Rubberbands & Indian Summers

So we've been enjoying a bit of an Indian Summer here in North Carolina, and the weather has just been extraordinarily beautiful the past couple of weeks. It's been very warm and sunny, and that of course throws me back to my summer listening habits -- lots of upbeat, grassy, festival stuff.

Well, luckily enough, we got a new CD sent to us a little bit ago from Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband called Dream Big. I hadn't listened to much of it at first, but with this Indian Summer in full swing, this little CD found its way back onto the hotlist in my iPod and is hitting the spot just right.

These guys are a strange mix. Quirky, hippy, grassy, rocky... hell they've even got a little Reggae vibe in a couple of songs. They're all over the freakin' place. In other words, they're Americana music, if a little on the poppy side. Drum driven, but acoustic, with fiddles, mandolins, and banjo, this is festival music at its finest. "I'm a post Hee-Haw mover, a punk-a-delic punk-rock groover, a cross between Bela Fleck and Eddie Vedder, but better..."

The first song, Banjo Boy, is what initially caught my ears. I kept trying to convince myself I didn't like this song as much as I do. It's just too "cute" and cheerful. It's about a guy who wants to be a rock star and famous and rich, but he knows full well what his biggest obstacle is -- he's a banjo picker. Aside from teasing my good friend Shaneo, the banjo picker in my band, this song just rocks. I kept thinking it was only a novelty song that I'd soon outgrow -- they do play Cripple Creek in it about ten times, but it just grows and grows on me. It's so goddamn cheerful. I just love it.

They've got a few mellow and even semi-melancholy country songs, and they're fine, but this band's real strength is in their upbeat hippie-dancing songs. Man, I hope I get to see them at a festival next Summer.

Some songs I highly recommend -- Banjo Boy, Hey Hey Hey, and Oh How I Miss You for your hippie-dancing upbeat frenzies, followed by Even Superman, Would You Love Me, and the title track Dream Big for more mellow groovin'. (And if you're needin' some white Reggae/Bluegrass lovin', try Rain Falls Down.) I realized this CD had officially "arrived" in my cerebrum when the other morning, after not listening to this album for days and days, I woke up humming the infernally catchy Hey Hey Hey.

The title track, Dream Big, has a special place in my heart right now since it reminds me a lot of the earlier Jump, Little Children stuff -- think Licorice Tea Demos. If you're not familiar with them, the older Jump, Little Children were a rootsy acoustic rock band out of Charleston, SC that were very offbeat (complete with a cello). Think college music meets Americana. Stay away from JLC's later big label stuff, though. They went MTV pop in a bad bad way.

Anyway, I guess I just have a personal problem. I tend to think that happy and cheerful music as not being "deep." Well, hell, Larry! We often need a little "shallow" happiness, right? That's what happiness is all about -- enjoying the moment! Even in November! Bring it on! Turn up the Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband album! "I'll have parties and friends and places to go... the only problem is -- I play the banjo!"