Let The Lower Lights Be Burning

(At a certain point, it's time to accept the fact that your blog posts aren't stopgaps, that the extended time between posts is not all that unexpected or irregular, and that, rather, you are just the kind of person who blogs once-a-month-ish. That's where I am.)

Remember this post from last October, with its 4 Baby Steps To Making A Hymns Album? I told you to stay tuned? Well, the fifth and sixth steps are here at last.

STEP 5: Name the project.
The Lower Lights, online at thelowerlights.com. We even have some videos of the songs on Vimeo shot by the great Jed Wells and Brandon Arnold.


STEP 6: Stop talking about it and release the record already!
It's out! You can buy the album right this very second (digital download or actual CD) at thelowerlights.bandcamp.com. If you get the digital version from bandcamp, you'll get 2 bonus tracks and additional artwork (really great, done by our friend Ryan Tanner with photography by our archenemy Jed Wells). The album will also eventually be available on iTunes, CDBaby, and in select stores throughout Utah and Nevada.

THERE'S EVEN A SHOW COMING UP
Rooftop Concert Series in Provo, UT
Friday Oct 1 at 8 pm
FREE
Provo Town Square Parking Terrace (100 N and 100 W)
Bring friends, family, warm clothes, blankets and chairs to sit on.
Our fine friend Libbie Linton will open the show.

JUST IN CASE YOU WANTED SOME BACKSTORY
Last October, I spent five days in the studio with some of my favorite people/musicians*, recording hymns the way we've always hoped to do it. With so many great players/singers, every song has its own story and a slightly different tone than the last. It was a completely ego-less experience. People would show up for an hour and get thrown on a guitar or vocal. Then leave. And the songs would roll on with whoever was there. Five days later, we had more than 30 great songs- from old hymns to Mormon standards to Hank Williams tunes. I felt lucky every second I got to spend in the studio with all of these amazing people, pouring it out for the sake of the songs and inspiring me left and right. So humbling.

I so hope you love it.


* including The Madison Arm, Atherton, Sarah Sample, Dominic Moore, Debra Fotheringham, Dustin Christensen, Ryan Tilby, Colin Botts, Darin LeSueur, Fictionist, The Mollies, Mark Smith, Branden Campbell, Nate Pyfer, Dan Reneer, Cherie Call, George Brunt, Shady Chapel, a family/friends choir, and the list goes on of great folks I'm forgetting.

Singing Time

Leo has become quite the little jabber-mouth these days and we love it. He's all about mimicking everything we say, especially new words he's not as familiar with. Needless to say, I've had to really clean up my language the last couple weeks.

Take a look at something Paul discovered the other day that is so adorable. And keep your mind open to different toddler ways of pronouncing the words "word", "bird", "sing" and "ring". We love our little singer.

Next step: songwriting. Watch out, Bob.

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Bridge School Weekend

Holly's Book Club recently read a book about personality types. You know the books: take a "test" that some touchy-feely psychologist whipped up during Oprah commercial breaks, said test plops you into some conveniently oversimplified boxes (Feeler, Leader, Introvert, Giver, Taker, Candlestick Maker), then breaks down how you interact with people in different categories. Pretty soon, you find yourself talking to each other using terms that some arbitrary psychologist you've never met invented while his/her marriage was flailing and he/she was regrouping amid the pina coladas of Cabo. "See! That's the SF/OT in you! ALWAYS THE SF/OT!!!" "Oh, that makes sense. Because you're a FI/CM with a dash of IA...."

Doesn't happen to anyone else? Oh.

The reason I bring this up (besides to bolster the wordcount, tick off my word-averse friend Scott, and weed out the amateurs) is because the book verified something I already knew about myself: I love tradition. I love that we got to open a present on Christmas Eve that was always pajamas (and the unspoken tradition that we'd never wear them again). I love the eggnog/Sprite/ice cream concoction that my Aunt Laura always used to brew up at my Grandma Garff's house. I love that some people just have to take a little swim between the piers when they're at Hebgen. I almost always get a Jamba Juice for breakfast when I know my day at work is going to be long and not awesome. I used to watch U2's Rattle & Hum every Thanksgiving night. If I'm in Driggs in the summer, I'm getting a lime freeze at Corner Drug. You get the point.

Eleven years ago, my friend Billy and I went to the Bridge School for the first time and- then and there- vowed to make it a tradition. Last weekend was Bridge School Weekend, my 11th and Holly's 5th. Without question, it's one of the things I look forward to the most all year with some amazing friends and family. Billy (& Adair), in the throes of Billy's residency and 3 kids, sadly had to opt out this year and cousin Mark had other fish to fry, but we spent some good time with the Curtises, the Owens, and the Wheelers (who took all the pictures because our camera is MIA and already did a better, less wordy documentation on their blog, and yes we are using the exact same pictures).


Overlooking the Sutro baths. Not pictured: inhumane port-o-potties.

With the Golden Gate in the background and me, looking like one of those cheesy Mormon paintings where the wicked person is enveloped in shadows.

FRIDAY
We made a long weekend out of it at our generous and out-of-town friends' house in Menlo Park. We spent Friday in The City with Jason & Mandy and Ben & Dana. Holly got some new boots. I got my favorite burrito at Taqueria Cancun (thanks forever, Pat), which is becoming its own tradition. Jason gave us the locals' driving tour (above)- Golden Gate Park, the Sutro baths, the people who need the Sutro baths the most (the Haight), tasty dinner at EOS, Mitchell's ice cream, and finally Where The Wild Things Are (IMAX even).

THE CONCERT
After an easy morning and a bike ride to breakfast, we made it over to Shoreline. The lineup:
Gavin Rossdale (Bush, not good), Wolfmother (hire a bassist, friends), Fleet Foxes (ruled- amazing harmonies and the way their songs develop is unreal), Monster Of Folk (monsters of ok), Sheryl Crow (2-for-5) Chris Martin (Coldplay, very good), Jimmy Buffett (see also: ex- Carnival cruise employees fronted by that drunk guy with the guitar you and all your sweet bros loved during that one spring break in Cancun), No Doubt (surprisingly good), and of course Neil Young.

During Jimmy Buffett's set. Before he started, I turned to our friends and said, "I can't decide which is going to be worse: Jimmy Buffett or Jimmy Buffett's FANS." Holly shot me a quick cease-and-desist look. Apparently, we were surrounded. The tie-dyed gentleman next to me rocked out the whole set, chanting when the Parrotheads chanted. Really, I was just relieved all the excitement didn't send him into cardiac arrest.

Us, the Owenses (behind), the Wheelerses. Not pictured: The Curtises, who were highrolling it up on the second row. Minutes after this photo, Holly reprimanded Jason for not really liking The Beatles. It's safe to say that anybody who was seated in our section went home and promptly bought or listened to Abbey Road.

Thanks to our parents for taking care of Leo. Thanks to Leo for sleeping for our parents. Thanks to the Hutchings for letting us crash at their place. Thanks to Jason for driving. Thanks to Mandy for photodocumenting. And thank you for reading this far about nothing. Hopefully you own Abbey Road.

All Those Yesterdays OR Off He Goes

One fall, when I was 15, knowing full well I was too young to even dream about getting in, I somehow got my hands on a ticket to see a new upstart band (Pearl Jam) at an 18-and-over venue (DV8). Their debut album Ten was weeks old and, thanks to my cousin Mark who- with his brothers- has always been a year or two ahead of me musically, I'd heard it months before. Earlier that summer, we split logs in Montana to the sounds of a 3-song demo of "Alive," "Wash," and a cover of The Beatles' "I've Got A Feeling." We must've turned that tape over about 400 times. The opening riff on "Alive" was like nothing I'd ever heard: creative, crunchy, a smart combination of riff-like stuff and chords. To this day, I love that riff. BAIROoooowh, buh-na-NAAH, mer-na-na-NAH-NAH, buh-na-NAAH, mer-na-na-NAH-nah-MAH-na-na-na-nah...

I couldn't get into DV8, probably due to a combination of my age and the fervent prayers of my father. I fancied myself the FIRST & BIGGEST PEARL JAM FAN IN ALL OF UTAH* (and probably, I conjectured, in all of Idaho/Wyoming/The Dakotas/New Mexico/most of the midwest because COME ON...I was. I was) and was sure that, if the band only knew that their most fiery proselyte who shoved their music on everyone was sitting dejectedly outside, they'd usher me in and give me a spot at the side of the stage, sign my t-shirt**, want to talk at length about Mookie Blaylock and The Beatles and...stuff, make fast friends, all that. But somehow word of my distress failed to reach them. And it was not to be. I later read a review of the show in SLUG , praising it effusively and talking about how lead guitarist Mike McCready sprained an ankle doing some high-flying leap, a leftover from his roots as a Kiss/Blue Oyster Cult fanboy. Yes, I remember all of that.

A year later, the Pearl Jam bandwagon was more crowded. And I was no less of a fan. This time, they were coming to the Utah State Fairpark. And I had tickets. I believe the reason was "tour fatigue." Though, rumor has it, they cancelled the dates to go open for Red Hot Chili Peppers. Either way, I was soooo bummed. I even saved the show's ad in City Weekly for ages.

Years (and two solid albums) later, my brother Andy and I scraped together to buy 3rd row seats–Pearl Jam & Bad Religion @ Wolf Mountain/Park West/The Canyons. It was an ugly day for the middle of summer- rainy, cold, one might say it was Seattle-esque. But we bundled up in warm rain gear, sure that the "Rain Or Shine" printed on our tickets actually meant something. My then-girlfriend Katie, Andy, and his friend Mike drove up, parked, and started hiking up the hill. Imagine me, the (again, self-proclaimed) biggest Pearl Jam fan violently getting his heart Temple Of Doomed upon witnessing hordes of people in their late-90's duds, heading DOWN the hill.

"Cancelled."
"Eddie himself came out and apologized."
"Risk of electrocution..."
"...promised they'd be back."

I was inconsolable and rage-y in ways that only a family-stable, socioeconomically-stable white kid who hasn't seen much true heartache in life*** can be and, as Holly can attest in such situations, Katie probably deserves a medal for hanging out with me for the rest of a miserable evening. In my defense, I knew I wouldn't see them because, in just about a month, I was going on my mission.

While I was in Brazil, Andy wrote me a letter, telling me how great our tickets were for the re-scheduled show in the Delta Center, the set list, his highlights. I later, in a fit of masochism that I wouldn't even be able to totally follow through with (aka, listen to) for another year and a half, purchased a bootleg of "the show that I would've attended" at a cd shop in Sao Paulo. I believe it was called The Delta Tapes. They opened with "Release," Eddie rode around on a bike. Yeah, I heard.

They came back to Salt Lake after my mission on the Yield Tour. (Still one of my favorite Pearl Jam albums) But I was living in Boston.

They came to Boston on that same tour, but I was back in Salt Lake by then.

Finally, a couple years later, my friend CWWV and I went to our second (now annual) Bridge School Benefit and I half-broke the Pearl Jam Curse: I saw them acoustic. Since then, Pearl Jam has played about half of those benefit concerts, so I've seen them maybe 5-6 times. ACOUSTIC! Now, they are very very good acoustic, but a big Chunk of the story with Pearl Jam is electricity.

So tonight, High School Me and Pre/Post Mission Me can finally rejoice, because I will finally be putting that demon to rest:

me, friends, Pearl Jam, the rest of the E Center.

Oh and I love the unintentional comedy of this screengrab.

* This would be a good time to confess. I have to admit that my friend Ryan is the real, loyal, longtime, rabid, card-carrying (literally) Pearl Jam fan. He's never wavered. He's continued buying the records. He's seen them a gajillion times. He will argue with our drummer, Pat, about The Grunge Cher all day long. And interestingly, Pat is receptive. Ryan, this post is not meant to insult or otherwise impose on your fandom.

** Because I didn't get into this show, I never bought a Pearl Jam t-shirt. Not because I was bitter against the band or the venue or my age or my praying father, but because- after this show- my only chance to get a Pearl Jam t-shirt was on the bandwagon with everybody else. As soon as their shirts were in whatever the Hot Topic of my era was, I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. It's like the Red Sox. Holly had to buy me a hat this year because I couldn't bring myself to doing it after their two World Series wins. Either this totally makes sense to you or you are Holly's friend.

*** This description actually helps explain the influx of really crappy, pseudo-angry bands in the late-90's/early 00's: white/mad/not sure why. Luckily, I was way out of the market by the time the Limp Bizkits of the world hit.

TestosterOH YEAH!

So, Holly is down in Mexico for her inaugural Jacobsen Girls Trip (The hazing is brutal. I hope the welts and ropeburns are gone before she gets back). Which leaves just me and a certain rubber-band-wristed 1-year-old for a dudes weekend. As you might have guessed, there's been a whole lot of off-color jokes, Jean Claude Van Damme movies, pizza, scratching, and belching. And that's just Leo.

I actually have to fulfill the work expectations of my employer, so we postponed TestosterOH YEAH's kickoff the first day, while Leo spent time with the amazing neighborhood Babysitting Co-op. Thanks, neighbors.

Apparently Friday was Arbor Day? At least that's what the signs said*. I decided to take Leo on a nature walk up at Red Butte Arboretum, only to run into a) an under construction, closed parking lot, resulting in cars clogging the surrounding arteries of Research Park, b) about half of the schoolchildren in Utah.
From our parking spot in the foothills, approximately 187 light years from the Red Butte entrance. I offered to trade Leo all of my guitars for that $1 plastic crab and he refused.

You might think, awwwww...Leo is just so happy to see his Dad. No. He was looking at the $1 plastic crab I'd snatched out of his mouth and put on top of my head. But, hey, yellow flowers.

Today? Funny thing about weekends when you're not working: they don't mean quite so much**. Plus it was raining. Our friend Shayna was nice enough to hang with Leo while I played some basketball with her husband and our families and my first drummer.

Later, Leo was a good sport, tagging along while I got some Mucinex for this relentless cough that's been killing my sleep. We've read almost every book in the house and finally watched the new Wilco DVD. His favorite song in the movie was either Impossible Germany (good call, kid) or the crazy part of Via Chicago.

The End. Wow. Crappy story arc. It's like one of those movies that got it's budget cut. You can just tell when they said, "Well, it is what is. Let's wrap it up."





* The signs are also known to say: "You've gotta have a membership card to get inside."
** This is a paraphrase of a Primus song. Trust me: we both wish I didn't know that.

Likeness

Yesterday, rather good friend/guitarist/producer Scott sent me a link to this little painting. Other than the fact that I'm right handed, wouldn't be caught dead in creamsicle slacks, and am a little more, um, pot-bellied than this guy, it's a pretty crazy fit. Right down to the quarter notes.


Great artist from Rhode Island named Lauren Minco. See/buy the rest of her stuff on etsy here.

Wait. It's a series?


Gotta get myself a green cat beanie. That much is for certain.

March Mad(ison Arm)ness

I know, I know. You're thinking, "Why is Paul always pushing his dumb band on us? Doesn't he know we only come here for baby pictures and crafty contests?" If you are indeed thinking that, then you should know that I'm thinking, "Holly, do we have to hang out with them again?"

The rest of you rule. Here are three upcoming shows for your highnesses.

:: SHOW THE 1ST ::

THE MADISON ARM + FICTIONIST
Friday March 6 (doors @ 8)
Velour Live Music Gallery (135 N. University Ave in Provo)
$7
Now, I'm only going to say this once: Fictionist rock. Amazing live band with great, great songs. Their drummer Aaron singlehandedly rescued my song "Fearless Johnny Tapias" from the Pile of Discarded Songs From Whence None Return.

:: SHOW THE 2ND ::
THE MADISON ARM
Monday March 16 (7:30 sharp)
Slowtrain Records (221 E Broadway in downtown SLC)
FREE
Slowtrain has a weekly concert series, every Monday featuring a different local act. This is our week. Come see the band in an intimate show and get some of Chris & Anna’s patented great recommendations. If the free-ness doesn't do it for you, the location and brevity (just us) should.

:: SHOW THE 2ND ::
THE MADISON ARM + LIBBIE LINTON + FICTIONIST
Friday April 10 (7pm)
The Post Theater (245 S Fort Douglas Blvd in SLC)
Anyone who's ever come to a show at The Post knows how much we love to play there. And why. Come see us with old friend Libbie Linton as we open for new friends Fictionist.

Honestly, all of these shows will be great. I can't really recommend any one over the others. So come to one or two or all three.

See you there?

American Idol or This Is Your Chance To Vote

I'm often asked, by well-meaning and supportive friends who are genuinely trying to convey their belief in whatever talent I might have, why I don't try out for American Idol. Now, I don't intend to fully answer that right this second- except to quickly tick down a kneejerk list (too old, too fat, too unable to dance, too overloaded by my three days of working with Ryan Seacrest, too unwilling to even consider it, too not into the whole idea of it, too narrow of a vocal range [but, man, do I sing the daylights out of those 4 notes], too averse to almost every song sung on that show, too unwilling to make Hasselhoff cry, too prideful, too incensed by hand-singing, too much whatever, not enough whatever, you get the point. So much for not getting into it. I know some people love the show. Bless all of your little tastedeaf hearts.) but at long last- just like on American Idol- you can vote for me.

Say it like Tom Cruise on Jerry Maguire. You. Can Vote. For Me.

And by me, I mean, my band. The Madison Arm.

It sort of sickens me to do this, but oh well. If you won't promote yourself, who will? (Oh geez. Do people actually believe that crap? Just saying it gives me the dry heave willies.)

So.

We were nominated for Salt Lake's City Weekly Music Awards by a panel of local venue owners, producers, label owners, music writers, music store owners, etc. It's flattering.

And. You Can. Vote. For Us. Where?
HERE (if that link fails, go to cityweekly.net, find the music awards page, and click where it says VOTE ONLINE).

Yes, they make you register. But it's quick and easy and, with your help, we could win some cash for the band and a chance to open a show with none other than Ben Kweller on Feb 13. I think voting ends this Sunday Feb 8.

There will be an American Idol-esque textvote component too, that will let our Utah readers vote TWICE, but those details aren't available yet.

Thanks. Sorry for the self-promotion. We now return you to your regularly scheduled Infant Milestones.

Once upon a time in Hawai'i

So, for the time being, we've left the password-protected, retinal scan, voiceprint verification era of our blog. (Insert politically-infused comment about chaperoning out an era of paranoia, fear, & blah blah blah, and ushering in an era of hope, change, and beep bop boop HERE.)

Seems like we'll never get around to a bona fide post about Hawaii, so I figured I'd just throw some photos up at random. Maybe toss some captions in. Of course, I've said that before and still somehow managed to eclipse the 1000-word mark. We're around 100 already.

These are nonsequential.

Holly and my mom learn to hula at the PCC.

Holly rocks the ukelele.

The Zinho is close to crawling. We thought he might break it out for Christmas, but- even at this early age- he understands the importance of "the moment" and appears to be ramping up for his debut during The Annual Lull In Awesomeness that takes place in January and February.

Oahu. Leo sees, and feels the ocean for the first time. His dad's grizzled ivory chest (not pictured) sees the sun for the first time in ages, only to be shut down when the makers of the Hubble telescope call and tell him he's casting a cosmic glare.

Why crawl when you can boogie board? Holly and cousin Caitlin help Leo get his sea legs. Not pictured: the family of whales wondering how the humans got such a blubberous baby.

We went sea kayaking, so Leo got to hang out with grandma, who took maybe my favorite picture of the trip. The island's healing properties helped Leo kick RSV, which was a nice little Christmas gift.

More later. Maybe.

The Post Holly's Friends Have Been Waiting For!

...Paul's Favorite Music of 2008! I know, my dears, you can hardly wait to sink your pretty little teeth into it. Careful, though, not to smudge your lip gloss.

If I hadn't already alienated you enough with my musicfan ramblings, I suppose this was the stake in the heart. Sorry. We will post more holiday pictures soon. Ish.

2008- nonmusically speaking- was one of the biggest in recent history. The birth of the greatest chunk of chub-laden cool around. The at-long-last release of Paul Jacobsen & The Madison Arm. The return of my parents from 3 years in England. Our first house. Trips to Hawaii, Chicago, San Francisco. The best band I've ever played with. Great shows. And more. Any list would need to start with those things. But this is an albums list. Once I lick the stamp on this one, maybe we can do a broader list (or two, because why not? No one's making you read).


Of course this will be wordy.

NEW ALBUMS

Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago

My favorite album of the year (Though, if you're really indie and wear multiple scarves in August, you would tell me that- officially- the album was released in 07. Thank you. Now go crawl back in your tawntawn.). For over a month, everyday, someone would IM me some new clip of the band doing something amazing. It's haunting. It's sad. It's cathartic. It's beautiful. The album is probably perfect and they've continued to reinvent the songs ever since. I can't recommend this one highly enough. Start with Skinny Love and Re:Stacks, but they're all good.

Jason Collett- Here's To Being Here
I totally failed in my attempts to evangelize anyone to this fine record. I don't suppose that'll end here. But the Broken Social Scener made a fine, fine folky rocky record. It has echoes of Harry Nilsson and Dylan and a ton of 70s singing and/or songwriting.

Matthew Ryan Vs The Silver State
Thanks to my friends Ryan Tanner and Eric Boam for not giving up on me with Matthew Ryan (like I am with all of you and Jason Collett). I'd think I had overlistened to the album, swear it off, and then a MRVSS song would pop up on random and floor me. Again. It happened just yesterday. It's a little like if Springsteen were more despondent and had Achtung Baby-era U2 behind him. Sort of. You can't go wrong with It Could've Been Worse, with the line "her blonde hair was the setting sun. her mascara was born to run" or Dulce et Decorum Est, which boasts the line "heroic in a failing way, for some of us it goes that way."

The Felice Brothers- s/t My friend Dave came over to recommend this album. I warned him, "As long as it's not Dylan-ish." (I had been listening to nothing but Bob for about a month and needed a breath.) He replied, "Try it anyway." Brash, sweet, sauced, stumbling, mumbling, rambling, and, yep, very Dylan-ish. It doesn't hurt that Leo lights up everytime "Love Me Tenderly" comes on. The kid LOVES that song.

Frightened Rabbit- Midnight Organ Flight Either I can't recommend this album enough or I can't recommend it because of its bad language. But, um, I like it. Emotional, raw, honest, with production that matches the great songs. And unfortunately some pub language.

The Hold Steady- Stay Positive WHOOOA-HO-HOOOO. (SLC, mark your calendars for April 11.) I wrote a REALLY lengthy review of this album for a sports/music blog called The Black Converse. You can read it HERE.

Retribution Gospel Choir- s/t Gotta be the first time a song has been a frontrunner for Song of the Year back-to-back years. Breaker is just that good. Alan Sparhawk, I love you. The movie about his other band, Low, called I Could Be Your Murderer is a very interesting take on a guy losing his marbles for a bit. Part of the interviews are filmed while Alan sits in the parking lot of his ward. His honesty and forthrightness are admirable.

Teddy Thompson- A Piece of What You Need Yes. I play favorites. And not just because he has red hair and is Richard Thompson's son. Something about Teddy Thompson's approach and especially the voice really gets through to me.

Damien Jurado- Caught In The Trees Still play favorites. And leaned a little towards the sad this year for whatever reason. Damien Jurado's songs will probably never be hits. But I think the years will show him as one of our better songwriters. And this is an unsurprisingly solid collection of songs that fits right in with the rest of his catalog.


Leona Naess- Thirteens And the favorites play on. The lack of critical love for her last 2 records borders on criminal. In a pretty great year, one of my big disappointments was getting pulled off the bill of her show with Ray LaMontagne.

Thao & The Get Down Stay Down- We Brave Bee Stings & All Thanks to Chris and Anna at Slowtrain. Go check out their store and they'll recommend you something you'll love. Thao's music is just pulsing with life. Try the infectious Bag of Hammers or Fear and Convenience.

The Weepies- Hideaway (Is it me? Or does that album art stink? The only way I'm taking that back is if it was drawn by Lil' Weepie Jr. or somebody with a terminal illness.) Praising this album won't garner me any scene points (though, as anyone who's seen my tally lately will attest, it's a pretty much a lost cause). Oh well. The melodies and writing are great, if not as wall-to-wall as their last album.

Doug Burr- On Promenade The best Ryan Adams album that Ryan Adams didn't release this year. It's like Heartbreaker-era RA. It sort of fits with Fleet Foxes, whose album I pretended was My Morning Jacket's new album, just to make me feel better.

TWO FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD RECORDS WORTH YOUR $
The Mollies- Yours Around The Roses The Madison Arm played a show with this band this year and their quirky, smart record wormed through my ears Wrath of Khan-style. Except if Khan were played by Bjork in a flapper dress and Spock wore vintage cufflinks and played the saw.
The Devil Whale- Like Paraders Brinton Jones is one of the great writers around, Marcus Bently is a storehouse of great guitar ideas, and it's no secret that Jake Fish is the man, not to mention the first-string tambourinist in my RockBand.com Fantasy Rock Band. That these songs finally have a home is good enough.

SOME OLDER ALBUMS REVISITED
Low- Things We Lost In The Fire
The Beatles- Love Leo loved this album is his first months.
Bob Dylan & The Band- The Basement Tapes
Fugazi- The Argument I loved 13 Songs for so long that I didn't want to threaten its pedestal by branching out. This year I picked up The Argument and the pedestal expanded. HELLO, SCENE POINTS!
Cracker- Greenland. More favorite-playing.
Grant Lee Buffalo- Mighty Joe Moon

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Blitzen Trapper- Furr
Jenny Lewis- Acid Tongue
Sun Kil Moon- April
Fleet Foxes- s/t
the new Sigur Ros (as if putting the title here would help at all)
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals- Cardinology
Rachael Yamagata- Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart

THE AIRING OF GRIEVANCES
Randy Newman- Harps And Angels. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood, but this didn't seem like it quite carried on the momentum of Bad Love
My Morning Jacket- Evil Urges. I was a little bit over the top in my angst against this album. But it just did nothing for me.

STILL HAVE TO GIVE AN EAR TO
The Gaslight Anthem, Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, Santogold, Mates of State, Nick Cave, TV On The Radio, Portishead, Shearwater, Death Cab For Cutie, Department Of Eagles, MGMT, Calexico, Delta Spirit, Grand Archives, Dr. Dog.

SORRY BUT
Vampire Weekend was not good. And, this will be really popular (but no one reads this far anyway), the Coldplay album was, well, overrated. And not just because of their ridiculous Les Miserables costumes.


ANY RECOMMENDATIONS?

Leo's First Christmas

As some of you may know, Paul's parents were kind (and awesome) enough to take us to Hawaii for Christmas this year. So, we don't have the traditional First Christmas photos of Leo in the snow or in front of the tree on Christmas morning. Nonetheless, it was an amazing First Christmas for all of us. It's hard to beat balmy 80 degree weather, the beach, the ocean and fresh papaya...

We finally got to see our friend Scott Wiley's favorite Mormon cultural idiosyncracy (people opening their talks by saying, "ALOHA, BROTHERS & SISTERS" even though they're either a] in Utah or b] not Hawaiian) in its proper context. ALOHA, BROTHERS & SISTERS! (no picture, sorry.)

We have a lot of pictures from Hawaii, so maybe we should just stick to Christmas Day for now.

Christmas morning

Since we decided to pack light, we only brought stockings for each other. It was nice keeping it simple. Here, Leo enjoys his stocking's spoils- gingerbread cookies, a Christmas (I think) monkey, and some other snacks.

Leo going to town on his stocking stuffer. Not pictured: Holly totally letting go.

Best big toe ever. Look at that thing. The only thing keeping it from being a thumb is opposability. And maybe the fact that it's a toe.

We went to the beach for some snorkeling. Leo got to try out his new watergear.

Leo's love of the ocean is still in its infancy.

There's more on Christmas, but I figured I'd just get something up here and maybe add a little on later.

The Mollies + The Madison Arm

Pardon the brief interruption of The Nog Debate, but I have a little shameless self-promotion. You should keep reading if:

- you ever thought, "Salt Lake's music scene is all the same." False. The Mollies are in their own league, stylistically and songwriting-wise. Awesome, beautiful, quiet, quirky, smart, interesting stuff– like the Be Good Tanyas meeting The Ditty Bops for a turn-of-the-century housewarming party on a mermaid-merry-go-round in Lake Pleasantville. (That's one pathetic stab at description, at least.) One of their singers- Becky Jean- sang on Home from the new record and Lost Highway on the last one. Hear the quirky greatness that is the Mollies HERE.

- you liked the CD Release Show and want some more. Say hello to more.

- you missed the CD Release Show and wanted to know when The Madison Arm would be playing again. We are playing again. This Thursday.

-you like intimate shows or art galleries or intimate shows in art galleries or intimate art in gallery shows. Wait. Scratch the last one.

-you STILL don't have the CD?!??? How are you even on this blog? Impostor...

So come on downtown. It will be amazing.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13
The Mollies and Paul Jacobsen & The Madison Arm
7pm
Kayo Gallery
177 east 300 south
$5



PS: If you, like Erasure, just can't get enough,We'll be doing an in-studio performance on KRCL (90.9 or KRCL.org for you out-of-statefolk) on Thursday at 5 pm MST. The Mollies will be playing at noon on Tuesday the 11th.

Paul: 1 Yellowjackets: 0

(This is an older post. I didn't have the camera to get the in-progress photos.)

My job is killing me.

I am killing wasps.

It's the beautiful circle of life that Elton John & Disney Blacksmith Mufasa sang about. Maybe calling it the food chain is more accurate. Whatever.

On to the ever-elusive point.

This spring, we discovered a wasps' nest in the little side nook of our garage. It's like that one spot on your back that you can't itch yourself- worse than just hard to reach. It's impossible to spray without trapping yourself in a veritable Corridor of Death with a whole swarm of angry, threatened, stinger-happy yellowjackets. Trust me: I got all bundled up from head-to-toe before electing NOT to press my luck with anaphylactic shock and/or emergency epinephrine shots. I bought a couple of different traps, the first of which (by big name brand Raid) was completely useless. The second of which was this bad boy.



I'd recommend it to anyone.

Let's take a look at how it did.


AFTER JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS


LATER



NOW

If You See Her, Say Hello

Work has been nuts.

It's now midnight and I can't predict if I'll be going home in 3 minutes or 3 hours. Good times.

With this economy, though, I'll count my blessings. Among them, a job and these two, who none of us see enough:

Baby Babar

The gestation period of an elephant is 22 months, the longest of any mammal. The gestation period of a Paul Jacobsen & The Madison Arm album is, apparently, 25 months (not counting the 3 years before we even started recording). Take that, Babar.

I know I've been super annoying about this. For some of you, this is probably the 5th place you've been reminded. The truth: I hate self promotion more than most. But the album is ready and I would love for you to come out and celebrate with us.



I couldn't be more proud of this album. It took as long as it needed to take to get it how we wanted it- up to Montana, down in Provo, even some help from Brooklyn. It's a step forward in terms of writing, and has some moments that still give me the chills. blah blah blah. If you want to know other ways you can help this album do something, there's a list way down at the end of the post where nobody but my mom usually reads.

Opening the show are two great friends and favorite songwriters: Dominic Moore and Sarah Sample. Sarah just played the main stage at Folks Fest in Colorado, after winning their Songwriter Showcase last year. And Dominic just started his residency in Phoenix; oh, and he just wrote about 10 songs that absolutely destroy me. I couldn't be happier about the bill.




I'll be playing with The Madison Arm, our band that's finally sorting itself out. It's the most rewarding, most fun I've had playing music for as long as I can remember.

So come out and hear us. You will have a great time, I promise.

SOMETHING A LITTLE LESS SELF-CENTERED
Finally, we'll be doing a raffle to benefit Stephanie & Christian Nielson, a family who has blessed the lives of many and now could use some help of their own. To keep it short, they (and their 4 kids) are friends of some of some of the guys in the band, were in a terrible plane crash, sustained major injuries and burns, and are obviously staring down the barrel of some tough days ahead, financially and just in general. To learn more, you can hear updates from Stephanie's sister Courtney or learn how you can help at Nie Recovery.
Suffice it to say, they need all the help and prayers and good luck they can get. So we thought we'd try to help out in our little way. So I hope you'll bring some extra money for the raffle, all proceeds going to the Nielson family and their recovery. We'll be giving away:
- 2 pairs of tickets to see Ray LaMontagne and Leona Naess
- original art by our favorite local painter, Leia Bell
- CDs from our favorite local record store, Slowtrain
- concert posters
- CDs by all the artists on the bill, and some other great artists
- and maybe more

You don't have to come to the show to donate, though. Any and all help is welcome and appreciated at Nie Recovery.

Thanks. We now return you to your regularly scheduled Leo sightings.

WAYS TO HELP THIS LITTLE ALBUM OF OURS. I dread asking for this kind of stuff. Oh well.

1) Buy it. Play it for friends. Buy it for friends. Stuff stockings. Put a song on a mix for your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/friends/family.
2) If you like it, review it on iTunes and/or CDBaby. If you like a particular song, make an iMix and post it on iTunes.
3) Host a house concert. It's simple. You supply the friends, I supply the music. These are usually really fun and intimate and some of the best shows I've played. We did one in Palo Alto a year or so ago with about 70 people and it was the best show of the tour by far.
4) You can request it on X96 or KRCL, if you listen to either of those stations. And it can't hurt to request it wherever you are.
5) Get your friends in other cities where we tour to come see us.