Church on the Rocks- The Monkey Wrench

I've been running around open mics lately trying find which ones fit my niche, and my schedule, so I thought I'd start doing a review of all the ones I visit. Just to sort of help others in their search for the best open mics to suit their own personal style.

I arrived a little late to Church on the Rocks so everything was in full swing when we walked through the door. First let me start off by saying that The Monkey Wrench is a very cool bar. Located in the middle of the highlands on the corner of Winter and Barret Ave once you step in you get that Highlands vibe. Really cool, I assume local, artwork covers the walls and even the stage. There are two sections to the place, one is the front which is a bit of a restaurant set up this is where the stage is. Because of this the open mic is open to those under the legal drinking age. In the back of the building is the bar and it is a nice large open bar. With the usual bar selections. I can't comment on any of the alcohol because I was the DD for the night. (Also I don't like to drink when I play)

The stage is large and well set up. They have an acoustic for you, (in case you don't happen to have your own guitar), all the gear to hook in your electric or acoustic electric, multiple mics up. Sound is great and the MC and Sound tech for the night were super friendly and helpful. I actually had a sound problem with my guitar during my set and the sound guy actually came up to me afterwards and helped me out with it. Turns out my guitar takes a nine volt battery. Who knew?

The crowd is your usual Highland crowd. If you don't know the Highlands it's a lot of hipsters, hippie-types, spirit of the earth kind of people. The open mic really reflected that kind of attitude. The people watching the show were those who were there to perform. There wasn't a lot of overlap between the open mic and the bar patrons except at the end when the bartenders sang for us. It's a pretty tight knit open mic is really the only bad thing I can say about it. These are all the same people who do this every Sunday night. They're really quite like a church congregation. However, I felt very welcomed into the congregation after my set, before so I wasn't quite sure it would happen. But it's a different mindset than I'm used to. Everyone knew each other so  when one person was onstage doing a free form harmonica solo another person jumped on stage grabbed a guitar and followed along. It was extremely impressive. You can just tell this is a tight group of people who frequent this open mic. That may be daunting to a first time open mic performer.

A slightly strange thing was the amount of performers performing acapella. Not in the sense that I'm used to. Just people getting up on stage with a sheet of lyrics and singing their favorite Top 40 song, or aria. This is not something I'm used to and as a voice teacher and a performer I would not recommend it ever at an open mic. Those who did this had a terrible time staying in key and even staying in the song.  However, those guilty of this appeared to still be in high school so I'll let it slide for them. Not the bartenders though. I'm not trying to be rude, but they were the final act of the night and I had walk out on them. They could not carry a tune in a bucket. And tried to do a duet in two different keys. My heart cried.

All in all Church on the Rocks is a great location, with a great set up, and some tight knit performers. I plan to go back and hopefully start from the beginning and see how a whole service works in the next few weeks. I wouldn't recommend this place to someone for their first open mic, but once you're confident in your material give this place a go. It's great to play for a crowd this diverse.

And just for funsies HERE is a video of me performing last night at Church on the Rocks.

I made a Tumblr.

If you want to see original content by me then you should probably look here. http://angryguitarmeg.tumblr.com/
<3s etc!

The King is Dead

Don't worry he isn't really. That's just the title of the new album from The Decemberists. You probably knew this review was coming. I'm surprised I didn't write it sooner. The band allowed the whole album to stream on NPR for a few weeks prior to the actual release of the record. They were even nice enough to give out the first single for free to us.

When I heard that initial single, Down By The Water, I actually thought it was a John Mellancamp song. Starting a song off with an unmistakable harmonica lick is a classic Americana Bluegrass sound. I was actually really surprised when I eventually heard Colin Meloy's voice enter. I'm used to The Decemberists being this Victorian British Folk sound from a strange far off world called the Northwest United States. Everything they  write has this other worldly, fantasy novel, steam-punk, connotation with me. When the band released Hazards of Love it felt like they took that idea and that vein of work to its extreme and almost exhausted it. I'm very pleased to say that this new-er direction feels effortless. It's as if the band has been an American Folk group this whole time and we never noticed. In a way that's true. Hazards of Love may have seen the introduction of harpsichord sounds but did you notice the steel guitars and banjos? Leaning heavy into a harder rock sound Hazards of Love set a natural growth into the sounds we hear on The King is Dead.

I must say that probably one of my favorite parts of The King is Dead is the fact that Gillian Welch is present on nearly every track. Her harmonies in the song Rox in the Box make it impossible for anyone not to sing along. I think having her involved was crucial to the success of this album. If you're going to delve into Americana music you're going to have to do it right. You can't have Americana without killer harmony work and that's what Gillian is there for. Maybe she's there to lend a little street cred to the group too. She's the ft P.Diddy of this music scene.

I do have one complaint about the album. I hate the choice for album opener. I don't hate the song at all. Don't Carry It All is really a lovely song, but it doesn't really do a very good job of grabbing the listener into the album. I think the album is a tad back heavy. Probably the strongest song on the album is This is Why We Fight which is followed closely by the lovely ballad Dear Avery. These are also the last two songs on the album. Maybe I just like these songs so much better than all the others that it's a personal feeling of lopsidedness. The whole album is truly wonderful don't get me wrong, but I truly feel that the later songs are the stronger works.

Go out and buy this album. Download it on iTunes or Amazon. I really don't care. This album still has the lovely imagry you would expect from The Decemberists, beautiful flowery word choice that you'd expect to find in a Dickens novel and not in a folk album. Added to that we have lovely new sounds that feel so right and effortless. I don't think Meloy's vocals have ever sounded better or more matched to a style than they do now. BUY THIS ALBUM!

A Request

To the five people who read this blog (I know I'm rounding up): I need your help. I need to know what kind of content you want to see on this site? Do you like the album reviews? Do you like lists? Do you want video content? Do you want original content, like original songs I've written? Do you want things like the McArthur Park post? What is it i that you want to see from this site? I'm at a loss for a direction for this site.

At the moment I'm working on some video content hopefully to be updated weekly and I would like to have a post once a week as well. Do you like this? Do you hate this? If you hate everything please let me know specifically in what ways I suck at this the most.

The hardest part about blogging is the fact that the only one who gives you feed back is yourself. I'm a horrible judge of my own work so I need your help. All three of you. Please!

I feel less like an Angry Guitar Chick and more like a Begging Guitar Chick, but let's face it I'm loyal to my readers. When I finally become a famous musician you guys will be at the top of my list because you helped me with this blog. Think how cool that would be!

Hope to have a more real post later, maybe not today but probably tomorrow what with all this snow on the ground. Please leave comments questions and concerns in the comments below. To the left you'll see a poll, you may have noticed it when you first got here. If you don't have enough time, (or don't care enough!! D:) click on the options you'd like to see the most. This is all about making this site better for you! Feel free to link the site to your friends too and see what they think. Any help from anyone is appreciated.  

<3s 'n stuff ya'll.

Everything Under the Sun

I feel like all I ever do is write about The Decemberists or Ben Folds. So here's a post about Jukebox the Ghost.

This little three piece band from Philly has run around in the same circles with groups I already enjoy. Like how about the fact they toured with Ben Folds in 2009. (I know I can't go a paragraph with out talking about him). They also toured the U.S. with a Michigan Band I quite enjoy called Tally Hall. So I'm surprised I hadn't heard of them before this fall. However they released their second album Everything Under the Sun this September and I've heard tons of them on my Indie Radio station since then.

Now honestly I was acquainted with this group because they did a benefit concert in Louisville for this radio station I quite enjoy. Every single day I would hear, "December 18th at Headliners Bobby Bare Jr and Jukebox the Ghost." It was something that involved money and food going to a local food bank. I probably should have gone to that show because shortly after the show happened I picked up this album.

Everything Under the Sun is probably one of the funnest albums I've listened to. Maybe I've gotten too bogged down in music with meaning lately. But even their meaningful songs lack the heaviness that songs with purpose seem to have. The first single Empire had me at the bouncy sixties throw back chorus. Secondly the second single Schizophrenia not only is one of my favorite album openers of all time but might be one of my favorite piano parts in contemporary music. But don't think that only the singles are worth your time, this album is one of those you want actually purchase as a whole. Summer Sun is a sweet ballad that catches me with the heart referencing lyrics and rhythmic ba-dump heart beat mimicking sounds. Carrying and The Popular Thing really seal the second half of the album. Until you get to these songs I was a bit worried it might be a top heavy album. But these songs really carry a lot of the back half of the albums weight. I love The Popular Thing in particular because of how 60's pop throw back it is. I hear a lot of those old  Motown sounds in this album. It's quite a special album and I highly recommend it to everyone.

In short. This album rocks. They're currently touring with HelloGoodbye and if you have a chance to go see them do so. I, unfortunately, will not be able to but please try to find them somewhere near you. You won't be sorry to hear this trio live.