Ear Worms

I've had a song stuck in my head since May. It's actually starting to drive me crazy. When I start to sing anything, it's always this song. I can't even think of a different one. And I sing all the time. I mean all the time. I sing in the shower. I sing while I'm doing dishes. I sing as I walk down the street. I even sing at work. I'm sure I drive my coworkers insane. Not loud. Just singing under my breath. And for the last month it's been this one song. So in an attempt to rid myself of it, I'm posting it here. Nothing else is working. It's a great song but...really...a month!

Damn you Joe Purdy for writing such fantastic lyrics!

Joe Purdy's The Pretenders (the link is just set to the album. You'll have to select the song.

Joe Purdy

Two weeks ago was my older sister's birthday. I was wracking by brain for an appropriate gift for her, when fate (or a fortuitous email) let me know that Joe Purdy would be playing in Des Moines. I found Joe years ago and have managed to hook almost everyone on his music. Including my sister. So I ran out the very next day and bought four tickets. Three for her...one for me. And I don't remember the last time a present worked so well in my favor. Or hers. She was a bit excited.

The concert was this past Sunday. Joe was playing down at the Vaudeville Mews, a tiny little theater right off Court Avenue. My older sister, her fiancee, my younger sister, her boyfriend, and Jeff and I met downtown for dinner early Sunday night. I've been wanting to try this odd pizza place called Fong's Pizza. We started with a drink at the Royal Mile and when our table was ready headed over to Fong's for some interesting pizza combinations. And it was tasty. Then my sisters, my older sister's fiancee, and I headed across the street to the Mews.

The Vaudeville Mews is so small that we were easily within a couple feet of the stage. I spent the entire concert with only three people between me and the performers. I love tiny venues. The show was opened by The Milk Carton Kids who were quite good. They not only opened the show but they ended up playing most of the night with Joe as well.

Joe Purdy is an indie artist that I would say is a cross between folk and country. He's even got a touch of blues mixed in. He doesn't have a publicist or a producer. He doesn't have any real marketing or a record contract. He self releases all of his albums and his fame gets around by word of mouth. And judging from the number of people at the concert, it's getting around quite well. We met one of my friends there who is also a big fan although I didn't introduce her. He's starting to develop a following, and with good reason. He's that good. Although his songs being chosen as a theme song for the show Lost and for various commercials doesn't hurt though.

Joe writes the kind of lyrics that I wish I'd written. They are sad but touching. And his music is just the right mix of blues and folk. If you haven't been introduced to his music there's an easy way to listen. Head over to his website. He puts the full songs on his site for free. I've listened to most of his music there. And then bought more than my fair share. I'd start with anything from Julie Blue or The City from Only Four Seasons. My current favorite song of his is Secret from You Can Tell Georgia. But so far I haven't found a song of his that I don't like. I've already bought his new album. And he has quite a few albums to choose from. I know I'm biased but I'd say that he is well worth a listen. And was well worth the concert tickets. It was a great evening.

Silly Songs Stuck in my Head

I'm prone to getting songs stuck in my head. A single phrase, or even just a couple of words, will plant a song that I can't shake for hours. It can be so bad that just hearing the word Why will stick Joe Purdy's song "Why Do I" in my head for the rest of the day. I wander around singing one or two phrases from the song before realizing that I'm doing it. If you ask Jeff, you'll find out that I'm constantly humming or singing something.

So this week I have two silly songs stuck in my head that I felt I had to share. The first is a new song that I just found yesterday. But it's catchy and so much fun that I keep singing it. I was looking at a picture on Bing.com and found a link on wanting to be a Canadian. The link led directly to the song "Canadian, Please" by Julia Bentley and Andrew Gunadie. The song has a bouncy beat and a silly rhyme and makes me incredibly happy. The video has the singers dressed a Canadian mounties splashing around in a stream. It even has closed captioning so you don't miss a single phrase. Well worth a watch. Downright hilarious stuff.

The other song is from Phineas and Ferb. I'm sure it surprises you that a cartoon offers a catchy funny tune but P&F are known for them. Each episode has an original song and many of them are perfect songs to stick in your head. The one I've been singing lately is Perry the Platypus's theme song. It starts out with "He's a semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal of action...." And it just gets sillier from there. I've even got Jeff singing along on this one. I'd link just the song but the video is well worth it as well.

Two silly songs to make your day a little brighter. Or to get stuck in your head. Goodness knows I can't get them out of mine.

Joe Purdy

I hate to admit this but if it wasn't for the TV, I would never have found Joe Purdy's music. As a selp-published artist he's been relying on word of mouth and so far that hadn't reached me yet. What did reach me was a rather silly Kia Spectra commercial with a fun little upbeat song to go along with it.

I bought the song off iTunes but never really looked farther into Joe's music. I'm not sure why that is though. The song from the commercial, "Can't Get it Right Today" quickly became one of my favorite songs. I was surprised to find out that it was not the silly, ditty that I expected and was instead a very moving song. This is a beautifully sad song that somehow made me happy and sad at the same time. It hit me deeply, and I found myself singing it constantly. I've always loved folk music and this was some of the best I've ever heard. So why I didn't go find more of his music, I will never know.

One afternoon while sitting listening to Pandora.com, a song called "Whiskey and Fish" came on. I tapped my feet and bounced along to the song and then immediately clicked over to see who did the song. Joe Purdy again. And then I saw the new Dawn advertisement with his soulful "Wash Away". And I went out looking for the rest. Joe by the way is no stranger to music for television. Wash Away became a theme song for the series Lost, and Greys Anatomy has used some of his stuff. But since I've never seen a single episode of either, it took me two commercials and Pandora to spark me.

Joe has published 10 albums in the last 8 years. All self-published and all amazingly good. I read in an interview that he only expected to live to 27 and wanted to make sure he had 10 albums produced by then. His self-publishing has the downside of not offering a ton of marketing but also gives him a lot freedom with both writing and releasing his music. He gives people the chance to listen to all of his songs on his website and you can buy them directly from him or link to iTunes or Amazon. As I've gotten money to spend on music I've been buying up his albums. And so far have not found one that I didn't love. It took me a long time to find Joe but he has quickly become my favorite singer/songwriter. It's kind of sad to say that it took the television for me to find a new singer, but I'm willing to admit it, if it helps me get the word out about his fantastic music.