Paul Baribeau’s Grand Ledge

Adam - I'd love to go to Dia de los Toadies, I just never have time or money it seems like.

Jacob - I highly suggest checking them out, although it certainly doesn't make you any less of a musician for not having heard them yet. I had never heard Weezer's Pinkerton until a couple months ago (more on this in a future post) and I made it okay up till then.

Next album, Paul Baribeau's Grand Ledge.

It’s really amazing how certain albums seem to find you at just the right moments in your life, right when you need them most.  I had just gone through a bad break-up and was moving back home when I first heard this album. And that was apparently what Paul was going through when he wrote this album.

Aside from helping me through tough times, this is just a damn good album.  The DIY scene is still pretty young, but I feel that once it becomes the new “Indie,” this album will be one of the classics.  It just goes to show you that you can make an incredible album with just an acoustic guitar and the right words. And it doesn’t even clock in at 20 minutes!

I was fortunate enough to see Paul play at 1919 Hemphill a little over a year ago (I wanted to play that show so bad!), and it definitely made it into my top ten shows of all time.  If you’ve never known the ecstasy of crowding around one man and his guitar (I was an arms-length away) with 30 of your closest (and sweatiest) friends you’ve never met singing along at the top of your lungs, well, you’re missing out, is all I can say.

I wish I had a picture from that show to put below, but alas…. So here's a picture Sally took of some flamingos at the Ft. Worth Zoo.

Your turn, tell me about a favorite show you’ve been to—the sweat, the bruises, etc.

Toadies' Rubberneck

I’m still here, I promise. Thank you Wyatt and Jacob, I really appreciate your comments and they’re pretty much the sole reason I decided to try to keep going with this.

Now, on to the matter at hand….

This album marks the first time I ever really fell in love with an album as a whole put together piece of work.  I probably listened to my Rubberneck CD a good 2000 times through during my time in high school.  I was a very angry young man then and the Toadies worked as sort of an outlet.  If there’s anything you can say about Todd Lewis, it’s that he really is a master of channeling rage. 

Like the rest of the albums on this list it marked a turning point in my musical journey.  I got this album as a freshman in high school as a Christmas present (thanks mom!). I was still listening to radio rock at this point (and would continue to do so for a couple more years), but when I started listening to the Toadies I felt like it was okay that I had so much anger, and here was a way to focus it and not let it take over my life.  This eventually led to all music becoming an outlet for me in some way or another.  I guess that’s a lot to say about a band that’s just okay by most people’s standards.  Say what you will about the Toadies, but this album is damn good and will always be, no matter how mild-mannered I may become.

What do you have to say about these hometown heroes?


Here's a picture of me and some friends from high school, on a boat.