calming down

currently listening to: a good day by priscilla ahn

I originally thought this was going to be a ranting/venting blog entry. But Priscilla Ahn's new CD (auspiciously named "A Good Day") has put me in a slightly more amiable mood, so I think I'm going to let this one go.

I was just frustrated about something I heard today. I think I'm starting to realize what my issue is. Sometimes it feels like certain people focus on producing "right behavior" over internalizing truth that produces authentic action. I get frustrated when the emphasis becomes on doing what's apparently right and socially proper, rather than being genuine, transformed and authentically motivated to act on the truth.

I feel like when you begin to arbitrarily use other people's words and actions as a blanket litmus test for their spirituality rather than seeking them out and establishing relationships and trying to understand where people are coming from, you just invite people to be judgmental. And narrow-minded.

And we don't need any more help with that. We're bad enough as it is.

I realize I'm being vague. I 'm not trying to be divisive; I just start to get a bit annoyed when we take intimacy and authenticity out of the equation and try to replace that with pleasing people and doing the non-offensive, proper thing.

But that's just me.

Also, I disagreed with something that was said that I heard today. Essentially, what was said was that there is no poverty America and if you live in America and are poor, then it's basically your own fault, due to laziness or slothfulness.

I couldn't barely listen to the rest of what was being said, I was so incensed by this statement. First of all, this person did not define the parameters of poverty, only made a blanket statement, which perpetuates ignorance and propaganda.

A little known fact: out of all developed countries around the world, the United States actually has the highest rate of poverty. Of course, this refers to developed countries like in Western Europe or wealthy Middle Eastern nations, as opposed to places like Malawi in sub-Saharan Africa which are developing countries. There's a difference between poverty and extreme poverty. Extreme poverty refers to those who live on $1 a day or less. Of course, under these parameters, I realize that America does not suffer from extreme poverty.

However, those parameters were not defined. There is poverty in America, although not extreme poverty like we see in developing countries. What angered me was more of what was more of the apparent motivation behind what he was saying. He was not trying to educate us with accurate information about poverty in America. He was making a statement about the American dream, that if you try really hard, you can pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. And if you are in financial straits in America, then it's your own fault.

Tell that to kids in inner city L.A. who grow up amid gang violence, single-parent homes and drug culture. Tell that to people living in New Orleans, still recovering from losing everything in Hurricane Katrina while living in a city that still deals with the scars of institutionalized racism and injustice. The issues are so much more complex than this idealistic American dream propaganda that so many people just blithely spout out to make a point.

I wish the emphasis had been more of a call to serve and love people who are suffering, rather than polarizing the situation by making it an "us vs. them" situation. Yes, there are plenty of lazy people out there who manipulate the system and there are plenty of times where financial woes is self-inflicted in America.

But rather than judge and make divisive statements about how they are suffering the consequences of laziness, why not urge Christians to address these issues through love and service?

My main problem was that this was a politically-charged and polarizing statement to make a point, rather than actually address real issues.

Okay, I'm done.

Back to chilling and listening to Priscilla Ahn on a Sunday afternoon:)

sxsw

So it’s my second full day here at SXSW. I have been a negligent band member, failing to take any photos of our actual band endeavors. Sadly, all six of us have generally neglected to document in any form or fashion our first musical foray into Austin, Texas.

Summary: Last night, we played our Fanatic showcase at The Wave on Sixth Street. The stage proved a lot smaller than we were accustomed. Our set up reminded me of being on a public school bus, actually, with Tim and Greg in the front, me and Ryan downstage and Matt and Jeremy upstage. The location was great, right on Sixth Street with all of the foot traffic. Austin reminds me of New Orleans: Sixth Street is to Austin what Canal Street is to New Orleans, in my opinion.

We played a great show, although our quieter, intimate acoustic moments were a bit overwhelmed by the concert going on upstairs on the Wave Rooftop. Our Fanatic guys were there, cheering us on, so that was nice. I stayed afterward to watch Die! Die! Die!, a crazy, intense time with the lead singer jumping up on top of speakers and crashing into the audience. Entertaining for sure. My ears were ringing for a good 30 minutes after their set ended.

Today, we ate breakfast at the Cinnamon Bakery… I have discovered I really enjoy Seattle’s Best. It’s a welcome change from Starbucks, as much as I love my Starbucks blend.

We played a show at Sonny’s Vintage, a vintage clothing store on the north side of town. There were only about 4 people that turned out, sadly, but it’s always good to play, no matter what, I guess. I also splurged and bought a hat (one of my materialistic weaknesses) and some new sunglasses.

After the show and stop over at Pangaea’s to see Mumsey, I headed downtown with Greg and Matt to check out some shows. I finally got to eat some Tex Mex-ish food at Taco Shack, so I was a happy girl. Then I parted ways with my fellow OaKs to what I termed to be my “girly music,” a.k.a. Hotel Café, a primarily L.A. singer/songwriter show at The Parish. My main goal was to see Joshua Radin and Sara Bareilles, and also check out Rocco DeLuca and the Burden. I was kind of band-ed out by now and just wanted to hear some simple, songwriting and vocal artistry.

The Parish was by far the best venue I’ve been to yet in Austin. Spacious, but small enough to remain intimate, with an amazing sound system and good ambience. I weaseled my way to the front and saw the tail end of Greg Laswell. I can’t really say much about him, since I only saw half of a song, but I liked what I heard enough to want to try and track down some of his stuff later.

The next artist was Kate Havnevik, a European pop artist from Norway. I really wasn’t sure at first if I liked her… I am not really into the whole Euro-pop thing, and the first song seemed almost a bit Enya-ish. But her set had a lot of variety, she even pulled out a melodica at one point. I think this SXSW festival made me realize that I tend to be really critical of female singer/songwriters if they don’t exhibit this mix of classiness and down-to-earthness. I know that might be completely off since I should be judging them strictly by their music, but to me that’s part of what makes an artist an artist: you can’t bury your head in your art and expect everyone to get it. You have to engage your audience. Kate, as it turned out, was way more versatile than I originally thought. Whatever my dislike for her genre may be, she totally owned the stage. She also did some really cool Imogen Heap-ish things with her voice, and by the end of the set I decided that I liked her.

Next up was Jessie Baylin. I also had mixed feelings about her. She executed everything well and had a good soulful voice, but I don’t think she spoke to the audience once. That was my only beef with her. Overall, though she sang well and was entertaining.

Priscilla Ahn was the first artist of the evening that swept me off my feet. There were some technical problems getting her mike set up for some reason, but once she plucked that guitar and sang, I was sold. Greg made a comment that I totally agree with: she really uses her voice as an instrument…and not just a static conveyer of words and melody. She also played a harmonica/mouth organ thing, a ukulele and a kazoo…not many people can make a kazoo work. Her casual in-between-songs-banter was endearing too.

Next up was Joshua Radin, one of the reasons I came to the show in the first place. He played a few songs. I hoped he was going to play Winter or Star Mile, but the only older song he played was Closer. His new stuff sounded great, so I’m going to have to check that out too…
Blurry Joshua Radin.

Rocco DeLuca and the Burden up next. I have to admit, the first time I heard about this band was actually because of Kiefer Sutherland. I had heard that Kiefer started a label and Rocco DeLuca was his primary artist. I heard a few songs on myspace but hadn’t really gotten around to immersion yet. Tonight, it was simply Rocco on the dobro with another guy on percussion, and Rocco absolutely wailed on that thing. He has a really interesting voice… reminds me of Queen a bit, and the way he marries his voice with the dobro was freakishly good. I am now officially a Rocco DeLuca fan.
Rocco Deluca

Next was an atrocity. I won’t even go there. I felt like I needed a haz mat wash down after he sang. The only song of his was decent was the last song, although I’m not sure if it was because his last song, or if because it was actually decent. It definitely was catchy, I’ll give him that. Plus he brought out all his backstage friends to sing along, which is always a good time.

After the atrocity came Meiko, this tiny girl with introspection and talent aplenty. She was pretty funny, too, asking randomly for a shot of whiskey near the end of her set. My roommate Kyara actually told me to listen to her a few years ago, but being the Sagittarius that I am, I never really got around to it, and what I did hear was a half-hearted 30 second listen on myspace before I moved on. Meiko was right up there with Priscilla and Rocco in my book. Totally engaged the audience, memorable hooks, casual on-stage presence, beautiful melodies, amazing vocal control and range.
Blurry Meiko.

At this point, it’s getting close to midnight and I’m still waiting for Sara Bareilles to come on stage, so we’re all getting antsy. I had inched my way to the stage, so I was less than a foot away at this point. I’d also made some friends around me, since we’d all been standing together for well nigh on 5 hours. So when Cary Brothers came onstage, I was a little annoyed. Then he won me over, especially when Cary hopped on over to the piano and cranked out a song, Coldplay style. And then they did their closing song Blue Eyes, which I realized I had really dug from the Garden State Soundtrack, and I felt bad for being so hard on him in my mind. Many of the other Hotel Café artists came back onstage and sang together on that one, too.
Cary Brothers and his band:)

Ingrid Michaelson came on stage to do a few songs. Her first number was on a ukelele. Those seem really difficult to mike. It kept feedbacking at first. Well, anyway, she was amazing as well and my impatience for the headliner was once again put to shame.

By far one of the highlights of the evening was when Ingrid invited her friends, including Kate Havnevik and Jessie Baylin to come onstage and sing a round (ya know... like Row, Row, Row Your Boat) that she had written. It was absolutely gorgeous and I wish I had a recording of it. She also definitely seemed the most vocally trained out of any other singers that night.
Allie Moss, Kate Havnevik and Jessie Baylin singing around the piano with the bass player.

FINALLY… around 12:45 a.m. Sara came out on stage. She opened up with Bottle It Up, transitioning into the Vegas song. She also did Love Song (of course), some other song that I didn’t know the name of, Many the Miles and ended with Gravity, which is the main song I was hoping she’d do. Her band was great, but it was absolutely fabulous just to hear her sing Gravity on her own. I wish she had done more songs with just her on the piano.
Sara Bareilles!

So, yeah… I was basically in singer/songwriter heaven tonight.

Anyway, so it’s 3:30 a.m. and I should be going to sleep now. Just wanted to pass on this SXSW experience thus far with you lovely folk.

Tomorrow is a day party with a bunch of Orlando bands at Pangaea’s. Should be fun.

I’m out, my peeps.

Ciao and cheers,

Melissa