Twenty-eight dollars was all Dashboard Confessional guitarist John Lefler took in from his recent solo show in Chicago.

And he's fine with that.

"This tour is not about making money for me. It's an investment," Lefler told us in an interview from the road. "Some shows have been relatively lucrative, but most have not."

Lefler, an East Dallas resident, has been on the road promoting his 2009 release Better by Design since the end of June. This time around, it's not all tour buses and catering.

He's renting cars, catching flights and crashing with friends as he makes his way from city to city.

"The name 'Dashboard' might get me a reply from a club, but beyond that, I'm just a dude in tight pants with a guitar," he said.

We talked to Lefler, whose adventure ends Saturday with a homecoming show at Opening Bell Coffee, about touring, tweeting and coming home.

Q: How's the tour going?

Lefler: It has been a great experience for me. Honestly, there is no other way I'd rather be spending my time this summer. My goal was to get out of my comfort zone – Dallas, my couch – and try and play every night in a different city. Since I've been doing the booking myself, it has been a challenge. But I'm pretty happy with the results so far. Just getting out and doing it was my No. 1 goal.

Q: How is touring solo different from being on the road with Dashboard Confessional?

Lefler: I think the better question would be "How is it similar?" The answer would be, "Not at all." The only thing this tour has in common with a Dashboard tour is the fact that I wear the same pair of pants. On my solo tour, I wake up and worry about rental car prices, hotel rates, flight times, drive times, where I will sleep, how many people will actually show up. On a Dashboard tour, I wake up and walk on stage. 

Q: You tweet and Facebook with fans. Do you think interacting on social media benefits you in the long run?

Lefler: Absolutely. A new artist has to be approachable. I'm a 35-year-old male playing an archaic form of music – one that involves writing a song. I'm happy that I can sit at my laptop at night to try and promote myself and my shows. Most of the people who write me on Facebook are super sweet and encouraging. What's not to love about that?

Q: Are you looking forward to coming back to Dallas?

Lefler: I'm totally looking forward to being home. I set this show up as a sort of homecoming or an end-of-tour bash. In Dallas, I always play with Paul Averitt of Hard Night's Day accompanying me. He's one of the best, so I don't worry about him not being able to follow me.

If you go
John Lefler with Paul Averitt and Anna Proctor. Saturday at 8 p.m. at Opening Bell Coffee. 1409 S. Lamar St. Free, but donations accepted. 214-565-0383. openingbellcoffee.com. 

Originally published in Quick

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New Jersey pop/punk rockers the Gaslight Anthem return with a strong third album incorporating classic Motown sounds with their founding 4/4 beats and distorted choruses.

From the breakdown of “Bring It On” to the harmonic melodies of “Boxer,” American Slang is a return to the roots of rock and roll. Songs are broken down and presented in a non-linear structure and the typical verse-chorus-verse structure is nowhere to be found.

New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen would be proud – actually, he is. He’s invited the band to share the stage with him.
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I just finished typing up my interview with Dashboard Confessional guitarist John Lefler. And boy, is he a talker.

Lefler, a Dallas resident originally from Houston, has been out on the road for about the past two months promoting his 2009 release, Better By Design.

The album, a great mix of 1960s-era sounds (think Beach Boys, Beatles) featuring clanging acoustic guitars and piano leads, is a strong outing for Lefler’s debut solo album.

Lefler and I chatted for about 30 minutes and talked about his first solo tour across the states and all that comes with it. He’ll finish up the summer leg of the tour at Opening Bell Coffee on Aug. 7.

You can read the full interview in the Aug. 5 issue of Quick. And I’ll post a link here when it publishes.

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Before Owl City’s Adam Young scored a hit last year with the electro-pop tune “Firefles,” he pretty much lived as a hermit. The 23-year-old from Owatonna, Minn., had been making music in the basement of his parents’ house since 2007. And he never really left said basement.

Yeah, Young would agree with the perception that he’s a bit out there. He calls himself “a silly little imbecile who’s terrified of pretty girls.”

But his music proves he has a way with words, and his lyrical power helps him get past the shyness. Having just started a headlining tour (which hits Nokia Theater on Saturday), he’s gradually finding it easier to perform live.

We exchanged e-mails with Young during his recent stop in Spokane, Wash. He told us about making music in his skivvies, his nightly set lists and a recent trip to Australia.

 How is the current tour going? We’re on show number two (haha) of the tour and things are going well. We just got back from Australia so my eyes are really red. And tired. Yeah, I’m super tired. But I loved it there. I would move there if I could. I got to walk on the beach and eat pepperoni gelato. It was super awkward.

The last time you played Dallas, you had two sold-out shows at the House of Blues. What can fans expect to see and hear at this time? Have you added any elements to the show? You know, you don’t really mess with Texas, but of course I needn’t tell you that because this is very common knowledge. The show is a jolly good time and it’s a bit more of a “concert” than a “show” in a strange sense of the word because there are strings, vibraphone, pianos, ambient swells and lots of percussion. The whole thing is almost made for more of a “listening room” experience than a dirty rock club. Something about the genitalia scrawled all over the green room walls in every dirty rock club I’ve ever been to sort of turns my stomach.

Do you come up with a different set list every night, or do you tend to stick to the same progression of songs night after night? We change it up from time to time but it’s nice to get into the swing of things on tour and not have to worry about reading a chicken-scratched set list in the dark every night.

Do you cover any songs? We cover a song from a video game called Wave Race. It’s nerdy.

How do you pass the time on the road? I spend a lot of time working on new music. I have a little MBox Pro Tools LE rig out on the road and I keep pretty busy. I eat a lot of pizza too. I’m not really ever sure where it comes from, but whenever there’s a lonely piece of pizza hanging out late at night all by it’s little self, I’m right there to keep it company.

What do you remember about Dallas – or Texas for that matter – from the shows you’ve played in the state? Dallas, or Texas for that matter... I remember Burger King and a nice guy named Lance and something about dirty diapers hidden in my backpack and it being super hot outside. Like I said, I really like Texas.

You just finished a tour of Europe with Lights. I’m guessing that was your first time in many of those countries. What was the experience like and what did you take away from your time there? It was incredibly surreal. My favorite things about the tour was everywhere but at the show. The Eiffel Tower was amazing, Big Ben, the Koln Cathedral, the German countryside whipping by outside the double decker bus, etc. I consumed a ridiculous amount of Nutella and I enjoyed every minute of it.

You’re a self-described introvert. How hard is it to take the stage every night and be in front of people you’ve never met? It’s pretty hard for me. I’m just a silly little imbecile who’s terrified of pretty girls, and since a lot of those attend my shows, the whole performing-for-people/singing thing is a bit scary. However, it is indeed getting easier. I mean, at least I don’t have an afro? Oh wait.

You’ve said you have trouble sleeping outside of your basement. Do you find it’s hard to sleep while touring, being in a different city every day and sleeping on a moving bus at night? Strangely enough, the sleeping bus thing is lovely. I’m cursed with a rare form of insomnia that requires lots of loud noise in/around the room for me to become drowsy and eventually doze off. I leave the vacuum cleaner running beside my bed all night whenever I’m at home, and since the bottom bunk in the bus is right above the generator, it’s kinda the same thing.

You’ve created all your music in your basement. Do you see yourself making your next album the same way, or would you like to be in a studio? What advantages does your basement offer over a professional studio? The basement is for me. Aside from all the roaches and centipedes, I can’t really see myself working/writing/creating in any other situation because I’m afraid of talking to people I don’t know. And since there is usually never any complete strangers lurking around in my basement, I’m usually so comfortable, I make music in my underwear. Not really, actually. I wear my dad’s sweatpants from the 80’s. They are turquoise.

Twitter has redefined how everyone – including bands and artists – keep in touch. How do you use Twitter to your advantage, personally and professionally? I watch a lot of G-rated movies when I’m home since I don’t have the Internet in my house. Whenever I go to my Mom’s house though, I login to my Twitter for a few minutes. This is the part of the interview where I would like to publicly announce to the entire world that my mother makes really good cookies. I never watch what goes into them, but they rule.

You have an interesting sense of wordplay – both in your lyrics and in your tweets. Did that come about from writing lyrics, or have you always had that sense and creativeness in your language? My mom is an ESL teacher so she read to me a lot when I was a crabby baby in diapers. We never had television growing up so I spent a lot of time between the pages of good books.

If you weren’t Owl City, what would you be doing in life? I’m pretty sure I’d be working at Coca-Cola in a sweaty warehouse. I would also have a super painful hernia and I would know the meaning behind a lot of the swear words to which I currently have no idea what they mean. Cool.

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Check out my review of the Muse show last night in Fort Worth over at Quick.

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With today's snowy weather conditions across North Texas, there is nothing better than finding the ultimate playlist revolving around weather events and atmospheric phenomena.

 

The catch is, the songs have to be by metal or at least hard rock artists. I mean, if Ozzy could put out an album titled Blizzard Of Ozz, then you know there has to be some good tracks out there.

 

10.) Thunderhorse - Dethklok

9.) Trapped Under Ice - Metallica

8.) Thunderstruck – AC-DC

7.) Raining Blood – Slayer

6.) Rock you like a Hurricane – Scorpions

5.) My Winter Sun – Winter’s Verge

4.) Black Rain – Ozzy Osborne

3.) Reflect the Storm – In Flames

2.) Under the Grayclouded Winter Sky – Amon Amarth

1.) Hell Dwells in Ice – Behemoth

 

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The Grammys had a good mix of winners and performances. When it came to  the performances, nothing was too fast or slow and the multiple-song sets seemed to work.

No one dominated the stage this year as fas as a winner. Sure Beyonce walked away with 5 awards, but more of those were given to her even before the show started.

The producers know what we want to see: the music, not the speeches. 

All and all, not a bad show. 

-------

Text highlighted in blue is my prediction. Text in red is who actually won. If I predicted the winner, it will be green.

Tonight, I went 4 for 8. 50 percent. Not too bad.

Wanna to talk about the Grammys with others during the show? Join the chat at Guide Live.

5:52 p.m. Winners already

In the non-televised awards of the night, French rockers Phoenix have won Best Alternative Music Album for "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix," beating out the likes of Death Cab for Cutie and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Also:

- Taylor Swift won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "White Horse."

- Eminem won Best Rap Album for Relapse.

- Jay-Z won Best Rap Solo Performance for "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)"

- Beyonce won Best R&B Song for "Single Ladies" and Best Contemporary R&B Album for I Am...Sasha Fierce.

- Kings of Leon won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best Rock Song for "Use Somebody."

- Lady Gaga won Best Dance Album with The Fame and Best Dance Recording with "Poker Face"

6:55 p.m. Having Andy Rooney lead into the Grammys is the most depressing thing ever. Way to plan this out, CBS.

7 p.m. Lady Gaga is set to open the show. Let's see how this goes.

7:03 p.m. Lady Gaga and Elton John collaboration. And no one knew it was John until he started singing. That's kinda sad.

7:09 p.m. Stephen Colbert isn't hosting the show, is he? Cause he's really not that funny. Wow. An iPad joke. Lame.

7:14 p.m. Green Day with stage acters singers and dancing around the stage. Something 1994 Green Day would never do.

7:25 p.m. Taylor Swift takes Best Country Album. No surprise there.

7:26 p.m. Is it just me, or is Taylor Swift a little overdramatic at times?

7:31 p.m. Beyonce covers Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know." crazy amazing.

7:39 p.m. Hey, it's Seal. He sang that one song once. Something about a bat, I think.

7:44 p.m. Why is there what I hope is water dripping off Pink? Also, I feel bad for anyone below her.

7:48 p.m. Zac Brown Band wins Best New Artist. Hope the curse skips you.

7:54 p.m. $5 says Miley Cyrus does/says something uncalled for.

7:56 p.m. Yes, there are 4 members of Black Eyed Peas. But I think everyone just knows Fergie and Will.i.am. The other 2 guys are like the second guy in Wham. No one knows their names.

8:05 p.m. Where did the nerdy Jonai come from?

8:06 p.m. I really, really like this Lady Antebellum song. "Need You Now" is a great romantic ballad.

8:09 p.m. Best Comedy Album is actually televised. I'll be. And CBS just said. "ass." Old people won't like that.

8:19 p.m. Hells yeah! Nice win for Kings of Leon!

8:20 p.m. Kings of Leon went 3 for 4 tonight. That's awesome. So happy for them.

8:22 p.m. We really need to stop letting Jamie Foxx out in public.

8:33 p.m. Green Day wins for a crappy album. I think people are still on an "American Idiot" high ... from 2004!

8:40 p.m. Teaser says Taylor Swift is going to sing with one of her heroes. And then shows a clip of her and Stevie Nicks. CBS is good at ruining surprises.

8:46 p.m. No, no, no, Taylor. No playing new stuff. Play the stuff that got you here.

8:48 p.m. So does this mean Taylor Swift is going to start doing a lot of coke?

8:51 p.m. That little bluegrass jam of "You Belong With Me" is about as country as Taylor Swift will ever get.

9 p.m. I thought the Michael Jackson tribute could have been better. Also remember, he stopped actively making music in like 1993. And wow, those Jackson kids might turn out normal.

9:08 p.m. New Jersey in the house! Mullets down, everyone.

9:15 p.m. FYI: Tommy and Gina are the Romeo and Juliet of our time.

9:20 p.m. Let's talk about Album of the Year. Normally, the choices are pretty scattered and there are some clear-cut winners in the mix. In past years, the album has gone to albums that are heavier, have themes or just kinda out there. This year, it's a nice mix and I'll be honest, anyone can take it. Taylor Swift - I think - has the best chance, seeing as she's had one hell of year. Lady Gaga could get it just for being Lady Gaga. Beyonce has already won 5 awards, so why not give her another. If Dave Matthews Band takes it, I'd be surprised and really happy for them. It's an album dedicated to their late sax player, but at the same time, it's a tight album. In the long run, my money is on either Taylor or Beyonce.

9:34 p.m. About an hour left. 9:30 here is only 7:30 in L.A. Then again, they did start that thing at 5 in the afternoon. Probably because of all the old people who need to be in bed by 9:30 L.A. time.

9:41 p.m. Dave Matthews Band. Always a good show.

9:42 p.m. When was the last award given? I feel like it's just a bunch of performances now...

9:50 p.m. There is literally one award left - Album of the Year. Let's just get this over with already. I'm getting cranky.

10:03 p.m. There were a lot more artists that died this year. The Grammys are just picky about who they honor. Which is really sad.

10:17 p.m. Lil' Wayne is getting in as many performances as possible before he goes to prison for a year. I'd probably do the same.

10:25 p.m. Final award! 

10:27 p.m. Congrats, Taylor. 

 

 

Record Of The Year

“Halo” - Beyoncé

“I Gotta Feeling” - The Black Eyed Peas

“Use Somebody” - Kings Of Leon

“Poker Face” - Lady Gaga

“You Belong With Me” - Taylor Swift

**Notes: I want Kings of Leon to win, but i think Lady Gaga will. I have a feeling Gaga will pull off what Amy Winehouse did in 2008 and take most awards because of her showmanship.**

Album Of The Year

I Am... Sasha Fierce - Beyoncé

The E.N.D. - The Black Eyed Peas

The Fame - Lady Gaga

Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King - Dave Matthews Band

Fearless - Taylor Swift

**It's huge for Dave Matthews Band to be nominated. However, I think Taylor Swift will win. Is Fearless an album of the year? No. It's too poppy and she's so young. I almost don't want her to win.**

Song Of The Year

“Poker Face” - Lady Gaga & RedOne, songwriters (Lady Gaga)

“Pretty Wings” - Hod David & Musze, songwriters (Maxwell)

“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” - Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart, songwriters (Beyoncé)

“Use Somebody” - Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill, songwriters (Kings Of Leon)

“You Belong With Me” - Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

**The Kings deserve this. "Use Somebody" is such a power ballad, it's amazing. These family boys deserve some Grammy gold for going from the back hills of Tennessee to arena stages.**

Best New Artist

Zac Brown Band

Keri Hilson

MGMT

Silversun Pickups

The Ting Tings

**You don't want to win this award. It's a curse. People who win the Best New Artist award tend to fail within the next two years. You win, but you really lose.**

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

“Hometown Glory” - Adele

“Halo” - Beyoncé

“Hot N Cold” - Katy Perry

“Sober” - Pink

“You Belong With Me” - Taylor Swift

**Taylor has this. Hands down.**

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance

“This Time” - John Legend

“Love You” - Maxwell

"Make It Mine" - Jason Mraz

“If You Don't Know Me By Now” - Seal

“All About The Love Again” - Stevie Wonder

**I never heard any of these songs. Shot in the dark here.**

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

"I Got a Feelin'" - Black Eyed Peas

“We Weren't Born To Follow” - Bon Jovi

“Never Say Never” - The Fray

“Sara Smile” - Daryl Hall & John Oates

“Kids”- MGMT

**The Black Eyed Peas are so annoying**

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals

“Sea Of Heartbreak" - Rosanne Cash & Bruce Springsteen

“Love Sex Magic” - Ciara & Justin Timberlake

“Lucky” - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat

“Baby, It's Cold Outside” - Willie Nelson & Norah Jones

“Breathe” - Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat

**Meh.**

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For those who may not yet know, James "The Rev" Sullivan, drummer from the metal/hard rock band Avenged Sevenfold was found dead in his Huntington Beach apartment on Dec. 28 at age 28.

He loved to party as most rockers do, but he was also a very talented drummer who lived like he beat the skins - hard and fast.

December is hard on rockers. Dimebag in Dec 2004, now this.

Granted, I'm not a big fan of Avenged Sevenfold, but if you do want to hear a good fast bit of percussion, listen to their single Beast and the Harlot. 

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In response to our lead writer Collin Quick's review of his 2009 album run down, I will give the more metal-intensive, boot stomping answers to the top albums of 2009.
Hey, guys like Kerry King deserve our love too, ya know.
Meanwhile ... 


 

#7

Mastodon: Crack the Skye
North American release: March24

One of the most fun things about being a metal fan is seeing a band grow and develop their style over the years.

I had the opportunity to see Mastodon perform most of their Crack the Skye album live back in November and really the experimental, new wave sound and lighting display was something quite impressive during the 70-minute set. 

Crack the Skye shows a growth and maturity from their 2002 debut album Remission and then critically acclaimed follow-up Leviathian.

The sound is softer and easier and allows for a more ambient listening experience, good for a long drive, or introducing a new metal head to a band that is a great gateway group to modern metal.

Violence and head-crushing sound might not make it onto the album, but for a clean, unique sound, the Atlanta group has definately made an impact.

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In response to our lead writer Collin Quick's review of his 2009 album run down, I will give the more metal-intensive, boot stomping answers to the top albums of 2009.
Hey, guys like Kerry King deserve our love too, ya know.
Meanwhile ... 


 

#8

Sunn O))): Monoliths & Dimensions

North American release: May 18

 

The doom metal band Sunn O))) made its way into more mainstream music culture with its 2009 release Monoliths & Dimensions.

Keeping in the dark, heavy, loose-strings, drop-tone mindset Sunn O))) put together a creepy 53 minute album that can make a listener feel like they are blindly falling into oblivion.

The album itself was a two-year work in progress to create something that is for the most part incredibly musical – think of it as a dark opera played by the Dementors in Harry Potter.

Stephen O’Malley, one of the founding members of the group is truly to thank for putting out the album as he took his doom metal styling from Khanate and ended up turning out an album that is quite simply more than background noise.

 

For a real experience, listen to the shortest track on the album, 9-minute 43-second “BigChurch [megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért]”

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