ourshadowswillremain

Dr. Kelly Renee Showalter

ourshadowswillremain — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:03:33 +0000

With her husband by her side, Dr. Kelly Renee Showalter, 32, of Lewisburg, went home to be with her Lord on Sunday, October 2, 2011, at the Greenbrier Valley Medical Center.

Born April 30, 1979 in Bluefield, WV, she was the daughter of Richard L. Showalter and the late, Mary Elizabeth “Susie” Showalter.

Kelly was a devoted wife, friend and doctor. She graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA with her brother in May 2001. She later graduated from WVU’s medical school and became a pediatrician for the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, the Greenbrier Valley Medical Center and the Robert C. Byrd Clinic in Lewisburg, WV. Kelly enjoyed the music of Jimmy Buffet and spending time with her husband and their beagle, Lucy.

Kelly’s warm smile, heart and positive attitude impacted the lives of her family, friends and patients. She spent the last few months of her life honoring her mother and taking care of her family.

Those left to cherish her memory are her husband, Chris Hollandsworth, her father, Richard L. “Dick” Showalter, her brother, Brian Showalter and his wife, Sarah Blake Showalter, their daughter Mary Elizabeth Showalter and a host of family and friends.

The visitation for family members will be Friday, October 7 at 5pm. Friends and colleagues may visit from 6pm to 8pm. Funeral services will be held Saturday, October 8 at 12 noon at Tyree Funeral Home in Oak Hill with Rev. Ralph Calfee officiating. Burial will be at Gethsemane Memorial Gardens in Oak Hill.

Friends may call from 11 a.m. until service time on Saturday at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, honorary donations may be made to the American Liver Foundation, 39 Broadway, Suite 2700, New York, NY 10006 or by visiting The American Liver Foundation.

Online condolences may be sent by visiting Tyree Funeral Home.

Arrangements by Tyree Funeral Home, Oak Hill.

Olivia Tremor Control (Interview Excerpt Circa 1999)

ourshadowswillremain — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:12:25 +0000

It’s been nearly twelve years since the Athens, GA experimental, psych-pop band, Olivia Tremor Control released a full-length album. 1999′s musical collage, Black Foilage: Animation Music Volume One incorporated nearly every instrument possible, or so it seems and loads of overdubbing and cutting & pasting. The band announced a U.S. tour early this month and here is a portion of an interview with Cullen Hart, Eric Harris and Bill Doss of Olivia Tremor Control. This interview was printed in James Madison University’s student newspaper, The Breeze in late 1999.

Brian Showalter: Who did you listen to when you were growing up?
Cullen Hart:I listened to the Beatles for the most part until I reached the age of 8 years old. Eric Harris: I was the opposite. I listened to country until the age of 8 years old, then the Beatles.
CH: I listened to bad 70′s hits. My sister had a 45 collection from 1970 to 1975 and that was my experience I suppose. After that, it was all KISS, heavy metal and some Pink Floyd. I worked college radio from 1988 to 1989, so that was a really good experience with bands like Sonic Youth, The Butthole Surfers and bands of the punk persuasion. So post-punk and psychedelic stuff was the basis of my education.

BS: So what are your plans for your next album?
Bill Doss: We’ll be playing a few songs that will be on it tonight and what we are doing is play it as we go along. We record a song and having played it for a year or two, it turns into something totally different: arrangements change and it’s just kind of morphed and you bring more instrumentation in. So we are going to try it that way.
CH: Normally, we are an overdubbing type band. We just layer things and layer things. It will be more of a live band feel with things over top of it.
BD: That’s the thing — it is like the live band and the studio record are totally different personalities. So we are trying to merge those together to get more of a live band feel, but still have the full recorded sound.

BS: Are you planning on making a movie incorporating your library of music?
Cullen Hart: Yeah. We have a few different ideas on that kind of thing. I think it would be more like a video of clips people have filmed and sent to us. Because that was kind of the idea with “Unrealized Film Script.” A lot of people said, “I made a video for one of your songs.” I think we should just compile them all, but Joey Foreman, who has done a lot of work for us visually, listened to songs and we have talked about ideas for a video. He probably has about a half an hour of footage that has to do with the songs. So we will do something sometime with it. (Laughs)

The Head and the Heart Looking To Headline Fall Tour

ourshadowswillremain — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 17:48:48 +0000

Seattle’s The Head and the Heart continue to build momentum. According to a new “On the Verge” article posted at USAToday.com, the band is working towards a fall headlining tour. After supporting talent such as Iron & Wine and the Decemberists and performing at Bonnaroo, the band will take part in the Austin City Limits Festival and the Newport Folk Festival.

For those of you who haven’t experienced The Head and the Heart’s blend of pop, rock and americana, you can purhcase their self-titled SubPop Records album at Amazon.com for $5 thru July 31. In fact, their single “Lost in My Mind,” is a free download at Amazon.com. You can take a listen to the track here:

Here’s a taste of what the band is like in a live in studio setting:

Bill Maher Equates the Casey Anthony Verdict to Voting Republican

ourshadowswillremain — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 03:32:44 +0000

“Yes, Republican base you are just like that jury. It is pathetically clear who is killing the middle class, but you (Republican voters) keep letting them get away with murder.”

Wake Up: A Trifecta

ourshadowswillremain — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:00:29 +0000

One of my favorite albums of the year so far is AWOLNATION’s Megalithic Symphony. “Sail” is the obvious hit song from the album but one underappreciated song is “Wake Up.” The song is a dancey, upbeat, bass-driven song that follows “Sail” and propels the album to its close. See for yourself:

AWOLNATION: “Wake Up”

Then there is the tried and true “Wake Up” from that band called, Rage Against the Machine. Their “Wake Up” is the standout track from their self-titled debut album from 1991. It’s no surprise that the song is placed in the heart of the album because their “Wake Up” features the band hitting on all cylinders. Having the song featured during the final sequence of the Matrix didn’t hurt either:

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE: “Wake Up”

Lastly, what is by now considered an indie rock classic, the Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” is a song of an almost cathartic nature. Their “Wake Up” ends The Funeral and it leaves the listener with a sense of hope as Win Butler finishes off the song with the exclamation, “You better look out below!” When witnessing the band perform the song live, it’s almost impossible to feel the sense of urgency and conviction that defines the Arcade Fire:

ARCADE FIRE: “Wake Up”

Josh Garrels: White Owl video

ourshadowswillremain — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:39:33 +0000

Here is a fascinating video from indie singer/songwriter, Josh Garrels of Portland, OR. The video is for the lead track, “White Owl” from his recently released album, Love & War & the Sea in Between. The album is available as a free download at NoiseTrade. The animation was created by Daniel and Arien Armstrong.

Josh Garrels is a Chrisian musician but not in the obvious sense of the word. His songwriting is pensive, engaging and full of hope. His earthy sound is in the same vein as Damien Rice (minus the cursing) and Ben Harper.

The Civil Wars: “Barton Hollow” available for $5 via dL at Amazon.com

ourshadowswillremain — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 03:53:31 +0000

Barton Hollow, the first full length album from The Civil Wars is available for a mere $5 at Amazon as an MP3 download. Since it’s release in February, Barton Hollow has peaked at #1 on the iTunes album charts, #1 on the Billboard Digital Albums chart and #2 on the Billboard Folk Albums chart. The band has performed twice on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the last year. In addition, the Civil Wars have been nominated for Best Emerging Artist by the Americana Music Association. Lastly, it didn’t hurt that Taylor Swift tweeted about the Civil Wars in late 2010.

Standout tracks on the album include the title track, the emotional barnburner “Poison & Wine and “My Father’s Father.” Check back soon for our review of Barton Hollow. An album we feel is one of the most consistent albums of 2011.

Jason Heath & the Greedy Souls — "4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)" Video and MP3

ourshadowswillremain — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 03:00:00 +0000

Check out this timely cover by folk/rock band, Jason Heath & the Greedy Souls from Los Angeles. The band includes Jason Federici, son of Danny Federici of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band fame. The band just finished recording their second full length album, “Packed for Exile.” You can hear the album in its entirety by visiting their offical website.

MP3: 4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)

Jason Heath & the Greedy Souls — "A Fighter’s Lullaby"

ourshadowswillremain — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

“Win or lose, you know that you’ve been here before.

Keep your eyes fixed up high on the blood above your door.

It’s a promise to you that will always be true, the sun is gonna rise.

So don’t be afraid of the place where you lay, just close your eyes.”

When I first heard this song by the Los Angeles based, Jason Heath & the Greedy Souls I knew they were a special group.

The song is called “A Fighter’s Lullaby” and it was written in loving memory of Danny Federici, the accordion player/organist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. Danny Federici passed away from melanoma in April of 2008.

One of the members of Jason Heath & the Greedy Souls is Jason Federici, Danny’s son. Jason, like his father, plays accordion and the organ. Jason Federici helped fund the Danny Fund, whose mission is “to bring melanoma to the forefront of awareness and help fund research with the top melanoma doctors in the world.” The demo of “A Fighter’s Lullaby” has been downloaded over 120,000 times at the Danny Fund website.

Jason Heath & the Greedy Souls recently sent a few songs from their upcoming album, Packed for Exile to select triple A radio stations. Even though the album isn’t slated for release until late February, the band is already receiving airplay from stations such as WFUV in NYC, WTMD in Baltimore and the E Street Radio channel on XM/Sirius radio.

“A Fighter’s Lullaby” is one of the most significant songs of my life for many reasons. It is not only because I work with the band, but because of the unexpectedly death of my mother, Mary Elizabeth Showalter. My mom passed away in a UVA hospital room on September 13. She was fighting colon cancer for the second time in less than 17 years. When I saw my mom sedated in her bed at UVA, I had hope that she would find a way to beat cancer again. I arrived on a Sunday afternoon and at just after 7am Monday morning, she found eternal peace.

Earlier Sunday morning, as I drove to Charlottesville, I listened to Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising. That album is the ultimate in musical redemption. In less than a matter of a day, the title song from The Rising and the epic closing track, “My City of Ruins” went from being songs of hope to songs of sentimentality. A few days later, I decided to utilize the song, “My City of Ruins” in my mother’s viewing before her funeral. Coincidentally or perhaps not coincidentally, Danny Federici plays organ on the track.

In one of the last conversations I had with my mom, I played a few demos from Jason Heath & the Greedy Souls. I played her “Ghost in My Home,” “California Wine” and of course, “A Fighter’s Lullaby.” She loved every song. And like so many times before that conversation, her approval meant so much to me.

My mom was the epitomy of the term, “fighter.” When she was starting to suffer from symptoms related to the cancer earlier this summer, she apologized for supposedly ruining a trip to Lewisburg, WV. When the doctor informed my mom that she was in fact fighting cancer for the second time, she didn’t shed a tear. She gave cancer everything she had during her first bout with the disease. Even though she was confined to a hospital bed for over two months, she emerged from the battle victorious. Following her return home, she dealt with a hip replacement surgery and various infections. Every time, no matter the obstacle, she won. She was undefeated until Sept 13, even though a doctor told me he wasn’t sure she would make it through the night. Not surprisingly, she did.

Like Danny Federici, my mom was a fighter. It is with great admiration for her and for Jason Heath & the Greedy Souls, that I present this song:

Jason Heath & the Greedy Souls — “A Fighter’s Lullaby”
Jason Heath & the Greedy Souls official website

Feist & Hayden to play Charlottesville this spring

ourshadowswillremain — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 14:58:00 +0000

After I scored Radiohead tickets for their show in Charlotte, I was browsing the usual websites for concerts nearby: Pollstar, Mountain Stage and the Satellite Ballroom. When I came across Feist’s date at the Charlottesville Pavillion, I blurted out a gargantuan, ‘Holy Shit!” The show will take place April 26 at 7pm and it is presented by a solid AAA radio station, 106.1FM The Corner.

I’ve been a fan of Feist since I heard “Mushaboom” from her 2005 album, Let it Die.The Reminder, Feist’s 2007 album, displayed an improvement in recording quality and a full palette of emotions. The song, “I Feel it All” and her album cover sets the tone for the entire album. Her memorable video for “1,2,3,4″ is further evidence of her colorful tendencies. She’s the type of artist that could likely spawn numerous copy-cats in the near future. If that is the case, it will be difficult to plaigarise her underlying punk sensibilities which are sugar-coated with pop and jazz techniques.

Another reason that I’m excited about the Feist show is that Canadian singer/songwriter, Hayden has been announced as the opening act. In the mid 90′s, I latched on to Hayden’s lo-fi aesthetic when he released his album, Everything I Long For.As a high schooler, I related with Hayden’s whims on relationships, crushes and living with his parents. It was one of the those CDs that my girlfriend at the time and I embraced to get through adolescense. I hadn’t heard anything from Hayden since his 1998 album, The Closer I Get. I incorrectly assumed that he quietly evaporated into the musical background and ceased making records. I’m glad I was wrong.

MP3: FEIST — “Past in Present”
MP3: HAYDEN — “Hardly”