Good Ole Southern Rock

I'm here to tell you about a little band whom few people have heard of, called DecembeRadio. Many of you probably haven't heard of them because their exposure has been limited to mostly Christian music fans, but I promise you, if you haven't heard these guys you are truly missing out on one of the greater bands in the country.

DecembeRadio hails from the small town of Dublin in Pulaski County, Virginia. Actually, only two of the members were born there - Josh Reedy (lead vocals/bass guitar) and Brian Bunn (lead guitar). Eric Miker (backing vocals/rhythm guitar) comes from West Virginia and Boone Daughdrill (drums) was born in Mississippi. As you can see these are all southern boys and they have the accents and manners to prove it.

The band members cite a wide range of influences, from Lenny Kravitz to Aerosmith, but their music has a definite southern rock feel, which is evident in their first single, "Love Found Me." If you're lucky enough to see the band perform live, you'll be treated a melody of this song blended with their own rendition of the Kansas hit, "Carry On Wayward Son." I was beyond excited the first time I heard this.

"Drifter," their second single, became a top 10 hit on Christian radio. This song has become one of my all-time favorite songs. Their self-titled debut album earned them a Grammy nomination for Best Rock/Rap Album and they recently won a Dove Award for Best Rock Album. (In case you're not familiar with the Christian music industry, a Dove Award is the most prestigious award a Christian artist can recieve, next to a Grammy. It's a lot like the CMAs or AMAs.)

I was pleasantly surprised the first time I listened to DecembeRadio's album and discovered that I liked every track on the CD, which is a rare occasion. It has a good combination of up-beat rock, and slower more thoughtful tunes. It's a great album to listen to while driving with the windows down on a warm summer day. The guys are currently working on material for their sophomore album, which will hopefully be out by next spring.

If you have ever watched the series "Hazard Pay" on the Discovery Channel you may have already heard DecembeRadio without even knowing it. Their song "Dangerous" was used as the theme song for the series. They also performed the National Anthem at a NASCAR race last April, and will be performing for the Hollywood premiere of Evan Almighty next week.

Not only is their music great, but these are also four of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. They're always willing to meet and talk with fans after a show, even though quite often they have a long drive ahead of them that night (they're a fairly new band, so they still have to drive themselves and their equipment around in a van and trailer). They really are a lot of fun.

So if you get the chance, check out their album; if you're a rock fan I really don't think you'll regret it. You can visit their MySpace page to hear some of their music and read more about them.

Flip Flops, Kerouac and Green Tea Frapuccinos

I love summer. The warm weather, walking barefoot through the back yard. There are so many wonderful things about summer. This is the time of year when I always start planning my summer reading list. It's kind of a tradition. Ever since high school I've always picked out what I wanted to read during the summer, when I wasn't being forced to read books I wasn't interested in. These books tend to be longer, more difficult reading than what I would normally read during the year (past examples include the Odyssey and last summer I read the Iliad).

Today I decided it was time to comprise this summer's list. Even though it's my day off I spent over an hour at Barnes & Noble looking through the books and deciding what to buy. During this time I learned that putting me in a bookstore where I get a 30% discount with my 2006 Income Tax Rebate sitting in the bank is a very bad combination. If it wasn't for that 30% I would have spent well over $100 in books today. For anyone who has a B&N nearby (or a Starbucks) I highly recommend the the Green Tea Frapuccinos. They are amazing and a perfect summer refreshment, no lie.

The result? Here's this summer's list so far (some of these I already have, or still plan on buying. I didn't buy them all today). If anyone has any suggestions feel free to leave them! Here's my list so far in no particular order:

- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
- Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (Book 3 of the Dresden files)
- Summer Knight by Jim Butcher (Book 4 of the Dresden files)
- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Nevermore by Keith R.A. Candido (a Supernatural novel)
- Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy by Lindsay Moran
- The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum
- Ireland by Frank Delaney (I actually started this a year ago and still haven't finished it, I've been distracted by other books)

If that doesn't prove that I have an eclectic taste in reading material I don't know what will. I also plan on re-reading The Order of the Phoenix and The Half Blood Prince before the movie comes out. And since I work at a bookstore I am sure I will discover more books before the summer is over. And I'm sure you'll all have the privilege of reading my thoughts on each of these books as I finish them.

Now, on a completely unrelated note I just had to share this anecdote with you. This morning, as I was paying bills and deciding how much money I could safely spend on my shopping spree my dog Shelby decided she wanted to go outside. Of course I was busy so I ignored her as long as I could. Finally, after a lot of wandering around she came over sat down next to me and barked once. It was only then, as I looked down at her, I noticed my flip-flops, which had been laying several feet away, had suddenly appeared by my feet. Shelby may be stubborn, but she's no idiot. I just wish she acted that smart all the time, not just when she wanted to.

And with that, I'm off to start dinner and decide which book on my list I'm going to start reading first.

Beginner's Luck

Some of you may ask, why on earth start yet another blog? Don't you already have one? or two or three ...

Yes, all this is true. I do have several blogs, but most of them I rarely use anymore (Xanga was so high school...). I love my TV Guide blog, but I wanted a place where I could share all my thoughts, not just on TV but on literature and music and other things as well. So while I'll keep that one for posting about TV, I'll use this one for posting about anything (and everything) else. And I'm sure there'll be the occasional TV post here as well. After all, I just can't stop talking about my favorite TV shows.

So here I am. Now I'm sure some of you may laugh at the title (especially those who know me well) but some day I may become a famous writer/columnist and this is the title I plan on using for that column. That is, if I ever get around to submitting columns for publication.

Anway, this post was mainly just to see how this thing worked. I'll be back later with my first real post.