Hello, My Name is Larry, and I'm a CD-holic

"Hello Larry...."

In case you don't know me, or know me very well, let me tell you -- I'm a CD junkie. I'm a full-fledged binge-buying CD nut. Someone should stop me going to the CD store on paydays. I can go a few weeks or so without buying too many, maybe just one every couple of weeks, but then about every six to eight weeks, I go nuts.

I'm an off and on member of the BMG music club, and I've done Columbia too, but inevitably I quit because they just don't have the selection I want. They're great for filling out your CD collection with older, well-known artists like Lyle Lovett, Bonnie Raitt, Weezer, and old greatest hits CDs like Loretta Lynn, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Johnny Cash. However, you'll find nary an Alison Krauss CD or David Gray or Nick Drake. Phooey on them. So I tend to buy online for obscure stuff, or at a local store like the Disc Exchange in Knoxville or School Kids in the Triangle for local stuff.

Okay, so I've been good for a long while, until today. Today I bought tickets to the upcoming Aimee Mann show and the upcoming Strokes show. I bought a cool poster (Say Anything with the lyrics to In Your Eyes on it), and five CDs. FIVE CDs! And I was holding back. There was another five (easy!) I would have bought if I wasn't straining to the limits every muscle of rationality I possess. ("Muscle of Rationality?" That'd be a good CD name....) And to be honest, a five CD binge was on the light side. Usually I buy them from CDNOW in bulk....

I ended up getting the following, each with their own rationale: The new Alison Krauss Live CD, because hell, it's Alison Krauss, and I have to buy all her CDs, right? The new David Gray CD, because again, hell, it's David Gray, and I have to buy all his CD's, right? (Seeing a trend?) I bought Altan's latest CD because I'm seeing them next Friday, and Aimee Mann's latest because I'm seeing her in December. Finally, I bought the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will the Circle Be Unbroken Vol III, because, well, everyone and their brother is on it, and I wanted it. (Also check it out, Yee Haw Industries did the cover art, not their best, but still cool! Yee Haw is based in Knoxville, my old haunt!)

*sigh* Don't worry about me... I enjoy this CD-buying habit of mine, and I even usually buy copies of CDs that people have "lent" me. I like to support bands that I feel don't get enough attention but deserve it. If only I spent all this "listening" time practicing fiddle and guitar...

Oh and by the way, tomorrow night I'm going out to see the Two Dollar Pistols and Porter Hall, TN, and I fully expect to come home with both their CDs too.... Gotta support them local artists, don't I? They need to eat too, don't they? (I just have to make sure to save enough money so I can eat too...)