Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol. 15: Aoife O'Donovan

On this hot summer night, I bring you the cool, soothing voice of Aoife (sounds like "effie") O'Donovan. I heard her in New York at the Prairie Home Companion Show, and she was phenomenal. She also recently played on the Mountain Stage (hear the recording here).  She has been in the band Crooked Still for some time, but this is her first solo album. Sit back, drink something with clinking ice and beads of condensation dripping down the side of the glass, and have a great night.

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol 14. Josh Ritter... plus... Painting Through Prosek

To kick your weekend off, try out some of the great tunes from Josh Ritter. I had heard of him a couple years ago, but never really gave him a try until February. So good. oh, and after the music are some pics of the most recent James Prosek attempt. I've decided to give the project a name. 

Painting Through Prosek.

It will be slow going, but I'll get there. 

Only like 60+ more fish to go. 

And now, the Quebec Red Trout.

Prosek paints this deep lake trout with greens, blues, and grays along the back.

The pattern is different than a brookie, but there are many similarities.  

I feel enjoyed trying to get the belly right. 

 

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol 13. Vampire Weekend

Vampires are still relevant, right? Edward Cullen and stuff? Great.

For this Friday night, I want to share with you another set of songs I truly enjoy. Vampire Weekend is who? Let's ask Wikipedia..... 

Wikipedia?

Yes, David.

Who is Vampire Weekend?

"Vampire Weekend is an American indie rock band from New York City, that formed in 2006 and signed to XL Recordings. The band has four members: Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson, and Chris Baio. The band released its first album Vampire Weekend in 2008, which produced the singles "Mansard Roof", "A-Punk", "Oxford Comma" and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa". The band's most recent album, Contra, was released in 2010." 

Wow. That was easy. Now we are all up to speed.

When it comes to which album is better, I've heard great arguments for each. However, I think whichever one you hear first is the one you'll end up liking the most. This is also the case with the movies "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch." It just so happens I saw Lock Stock first and listened to Contra first, so these are the ones I like more.

"Horchata"

White Sky  - I love this song. It makes me smile :)

Taxi Cab - let's slow it down a bit

I Think Ur a Contra 

now go to bed kids. 

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol 12. Saturday Night Edition

That's right, I acknowledge that it is not Friday, but I just stumbled upon such an awesome video that I had to make an exception.

I give you "Three White Horses" by Andrew Bird.

Reasons I like this video/song:

1. Andrew Bird has a cool voice.
2. Andrew Brid can play the violin and sing at the same time. That takes coordination.
3. The change in tempo at 2:15 is nifty.
4. Andrew Bird has a nice scarf.

5. Bald bass player has a nice sweatshirt.

6. Guitarist has a nice plaid shirt like the one I got for Christmas.

7. I like songs that express melancholy in a fast-paced manner.

Happy New Year!

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol. 11: New Video Edition

Breaking the rules a bit for the Rest Easy, Friday Night post, but I hope you'll excuse me. Tonight, instead of group of songs from a selected artist you'll find just one video with one song. This is the video I put together from the recent trip to Harkers Island in search of False Albacore. How'd it go? Play the video and find out.

Have a great weekend!

"Harkers Island 101"

Harkers Island 101 from My Leaky Waders on Vimeo.

The folks who fish from the shore of Harkers Island, North Carolina are lovingly referred to as the "Sand People." Just like the Tusken Raiders from those movies that one guy (George Loomis or something?) made, little is known about the Sand People and their lifestyle. I present to you a short expose about the elusive fly fisherman and their obsessive quest to hook up with a False Albacore from the banks of Harkers Island. Was this trip a success? You'll just have to watch and see for yourself.

Filmed with my iphone and goproHD

Music by me.

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol 10: Flight of the Conchords

There are few words to describe the awesomeness of this band. All I can do is implore you to listen.  If you are strapped for time, just watch "Business Time." It is the best. I can't wait for you to listen. I'm so excited for you.

"Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros"

"Jenny"

"Issues (Think About It)"

"Business Time"

"Something for the Ladies"

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol 9. Mason Jennings

My life is like this table in front of me. Full of to-do lists, books, bills, clutter, a trout unlimited calendar.... Just have a lot on the plate right now. Is that bad? No. Not at all. It just means, I've had less time to interact with this blog and you all that happen to swing by from time to time. I also haven't been able to visit your pages and read the great content you've been putting out these last couple weeks.

I thought the least I could do until I finish editing down the latest fish footage (finish? I have to start first) is to give you another Friday evening with some good tunes. Enter Mason Jennings. 

He has a distinctive voice and thoughtful lyrics. Born in Hawaii. Started his music career in Minneapolis. Enjoy.

Two slow songs below. I'll warn you so you can skip them if that isn't your thing.

"Fighter Girl"

"Confidant"

"Be Here Now" **Favorite**

"Ballad for My One True Love" ** the slow one **

"Bitter Heart" ** the slow one **

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol 8: The Alabama Shakes

The Alabama Shakes consists of Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, and drummer Steve Johnson. 

Their hit song has me hooked since I heard it on NPR. Hearing it in passing, I actually though it was Jack White for a brief moment, but no, Brittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes rocks in her own unique way. The album is pretty solid, though, I've noticed some of the slowed down, acoustic, less produced versions on youtube tend to be more enjoyable.

No fishing planned for me this weekend. My hands are healing from some tight lined wounds. When my skin is split by a big fish, I have a stinging reminder for several days when I take notes, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, or reach to shake someone's hand. It is a nice reminder. It seems fitting too. I leave a scar on a fish lip. Why shouldn't get cut in return?

Tight lines lead to split fingers.

The hit single on the Alabama Shakes' album is "Hold On." It is a solid rock tune that you might just hear in one move my videos some day. If you are busy and can only listen to one more, go to the last one video.

"Boys and Girls" is a nice slow song. A bittersweet exploration about relationships that seem to run their course. On the bright side, she uses the term "fish." So that's good.

"Rise to the Sun" is has a line that really dose it for me. I think it is just her accent. "...where I belong, oh, where I was born..." It curls my lip and makes me feel like groovin'... You can picture me grooving, can't you?

"I Found You."   Just so good - "I've traveled a long way... but you know I've found you."

I hope you've made it this far. I will leave you with a slower song to cap off your night.

"You Ain't Alone" 

By the Alabama Shakes

Just listened to it again. I guess it isn't that slow :)

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol 7. The Tallest Man on Earth

If you like Bob Dylan, I predict you, at the very least, will enjoy "Kristian Matsson (born April 30, 1983) ... a singer-songwriter from Dalarna, Sweden" (thanks Wikipedia) who goes by the moniker "The Tallest Man on Earth." If you don't like Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dylan), I'd still recommend you give this guy a listen. I'm looking forward to his newest album which is set to come out this June. I'll have to convince my local public library to get it. 


Anyway, while you are tying flies tonight, reading about fly fishing, enjoying that end-of-the-week desert or drink of your choice, or planing up your next outdoor trip, listen to the words and sounds of The Tallest Man on Earth and be thankful for music and the outdoors. Two very awesome things. 

"The Garden"

"Kids on the Run"

Trout is all from Rolf Nylinder on Vimeo.

film&edit: Rolf Nylinder

http://frontsidefly.com

some leftovers shots from a trip to "övre vindelälven/ the upper Vindel River" 

the tune: "Love is all" by "the tallest man on earth"

And if you still want more, here is a Tiny Desk Concert from NPR. 

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol. 6: Vacation Edition

The Bay

Tomorrow morning,
Sara and I are heading for warmer waters.
Fly rod and box in tow
My mornings will be spent lurking the beach
Watching the water for shifting shadows
And tailing fish, a poker player with an obvious tell.

I've been a houseplant resting
By a poorly lit window
Trying my best to look green.
I've only been able to pull off
The pale shade of lima been.

Flies for The Trip.

Tomorrow, tomorrow
Soak up the sun
On borrowed time.
Drink the food
And eat the vine
For vacations last
Too short in time.

As I leave you all
To your own devices

I share with you 

Beautiful voices.

The tunes that fill my mind

As I walk through wards

And daydream of places 

blue and warm.

To start I want to show you
Something quite unique.
The Tune Yards are a band
You have to see.












Next is someone
I've enjoyed for several years.
Lisa Hannigan used to back up Damien Rice
But she's now out on her own for you to hear.

And lastly, is someone I found on

YouTube.

Zee Avi has an island feel

With an old school voice.

Enjoy.

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol 5: Sufjan Stevens

A friend made a CD for me of his favorite Sufjan (pronounced like the comment below:) Stevens songs and it hit me like a rock. He is pretty mellow, but the lyrics and melodies are spectacular. Now a lot of these songs have a similar sound, but I enjoy each of them. 

 I've got some plans to fish this weekend in western Virginia. Old Man Winter won't be stopping this guy. Fish or no fish, it should be fun and I hope to bring you some good photos and/or video. 

Until then, I give you Sufjan Stevens.

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol. 4: Neighborhood Edition.

It occurred to me that I grew up next to some very musically talented people. So, for this edition of Rest Easy, Friday Night, I thought I would share some music from my "neighbors."  I'm using neighbors loosely.  I went to high school with each of these people and we lived less than 5-10 miles apart.

First: Bret Rodysill of The Record Summer

Bret and I go back to little league baseball. He is a wonderful writer and has a sense of humor to rival Andy Samberg. I used to grab a mid-run glass of water from his house on those humid Minnesota summer days.

Second: Enter Jeramiah Nelson, also here, and here. A prolific troubadour who plays with many midwestern musicians including Brad Hoshaw (RE,FN: Vol 3). A year ahead of me in school, we took the bus home together in 5/6th grade. He was a bit of a rebel even then.

*note, "nothing to lose" was covered by Brad Hoshaw in the previous friday music post. That's right, the dots are connecting.

Lastly, we'll go with Nathan Miller and the Unstoppable Company. In all fairness, he is my brother's age, but we still overlapped in high school.

 

There is also Mark Noseworthy of Pink and Noseworthy who lived a mile or so away from us. He was in my brother's grade as well. Great guitarist. To be honest, I don't know his stuff as well. But the link is there if you are interested.

So ends the Neighborhood Edition of Rest Easy, Friday Night. That's a lot of music.

Rest Easy, Friday Night. Vol. 3

I first saw/heard Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Dead Lies at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Ne. We listened for about 45 minutes and I bought their self-titled CD. It is outstanding. Here is his newest project. It is the "rough draft" of his upcoming CD. He will put the sales money from this rough album towards a fully produced studio album.

A slower sound. A step away from the light hearted. Calming and refreshing.

He also dose a pretty decent version of a Ke-(money sign)-ha song.

__________________________

On a separate note, here is a paragraph from yesterday's Writer's Almanac, a daily email/radio short by Garrison Keillor on Minnesota Public Radio. The segments include a daily poem and noteable events in history that occurred on the day.

This blows my mind. It amazes me to think what this man has seen and heard.

"Today is the 98th birthday of Joseph Medicine Crow-High Bird, best known as Joseph Medicine Crow, who was born in 1913 into the Apsaalooke people -- the children of the large-beaked bird -- near Lodge Grass on the Crow reservation in southern Montana. Joseph Crow is the oldest living man of the Crow tribe and the last traditional Crow chief. As a writer, he has produced seminal works on Native American history and reservation life. But it is for Medicine Crow's writings on the victory of the Cheyenne and Lakota warriors led by Crazy Horse and Chief Gall over the U.S. Cavalry and George Armstrong Custer that he is best known.

Joseph was the first member of his tribe to attend college and was in the middle of graduate studies in anthropology when World War II began and he joined the Army as an infantry scout. He'd learned from his grandfather that a warrior must have the strength and intelligence to carry out four traditional military acts, a process called "counting-coup," in order to qualify as a chief, and Medicine Crow completed all four during the war. One highly prestigious act was to make physical contact with an enemy and escape unharmed, and on one occasion, he fought and grappled with a German soldier whose life he then spared when the man screamed out for his mother. On another, Medicine Crow led a war party to steal 50 Nazi SS horses from a German camp, singing a Crow song of honor as they rode away.
After the war, Medicine Crow returned to Montana where he was appointed his tribe's historian and anthropologist. He began writing academic works, collections of Crow stories and the Crow creation cycle, nonfiction books for children, and his memoirs, to mention just a few. Medicine Crow's step-grandfather had been a scout for George Armstrong Custer and an eyewitness to Custer's Last Stand along the Little Big Horn River, and as a boy Joseph had heard many stories of the battle; today, Medicine Crow is the last living person to have received direct oral testimony from a participant of Little Bighorn, which he has written about in Keep the Last Bullet for Yourself (The True Story of Custer's Last Stand) and other works.
Medicine Crow has been awarded the American Bronze Star as well as the French Legion of Honor. A White House press release naming Medicine Crow as a recipient of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom praised him for his "contributions to the preservation of the culture and history of the First Americans," saying that those achievements are only matched by "his importance as a role model to young Native Americans across the country." 10/27/11 Writer's Almanac

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol 2

Tonight I bring to you the musical equivalent of Peanut Butter and Jelly.  Both are strong independently and deserve their own spotlight, but when combined, it is a fusion creating an entire new entity.

I came across the album "Raising Sand" by Allison Kraus and Robert Plant a litter over a year ago.

The eerie qualities of Led Zeppelin's front man are evened out by Kraus' perfect pitch. Oh, sooooo good.

Let's start slow with a song that has one of my favorite lines.... "Leaves were falling, just like embers. In colors red and gold, they set us on fire..."

Next we will pick up the pace with a cover that just plain rocks. I must have listened to this song 30 times. when I checked out the CD form the library.

We'll finish it up with this softer whisper of a song. "Stick with me Baby." Think of it as desert. A smooth chocolate mousse or the creamy, slow-churned pumpkin ice cream I picked up at the store tonight.

Enjoy the weekend everyone. Hope you get outside. We've got rain planned everyday.

Rest Easy, Friday Night. Vol 1

I'm jumping on the band wagon. Friday night music. Several people (Lunker Hunt, River Damsel, and more)  out there have been spreading the musical love. What's one more?

Tonight, I bring you Regina Spektor. I discovered her one morning before work. A "new" music video on VH1 called "Fidelity."  That was probably her biggest hit, but she has put out so many good songs. Sara and I saw her live in Omaha at a small venue. She was spectacular. Enough words. Time for Regina.

Now that you've been introduced to her eccentricity, here is a cover of someone more familiar, John Lennon's "Real Love."

That song was a contender for our wedding song. I'll finish with one of her popular tunes. A beautiful song slower. If you want to finish on something more upbeat, look for "Fidelity". it won't disappoint.

Have a great weekend everyone. I'm hoping to tie a few shrimp this weekend. I'll get back to you with the results.