Rock and Roll Saved My Life

I really believe that. Ok, maybe not in a literal sense but I cannot imagine how I would have gotten through anything without music. My bedroom and living rooms are littered with issues of Paste, No Depression, Spin, and various music magazines as well as CityPaper and other local rags reporting on great local acts. Seeing bands live is way beyond a social event for me; it is my favorite pastime. At least once a month I can be found at one of this city’s great live venues such as Tin Angel, Northstar Bar, World Café, the Khyber, Circle Thrift, Mroom, and most recently Johnny Brendas.

So, I guess you can imagine how very excited I was when I heard that Rachael Yamagata is now officially a Philadelphian! She has a new album coming out that she is in the final stages of putting together. She is doing her residency at Johnny Brendas performing there for three consecutive Tuesday nights. Luckily I can walk to JB and have been able to see her first two shows (this picture was taken right outside of Johnny Brendas) where she was trying out new material as well as playing some of the tracks off her last album. She’s great. She is intelligent, funny, and she has the kind of hair I always wanted that just casually falls perfectly into place without doing a thing. Anywho, this is such a thrill for a music dork such as me to feel like the feedback that myself and her other 25 fans in Philadelphia are giving her is helping shape the new album. She has this one really good sad song about elephants or some bullshit that I know is going to hit my top 25 song list for the fall. The atmosphere there is cozy and comfortable (also hot) so I am actually getting to talk to her. Apparently she is not a lesbian at all. I guess I just assumed since there were a lot of lezzies at the show I went to a couple years ago. Not only that she was not using any clear masculine pronouns in her songs, plus she went to Vassar! Made sense to me... Maybe I was just hoping she was since she has the dreamiest drummer with tousled hair and bedroom eyes and I am a tad jealous…

She isn’t the only townie that I dig right now. Below are a couple of other bands I am into that are starting to get some much needed recognition that I suggest you check out:

http://www.drdogmusic.com/
http://papertrigger.com/

Please feel free to send any suggestions to broaden my musical horizons my way!