Root Down in the Shadow

***these take forever to load, so click now, read down and come back for the videos*** Nine Inch Nails - 'Down In It' from Pretty Hate Machine Nine Inch Nails - 'Down In It' live from the "final" concert @ at the Wiltern Theater, 9.10.09 Back in high school, I loved being exposed to new music. I can't really say finding new music; because I was usually so far behind that I would get into most bands when they were putting out their 2nd album. There were bands I loved, but for the most part it seemed natural that I would like them. Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers were all new to me, but they were still all over MTV. The first band, which I really felt like I had found something awesome was Nine Inch Nails . You see, there was a classmate of mine Kevin S. He had his cool back pack with band logos sharpied onto it. But the thing was it wasn't to show off what he liked so he could to talk to you about them. Those were just ...

Back when I was in college, my mom and I didn't see eye to eye on music.  She was an Oldies turned Country fan.  I was a top 40 turned Alternative fan.  We had a little quid pro quo arrangement, whereas I could tell the difference between the famous Garth Brook s and the less than famous Radney Foster .  She in turn could tell me which fruit or vegetable I was listening to between, Smashing Pumpkins, Cranberries, Red Hot Chili Peppers , or Blind Melon ; she could even tell the difference between Reel Big Fish and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones !   If we road tripped we went back and forth between each other's c.d.'s.  However, we didn't necessarily like each other's music. For some reason my mother didn't trust that her young adult knew good music?  Ironically, when I was heavy into Eric Clapton' s Unplugged album, she just thought I was depressed as I listened to it over and over again.  I guess I did give her plenty of reason to doubt as I...

I will always remember the first time I met 80's Rocker Donnie Iris.  I was either in school, or recently out and I was doing concert security as a side gig.   It was a great way to listen to free music and build my growing criminal justice resume.   In this instance, I had the easy gig of watching the load-in/band parking area.  It was especially sweet as it was an awesome way to meet artists.  Lots of times, it is common to not know much about the artist who's performing the night you are to work, but in this case it was unmistakable once the musician arrived. You see, there are two things growing up in Pittsburgh you learn.  One: be proud of our own, and two: learn to laugh at yourself.   In this case, Pittsburghers love Donnie Iris.  Also, Pittsburghers are easy to make fun of because of their unique 'Yinzer' dialect.  To combine the two a local radio station included Donnie Iris in a morning show skit. The ‘DVE classic s...

Back in '96 I fell in love with a Ska band Reel Big Fish   I heard 'Everything Sucks' from a CMJ New Music Monthly CD, and bought Turn the Radio Off as soon as I could.  At the time, I had heard nothing like it.  I was introduced to Ska/Reggae in high school but the Mighty Mighty Bosstones were really all I knew, and were heavier and less sophomoric.   I had listened to a little Bob Marley but at the time, that seemed so far removed for me. The tracks were incredible.  For the album, I have every track rated with 5 stars in my iTunes.  It's excellent on the disc, it's excellent live, and the songs just get in your head.   One song for example, 'Nothin', it's simple, it's fast, it's repetitive, BAM it's done.   Lyrics for 'Nothin' by Reel Big Fish everytime i try so hard i get nothin' (nothin') they say try and you won't fail, i get nothin' (nothin') i did all that i could i got nothin' (nothin') i...

What a trip down memory lane!  Through the years, I've been writing down all the concerts I've attended with openers, venue, friends etc.  I'm only half way through this trip of digitizing the list, but so enjoyable to go through this list.  So many firsts... arena show, club show, jazz, Buffett, Electronica, all kinds of stuff.  I've seen quite a few bands, and quite a few of them have been repeats.  This makes it very hard to pinpoint a favorite.  Instead of detailing one awesome concert that I went to of the too many to count shows, In this case, I want to weave a quick story for you.  Sit back & enjoy! I've seen Moby four times now, and it has been an adventure each time.  The very first time, was during just my second festival.  The first time, I went to a festival was Lollapalooza '94.  It was with a group of friends and we pretty much stayed on the lawn the entire time sitting back and enjoying some awesome bands ( Geo...

Back in High School, once I left the realm of being a top 40 listener, I started filling out my music collection.  My mom had the Beatles ' 1962-1966' on vinyl, which I kindly adopted and have held for the next approximately 20 years.  I added ' 1967-1970'  on compact disc, and I was as relatively complete as I could afford.  I wasn't as much of an archivist at the time to realize I needed full albums to get such gems as 'I've Got A Feeling ', 'I've Just Seen A Face', or 'Glass Onion '. When I was old enough to hit the bars, I loved finding great songs in the jukebox.  Gooski's in Polish Hill, had my favorite collection with Ween 's The Mollusk and Chemical Brother's Dig Your Own Hole amongst their discs .  We normally found ourselves at a few bars in Pittsburgh's South Side, where Kopy's, and  Smokin' Joe's each had respectable collections as well. It was often in a semi lucid state at these locatio...

In preparation for this blog, I was trying to figure out who I went to Homecoming with my Junior & Senior years of High School, at good ol' Gateway Sr. High.  It's absolutely amazing to me, that I can't remember my dates, but I can remember vividly what music I was listening to at the time.  It could just mean I was a self centered a-hole, but since this is a music blog, we'll talk about that instead. On one of those occasions I partnered up with my great friend Bud.  Bud, had asked out the Lovely Laura, and I asked my good buddy Megan.  I ranged from friend, teammate, and sometime tormentor to Megan, but in this case she was my date to the dance.  Of course, Laura and Megan were also good friends, and were chatting it up in the back.   Bud and I realized we had realistically ZERO chance for anything else to happen that night (and my fuzzy memory tells me we were all going as friends anyway) so we did what we would do, without two beautiful young lad...

Tonight after I was writing with my cousin about music and received a post from an old pal about my back in the day musical influences, I've really become more aware, how much I've been the music friend, music cousin, music source of all kinds to many folks. In the next few days, I'll be posting some props to those of you who have contributed to my music world throughout the years... IF......you add a comment to this post about a music memory shared with me here on this post.    Anything is fair game.  A shared favorite song, a concert together... anything goes! Game On!  Enjoy

In '95 during my freshman year of college, back at IUP, I had a visit from a great childhood friend Jim.  He came to watch the Clarks play live, and to see what trouble we might get our selves into.  Before the show, we did what any self respecting concertgoer would do.  We hung out in my dorm room and listened to the Clarks.  This was the first time I had heard the Clarks in captivity.  I had heard them once or twice on the Pittsburgh classic rock radio station 'DVE 102.5, but I had no idea it was new or local.  Little did I know that most of the band had hailed years prior from the same University, and while I was in college would rise to new heights of popularity.  I can still to this day remember the first time I listened to 'Penny on the Floor'. I have lots of memories associated with music, but rarely do you remember hearing a song for the first time.  The only other such recollection I can muster at this time, was the first time hearing ...

Much to the chagrin of one of my all-time best friends Karl, my memories of 'Root Down' are not really from driving around with him, but instead younger bro Kenny in the maroon Dodge Shadow.  The Senkow experience was really a shared collective.  You were expected to live life to the fullest, and enjoy yourself along the way.  This was probably best shown by their dad who still did his best to do cheerleading exercises with their sibling, Kirsten, despite being at least twice her age. Karl and I shared a great love for the Beastie Boys, and "our" disc was the Root Down EP .   Check Your Head and Ill Communication were memories most associated with another all time great pal,"Bud", and ' Paul's Boutique ' were college memories with my old roomie Brandt, likewise '' Licensed To Ill ' is shared with the rest of the world.  But as any collective goes, it's the parts are interchangeable.  Karl went onto follow his love to Florida, ...