Rothbury‚ July 2008
Biscuits played on Thursday and my flight was scheduled for the next
afternoon. I thought this festival was so incredible that I had our
tour manager change my flight to the next day so I could stay a little
longer. 4 days later with $1000 in accumulated flight change fees I
finally decided to go home.

Roo
One of my side projects‚ Conspirator‚ did a 2-weekend string of shows
with the English band Younger Brother. Ru Campbell‚ their vocalist‚ is
one of the most gentle souls I have ever met and imparts worldly
wisdom on those he encounters spoken in a very humorous tongue.

1. Number one just has to be winning the Telluride Troubador Contest and performing to 10‚000 people‚ with a huge smile on my face‚ thinking "I could get used to this!" So much fun and such an honor.

3. High Sierra! Oh my‚ I'm not quite sure what all happened but I know it took place on cloud nine somewhere. I had a blast every set I got to play there and when I lost my voice for the Songwriter's Round the last night‚ Brad Barr and Fred Torphy filled in for me singing some of my songs.

4. Recording You Yeah Smoking Hot at Frogville Records in Santa Fe‚ NM. Bill Palmer and I really acted like children for about a week straight. It was a very playful and experimental atmosphere. You know those tiny sponge animals that you put in a glass of water and they expand? This was the musical equivalent.

Read our Feb/Mar 08 cover story on Nathan.

Watching Neil Young from backstage at Farm Aid was definitely one of the most exhilarating musical moments for me this year... well... ever actually. He played a killer set‚ going between raucous Crazy Horse tunes‚ and beautifully placid acoustic songs -- and ended with an apocalyptic rendition of "Day in the Life" (McCartney ditty and all). There is just something that gives me hope‚ watching a man in his 60s violently rip the strings off his guitar.

I got to see Devotchka play at the Voodoo Fest in New Orleans. I've been a fan of their albums for some time now so I was stoked (bro) to see them live. Seeing their music incarnate fulfilled every ounce of expectation I had (gypsy tears n all). Nick Urata (the frontfella) looked like a ship wrecked George Clooney‚ a very befitting image. He slugged sips of red wine strait from the bottle (as he should) between every song‚ which only made his maundlinly drenched vocals all the richer. With a band that is comprised of violin‚ drums‚ sousaphone‚ and bouzouki‚ the only thing to top it is a well placed theremin solo‚ and man did he rip that theremin!

Another band that blew my fucking mind this year was Ghostland Observatory. I got to see them at Langerdo in the Everglades. (For the record‚ alligator wrestling is weird and kind of unnecessary.) A duo that is composed of a synth-playing-drumming-vocoder-virtuoso donning a cape and a Tex-Mex-pigtailed-pimpesque singer who gyrates like Prince‚ how could you not be entranced (or at least confused). Rounding out this compelling look were the coolest lasers I've seen since Pink Floyd in '94. Their music‚ Daft Punk meets The Clash meets Bowie meets Prince at a robot karaoke bar about to sing some Freddie Mercury‚ would make any barn-raising break out into a dance party. Or as Marco Benevento succinctly said‚ simply‚ "they win."

2008‚ another great year for rock 'n' roll. Some long-established parts of the music industry were hurting while others did well‚ kept on keeping on. But‚ hey‚ many nonconfomist business types flourished‚ there were tons of great records released‚ myriad fantastic live shows and musical epiphanies were in abundance. Here are some highlights I experienced …

The Replacements - reissues
My main gig‚ my day job‚ is doing A&R at New West Records in Los Angeles but‚ as a side-project‚ I was hired by Rhino Records to produce a reissue series for The Replacements. The Rhino folks knew I knew where most of the bodies were buried. I had signed the band to their first record deal in 1980‚ co-produced their early records‚ managed them through '86 and have always been a massive fan so‚ working on a retrospective was something I'd looked forward to for over 25 years. I spent 12 months (August '07 to August '08) combing through old recordings and memorabilia. It was a ton of work‚ a ton of fun and I'm pleased with how they turned out. We expanded all 8 of their albums with bonus tracks‚ liner notes‚ never-before-seen vintage photographs‚ flyers‚ etc. Their debut album‚ 1981's Sorry Ma‚ Forgot To Take Out The Trash‚ turned out especially well I think -- by adding 13 bonus cuts to the original 18‚ it becomes a 31 track‚ 64.5 minute extravaganza that left little room to doubt the 4 band members' talents and determination to have fun.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?
Jennifer (my wife) and I have been massive fans of legendary Australian writer/performer Paul Kelly for many years. In 2004‚ an associate of mine from the Melbourne label Infidelity sent me the first album by Paul's nephew‚ Dan Kelly and his band The Alpha Males‚ entitled Sing The Tabloid Blues -- BINGO! Dan's brilliant too!! We proceeded to rant and rave about Dan's music to all who will listen. In trying to assist him getting his music heard‚ we get to know Dan via e-mail‚ telephone calls and when he visited the states. Fast-forward to March of '08. Dan & Paul were coming to play at The SXSW Music Festival in Austin‚ TX‚ along with some other‚ assorted club shows around the U.S.‚ including Largo in L.A. I catch 3 of their sets in TX and am blown away by how well they play together. Dan is nothing short of astonishing as a harmony singer and lead guitarist on all our beloved PK material. When they arrive in L.A. the day before the Largo show‚ Dan calls and suggests we have dinner. I figure these guys have seen a lot of hotel rooms and restaurants‚ maybe a home-cooked meal is in order. Dan checks with Paul and his manager‚ Bill Cullen‚ and they'd all be delighted to accept our invitation. Now‚ Jennifer and I are obviously grown adults but we feel like 5 year-olds at Christmastime‚ we're so excited to have a true hero of ours coming to our house. Naturally‚ Paul is the perfect gentleman‚ puts us at ease immediately and we all had a splendid evening of food and conversation.