"How is it possible to miss a woman whom you kept at a distance, so that when she was gone you would not miss her?”
― Steve Martin, Shopgirl

blue sky and the devil.

…"Old worn out feelings
And yesterday's news
Just give me something
That I can use…"

Dreams came true this past week when Trampled by Turtles played their first show here in Nashville. And while yes, I am aware that this is rapidly approaching music blog status, I'm not sorry for telling you of their greatness.

Ah yes, ok, so the venue was small enough and the crowd included everything from oxfords to flannel...a solid showing for a bluegrass group from Duluth. They took the stage and I cannot express to you how perfectly happy I was from the moment they started playing. Their desolate ballads are hauntingly beautiful - you don't really know whether to sing along and smile or start to cry. Pretty early in their set they played one of my favorites, "Methodism in Middle America," and later they covered the Pixies' "Where is My Mind." Incredible. By the end of the night I was in such a euphoric state that I wanted to head to the country and never return…or quit my job and follow those five guys on the rest of their tour. Win-win if you ask me. We were all captivated by the whole scene, including Kenny, famous for knowing every rap since Tupac's day, fell in love with the bluegrass, and the lead singer, right then and there.

Oh man, I really can't say enough about these guys. I would love nothing more than to be their publicist and let's face it, I would probably already be a groupie (do those exist anymore?) if I didn't have a job and all that. Just trust me on this one: you want to hear this band. I even played a little "Wait So Long" for my 8th graders pre-fall break, and while they were skeptical at first -yelling out phrases such as "Who are these white guys?" and "We thought you liked Kanye!" - they ended up singing and clapping along.

So please, do yourself a big favor and (legally) download both "Duluth" and "Palomino" and give in to the bluegrass. You're welcome.

P.S. 903 just got a little more awesome…we now have a record player.

the Business.

Oh man. Saturday night I had a spiritual experience in the form of

J Roddy Walston and the Business.

True, I've sang their praises in blogs past, but had never seen them live and in all their gritty glory until this past weekend. The venue was small and the opener to the opener sang a song titled "Bitch, This Isn't L.A." - not my style by any means, if you can imagine, but comic relief if nothing else. We somehow survived the boys in skinny jeans and teen angst tunes just in time for my main squeeze to take the stage.

Initial thoughts...Wow, he has great hair. Like really great hair. We all know how important this feature is to me. J Roddy was also sporting Raybans and a wedding ring, the latter of which was a surprise but hey, he's a man of commitment, I can respect that... and be a tad jealous of his lady.

As soon as he started banging that piano with "I Don't Wanna Hear It" we all started singing and jumping like fools, and the great thing is no one cared! It was one of those shows where every one around me was singing along to every word just like I was, so I really didn't care how dopey I looked dancing around like a crack addict singing "I know you hate me baby but don't break the needle." They played all of my favorites, including "Brave Man's Death" where he basically made the piano his bitch in front of my very eyes. I might or might not have semi-yelled that very sentence amongst the madness. Maybe it was the boots I borrowed from Kenny. Nah, it was definitely J Roddy.

Ooh, and pre-J Roddy taking the stage I happened upon 1/3 of the Business, the bassist who was in plaid and also hiding out front whilst the opening band did their thing. We started talking about nonsense, he mumbled between drinks and it was pretty loud but I managed to make out "Great, what song do you wanna hear later?" to which I answered "Caroline" and the aforementioned "Brave Man's Death." They played both, and I was happy. And yes, he was a great kisser.

I'm working on katielovesjroddy.com now.

Until then, get their music and get ready to keep it on repeat.