Isaiah 58

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]

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Marketa Irglova

In my unending love of all things related to The Swell Season I am currently rockin Marketa Irglova’s solo record on perpetual repeat. Anar is 12 simply laid tracks of beautiful (and at times haunting) melodies, a quiet, organic vibe to the overall sound, and other vague descriptions you can string together.

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.

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Tedeschi Trucks Band

I was pretty excited to catch Tedeschi Trucks Band tonight. I first experienced the band by hearing their latest album on Spotify several months ago. Holy crap! Fantastic stuff. I was sold. So, when I learned they were coming to town I was in. I was pretty excited.

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.

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