When there’s nothing much you can do in bed except browse the iTunes store and YouTube on your iPod, eventually you’ll come up with some interesting finds.
I really enjoyed discovering these artists. Not much background to give yet on them, though. It’s a pain to research on such a tiny screen. Maybe if you ask nicely, Music Maven might help you. She’s brilliant like dat.
Tina Dico – Room With A View
And you probably thought I couldn’t spell, eh?
So I’ve spent a good part of my recent weeks in bed. Which meant that half the time I never even got to taking my photo for the day, and the other half of the time was spent trying to decide which would make a more interesting photo – the remote control sitting on the bed, or my assorted bottle of meds on the nightstand.
And the other half was spent trying to remember how to do math in my head.
Being down and not even able to head outdoors for a change of scenery, I needed to be distracted from the inevitable numbing boredom of laying in bed all day. Without cable. Or a laptop. Try it sometime and let me know which one drives you crazier: the back pain or the head exploding from the imposed inactivity.
While I did a lot of reading and Sudoku-ing and playing backgammon against my iPod, the distractions I was most grateful for came from my family, my pal Shrew and the get-well wishes of the Shrew Crew (KD, Karma, MM/DD, Brc, Jenfera, Renae, and Daily), and the many wonderful, caring and concerned friends in my congregation. They not only cheered me up with emails, phone calls, cards, full meals delivered to my doorstep, and the occasional visit when I was able to receive them, they also regularly offered help with everyday tasks around the house, like cleaning and laundry. Shrew, despite being ill at that time, even offered to get me some chicken soup. (Fortunately, I have a capable and handy husband around the house, so things were pretty much under control.)
As for my camera, it was particularly grateful for the bouquets of hope-you-feel-better-soon flowers sitting around the house. Because it meant that, even though I couldn’t take it outside to take pictures of all the springtime lushness overtaking my garden, I still had something prettier indoors to focus on. Prettier, that is, than my remote control or my bottle of Vitamin B6.
See? Isn’t that prettier than a gray box with rubber buttons?
I knew you’d agree.
From the official Ray LaMontagne site:
RAY LAMONTAGNE TO RELEASE THIRD ALBUM,‘GOSSIP IN THE GRAIN’ ON SEPTEMBER 9THLauded singer/songwriter, Ray LaMontagne is set to release his much-anticipated third album, Gossip In The Grain, on September 9th on RCA Records. Recorded with returning producer, Ethan Johns in Box, England, and touching upon a range of styles and musical settings- spanning pastoral folk, railroad blues, front porch country, and plangent balladry – Gossip In The Grain proves to be his most creative and emotionally expansive collection to date.
Whereas LaMontagne’s two previous albums, ‘Trouble’ and ‘Till The Sun Turns Black’, were largely solo affairs, with Johns serving as multi-tasking instrumentalist, Gossip In The Grain sees him joined by members of his touring band, bassist Jennifer Condos and guitarist Eric Heywood (with Johns largely handling drum duties). Along with his band members, LaMontagne is also joined on two tracks – “A Falling Through” and “I Still Care For You” – by singer/songwriter Leona Naess.
As LaMontagne explains “It was time to open up a little bit more, not be quite so reserved in my choice of songs that I wanted to record. I’m really very critical of myself and it’s sort of a process of opening up. I felt like I was in the right space to show that side of myself.” Recently called by Vanity Fair “a fresh reminder that the genuine artist is not yet an extinct species,” Gossip In The Grain reconfirms Ray LaMontagne as an artist and a craftsman without limits, a songwriter who is able to work his melodic gifts and distinctive lyricism through any of the myriad musical traditions that catches his fancy.
Tracklisting:
1. Let It Be Me
2. Hey Me, Hey Mama
3. Sarah
4. I Still Care For You
5. Winter Birds
6. Meg White
7. Achin’ All The Time
8. Henry Nearly Killed Me (It’s A Shame)
9. A Falling Through
10. Gossip In The Grain
I write, cook, play music, and make pictures. Not necessarily in that order. I was born and raised in the Philippines, and it shows. That means I eat rice with every meal, love my cousins like my own siblings, and firmly believe that avocados are best eaten with cream and sugar.
If you want to learn more about me, here are 43 things I'd like to do. Here's a little something about my name, in case you were wondering. Here are some other places you'll find me:
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One summer night in 2010, our house burned to the ground and we lost everything we had. This is the story of what happened and how life and hope can always rise from ashes.
