and a few steps back

Today is a typical March day in Portland.  It's raining, not a downpour but rather a quiet drumming on my aluminum window shades.  The sky is grey, but not oppressively so.  And though the thermometer reads a balmy 52 degrees (considerably warmer than last week) I can still feel a slight chill in the air.  All in all it's a great day to listen to Adele with a nice mug of Lady Grey tea.

[Side note: how much do I love "One and Only?" I could listen to that song on repeat for days.]

Wagon Wheel

I love music.  I don't have an ear for it, I'm unable to tell if a song is off pitch or not, whether the beat or rhythm are correct, or if the tone or musicality are correct.  And I'm pretty tone deaf, when singing along with my favorite songs I do not sound good.  (This is why it is a good thing that I did not continue with choir.) I cannot fathom how it is possible to create music, how to compose it, how to comprehend how all of the layers of sound will work together and am very very impressed by people who have this ability.  And a little envious.  Or maybe a lot envious. 

My parents love music too.  There was always music playing at our house.  I realize that this is not unusual, that most people enjoy music and tend to share that love with their children, but I feel maybe my parents shared more than the average parents do.  We didn't have tv when I was growing up, so radio and music played a more important role than in some households.  (Well, music and reading.)  It seems there was always some new album that my parents were playing, and some concert that they were excited to go to.  From my parents I inherited not only my love of folk music, love of the Grateful Dead, the tendency to listen to one song over and over and over again, and the tendency to play "air" instruments.  Oh, and I love to dance to bluegrass.

Old Crow Medicine Show is a band that I learned of through my father.  He loves them. LOVES them.  I can't even count the times that I've come home to find him dancing around the living room pretending to be a member of the band.  The band is probably best described as an old time string band, though the labels of blue grass, Americana,  and alt-country could also be applied.  Whatever they are, they're wonderful.  We listened to them while making pies for Thanksgiving, and Mom and I couldn't resist dancing.  We are terrible dance partners, neither of us knows how to be the man.  

OCMS had a show here in Portland in November.  I bought my dad tickets for his birthday, so he came to town for three days.  The concert was amazing.  I love going to concerts.  I'm usually so excited to see live music that it doesn't matter who the band is.  But, seriously, go see OCMS.  This was the second show of theirs that I've been to, and I'd go to a hundred more.  They have a good time, they make sure the crowd has a good time, and they play forever.  Plus, they played my favorite song.  If I had to make a list of my top 10 songs in the entire world, this song would totally make it. 

Here it is!