Musical Discoveries

Today has just been the most amazing day. I didn't set out for it to be that way, I wasn't expecting it, nothing majorly special occurred. It just happened - which is probably why it was so exciting. I knew I had to finish cleaning the house today and hit the grocery store. I woke up at 10am, which is later than I wanted to, but it's the time my body wakes up when an alarm clock doesn't tell it otherwise. I keep waiting for that to change, but it hasn't. I decided to exercise first and get the blood flowing, that was probably the first good decision of the day. After that I sat with my coffee and wasted time on the computer. I shouldn't say 'wasted time', the computer catch-up with the outside world is really the modern day equivalent of sitting around reading the newspaper on a weekend morning. When I had my fill I set about to the task of cleaning.

Of course, I had to have a soundtrack to my labor and I chose Brendan Benson's "My Old Familiar Friend". That cd is definitely on my top 5 or 10 of the year, if I ever get around to writing that blog. I listened to it a total of 2 1/2 times, and that is only because upon dusting my computer keyboard I somehow hit a key that turned the mute on for my computer speakers. I couldn't have done that if I tried, and it took me a bit to figure out that's just what I did. Definitely the snafu of the day, considering I usually break something every time I clean, it was only a mild disturbance. This record took on a whole new meaning for me today. I'm not sure if I felt empowered by it, or because of my existing feeling of empowerment, it resonated with me stronger than ever before.

The cd starts out with these lyrics:

"Take a seat cause there's something I wanna say
Take it easy, don't take it the wrong way

I feel a whole lot better when you're not around
I feel a whole lot better when you're not around

In and out of love, in and out of love"

and ends with these:

"You won't have to borrow
and you won't have to beg
Not likely to follow
Not so easily led

And there's nothing really I can do
and there's nothing really I could say
you do what you want to do
you don't see it any other way, any other way
you don't care what other people say"

and runs the gamut in-between, all infused with infectious pop hooks. I love this cd. As i tweeted, I was having an epiphanous day.

After the cleaning was done, I decided to take a bath. The soundtrack to my bath was David Berkeley. I had first heard his music earlier in the week, when I received an email from the PSALM salon announcing upcoming shows. For some reason, I clicked on the link in the email and was happily surprised. I streamed the music from his myspace page and it was the perfect length for a meditation bath salts and nag champa soap bath. If I was feeling good before the bath, I was feeling amazing afterwards and knew I would go see the PSALM show tonight.

I always feel kind of uncomfortable going out solo, but I wasn't about to let that hold me back.
The musical discovery title of this blog is all about David Berkeley. As I found out tonight, the man's got quite the repertoire and the following. For many of his songs tonight, he took requests from the audience. The audience in this case, was about 50 people, so that's saying something!

PSALM bills itself as Philly's most intimate venue, which it is. It's in a house. The merch table is the kitchen table, along with free wine, food and drink, and homemade Chinese food for $5, which lots of people bought to go. I'll have to remember that for next time, I spent all my spare cash on merch.

I am so, so glad I went to this show tonight. The opener, Jessy Tomsko, is also a promising singer/songwriter. I felt right 'at home' in the venue and was treated to many more songs than I had previously listened to. David told a couple of serenade stories to go along with his songs. I was smiling ear to ear remembering my serenade in the bathtub this afternoon! My favorite song going in was "Fire Sign" and I was so glad when that was suggested by a member of the audience.

should have told me
seemed like an ordinary day
everything seemed to be okay

did it hurt you
these are the scars you never show.
she is a fire sign you know.
one day you're near and then you go

here is a photograph
what do you see
its nothing there but me
oh in the aftermath it hard to breathe
and harder to believe

they deceive you
there was a wall you had to find
the echoes in your mind

you'll surrender
these are the lessons that you learn
no body hears, no one's concerned
one days its clear and then you burn

here is a photograph
what do you see
sorry its just me
oh in the aftermath it hards to breathe
and harder to believe

even just a sound and all your cards are down
even just a sound
let me lie you down, don't have to make a sound
I would lie you down

It surrounds you
sometimes it's easy to believe
sometimes it hurts more then it seems

now it's over
these are the scars you never show
there was a warning sign, you know

one day your near and then you go
one day your near and then you go
one day your near and then you go