Shout out, do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
they delight to draw near to God.
“Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day,
and oppress all your workers.
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
 

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,

then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.
 

If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
if you call the sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the LORD honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;

then you shall take delight in the LORD,
and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

[Emphasis mine]

I know Glen Hansard ends up being the dominant voice of The Swell Season while Marketa really solidifies every song she supports. But seriously, she sounds so good up front on these tunes. I only deeply cared for a few of the Swell Season tunes she sang lead on but I feel like this album really does her justice.

If you’re in the mood for some lovely, moody, piano-based tunes – oh boy, here you go! This might be staying in my rotation for quite a while.

I was about to park at the venue tonight only to first see a sign outside the theater right across the street that informed me The Civil Wars were playing a sold out show there tonight as well.

I had no idea. I would’ve loved to see The Civil Wars. I’m a big fan. A huge fan.

But alas, it was too late. With my mouth agape I accepted my fate and continued on to previously scheduled non-Civil Wars show.

The opener had already started by the time I walked in. I don’t know who the band was but I was too distracted by the beautiful songs and magical harmonies that I was missing across the street that I couldn’t really enjoy their set.

I finally sucked it up when Tedeschi Trucks came out. And wow! They certainly made me forget my worries for the entire set! Great songs, great musicianship. I think the word that summed it all up best for me was “compelling.” They’re an incredibly compelling band.

Derek Trucks can play. Man, can he PLAY! He had this raw but polished, singing yet aggressive guitar tone. It was gorgeous. And he’s just a beast with that slide, too!

And Susan Tedeschi – what a voice! Talk about a compelling voice. The band would have these long moments of jamming and it’d be great and all but Susan would come back in with the vocals and just take everything to a whole new level. Killer.

And let’s not kid ourselves, that band can play. Each member of the 11 piece band is throwing down some serious goodness. They’re quite the impressive group, I must say.

So yeah.

No Civil Wars for me. But Tedeschi Trucks Band certainly proved inspirational tonight. I’d definitely wanna see them again. Really, I’m so motivated by Derek Trucks’ playing that I wanna dump all my pedals and learn how to carry a song with just some guitar chops. But I’m not that daring yet

Here’s a blurry picture of the band.

When the leadership of HYPF proposed the organization’s involvement in hosting a human trafficking awareness event, I was at first hesitant only because I hoped this wouldn’t be an outreach motivated by what was popular at the time. It’s not that helping out a cause because it’s a popular move is reason enough to not help at all. I didn’t want any positive effect of the event to simply end when the actual event ended. However, after much prayer and discussion, it was decided that this was the right direction for HYPF’s involvement.

The specifics of the awareness event evolved significantly over the course of a couple of months. What started as a plan to show the Sex and Money film turned into a night that involved a human trafficking presentation by Redeemed Ministries, a group here in Houston set on meeting the needs of human trafficking victims in the area.

We also planned to have a segment of the evening dedicated to hearing from a woman we met named Cat French whose work with a group called Exodus Cry also aims to end modern day slavery. She would share her involvement with the sex trafficking industry in the Houston area. However, since she was unavailable to be at the event, we decided to film her talking about her experiences as well as capture a taste of her “Van Tours,” a tour she offers showcasing existing brothels and institutions of commodified sex in the Houston area.

The first time I rode out on a tour with Cat I was deeply troubled to see how prevalent a problem this is in this city. It’s heartbreaking, in a very real way. I feel privileged to have been a part of helping bring Cat’s message to new audiences because this is a cause that needs all the support it can get. Some may argue it’s trendy to do human trafficking awareness events these days. Even still, this problem is real and it’s serious and it’s not too late to be involved in some form to see it come to an end.

Colbert’s great.

Brian Eno is killer.

And I love Michael Stipe.

(I’d have included the video here but it’s not uploaded yet. Sorry.)

The end.

If there’s one thing my father said when he was younger
To a kid with a mullet that looked like his son
To want and to try is the difference why
Some people will walk and some run

-Butch Walker, “Song for the Metalheads”

I’ve been a big, albeit late, fan of Butch’s work. I think his name pops up more often these days alongside the “producer” or “songwriter” title for a ton of other artists, but I became a fan of his solo album, Sycamore Meadows, a record that’s quite late in his storied, experienced career. I’ve loved his following two albums with The Black Widows and, thanks to Spotify, I’m getting better acquainted with all of his past work.

The book is Butch sharing the stories of his life and career, from his early days in a metal band trying to make it (and actually making it), then falling from rock graces only to climb back up to success again and again despite all sorts of adversities along the way.

He comes across as a kind-hearted person, an incredibly tenacious artist with some pretty legendary mettle, and, as the title would suggest, someone you could easily share a drink with. Do go check out his music if you’re not familiar with it already. Or if you check out his Wikipedia page you can see some of the records he’s had his hand in, just to list a few. For instance, he produced the song “Candy,” one of my favorites from the latest Gavin DeGraw album. This guy’s just all over the place.

This time of year, signified specifically by Halloween for me, always indicated the official arrival of Fall. Maybe it has to do with it not being convincingly autumnal here in Houston until this late in the year. But when the pumpkins start showing up in grocery stores and when crappy costumes make their way onto the shelves, I know cooler weather and longer evenings are finally here to stay (fingers crossed this year) – a very welcome change after our scorching summers.

I have fond memories of Ms. Chandler’s fourth grade class around this time of year. I remember the Halloween decorations and festivities but that wasn’t what got me particularly excited. I loved the need to wear a jacket to school every morning. On those certain days, I loved seeing the dark, gloomy sky from within the hearth that was our bustling elementary classroom, the moodiness of nature that I (maybe wrongly?) still associate with this time of year.

Yes, I love it all. So, I hope you enjoyed yourselves a nice Halloween. No trick-or-treaters came by here which was convenient since we had no candy that wasn’t already expired.