Dawes

Monday Morning Music: All Your Favorite Bands

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

It’s Monday.

Your mind is consumed with all things you have to do for all the things you have due.

After a weekend full of forgetting all your cares, the alarm on your phone reawakens all your troubles.

If only there was a simple solution. If only there was a way to stop worrying about all your problems. If only there was a way to take your mind off of yourself.

Maybe you could use a little Monday Morning Music.

dawes-albumOver the past few years Dawes has been churning out raw and honest music that hearkens back to the glory days of Jackson Browne and other west coast songwriters. While many of their songs tell long and intricate stories, the title track to their latest album tells a simple one. Continue reading →

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Monday Morning Music: Kansas City

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(Click Here if you can’t see the video above)

One of the most buzzed about musical projects of the year is The New Basement Tapes. It’s a collaboration between Marcus Mumford (of Mumford and Sons), Rhiannon Giddens (of The Carolina Chocolate Drops), Jim James (of My Morning Jacket), Taylor Goldsmith (of Dawes) and Elvis Costello (of Elvis Costello).

That all-star lineup in and of itself is awesome enough. But that’s not even the coolest part.

What makes The New Basement Tapes special is these artist have come together to record a set of newly discovered lyrics written by none other than Bob Dylan. Continue reading →

The Engagement Story

/ Alex Doriot / 3 Comments

I always dreamed about having the perfect engagement story.

Long before I ever had a girlfriend, I wanted my future fiancé to be able to recount a magical tale – an elaborately orchestrated scenario which led to me on one knee asking her to get married.

At times I envisioned there would be rented-out movie theaters, trips to far-off destinations, family members flown in from across the country. Fireworks, flowers, farm animals – all were involved in various scenarios over the years.

Of course, I could never settle on the perfect engagement setup. I couldn’t afford it. I couldn’t find the time to make it happen. I couldn’t make it just right.

Last year I knew I had found the girl I wanted to marry. After years of dating around, I was ready to take the plunge and pop the question.

But I could not get over the crippling fear of finding the perfect engagement story. So I kept putting off the proposal.

In my head I could not propose to my girlfriend until I could create the greatest proposal of all time.

Then, right around Thanksgiving, something clicked. Continue reading →

Finding Your Home For The Holidays

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

(Click Here if you can’t see the video above.)

Christmas is a time of celebration. Bright lights. Shiny presents. Milk and cookies.

It’s also the time for a new Christmas single from The Killers.

The Killers have long been one of my favorite bands. Back in 2006 they started a tradition of releasing an original Christmas single each year to benefit (RED), a charity which distributes life-saving medicines to those with HIV and AIDS in Africa.

Some of the singles sounds like classic Christmas tunes. Some are quirky and stylish. Some, like this year’s “Christmas In L.A.” featuring another of my favorite bands Dawes, are thoughtful and introspective and a little sad.

“Christmas In L.A.” is the tale of a struggling actor (played in the video by Owen Wilson) stuck in the doldrums of Los Angeles who can’t afford to make it back home for December 25.

Sometimes my girlfriend gets onto me for having so much depressing Christmas music on my holiday playlists. But, to quote Sir Elton John, sad songs say so much. Continue reading →

Who Goes To The Opera Anymore?

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

“Really, do people still go to the opera? Opera is still a thing? What am I doing here?”

All of these thoughts ran through my head this past Saturday night. My girlfriend and I attended the Atlanta Opera’s production of “Tosca”.

The opera was impressive, extravagant, and I must admit, entertaining.

Never in my life did I think I’d be writing a sentence like that. If you were to tell me two years ago I would soon become a regular attendee of the opera I would have believed you, only if you were referring to the soap opera of professional wrestling.

Then I met my girlfriend. She’s an opera student. She opened my eyes to a section of the arts I did not know was still vibrant and relevant.

So there we sat Saturday night, taking in a 3 hour opera performance.

This is not a post for me to brag about what a wonderful boyfriend I am for gritting my teeth, forsaking football and enduring the opera. I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy the entire experience of dressing up, drinking $9 champagne, and taking in the incredible Italian singing.

This post is just to point out sometimes you do crazy things for the ones you love. Continue reading →