pump audio rocks times square

What an amazing time! After arriving at work on Thursday armed with garment bags & sheriff badges, about 30 of us from the Tivoli crew of Pump Audio boarded a Rock Bus headed straight for the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. The folks from Getty Images joined us in hosting a night that was action-packed with incredible music, contagious excitement, beautiful people, colorful lights, fancy dresses, flashing cameras, wild dancing, and just a little bit of drinking. The Alexis P. Suter Band played a set that was literally incendiary. Epic. They've also been opening up the Midnight Rambles at Levon Helm's studio up here in Woodstock lately. Here are a few pics from the night:

hello tomorrow

Here's a good one for a Monday. Yes it's a commercial, but a great example of music used well in a commercial -- I think so anyway. Cool video too. This spot came out in 2005 and was created by Spike Jonze. The title song, "Hello Tomorrow" was composed specifically for the ad by Spike's brother, Sam "Squeak E. Clean" Spiegel. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs sings the lyrics.

ain't love funny

Thanks to my brother Guthrie for sharing a sweet tune this morning; it's a JJ Cale song Ain't Love Funny from his album Closer to You. This version was covered by Phish on June 6, 1997 at their road manager Brad Sands' house in Charlotte, VT. This private, unannounced concert was attended by 50-60 family members and friends of the band and is lovingly referred to as "The Fourth Ball" or "Bradstock". Happy spring!

four eyed monsters

Just revisiting one of my favorite films here; Four Eyed Monsters. A great one to check out this weekend if you haven't seen it yet. It's a fresh and delicious love story for the eyes and ears alike. And you don't even have to wait for Netflix or b-side films to send it to you, you can watch it right now, all 71 minutes of it right on their myspace page, how's that for innovation? That's right, they've embedded their entire feature film right into their damn myspace page! I'm pretty sure that after watching about 4 of the 71 minutes online, you'll want to order yourself a nice DVD to show off your new flat-panel with, but there is nothing like instant gratification.

Here's the trailer:

25 Things About Me

1. I'll try anything once.

2. I learned how to fly an airplane before I learned how to drive.

3. My brothers are my closest friends on the planet.

4. Living in Vancouver for a year only amplified my love for rainy days.

5. I recently earned my EMT-B certification and have already put it to good use.

6. Dropping out of high school was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

7. I survived "Hook Worms". Enough said.

8. I believe in love at first sight.

9. My parents still own and live in the house I grew up in. I feel comfort and ground whenever I go back there.

10. Sometimes I wish people would call me Caitie but I haven't figured out a cool way to spell it with a "C".

11. When I fall in love with a song, I crave it on a visceral level.

12. I can't wait to meet my future children and I think about them all the time.

13. If Steve Jobs made a toothbrush, I would buy it.

14. I am a proud member of the mile-high club (see #2).

15. I will attend my 100th Phish concert on March 8th, 2009!

16. I worked as a shad fisherman on the Hudson River for several years every season each May. It was one of my favorite jobs I've ever had.

17. Sunset is my favorite time of day.

18. I've transformed from a "cat-person" into a "dog-person", thanks to Habibi.

19. The company I work for pays me good money to listen to music for 8 hours every day (?!?) Yes.

20. I love plane, train, and automobile trips. Especially the ones where the road stretches out for so long ahead that it takes days or weeks to get "there".

21. When I was ten, I memorized all the words to "We Didn't Start the Fire". I still sing it regularly.

22. The first vehicle registered in my name was a full-sized purple 1978 Bluebird school bus.

23. According to my (very patient) husband, I have long, detailed, one-sided conversations in my sleep almost every night.

24. I can cook an awesome meal out of whatever is left in the fridge as long as we have garlic.

25. If you are reading this, I love you.

runnin' on faith

I'll never forget one of the many times I asked my Dad for mix-tape advice while raiding his record collection. I was 15, the whole ecstatic summer was glistening ahead, and I was dubbing songs from vinyl to cassettes; crafting the soundtrack for my first big road trip. He played me "Key to the Highway" from the Derek & the Dominos record, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. It's one of my favorite albums of all time. He said, "play this one as soon as you turn onto 91..."

The next thing I'll never forget is the rush that I felt in my soul after cranking up that mix tape in the van and actually hearing that song while watching those yellow lines stretch miles ahead as I left Cheshire County far behind & began my own adventure of self-discovery. Good call Dad!

The image above was on my desktop for a while during my "Winter of Eric Clapton Appreciation Season of 2007-08". Really spiced up the 'ole cabin fever this year to read his autobiography & chronologically listen to his entire discography of recorded material. His book, appropriately titled Clapton, is a real page-turner. As a writer for Publisher's Weekly says "Readers hoping for sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll won't be disappointed." And baby, I wasn't. It was amazing to hear him describe his journey of teaching himself to play guitar by listening to records and playing along, recording himself on a tape recorder, and learning from his mistakes. The story unfolds from there into a tornado of wild adventures as he travels through adolescence, self-discovery, addiction, women, tours, bands, a search for his roots, and a brilliant outlook on the future.

I'm gonna roam this old highway until the break of day...

golden ears

Most humans can hear sounds within the frequency range of 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. Anything below 20 Hz is silent to us, but we can feel it, like the bass of a song through a sub-woofer (ha ha), or the vibrations of the floor at a concert.

Check this one out: dogs (as well as many other animals) have a wider range of hearing than humans, about 40 Hz to 60,000 Hz (you probably knew that, but hey)!

I love watching our dog Habibi (adorable) react to sounds. It never ceases to amaze me at how he can tell that Kale is coming home at least 30 seconds before I hear any footsteps or keys jingling in the door.

To me, the vacuum just sounds loud, but it's actually giving off a very high frequency sound which scares the living daylights out of the poor guy.

One time I learned that part of dogs' secret to sharp hearing is the fact that they have so much mobility in their ears. If you watch 'em, you'll notice that they perk up their ears when they pick up on a fascinating sound, and move them to "tune it in", the same way that we can cup our ears to increase sensitivity to sound.

I just know that those extra 40,000 Hz give Habibi a whole different perspective of the world. He would definitely be one awesome sound engineer.

i can't believe i ran my hybrid out of gas...

Yep, what began as a simple Friday lunchtime trip to the diner with a couple of friends turned into an adventure that will not likely be forgotten anytime soon by the folks at our local watering hole... I guess now i know that when the Prius says E it means it!

make the jump!

I'm lucky to say that two of my favorite things in this world are my amazing brothers, Travis and Guthrie. And since this blog is about music, life, love, and adventures, I think it's about time I introduce them to y'all.

Travis plays bass (and guitar hero), has attended more live concerts than anyone I've ever known, is a critical and talented music writer, and also has a photographic memory of which he devotes an entire hemisphere of his brain to cataloging musical experiences and data. His most recent endeavor involves recording live concerts (with the bands' permission, of course) and posting the torrents to his site, The JumpStation.

Once again, thank the sweet Lord for brothers, because The JumpStation has been a real publicity kick for our younger brother Guthrie, an incredibly talented working musician. Guthrie plays bass in Middle America, pretty much the hottest rock band in the Hudson Valley. He's also the bass player in another great local band, Johnny Unstoppable, and plays a bunch of solo gigs here and there. He's also a pro-tools engineer, sound designer, film composer, remote classifier for Pump, and one of those guys who can pick up any instrument and play it beautifully, (or rocking-ly, depending on the groove) with very little ego.

Middle America played a hot set at The Basement the other night which Travis recorded and will soon be uploading as a torrent on The Jumpstation. For now, you can check out and download some other cool shows from his site; there's also a killer Dead Unicorn show up -- they're yet another insanely awesome Kingston band.

I love you brothers, you keep on rockin' now boyzzzzz....

tegan and sara

Tegan and Sara aren't Pump artists, but their fifth album "The Con" has been in slot 4 of my cd-player for weeks now. They're twin sisters from Calgary, Alberta. Currently, Tegan lives in Vancouver (a city close to my heart) and Sara lives in Montreal. I'd say for about the last 25 week-days or so, this song has been key to my morning routine: Wake up, hit the shower, eat cereal with Kale and Habibi, run out the door, realize I've forgotten my cell phone, run back in and grab it, rev up the 'ole Prius, and skip straight to track 6 for a great morning-drive soundtrack. Saw a video of them recording this a while back and learned a whole bunch of cool studio tricks like throwing a mic on a bottle of sunflower seeds (which shaking) to emphasize the crisp snare-rattle. Check out their fantastic final product:
back in your head

that sea, the gambler

I love my job at Pump Audio. I listen to music all day. As a classifier for our ever-expanding catalog, I screen the submissions that come in from independent artists all over the world. Some days I hear a lot of good music. Some days I hear a lot of what we like to call "average" music. Most days it's a stew. But then there are days like today when I come across a real gem -- a song or an album that warms me to the core of my soul and makes me want to listen over and over and play it through speakers big enough to wash through the whole Hudson River.

So today was pretty much a regular day until the album "That Sea, the Gambler" by Gregory Alan Isakov (of The Freight) played through my speakers about an hour ago. First, I fell in love. Then, I added "The Stable Song" to my myspace page. Then, I said, hey...I think today's the day to actually start that music blog I've been wanting to for a long time. So thanks for the music Gregory, and for the inspiration... from now on when I hear something cool I'll post it up here for y'all to enjoy!

Here is a video-track from "That Sea, The Gambler" by Gregory Alan Isakov:
Check out this video: Black and Blue



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