Author Archives: Krissie

The Big Break-Up: A Fan Perspective

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So, it happened again.  I returned from Seattle a couple of weeks ago and after 14 hours of traveling, I happily settled down in my favorite couch nook to catch up on four days of missed tweets, Facebook posts and e-mails.   As I was flicking through my Facebook feed, I saw it.  A post from one of my favorite bands.  The dreaded words…

“We’re sad to announce that…”

Ugh.  Nothing puts a pit in my stomach more than band change and break up announcements.  It is seriously hard for me;  definitely makes me sad and at times, I even feel slighted and hurt.

In the past two weeks, there’s been a rash of unpleasant music news. Pioneers of indie rock, R.E.M, announced on their website that they were “calling it a day” as the band and that sinking feeling came around again.  While I’m only a casual R.E.M. fan, I do know the impact their work has had on the music world and helped to shape a lot of my favorite music.  Then, last week, one of my favorites, Augustana, announced their break-up, a mere six months after the release of their latest album (some might argue their best one).  Dan Layus is one of the most powerful lyricists around today, and as a lyrics girl, it made me almost nauseous reading that announcement.

It got me to thinking, why in the world do I get so emotional about band break-ups and shake-ups?  I mean, they’re not my bands or my career…so what’s with the heartbreak and incense when one of my favorite musical acts make a shift?  Am I alone in feeling like this?  Definitely an idea worth digging into.

There’s no denying that humans have an inextricable bond with music.  There is something about it that appeals to nearly every human – it is, actually, a universal language.  Civilized worlds and remote, untouched villages that have never had contact with one another both create music.  We celebrate with it, comfort ourselves with it, use it to express our emotions, grieve to it…Music is an ever present part of the human experience.

For diehard music fans – me included – the dissolution of a band that has been a big part of your life can be dizzying.  Whether or not an artist or act wants to believe it, the instant they put music out there for the world to hear, they’re taking the chance that they will become part of some fan’s life.  For journeyman acts – The Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, The Beatles (and Sir Paul), Bon Jovi, and my beloved Bruce Springsteen – with every piece of music they create, they become more entrenched in their fans live.

Music can be the endcaps on lives, ushering children into the world and playing quietly as others leave this world; its the soundtrack to proms and breakups; it’s the swirling happiness of wedding first dances, and the songs that we bury ourselves in when everything is coming undone; it’s the sheet music for roadtrip singalongs and the stress relief that helps us unwind after a long day.  Music has a place in nearly every part of our lives.  It’s no wonder that our emotions become entwined with songs…and by extension, the artists that create them. As humans, we literally cannot help developing an attachment to music.

If you haven’t read the excellent book by Daniel Levitin, This Is Your Brain On Music:  The Science of a Human Obsession, stop reading my crappy little blog right now and go get it.  It’s scientific and utterly fascinating.  Levitin delves into the science behind how our brains interpret and process music, why humans are drawn to this artistic medium, and even why we love the music that we do.  Midway through the book, he discusses music and its ties to memory.   His theories get at the heart of my “break up complex.”

“Memory affects the music-listening experience so profoundly that it would not be hyperbole to say that without memory, there would be no music….Music works because we remember the tones we have just heard and are relating them to the ones that are just now being played.  Those groups of tones – phrases – might come up later in the piece in a variation or transposition that tickles our memory system at the same time as it activates our emotional centers.  In the past ten years, neuroscientists have show just how intimately related our memory system is with our emotional system.”

For me, almost every significant memory of the past 25 years of my life is tied to music in some way.  Anytime I smell Aussie Crunch hairspray, which I used in high school, I instantly hear New Kids on the Block in my head.  The Violent Femmes always put me right back on the fourth floor of Minta Martin, my college dorm, drinking awful beer with my sorority sisters.  And at the first notes of The Freshmen always make me get that dizzy, head-spinning, looking at myself from outside in feeling because it brings back memories of a boyfriend cheating on me.  I definitely “attach” to music.

My good friend and fellow die hard music junkie Stacy puts it a bit more succinctly, “You spend hours, days, money and heart getting to know the music and … when they do something to go against what you know and believe, it’s like they are betraying your love and trust.”

For a handful of artists, the timing of their music, resulting stardom, the cultural happenings and the mood of the fansbase can converge to form a perfect storm in which emotional attachment becomes even more heightened than normal.  Acts such as The Beatles, Elvis and Michael Jackson have left millions of screaming fans in their wakes.  For The Beatles (particularly John Lennon) and Elvis, the turbulent political state of the world, and the Vietnam war certainly played a role in how fans related to their music.  Their early deaths also illustrate the emotional connections people build with music and the artists that make it. When Presley died in 1977, the President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, issued a statement about how he had impacted popular culture.  After Lennon’s death, when his wife Yoko Ono called for a ten minute moment of silence , more than 30,000 people turned out in Liverpool, England, home of the band.  Two fans are reported to have committed suicide in despair.  When Jackson died in 2009, his memorial service had to be held at an L.A. sports arena to accommodate the crowds.  Sales of his music, and that of the Jackson Five, spiked.  Fans around the world continue to mourn to this day; and the trial of the doctor accused of improperly medicating him is one of the most watched things on television this week.   These reactions are a fascinating look at just how profound an impact music can have on an entire global society.

The paradigm shift in fan-artist relations over the past 15 years is well-covered territory.  The end of an era in big arena bands, a proliferation of smaller venues, and new and cheaper ways to record and promote music have led to more artists vying for audiences attention.   Add social media into the equation, and you have big old melting pot for musicians to find new, more intimate ways to interact with their fans (to get their music heard in one way or another).  Naturally, those fans feel more connected than ever to their favorite musicians.  Many fans feel like they truly know the artists (and in the case of many small, independent bands, they actually do know them).  That “relationship” feeling can be even more amplified when the artist or act is genuine, interacting and engaging fans, or even sharing bits of their life that fans might not otherwise see – photos of their children and pets, opinions on whatever the a la mode topic of the day might be, what they’re buying at the grocery store, who they’re supporting in a political campaign, what movies their watching, what music they are listening to…  So when there’s a break up, a band change, a career moment, or some significant shift in style or sound, it should come as no surprise that many fans feel like they’re watching a relationship that they’ve played a part in unwind.

Music blogger extraordinaire and proprietress of RadioPotato.com, Allison Rizk, weighs in on social media’s impact.  “Social media IS the reason why bands actually connect with their fans,” she says, relating watching the break-up of indie rock band Cadillac Sky unfold over social media.  “The disconnect can be disorienting.  Like a relationship break-up.”

It’s an apt comparison.  We’re all attached to our music…and maybe that gives us a little bit of a right to brood when our favorites “call it a day” or play switcheroo with members.  But, just like the demise of any break up, time heals all wounds.  And unlike all relationship break ups, at least musical break-ups leave us with a physical manifestation of the relationship.  We’ve got vinyl albums and CDs, our favorite worn t-shirts, tattered but well preserved concert posters, DVDs, YouTube videos, photos and autographs to remember them by.

And most importantly, the music.  We will always have the music.

The Sunday Funday Playlist – October 2, 2011

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1.  American Dream – Will Hoge

The release of Will Hoge’s Number Seven this week has meant one thing…I have been a Will Hoge junkie this week.  The new album is amazing (read my review of the new album here), and full of storytelling gems.  This song is by far the saddest song on the album, in my opinion, and I absolutely love it.

2.  I Will Come – Alpha Rev
If anything got as much play as Will’s album this week, it was Alpha Rev’s new EP City Farm:  Roots.  These new songs are so tight and creative, I am absolutely itching to see the new band lineup live.  I am constantly amazed by this band’s continuing evolution.  This is my favorite track from the EP.


3.  No Man’s Land – Will Hoge

Yup, two songs by Senor Hoge on this week’s playlist.  Gotta be honest about what I’m listening to!  This song is a great showcase of Will’s humor…and ten bucks says you’re singing along after one listen.

4.  The Book of Love – Peter Gabriel

I heard this song in a wedding video that a friend created, and instantly fell in love with it.  If you can get past my tough exterior, I am a sappy romantic and this one hits all the right notes with that side of me.  It will be played at my wedding, if and when that ever happens.  Kind of appropriate, really, since PG is responsible for my favorite song EVER (and if you know me, that statement is huge)…”In Your Eyes,” if you’re wondering.

5.  Older – The T-Rooks
I’ve mentioned my minor obsession with local Charlotte artist Margolnick (and his previous band Flagship, as well as his side project, Jackal and Dice) before, and I’ve also previously talked about another local act, Campbell the Band. So, imagine my surprise this week when they announced that they were joining forces and forming a new band called The T-Rooks.  This new Charlotte musical powerhouse released a video for a new song called “Older,” which is ethereal and epic.  Going to be interesting to watch these kids develop.

Augustana Breaks Up

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Augustana is no more

Subtitle:  Krissie is sad.

Another one bites the dust.

Why do the good bands have to break up?

Dan Layus, lead singer of Augustana, tells Red Bull USA that the band has called it quits, less than six months after the release of their latest album.

Thanks for the music, Augustana.  I’ll miss you guys.

Number Seven = Number One: Will Hoge Shines

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Will Hoge Number Seven

Will Hoge, Number Seven

Reviewers should be unbiased.  When it comes to Will Hoge, I am anything but unbiased.   Therefore, I am not a reviewer.  But I am a huge fan, so if you want a totally biased, totally honest and heartfelt opinion about Will and the band’s new album, Number Seven, look no further.

Over the past few years, Will’s taken a new tack with his music.  His Twitter bio simply reads, “Rock n’ roll, country soul.”  And I think that description probably does more justice than I ever could.  While there’s no doubt they are a rock band, Will’s Tennessee roots have always had a significant influence on his music, drawing from soul, gospel, and country.  After the release of The Man Who Killed Love, a complete rock odyssey in 2006, Will’s two follow up albums, 2007’s Draw the Curtain and 2009’s The Wreckage took a decidedly country swing, with the band even getting some attention from CMT.

And now, here comes Number Seven, which finds itself comfortably in the space between rock n’ roll and country – and I gotta tell you, it’s a space that only Will Hoge could fill.

The prevailing theme of the album is one of overcoming – and with an underlying, decidedly “proud to be American” sentiment – it rings with blue collar themes and champions the song of the downtrodden, but with that patriotic, gritty “never say die” attitude.  This is the type of songwriting that defines a career; as a lyricist, Will has really refined his storytelling abilities.  In the vein of Springsteen, Steve Earle and John Hiatt, Will steps into new characters for each song on the record, every one just as or more believable than the last. Hoge doesn’t portend to tell us what we should think of these characters – they are just the lives that unfold around us every day, and we are left to judge ourselves.

In “Too Old To Die Young,” he’s the voice of  a party-boy turned middle-aged parent who holds no regrets for anything that’s happened in his life, including the blatantly honest “foolish things” he’s done.  Perhaps the saddest song on the record, the ironically named “American Dream” chronicles the life of a man who dropped out of college, cares for his aging mother, and loses everything.   “The Illegal Line” sees Hoge putting the immigration debate on the table in the most human of stories, giving a voice to those who come to the U.S. in search of the true American dream.  In the tearjerker “Trying to Be A Man,” we hear a man telling his child the story of how he came to be, expressing his fears of failure and his one simple goal – to try to be a man.  And of course, we can’t forget the lonely, plaintive love story of a man, married 57 years, recently widowed in “When I Get My Wings.”

Tossed among these striking character sketches in song are classic Will Hoge rockers that are a bit lighter, and have the resounding choruses that will give fans plenty of sing-along moments at live shows.   My favorite, “Goddam California,” is a bluesy, soul-filled homage to Hoge’s home state, complete with pedal steel to give that sense of longing for home – whether you’re from Tennessee or … ahem, New Jersey. (Maybe not  so much California, though!)

Musically, this incarnation of the band is incredibly tight.  Hoge is flanked by Adams (Beard and Ollendorff) on guitar and bass (and, in the case of Ollendorff, a mean pedal steel and a host of other instruments), with now five or six year veteran band drummer Siggi Birkis as his constant companion.  The instrumentation is rich, the sound big, and the chops strong. The record is true to their live performance, but that should come as no surprise if you’re a Will Hoge fan.

In a time when our economy is spinning out of control, families are losing homes, our politicians are failing us, and people have to make decisions daily between putting gas in their car or putting food on the table, we’re all searching for a little respite and maybe someone to say, “Hey, I’ve been there, we’ll get through it.”  Hoge and his merry band of musicians have created a record that does both. It’s simply incredible music.  In fact, for this fan, Number Seven could easily catapult itself into the number one spot as Will Hoge’s best record ever.

More Will Hoge:  Web | Facebook | Twitter | Number Seven on iTunes | Number Seven on Amazon