I’ve spent quite a bit of time in metal tubes over the years. More than most, but far less than some. This particular alumimum pipe is bringing me home from Chicago, one of my favorite cities. It’s been a good few days mixing work and play. One night our group ended up at Buddy Guy’s Legends club. It’s a touristy place, but a room that undoubtedly has hosted some smokin’ nights of the blues. A couple bands played while I was there, and while the musicianship was competent, the bands lacked the fire I’ve grown accustomed to. Actually, maybe I was lacking the fire. No, it was them.

I guess where I’m going with this is how music affects us. Why is it that some music makes us want to shake our ass or pump our fist, while having no effect whatsoever on a person standing right next to us? I once heard someone say music afffects us differently depending upon where we are in our life. Maybe that’s why Pink Floyd’s “Animals” is so soothing right now as it streams out of iTunes and into my unsettled mind. David Gilmour’s slashing guitar is calming me…. It’s ripping. Tearing it up. Settling…

Before this it was “I’ve Been Dying” by the Bottle Rockets. I remember the first time I heard this song. It was as yet unreleased when the band played it and other cuts from “Brand New Year” at the 1999 South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin. I think Jeff was there with me at the old Liberty Lunch. I remember being bummed when Brian Henneman announced they’d only be playing new songs. I wanted to hear the hits! It was 50 of the most intense minutes of music I’ve ever experienced and I didn’t know one song. Our bands were that way… the Killbillies… the Ex-Husbands… I never saw them do a bad show… At that time in my life, their chords rang through me like electric shock through a heart struggling to beat. I don’t know if I ever said thanks. Well, Animals is over. Time for some Ryan Adams “Rock n’ Roll” and more angst tonic…

OK, so I wrote that last night on the plane on short sleep. My apologies for the drama… Today my new Shure E2c Sound Isolating Earphones arrived from my friends at amazon.com. These things rock! In addition to outstanding sound quality, they come with these “wraps” of that memory foam earplug material that expands to block out most external noise. Great for my next tube trip…