Chris Milam

Haylo Cleveland,

So check it out: I know I post a lot here about upcoming shows, with gratuitous shout-outs to my own music and news and such. I tend to go on and on about my own goings-on and don't give enough attention to other people and things. "Ohh, look what I've done," I tend to say, or "Hey, check this out," or "Blah, blah, I'm a vain artist, blah." A frequent criticism of my blog is that I spend a lot of time talking about myself, or talking about myself talking about myself, or even that I preface things to the point where the original intent is lost in an overlong paragraph of openly self-referential nonsense. I do this from time to time.

But not this time! This time I wanted to give all of you a heads-up to a show I'm playing tomorrow night that is actually for someone/something else's benefit, complete with tax write-offs and everything! Seriously, check it:

A friend of mine is running the San Diego marathon on June 1. She's running to raise money for Team in Training. Team in Training works with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to raise money toward cancer research and prevention, specifically leukemia and other blood cancers. Her goal is to raise $4000 to fight cancer. As part of her fund-raising efforts, she’s putting together an event TOMORROW, May 6, and here’s where I come in…

There's a fund-raising event tomorrow at Otter's, from 6-10ish, and there's live music all night. Starting at 6PM, I'll play a set, then Jordan Lawhead (a great artist, freshly transplanted from LA), then a great friend of mine and awesome artist, Matt Woods. There's an optional $5 at the door, and Otter's is donating a portion of the evening's sales to the cause, to eat/drink/be merry...just throw your money around.

Who: Chris Milam, Jordan Lawhead, Matt Woods
What: Fund-raiser for cancer research
Where: Otter's on Demonbreun
When: Tomorrow, 6PM sharp
Why: It's a great cause! Have a heart! Jeez!!!

See y'all there...
CM

P.S. GO HEAD AND MARK THIS DOWN:
Saturday, June 21st 12th and Porter
Matt Woods, Chris Milam, Nick Pagliari, and more!
YOU CAN'T MISS THIS SHOW!

Labels: Upcoming Shows

Or, "The Counting Crows Release a Record, and Tell Me Everything I Need to Know"

If you started 2008 with hope, as I did, for the future of popular music, the last few months have been the rest of times and the worst of times. The North Mississippi All-Stars Hernando was due in January...things were looking up. That record was largely disappointing, but the Black Crowes had a record coming out.

Things were looking up.

So I waited for the new Black Crowes. It didn't blow my hair back, so I marked REM's release on the calendar.

Things were looking up.

Then, Accelerate garnered rapturous critical acclaim...until someone pointed out that we've read this review before. Anyway, SXSW was forthcoming.

Things were looking up.

I waited for the reports, which yielded few, if any, revelations about the state of the union, and more than enough Vampire Weekend backlash to make me think that, thankfully, everyone else gets the joke and, no, they don't really think it's that funny either. Still, the Black Keys were releasing a record with Danger Mouse.

Things were looking up.

Which brings us to the present and, to be fair, not everything has been bad. MGMT's legitimately great single "Time to Pretend" is getting its due, at least overseas. The Black Keys collaboration is a welcome surprise. SNL finally lurched into 2003 and booked My Morning Jacket (May 10!). And, just recently, a dog walked right up to Natalie Portman on the street and showed her what he thought of Garden State. Things looking up, indeed!

Enter the Counting Crows, fresh off a mind-boggling six-year hiatus, armed with fourteen songs of pop musical glory and wonderment, guaranteed to deliver that soundtrack-to-your-summer gem, brimming with infectious hooks, glistening production, and wistful lyricism, forcing you to love them. After all, Hard Candy was nothing if not an endearing, accessible pop record, with moments of inspired brilliance ("Up All Night" remains one of their greatest songs). Sure, parts were hokey (their "Big Yellow Taxi" cover comes to mind). Sure, parts were mindless ("American Girls" was, at the time, their weakest single to date). But it was, ultimately, a satisfactory statement in defense of pop rock at a time when pop was a four-letter word.

Six years, some Shrek appearances, and an entire Ryan Adams career later, the Counting Crows released Saturday Nights, Sunday Mornings, and pre-press sounded great: "An album in two sides, one rollicking, one mellow, one rocking, one rolling, one side narrating mistakes made, one reflecting on them. Saturday nights, Sunday mornings. Alright, I'll go with it." I'm anticipating that, in the best of all possible worlds, this means a record of B+ "Angels of the Silences" and "Holiday in Spains," respectively. But, you know, new. If nothing else, it'll be fun, catchy, fairly consistent, and occasionally interesting. And the band will sound great. This much I know. I know this. Without question, I know this.

But I didn't know this. First, the Crows released "1492," the opening single, in advance. I downloaded it. I hit play. I hit pause. I paced around a little bit. I hit play again. Deep breaths. I hit stop. I closed my laptop. I left the house for a little bit. No way that just happened. No way this is their single after a six-year sabbatical. That shouldn't have been their first single after a six-day sabbatical.

Then I heard they had released "When I Dream of Michelangelo," off the record's second half. This was meant to take me down a notch. I strapped in, thinking, "that's odd, the song's title is a lyric from 'Angels of the Silences,' like, twelve years ago." Turns out that song's title is a lyric from "Angles of the Silences," like, twelve years ago, and turns out this song says somehow less than nothing about what has already been said in that first song twelve years ago. This wasn't the sound of artistic self-referentiality; this was the sound of someone completely out of ideas.

Actually, that's not true. There are ideas here. But nothing close to a good one. For example:

1) "The lead guitarist is awesome. Let's tell him to play lead-ins like he's never seen a guitar before. Let's ask him to make it as cacophonous as possible. It'll be, uh, interesting?"
2) "Hi, I'm a gifted singer. Maybe I should groan a lot. Maybe that'll make the track, um, emotional?"
3) "Our greatest strength is writing pop melodies. We can write gorgeous melodies all day in our sleep. We are better than pretty much every band at this. On this record, let's not do that."
4) "Hey, emo's big right now. Maybe instead of writing lyrics, let's just vent on tape. It speaks more to the heart, anyway."

Eddie Vedder and Tim Robbins reportedly watched a young singer/songwriter perform on Leno one night and Vedder remarked, "That's what diaries are for." Robbins supposedly countered, "That's what locks on diaries are for."

And what I'm trying to say is this: Saturday Nights, Sunday Mornings is a colossal disappointment. It's bad in ways I find hard to believe. It's fourteen songs of condensed and abject punishment. Its failures are so uncharacteristic, its mis-steps so tragically misguided, its errors so unconscionable that I can't even accurately characterize it as a real album that went bad. It's so bad it's surreal. Half the time I listen, I wonder if the record isn't, in fact, an elaborate prank. The other half, I honestly expect to wake up from the nightmare that it is.

"You Can't Count On Me," indeed.

At least five of these songs sound like they're being written on-the-spot. Like, after six years, Duritz called everyone into the studio, they all said, "Alright Adam, what've you got," and he just started playing chords and mumbling about Michelangelo, being unfettered, radios, and girls that want to sleep with him. And they all went, "really?" And he went, "yeah, it'll be great." And they went, "I kind of hate it," and he said, "well, you haven't heard the nail-on-chalkboard arrangement I've picked out," and they said, "ohhh, okay, there's an out-of-tune guitar lick missing, I get it now...by God, Adam, you've done it again!"

By now you're probably saying, "Jesus, Milam, ain't you being a little harsh? It's not like the Crows aren't a good band. It's not like there aren't stacks of bad records at every Towers in America, waiting to be panned." But I'm only this hard on the bands that are actually capable of doing better. And in the case of Saturday Nights, Sunday Mornings, from a band that gave us two of the 90's greatest records, the gap between what they're capable of and what (after six freaking years) they actually produced is so wide, so unfathomable, that it actually damages a fanbase. This is a lazy record, and an insulting record. It's the sound of a band taking its fans for granted, and that's a crime worthy of honest and brutal criticism.

Look, nobody's saying they can't still be a good band. I'm certainly not suggesting they'll never make another worthwhile record. If nothing else, their past work stands by itself and nobody can take that from them. Every band can lay a turd. Dave Grohl admitted himself that 2005's In Your Honor was mostly garbage. Pearl Jam's Riot Act was a misfire. These things happen.

But now, more than ever, we need a great pop record. Since Hard Candy, Americans have created a culture of singularity. We have never been more connected to each other, and have never felt more disconnected. It's an age of individual web-pages, personalized radio, genres and subgenres tailor-made for the person and by the person, but perhaps not for the people. One of the greatest aspects of music is its capacity for shared experience, especially when any given song is universally known and recognized. A great pop song can give all of us something in common, but fewer musicians are creating shared experience through universality. Popular music, previously a medium that bridged the gap, is actually widening it. The list of legitimate pop bands is shorter than ever, and the number of artists who transcend their niche is rapidly dwindling.

That's why, after a season's worth of disappointing releases, after an overlong winter of dreary weather and acoustic bleatings and bad melodies and dull performances, I needed the Counting Crows to step in, deliver a bouncy pop anthem, set a million toes tapping despite themselves and make things normal again. Or at least deliver that one remarkable song, like "Round Here," "Long December," "St. Robinson...," or "Up All Night." Or at least an album's-worth of gorgeous melodies. Or at least a few enjoyable hits. Or maybe some good musical performances. Or possibly one song that resonates. Or maybe just a single lyric...

Still, the new My Morning Jacket comes out in June. And, I swear, things are looking up...

Labels: Counting Crows

Dear Earthians,

This Sunday I'm playing some music at the Earth Day festivities in Memphis. Some of you might be asking yourself a lot of questions right now. Let's field a few real quick:

1) Um, who are you? Who am I? What am I doing here?
Great, good. I'm Chris Milam. I'm a singer/songwriter in Nashville. I'm originally from Memphis. I'm traveling from Nashville to Memphis to play some music at the Earth Day. This is happening on Sunday afternoon. It'll be funsies.

2) "Where can I learn more about the Earth Day festivities in Memphis?"
Well, you can go HERE for starters.

3) "Milam, since when are you an environmental activist?"
I'm glad you asked. For a long time I was a lot like you (assuming you're an unrelenting drain on the earth's resources): throwing huge balls of plastic out the window of my Humvee while coating my head with hairspray. My first album was titled, It's Getting Hot in Here, Earth and featured the hit single "Charcoal Heart (My Love Is Fossil-Fueled)." Sure, I went through the "hunting eagles" phase that every 12 year-old experiences and I won't lie to you, I was good. But one day I saw Bono on TV and he was all, "We gotta shift the paradigm, man" and I was all, "yes, yes, a thousand times yes." Elevation! And what I'm trying to say is this: I now own Birkenstocks.

4) "What one thing has inspired your environmental kick more than anything else?"
Well, there are really two things. First, I watched the Planet Earth series. There were these African wild dogs that are among the most sophisticated pack hunters on the planet. They completely devastated a gazelle. It made my heart swell (Side note: future song lyrics??). Also, Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day has brought environmental issues straight through my head, past my heart, and into my intestines in the form of ice-cream-that-I-don't-have-to-pay-for. Global warming never tasted so sweet!

5) "Chris, I heard you have a working relationship with Al Gore. In what capacity have you worked with him to raise awareness about global warming?"
Funny story. My work with Al Gore really began a few years ago, when he spoke at my college for Earth Day. He spoke to a crowded lecture hall and then walked around shaking hands afterward. This was in the "post-election/full-bearded" phase of his career, when he was palpably sad and at his most likable. Anyway, I went up and shook his hand and thought to myself, "Good grief, this dude's got some gigantic hands. He's like a Kodiak bear." And while I was thinking that, some lady also walked by me. It wasn't until later that a friend told me that was Tipper Gore, Al's wife, and that she had stuck out her hand to shake mine, but I had accidentally snubbed her. Also, my family got a Christmas card from the Gore's once. So, yeah, I'm pretty much "in the inner circle."

6) "Hey Chris, I'm unfamiliar with your music but I expect to be at Earth Day. What's your style?"
My style? I'm self-described as "Teaching Assistant-sheik."

7) "I meant your music, doofus."
Right, yes. Before my environmental kick (what critics will later call my "Green Period"), I was largely playing electronic drums and yelling into megaphones a lot. That was my genre. But now, my music can only be described as "100% organic." My band plays original instruments made from the earth itself. Stanton's on the waterphone, Rich plays the mudhorn. John takes a drumstick to a hollowed-out butternut squash. We sound a lot like Ani DiFranco, but less raucous. You can go HERE to listen.

8) "This all sounds great! Anything else I need to know about you, the earth, the Earth Day, or anything?"
There are festivities all weekend, but Sunday will have a steady stream of music for you to enjoy. I'll play for a bit, and a bunch of other great artists will as well. The weather's supposed to be gorgeous. All kinds of activities. Bring the family, do it up Shelby-style.

9) "What's Shelby-style?"
Not sure. I think it involves bison and a hayride.

10) "Bison! Aren't they awesome?"
Bison are awesome. All the flavor of beef and nearly half the saturated fat.

You stay classy, Planet Earth,
CM

Labels: Al Gore, Earth Day, Upcoming Shows

Yo yourself!

As promised, today kicks off Milam's Folk Week! This means there's a new song on Myspace today and tomorrow. Then there'll be New Song #2 on Wednesday and Thursday, and New Song #3 on Friday.

These are more demos of songs I've been kicking around lately. I got on a miniature folk kick (the length of the kick was miniature, not my interest in folk or folks...or my interest in miniature folks) recently and recorded a bunch of demos of some folk tunes I wrote. These are a departure from the pop fare you've been hearing from me lately, and I picked these three songs specifically to share because I see them working well as three different takes on the same thing.

Hop on over to Myspace and download "Out In America" for FREE! Then tell me what you think...

As Coach Taylor would say: Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, CAN'T LOSE,
CM

P.S. If you see the picture above, you know what I'm doing today: 1) Waiting til 8pm, and 2) Wanting to throw up. If you're the "talking to Jesus" type, send one up for the Tigers today.

Labels: Edgehill Demos, Folk Week

Labels: MLK Jr.

Right, so while the rest of you are doing some spring cleaning, Ye Olde Blog of Glory needs some housekeeping.

1) Chris, where are all the new shows?
Glad you asked. If you look at the right sidebar, you'll see one show in particular. It's a charity fundraiser on April 15 for all the folks in Nashville. Please click the link to find out more about it...plenty of good music that night for a great cause. In the meantime, I'm booking more shows, so stay tuned.

2) Chris, what happened to Milam's Myspace Mondays?
For five weeks, I posted a new acoustic demo from the studio to Myspace, to give y'all something to chew on. On of those songs, "Shine," is still up and available for free download. I went on a folk kick recently and hammered out some new folk tunes, recorded some demos of them, and want y'all to listen. That's why next week, April 7, is MILAM'S FOLK WEEK.

3) Chris, what is Milam's Folk Week?
Starting April 7, I'm posting 3 new acoustic demos to Myspace and making them available for FREE DOWNLOAD. On Monday, I'll post a song. On Wednesday, I'll post a new one. On Friday, I'll post a new one. All are a little different from the stuff I have been posting--hope y'all enjoy.

4) How's Joey Dorsey's campaign for President going?
Completely and unrelentingly awesome. As you saw this weekend, Memphis is killing everyone. Joey Dorsey is killing everyone. At this rate, he's going to actually eat Kevin Love's face on Saturday. I'd also like to add John Calipari's Stool to the list of Dorsey's VP candidates. Coach Cal sits on a stool during games now, like the other team's not worth standing up for. My buddy Dutch Jerry made the joke that he's "going unplugged" like Stone Gossard.

5) What's coming up?
I'm making a new record, that's what's up. In May I'm getting in the studio to record some songs. Might be an EP, might be an LP. We'll see. Can't wait. I'll be blogging a lot during that time, so look out. I expect the record to come out in early fall. LOTS MORE to come on all this, so stay up.

Also, there are a ton of records out or forthcoming that I'll have thoughts on. The new NMAll-Stars (sure), Black Crowes (yes), Counting Crowes (oh dear God), The Raconteurs (absolutely), REM (somebody save me) just to name a few. My Morning Jacket in June. With the devastating rash of disappointing records lately, suffice it to say I'm looking to MMJ to save 2008 for music and mankind. Yes, that's unfair. Yes, they're up to it.

Making it rain,
CM

Labels: Housekeeping

I get emails, voicemails, Myspace and Facebook messages from a lot of folks asking one question and one question only:

Hey Milam, who do you endorse for the 2008 elections?

I know my endorsement has tremendous impact in this presidential race and plenty of candidates have been jockeying for position. I get calls constantly (at 3AM, no less!) from Barack, Hillary, even Ron Paul's crazy face. McCain doesn't call. Sometimes I call him. He's got other things going on.

For this election, the stakes couldn't be higher: the economy is recessing...receedering...recesserizing...it's bad. There's a war, still. Gas costs $87 a gallon. Schools are busing directly to jails. Somehow I don't qualify for health insurance, which is relentlessly lame, since I'm out of prescription cough syrup. I don't need to tell you that this country is "going through a rough patch," and we need a talented leader with serious solutions to blaze a trail to our collectively better future.

That's why I'm endorsing Joey Dorsey for President.

Some questions you might be asking right now:

1) Uh, who is Joey Dorsey?
Joey Dorsey is this guy. He's a basketball player for the University of Memphis State University Basketball Tigers. He goes about 7'3, 514. He's awesome.

2) What makes Joey Dorsey qualified to be President?
I just told you that he's awesome. Pay attention. Look, you can go to CNN right now and read all about Hillary acting like a crazy chick at a rush party. Or McCain taking a nap. Or watch Ron Paul look like Mr. Magoo. Or Obama...well, he's alright. But none of them can dunk. Not one of them. Why would you elect someone who can't dunk when you can elect someone who can? How does that make sense?

3) I need more information. What else can you tell me about Joey Dorsey?
Here's just a small list of things Joey Dorsey has done in a very short time:
--Been awesome.
--Averaged 7 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game this season.
--Did a lot of this.
--Was arrested for THIS and THIS, thus knows the justice system first-hand.
--Loves The Wire.
--Faced basketball phenom and #1 overall draft selection Greg Oden in last year's Elite 8. Called Oden "overrated" and the "David" in the matchup, to Dorsey's "Goliath." Attempted to rewrite a popular Biblical story by making Goliath the favorite, and the winner, in the matchup.

4) Can you give me a homespun anecdote to indicate what type of mythical leader of men Dorsey is?
Sure. After the trumped-up nightclub charge and arrest, Coach John Calipari decided he'd let Joey Dorsey face the media himself and answer questions point-blank. No press chiefs here, folks. Just Dorsey and The Truth. Joey Dorsey didn't shy away from questions. Pensive and bespectacled, Dorsey answered questions about his whereabouts that night directly and thoughtfully. (Roughly paraphrased...)
"Mr. Dorsey, were you at the night club?"
"Yes sir."
"Mr. Dorsey, did you assault a security guard at the nightclub?"
"No sir."
"Mr. Dorsey, did you jump on the bar at one point, take a handful of cash, and 'make it rain'?"
"That I did."
Straight-Talk Express, anyone???

5) Does Joey Dorsey know he's running for President?
I don't think so. Joey's so focused on winning the tournament and being completely awesome, I doubt he's given much thought to his Presidential campaign. I need to talk to him about it.

6) Who is his running mate?
The campaign is keeping the short-list very hush-hush. It includes Tiger teammate Andre Allen, fellow Baltimore native and The Wire creator David Simon, and Dennis Kucinich, for funsies.

7) Which party is he in?
Every party. Joey Dorsey is pro-party.

8) Where does he stand on all the issues?

Health Care: Joey Dorsey is single-handedly responsible for many peoples' health...their injuries and their medical care. He's with you every step of the way...assault to recovery.

The War in Iraq: Joey Dorsey wants to personally fight everyone in Iraq and end this, once and for all. When asked for comment, Iraq said "crap."

Education: Joey Dorsey is working towards a bachelor's degree. He supports education in general, but recognizes that it might not be for everyone.

The Economy: Joey Dorsey is going to be drafted this summer by an NBA team. That means he's going to get paid. Big time. He insists that his wealth will trickle down to the masses, as it did at that nightclub, when he made it rain. A Robin Hood of the modern era? You bet.

Immigration: Joey Dorsey supports immigration. He likes folks from everywhere, and is passionate about Mexican food. Can Ron Paul say that?

8) This all sounds great.
I know. It's awesome.

9) What can I do to help?
Joey Dorsey wants the public to realize he's helping them one step at a time. His first step is winning a championship for the Memphis Tigers. He realizes that America's greatest threat is Tyler Hansbrough. After he's defeated, Joey Dorsey can focus on Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other things that are annoying.

10) Isn't he too young to be President?
Joey Dorsey has heard this criticism before and he's currently rewriting the Constitution to support his candidacy. Under his revision, the President needs only to be:
a) An American citizen.
b) A minimum of 6'4.
c) Able to beat pretty much anyone in a fistfight.

Look, I'm not going to preach to you. If you just read everything there and aren't convinced, then maybe Joey Dorsey isn't the right candidate for you. But if you love America, and basketball, and people being awesome, and think that businesses of ill-repute deserve a chance to make it in this country, and believe our leaders should be able to personally fight our wars against other countries, man-to-man, and that young athletes are best equipped to man the highest office in the free world, then maybe Joey Dorsey is the President for you.

Yes He Will,
Me

P.S. HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!! A few music recs:
--The Pogues "White City," "Galway Bay," and "Time"
--Cory Branan, "Rosemary Brown"
--Stuff by That Dude from The Once Soundtrack
--Everything ever by the Dropkick Murphys....that'll do ya.

Labels: Politics