by chandler parker.

story 1:
i have this rad friend named chandler. 
{he would probably not like that i just called him "rad"}. 


story 2:
taste in music-
or really just having taste at all- 
goes a long way with me.
you don't have to have the same taste as i do. 
in fact, i would prefer that you not.
{that bores me}.
but you have to have taste. 


story 3:
chandler is amazingly talented.
his musical talent gives validity of his musical taste.
he knows his stuff. 
i asked him to share with us what he knows. 
despite how unnerving i knew this would be for him 
he obliged me. 
thanks, chandler.

when asked to name my "top 5" of anything, i get a little stressed out. i have no idea how to even begin to process what my favorite 5 bands, songs, albums, etc ever are. i try really hard to take in a lot of music. but contrary to what a lot of my friends believe, i don't like everything i hear. there is a lot of hipster music that i can't stand... likewise there is sometimes nothing like a well-constructed pop song. there are usually three categories that bands/albums fall into for me: 
1) i listen to it once or twice and decide that i don't love it, and that's about all the attention i give to it,  
2) something reels me in on the first listen, causing me to be really into it for a week or two, only to toss it into the huge pile populated by music from #1
3) it hits me the first time and keeps on hitting. a melody, a lyric, a bass line, a drum fill... something sucks me in. and there are albums that i discovered 3 years ago that are still kicking my ass... bringing me to tears or making me shake my head at either the complexity or simple beauty. 

the following bands/albums/songs are just a small sampling of the things that have moved me in one way or another over the last few years...

elbow

essential albums: leaders of the free world and the seldom seen kid. "mirrorball" is about as good as a love song gets. see them live if you ever have a chance.

ben shive

his album the ill-tempered klavier might by my favorite of all time. not kidding. also "out of tune" from that album might be my favorite song of all time. still not kidding.

a.a. bondy is an alabama boy. used to be the lead singer of the band verbena. his album when the devil's loose is really great.

ari hest has my favorite voice of any singer in the world. 

you may have written them off a long time ago, but the album that caedmon's call put out last year (raising up the dead) was amazing.

the damnwells are everything i would ever want to have in a band. 

gang of losers by canadian band, the dears, is an album that came out of nowhere for me a few years ago and i still love it so much. 

drew holcomb & the neighbors are making some of, if not THE best, pop folk music in nashville right now.

they may be broken up now, but jump, little children was an incredible band. period.

madi diaz. people, listen to her. AMAZING voice. 

chris thile (from nickel creek) is in a band called punch brothers now. 5 members. 5 virtuosos. talent wise, it doesn't get any better.

thad cockrell is amazing and should be an alt-country superstar. his song "rosalyn" is one of my favorites in a long time.

where there is love {of music},

 there is art.