(Remember, I won’t post write-ups about songs unless I can find live videos of them on Facebook. So hopefully even if you know these songs really well I can still point you in the direction of some new versions.)

#5 – Trouble Weighs A Ton, by Dan Auerbach

I was sent this song by my good buddy Alex, who finds some of the coolest music around. It’s just a cool, gritty acoustic tune by Auerbach, who many of you will know better as the lead singer and guitar player for the Black Keys. I really enjoy this live version, as he plays it on an electric guitar with some cool vocal harmonies.

#4 – Perth, by Bon Iver

(apologies, this video isn’t embeddable. It’s worth a click, though!)

This is just an excuse for me to post this insane 8 minute version of Perth that Bon Iver and the Roots (!) played on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (!!). That’s right, an 8 minute version of this slow-burning tune was played on national TV, backed by one of the greatest hip-hop groups of all time. The fact that it’s an awesome song performed by two fantastic artists is good enough for me to love this, but the circumstances surrounding this unusual performance pushes it above and beyond for me.

#3 – I Don’t Want Love, by the Antlers

This is a cool, moody tune, and the singer for the Antlers has a great voice. What makes it especially interesting to me, though, is the lyrics. They’re really angry. I should preface this by saying that on the spectrum of music listeners that ranges from lyric-focusers to lyric-ignorers, I probably shade a bit farther towards the lyric-ignorers than most. Basically, the lyrics are never the 1st thing that I listen for in a song or a band. Good instrumentation, playing, and especially melody/song-writing will always grab my attention before the lyrics of a tune do, and lyrics have to be really good or bad for them to change my opinion of a song.

So, back to the Antlers. I would consider this a cool song even if the lyrics were “la la la la.” But they aren’t, and they’re really interesting. I don’t want to overhype them too much, but what jumped out at me in the context of the tone of this song was just how angry these lyrics are. It’s a major-key tune with a cool groove and a catchy melody. It’s sung very well. And the lyrics are really angry and negative. Now, I’m a happy dude who doesn’t relate in any way to the actual content of the lyrics (the singer really doesn’t want love from a specific person and describes them in pretty negative terms), but the contrast between the musical tone and the lyrics makes the song way more interesting for me. It’s rare for lyrics to make that much of a difference in my listening.

#2 – Poison & Wine, by the Civil Wars

Now, I just wrote 2 whole paragraphs about the lyrics of “I Don’t Want Love” which focused on how rare it is for me to take lyrics into consideration when judging a song. So obviously I’m going to talk about lyrics again while discussing this next tune. For “Poison & Wine”, the lyrical hook is twofold. First, its a guy and a girl switching off lines, which makes the lyrics sound like a conversation. Always a cool idea. Second, each line is a contradiction of the previous line. It’s even in the title – “Poison & Wine” – and the chorus, which features the line “I don’t love you, but I always will.” Add in the fact that this is a gorgeous acoustic-guitar-and-piano-based tune with great melodies and two fantastic singers, and this is a recipe for a tune that I am not embarrassed to say I have listened to on repeat many times.

#1 – Awake My Soul, by Mumford & Sons

Ok, on to the #1 song! Mumford & Sons does a lot of things really well. In my opinion, they sing great harmonies, write really good melodies, and they build the hell out of their songs. This one is most likely my favorite of their debut album, though that may be due to how overplayed some of their other tunes are. Something about the last chorus in this tune with the thumping groove and glorious harmonies gets me every time.

OK, then! Happy long weekend everyone (or regular weekend if you don’t have Monday off),

-Grahame

First, I’m not exactly sure how much I’m supposed to give away, so I’m going to err a bit on the side of caution. But you’ve all seen the lineups for the 12 nights, and I think I can hint at some other tidbits. Those lineups are pretty insane, huh? Chris Robinson, Jimmy Herring, Jackie Greene, Warren Haynes, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams….(*whew* /takes a wheezing breath)….John Kadlecik, Joe Russo, Jeff Chimenti, and Jaz Sawyer. Oh, and Bob Weir for the opening night. And little ole me and my little brother Brian (ha…I called Brian “little”. He’s like 6’4″) will help out as well – Brian for the 1st 2 shows and me for all 12. Obviously, not everyone will be playing at the same time, so we’re working hard to make sure that every night we’re able to spotlight the guest du jour. I’ll be working my butt off to help make the various bands better in every way that I can. I’ll mostly be playing rhythm or acoustic guitar and singing a ton of backup vocals, but I may have a lead vocal or guitar solo thrown in every once in awhile. Also, Brian, my dad, and I will also be serving up an extra helping of the 3-part family harmonies that we’ve been working on these past couple years, and we think those will sound real nice.

I know that it has been hinted at on the Terrapin Crossroads website, but we are in fact preparing a few acoustic sets in the restaurant and bar part of the Crossroads. I can’t say when, for how long, or with who (and I might get yelled at for confirming it at all), but it’s something I’m excited about and I want to mention it here. Those gigs will obviously be free to all restaurant go-ers, and it will make for quite an awesome night as the food will be delicious and the music will be very fun.

I hope to have more updates soon for anyone who happens across this little corner of the Interwebs (I have noticed a bit of an uptick in traffic since yesterday’s announcement), but for now that’s all I have for you! I’m going to try to get some exclusive content for this site from rehearsals and whatnot, but no guarantees. My best advice? Stay tuned to TerrapinCrossroads.net to be 1st to hear the newest news

-Grahame

ps: 1 last thing. At the end of the run, everyone will join up for a 20 verse, 60 minute Sugaree-off. Everyone who has ever covered Sugaree with Phil & Friends, Furthur, or any other Grateful Dead family band will get a chance to sing a verse of Sugaree. At the end we’ll vote on the best one. Also, this isn’t actually happening, but it’d be pretty damn funny, huh?

pps: Don’t forget to watch the Phil Lesh & Friends webcast tonight featuring the PLF band that will be playing the Broomfield, CO shows from 2/16-18. Phil, Warren, John Scofield, Jackie, and Joe Russo. It’s gonna be smoking! 6pm PST on TerrapinCrossroads.net for free. More details here. Hurry! It starts in 1 hour!

In between all that, I played a 45 minute set that featured mostly new tunes that I’ve written in the past month or so. A few of them I’d never performed before, so it was quite fun and informative for me to finally show them off to an audience. I plan to work on a few demos this week, so hopefully anyone who stumbles on this site via the wide world of the interwebz will be able to hear them soon as well!

Here is my setlist:

Who I Was*

Long Road

Two Drink Minimum (Chris Cornell cover)*

Forever’s Too Long

San Francisco Rain*

Hold Me Down*

San Francisco (Gregory Alan Isakov cover)*

Cannonball (Damien Rice cover)

Ashes and Fire (Ryan Adams cover)*

*(1st time played)

I also have 2 videos of my set, of the 1st 2 songs, so check them out below!

WHO I WAS

LONG ROAD

Good times! Next up, Feb 29th at the Iron Springs Pub in Fairfax, CA.

-Grahame

ps: All tunes have live versions embedded. For fun.

5. Two Drink Minimum, by Chris Cornell

Listen, I love Chris Cornell, but even I can’t really apologize for Scream, the album he did with Timbaland. It potentially could have been a cool, genre-breaking experiment, but it just sounded like Cornell screaming over uninspired Timbaland beats. However, it did contain one hidden gem. That would be this tune, which as added as a bonus track to Scream. A slow-burning blues tune with some awesome guitar licks and lifted-from-a-Western-movie harmonica, this is the kind of tune Cornell’s voice is made to sing.

4. Love Like A Sunset, by Phoenix

While Phoenix might be known for catchy, pseudo-electronic indie pop, this tune is basically 80% instrumental weirdness. Split into pt. 1 (instrumental) and pt. 2 (1:30 min pop song), when you listen together it all fits perfectly. Though as cool as the instrumental part is, pt. 2 might be my favorite thing Phoenix has done. Soaring, pounding instrumentals with a cool hook. Really too bad it’s only a minute or so.

3. Back From Cali, Slash w/ Myles Kennedy

Just some rawk and roll. I love Myles’ voice, and as much as I love his band Alter Bridge (a not-even-remotely-guilty pleasure), this tune of his with Slash is straight from Appetite for Destruction. Just straight, no-nonsense rock. Filthy riff, vocals with loads of swagger, and a vintage Slash solo.

2. Promises, by the Morning Benders

A Bay Area band! Well, now based in NYC, the Morning Benders are one of my favorite “local” bands. Basically every part of this song gets stuck in my head. The verse, the chorus, the instrumental hook, and more. It’s a great tune and part of a great album.

1. Forget Her, by Jeff Buckley

Jeff Buckley might be my favorite artist of all time. This is a long-lost Buckley tune, one that was originally going to be the 1st single off Jeff’s seminal album Grace. But near the end of the recording process he decided he didn’t want it on the record. The story is that he saw his record label salivating over it, knew they were going to turn it into a hit, and decided he didn’t want that (demanding artists, amirite?). It was finally released long after Buckley’s death, and while I understand him wanting people to see that entire (wonderful) album as a whole instead of as the home of one single, I still LOVE LOVE LOVE this song. If you haven’t heard it yet, I promised you will love it too.

-Grahame

So I have booked my first show in the Sacramento Area! On February 4th, 2012 (only a couple weeks away!) I’ll be headed up to Auburn, CA, to play some tunes in support of the Dry Creek Rounders at the Little Belgium Deli and Beer Bar. If you read my announcement for my 2/29/2012 show at Iron Springs, you’ll remember that the Rounders a) are awesome, b) play bluegrass/Americana music, and c) include Ross from my brother’s band Blue Light River.

So now that you’re up to date, come by if you’re in the Sacramento Area that weekend and we’ll play a lot of fun music. There is also delicious beer and food. The things the Little Belgium is known for!

ps: you can RSVP on Facebook here!

Oh well. My posting schedule doesn’t matter. What does matter is the fabulous music I want to write about! So without further ado, here are the 5 songs I’ve been rocking the most this week. For anyone who didn’t read my first Songs Of The Week post, my self imposed rule is that I will post live YouTube videos with all of these songs. Live is always more interesting.

5. Funny Word, by Deer Tick

If you go to Deer Tick’s Facebook Page, you’ll see that their interests include “The Band” and “The Replacements.” That’s basically how I describe them. Sorta country folk but with a whole lot of punk thrown in. This tune is a bit more on the punky/Replacements side, but the verse hook is just massively catchy. This is a band I need to get into more, as I currently just know them as “that band my brother really likes.” However, this tune is a great start.

4. I Love The Rain The Most, by Joe Purdy

This guitar hook definitely lived up to its name. It was so hooked into my head that in the days after I discovered this song I found myself writing variations on it whenever I sat down with a guitar. Also, I rarely listen to songs for the lyrics, but this one hooked me from the first line, “I love the rain the most when it stops.” So simple and so beautiful.

3. Low Rising, by The Swell Season

This is half a plug for this song and half a plug for this particular performance of the song. But before we get into that, I should say that if you haven’t watched the movie “Once” (starring the duo at the heart of the band The Swell Season) then you need to stop what you’re doing and watch now. I don’t care what you’re doing. Ready? Ok. “Low Rising.” Right. Fantastic neo-soul tune, and Glen Hansard has one of my top 5 favorite voices of all time. Gravel and honey all in one. This performance is a bit more uptempo than it is on record, and I really like it. The more rhythmic vocal performance comes from that increase in tempo (“I’mma low rising, yeah”), and gives it a drive that lifts it above what I even expected when I went YouTube searching for live versions of this tune.

2. Skinny Love, by Bon Iver

What else is there to say about this song? Or Bon Iver in general? Justin Vernon is the shit. “For Emma, Forever Ago” is one of the best albums of the past decade. And this song is incredible. I remember watching this version live on Colbert and thinking how awesome it was that his (really massive) band all circled behind him to sing and clap. Also, this video is definitely flipped. Vernon is not in fact a left handed guitar player.

1. The Stranger (Two Souls In Communion) - Furthur w/ Chris Robinson

So, this version is obviously not the original of this Pigpen tune, but I think Chris Robinson sings the shit of it. From note 1 (0:47), he’s got me drawn in. I was looking for the CR Phil & Friends version from December ’04, but it looks like that one is tougher to find on YouTube, so this March ’10 version will have to do. Cool to have Bob, John K. and Jackie on acoustic guitar all at once too!

Thanks for reading! More sometime soon

-Grahame

Oh, and new rule that I just made up: each song will feature links to live performances on YouTube. It’s always interesting to listen to alternate live versions.

#5 - Hallelujah, by Ryan Bingham

You may know of a Ryan Bingham who the wrote the theme song from the movie Crazy Heart (“The Weary Kind”), and you may know of a “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen. Well, this is the same Ryan Bingham, but not the same “Hallelujah”. This is a Bingham original. And it’s gorgeous. The verse rolls and builds until you can’t take it anymore, and when the chorus kicks in it is such a beautiful relief. Great, tasteful guitar solo at the end, too.

#4 – All The Money I Had I Gone, by The Deep Dark Woods

I saw this band on my birthday at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco. They’re just fantastic. Really nice guys, too. Anyways, this is the song of theirs thats been stuck in my head all week. Great groove and a really catchy hook. Also, their singer Ryan looks like Robb Stark from HBO’s Game Of Thrones. So there’s that.

#3 – San Francisco, by Gregory Alan Isakov

GAI, as I like to call him (note: I don’t really call him that), is probably my favorite Pandora discovery. I threw on a Ryan Adams/Bon Iver station a few months back and this song popped on that I could have sworn was Ryan Adams. Except I know basically every song Ryan has ever written (including his 1,756,342 unreleased tracks) and this wasn’t one of them. It was a tune called “If I’m Go, I’m Goin’” by Gregory Alan Isakov. After that I dove into his music, and this tune might be my favorite. Just great folky acoustic rock. I love it.

#2 – Rich, by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Ok, let’s get into some rock. My band Maiden Lane has made a bit of a sound pivot recently and become more punk rock. One of the bands I’ve been listening to for sound ideas is the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Female singer, hard rockin, lots of fuzz…yeah, they’re what we’re looking at. This is a current favorite. I just love the distorted keyboard line that starts the song and runs through the rest of it. \m/

#1 – Long Snake Moan, by PJ Harvey

Another song I’ve come across while practicing and studying for Maiden Lane. We covered another PJ Harvey song, “Hardly Wait,” and almost covered this one. Just perfect rock. There’s so much attitude in this song that they can take a pretty simple (if incredibly effective) groove and make the whole song fit into it. I can basically listen to this song non-stop.

Well, this was fun to write. Let’s see if I remember to write another list next week.

-Grahame

Buckle up, kids.

By now, if you’re here on this page, you’ve probably already been here. If you haven’t, head over, peruse the site, and then come back.

…

Ok! As my parents may have mentioned before, the most basic idea for Terrapin Crossroads was born in July of 2010 when my family went to Levon Helm’s place for my dad, my brother and I to play a Ramble. We played an incredibly fun show, watched Levon’s fantastic band, and then followed Levon into his kitchen. His kitchen! This epic night of music had ended, and he walked 1 room over and into his home.

It was quite the “WHOA!” moment for my parents. “What if we played shows…and then DIDN’T have to sleep in a tour bus?” (First World Problems, amirite guyz?) So they set about trying to recreate the Ramble experience at home in Marin. While they may not be walking from the stage to their kitchen, Terrapin Crossroads will be a place to play tons of music close to home.

For me, this is a chance to take some of the more interesting ideas that I had told my parents they should try and maybe actually implement them. So look for fun (and cheap! Thank you Louis CK) streaming video options for those who aren’t in the Bay Area, the best Bay Area beers on tap, TONS of local bands (including, ahem, my own), studio recordings recorded on the TC stage, and way more.

So let’s look forward to oh so much more music in the near future. There isn’t all that much else I can tell you except to for a pretty epic run of opening shows in March. Like…epic.

Buckle up, kids.

-Grahame

Fun fact, the guitar player/pedal steel player/occasional singer for the Dry Creek Rounders is Ross James, who ALSO fills that role in my brother Brian’s band Blue Light River. Basically, he’s the shit. So is DCR (did it again!). So come hang with us and listen to cool music.

-Grahame

© Dylan Carney

Well, that was fun! It was put together quickly (by travel necessity) with some musicians that hadn’t played together in years, but Philharmonia ended up being quite the musical success. Of course, I judge these things by whether or not I had fun, and there was zero chance I wasn’t going to have fun with this show.

Our musical day started at 2pm with soundcheck. I got there a few minutes early with an acoustic guitar, set up on stage left, and waited with Jonathan and Jordan Levine (our dynamite drummers for the evening) for the rest of the band. They came quickly after! First Jackie Greene, then Bob Weir, and then, in keeping with our Lesh family tradition of being late, my brother Brian and my dad Phil (I kid. Us Leshes are only mostly late. Not always late). Once everyone gathered on stage, we started going through the setlist. Everyone had rehearsed all of these songs separately, and my brother and my dad and I had gone over all of our harmonies extensively, but we all hadn’t played together at all. Not a big problem. These are mostly Dead tunes! As Bobby said, “I think I’ve played that one a time or two.” I think we all have, Bob! Luckily, those Dead tunes that everyone knew so well were the (relatively) complicated ones.

Of course, there was a lot to get through and not that much time before doors opened, so we had to prioritize. Non-Dead tunes such as “Acadian Driftwood” (The Band) or “Sigh No More” (Mumford & Sons) or “Chin Up, Cheer Up” (Ryan Adams) were the focus during soundcheck. And an hour and a half later, when we’d pushed the “doors open” time as far back as we could, we declared ourselves ready and headed to “backstage.”

“Backstage” was, adorably, a library. The show took place at the Tenderloin Community School, so in our little “backstage” there were tiny chairs, drawings on the walls, and books everywhere. It was pretty cute. While we waited for showtime we generally went over a few of the tunes we hadn’t done at soundcheck (“what key are we doing ‘Deep Elum’ in, Bob?”) and said hi to many old friends from the Unbroken Chain Foundation. Additionally, I decided I didn’t trust myself to remember the lyrics to the 3rd verse of “New Speedway Boogie,” so I spent some time writing those down. Better safe than sorry!

iPhone (Instagram) pic of the band

Finally, after taking a few pictures of the band, it was showtime. I won’t get into too much detail about my thoughts about the show because I think the music usually stands on its own. Suffice it to say that I had a fantastic time and thought we did a pretty damn good job. Some highlights: in the spur of the moment we surprisingly picked up the tempo for both “Fennario” and “The Wheel,” but the up-tempo versions added something new and cool and worked out just fine. Jackie sang the shit out of his fantastic tune “Never Satisfied,” and I can only hope my lead guitar held up well in comparison. We covered “Sigh No More” by Mumford & Sons, which features some just stunning harmonies that are a pleasure to sing with my dad and brother. I had a little banjo/guitar duel with Jackie during “Cumberland Blues” that featured Jackie playing the Deliverance banjo riff. Jonathan stayed at the drum kit for the beginning of “Deep Elum” even though that was Jordan’s tune to drum, which led to an impressively quick switch and Jordan coming in with a very badass fill. Our set ended with “Angel Band,” with great lead vocals by my brother Brian and more harmonies by my dad, my brother and I (this time joined by Bobby). And there was much more.

Leena Culhane leads the audience in carols

Then we jumped offstage while my dad introduced a good family friend and wonderful singer-songwriter Leena Culhane, who led the audience in some Christmas carols to end the night. Back in our library/”backstage” area, we stuffed ourselves with delicious cupcakes and chatted about how it went. The consensus…it went pretty damn well!

So if you’ve made it this far into my somewhat rambling recap, enjoy some more photos from my cousin Dylan (find more of his pictures at the Furthur Facebook Page) and a quick video of the end of “Sigh No More”. I will be adding more photos and videos as I get ahold of them!

Click to view slideshow.

Much love,

-Grahame