Virtually Home

Female cricket at my field site. January started in the back lot of a Lutheran Church in Hilo, Hawaii. I recorded and captured crickets with my colleagues, counted invasive cane toads, and collapsed into bed sometime after midnight Hawaii time (hours after my friends in Europe and the continental US had finished celebrating). I spent as much time as possible on that trip snorkeling and reveling in the warm weather. Grand Canyon is Grand February was pretty quiet, but we saw the Wild play the Islanders in Saint Paul, and the Gopher men's gymnastics team take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Minneapolis. I caught Josh Ritter and Guster on tour. I tried not to freeze to death. My life as a lab rat in the spring In March, Jacob and I took a massive trip to Arizona. We visited his family in Phoenix, camped for three nights on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, and roadtripped to Canyon de Chelly, Walnut Canyon, and other places. We saw a lot of amazing Pueblo dwe...

Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown On Saturday, I got up "early" and broke my fast with a Cliff bar on the way to the festival. The first act I caught was Tyler Bryant and The Shakedown. I'd never heard of them before, which is perhaps unsurprising in that they were playing on one of the festival's smaller stages before lunch. Nonetheless, Tyler Bryant comports himself as if he's already a rock star. I guess rocking a pink Stratocaster and a sleeveless Pink Floyd shirt are nearly enough to make him one, but I was seriously impressed with his guitar skills to boot. They played a very loud, very energetic set to a crowd ranging ages 15 to 60. Their music is of the wrong generation to be revolutionary, but if you're in the mood for some guitar rock, I'd check them out. Telekinesis This band wins my award for "Best Find of ACL 2011". I'd never heard of them when I wandered over to their set on the Google+ stage, but a bunch of other people app...

On Friday I woke up earlier than anyone should ever be awake the morning after a concert and I drove myself from Dallas to Austin, scrambled to a meeting on the University of Texas campus, and then headed to the home of my friends Stephen and Kim who had graciously agreed to put me up for the weekend. They weren't back from work yet, but I was able to change out of my dress clothes and get ready for festival-going. Just as I started to walk out the door, it started to downpour. Audibly. I stood and watched it for a few minutes. First, I contemplated the muddy horror the festival was about to become and adjusted that I just might be ruining both of the pairs of shoes I'd brought with me. Then I donned my trusty poncho and walked down the hill to Zilker Park. Zilker Park is a large expanse of gentle hills covered in soft green grass. Lots of people were taking off their shoes as soon as they got inside the gate, and I wondered how long the grass was going to survive the daily f...

I was on my way down to Dallas, having scheduled an interview and three days of non-stop rock'n'roll in Austin, which I was unwilling to be deterred from, despite the onset of a horrendous upper respiratory infection. Luckily for me, Bright Eyes was also on their way to the festival and stopped through Dallas to play a Thursday night show at the Palladium on the last night First Aid Kit was sharing their stage. First Aid Kit is a Swedish folk duo made up of sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg. They're 21 and 18 respectively, and have been recording for four years already. Their music is harmony-heavy and their lyrics thoughtful (and in English, in case you were wondering where I'd picked up Swedish). Johanna sings the main vocals and plays a guitar while Klara usually takes the harmonies and accompanies Johanna with a harp or a keyboard. They played the show in nearly-matching black 'N Sync and Spice Girls t-shirts, circa '99, which you shouldn't take as a...