The Head and the Heart Music At Stubbs

I fell in love with The Head and the Heart two years ago at SXSW, charmed by their folksy tunes with melancholic undertones. They were humble and excited as they sang to a small crowd at Antones and I left there thinking I wanted to be as cool as the fiddle player when I grew up. Their album easily made my favorites list of 2011. This weekend they played two sold out shows at Stubbs and on Saturday night it was fun to see how far they have come. They are certainly more established and comfortable on stage, and artfully craft their songs so they are transformations of their album versions that we can all still sing along to. The crowd was enthusiastic, sang at the top of their lungs and gave extra cheers and whoops every time Charity sang. Clearly I'm not the only one obsessed with the coolness she exudes. 

Photo by Amanda

©accidental-music.com

Photo by Amanda

©accidental-music.com

Photo by Amanda

©accidental-music.com

Photo by Amanda

©accidental-music.com

Photo by Amanda

©accidental-music.com

Photo by Amanda

©accidental-music.com

Photo by Amanda

©accidental-music.com

A love letter to music

When I close my eyes and look back on the images of the music in my childhood, it is a slideshow of the covers of my fathers old vinyls. It is Sgt Pepper and his Lonely (but colorful) Hearts Club Band, Bob Dylan and his white boy hippie fro, Joe Cocker wailing, The Rolling Stones rocking. In middle school I would go through a serious classic rock phase, missing out on the pop trends of the time, including the whole Spice Girls revolution (I didn't miss much). Instead I listened to Simon & Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, and fell so deeply and madly in love with the Fab Four that three of my friends and I even took on the identities of each of them. I remember sitting in my father's car on a summer day with the top down and the wind blowing and saying, "You had the best music. I wish I had grown up when you did."

I would eventually shed my Beatles persona (I'll leave you to guess who I was) and while these bands that took up such a large part of my heart have never left my playlist rotation, I would soon discover that I live in a world that is as rich with incredible music as my fathers world was. I can't imagine my life now without Dave Matthews or each of the hundreds of concerts I have gone to that have changed my life in so many ways. For months I have been saturated in bands that will be descending upon Austin is less than a month to showcase their gifts. I have been pouring through bandcamps and facebook pages, carefully tracking each musician, taking notes, building playlists.

We are living in an an incredible time for music. Institutions like The Grammys may celebrate domestic violence and auto tune and it is easy to think we are descending into a scary music time of dubstep and amateurs who want to be famous and think, "Thank God there's an app for that!" But turn the dial past the top 40 and there is a world rich in talented musicians. Hell, even Top 40 is being slowly taken over by musicians like Adele and Foster The People!

We are living in a time when artists like Dawes, Blitzen Trapper, The Head and the Heart, and so many others are just beginning. The Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Foster the People and bands we don't even know that we will one day love, have many more melodies and poems to enrich our lives and I feel overwhelmingly lucky to be here for it.

I'm not sure my future daughter will ever spend a year answering only to Taylor Goldsmith, Mark Foster or Grace Potter, but who knows if one day we will be driving down the road and she will turn to me and say, " You had the best music. I wish I had grown up when you did."

The Head and the Heart Music Video

Still one of my favorite bands to come out of SXSW last year, here is a sweet video for their song, Down In The Valley. It's a video diary of sorts from their past year on tour. It's bands like this that make me so excited for the magic of SXSW 2012 and wondering who will find their way into my heart this year!

Accidental Playlist: Songs for Winter

This past week it was hard to imagine it is winter. The Austin sunshine blanketed me in warm sunshine and I wore my shorts and worked outside coffee shops while Cooper chased bugs at my feet. Even the Northeast was graced with unseasonably warm and sunny weather. Still, there is no question that the bareness of the trees and the cooler temperatures looming on the forecast are telling us that we are indeed in winter.

This week's Accidental Playlist features songs for this cold, snowy, quieter season. Artists featured include The Decemberists, Mumford and Sons, The Head and the Heart, Pretty Lights, The Avett Brothers and a number of others. Check it out on Spotify.

Favorite Albums of 2011

So much great music came into my life this year, including a number of kick ass albums! They are the albums that I have played on repeat in obsessive ways, or forced upon my loved ones, readers and strangers on the street screaming, “Seriously, you HAVE to be listening to this!”

To be clear, this is not a ‘best of’ list. I am in no way qualified to determine what has been better or worse than others. Bon Iver seriously doesn’t do it for me no matter how many times I have played his pre-pubescent voiced album, but apparently he’s fantastic. No, this is a list of my favorite albums. These are albums that in 2011 I fell deeply, madly, hopelessly in love with. Interestingly, the majority of my favorite albums are freshman albums. They are in no particular order. 

Torches: Foster The People

Torches has been a serious addiction this year. I even met one of the boys while listening to their album on my ipod. Foster The People have a captivating sound, danceable melodies, strange and poetic lyrics, and completely weird music videos. Their stories range from the socially controversial “Pumped Up Kicks” to the sentimental, “Waste.” It is a dynamic, rich, fun, upbeat, kick ass album from start to finish. I am anxiously anticipating their sophomore album and what the boys will come up with next. In the meantime, I’m still waiting for them to choreograph their entire next music video (Warrant, please!) with Mark Foster’s shouldery dance moves. I think it would be brilliant!

21: Adele

Seriously, have you listened to it? The girl is unreal! I have openly wept at least twice while listening to her perform songs off of this heart wrenching album. Adele's crossover into Top 40 has been a breath of fresh air to those stations and a testament to how brilliant she is. She took writing about heartache to a whole new beautiful level and I can't stop belting her out while driving in my car, or just about anywhere. 

In Light: Givers

In Light is a whimsical dance party by Givers. I love the quirky, rich, and percussion-heavy instrumentals. The percussion often adds a tribal celebratory feel, especially in songs like “Saw You First” and “Up Up Up”. Taylor and Tiffany belt out soulful harmonies and it is easy to hear their giddy smiles through my speakers. Aptly named, this album is about light and I dare you not to actually start bouncing with delight when you hear "Up Up Up"! In fact, I will take this opportunity to apologize to my downstairs neighbor as every listen (and there have been oh so many!) has usually erupted in crazed, euphoric dancing. 

Pickin Up The Pieces: Fitz And The Tantrums

Pickin Up The Pieces is a modern, retro, pop album that makes me want to dress up in sequence and heels and go dancing somewhere hip and glamourous. The wail of the organ and the jazzy sound of the saxophone blend with Fitz and Noelle‘s harmonies, creating a rich, soulful groove. Fitz and the Tantrums are all kinds of fun and so is this album.

Nothing is Wrong: Dawes

There really is nothing wrong with this Dawes album, and if push came to shove I would have to choose this as my absolute number one favorite album of the year because it is just so damn good. While so many albums on my list I love for the dance parties that usually erupt while listening to them, Nothing Is Wrong strikes at a much different place. Taylor Goldsmith is a poet and a brilliant songwriter. I get something new out of his lyrics with every listen and his melodies are their perfect complements. (the video is grainy, but it's my favorite song off the album and I had to share)

The Head And The Heart: The Head And The Heart

This self-titled album by The Head And The Heart has a beautiful folk sound, rich in harmonies and undertones of melancholy. Many of the songs start simply and build up in emotional and beautifully instrumental ways. This album is music that fills me up to the very core and songs like, “Down In The Valley” make me homesick for a place I’ve never even been to. This is a band I am eager to see grow and mature.

Portraits: Wheeler Brothers

Representing Austin on this list, Wheeler Brothers are definitely a favorite this year. Portraits is a well rounded folk-rock album with Texas rock inspirations. Like so many of the albums I have loved this year, this is their first LP, but with an incredibly mature and cohesive sound. You may not have heard of them yet, but you will. 

What were your favorite albums this year?

New Music From The Head and the Heart: When I Fall Asleep

I am always a little nervous when bands have freshman albums as amazing as The Head and the Heart's self titled album this year has been. Worries be gone if this new song is any indication of what is to come! If you aren't already listening to their album on repeat, do so now. It's fantastic!

New Video from The Head and the Heart: Cats and Dogs

Still one of my favorite albums this year, here is the video for Cats and Dogs off of the Head and the Hearts self-titled album.