i went to see my friend's band do a last minute opening slot for this old blues legend. the only catch (or kitsch) is that said friend's band is a very cool, young, retro-modern, slick dressing, nod to the 60's hipster level act.. but the dude that they opened for was 70 and Blind. the club they played was this total indie rock bar/pub that is in East Atlanta, and i am pretty sure i was there the day it opened years ago. the odd thing about all of this is that old blind black blues dudes never play at this place. it's more the place to catch swedish imports such as the International Noise Conspiracy or a local indie rock fave like the Black Lips. i sat there and watched maybe a hundred white kids with typical fashion statements such as indie-beards, PBR cans, and girls with oversized sunglasses on their heads all watch this band of 70 yr old black men play straight up blues for an hour. they were acting like it was the 2nd coming of christ, especially since the singer was Blind. i wondered if maybe he was fucking with all of us by thinking we would think it was cooler to act blind... needless to say, seeing people that wouldn't be caught dead at Blind Willie's (a local blues club overrun with yuppies in their 40's) going off to a guy who plays Blind Willie's bars all across USA... made me very happy. does this mean that people are just scared to leave their comfort zone? i mean, if those people went to somewhere other than the local hipster bar to see this, would they react the same if they were stuck in the middle of the room, surrounded by a bunch of aging bankers... or would they turn their nose up and say "this music sucks.. it's for dads.." i'm just sayin'...
on another note.... a guy who sings in a band is so scared of people not thinking he is cool, admits to actually finding James Morrison be one of his guilty pleasures. he reads an article about how James Morrison thinks that it might be bad that he likes the dixie Chicks, but finds them to be a guilty pleasure. then cut to some blogger admitting that the singer in the band that admitted to liking James Morrison is actually HER guilty pleasure. it goes on forever. how can you gauge a guilty pleasure anymore when each one gets cancelled out by another? i wonder if the mars volta are Santana's guilty pleasure? i wonder if the White Stripes are R.L. Burnside's guilty pleasure? i wonder if My Chemical Romance are Queen's guilty pleasure? i wonder if Aiden are My chemical Romance's guilty pleasure? i wonder if Earth is God's guilty pleasure? i wonder... if i have any advil in the kitchen... my head hurts...

my friend Josh rifkin is doing a charity event that will be the biggest rock n roll charity for kids ever done in Atlanta. he is throwing a "500 Songs For Kids" that will be counting down Rolling Stone's 500 songs of all time, all performed by different artists in Atlanta. it's being held at Smith's Olde Bar and will be ending with the final songs on May the 12th. he asked me if i would do the #2 song of all time that night.. i said i was gonna be in LA at that time...i think i am gonna have to fly in for this one.. see you there.