josh ritter @ the wiltern 8.17.11

ps josh ritter is a brilliant musician, songwriter, and author originally from idaho. flashing gigantic grins at the audience his stage presence was spirited. i first discovered josh's overflowing beautiful voice and poetic lines on blip.fm. josh was coming to la so my friend and i took a journey out to see him live at the wiltern for a special evening. when we entered we were overly surprised to see that this show did not sell out. having seats in the mezzanine we were given the option to trade tickets in for floor standing at stage. however, we decided to go to the mezzanine and play musical seats. our decision was perfect because it felt as though we were at our own private concert. we marveled over josh's lyrics and stories he told through his music. if you get a chance to see ritter live, do it!

ps ps oh yes.. when you listen to "change of time" feel the goosbumps as i do.
ps ps ps i am the nerd who text a message on the stage screen between sets to my friend sitting beside me.. hehehe hi john (:

josh has recorded seven records (six studio albums and one live record) and five e.p.’s.
josh ritter (self titled) (2000)
golden age of radio (2001)
come and find me e.p. (2003)
hello starling (2003)
4 songs live e.p. (2005)
the animal years (2006)
girl in the war e.p. (2006)
good man e.p. (2006)
in the dark: live at vicar street (2006)
the historical conquests of josh ritter (2007)
live at the record exchange e.p. (2008)
so runs the world away (2010)

follow josh ritter:
http://www.myspace.com/joshritter
http://twitter.com/#!/joshritter
http://joshritter.com/
http://www.facebook.com/joshrittermusic?sk=wall

listen to josh ritter with me: http://blip.fm/CreepingElm

shhh... listen

old 97s @ the wiltern 8.17.11

ps old 97s are an alt-country, gritty garage rock band originally based in dallas, texas that have been around for 18 years. the members include rhett miller {singer/guitarist, murry hammond {singer/bassist}, ken bethea {lead guitar}, and philip peeples {drums/singing}. their name came from a song popularized by johnny cash, “wreck of the old ‘97.” old 97's introduced "the grand theatre vol. 2", their ninth studio album, on july 5th via new west records.

follow old 97s:
http://www.myspace.com/theold97s
http://www.facebook.com/old97s
http://www.twitter.com/old97s
http://www.Old97s.com

shhh...listen:

sufjan stevens @ the wiltern 10.24.10

ps sufjan stevens is an american multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter. he explained that his dramatic new material and stage show reflected “love and loss at the end of the world.” sufjan, with his 11 piece band, integrates indie-folk with electro-orchestral sounds making this one of the most creative artistic shows that i have attended. they performed behind a screen of netting which created a hazy and surrealist visual effect. a highlight from this magical evening was as 25 min. piece, "impossible soul." what a masterpiece. the crowd was swept away by such artful visuals meshing music, art, theatre and fantasy.
thank you sufjan for being a creator and never stop making magic!

follow sufjan stevens:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sufjan-Stevens/103136203060154?sk=wall
http://www.asthmatickitty.com/musicians.php?artistID=5
http://twitter.com/#!/sufjanstevens
http://www.myspace.com/sufjanstevens

let's listen to sufjan together: http://blip.fm/CreepingElm

hear this:

the decemberists @ the wiltern 2.12.11

ps the decemberists are a folk rock band made up of colin meloy, chris funk, jenny conlee, nate query, and john moen. on board for their tour is nickel creek's sara watkins (described by meloy as a sixth decemberists), providing fiddle lines and support on guitar and drums.
they opened their show with a tribute to la, "los angeles i'm yours", from their album her majesty at the wiltern theater on 2.12.11. thank you colin for greeting all of us that were seated at the top of the mezzanine. i loved that he asked the audience to make noises as if we were being swallowed by a whale preparing us for participation during "the mariner's revenge song", an over-the-top sea tale from 2005's picaresque.
the concert ended with "june hymn" from the king is dead, their most recent album released on 1.17.11
a big thank you for a lovely show that i will remember for a lifetime! and colin your quirkiness is adorable. btw, la will be waiting for your return, even if you have to swim under water to sing to us.
ps ps if you haven't seen them live get out there and find tickets!

follow the decemberists:
http://www.facebook.com/thedecemberists
http://twitter.com/thedecemberists
http://www.myspace.com/thedecemberists
http://decemberists.com/

listen to me play the decemberists http://blip.fm/CreepingElm