I am always suprised when I meet a music lover who has not heard of the band TRAVIS. Coldplay is really well known now around the US, but many people still know very little about the band Chris Martin credits as the ones who "invented my band and lots of others." If you haven't listened to TRAVIS much, check out The Boy With No Name. It's a great place to start, or get reacquainted. Their myspace page will give you a free listen to four of their tracks, but a personal favorite of mine is 'Closer.' After living with this song for a while it has me asking some questions.

Can bad news actually be good news? Can things falling apart lead to things being whole?

I sat with a friend yesterday. We had lunch at the Wazee Supper Club. I told him it was funny to have lunch there but he didn't care. He asked me if I knew much about matches. Matches? I asked and he nodded. Like fire matches? I wondered and he asked What other kind of matches are there?

When someone mentions the name Sam Beam, two thoughts come to mind: one of the greatest lyricists of my time, and amazing hair (see below).

Sam Beam (a.k.a. Iron and Wine) releases his latest installment to the "full length album" category today with Shepherd's Dog. In conjunction with this debut, Iron and Wine kicked off a fall tour last Sunday (9/23) at Chicago's Metro. A sold out crowd was fortunate enough to hear the album performed for the first time alongside Beam's newly formed band. The rumored "fuller sound" was indeed true as Beam's distinct voice was enveloped by the mystical echoes of more instruments than I could count.