I Tired to Look Back As You Diminished In Size
So, a few weekends ago I had the treat of seeing Jamie Block perform at Iota.
There was a time when this was a semi-regular treat for me. I believe that for a few years I caught Block at Iota about every three months, with intermittent gigs at the Velvet Lounge and even once (on a weekend!!) at the 9:30 Club. He came through town a lot, and I tried to be wherever he was performing.
It's a long story how it is that I came upon Jamie's music, but the short form involves my younger brother being a DJ at a college radio station that received a promo copy of Jamie's independently-released first release. What followed was a gig at said college campus, and a madcap and utterly out of control mini-tour of the Tidewater region with my little brother and his roommate.
Its a long story and no one remembers many of the details, but suffice it to say, it was bad-ass.
Anyway, last month's show was a great time, even if it wasn't Block's best (or best attended) show. The crowd sucked, the other bands were lousy and Jamie has probably lost a little vocal range over the years since he semi-retired.
In fact, as I stood there taking it all in, it struck me that it had been at least six years (probably more) since Block's last run through the D.C. area. And while Ian lays out the reasons much better than I ever could, I have to admit that whatever the circumstances, I really missed being able to go see him every so often.
Jamie seemed by all accounts to be on the way up back in the late 90's -- he had the label backing and the motivation to tour just about non-stop, he was getting excellent press and decent radio play, he had songs on two or three movie soundtracks, and I even heard him on the jukebox in a bar in Colorado at one point.
In fact, in that point of time that I always seem to be reminiscing about, there were *so many* up and coming singer-songwriters that I used to see every time they came through D.C. And I totally, honestly believed that each of them was utterly brilliant and destined to become a superstar.
There was Block's smart, angry and drunken (but totally charming) anti-folk.
There was the heartbreakingly beautiful performances by Emm Gryner at the by-now-long- defunct Metro Cafe. (During an extremely rare moment of self awareness for that period of time, I vividly remember chatting with Emm after one of her Metro sets, talking her ear off, completely spellbound and believing that she was the single most beautiful creature I'd ever spoken to. By the grace of God, I finally realized that I desperately NEEDED to stop talking before I creeped her out any further, and before she forever crossed Washington, D.C. off of all future tour dates).
Then, there was the jaw-dropping performance of Hamell of Trial I caught one Tuesday night at the Velvet, where I wondered how anyone could ever conjure such intensity, venom and fucking hilarity with nothing more than an acoustic guitar and the tongue of a damned genius.
There were others, of course, but those three definitely stick out in my head. But sadly, none of the bands or artists I loved and felt close to from that period of time really got to that level of recognition that I felt that they deserved. I think they all ended up doing ok for themselves (Hammel toured with Ani DiFranco, Emm toured with Bowie, and Block has an amazing career as a financial analyst or something), but I do have to admit in an embarrassed kind of way that I'd always wanted to be able to tell someone that I'd used to see any of the three of them "in a small club before they made it big."
These days I don't really go out anywhere near as much as I used to, and I'm not as in touch with what's happening in music as I should be...and I have to admit that I'm also a hell of a lot more guarded about giving away my enthusiasm. (There has to be a good reason for this last item, but I'll be damned if I can come up with one). Anyway, maybe that's why I don't really have any favorite upcoming bands these days, and maybe that's why I'm not cheering for any struggling artists to "make it" the way I used to. Maybe, as an utterly failed artist and musician, I've finally learned that the entire notion of "making it" is totally fucking warped.
Still, a lot of this seems to have more to do with me and my issues than it does with the state of music and art today. I have to constantly remind myself that there always are and always will be young, exciting artists that one should support, and that life's more fun when you're a fan of something...
Man, I really gotta start going out again...HOLY FUCK. Hamell is playing Jammin Java in two weeks! I literally just saw this as I was finishing this entry....Damn, I'm glad I decided to link to his site....
(So, Emm, I guess that means you're last. Please come on back and see us if you can).
There was a time when this was a semi-regular treat for me. I believe that for a few years I caught Block at Iota about every three months, with intermittent gigs at the Velvet Lounge and even once (on a weekend!!) at the 9:30 Club. He came through town a lot, and I tried to be wherever he was performing.
It's a long story how it is that I came upon Jamie's music, but the short form involves my younger brother being a DJ at a college radio station that received a promo copy of Jamie's independently-released first release. What followed was a gig at said college campus, and a madcap and utterly out of control mini-tour of the Tidewater region with my little brother and his roommate.
Its a long story and no one remembers many of the details, but suffice it to say, it was bad-ass.
Anyway, last month's show was a great time, even if it wasn't Block's best (or best attended) show. The crowd sucked, the other bands were lousy and Jamie has probably lost a little vocal range over the years since he semi-retired.
In fact, as I stood there taking it all in, it struck me that it had been at least six years (probably more) since Block's last run through the D.C. area. And while Ian lays out the reasons much better than I ever could, I have to admit that whatever the circumstances, I really missed being able to go see him every so often.
Jamie seemed by all accounts to be on the way up back in the late 90's -- he had the label backing and the motivation to tour just about non-stop, he was getting excellent press and decent radio play, he had songs on two or three movie soundtracks, and I even heard him on the jukebox in a bar in Colorado at one point.
In fact, in that point of time that I always seem to be reminiscing about, there were *so many* up and coming singer-songwriters that I used to see every time they came through D.C. And I totally, honestly believed that each of them was utterly brilliant and destined to become a superstar.
There was Block's smart, angry and drunken (but totally charming) anti-folk.
There was the heartbreakingly beautiful performances by Emm Gryner at the by-now-long- defunct Metro Cafe. (During an extremely rare moment of self awareness for that period of time, I vividly remember chatting with Emm after one of her Metro sets, talking her ear off, completely spellbound and believing that she was the single most beautiful creature I'd ever spoken to. By the grace of God, I finally realized that I desperately NEEDED to stop talking before I creeped her out any further, and before she forever crossed Washington, D.C. off of all future tour dates).
Then, there was the jaw-dropping performance of Hamell of Trial I caught one Tuesday night at the Velvet, where I wondered how anyone could ever conjure such intensity, venom and fucking hilarity with nothing more than an acoustic guitar and the tongue of a damned genius.
There were others, of course, but those three definitely stick out in my head. But sadly, none of the bands or artists I loved and felt close to from that period of time really got to that level of recognition that I felt that they deserved. I think they all ended up doing ok for themselves (Hammel toured with Ani DiFranco, Emm toured with Bowie, and Block has an amazing career as a financial analyst or something), but I do have to admit in an embarrassed kind of way that I'd always wanted to be able to tell someone that I'd used to see any of the three of them "in a small club before they made it big."
These days I don't really go out anywhere near as much as I used to, and I'm not as in touch with what's happening in music as I should be...and I have to admit that I'm also a hell of a lot more guarded about giving away my enthusiasm. (There has to be a good reason for this last item, but I'll be damned if I can come up with one). Anyway, maybe that's why I don't really have any favorite upcoming bands these days, and maybe that's why I'm not cheering for any struggling artists to "make it" the way I used to. Maybe, as an utterly failed artist and musician, I've finally learned that the entire notion of "making it" is totally fucking warped.
Still, a lot of this seems to have more to do with me and my issues than it does with the state of music and art today. I have to constantly remind myself that there always are and always will be young, exciting artists that one should support, and that life's more fun when you're a fan of something...
Man, I really gotta start going out again...HOLY FUCK. Hamell is playing Jammin Java in two weeks! I literally just saw this as I was finishing this entry....Damn, I'm glad I decided to link to his site....
(So, Emm, I guess that means you're last. Please come on back and see us if you can).
posted by t-o-n at 7:24 PM
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