frontman friday: adam young

hello, weekend. so glad you could join us.
summer weekends always go by so quickly and this weekend is shaping up to be equally as packed as the last so for just a few seconds i'm going to sit in the wonder of some frontman appreciation.

being appreciated today: adam young

i think this picture is really old but whatever.

photo credit: indyconcerts.com

mr. young is the guy in owl city

he seems like such a little precious head.

he's from my homestate of MN. one time i tweeted him and told him i was driving through his home city of owatanna and asked him to get coffee with me. shockingly, he never responded. 

good ol' land of ten thousand lakes. 

he's got a new album coming out in the not-too-distant future and just released a music video for his song beautiful times! you can watch it over at Rolling Stone. go watch it. now. 

even after he shunned my text and offer for coffee i still went to go see him play. he was playing jingle ball a couple of years ago so my friend and i got tickets. we were literally the second to last row in the xcel energy center. adam looked like an ant. he sounded great though and i completely forgave him for never tweeting me back. 

xo

girls wearing massive sunglasses driving jeeps are probably jerks.

one of my favorite summer activities is driving around with my windows down, my music cranked and an iced white mocha in my cup holder. 

this is basically my every day after work in the summer (minus the iced white mocha, i'm not rich) because i don't have AC in my car. one day as i was passing lake calhoun during the height of rush hour i kept playing leap frog with a sporty little white car. the driver looked like a super-douche; no shirt, backwards baseball cap, ray bans, perfectly tanned, you know the type. 

i was trying so hard to not be annoyed, which is incredibly difficult in rush hour traffic, so i turned up chroma by cartel a little louder and settled in for what looked to be a long ride. 

as we got to the stoplight i realized my lane neighbor was none other than white-car-perfect-tan. neat. 

out of the corner of my eye i saw movement. so i turned to look at him and he's leaning over to the passenger side of his car and yells, "i love cartel! this album is so great!" through the open window. massive grin on his face. i was shocked, i managed to smile and give some weak-action response like, "yeah, i love them too." then the light changed and he yelled, "have a great day!" gave a little wave and was off.  

the rest of my ride i thought about how wrong i had been. how often do i connect with strangers on the street over a shared love of anything? oh, practically never. i had completely written him off as being a decent human being just based on the fact that he had a zippy little car and a smile like you'd see on a dentist office waiting room poster. in our 5 second interaction he turned out to be genuinely nice and i turned out to be the super-douche. 

i guess the saying is right, don't judge a book by it's cover. 

xo

the lost art of the mixtape.

my little brother is pregnant! and by that i mean his wife is pregnant.

woohoo! i'm going to be an aunt (and my parents are finally going to be grandparents, my sister and i both really dropped the ball on that one). pretty stoked to have a little squish to cuddle every now and again. baby is due to make his/her entrance on Christmas eve. i really hope he/she comes early or holds out for a bit because when you share your birthday with Jesus you're gonna get trumped every year.

anyway, my sister-in-law is going to be pregnant for the next 6 months and, due to work, her and my brother are living in different states so i feel like she may need a pick me up occasionally through the next couple months.

enter the mixtape. remember when people used to make mixtapes for their crush declaring their love? or when a friend would make one for another friend because those songs were just something that had to be shared? they can be so personal and thoughtful. such a fun gift! ...i'm trying to hint at someone making me a mixtape. 

this time around, it's a baby-themed mixtape to help her get through the tough days. she might hate it (i don't know her personal feelings on mixtapes) but i think it's funny.

1. baby baby by amy grant
2. sweet baby james by james taylor
3. baby one more time by britney spears
4. baby by justin bieber 
5. hey baby by no doubt
6. come on over baby by christina aguilera
7. i got you babe by sonny & cher
8. baby got back by sir mix-a-lot
9. ice ice baby by vanilla ice
10. baby it's cold outside the 'elf' version obvi

so go make a mixtape for someone, it will probably make their day.
xo

frontman friday: dan reynolds

it's the freakin' weekend, baby, i'm about to have me some fun.
well, i'm actually working this weekend but it's friday and in this moment that is all that matters...it's still a weekend at heart.

today's eye/ear candy: dan reynolds

that's passion right there.

photo credit: kyle k photo

dan is the lead singer for imagine dragons

is it weird that i like it when dudes cross their legs? 

i know it isn't manly but i'm into it. 

fun facts: dan went on mission for the mormon church when he was younger and has a daughter named, arrow. couldn't find a picture of him in the traditional white shirt/black tie combo but how absurdly adorable is this picture of him and arrow?  

 awww, so precious. 

photo credit: i can only assume he took this, looks like a selfie. 

when imagine dragons first hit mainstream radio with 'it's time' everyone i knew was all "have you heard of imagine dragons?" and it got really old really quick and i was determined not to like them on that fact alone. then i listened to night visions and i was like, "screw it, they're great and i'm on this bandwagon." 

now they are coming to my city and are playing a FREE show (thanks, major league baseball for choosing minneapolis to have your all-star game) and i get to see mr. reynolds live and in person! i hope they bring along the giant drum.

because how epic does this look? 

see you on july 12th, dan and crew! 

xo

all i want is the taste that your lips allow.

normally i am not a huge demi lovato fan.
but she covered ed sheeran's 'give me love' and i was impressed.
then today this video came out of her and ed singing it as a duet...
...and it's perfection.
girl's got grit and i'm a wee bit obsessed with the ginger singer-songwriter.

it's a happy tuesday.
xo

i like it when people screw up.

he made a mistake and it made me so happy.

a few nights ago NEEDTOBREATHE rolled through town and duh, i was there. it was the first time i've seen them since original drummer, joe, left the band and the first time i've seen them since the release of rivers in the wasteland.

the show was going so well and they were playing a lot of songs off the new album (which i would have hated if i didn't own it and couldn't sing along but i'm a huge fangirl and had pre-ordered the album) with just a few older singles sprinkled throughout.

about two-thirds of the way into the show the opening chords for "something beautiful" were played and the crowd went wild. bear started singing and what came out of his mouth was so not the first verse; it was some weird mash-up of a bunch of random lines from the song. he had clearly forgotten his own song.

and i loved it.

i loved it because he handled it like a champ. he's a professional performer and if you didn't know the song (or even if you weren't listening that closely) you would never have known that he screwed up. i don't know that he got one word right in the entire first verse but bless his heart, he just charged ahead and finally found his footing when he got to the chorus.

and i loved it because it shows how human he is. he screws up too. in a culture where we idolize celebrities we often forget that they are still just people, even if they have a job in the spotlight. they make mistakes, they get sick, they have bad days, they miss their families, and sometimes they forget the words to their own songs.

he screwed up and no one cared. in fact, it endeared me to him even more.

xo

frontman friday: paul meany

friday is upon us...beautiful, isn't it?
before we start oogling one of my favorite frontmen, a quick happy father's day to all the dads out there! hope you enjoy grilling out and receiving a tie/socks/can of mixed nuts from children who love you but have no idea what to buy for you.

my frontman for today is a dad so it's totally applicable.

meet frontman dad: paul meany

i LOVE it when singers smile while singing and playing.

photo credit: raggedband.com

paul calls center stage in MUTEMATH

picture of musical geniuses right here. 

photo credit: RELEVANT magazine

the first time i ever saw MUTEMATH play was on a tiny stage, in the middle of the day at a festival right after they released the Reset EP. there were maybe 20 of us crowded around the trailer-turned-stage. however, the first time i saw paul play was years earlier when he was in a band called earthsuit. 

paul is second from left. i'm sure this look was really in in 2000. 

photo credit: earthsuit

MUTEMATH caught the ears of movie execs and landed on two different soundtracks. 

 i never saw transformers.

i also never saw twilight. 

but clearly they have killer soundtracks.

they used to sell buttons in sets of two because one button said mute and the other button said math. i had a set and my mom thought they were the dumbest thing but i thought they were the greatest...and then i lost the mute button. tragedy. so now, somewhere in one of my boxes of random nostalgic crap that i tote around whenever i move, i have a sad little math button that misses it's counterpart. 

xo

favorites. part II.

a while back i did a post about some of my favorite lyrics in songs and i'm back with another because new music keeps coming out and i keep falling in love with fresh combinations of words and the meanings they create.

my roommate says that if i were a superhero my name would be Word Girl because i LOVE words. side note: whenever she calls me Word Girl i respond with "flame boy" like phoebe from friends. if you don't like friends i'm not sure we can be actual friends. i love the way they sound, the way they feel in your mouth, the way they can make your heart skip a beat or your head spin or your fists clench. all of it.

some of my favorite lyrics as of late:

"like an arrow passing through, your tongue can kill or it can kiss." -calm my soul by paper route

"all these people i meet it seems like they're fine, yeah in some ways i hope that they're not and their hearts are like mine." -wasteland by needtobreathe

"it's a new view babe, but it's the same air." -meant to be by parachute

"our hope is just a metaphor of something better." -slipping away by switchfoot

"the greatest gift to give a man is to give him grace to live again." -better love by green river ordinance

"you thought you were God and judge of all your friends, you naively believed that your ship couldn't sink but it did." -glass houses by the classic crime

"this isn't easy. this isn't clear. and you don't need Jesus til you're here." -when a heart breaks by ben rector [in context this lyric isn't blasphemous]

"we all have a story to tell whether we whisper or yell." -happily ever after by he is we

"and wipe the mark of sadness from my face, show me that your love will never change. and if my yesterday is a disgrace, tell me that you still recall my name." -cactus in the valley by LIGHTS

xo

frontman friday: stephen christian

ho-lee buckets. this week took forevvvvver.
not sure why it took so long to get to friday but here we are and i'm pretty jazzed on it.
let's get to the good stuff!

today's frontman good stuff: stephen christian

a slightly too-small denim jacket? yes, please.

photo credit: allison wotton

mr. christian is the undeniable vocals in anberlin

they all basically have that smoldering look down to a T.

photo credit: anberlin

he has a side project called anchor & braille

'cause why not?

photo credit: anchor & braille

anberlin recently announced that they are releasing their final album and going on one last tour before calling it quits as a band. the new album is titled lowborn and is set to release later this year. 

photo credit: anberlin

i rarely get starstruck when working festivals but recently stephen christian and co. walked by the table i was working as a collective anberlin whole and i literally stopped everything i was doing and just stared at them. that i'm-looking-right-into-your-soul look that that they all have in that group photo is how they look all the time. it's simultaneously unnerving and captivating. 

thanks stephen christian, and other anberlin boys, for your unforgettable contribution to music. we aren't friends so i'm taking this personal. 

xo

the fault in our stars.

the fault in our stars comes out this friday and if it lives up to half the hype surrounding it it's going to be HUGE. everyone is talking about it and shailene woodley is clearly on-track to become one of america's next sweethearts.

i haven't read the book yet (this is shameful since i'm the daughter of a libaraian) and i'm sure i won't see the movie until it at least comes to the cheap theater (my mom said to me once, "you can squeeze a dime out of a penny." she was essentially calling me cheap but i took it as a compliment) which is okay because i am a big proponent of reading the book first and a firm believer that the book is ALWAYS better than the film. but there is one thing that a movie has that a book doesn't and that's a soundtrack.

and holy goodness is the soundtrack to the fault in our stars good. it's got some ed sheeran, it's got some grouplove, it's got some ray lamontagne and a whole lot of ear candy in between. and thanks to the world wide web and a little site called youtube you can listen to the entire soundtrack.

 enjoy.

you're welcome.

xo

a survival guide of sorts.

summer is my favorite season.

i love the carefree, relaxed attitude of summer. here in minnesota everyone spends all their time outdoors during our couple glorious months of sunshine and positive temperatures. whether it's hanging out at the lake, eating on an outdoor patio, strolling through a farmer's market, or catching a movie in the park we do summer here. 

i love all of those things but i can't forget my favorite summer pastime; music festivals. 

some people hate them and i think it's just because they don't know how to survive them well. having been a festival attender for the past 16 years here are some nuggets of wisdom to not only walk away from a festival still intact but to enjoy it so much you wish it wasn't over. 

1. stay hydrated. when you're standing out in the hot sun for hours having a bottle of water handy is crucial. usually you can bring an empty bottle in to the festival and fill it once inside the grounds. or bring extra money and expect to spend a small fortune buying it. either way, you're gonna want H2O.
2. bring snacks. music festivals make me hangry real quick if i don't have snacks on hand. that guy in the crowd whose sweaty forearm keeps touching me is now 10x more blood-boiling than before my blood sugar dropped. trailmix, crackers, carrots, and apples are all solid options for quick snacks to stick in your purse/bag to tide you over til you get back to your campsite or leave the festival grounds for the day. unless you are rich enough to afford spending $10 on two tacos. also, have i mentioned recently that i am painfully cheap? 
3. wear comfy shoes. i am NOT saying you have to wear tennis shoes (i would never say that, even if we are playing tennis) but i am saying wear something that you will be okay standing in for hours. also, it's a good idea to wear closed-toe shoes...it hurts less when someone steps on your foot and your feet stay a bit cleaner and that makes you feel a little more human at the end of the day. my go-to: minnetonka moccasins. 
4. protect your skin from the sun. whether it's sunscreen, a big hat to shield your face, or wearing lightweight layers protecting your skin from the sun will make your experience way more enjoyable. sunburns are so painful and a cloud of sand being kicked up in a festival field feels like a thousand little knives on sunburned skin. this one is really more of a do as i say and not as i do thing since i walk away from every festival looking like a lobster. 
5. know the schedule. map out who is playing when and on what stage and know which shows you really want to see. there's a chance that multiple artists that you want to see are playing at the same time, this way you'll know that you either have to split your time and catch half of each show or forgo one show completely. if you know ahead of time you won't get to the end of the day and say, "frick. i totally forgot they were playing today, i wanted to see them!" 
6. take breaks.  if you're 14-20 and reading this, you're fine, you probably don't need breaks (i miss limitless energy). if you're older than that a break in the shade is a lifesaver. if there is no one playing at the moment that you want to see and you don't feel like you have to camp out at another stage for a concert later, find a shady spot (preferably one where you can catch a breeze that's upwind of the porta-potty's), grab one of your snacks and just sit for a few minutes. allow your ankles to return to their normal size, let your skin cool off, close your eyes (give them a break from the dust and direct sunlight they've been staring into), eat a granola bar and polish off your water bottle. even just 15 minutes can help you feel rejuvenated.
7. caffeine. coffee, pop, chocolate, whatever. don't use an iced coffee in place of drinking water, spoiler alert coffee dehydrates you, but a shot of caffeine in the late afternoon hours is a great necessary way to stay awake enough to enjoy the very last show of the day. 
8. get clean at the end of the day. especially crucial if you are camping at the festival. i know you're tired and it's 2am and the last thing you feel like doing is going to the public showers or trying to wash your hair with a nalgene but you will sleep better and not wake up smelling like a pile of trash if you've removed at least one layer of grime before you hit the hay. 
9. ignore the free hugs kids. okay, you don't have to be a wench and completely ignore them, but don't feel like you have to give them a hug if you don't want to. this is really more of a personal pet-peeve more than anything but i hate free hugs. i'm only saying that i think the festival experience would be better for everyone if we retired the cardboard signs and opted instead to only hug people we know. 
10. enjoy it. is it completely cheesy to write that? probably. whatever. seriously though, enjoy it. try not to let the rain delay or the fact that the food stand ran out of freezy pops cramp your style because you will never get to re-live that day. 

after years of mistakes sprained ankle because i wore flip-flops in the pit, got so sunburned my face swelled up and peeled for a week, drank out of a hose (not necessarily gross but it is when picked up off a festival ground) because i forgot a water bottle, and i have so many pictures where i look like an absolute trainwreck because i thought "i don't have to shower for four days straight, that's totally fine" i still love festivals but if you're the type that doesn't find bodily harm and dehydration fun those little tips will transform your festival experience and make you remember the real reason you went in the first place; the music. 

xo