Josh Rouse, LA, Hmmm

Been busier than I could imagine the past week or so. Most of my time has been gobbled up in work, calls back East to check on my Mom and various other "life responsibilities".

On the activities front:

I caught Josh Rouse at the Swedish American Hall the other night. This man never ceases to amaze me. I still remember seeing him open for Son Volt back in 1997 and being thoroughly underwhelmed. Since the release of "Under Cold Blue Stars" a few years later, Mr. Rouse's career has really taken off. Once a somewhat dull performer and average songwriter, Rouse has matured into an absolutely outstanding stage presence and one of the premiere songwriters on the planet (I would say in the US, but he now resides in Spain). Although I appreciate his early work, I was glad to see him play songs mostly from his last two records, as well as material from his upcoming release. He absolutely captivated a sold-out crowd. The racuous response in this no-drinking, no-talking venue was mesmerizing. A beautiful performance.

Last weekend I took a little roadtrip to LA with my buddy Chris. Going in, I didn't expect much from LA; I've never really considered it to be "my kinda town". For a number of reasons, most notably the entrance of a new classic person into my life, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did I enjoy the new folks I met, but the LA "scene", was less of a scene and more of just a good time. I'm excited to return at the end of February and explore some more. Hopefully this exploration will bring me to McCabe's Guitar Shop, Amoeba and ummm, some other stuff that's escaping me.

It's been a good week.

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