Notes from a Genius

Last weekend was chalk-full of shows. Friday night, I went down to Boston for an "early" show at the Middle East (which is a venue I used to frequent in my early 20s for hardcore or emo shows). This time around was not much different. The night started with a decent, indie band from Minnesota, The Social Animals, followed by a great solo set from the former lead singer of Augustana, Dan Layus, but the headliner was the draw for me- Twin Forks (which features Dashboard Confessional and Further Seems Forever mastermind Chris Carrabba), an Americana/folk band from the singer/songwriter who uses this as a vehicle to write "happier" tunes with some friends and his cousin behind the drums. I saw Twin Forks a couple of years ago when they opened for someone and I was blown away by their set. So, I listened to their one album over and over. Thankfully, they are working on a new album and played a few new songs on this night, as well as covers. Cross My Mind

I've got a few shows to catch up on, starting all the way back to April Fool's Day, go figure. I went to see a great local collaboration between two local musicians- Dave Gutter (of Rustic Overtones fame) and Anna Lombard. They have a project called Armies, which is excellent in and of itself, but for this show, they added the musical sounds of the Maine Youth Rock Orchestra (MYRO) which really made their songs pop even more. I've seen MYRO perform with The Ballroom Thieves and Gregory Alan Iskov last year and both shows were incredible with the orchestra sound. Armies is a special genre of music. I really love the mix of male-female vocals. It makes me think of Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson's collaboration. Or even She and Him. I just love it! This was an excellent show. ...................................................................................... A week later, I headed down to Boston to see a great singer/songwriter, Morgan James. I sort of