New Fall CDs #2: Maroon 5- Hands All Over

I need to preface this with a few statements: First, I'll say that I like Maroon 5, but I like them mostly for their work in 2005 with the hit CD "Songs About Jane". They aren't my favorite band, but "Sunday Morning" is one of my favorite songs ever. Keep this in mind while you're reading.

Fast forward to 2010, do I hate on Maroon 5 for changing their sound? Where do they stand in the picture of today's hot artists? I don't know the answers to these questions. I wasn't totally sure what to expect with this CD, and I still can't totally figure it out. It opens, of course, with "Misery". It's a solid track if you get past the 50 "oh yeah" shouts from Adam. Then they dancing shoes stay on with "Give a Little More", another ok groove that would've been unheard of from this band when they came out on the scene. "Stutter" is another track that I'm kind of indifferent about, it's ok, but I'm not going crazy about it. The next few tracks don't really stick out to me, until finally there is a memorable track. I can say that this song, "I Can't Lie" is my favorite M5 track since the "Songs About Jane" days. Maybe I like Adam's cool vocals with the word "feel" in the chorus, or the piano, or the cool breakdown part.

After that, the title track, "Hands All Over", kicks off. It's an ok groove song, but again nothing too crazy for me. Things get closer to the old "normal" for M5 with "How", a good song. Just when you think you know where they are going, another groove kind of song is thrown in before a decent ballad called "Just a Feeling". Another different song follows this, and the album ends with a totally out of place collaboration with Lady Antebellum.

Overall, this CD gives you a little of everything. You get the new Maroon 5, with shades of the Maroon 5 you knew 5 years ago, and a little dash of something else. You might not go crazy over these tracks, but at least there will always be a "Sunday Morning" around the corner.

-PK

Jason Mraz at EMU!

So I've seen Mr. A-Z twice before, but I had to work for this one, and it was totally worth it. I drove home in a storm so terrible that I probably should've pulled off the road. This post would be way too long if I told the whole story. I'll just say that after an unreal day, I ended up seeing one of my absolute favorite artists put on a show.

The show starts and out comes Robert Francis and his band. He was a solid opener, he looked like a guy out of Augustana, and that wasn't a bad thing. Actually, his songs sounded like them too.

An hour later, Mraz comes out with an electric guitar. To his right, an eco-friendly water bottle and a plastic container of fresh fruit. He kicks off with a new solo song called "They Shaped My Life". It was a nice, chill tune about giving thanks to volunteers, workers, the guy who beat him up when he was 17, basically everyone who had an impact on his life. Then the band enters with a cool groove type of song called "Up". Instantly, you see big changes. A lot of new band members, with the exception of the Grooveline Horns. It made for a slightly different concert, but it was still incredible. Jason grooved his way through the majority of his new CD, some new tracks, and the Reggae Remedy. He also did some great latin dancing with a girl from the audience. It's really hard to describe how great it was to see him live from a standing room floor, and this post would go into next week. So just go see him for yourself!

have a good weekend,

PK

New Fall CDs Part 1: Sara Bareilles-Kaleidoscope Heart

Alright, so I was one of them, one of the people who just downloaded Love Song and called it a day. But that was back in the day before I cared about the true value of the full CD. It's been a while since a piano singer-songwriter released a good album for me. I saw this, and decided to give Sara a shot.

Let me tell you, this CD was worth the $9.99 I spent at Target and more. It kicks off with a very different short acapella verse, the title track of the CD. This track sounds almost like Imogen Heap with Hide and Seek, maybe a little different. From there, we are taken through a set of vibrant and cool music. Here's what I love about about Sara Bareilles: she has really great vocals, harmonies, and her songs have personality. I think that vocals are becoming somewhat overlooked in today's industry. For example, Lady Gaga could fill up her fireplace with awards, but how much of her success has to do with her vocal ability?

Anyways, I also really like the emotion and raw feel of some of these songs. To be honest, I'm not sure that King of Anything is my favorite track. I really like that song, but I like this whole CD, even the last song: Bluebird. It's a really cool piano ballad. There a few cool piano ballads. Also, the use of strings is great in some of the tracks. One of the best songs on the CD really caught me by surprise, it's an acoustic track with no piano called Basket Case. She does a great job of weaving through different styles, and I hope you check this CD out! It was a pleasant surprise for me!

-Pat

Parmenter's Cider Mill!

So this is a first on our blog... A post with absolutely nothing to do with music! There's something to love about every season, but when Parmenter's opens it kicks off my favorite season, fall. I grew up about a ten minute walk from Parmenter's and have many fond childhood memories of donuts and cider, and feeding the ducks in the river with the leftover donuts from the day before. Now I make sure I make a couple trips back to Northville to eat my favorite donuts. Sometimes I tell myself that I just like fall because my birthday is in the middle of it, but something about the cool days, changing leaves, and football games takes away the sadness that the end of summer brings. Now that I think about it, I think I've written some of my best songs on cool fall days running through the arb. Well I guess I had to relate this to music... If you're not too far make sure you make it to Parmenter's. Enjoy your fall!

-evb

My New Toy!

I just bought this yesterday! I'm not sure if it will make it into any Soloists songs or shows but I'm always looking to expand my musical styles so we'll see what happens. Its been really hard to put down so hopefully I'll still be able to focus on other important things... like finishing my acoustic album and getting this live EP put together. Speaking of the live EP, I finally got the cable for my camera and realized I never installed the software on my computer, yet another setback. I'm really just trying to build up excitement for it.

In other news, we have a pretty exciting show coming up, more details to come. We've practiced a little so far, getting some new covers ready and working on some new songs. I'm not gonna lie, after spending the summer apart, our first practice session felt a little like one of those bands that get back together after 5 years of not playing. It took us about 20 minutes to find a song we both remembered all of... but fear not! things came together and I'm really excited for this show! Pat has some great new songs I can't stop listening to and I'll probably bust out a couple of my new songs as well.

In other other news, Pat's box drum is awesome and will definitely be at our show so if you're on the edge, come just for that!

-evb

John Mayer and Train and the End of the Summer...

Pat got to see this one before me, but I had the privilege of seeing one of my favorite bands and one of the best guitarists today, all in the same night! I must admit that I'm not the biggest John Mayer fan, but he puts on one of the best live shows I've seen. Many of the songs had extended guitar and saxophone solos. He played all of the old hits and many of the new ones, including one of my favorites, "Who Says," and an epic 15 minute rendition of "Gravity." When it finished I wasn't even sure if it was the same song the solos had gone on so long, and at one point John even laid his guitar on the ground and played it. Train played all the songs I wanted to hear from them, including my favorite, "Meet Virginia." Pat Monohan has some awesome vocal range and It was great to see them live.

I had a crazy summer out here in NY. I got to see some great concerts, meet some awesome people, and travel to some cool places, like NYC and Buffalo. We were so busy, I didn't get in as much songwriting as I wanted to, but I got a few songs together and I will be recording in the next few weeks before school starts. My album will be called "No Destination in Mind" and will be available on my myspace page when its done so I'll keep you updated with that progress.

much love,
evb

Love Trafficking Concert, Future Plans

Here I am in my last week of summer, it's pretty hard to believe. This has been a different summer, but it has been pretty fun. I wrote some good songs, and had fun at a few shows. Last night, I played a benefit concert at a local church. It was a really fun night. A bunch of girls who go to the church and graduated HS together were the hosts. They did an outstanding job. I love playing any concert, but it was fun to play and know that we were all supporting a good cause.

Also, I hope to be releasing some kind of EP this fall. I've been happy with some of my recent songs and I feel like I can put something together. There is still the possibility for a little collaboration on this EP so stay tuned!

Pat

John Mayer Battle Studies Summer Tour 2010

I'll say it, this was the best display of pop/rock/blues music I've ever seen. John Mayer isn't my favorite artist. He probably falls somewhere after Counting Crows, Ben Folds, Jason Mraz, and Jack Johnson. So he's up there, but not at the top. After last night, I can say that nobody else I've seen has been better in concert. Every musician on that stage was incredible!

Before I get to John, we'll start with Train. A little after 7 pm and out comes Pat Monahan and the guys. They open up with "Parachute" from the new CD. Not many people were around at this point, but more came as they played "Meet Virginia" and recent radio hit "If It's Love". Lost in the night of Mayer brilliance were Monahan's vocals. He is an incredible singer! He proved it as they rattled through "Calling All Angels", "When I Look to the Sky", "Hey, Soul Sister", and "Drops of Jupiter". It's really too bad that a great band like Train had to play the role of opener, they are really entertaining! Pat even walked through the audience as they played an acoustic song. After one hour, they had to go.

Then at 8:45, the main event began. John and the band walk out and start a groove with "Chest Fever" into "Vultures". By this time, it's already been established that every song is going to be an event with epic guitar riffs and solo work by John and his crew. Epic isn't a good enough word to describe what happened. From there he went into hits like "No Such Thing" and "Heartbreak Warfare". Then JM threw a curveball with a reggae version of "Ain't No Sunshine" and a ridiculous solo! Following that was a 10 minute version of "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room". After a few others, he played the crowd favorite "Gravity". I think it was here where he jammed with a guy playing the soprano sax. There would be great sections of nothing but instrumental grooving and jamming, it was truly an amazing moment seeing John and his sax player standing side by side trying to match each other with notes and rhythms!!

The crowd then erupts when "Waiting on the World to Change" is next, including hilarious 2nd verse lyrics that mocked the BP oil spill. John changes lyrics from time to time, but it's not as great as his storytelling. He told some good stories, you had to be there for those. The last song of the normal set was "Half of My Heart" which morphed into "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac and then "Don't Stop Believing". The encore started with his great cover of "Free Fallin" and then ended with "Edge of Desire".

For those of you who've seen him in concert before, you know he's an incredibly talented musician and guitar player. His music was really taken to a new level that you don't hear on the CDs or on the radio. This was an incredible night of music. If you get the chance, you need to check this tour out. The fact that I was on the lawn with friends and not in the seats was the only thing keeping this from being one of the best nights ever. Then again, I don't know if I could've handled the amazing talent of the band from any closer!

New Instrument!

So I took a trip to the Ann Arbor Art Fair, not to really buy art, but to look around with my uncle and see what was going on at the fair this year. What I ended up getting was this box drum. I found a booth where a couple from New Mexico had about 20 box drums in different shapes and sizes sitting on tables. I had to check it out. After an hour or so of trying out different ones, I decided on this one because of the pitch. I really like how it sounds and I think it'll be a great addition to Soloists songs!

Goo Goo Dolls in their hometown of Buffalo!

So it seems like Pat is taking over the blog... He's also beating me out on concerts for the summer. I'm trying to pick up my game here. The last two nights I saw two pretty good shows. I saw G Love at Thursday in the Square in Buffalo, right after Pat saw him with Jack Johnson. Thursday in the Square is a free concert every Thursday in the middle of downtown Buffalo. I saw Ingrid Michaelson earlier in the summer at one of these too. G Love was pretty good, though he's not one of my favorite artists. He didn't play Rodeo Clowns so I was a little disappointed, but it was entertaining nonetheless.


I've see GGD a couple times before and they always put on a good show, but I was pretty pumped to see them in their home town! After tailgating for 4 hours with some friends, we headed to our lawn seats (which were a little too far to actually see the band) and watched Switchfoot open for them. GGD played all the hits we wanted and some of their new tracks. We also suffered through a few Robbie Takac songs... They didn't really do anything special for Buffalo so I was a little disappointed again. Overall it was a very fun experience with some fun people and I got to watch a canopy fly over my car... soooo I'm looking forward to the next couple concerts on my summer tour.

till next time,
evb

Jack Johnson To The Sea 2010 Tour!

Before I get to the concert, there's a story behind this one. The majority of concerts that Eric and I attended over the past few years were with pretty good seats purchased well in advance. This time I purchased this ticket (for row h!) exactly 5 minutes before Jack took the stage! After not finding anyone to go with, I decided at about 6:50 pm (10 minutes before the opener started) to get to this show as fast as possible, I just couldn't miss Jack in Michigan again! Especially after the great new CD. So I'm going along fine until 8 pm hits and I get stuck in the wall of DTE traffic. Long story short, I just made it to my seat and 2 minutes later the lights went down. Jack walked out and told us that we didn't need to stand up. With that, he jumped into "You and Your Heart" and we were off.

Somehow, the concert gods were with me as I fought my way through DTE traffic and made it to this show. Let me tell you, it was well worth it. After opening with his hit single and "If I Had Eyes", Jack said he'd play "Upside Down" for the kids and parents who had to take them home early. The first part of the concert kept going with a few more songs, some of them from the new CD. Then he brought out a guy from the ALO, the opener band who signed on to Jack's record label. He played slide guitar to a few songs including "Flake". Jack then brought out his Hawaiian friend Paula, and she provided vocals for one of my favorite songs on the new CD, "Turn Your Love". During this two hour set, Jack didn't do much talking except to dedicate a few songs to certain people like his wife, or daughter. He continued on with other hits like "Banana Pancakes", "Bubble Toes", Sitting, Waiting, Wishing", and then brought G Love (another opener) out for some harmonica and vocals on a song that Jack recorded called "Rodeo Clowns". Then he helped us sing along to one of my favorite songs on Jack's new CD called "At or With Me".

After all of that, we were treated to just Jack and his acoustic for 4 or 5 songs, including "Angel" for his wife. He then brought all of his friends, including the opening band members, and the night ended with a great version of "Better Together". What an incredible show! Nothing over the top, no extended rock endings or jumping around, but it was Jack at his best for a few hours. You can't ask for more than that. Overall, I'm very happy to write that I've finally seen one of my favorite artists after almost letting this great night slip by.

-PK

And we're off, Summer Concert #1

Well, after looking at tour dates and seeing how things would fall this year, I ended up kicking off a summer of concerts somewhat unexpectedly at the Bamboozle Roadshow at DTE thanks to free tickets from a friend.

I'm glad that it worked out, because it was a good chance to see some good bands with very nice seats. This Bamboozle tour has a bunch of bands on 2 stages rotating time slots with each other on each stop, the list of main stage groups was: Forever the Sickest Kids, Good Charlotte, Third Eye Blind, LMFAO, Boys Like Girls and All Time Low. Obviously some of these bands have bigger followings than others, but there was a great crowd at the show.

Forever the Sickest Kids came out and put on a solid display of intense music, and set the tone for Good Charlotte to play a nice little set. It was fun to sing along to "The Anthem" and "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" again. From there, we were treated to 40 mins of Third Eye Blind. I was very impressed with them. I don't care how old or young you are, anyone can sing along to their classic songs. "Semi-Charmed Life", "Jumper", and "Never Let You Go" are the kind of songs that you remember. Frontman Stephan Jenkins was pretty entertaining too. Speaking of entertaining, in a different way, we had LMFAO. I wasn't as into their act, but it was interesting with a bunch of dancing and other characters. After that was Boys Like Girls, and that seemed to be the highlight for the screaming girls in the audience. They drew the biggest reaction of the night, since they are the most current and popular band on this tour with the younger audience.I didn't stay for the last band as more than 4 hours of alternative rock, classic radio songs from the past and present, and interesting club beats was enough for me. All in all, it was a good experience and a good start to a summer of concerts.

-PK

Jack Johnson-To The Sea

One week ago, Jack Johnson released his latest record and I bought it at Borders. Jack isn't really my favorite artist, but I really like his music. After listening to this latest one, I really have a better appreciation for his style and talent. After a week of this CD staying firmly in my car stereo, I can say that this is easily becoming of my favorite albums of recent memory. Some reviews I've read try to put down the CD and say that it isn't flashy enough or it's more of the same...but what's so bad about that? Sure, much of the CD sounds like the guy we all know, but that's a good thing. There also some cool jams and solo parts on this record, it's great.

The first single "You and Your Heart" is a good opener, but not the best song on the CD for me. I like "At or With Me" because of the feel of the song and the cool ending with a chorus of "ohs". Also, "My Little Girl" and "Anything But the Truth" are excellent because it's just Jack and the guitar, and it doesn't get much better than that.

I hope you check this out and enjoy the great songs from Jack Johnson. Now I need to get myself some concert tickets to this show!

One Liner - Invisible City (The Wallflowers)

Its been a while since I've done one of these, but I was listening to some Wallflowers and a line stuck out to me. "Cheaper lovers make expensive wives" I kinda chuckled when I heard it and thought about it a little. I'm not sure if I've made complete sense of it yet, but I'm sure Jakob Dylan understands it...

This song is from my favorite Wallflowers album, Bringing Down the Horse. It has their breakout single One Headlight, one of my favorite overall songs. It also has 6th Avenue Heartbreak, which includes some vocals by Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz. This entire album is very enjoyable to listen to, so if you haven't heard it at all, I recommend you check it out.

-evb

My Concert Plan: Summer 2010

I'm pretty impressed with EVB's list, and I would love to hit a ton of those. As Eric said, he's been to a lot, and we've spend the last few years going to a ton of shows with Matt Nathanson, Jason Mraz, Counting Crows, Augustana, Goo Goo Dolls, Ben Folds and others. But this summer, I have a chance to really see some artists I haven't seen yet. Some of them come around a lot and I miss them, so I'm not missing them now. Here are ones on the radar for me:

The Verve Pipe and Robin Horlock-June 18 Free show in Plymouth! It's The Verve Pipe!
Dave Matthews Band-June 23 DTE-Need to see them, probably on the lawn.
Mat Kearney-Acoustic, July 11 The Ark-Very pumped for this!
Goo Goo Dolls-July 18 DTE, not totally dying to go, but it would be great to hear the new tracks.
Jack Johnson-July 20 DTE-should I just get a room near DTE? Hah, need to see Jack!
Lilith Fair-July 21 DTE-unrealistic to think I can do this one, but would be nice to hear Sarah McLachlan sing!
John Mayer/Train-July 28 DTE-Haven't seen either live, and I love both bands!

I hope to make most of these happen, I'll keep you updated!

Concerts

I've been to a lot of concerts the last few years, but somehow I still haven't seen some of my favorites... I was thinking about it and decided to list the bands I really want to see in concert that I haven't seen yet (in no particular order):

Jack Johnson (Pat may beat me to this one)
Death Cab for Cutie
The Barenaked Ladies (even though they suck now)
Hootie and the Blowfish (I might have to settle for just Darius though)
Green Day
Modest Mouse
Jimmy Buffet
Elton John (hold me closer tiny dancer!)
The Verve Pipe (even though they went to Michigan State)
O.A.R (even though they went to Ohio State)
Neil Young (even though he's Canadian)
Jakob Dylan (or maybe even Bob if he came by)
Train
Blues Traveler
Coldplay
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Sarah McLachlen (yes another Canadian)
Tegan and Sara (go Canada)
Matchbox 20 (not Rob Thomas solo...)
Paul McCartney (yeah he's kinda old now)
Oasis (I don't even know if they're still together)
Jet (in the spirit of Beatles wannabes)
Tom Petty
U2
Jay-Z (cuz I got 99 problems but a b**** ain't one)

Wow, that list is a lot longer than I expected. Hopefully I'll be checking some of these off the list soon.

Until next time,
evb

Moving forward

Well, after many great practice sessions and an amazing show, we find ourselves asking the timeless question: what now? I don't have all of those answers in this post, but I know that Eric is working on a great project this summer and I'll hope to follow along with a solo effort of my own. I'll keep everyone updated with possible summer shows and collaborations. It should be fun!

I'd tell you what song I'm listening to, but it's French. As far as things in the US go, I'm waiting a few weeks for the new Jack Johnson, that should be good.

Pat

Thanks!

Thank you to all who showed up at the show! It was a huge success and we had a great time! It was great having people sing along with some of the covers as well as a couple of our older songs. I'm sure Pat will be doing a few solo shows around Novi so definitely check those out! Someday when we get time, we will release a few videos from the show as well as a live album of our entire set!





Who knows when we'll find time to do that... but while your waiting check out this song, "Through Glass" by Stone Sour, its been stuck in my head.

-evb

Eric's Song of the Day

We've been so busy practicing lately that our blogging has been pretty much nonexistent... but I finally have another song of the day! A song that's been stuck in my head lately is Mr. Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan. So I was never a big Dylan fan, but the more I listened to his music and learned about him, the more I respected his work. I don't think you can listen to Dylan songs with normal song expectations. His songs are more like poems with music and his vocals are, well, unique. This song has the usual simplistic acoustic guitar and harmonica found on many Dylan recordings but a very catchy melody. The simplicity of the instrumentation with the complexity of the lyrics and a very good melody make this one of my favorite songs of his.

Besides this being a great song, it was a big part of the beginning of folk rock. Before Bob even put this song on an album, The Byrds did a cover converting it to more of a rock song. It included vocal harmonies and a 12-string electric guitar, setting it apart from the Dylan version. This song was much shorter than the original, and it got immediate radio play and pretty much created the genre of folk rock. I guess I have this song to thank for the genre of many of my favorite songs.

The Soloists at Fuerst Park Amphitheater

We are proud to announce we will have a show on May 13th from 6 to 8 pm at The Fuerst Park Amphitheater in Novi, MI! Also playing in the show will be Jackson Landry and Evan Laybourn of The Death Star and Evan Lian! We will be playing some songs off of our EP as well as some new ones written since then. We've also got a couple great covers so we're pretty excited to play on this beautiful summer evening with some great musicians. Don't miss this exciting concert!

Also, check out our myspace page, www.myspace.com/thesoloistsmusic, for some tracks we've recorded during our practice sessions.

Get Ready

Well, it has certainly been a while, but The Soloists are back together in Novi preparing for an exciting event. Eric and I are very busy planning and preparing for what will be a memorable night in our history as a band! In the next day or so, we'll be able to announce an event that has us very excited and hard at work. Get ready for something good! It will certainly be a night of new songs, great atmosphere, and friends. Stay tuned to the blog for the latest updates...the wait will be worth it!

-Pat

Solo Work

Not getting your fill of The Soloists? Check out our solo work that we keep updated when we're at our separate colleges!
myspace.com/ericvanbuhler
myspace.com/patkochyan

We've both posted some new material, and you never know, these songs might become the next Soloists hits!

-Eric

New Songs

So its been a long semester, but we're back! Pat and I both did a lot of solo work but we could finally collaborate a little over Christmas break. Out of these practice sessions came a few new songs, two of which were recorded. You can check them out on our Myspace page. Hope you like the sound.

-Eric