the alterna-indie folk-punk revolution begins!

for those of you who don't know me, i am a huge bob dylan fan. listening to him really opened up my entire musical repertoire and made me appreciate not only folk but other styles as well. in the end however, folk has really dominated my listening tastes in the past eight to ten years. i find myself always draw to the acoustic stylings and what they are able to do with the simplistic instruments and interesting tones. in the past few years indie music, punk music, and folk music have come together to form a new style that isn't easily definable. this has become one of my favorite styles of music in the past few years and more bands are popping up and taking this new/old style to new levels. the first band i heard that i think really typifies this style is murder by death. they are a perfect example of the punk traditions added to the folk styling and they rock hard! the avett brothers were the next band i heard that i felt really grasped the feeling of this new indie music and they make folky-punk awesome! the felice brothers have a similar sound to the avett brothers but really amp up the punk feeling by making things chaotic. the two new additions to this music are mumford and sons and river city extension. mumford and sons have the banjo and acoustic attack with the passionate vocals that tend to typify this style while river city extension adds in a brass sound to make things even more interesting.

murder by death












the avett brothers












the felice brothers












mumford and sons












river city extension












so this post got me to thinking, if i were to form an epic alterna-indie folk-punk band along with some famous (or maybe not so famous) musicians, what would it look like? what follows would be my dream band of this style if i could choose from anyone anywhere...

myself - lead vox, acoustic/electric guitars, harmonica
aaron sprinkle (solo, fair, poor old lu) - acoustic/electric guitars, bgv's
the edge (u2) - electric guitar, bgv's
bela fleck (bela fleck & the flecktones) - banjo
chris thile (solo, nickel creek, punch brothers) - mandolin, bgv's
mike herrera (mxpx, the cooties) - bass guitar, bgv's
norah jones (solo, the little willies) - piano, bgv's
jenny conlee (the decemberists) - hammond b3, keyboards
mike marsh (dashboard confessional) - drums
rashawn ross (studio session work, dave matthews band) - trumpet
lee loughnane (chicago) - trumpet
jeff coffin (bela fleck & the flecktone, dave matthews band) - sax, clarinet, flute
sara watkins (solo, nickel creek) - violin, fiddle, bgv's
sarah balliet (murder by death) - cello, bgv's
karen bernquist (over the rhine) - bgv's
sarah jarosz (solo) - bgv's

so there it is. i know what you're saying, "aaron that is way too many people." i beg to differ! what i have created is the ultimate epic alterna-indie folk-punk band! the epic sounds would never stop and would create an awesome wall of sound to rival the greatest music ever created! mwa ha ha ha ha...

okay...that rant is over now. now i am going to list the band that i would create with friends and people i have known and/or played with in the past is some form or another. i can't even promise that some of these people even play their instrument any more, but hey, that's what fantasy is about right? here goes...

myself - lead vocals, electric/acoustic guitars, mandolin, harmonica
josh jacoby - electric/acoustic guitars, banjo, mandolin
matthew gromis - electric guitar
jenny fretz - acoustic guitar, bgv's
kevin ward - bass guitar
kaley keener - piano, bgv's
kathrin thawley - hammond b3, keyboards, bgv's
adam rohrer - drums, bgv's
matthew wertz - trumpet
bradley gromis - trumpet
katie huston - clarinet
andy fretz - cello
amanda vining - bgv's
tara towner - bgv's
emily mcallister (soon to be rohrer!) - bgv's

i know all of you are looking at that list and saying, "seriously?" yes seriously! how awesome and epic would we be! i believe we will be called "the epic revolution." plus we would take over the world, mwa ha ha ha ha! okay, enough evil, taking-over-the-world laughs. let me know what ya think people! till next time, rock 'n' roll!

the epic revolution

i pose to you the question, "what are your top 10 albums?" "go."

this post is for my boy matty mcclure of the clan mcclure. all throughout college (and many years afterward) we would pose "top 5" or "top 10" list questions to each other. for example, one of us would ask the other "what are your top 5 action movies?" we would pose these questions anywhere and everywhere just because we could. anywho...this one is for you matty. the question posed today is "what are your top 10 albums?" just to make this easier on myself these are in no particular order, just alphabetical, and they are my personal favorite albums and are always subject to change...but probably not. so here goes...

1. the avett brothers "i and love and you"

this is a great folk/country/punk/whatever album by the incredible avett brothers. a band consisting of the two brothers (generally playing all instruments except bass) and a bass player, these three play tight folk music with raucous abandon and rock out in the process!


2. coldplay "a rush of blood to the head"

the second mainstream lp by the british pop rock band took the sounds heard off of their previous album "parachutes" and adds a level of production and epic grandeur that turned them into the superstars they are now.



3. bob dylan "blonde on blonde"

this album took the beauty of the the plugged-in sound that dylan explored on "highway 61 revisited" and turned up the eclectic sounds and genre twists. never has dylan sounded so great!



4. green day "21st century breakdown"

the most recent album by the punk pop superstars takes their sound to the next level. they have proven that they aren't the burp-and-fart-joke punkers that they may have started out as, but have grown into a legitimate pop rock band...heavy on the rock! this concept album proves that a story can be told and totally rock out at the same time.

5. shooter jennings & heirophant "black ribbons"

this is the first album that shooter jennings (son of waylon jennings) put out with his newest band hierophant. his previous albums would best fit under the title of alternative country but this one takes a decidedly different turn. someone smarter than myself describes this album as "the allman brothers meets pink floyd" and jennings himself says he made it with nine inch nails in mind. this is an incredible album, enough said!

6. jimmy eat world "clarity"

this is the third studio lp by the emo/alternative/pop band jimmy eat world, and it is an amazing album. this is often considered (along with weezer's "pinkerton") one of the penultimate albums of the third wave of the loosely titled emo genre. because of it's resonance with fans jimmy eat world actually recorded the whole album live (sold out shows across america) and released it ten years after the initial studio release.

7. pink floyd "dark side of the moon"

this is easily one of the most beautiful albums i have ever had the pleasure of listening to. this is a concept album and pink floyd used the opportunity to take their epic rock sound and add a more progressive sound to really make it lush and beautiful. what came together is one of my favorite albums ever. plus, you can sync it up with "the wizard of oz"...i mean how cool is that?

8. aaron sprinkle "bareface"

this may have been my most difficult decision due to my absolute love of aaron sprinkle and all of his incarnations. these include his solo work and his bands, poor old lu, rose blossom punch, and most recently, fair. i ended up choosing this album because i think it gives the best overall view of aaron sprinkle as an artist...and it is a beautiful folk/rock album.

9. u2 "joshua tree"

is it possible to do a top 10 music list without adding the most epic rock album of all time? no, i think not. and with u2's "joshua tree" album that title is now taken. the irish rock band took their sound to new epic levels with this release. on another note, it contains one of my favorite songs (another list!) of all time, "with or without you."

10. wilco "yankee hotel foxtrot"

this album is the fourth by the pop/rock/alternative/alt country band wilco. while it was well received by critics (and fans alike) it was dismissed by their record label as too "offbeat" to be received by their peers...a view that was found to be incorrect. this album takes their sound and adds beeps, clicks, synths, and other oddities to create a lush and beautiful album that now takes it's rightful place on my top 10 list.


honorable mentions...


ryan adams "heartbreaker"






the decemberists "hazards of love"






elliott "false cathedrals"






the get up kids "something to write home about"






led zeppelin "led zeppelin iv (aka zoso)"






lynyrd skynyrd "pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd"






bill mallonee "friendly fire"






rolling stones "let it bleed"






elliott smith "either/or"






butch walker & the let-go-out-tonites
"the rise and fall of butch walker & the lets-go-out-tonites"






well, there you are, a comprehensive list of my favorite albums in no particular order. i would be interested to hear some of your favorites. till next time, rock 'n' roll!