Fans of pop-punk, unite!

I recently did a review of a band called the life I lead. They are a cool pop punk band. You should definitely check them out. Also, Justin Bieber wins 4 AMA awards? America, where is your head at? It may just be my elitism (or maybe my common sense) kicking in, but there are better artists out there than Justin Bieber. Just my opinion. At any rate, here's my review: http://www.alterthepress.com/2010/11/album-review-life-i-lead-me-against-you.html#more. Have a good one.

Review!

I recently reviewed an EP from Oklahoma 5 piece The City Lives. You can check it out here: http://www.alterthepress.com/2010/11/album-review-city-lives-city-lives-ep.html. I'm also going to be doing an end of the year top 10 list for ATP! in the near future. I'll be sure to link it here.

In other news, Hellogoodbye is a legitimate band after 4 years. I'm shocked. Everyone should go check out their new full length, 'Would It Kill You'. It's actually really good, if you're into the whole pop/synth pop genre. As always, if you're into Hellogoodbye or The City Lives, purchase their music, a t-shirt, or attend a show.

November 2!

How's it going? Wow, did October fly by. It's been a crazy 2 weeks, and I haven't had much time to update the blog. I did, however get another review posted over at alter the press! The guys I reviewed this week are called Pacer. They're a punk band for fans of the bouncing souls, bad religion, and so forth. check it out there: http://www.alterthepress.com/2010/10/album-review-pacer-no-1.html#more

Also, go to your local digital music outlet and grab Matt & Kim's new album, Sidewalks. It's a great record filled with awesome pop songs. It will definitely be the catchiest 30 minutes of your day. Get to it!

Friday!

What's going on? I'm stoked it's friday.

I decided that since there is so much ridiculously good music out there, I would do a post about my favorite find of the week. Between my writing gig, my own research, and my friends that are music fiends, I am constantly listening to new music. While these artists may not be new for everyone, the ones that I highlight will probably be my new favorite thing of the week. So the artist for today is....The Tallest Man On Earth.

The Tallest Man On Earth is a folk singer/songwriter from Sweden. I found his 2nd album, The Wild Hunt, in April, and I haven't stopped playing it since. It's amazing how engaging one guy and his guitar can be, especially when he weaves imagery of wildlife and scenery into the lyrics of the songs. I have never been one to go crazy over folk music, but I love this guy. I'll definitely be hitting up a live show when he comes somewhere close. Anyone who likes folk, Bob Dylan, or has an open mind should check him out. I don't think you'll be disappointed. As always, if you like The tallest man, support him by buying his albums, merchandise, or whatever. Enjoy!

New County review

What's going on? My second review for alter the press! is up. New county is a pop-rock band from Pennsylvania. You can read the review here:

http://www.alterthepress.com/2010/10/album-review-new-county-lives-we-lead.html

Another review will be up in about a week!

LP

News Incoming

EDIT: The Review is up. Everyone go check it out at http://www.alterthepress.com/2010/10/album-review-tumbledown-empty-bottle.html#more

I'm starting a new album review gig this week with Alter the press!, and just thought that I'd post that here. I will edit this post when my article gets put up. Enjoy!

September update/TDS & Sherwood show

Hello all!

For the time being, I will not be writing for the Dixie Press. Rather than do that, I will just post things here and see how that goes. Since we had such an excellent show this past week, I decided to do a small review and post a couple of pictures.

I had the pleasure of attending and working security at The Electric Theater for the Sherwood/The Dangerous Summer show this past Thursday. I could not have been more pleased with the show, other than the fact that so few people showed up. We need to get out and support these awesome acts that The Electric brings in, St. George!

The show started off with a bang with pop-rock act Summit Grove. These guys are out of Las Vegas, and are catchy as hell. They're probably the best local act I've seen in quite some time. I was blown away by the energy they had as they played to about 20 people as things got started. Summit had a fun filled, sing along set of about 5 songs. Summit Grove finished up, and then Soletta took the stage.

For as much as I wanted to like these guys, they just seemed like they weren't having any fun. This may have been due to the fact that the whole town was either at the rodeo

or at DocUtah, but you can't expect to follow an act like Summit Grove with no energy or charisma. On any other day I would have liked Soletta's set, but after having my expectations raised by the fantastic openers, these guys didn't quite meet my expectations. That's okay by me, though, because it checked my expectations for my favorite part of the night--The Dangerous Summer.

To say that Soletta checked my expectations really didn't mean much, considering this was my first time seeing the band that put out my favorite record of 2009 (I still play Reach For The Sun regularly). The Dangerous Summer exploded with opener 'Surfaced' and transitioned perfectly into 'Symmetry'. I only know this because I snagged a set list. I had the opportunity to meet the guys and they signed it for my wife. Picture!

These guys absolutely killed their whole set (which included my personal favorites from Reach For The Sun), and were absolutely awesome both on stage and off. I had the opportunity to hang out with AJ and crew for a few minutes after their set. They were super nice and humble about everything. They seemed really surprised that they had anyone who was so into their music in the area. They also called my friend and I the coolest security ever at a venue. Hopefully that was true.

After TDS finished up, Sherwood took the stage. Sherwood is an awesome band from San Luis Obispo, CA. Every time I've seen these guys (this was my 3rd time) they are as tight as a live band could possibly be, and Thursday was no exception. Sherwood whipped through 12-14 tracks in about 75 minutes. They played favorites such as Song in my head, I'm asking her to stay, and Never ready to leave, as well as tracks from QU such as You are, Ground beneath my feet, and others. Sherwood is a group of really great guys, and just like

TDS, they signed a poster for me this time. They're so much fun and I really enjoyed them. Picture number two!

To sum up, the show was awesome, especially for St. George. The Electric cannot be thanked enough for bringing in such great bands. A big thanks to all of the bands as well. I had too much fun at this show because the bands were all so awesome. If you haven't checked out any of these bands, do yourself a favor and get to it!