Embarrassing Celebrity Encounter: Eric Hutchinson

Tomorrow night, Laura and I are heading downtown to see Eric Hutchinson play at Lincoln Hall. Although I am extremely excited for this show, I am annoyed by a couple of things:

1.       It’s on a Monday night

2.       His new album just came out last week, giving me only a few days to listen to it on repeat and learn the songs

Despite those two minor problems, I’m pretty psyched. I’ve seen him a couple of times before, and he’s even better live than on his albums (on his records? On his digital recordings? How are we saying this now?). He’s a great musician, but also really funny and comfortable on stage, which makes him fun to watch. Some musicians have fun, outgoing personalities, and therefore can and should engage in banter in between songs. It’s fun, it gives you a glimpse of their personality, and it’s entertaining. However, some musicians just aren’t gifted in that way, but still try to be. We’ve all been to shows where the lead singer tries to make little jokes or tell stories in between songs, and they just… don’t work. It’s like, come on – God has gifted you with great musical talent. Unfortunately, He did not also make you funny, so just… stop trying. Oh, but they never do. They always have to tell an unfunny story about the time the band was in another city and something funny happened and ahhhhhh just play the next song already!

But Eric… Eric is funny and self-aware. That’s why we love him.                

So anyway, a couple of years ago, Laura and I went to his show with another friend. It was in some strange restaurant/bar/club, and on the way in, Eric was eating dinner outside on the patio. Like, right in front of us. And I kind of freaked out.  We were like, OMG he’s eating here! Like, where else would he eat? He’s playing a show there later that night and they serve food. But still, we got excited.

So, before the show started, we were all talking about how much we love him – especially his covers. Often at shows, he’ll do a cover of Remix to Ignition or How Will I Know or any number of Justin Timberlake hits. We’d seen video proof on youTube, but had never seen him perform How Will I Know live, and being huge Whitney Houston fans (or just huge fans of good covers, maybe), we started scheming. How would we get Eric to sing that song? Would we yell the song name out? We weren’t sure. Somehow, we came up with the brilliant idea to wait around after the show and try to meet him. And then, we’d pool our money and offer him a small cash bonus if he sang that song for us. (If, at this point in the story, our goal and means of reaching it actually make sense to you, then congratulations, you could be friends with us weirdos).

So, the whole show went by, and while it was great, there was not one Whitney Houston cover. So afterward, he announced that he’d be hanging out afterward to sign autographs and meet new best friends. So, we waited in a long line and finally got to meet him. Did we want to buy an album, or a t-shirt? Or take a picture or get an autograph? No, we wanted to offer this man $40 in cold hard cash to sing another artist’s song for us. Looking back, maybe, MAYBE this was a bit insulting, but at the time, we were so blinded by our desire to hear him sing that song that we didn’t even consider that. I mean, is that insulting? To think he’d get excited about $40? Personally, I would not find it insulting, but I am not a famous musician, so maybe I’m not the best judge of that?

Because he is so funny and down-to-earth on stage, I think we expected him to just laugh and be like, “you girls are hilarious! Let’s be friends and yes of COURSE I’ll sing that song for you right now.” But instead, he just kind of stared at us and looked down at our now-shaking hands holding out the sweaty wad of cash and seemed like he had no idea what to say to us. And also, he seemed really high (unless you’re reading this Eric (likely), and don’t do drugs and then sorry! I’m just kidding!).  But for real, he looked high and like he barely wanted to take pictures with his nervous, giggling, mostly lady fanbase – and certainly didn’t give off vibes that he wanted to be treated like a hooker for a few girls who wanted to hear him belt out Whitney’s greatest hits.

So there was a long, uncomfortable, awkward pause, where we weren’t sure whether to just put our cash back in our purses and run away, or hold out and see how much more uncomfortable we could make him.

Finally, he looked at a security guy next to him and whimpered “help me” in a hushed voice (I made that part up) and started singing (very softly and with very, very minimal enthusiasm), “How will I know, if he’s thinking of me? I try to ehhh but I’m too shy ehhh hehhh, falling in love, da da da da da…” and then just sort of trailed off.  Literally didn’t even sing half the words; we’d seen the youTube videos, Eric… we KNEW you knew the words!

And then he told us he didn’t want our money. And we said “thank you” politely and walked away (slightly embarrassed that he told us to keep our money, but also kind of glad we didn’t have to fork over $40), but not before a security guy asked us if we wanted a picture. Would we like to capture this awkward moment so we could remember it always? Sure, why not.

And that’s the story of how we met, scared, and ran away from Eric Hutchinson. But we didn’t run away forever – we’ll be back tomorrow! See you soon, Eric (and don’t you dare forget to sing some Whitney).

From Me to You: Spring 2012 Playlist

In college, my friends and I had a tradition of making each other mixes for every vacation--fall break, Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break, and summer. I still have every single mix my girls made for me, and I treasure them--listening to them not only takes me back to very specific moments in my life, it also draws me closer to each of them, because a Kristin mix sounds like Kristin, and a Liz mix sounds like Liz (and so on).

While we don't all make mixes for each other anymore, I have carried on this little tradition by making seasonal mixes to share with them and all the new friends I have made since. Spotify has made this infinitely easier (you can subscribe to this mix there!) and has also opened up the wonderful world of mix-making to so many more people. I love finding great new mixes, and listening to what other friends are enjoying.

So this is my mix for Spring 2012, with my "liner notes" detailing how each song found its way onto the mix. I really hope you enjoy it, and find something new to love!


"Festival," Milano

I have already written extensively about this song, but to reiterate: I love "Festival." It is a glorious, glorious song that makes me not only excited about the possibilities of music but excited about the reality of heaven! Is there more one could possibly ask of a song? Milano is playing at Beat Kitchen next Saturday, and you should really do your best to be there. 

"We Are Young" (feat. Janelle Monae), fun.

Last weekend I got to see fun. live at the Vic, and they were...wait for it...so fun. I am glad I am finally far enough from it that I don't have to keep describing the show to people because I am tired of having to apologize for all the unintentional "puns." Fun. seems to be the heir apparent to the anthemic-pop-rock title Freddie Mercury's death and David Bowie's "retirement" have left vacant.

"Lost Somewhere," Tanlines

It happens every year. All fall and winter I obsess over folky singer-songwriters and Americana bluegrass bands, only to trade them all for dancey pop as soon as the flowers start poking their little heads out of the unthawed ground. Tanlines is the PERFECT summer band (as their name would suggest). Case in point: can you listen to this song and NOT picture yourself poolside, sipping a pina colada and laughing while you playfully kick a beach ball back to the children splashing in the water?

"Watching You Watch Him," Eric Hutchinson

Oh Eric my Eric. The first time I saw him, at Schubas in 2005, there were about 30 people in the room. I stood about ten feet away from him. On Monday he is playing a sold-out show at Lincoln Hall, and his songs have been featured in movies, in commercials, at Target. Here is another example of a love I rediscover every spring.

"In Your Light," Gotye
After a quirky cover of their song "Somebody That I Used to Know" went viral, Gotye parlayed their buzz into a successful stint on SNL, and now they have the #1 album in the country. "Somebody" is a GREAT song, but it's also a bit of a downer...not what I was going for with my spring mix. Spring is about sunshine and smiles and new love, right? "In Your Light" proves that their big hit will just be the first of many.

MORE AFTER THE JUMP!

Hit Em Up (Coachella) Style

It's that time of year. The magnolias have bloomed, the sun gets to stay up a little longer past its bedtime, and I spend hours dreaming I could afford to take the time and money to spend my days grooving to live music at the biggest music festivals in the country: SXSW, Bonnaroo, Coachella.

While I cannot, alas, drop everything (work, and more importantly money) to fly to the second weekend of Coachella, I can at the very least partake of these festivals in my own small, secondhand ways. YouTube has been streaming many of the performances live so I can feel almost as much a part of the action as TUPAC (I mean, really?!?). But, perhaps even more fun, and certainly more complicit in my daydreaming, have been the fashion roundups chronicling the very best of festival style. Half the fun of anticipating an event, in my opinion, is planning what to wear. A music festival poses an interesting challenge for the style-conscious: comfort and breathability are of utmost importance, but individuality is also at a premium. Plus, it's a unique chance to break out that totally crazy thing you've never been able to wear before. White boys are wearing Native American headdresses, you can certainly wear that sparkly headband or neon shorts you've been wondering if you could pull off.

I am no music festival expert. I went to Lollapalooza once, for one day, two years ago. I did attend Creation Festival every year from 1998-2004, but I don't think those experiences necessarily translate. I can offer you no tips on what you should or should not wear, should you find yourself at such an event.

But as Coachella heads into its second and final weekend, I offer you some fun pictures of celebrities and mostly-normal people rocking some great style at Coachella's first weekend. Enjoy!

Grace Potter, frontwoman of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, is rocking the layers like a pro. Mostly, though, I just love her lipstick.

(LOTS MORE PICTURES AFTER THE JUMP!)

99 DAYS!!!

Today we hit DOUBLE DIGITS. That's right, folks...only 99 days remain until the best 3 weeks of our lives begin.

We've already been planning our Opening Ceremonies party for months, and boy is it going to be a good one. If you don't leave filled with the Olympic Spirit and overwhelmed by the amount of time we put into creating an extravaganza worthy of the occasion, we will have failed. Over the next 99 days we will be writing more about our favorite quadrennial athletic competition/global cultural event in preparation of this most glorious celebration of the human spirit.

July 27, 2012. Be prepared.

Introducing...Anais Mitchell!

Welcome to the first of what I hope will be a regular feature, "Introducing..." As many of you know, I am kind of obsessed with music, and sharing the music I love with others, so this is one more way for me to make my joy more complete.

I'm starting with Anais Mitchell for one simple reason. She is playing a show at SPACE in Evanston this Friday night, and I would love for anyone and everyone to attend this show. Mostly because I think it will be incredible, but also because I don't want to go alone, though I absolutely will if this post doesn't convince you to lay down a mere $12 for a ticket.

The first time I heard Anais' deceptively innocent rasp, I was driving through West Chester, PA with my brother. It was on a mix he had made for a road trip with his friend Max, and only a few lines into "Why We Build the Wall" I was hooked. Actually, now that I think about it, Greg Brown is the main singer on that song (it's from Hadestown, her rock opera based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and features many wonderful artists like Brown, Justin Vernon, Ani DiFranco, and others) but that was my first experience with her music. And I knew I had to hear more.

So I got myself a copy of Hadestown, which was at the time her most recent album, and pretty much wore it out. Pretty soon I knew it right and left and every way to Sunday. The album's highlights, for me, include: "Why We Build the Wall," "Flowers (Eurydice's Song)," "Wedding Song," "I Raise My Cup to Him."

The Trouble with Poets Is They See Poetry Everywhere

Earlier this week my friend Liz introduced me to book spine poetry and now I'm obsessed. The idea is simple--the poet simply stacks his or her books vertically so that the text on the spines form a poem. Share. Repeat. When I saw the blog post introducing the concept, I thought it seemed like an interesting idea, one I would theoretically like to try but probably wouldn't. For some reason poetry has always intimidated me, at least when it comes to approximating anything like it myself. My brother has always been the poet in the family (see his absolutely beautiful new poem "Expatriate" here) and I'm happy to let him have the title (that's how it works, right?). But lately the constraints of poetry that once constricted and frustrated this committed narrative nonfiction writer have drawn me to it. I may have found in book spine poetry the "gateway drug" I needed to push me toward the harder stuff.

My first, and proudest, attempt.

My very favorite thing about my apartment (and this is saying something, I really love my apartment) is the built-in bookshelf in my bedroom. It's more of a book WALL, as the shelves extend from the tops of the floor cabinets to the ceiling. I spend a lot of time staring at my books. On Tuesday night, with the challenge of book spine poetry set before me, I gave in to their call and give it a try. I did not expect to get as into it as I did. I started by pulling any books with titles that intrigued me (followed quickly by titles with verbs, these are more rare than I thought and necessary to a grammar freak) and for the next hour, I was climbing up and down the ladder (yes, my bookshelf requires a ladder, I'm basically Belle) trying to find just the right books to create the unexpected combination. Each poem took shape over dozens of drafts, as books swapped in and out, up and down, until I had three little book spine poems I felt happy with.