a curse, for those of you that read. But it makes blogging a little easier when I think about something.)

No, I’m not talking about a warlock, I’m talking about Ozzy.

I got the live feed for BlizzCon 2009 for a few things, one of which was the Ozzy concert to close out the convention. I could not get an actual ticket to the event, so I figured I’d do the second best thing I could. (By the way, there’s a Blizzard employee band called “Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftans” that plays almost every BlizzCon. I heard them for the first time, and they were, interesting. They write songs about all things World of Warcraft, which is creative, but at times I think they are really stretching. I will say this: The lead guitar player is pretty awesome.)

I put up the High Def feed on my main computer in full screen mode, cranked the speakers, and rocked out while organizing my pictures on my laptop. For 60+, he’s still got it, folks.

Now, parts of it were a little “yea he’s old” but still, all in all it was not bad at all. Opened with “Bark at the Moon”, at one point he had a 7 year old (yes 7) guitar phenom come up and play with “Crazy Train” I believe.

Oh and of course, a lot of f bombs, but it’s Ozzy!

7/25/2009 – Tickets purchased in May – Tori Amos on her latest tour – haven’t seen her since 2001 because I keep missing when she swings through

As you can tell by those phrases, I am not a rabid, crazy Tori fan. Tori Amos fans are a different breed in general, There are those that are just nuts for her (nicknamed EWF – Ears with Feet – no clue what the hell this means), and then there are those, like myself, that understand and know she’s pretty much a musical genius, and enjoy listening to her music and her magical fingers on a piano.

Listening to her albums, getting to know her music, is nothing as compared to seeing her live.

Seeing her live – you are in for one hell of a fantastic show, and Saturday night was no exception. There was only one small issue with seeing her live this go round, last time I checked, when did people stand up during a Tori concert? When I saw her in 2001, no one did. Now, most of the center section did (I was in the center section). Is it the music, which I could understand, is it a change in fan base? I never figured it out, but I kinda went with it because, it’s a concert, stuff like this happens.

Then 3/4 of the way through the show, people starting walking from their seats to the aisles near the front. Never seen that before either at a Tori concert.

I could give a break down of each song, but I won’t because there are countless sites you can visit for that. My purpose is to just provide a brief overview of the concert.

One thing I will point out about the show: She did a freaking phenomenal cover of Don McLean’s “Vincent” and dedicated it to her brother who “never missed an Austin show”. It was awesome.

Click here for the set list for Saturday’s show.

I am but a simple man. I am also a passionate man in many ways, but I have one passion that I would like to expand on, and how I got to where I am now. (The others you can ask me about outside of this blog if you are interested)

Music

The Early Years – Piano
This passion I have carried since I was in early elementary school. And not just rock n’ roll, but all types of music. I started early on playing piano, as some do, but I did performances, competitions, and other various things with my music. I even played for one of the authors of a piano book I used to hone my skill. That, was stressful enough for me.

The Middle Years – Viola/Choir
“What the hell is a viola?” IMO – It’s a bigger, lower pitched violin which implies it doesn’t have the high E like a violin, and with a funny little symbol for the music (no treble or bass clef here). I did this primarily in middle school. I was apparently pretty good, or so I was told, but after middle school I quit playing. I have a small interest in picking up another stringed instrument. I’d like to learn the violin/fiddle. It was around this time that I learned I could sing. Granted my voice hadn’t changed yet, so I sang, ahem, alto. For that age, it’s kinda funny, but yet it made sense.

The Later Years and Now – Guitar and Singing
Finally, in 1994, I gave in. I finally decided I wanted to learn the guitar. With my piano background, and yes, I can still read sheet music, it came pretty easy knowing the notes, and what went where on a musical staff. The tones and stuff came too, but the chords. Oh fuck the chords and the pain. That’s the worst part of learning, the chords. My fingers hurt for weeks until I finally adjusted. Now, I could play for hours with no problems.

I took a few voice lessons in recent years and was told I do have the ability, which I do, but i lack the ability to do it on my own without some sort of backup vocals to help me find the right pitch and note. This is typical, from what I understand, and I just need to work on it.

My Influences

Piano – Nothing really directly influenced me to play piano other than I enjoyed it, well ok, maybe my parents, but nothing has influenced me to pick it back up other than a few people telling me I should. Although, Tori Amos makes a good argument for making me want to pick this up again.

Guitar – Only recently have I discovered my idol for guitar playing. This is where my passion lies. Watching this man do magical, and almost impossible sounding, things on an acoustic 6 and 12-string guitar is just amazing. My fingers don’t even move that fast. The name?

Leo Kottke

Look him up, buy his stuff, that dates back to 1969, see him in concert, I have seen him twice. But most importantly, just listen. It’ll blow your mind and entertain you. If you happen to get a copy of some of his live stuff, be prepared for a comedy show built into a music concert. He’s quite hilarious when you see him live with his stories and quips between songs. As one lady put it last time I saw him, April – 2009, “Did we come here to see a comedy show or a concert?” I didn’t have it in me to tell her “Ma’am, with Leo, you get both. It’s a 2-for-1 package deal.”

Who got me into Leo, you might ask? That is a random answer.

My Uncle Steve and Aunt Carolyn. (My mom’s brother and sister-in-law.) I am a guy, I was in my 20s at the time, and I am hard to shop for. For my birthday one year in mid-1990s, they gave me a copy of “Essential Leo Kottke”. I was hooked. And, only recently, did I go on an Amazon.com and Half.com hunt for the rest of his albums. Thanks Steve and Carolyn, although they will probably not read this, but if they do, I’ll be tickled if they leave me a comment.

Will I ever be able to play like Leo, probably not, but I’ll always love to hear him play.

So, if you have a chance to grab some songs by Leo, or if you happen to be able to hear him concert, go. For the love of music go. You won’t be disappointed. He’s not getting any younger either.

And, you’re welcome.