shawn avery

a huge chunk of my musical output has thus far been either embarrassing, depressing, or wasted. music is the ultimate time killer - and killing time has been a lifelong career. and now, its probably pointless as well. culture really just needs background tunes from now on. i guess there have been some pretty cool shows here and there, which is kinda rad . it took me until age 34 to be in a few bands that actually challenge me constantly, at least in terms of new songs. the spots are of course an exception, because the spots don't write songs, and are plenty challenging as improv music. its been about 10 years since my super prolific years of constantly recording demos ended. i'm hoping that somehow, this will turn around soon. we'll see.

through the sparks will be performing at the basement @ 8pm on october 11th during the next big nashville music conference . Next Big Nashville Promo

here's a list (in no particular order) of 35 major-label releases, all of which were considered very successful albums for these artists. these 35 albums each had a particular influence on my musical tastes and/or development, either lyrically, sonically, or in terms of overall production. many of these i don't listen to anymore, but most are still in rotation. these are my top 35 major label releases: 01. nin - the downward spiral (1994) 02. van halen - diver down (1982) 03. tears for fears - elemental (1993) 04. the police - synchronicity (1983) 05. cibo matto - stereotype a (1999) 06. u2 - achtung baby (1991) 07. crash test dummies - god shuffled his feet (1993) 08. jeff buckley - grace (1994) 09. queens of the stone age - rated r (2000) 10. sneaker pimps - becoming remixed (1998) 11. michael jackson - thriller (1982) 12. xtc - skylarking (1986) 13. fleetwood mac - rumours (1977) 14. david bowie - earthling (1997) 15. wilco - yankee hotel foxtrot (2002) 16. aphex tw...

a bit delayed, but who really cares? here's a few photos taken in auburndale, winter haven, and in the suburbs north of orlando. these were all taken with my iphone, so the image quality is dubious at best:

time flies when you are bored at the office. ... and in two days i'll be 35. frightening. lately, i've been getting my first big shot of pondering my own mortality. its quite creepy. at least i still look young. this saturday marks 1 year since i quite smoking, which will probably add a few years back on to my life span. WIN.

Like most people, I was initially confused by EMI’s decision to release remastered versions of all 13 albums by the Liverpool pop group Beatles, a 1960s band so obscure that their music is not even available on iTunes. The entire proposition seems like a boondoggle. I mean, who is interested in old music? And who would want to listen to anything so inconveniently delivered on massive four-inch metal discs with sharp, dangerous edges? The answer: no one. When the box arrived in the mail, I briefly considered smashing the entire unopened collection with a ball-peen hammer and throwing it into the mouth of a lion. But then, against my better judgment, I arbitrarily decided to give this hippie shit an informal listen. And I gotta admit—I’m impressed. This band was mad prolific. It is not easy to categorize the Beatles’ music; more than any other group, their sound can be described as “Beatlesque.” It’s akin to a combination of Badfinger, Oasis, Corner Shop, and everyother rock band that’s ...

alison and i are going to my home town(s) this weekend, so i decided to do some catching up online. here's some background: i was born in haines city, fl ., (once considered the citris epicenter of the nation and the site of the first citris processing plant). except for a year when i was an infant, i live my entire life, up until about 19 in central florida in the towns of haines city (where i was born), davenport (1982-1989) and auburndale (1989-1994 /1995 / 1997). according to the wiki entry, haines city was originally called clay cut . i grew up in what is called the lakeland-winter haven metro area . basically, its a bunch of small towns directly linked, and the residents often work, visit, go to church, shop, etc. - in neighboring towns. davenport has seen a lot of development for rental and tourism use, north of the city, heading toward orlando. a lot of these have been used by british tourists who continue to perceive northern polk county as some sort of shangri-la. appa...