New Seger/Little Feat Track Is Out Joy and Jubilation Dept: The new Little Feat album, Join the Band, has been released on iTunes, including the track "Something in the Water," which features Seger on vocals. So much for the advertised August 26 release date. Actually Amazon is still taking "pre-orders" for the CD and still listing the August release date. But iTunes has it all. And though you could buy only the Seger track, you are hereby ordered not to cherry pick; download the whole CD. With guests like Dave Matthews, Jimmy Buffett and Emmylou Harris, plus Little Feat, it's totally worth it. On a million-times more obscure and questionable note, the Seger Liberation Army recently released (or re-released) Down Home. I don't know where you can buy it, but you can listen to it here. And finally, a Seger fan named Cort from Ann Arbor reports that the Kalamazoo Public Library has recently released "Brand New Morning" from its vinyl collection. The catch: they only had one copy and Cort bought it. For 25 cents. Deal of the century. July 2, 2008 - Thanks to Johnnymbmw for the Seger/iTunes tip. OTR&R Craze Continues to Sweep World First it was me on the BBC. Now it's Kid Rock on German TV. Where will it end? Worth watching, below. Stevie Nicks Faces the Promise See below. New Seger Track in August, Via Little Feat Seger's longtime association with Little Feat will give fans something to celebrate this summer. A new Little Feat album called Join the Band will be released on August 26 with an all-star lineup of guest performers -- including a track by Seger. As you probably already know, singer Shaun Murphy, who has toured and recorded with Seger since the early 1970s, is a member of Little Feat. Seger has also recorded with Fred Tackett and Bill Payne over the years -- both current members of the band. And Seger sang backing vocals on the title track of Little Feat's 1988 album, Let it Roll. When I first heard about Join the Band, my guess was that Seger might contribute a cover of "Fat Man in the Bathtub" -- since Seger's live version of that song has circulated among collectors for years. But Shaun reports that Seger's song will not be "Fat Man." Indeed, the track listing shows that Seger's cut is "Somethin' in the Water," originally by Jeffrey Steele. The song is a high-energy country rocker -- you can check out Steele's video of the song here, or find a higher-res, higher audio excerpt on iTunes. "Bob did an amazing version of it, and we're very jazzed to have it in the lineup," Shaun writes. Join the Band also includes guest vocals by Emmylou Harris, Vince Gil, Brooks & Dunn and others. Dave Matthews, it turns out, covers "Fat Man in the Bathtub." It'll be fun to compare and contrast his version. The track list and credits are here. All in all, this sounds like a really great album. Pre-order it here and you'll have something to look forward to all summer. And if you're lucky enough to be at Bonnaroo, you can catch Little Feat live on June 14. Little Feat's upcoming release, Join the Band Updated, June 3, 2008     47 miles of barbed wire Bo Diddley, your beat will live forever. Stevie Nicks Covers Face the Promise   Video from Nicks June 5 show at the Biloxi, Mississippi Hard Rock Hotel and Casino: . June 7, 2008 Kid Rock Lets Loose on German TV Thanks to Curtis Houghmaster for the link. June 12, 2008  Seger File Lies to the BBC World demands apology over jukebox fib There's an eight-hour time difference between London and Portland, Oregon, in case you don't know. So when the BBC producer called me Monday evening to do an interview for Alex Lester's Radio 2 show, it was actually Monday morning here. And I was asleep. It wasn't Alex Lester's normal show, see, which airs in the morning and which would be evening here. It was a "Bank Holiday" in England, which is apparently what the Brits say instead of Memorial Day, and the schedule was all turned around and...never mind. The point is, they woke me up and I was talking kind of slow at first. The subject of the interview was "Old Time Rock & Roll," which they had decided was the Number 1 jukebox hit of all time. (Technically, it's Number 2.) "You're going to have to be far more lively when you're on the air," the producer warned me. Okay. I can turn it on when I have to. The problem is my mouth starts moving faster than my brain. Which is why I told the BBC I have a jukebox at home stocked with Seger songs. I don't, unless you count my iPod. In my defense, I contend that I was merely following the Improv Rule of Agreement, which is: Always Say Yes. Anyway, here it is, spiced up with a lot of copyright viola...er, Fair Use usages of various video clips that were lying around. It was great fun, and I was proud to get a chance to talk about Seger. If you haven't listened to Alex Lester's show, check it out. He plays a lot of great music. June 1, 2008 Guitar Hero Riffs on Old Time Rock & Roll THe BBC's Alex Lester isn't the only one thinking about "Old Time Rock & Roll" these days. The makers of Guitar Hero are using a remake of the Risky Business bit, featuring two finalists from American Idol, to promote the next version of the popular game. Compare and contrast here. Watch the actual Guitar Hero promos here. In other licensing news, "Her Strut" is in included in the popular "Mary Poppins Goes to Market" videogame for kids. Or else it's Grand Theft Auto. One of the two. The track is available as a free download here. June 1, 2008 Seger File is Voice of General Mittencrab The long-awaited Mittencrab trilogy has finally been released. As you might remember, if you have powers of telepathy, I am the voice of General Rufus G. Mittencrab. There's absolutely no Seger connection here. But it's fun, and if you boat this is stuff you ought to know. Quagga mussels are a big problem in Michigan, come to think of it, and Seger does boat, so maybe there is an (extremely tenuous) connection. Check it out at Mittencrab. Gen. Rufus G. Mittencrab June 1, 2008 Summer Forecast: Seger Quiet, Others Not A story in the Detroit Free Press this past week confirms what has begun to seem obvious: no tour this summer, and no DVD of the past tour. Instead, Seger plans a quiet summer: "Rumors have circulated around town about a plethora of Seger projects for 2008, including possible studio sessions for the follow-up to his album "Face the Promise." But a source close to the Detroit rocker tells the Freep's Brian McCollum that while Seger engaged in limited writing and recording during the winter, no definitive timeline is in place -- let alone an album release date. "A rumored concert DVD -- which would include footage from that tour's Cobo Arena dates -- has been indefinitely shelved as Seger moves his focus to new material, insiders say." Brian McCullum, May 14, 2008, Detroit Free Press. "Seger: Plans are for a quiet summer." One interesting stat in the article: Seger's last tour sold more 560,000 tickets and grossed more than $36 million, according to Pollstar magazine . Seger contemplates taking the summer off. Motor City Horns DVD Seger's DVD may be shelved, but John Rutherford of the Motor City Horns reports that MCH will be releasing a three-song DVD in June. The three songs will also be on their upcoming album, due for a fall release. "The DVD will feature the horns in a variety of settings and styles and highlight Detroit talent, many of whom you will recognize," John writes. It will also include interviews... Jim "Moose" Brown reports that a song he cowrote with Liz Hengber will be the next single for James Otto. "I think James is one of the best singers in Nashville and I'm very proud to have a song on his project, let alone the next single," Moose writes. And as far as I can tell from Alto's myspace page, today is his birthday. May 16, 2008. Thanks to Karen Freeman, John Hagan and Will Hohenstein. Coming Soon: Your Backstage Pass The good news: You're about to get a backstage pass. The bad news: The pass won't take you backstage at a Seger show. It takes you backstage at the Seger File. Here's what I mean. Every few years, I get the urge to upgrade the site. (Remember when it first came online in those dark, pre-Google years? I do. I remember going to the Portland Public Library, getting a three-day old copy of the LA Times, photocopying the review of a Seger show, coming home, retyping the review on my Macintosh G3 and posting it on the site, using the slowest dial-up modem ever made. And that, sonny, is how news of Seger travelled back in the horse-and-buggy days of the Internet.) Because of that slow modem, I believed the information superhighway should be all words and no photos. Only when the modem got replaced did I add photos and, later, photo galleries. Then came The Vault -- still the most complete source of information about Seger's unreleased work -- and then the Ken Settle Annex, and finally the Tour pages. From what I've heard, some websites now offer strange "interactive" functions that allow readers to create "user-generated content." I doubt if that will ever catch on. Where's the fun in reading an update about Seger if first you have to write the update yourself? So instead, I'm adding a backstage area. What's back there, you ask. Simple. The same things you keep in your back room at home. Junk. Stuff I haven't bothered to post anywhere else. Things I don't want to throw away, but which don't seem to have a place. A 1980 Seger ticket stub from Wembley Arena. A disco Night Moves remix from Japan. A link to some old video. And anything else you want to send me. If it's backstage-worthy, I'll include it. Look for the Backstage Area to open soon. Just remember, you're in Segerworld, where "soon" means "anytime before the next lunar eclipse." You'll know when it's up, because the pass below will become a link. April 23, 2008 -- The Seger File's April 1 Post Begins here -- "Michigan City" Release Delayed Until June The release of Seger's upcoming CD, Michigan City, has been moved back to June, according to reports in the Free Press and the Olean Times Herald. The delay was caused when Seger listened to the masters and decided to put finishing touches on a couple of tracks. As previously reported, most of Michigan City was written and recorded around the same time as Face the Promise. "I wanted Face the Promise to be an album full of rockers," Seger said. "These are the ballads and medium tempo songs that didn't seem to fit on that CD." Eric Darken, Olean Times Herald, April 1, 2008. "After Seger's "Promise," Comes an Album of Quiet Reflection." The title song, "Michigan City," follows a familiar Seger theme. The song is written from the point of view of someone whose dreams didn't come to pass. But instead of looking wistfully at the emptiness they've left (as in "Jody Girl" for example), "Michigan City" celebrates those early, inspired moments when the dreams were still real. Even dreams that don't come true can give us hope, the song seems to say. In terms of actual narrative, the person in the song is leaving Michigan, and pulls over in Michigan City, Indiana to consider whether the journey is really a wise one. Inspired by the promise of the future, he decides to travel on. I believed in myself back in Michigan City I believed that a better world, I could find I believed in myself back in Michigan City And I believed That I could leave My past behind. "Michigan City" is one of Seger's longest songs, clocking in at 6:23. It started out as a duet. "Originally, it was one of the songs I recorded with Patty Loveless," Seger said. "But in the end it sounded like a man's story. Fortunately, I was able to re-record it with Bruce Springsteen. We had always wanted to do something together and this turned out to be the perfect opportunity." Steve Brewster, Pampa Bowling News, April 1, 2008. "Bob and Bruce Meet Up for 'Michigan City.'" Once the vocal tracks were done, Seger began adding layers of instrumentation, as he normally does, looking for his trademark full, rich sound. An album of quiet introspection and social commentary: The back cover shows the electric chair at the state prison in Michigan City. Over the next two months, Seger added three guitars, horns, strings, keyboards, wind instruments, drums, congas, timpani, handclaps, castanets, theremin, harpsichord, ukulele, an accordion, a men's choir, finger cymbals, harmonica, steel drums, bagpipes, whistling, the Blue Man Group, and back-up singers. "There still seemed to be something missing," Seger said. "I kept adding more and more. We even brought an Aeolian Wind Harp into the studio and tuned it down half an octave. Then finally I began taking things away." The more he took away, the more the song started to reveal itself, Seger said. "I got it down to just three tracks: Bruce and me and one guitar. Then I took the guitar away. That sounded really good, it had a very raw and exposed feel to it. Then I took the vocals away. That sounded perfect." According to Seger, that was the breakthrough moment: "I went back to every cut and removed everything," Seger said. "We got it down to rich, dark silence all the way through. It has the feel of being out in the woods on a night when not a leaf is moving, not a single bird or animal is calling, and you can't hear yourself breathe. It's that kind of silence." Paul Liem, Ocean Way Tribune, April 1, 2008. "Nothing Sounds Better Than Nothing on Seger's New CD." Getting all of the songs down to absolute silence took a while, since the CD is nearly an hour and ten minutes long. But ultimately it was worth the effort. "Punch didn't get it at first," Seger said. "He suggested adding tambourine. But after the third listen, he really started to like it. The band loves it too." Now that there is no sound, the CD sounds great, Seger said. "It's an amazing effect. It's like listening to the rain on a day when it isn't raining." The CD (originally titled Seger Without Seger) was mastered and ready to be pressed when Seger detected a faint audio hum on one of songs. A perfectionist, Seger went back into the studio to clean up the track. "Tomb-like silence," Seger said. "That's what I'm after," adding that the CD may not even be ready in June. "This could take a while," he said. April 1, 2008 Gawker Media Plans Facelift for Seger File Gawker Media, the celebrity gossip powerhouse, says it is planning a redesign of Segerfile.com, complete with a new editorial focus, starting immediately. Gawker Media, which also owns sites such as Defamer, Fleshbot, Gizmodo and Wonkette , purchased a majority share of the Seger File three months ago, saving the fan site from Chapter 11 filings in the wake of the subprime credit crunch. "The Seger File was an okay site," said Gawker Media CEO Will Denigrate. "But its priorities were all wrong. There was way too much emphasis on music and next to nothing on Bob's personal life. When we took over, we were stunned to find a complete lack of rumors, embarrassing snapshots, innuendo, medical records, court documents -- all the juicy stuff." Eddie Bayers, Paradiddle Times-Herald, April 1, 2008. "No Gossip, No Mud, No Fun on Seger Site." As a result, Denigrate continued, the site was dull. "You could spend all day on the Seger File and never find out what the guy eats for breakfast, let alone what kind of car he drives. And forget about three-day drunken blackouts, shouting matches or public meltdowns. The site gave the impression that Seger sat around all day writing music and being a normal dad. Who wants to read about that?" All that is about to change. Denigrate said Gawker will give Bob what they call The Full Britany -- 24/7 paparazzi, daily garbage can reconnaissance, bribing the cleaning staff and high-tech audio surveillance. "If someone sneezes and Bob doesn't say 'Bless You,' you'll read about it here," Denigrate said. When all else fails, the site will simply make things up. "We've got a great feature next month showing Bob and Punch coming out of the Turkish Baths at The Body Zone. With Photoshop, we can fake anything. Basically, what we do for Britany, we'll do for Bob. Except the underwear shots." Seger File founder and former editor Scott Sparling said he was forced to sell the site when creditors demanded payment. A possible merger with Segernet.com fell through at the last moment. "Given the different strengths of the two sites," Sparling said, "there seemed to be a lot of synergy." Segernet CEO Eric Verona and The Seger File's Scott Sparling during merger negotiations. The combined site was to have been called Filenet.com. It would have offered files of all types, including nail files, wood files and assorted rasps, as well as a wide variety of nets. But competition from big-box stores such as Home Depot and Lowes proved to be too great. "In the end, the creditors took control. I deeply regret that they sold out to a heartless media conglomerate with no sense of right or wrong," Sparling said. "Personally, I would never believe a thing you read on Gawker." Later that day Sparling was seen coming out of the Turkish Bath House, where he spent the day drowning puppies. Depraved Puppy Murderer at Sex Club. Gawker Media Photo. ©2008 All Rights Reserved. April 1, 2008 Segerfile Writer Caught in Tryst With High-Priced MP3s Once, he stood as a shining example of all things Seger. But the proprietor of one of the web's largest Seger sites revealed today that he has been caught in a liaison with high-priced mp3s -- many of them indie, folk and alt-country mp3s. The scandal came to light when an anonymous customer on iTunes mistakenly clicked "Buy Shopping Cart" instead of "Buy Song." Since Apple provides no "Undo" button, his in-basket was instantly flooded with over a hundred non-Seger mp3s, including several by The Be Good Tanyas. iTunes launched an investigation, and soon identified the user as Client No. 9,873,246. Later that day authorities revealed him to be the founder of the Seger File. "I have acted in a way that violates the public pretense of right and wrong," he said in an oddly worded statement. "I have failed to live up to the standards expected from unofficial web sites produced by uncompensated fans in their spare time. I will not be taking questions. Thank you very much." Later, his distraught wife told FOX news that she knew something was wrong as soon as she saw the Visa bill. "I always assumed he was in the computer room listening to Seger. Now I find out he has Meg Hutchinson all over his iPod." Investigators also discovered Spottiswood and His Enemies, Amy Cook, Back Door Slam and the Quebe Sisters on his playlists. "We were shocked," said Seger's longtime manager Punch Andrews. "Here we are faithfully putting out an album every 11 years, assuming that fans are listening to nothing but Bob. Then something like this comes along and shakes your faith." "He seemed like a decent enough guy," an area man said. "If he'd been cheating with Tom Petty, I could understand it. But The Be Good Tanyas? Talk about depraved. I can't understand a word Frazey Ford is singing. And one of those chicks has a banjo." April 1, 2008 Seger Trivia Winners Congratulations go out to Michael Slater, winner of this month's Seger Trivia Contest, for correctly identifying Seger's first No. 1 album. Slater wins a copy of last year's concert DVD, Live at Cobo. Runners-up Lane Vancouver, Dimi Webster, Trick Bradley and Harp Maitland will all receive a copy of the double CD from the show. Thanks to everyone who entered and watch for next month's contest. April 1, 2008 This is the Seger File's April 1 Post. I feel guilty about it already. And about this. And this and this. A Year After Cobo: Nakia, Paul Thorn and the Anti-Seger at SXSW "Miracles will happen. I promise you!" -- Jon Dee Graham, closing his set at the Continental Club, March 15, 2008. It's been a year now -- one full year since Seger brought down the house at Cobo Hall, closing out his Face the Promise Tour on March 17, 2007. And since then? No concert DVD, no re-release of FTP with added tracks, and nothing definite on a summer or fall tour. I'm not complaining. No matter how much he gives us, we'll always want more, and waiting is something we're good at. Still, there has to be new music coming in. The program that runs my brain demands it; otherwise the system tends to crash. So when Ears Two, my longtime friend and comrade-in-music, suggested a South by Southwest trip, I jumped. The festival, which ended Saturday, yielded plenty of new bands, or at least bands that are new to me -- including two I think every Seger fan should check out. Looking for Commitment First, a caveat: this is not a list of bands that ruled at SXSW. I have no idea who ruled. I'm off the grid, as far as buzz goes. To find out which bands supposedly caught fire at SXSW (or to read yet another puff piece on Vampire Weekend), I'd have to get myself a copy of Spin, just like you. No, what blew me away at SXSW, time after time, was not buzz, but commitment. Some acts turn on the amps and perform. I mean that in a negative sense. What you're seeing is something they've contrived for you to see. It might be very entertaining, but ultimately it's an act. Then there are the ones that would do what they do, no matter what. They're not performing. It's the music -- the pure, intense feeling of it -- that drives them. Everything they do is in service of that feeling. If you're lucky enough to be in the audience, you get to watch. But it's not really being made for your benefit. Artists like that, they're all in. They're shoveling coal onto the fire with every note and with every ounce of energy -- and yeah, I mean that as a reference to Seger because that's the kind of commitment he brings, though of course he wasn't at SXSW. Must-See #1: Nakia But Nakia and His Southern Cousins were. And if you love the James Brown/Wilson Pickett/Memphis side of Seger -- the full force vocals of "Come to Poppa," "Fire Down Below," and "Ain't Got No Money" -- you should definitely check out Nakia. After listening to more than 600 sample mp3s as part of our pre-festival planning, both Ears Two and I ended up with Nakia (pronounced naw-KEE-a, or so I claim) on our Must-See lists. That alone says a lot. But when we heard him live -- in Lamberts, a club with maybe 50 people present -- we were totally blown away. His show was tight and high energy and full of life, and something about his music lifted my spirits in just the same way Seger's music can. This guy is good. The problem is, you might have to go to Austin to hear him. Currently, when he tours outside of Austin, he doesn't take his band. But you can hear "Playing the Cards," the sample that attracted Ears Two and I, at the SXSW site. And check out his tasty Wilson Pickett cover here. The samples don't give a full sense of what it's like hear him live -- just as Seger's early recordings didn't really capture the energy of the live shows. I don't know if Nakia and his band have quite reached Live Bullet form yet, but they're on their way. I'd definitely bet my cards on him. Must-See #2: Paul Thorn But what if you love the Chuck Berry/harder-rocking/"Get Out of Denver"/"Wreck this Heart" side of Seger? In that case, the man you want to talk to is Paul Thorn. Thorn is a rocker who is thoroughly confident and friendly -- he's having so much fun on stage, you just can't stop smiling. Sound familiar? His sample mp3, "Long Way from Tupelo" convinced Ears Two and I to see him at The Tap Room at Six in Austin. But you won't have to travel to the Live Music Capital of the World to see him. You can check his video here, or see him on March 19th on Conan O'Brien on March 19 or April 22 on Jimmy Kimmel. Thorn's on his way up; catch him at the small clubs while you can. Johnette Napolitano There were other artists who skulled me in equally intense but very different ways. One was Johnette Napolitano. When she played on Wednesday night, I felt I was in the presence of some holy, expletive-drenched, righteous force of nature. Napolitano, who used to be in Concrete Blonde, is crazed. She would tell you that herself. Though it wouldn't be necessary. You sense it immediately. She is out of control in a way that seems completely necessary and liberating, and her voice soars and transports. When her set was over, I just wanted more. Fortunately, Billboard editor Tamara Conniff was there. Conniff leapt up on stage at the end of the show and demanded that Johnette come back, under threat of, well, some sort of erotic craziness I actually would have liked to have seen. But Johnette came back. It was one of three encores and one of two standing ovations that I saw in 59 shows. I mashed, or uh, stole, some audio of Napolitano singing "Joey" at her SXSW gig from somebody else's blog. I apologize for the theft. But I had to do it in order to get rid of the video portion. Trust me, you don't want to be distracted by video while this plays. You want to close your eyes and just listen deeply to the pain and the yearning and the realness of this. It's a long way from Segerland, and it won't be everyone's cup of tea. But it made me feel alive. Paddy Casey Paddy Casey had the same effect, though his music is very different. I was ticked off at the beginning of his show because it was being filmed for some media outfit, and the stage director wanted Ears Two and I to stand closer to the stage so they could make the crowd look bigger than it really was. In other words, they wanted to add some fakeness. That kind of crap would have ruined most shows for me. But when Casey got to "Whatever Gets You True," and "Fear" and "It's Over Now," I forgot about me. I actually disappeared for a while and music filled up the space where I had been. Ever have that happen to you at a Seger concert? Well, yeah. I don't have to steal any video to give you a sample of his voice. He'll be on Letterman April 3rd. And he'll be on your radio soon, if he isn't already. The Anti-Seger Then, of course, there was the Anti-Seger, Mr. Van Morrison. By Anti-Seger, I don't mean he's against or opposed to Seger in any way. (Though he did once complain that Seger was "doing my act." To which I retorted, "well, someone should, since you're not doing it." But I don't think Van heard me, since I was 2,000 miles and several years away.) No, I just mean that Van Morrison does the opposite of what Seger does, at least onstage. Van played none of his hits. In fact, he didn't play a single song I recognized. He certainly didn't give a rip whether the crowd wanted to hear Saint Dominic's Preview or not. So some folks were not particularly thrilled with his set. Also, there were lots of instrumental solos, which, though tasty, weren't all that tasty, considering we were standing on a hard concrete floor in the heat, and we were there to hear Van's genius, not tasty solos. By the end, a lot of people were ready to get on with SXSW. (By virtue of his time slot, he was essentially the opening act). I'd done some research, however, so my expectations were different. I knew he wouldn't play any hits, and I knew he wouldn't give us too much of a look inside -- he kept his sunglasses on the whole time. But Van's genius is Van's genius. His voice is, all by itself, an instrumental solo. You don't get much enunciation with Van. And halfway through the set, when he started pumping his arm and throwing stiff, little punches in the air…at that point, I was flying. Nobody defines commitment like Van Morrison. Who else? Tom Freund is a name you're going to hear. Ben Harper, having produced Freund's upcoming album, sat in with him, and the set was fantastic. Kim Taylor proved she has a lot more than the obvious Joni Mitchell roots in her music, while Sara Bareilles proved she more Joni roots than you'd expect from her iTunes hit. Patricia Vonne rocked. I missed seeing The Silos set when A.J. Croce (who was playing in the same time slot and who had barely made my "maybe" list) knocked Ears Two and I out with his opening song. It's gotta sound weird to trade The Silos for A.J. Croce, but if you were in the room, you would have done the same thing. Trust me. I know you. The Miracle of Escovedo Then on Saturday, the last day, the miracle happened. By that time, the Texas heat had fried many of the circuits in my Oregon brain, and for complicated reasons, Ears Two and I ended up in a taxi, taking a long and misguided ride, while the unprovoked (or barely provoked) driver let loose on Ears Two and threatened to toss us out of the cab. Then, when we got where we were going, the complicated thing we wanted to see turned out to be a bust. So we did what men will do when everything falls apart. We started walking. When we had walked a good mile, we heard some music coming from behind a fence. It sounded pretty good, so we crossed the street and made our way in. The place was Maria's Taco Xpress, and the music was coming from a fenced in courtyard, where people sat eating tacos and drinking beer. It didn't take Ears Two long to figure out what had happened. Like fools, like blessed men, we had wandered unknowingly into Alejandro Escovedo's annual SXSW party at Maria's. The first band was great. I wish I could remember their name right now. Ears Two will know. And then Alejandro played and it was just absolutely freaking amazing. The music and the place -- everything. I can't explain it to you. I tried to explain it to my wife and son a couple hours ago and started crying right in the middle, like I haven't done since my dad died, and my wife had to cross the living room and give me a hug and tell me she was glad I had gone to Austin even though it meant four days away from the family. I don't know why I would cry about a thing like that, except maybe when miracles are given to you, that's what you do. Or what I do. Of course, people in Austin and a lot of other people have known about Escovedo for years. I don't why I hadn't, but there it is. Maybe the music gods planned it that way. Maybe I had to wait all this time so I could hear the right band in the right place at the right time with the right friend. Whatever it was, Escovedo's set had it all -- like that night at Cobo Hall a year ago, it was something I'll never forget. Jon Dee Graham After that, all that was left to do was to walk to the Continental Club and listen to the sound of two dinosaur's fighting, which is Jon Dee Graham and his band, the Fighting Cocks. I've probably written enough about JDG here in the past, considering this is supposed to be a site about Seger. But in case it isn't glaringly obvious, this is also a site about me. And for me, all I