In Which the Summer Has Passed And I Didn't Blog a Whit

Every year I go into summer with a long list of all of the amazing new things I am going to do with all of the time that I suddenly think that I have, and this summer was no different. Way back in May as I packed up all the things in my apartment, I looked towards the months ahead, eagerly anticipating all of the reading, writing, songwriting, running, biking, kayaking, archery, eating, cooking, hiking, camping, swimming, sailing, acting, directing, sunbathing, berry-picking, building and concert-going I was going to do. However, when one is employed while simultaneously writing/directing/independently producing a play and attempting to maintain a social life while still cramming as many concerts in as possible, some things will of course be tossed to the wayside.
THUS I am now going to attempt to catch up a little over the next couple days with some very fun and exciting posts about some very fun and exciting music!
I am going to start off today with the Muse for Music/ Works for Words series that I saw back in June at the Fitzgerald Theatre. Both were a mixture of a talk on music and the art of songwriting (the former focusing on the subject matter of songs while the latter focused on the significance of the lyrics themselves.) While the subjects of these events would have been enough to draw me in on their own, the tickets were sold by the respective hosts, Jeremy Messersmith and Chris Koza with his band Rogue Valley. Two of my very favorite Twin Cities acts to be exact.
What struck me about these shows was not simply the incredible musicians (each brought out a number of local artists as guests including Caroline Smith of the Goodnight Sleeps, Chastity Brown, P.O.S. and more) or the immense fun that was hearing all of these artists cover the works of other artists, but the existence of the show in the first place. Here were two nights dedicated to local musicians getting to jam to some of their favorite tunes and share their opinions on music with the rest of the world in a formal setting. And it was being presented by 89.3 The Current, one of the most popular radio stations in the cities. I'd say that's about +200000 cool music points to the Twin Cities.
Events like these highlight the incredible community that is the Twin Cities music scene, something that I miss sorely when I am in Los Angeles. Instead of existing in a place where everyone is trying to get famous enough to get out, I find myself somewhere where everyone wants to be in. All of us there in the theatre that night felt like a fun little club of people getting together to play and listen to and appreciate music. In fact I felt so close to the musicians that I almost (emphasis on the almost) managed to walk up to Chris Koza and compliment him in person. Alas, I still found myself a tad too star struck. Perhaps next summer.