Taking a break with Marc and John

Best Buy is the iconic cave for our generation. It's where the artistic and innovative go to create, think, ponder and of course buy great tunes.

I ducked in during a lunch break today and was instantly hit with the smell of new plastic, metal and all things electronic. I was transported out of the heat of the June day into a cool, loud and very tech-y interior where images, sounds from another world greeted me.

I so rarely visit a "real" store anymore, (most of my shopping being done online) that I felt like a kid at the amusement park. I restrained myself --- I wanted to run from the 400 versions of the digital camera (all lined up in a swirl pattern) , then back again to the computers ( I was tempted to run my fingers up and down the computer keyboards like a kid might do in a music store. ) Instead, I lesirely loped over the to the music section and found my favorite alternative rock bands and read their jacket covers (do CD's have 'jacket covers' or is that old-school talk for album art?)

I settled upon two new artists - Marc Broussard and John Hiatt. Actually, most John Hiatt fans would laugh to hear me call him a "new artist"..he's actually one of most enduring musicians around. His newest album "John Hiatt and the Goners" is still in its plastic sheeting and I plan to rock out to it this afternoon while working.

There is a certain mystique in purchasing a new CD (or album). My kids disdain this type of purchase, "Just go online and purchase the SONG you want, instead of all those songs you don't" is what they always say to me. I dunno. I kind of enjoy letting the artist reveal him or herself to me through the different songs that they've created. I feel that I get more personal with them, understand their particular musical vernacular. Only one song feels more like a a "first date"...too short, too easily forgotten and leaves you just wanting more, anyway.

Music is the narration of life. It speaks into our souls, illuminating feelings that cannot be spoken. Music, like all good art, brings us into the realm of another god, someone who understand the complexities of their world and can explain it to us. A chord, a musical phrase can bring a "rightness" to the world that defies description. The best music is the stuff that introduces us to ourselves, speaks to us on levels that we can only hear through the voice and sounds of another.

Great lyrics from Marc Brousard off his CD ("Carenco")

"The Wanderer"

I'm just drifting on thie lonely road of mine

And if you like you can come along with me

But I promise you that I am not the man I used to be

But I promise you that I am not the man I used to be

Now you and I we've seen our share of ups and downs

Somewhere we just lost hope

I can't change the past, but who cares

Your love is all I've ever known

Your love is all I've ever known

I'm a wanderer I have no place or time

I'm just drifting on this lonely road of mine

If you would accept me for me

Then I promise you that there's a better man inside of me

Yes I promise you that there's a better man inside of me