Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Men in hats

It's possible I'm developing a thing for scruffy men in hats.  Possible...but more likely that the hat, scruffy face thing just happens to occur in two men, who makes a pretty tasty burger and wows me with his knife skills (cue sneaky photo of Spike doling out the beverages at Good Stuff Eatery, which has nothing to do with his knife skills but does provide a passable shot of the hat/scruffiness)...



...and the other who puts on a pretty great concert at the 9:30 Club on a random Thursday night (cue least-blurry low light picture of Mat Kearney from recently attended concert):



I really loved his first album, where he occasionally and surprisingly busts into white-boy rap, but his second and latest album is filled with more...well, kinda mushy, less rappy stuff, and totally non-mushy entertaining stuff,and I love it even more.  So, when I found out he would be in D.C. on his latest tour, I had to snag a ticket and go. 

I've been missing my concert time.  I'm lacking some friends here on the same musical wavelength as me, and while I did enjoy Pat Green here in the ci-tay and Josh Ritter with my sissy down in North Carolina, no one really wants to make the trip to Baltimore to see Ray LaMontagne or head over to DAR Constitution Hall to check out Snow Patrol.  So you know what I did last Thursday?  Took myself to a concert.  And I had a really great time.  He put on a great show, even coming out into the audience at one point and leading a mass sing-along.  Cue another slightly blurry photograph from said concert:



Great, great show.  Loved every second of it.  I love live music.  Pick up "City of Black and White" if you're looking for some new tunes - I'm partial to "Fire & Rain" and "Lifeline."  Or ignore me and listen to whatever you like.  That's how I find cool new music, from you people who listen to other things.

Oh, and as a side note...post #100 on this blog thing I've got going on!  Woohoo!  And as I hit #100, I've been here in D.C. about eight months, which means...time to switch jobs and start up something new on Monday.  A little nervous about somewhat limited base knowledge in international tax, but up for the challenge and definitely ready to try something new.

Plus I have iTunes to help me through anything.  Thanks, music.

7 comments:

Trinity said...

Well I am jealous. I have missed Mat Kearney both times he has come through Dallas. I got that albumn though and it is pretty good.

Addy's Daddy said...

You should have gone to see Ray Lamontagne - that is dude is great!

If you like him, you might like M. Ward or She & Him, the "Him" of which is M. Ward. Jessica isn't super fond of him, but he has that same smokey, folksy type of music and he covers a great version of a Buddy Holly song! His latest album is "Waiting Time".

Erin said...

Catch him next time around, Trinity - well worth whatever the ticket price might be.

Thomas, I caught Ray last year in Dallas at the Majestic, and that was one of the best concerts I've ever been to - amazing what that guy can do with just his voice and a guitar. Thanks for the other music suggestions! Heard M. Ward briefly at ACL last year and liked his stuff, and I'll have to give She & Him a try. Always on the lookout for new tunes!

Diana said...

Another cute hat guy - Jason Mraz!

Erin said...

Oooh, yes! I still haven't caught him in concert - boo.

Jessica said...

Hey Erin -

It's Jessica Hasten - Belinda gave me your blog link and I've enjoyed reading up on your adventures. I grew so much as a person doing things by myself while I was in Germany on assignment. You'll be surprised once you return to normal life here in Dallas (or wherever) that nothing really seems undoable after that! Now, I never did get used to dinners out by myself - but got better at them at least. :)

Enjoy it!!

Erin said...

Hey Jessica! So glad you're enjoying the blog - I'm going to go read up on all of your past German adventures now. I really have embarked on a lot of solo adventures around the city, and it's been great! I know what you mean on the dinners, though - that's a tough one to accomplish. Hope everything's going well!