Song of the Week #15

Ha! I remembered!
And you all doubted me...

And Then I Slapped Myself in the Face

So I lied! I missed a week! I know I promised that I would post something every week but I just realized on sunday (so technically this week) that I forgot. Not only that but I forgot the song of the week. Dang it Sam! Why have I done this! So here's the deal. Not only did I slap myself in the face (yes I really did) but from now on (or at least for as long as I can put up with) you can comment any ridiculous thing you want ,as long as it isn't inappropriate or pornographic in any way (I'm looking at you Steven), and I will draw it! Now I know I'm not very good at drawing. I'm a musician. So don't get your hopes up for some crazy-good french museum-worthy crap up in here. You aren't gonna get it. But you can have flying robot dinosaurs on stilts, or fencing narwals, or even a platypus. Made out of Jello. On second thought, no you can't. That would be stealing my ideas. AND THAT'S PLAGIARISM!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THAT'S BAD!!! HAVEN'T YOU EVER LISTENED IN ANY ENGLISH CLASS EVER!?!? My goodness you uncultured son of a motherless goat. I already drew the fencing narwals so why would you even want to request that?

Aint they pretty?

And the other two just sound too hard.  PLUS PLAGIARISM!!

Anyway, that's my idea of a punishment for myself. It's kind of more for fun really. But I really did slap myself in the face! Soooooooo yeah. The end.

In other news, I got one of those weird little valentine things that the student council makes you pay for that have the cheaply designed printed card and piece of slightly inedible candy! Frrrrrooooom (drum roll please..) Mattes... Wow I'm popular. But any way, leave all your suggestions for drawings in the comments and I promise I'll be back next week.

The Jon Batiste Adventures Continue!

So I didn't think anything nearly as amazing as the Jon Batiste clinic last week. I was terribly wrong. Quite possibly the only thing that comes close to jamming with Jon Batiste and Stay Human is watching them in concert. It was easily the coolest concert I have ever been to! Not only did we get to move up to row E from row T, but no matter where you were it felt like the band was right there! In fact, at one point in the show, the percussionist was playing tambourine while standing on top of the chair directly in front of me in the Eccles Center. If I wanted to I could literally have reached out and touched him!

Picture from here

And then we had a love riot. It was great.

What's that? You don't know what a love riot is? Well let me tell you. In the words of Jon Batiste (or at least how I remember them) a love riot is a huge group of people that basically has a riot but with all positive energy. And trust me, there was a lot of energy. And a lot of awesome music. And not really a lot of people. That was pretty nice though because if there had been a lot of people I probably wouldn't have gotten about a foot away from the band. So if you learned nothing from this blog post (which you probably havent. I didn't.) then just learn that no matter what, never miss out on a chance to see Jon Batiste and Stay Human in concert! It was one of the two best experiences that I've had in the past month involving melodicas.

What's that? You don't know what a melodica is either? Wow you're uneducated. No offense but you seriously have issues. Like you haven't even lived yet. But if you must know then I'll tell you. Basically what a melodica is is what happens when you combine together a piano, a harmonica, and a Dr Seuss book. 

Picture from here

It's basically amazing. Heres a video of an old guy with a swagalicious hat playing pink panther on his melodica.

This is my new favorite person.

Song of the Week #14

Song of the Week #13

Jon Batiste is HERE!!

I had most likely the best experience of my life today. An amazing jazz musician named Jon Batiste is in park city this weekend and every member of the band program was invited to do a workshop jam session thing with him! It was absolutely amazing. The coolest part was that we basically made up original songs on the spot. It started out with just one theme. Then we added different parts to it and made it totally awesome. It was so much fun and the best time of had in my life. Plus tomorrow I get to go to his concert in the eccles center.

Image from here

More than anything this experience has opened my eyes to the possibilities of musical collaboration. There was at least a hundred students there at the time and they were all playing. And it actually sounded good! That's just the power of what happens when an amazing musician and a group of other musicians gets together. We made something incredible from a bunch of individual little things combining together and creating art! There's a video out of the same thing he did with the students here last year. I'll make sure to post one from this year if there ever is one. But for now just remember that if you ever need something to make your day, music is the answer. Trust me, that was proven to me today.