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Hello. Yes, I know, it’s been a while. Had lots of stuff I needed to do, but new year, new attitude and soon a new job!

So look for more here on a more regular basis.

Ryan Smith – Live at Skully’s

Hayseed – Live at Ruby Tuesday
Part of the Twang Alliance of Central Ohio

Mark Peppercorn of the Whiles – Live at Skully’s

Jesse Cooper of the Receiver – Live at Skully’s

Drake Tulloh and Mark Nye of Razorbliss – Live at the Kickstand

Life, as John Lennon says, is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.

Content to come here this week as we get back to business here at JACOMB

Here is the latest installment of JACOMB’s Five Questions With featuring Red Wanting Blue frontman Scott Terry.

Scott discusses the new album, the name of the hidden track and how it came to be, his favorite places to play outside of Columbus and more. We had a slight interruption during the interview as one of Columbus’s finest police officers came upstairs to discuss a slight incident involving stolen gear … but no worries, the bad guys were caught by Charlie’s Angel.

Enjoy!

Another great weekend of live local music is on tap. Here’s what I recommend this weekend:

Wednesday, Sept 3:
Jakob Freely at Gordys
Megan Palmer, Brian Alton and Phil Clark at Oldfield’s

Thursday, Sept 4:
Colin Gawel at Rumba (early … 6-9 p.m.)
Red Wanting Blue at Park Street Patio

Friday, Sept 5:
Paper Airplane at Ruby Tuesday (on Summit)
Spikedrivers at Skully’s

Saturday, Sept 6:
Sean Connerys at Papa Boo’s

Sunday, Sept 7:
Paper Airplane, Brothers & Sisters and Aura at Bernie’s

Monday, Sept 8:
Ian Thomas and Micah from Two Cow Garage at Rumba

After a bit of a summer break … it’s time to hit the streets with another edition of Five Questions With …. featuring the charismatic frontman of Semi Precious Weapons Justin Tranter. I met Justin (and his adorable, lovable mom) at a Swig Tooth show in Asbury Park, New Jersey, in the summer of 2006. I remember asking him if he would mind if I photographed their show in Columbus later that summer. He said, “I was made for the camera.” He’s right.

Here is (significantly more than) Five Questions With … Justin Tranter

Check back later for Five Questions With Aaron Tasjan … singer/songwriter and guitarist for Semi Precious Weapons … and a native of New Albany, Ohio.

Justin Tranter of Semi Precious Weapons getting ready before the BOMA show Sunday. More photos to come!

The latest release from Columbus-based Red Wanting Blue, “These Magnificent Miles,” is like a visit from a old friend who brings along a friend of his you met once or twice before, you can’t quite recall. 

The old friend, of course, would be the four songs featured on their 2006 live CD/DVD  “The Warehouse Sessions” which featured our the recorded versions “You Are My Las Vegas,” “Where You Wanna Go,” “Finger In The Air” and “Space Time.”

The new guy is the other nine tracks on “These Magnificent Miles,” most of which have been played live in the two years since the release of” The Warehouse Sessions.” At first, it’s slightly strange, but after a few listens, you realize the new guy … he’s gonna be a friend for a long time, too.

Opening up with “Gravity” is a great way to go. I love when an CD takes you for a journey, right from the start.  The lyrics in this song show the range of Scott Terry’s gift of taking everything into the fold, painting a great set of images, and then letting you go off to visit. My favorite is the second verse:

“And I would vandalize outer space
Remake out constellations to spell our names
Like when we used to carve our names in the bark
Or write upon the windshield fog in the car
Sign autographs with sparklers in the dark
We’ll make graffiti out of stars.”

Great visuals, great lyrical structure, and the band behind him … just nails it.

While “Gravity” is the first outer-space themed song, it’s not the only. “The World Is Over” and “Space Time” also call out to the void, as does the bonus track at the end of “The Band” called “I Don’t Wanna Hear It.”  While it’s noticeable, it’s not overbearing.  In fact, “The World Is Over” briefly skims the topic in one of those upbeat “we’re all gonna die” songs with a great chorus that will have you singing along:

 ”So beat that drum
Til we run out all of the air in our lungs
And kiss goodbye to lovers that we’ve loved
We can’t take them with us
The world is over”

despite the fact we’re screwed by various ways we all could die, such as hurricanes, tidal waves, UFO’s and weapons of mass destruction.

As for the rest of the release, “Where You Wanna Go,” “The Air I Breathe,” “Probably Nothing” and “The Band” show Terry’s romantic side; “Red Ryder” and the bonus song (“Caveman” maybe?) his nostalgic; and “You Are My Las Vegas.” “New Cool,” “U.S. Bumper Sticker” and “The World Is Over” show the playfulness.

The more time I spend with this CD, the more I realize how the change in personnel has allowed a new sound to come out of Red Wanting Blue. Drummer Mark Stepro left to tour the world with Ben Kweller; and guitarist John Kengla to tour the five boroughs of New York. Eddie Davis and Eric Hall, Jr., respectively, bring a slightly smoother and noticeably different sound noticed most on “Finger In The Air” where the guitar parts are very smooth and add much to the lyrics.

“These Magnificent Miles” is a well-rounded collection highlighting the band’s maturity, growth and the fun they have playing their music. That’s obvious at any live show, but hard to capture, even on live albums.

Red Wanting Blue’s tour kicks off on August 28th … for tour dates visit them on Myspace.  They’ll be playing The Lazy Chameleon in Powell on Saturday, August 30^th.  

Track List for These Magnificent Miles (click to order direct from the band):

01 Gravity
02 You Are My Las Vegas
03 Where You Wanna Go
04 The World Is Over
05 Finger In The Air
06 Red Ryder
07 The Air I Breathe
08 New Cool
09 Probably Nothing
10 U.S. Bumper Sticker
11 Space Time
12 The Band
13 I Don’t Wanna Hear It

Thursday, 8-21
The Sean Connerys – Champps at Easton
Nate McDonough – Adobe Gila’s at Easton
Phantods – Rumba Cafe

Friday, 8-22
The Filthy Habits – Rude Dog
Willie Phoenix – Slapsy Maxie’s

Saturday, 8-23
Stretch Lefty’s CD Release Party – Skully’s
El Jesus de Magico – Carabar
Given To Fly (a Pearl Jam coverband) – Lazy Chameleon

Sunday, 8-24
Alice Cooper – the LC Pavilion

The track list features quite a few of the songs they’ve been playing live (click here for photos) for the last year, including You Are My Las Vegas, Gravity, Where You Wanna Go, The World Is Over, Finger In The Air, Spacetime, U.S. Bumper Sticker and a few others you might recognize.
 Red Wanting Blue is playing the Lazy Chameleon in Powell on August 30th with Nate McDonough who’s been on my list of people to see for a while … so I’m looking forward to that.

• The Milwaukees – American Anthems Vol. 1
• Green Day – American Idiot
• Kathleen Edwards – Asking For Flowers
• Guided By Voices – The Best Of
• The Clarks – Fast Moving Cars

What are you listening to?