I’ve been sick. Being sick sucks. It sucks more when you had plans that you couldn’t attend because of said sickness. I missed the open mic show on Monday night that I was excited about. I felt like I had a bag over my head, and there was a vice squeezing my head, while I was concentrating on swallowing rusty knives. It wasn’t pleasant. I slept for a few extra hours yesterday in hopes of getting a bit better, and I think it paid off. I’m only about 25% miserable, instead of the full-on 100% misearable.

I’ve been listening to a bunch of the Copeland lately. I pulled up the old Copeland/Pacifico split, and wow. I forgot how good those three songs were. I think when I originally bought the CD, I listened to the songs one or two times, and didn’t give them any credit because the recording quailty wasn’t as good as their latest. I guess thats the difference between tiny vs. small labels. Once you listen to the song itself, the music that is, and not the quality / production of it, you know its an awesome set of songs. I probably wouldn’t suggest it to new Copeland listeners, but if you dig their ‘Beneath Medicine Tree’ album, you’ll love these three songs.

Speaking of Copeland .. they have a new cd coming out — FINALLY. They were set to release it in March, I think, but they decided to hold off to ride out their current CD for a few months while they were on tour. So, August 10th is the magic day where their 5-6 song cover CD comes out, featuring covers of Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Berlin, and other 70s/80s songs. I’ve been patiently waiting, and am now counting down the days. Thankfully this falls outside of my ‘no buying anything’ bet I have with Amanda. I need this album.

Hrm.. more music talk? Sure. It seems like all I talk about is music. Oh well. I like music. You like music. We all win.

The Polyphonic Spree. Ever hear of them? Of course, they were on ‘that commercial’ way back when. I decided to buy their ‘The Beginning Stages of The Polyphonic Spree’ album on iTunes last night. It reminds me alot of The Flaming Lips, especially vocally. They use the same effects on the vocals, as well as back it with orchestral and choir elements. And, it’s happy music. Can’t go wrong with generally happy music. I will definitely be buying their new album, which as I’ve heard, is supposed to be just a continuation of the album I purchased last night.

I’m trying to get better at finger picking on my guitar. I can’t do it.. at all. There are so many songs where I should probably be using my fingers rather than a pick, but I just can’t get it to sound good, or be consistent. So, I’ve decided to force myself to learn it and get better. How, you ask? By learning a quality finger-picking song. ‘Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah’ seemed like a good one to start with. I will do it. I can. I will.

Hopefully one of these days the callouses on my fingers will strengthen enough where I don’t feel the pain. They used to be like that .. it’s only a matter of time before they’re like that again.