- Jars of Clay via last.fm
In any case, Jars of Clay rocked, Audio Unplugged was a cool flashback, and we were introduced to a couple of new bands… I’m an instant fan of B. Reith who was very entertaining, and who’s music was somewhat reminiscent of Toby Mac, blending guitar, hip hop, and rap with a great voice and deep lyrics. We also heard Thousand Foot Krutch for the first time… and was reminded that although I don’t dislike hard rock, when it borders on heavy metal, I can’t enjoy it for very long. They opened with the title song of their new album “Welcome to the Masquerade” which was really good, but after head-banging through a couple more tunes, I’d had enough and wandered off to by some snacks while I waited for Jars of Clay.
If you’re interested … B. Reith has a soulful, hip hop vibe to his sound, and there’s a free EP with a couple of jazzy tunes and a couple of rap tunes over at Amazon … they don’t necessarily showcase the depth of his skills, but they’re a nice taste. Oh yeah, and he’s got this video thingy (I embedded it below, there’s not a lot of music in it, but hey, I almost never post YouTube videos, so this is a good excuse .
One very sad thing: the festival sponsors got together a free iTunes gift card promising a download of 20 songs from the festival … and in order to get it, I had to finally give in and create an iTunes Store Account. Yeah. That’s right. Incidentally, installing iTunes without ending up with a boat load of crap requires a degree in double talk I guess, because they somehow managed to sneak their crappy Bonjour service on, and … why the heck to they want my address and phone number just so I can download some free MP3s? Oh, and also … why can’t this company write software that looks normal on Windows?
Hey Joel,
I remember when Jars of Clay released “Truck.” Such a great album. You’ve inspired me to go check out their newer stuff. Have you heard of someone named John Mark McMillan? He’s been one of my favorites lately.
Andy
Never have. I’ll have to look him up
Thanks for the post. I love all their music but your first CD will always be my favorite. Why don’t you go back to the style that made you famous. Your song “Blind” will always be my favorite song in the world. It is relaxing to listen to and is a reminder to me. Above all, it is the only song I truly know by heart.