(no subject)

Some musicians I enjoyed hearing while I was in Minneapolis: Nate from Living Spoon, Chris from Signal to Noise, 3/5 of The Humbugs, and Jennifer J. Holt. All of them have CDs for sale and MP3s for free, except maybe STN whose site is down. Recommended: Jennifer's "Central Park", The Humbugs' "Whenever My Hands Are Tied", and Living Spoon's "Super Powers".

I also enjoyed seeing, but didn't get to hear, two Joes I'd met on my last trip: Joe Letness from The RadioSpares and Joe whose last name I've forgotten whose new band is named Planes for Spaces, and whose contact info I wish I had. (Hey Joe, if you run across this in a Google search, email me.) Also several Bens.

catching up

1. I spent most of the drive back from Minneapolis listening to NPR News and Air America, and by the end of the trip I'd decided to put off looking for work so I could spend October doing music stuff and volunteer work for the Democrats. In practice that's meant some democracy, a little music, and far too much watching TV, but I've done several shifts of voter registration outside local cafes, which has been surprisingly fun.

Our table is full of Kerry-Edwards stuff, but if a Republican wants to register, we'll help them. We're required to by law, but I'm happy to do it, because I think in the long run it benefits us all for more people to get engaged in the political process. You know, even if they're wrong now. That's probably why this story makes me angry in a more personal way than most: An organization in Nevada has allegedly been collecting Democrat registrations... and then shredding them.

Expect more political content from me than usual this month.

2. I haven't been making as much music as I'd like--like, I haven't recorded any of the new songs I wrote in Minneapolis--but I do have one big piece of news, which is that TK is finally available online. The blurb there is kind of dorky, but you have to write something. Anyway, if you like the CD, tell your friends. Or hey, write a review!

For the locals: Russell and I have a show on Saturday. Colin Carthen is playing too. It should be a good show.

3. This whole Dean/Rory situation is making my teeth crawl.