I have my copy of Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews by Jonathan Cott, an excellent collection. I've been underlining different quotes and passages, something I don't usually do but made an exception in this case. I've made is as far as his Rolling Stone interview in '69 after his infamous motorcycle crash and Woodstock break and up to his "Nashville Skyline" album. I really enjoy reading these interviews because I get a broader insight to what Dylan had to put up with. When told he was seen wearing a "sell-out jacket" he wanted to know what defines a sell-out jacket. The reply? Black leather. Oh sing of the narrow minded left. 

My Nick Hornby book was left neglected until today...it's my lunchtime book. I have specific likes for reading at lunch. I can't read something like All The Pretty Horses because it deserves my full attention, somewhat difficult when I am otherwise engaged in my Smokin' Stampede chips. John Grisham, Ted Dekker; they're lunchtime books. In the same way you can float through some music (like when driving) and others deserve time and sunlight to fully absorb.

In that same spirit I'm planning a "Bob Dylan Day" once the sun is warm and the snow is gone. I'm going to make myself a pot of coffee, sit in the sunshine and listen to "Bringing It All Back Home," "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde on Blonde" in order, start to finish with no breaks except to fill my coffee mug. Maybe light a cigarette instead of a candle. That would totally bug him out! He would likely tell me it's no good for me. "Heaven help her!" He certainly wouldn't approve.

I'm able to do my Dailey & Vincent review since their new CD "Brothers From Different Mothers" showed up in the mail last Friday. An excellent album of course! Their love of the Statler Brothers is evident in the recording, my favourite cover being "Years Ago," a song about a man showing up at his ex-wife's wedding. It uses percussion although tastefully done as a sort of background afterthought. It certainly wouldn't be the same without it though and if The Osborne Brothers can do it, so can Dailey & Vincent. (You don't know who the Osborne Brothers are, do you?) I should add, they also use percussion on "Don't Let Our Sweet Love Die."

They once again add a Gillian Welch and David Rawlings song to their list, "Winter's Come and Gone" a perfectly acceptable song given the weather of late. Darrin Vincent is able to feature his archtop guitar on this song in a very Rawlings-like attitude. I couldn't be more pleased that they're Welch and Rawlings fans since I very nearly worship the ground Ms. Gillian treads upon. 

The album also spotlights some fantastic gospel numbers including the more upbeat "Oh Ye Must Be Born Again." It's the kind of song that would make a lot of folks I know say, "I don't like bluegrass but I like that." HELLO! As written in the liner notes, "There is music on this album that will be familiar and attractive to southern gospel, country music, or folk-oriented listeners who don't yet recognize themselves as bluegrass fans." Amen.

Other listenings at the moment include a Hank Williams dual-disc featuring a new favourite of mine, "Honky-Tonkin'" and a new band Fiction Family consisting of Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek and Jon Foreman of Switchfoot...I couldn't have dreamed it up better if I'd tried. Perhaps I'll include more on either albums at a later date.

I currently underwent a self-inflicted discipline this past week (Mon-Fri) of listening to the radio to and from work. I love what the radio is about and listening to DJs (for a while) but overall, current song selections suck for the most part. As least around my home area anyway. So I usually put my iPod on shuffle or play a playlist and groove out to my own tunes. However, I felt I may be missing out on mainstream popular music according to the masses around me so I bit the bullet and took an oath to listen to radio.

I'm not a fan of flipping through stations. If I'm sitting in your car I want to listen to a song not bits and pieces while you shuffle through them. And because I was hoping to hear "Shuttin' Detroit Down" I was basically on the local country station all week. I have yet to hear it by the way. In the meantime I was given a trip down memory lane, listening to quite a few songs I hadn't heard in a while. Ironic really. I do this whole experiment to experience the new songs I'm "missing out on" and I get fed "Just To See You Smile" and "Letters From Home." I think the most enjoyable of my "yester-year" songs was "Red Dirt Road" by Brooks and Dunn. That is such a fantastic COUNTRY song.

I heard the new Keith Urban single, "Kiss A Girl." LAAAAAMMMMMEEEE! Where does he get this material, the Jonas Brothers? I love the Aussie and God knows I love his concerts but this song is so pathetic.

I wanna kiss a girl / I wanna hold her tight / and maybe make a little magic baby / Don't wanna go to far / just to take it slow / but I shouldn't be lonely in this big ol' world / I wanna kiss a girl

Noel, I heard you groan all the way from Tennessee. The classic world/girl rhyme you love so much!

I also heard on ST. PATRICK'S DAY (because drinking holidays are when you play this sort of rubbish) a new (to me) Tim McGraw song, "Nothin' To Die For" from his album "Let It Go." What an incredibly cheesy, useless song about drinking away your life, yada yada yada. They actually rhyme "for" with "for."

There's a whole lot of things you say you're livin' for / You've got to fight somehow, stop and turn around / 'cause this ain't nothin' to die for

Are you kidding me? I have no time for "guilt trip" songs about someone who would die for their family, country and Jesus (and of course the tag where Jesus talks to the addict) but won't give up their life-threatening addiction when in reality there's no one like that. McGraw does "Live Like You Were Dyin'" and then gives us this crap. But like Kyle says, when you're Tim McGraw you can. That is one of the worst songs I've ever heard. (And Radio Week aside, I HATE the song, "Don't Take the Girl." Had to add that).

On a bit of a brighter note, I heard the "new" Taylor Swift song "Love Story" on a pop station, coincidentally. It's precious. It's "lalalala dededede." There's an entire universe of 13-18 year old girls going positively potty for these songs. It's pathetically catchy in that Taylor Swift sort of way (See "Our Song" for more) but I'd still rather listen to Cia Cherryholmes giving some guy a proverbial kick in the crotch because he had the nerve to pi$$ her off (there's those dollar signs again). What really upsets me is Swift's album "Fearless" has been #1 in the charts for two weeks now and I'm willing to bet I couldn't find five people tonight who have even heard of Cherryholmes. Make that ten. 

I did get to hear two new (for me) songs this week that I really enjoyed. One was "Chicken Fried" by Zac Brown Band. Any song that talks about dying for your country so we never lose the right to eat fried chicken tugs at my heart. Great song especially when the sun is shining.

But the best song I heard all week, hands down, was released in 1999 by a group called Lace entitled, "I Want a Man." Even if I don't hear "Shuttin' Detroit Down" tonight, Radio Week was worth it for this song. It was good at the start but when they sang the line I don't want a man I can live with / I want a man I can't live without I almost pulled over, it was so fantastic. Maybe if I'd been paying attention to the song before that I would have seen it coming but I wasn't so I didn't. It hit me broadside and left me loving that lyric all the more.

I also wanted to hear the new Kelly Clarkson song, "My Life Would Suck Without You" because I've heard a lot of good feedback about it. Of course, I don't have that great a chance of hearing it since I hardly change the station so I may have to make an exception tonight.

Overall, as informative as the week was, I still can't wait to get back to my iPod. I don't know if I'll hit up Boston or Cherryholmes first. Guess I'll put it on shuffle and see what happens.