Remembering the Encores

You Got Me / Ingrid Michaelson Featuring Storyman Callin' Baton Rouge / Garth Brooks (but, because this song is impossible to find on the internet, I've actually been listening to some sort of Country Cardio version of it that's quite good) Rocking Chair / The Alternate Routes Asked You Twice / The Alternate Routes Anywhere With You / Jake Owen I Lived / One Republic 

Who: O.A.R. When: May 12, 2014 Where: Creative Live Studios/ San Francisco, CA With: The band, like 6' from me Of Note: You win this one San Francisco; you win this one. Also, you can buy this session! Click here, pay $10 (most of which goes to O.A.R.'s Heard the World Charity!) and play "Spot Jen in the audience!" Okay, so I've been seeing O.A.R. for a long time ; they make me feel like college and summer in Buffalo and like I want to be wrapped up in a warm blanket of Marc's voice and live there. (How is it possible that I've only written about 3 O.A.R. shows? I've seen them at least two dozen times. File under things to rectify, I guess.) Anyway, O.A.R. played three shows at the Independent one May week-end in SF. And in the week leading up to that week-end, they tossed up a Facebook post that said, "We're doing a live stream on Monday and the first ten people who comment get to come." I was one of the first ten to resp...

Who: Up and Coming Country Stars Whose Names I Don't Know Because They are BAD AT MARKETING When: May 23-27, 2014 Where: Broadway / Nashville, TN With: Barb Of Note: One night in Nashville is fun. Two nights in Nashville is a LOT of fun. Three nights in Nashville pushes you to the brink of death. Four nights in Nashville? That makes you a champion. So, because my life is awesome, I had the opportunity to piggy back on a work trip and spend Memorial Day week-end in Nashville, TN. And, since Barb is always up for anything and needed a week-end away, she flew down to meet me. Guys? Nashville is amazing because you can (almost literally) see bands 24 hours a day. Most of you who have been to this space before will understand that is essentially utopia. So, because I figure that at least one of these guys will BLOW UP to be the next country superstar, I'm going to try to document at least some of who we saw. First off, though, fair musicians of Nashville, may I...