Glen Pillips, a Guitar and a Tape Recorder
I know that at least a couple of the folks that check this blog occasionally dig Toad the Wet Sprocket as much as I do, so at least they’ll find this of interest. The rest of you should keep reading and check out some of the links… you might find something you like.For about the last eight years we Toad fans have been trying to come to grips with the fact that our beloved band is no more. Thankfully their lead singer, Glen Phillips has continued to make music. His most recent album, Winter Pays for Summer, has some great tunes that come close to matching some of Toad’s best work.
Here’s the cool thing I’ve recently discovered. Glen is an artist who allows his live shows to be taped by fans and made legally available for free on the internet from a site called archive.org. As you might expect, the sound quality of these recordings is not always great, but this week I came across a performance from a solo acoustic show he played at a small venue in Washington, D. C., and the sound quality is pretty amazing. Glen played two sets, so there are 30 songs including some old Toad songs (like “Fly from Heaven,” “All I Want” and “Windmills”), some stuff off the new album (like “Gather” and “Don’t Need Anything”), and some nice covers (including a great cover of Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love”). There’s also some pretty cool unreleased material including a song about Jesus (“Warmth for the Many”) from an guy that I’ve heard identify himself as “one of those non-Christian fans of Jesus.”
Some of you who are of a conservative political persuasion or are offended by “colorful language” might find some things objectionable if you download the whole show. Others of you might find these same things endearing [yes, that means you Bill].
Hey Barry, it's James. I just wanted to let you know we all missed you the other day. Hopefully it won't be too terribly long before we get to see each other again. Plus, you have to meet my girlfriend. I can't believe how big Will (great singer) has gotten, and Pierson (sorry if I misspelled that, I've never seen it spelled out) is adorable. I suggested we invite you to the Cotton Bowl (Roll Tide!) but then I found out y'all were leaving that day. Well it is time for me to eat. Leftovers. Yum!!! Tell everyone I said "Hi!" Much love, James Lawrence. God bless. P.S. I got a job at a Gamestop. I'm quite pleased with myself.
Posted by
Anonymous |
8:40 PM
good stuff Barry.
I really dig bands that are allowing others to put their concerts out there -- it's a great experience to catch live stuff and stay connected that way (though it can take a long time to stay that connected with a band).
AND - it sure doesn't seem like you've got just tons of spare time lately! I have prayed for you and the dissertation. I hope that's coming well.
And, thanks for you and your son's support of the dulcimer! In a few weeks we can begin to email and chat about such things.
peace.
Posted by
s.o |
11:48 PM
Bill, that’s what I love about you, man. You’re an equal opportunity cynic with a penchant for the well-placed four letter word. ;-)
James, sorry I missed you guys the other day. Heard you cut your hair. Wow! Kim had nice things to say about your girlfriend and Will had a blast playing with you guys in my mom’s backyard.
s.o., I’ll look forward to email exchanges when things settle down a bit here (we’ve just returned to Chicago after a long two long days on the road and I’m back in the library for research in the a.m. – ugghh!). I’ll also look forward to checking out the new thoseawake.com
Posted by
Kim |
9:09 PM
Good, good stuff... It's good to be reminded of the beauty of simplicity in music, even though it brings a somewhat uncomfortable feeling of inadequacy as you remember all the times you had an acoustic guitar on your hands and what came out... But hey, I'll just celebrate Glen's talent and gift to touch people through music right now. Thanks for the phone call, it was good to talk to you again. I don't know if Glen knows there's a guy south of the Equator who will be listening to him on his ipod...
Posted by
Erlon Lemos |
7:29 PM
Erlon,
Great to talk to you too, my friend. When listening to Glen play I couldn't help but be reminded of sitting and listening to you play "Fly from Heaven" at Cafe Bliss way back when. Can't wait until the next time you're north of the equator again. You've gotta make that trip this summer!
Posted by
Kim |
8:05 PM
Yeah, Cafe Bliss brings back good memories. It's great to look back and smile when thinking of these things that happened a while back... By the way, I posted a new reflection on my Portuguese blog the other day, and to my suprise I saw some comments that were made by people I don't even know, and I thought: Wow, someone actually read this! That was neat, but I didn't see the comments you told me you wrote the other day, so I'm not sure what happened. Take care, my friend...
Posted by
Erlon Lemos |
1:34 PM