Best Albums of 2009

All week, starting today, you can cast your vote for best albums of 2009 at NPR All Songs Considered.

CLICK HERE to speak up!

From NPR:

By Bob Boilen

It's time for All Songs Considered listeners to pick their favorite albums of 2009. Vote here by choosing up to 10 from our list below, and feel free to write in what you don't see using the comments section of the blog.

The music on this list reflects what All Songs Considered covered in 2009, plus a few more we missed. As we read the write-ins, we'll add new choices to the list. We will count the write-ins. Results will be posted on Dec. 7.

Mary Martin, uncompromising music exec, honored

My mentor Mary Martin, honored this week for her lifes work in music.

Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Van Morrision, Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, the list goes on and on.

READ THE ARTICLE HERE!

I love you Mary! Thank you for everything you've ever done and continue to do for me.

xo Luke

A Week In Portland Vinyl

Night II Cuttin At The Compound

Pete, Me, Brett + Brad.

Pete and me split off around midnight, headed over to the space to listen to new Everybodytracks of the tape machine. Amazing.

Up all night packing for fall tour with Erin McCarley + Landon Pigg.

Closed out one last mix for Sender Films new series on National Geographic at 3:30AM.

The Compound

Pete, Alagia, Me, Brett + Brad

First night of recording Brett demos in the house with the new HD rig

Fall California 2009

NAU Thought Kitchen Link

CLICK HERE to read the piece.

Health Care Reform

Hey crew,

Luke here, hope you're all doing well. It's been a minute but I'm back on the scene.

Our elected officials in DC will be deciding on health care reform very soon and I wanted to encourage all of you to call Congress.

Here's your ammunition:

American health care reform is at a critical junction. It is clear, from experts on both sides of the debate that doing nothing is not an option when:
• 1.5 Million American families lose their homes each year due to high medical bills.
• Premiums are rising 4 times faster than wages.
• Young people are the most likely to be uninsured.
• Health care costs are the #1 cause of bankruptcy in America today.

We urge you to call congress on this toll free number and tell them you support meaningful health care reform now: 1-877-702-0996.

Some helpful tips for when you call:
1. Be prepared to provide your phone number, name, and address (it’s procedure).
2. Explain why you care about this issue.
3. Be polite ☺

Every phone call counts! Please pass it on.

Thanks so much!!!

Luke

P.S… If you want more information about the Health Care issue check out this site:

http://healthcareforamericanow.org/

Passion Pit Stop Annimation

This is the video and THIS is the band

Passion Pit - The Reeling from phantomcolor on Vimeo.

Dislocated Shoulder + The Baltimore Gig

Well, it's been a week since I dislocated my right shoulder surfing at Mission Beach in San Diego, the same shoulder which I'd had rebuilt in 1997 after back to back snowboarding accidents two seasons in a row. Knock on wood that the MRI next week turns out fine! 

The two homeless guys who had helped to clear out room in the Subaru for me to sit on the drive to the hospital, asked while we were pulling out, "Why wasn't I able to just slam my shoulder back in like Mel Gibson had done in Lethal Weapon?"  

Looking down at the bulge (my shoulder) sticking out of my wetsuit in the general latitude of my nipples, I opted not to answer that one and instead focused on breathing thru the pain not thinking about the two months of work I'd just lined up.    

Fast forward 4 days and I'm sitting on a plane headed for Baltimore for a  one off with Gabe from Cake, Pete and Max from We Are Scientists.  Thanks to Under Armour for having us come play.  

Pictures from the gig sans Mel Gibson.

Airports

Right off the bat, I want to thank Guster for having me out to support them on their 2009 Campus Conciousness Tour. Special thanks to REVERB, Gord, Seth, Scooter, Josh, Roger, Amy, Allyson, Elliot and Dalton at Nettwerk for making the whole thing happen. You make me feel like family.

It's Sunday night now and I'm just walking in the door from the LAX airport. As I write this, I'm doing laundry and unpacking:

Newly acquired thrift store scores.
Guitar cases.
CD boxes.
Cell phone charges.
Autographed concert posters.
Running shoes.

We closed out the show last night with a cover of "I Want To Know What Love Is" by Foreigner. Ryan played keytar. I played synth. Brian sang.

Here's a shot Elliott took on stage mid clap. Note the concentration and dedication.

As reviewed this morning in the Reading Eagle

The show seemed to be all but over until Rosenworcel meandered down to the microphone.

"The people who run this theater have asked us to tell you that there are still tickets available for Foreigner's show Thursday night," he said. "But we wanted to take it one step further."

The group then launched into a tongue-in-cheek version of "I Want to Know What Love Is," featuring a larynx-tearing, not-even-attempting-to-stay-in-key vocal from Rosenworcel and a keytar solo from Miller.

Wilco Country

Chicago

Days Off

Hotel Rooms Right Next To The Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Buildings

Thai Food

Coffee

Hoodies

Long Walks

Up All Night

Joe Pisapia of Guster

Syracuse to Chicago

Rolling west out of Syracuse for Chicago on the bus (powered by bio-diesel) where we got the next two days off. Working on new songs with Pisapia at the Sax hotel.

I had last night off, since it was a co-headline bill for Guster with Ben Folds and Hotel Lights opening. Turns out that Tift's husband Zeke was playing drums in the band and we spent some time right before they hit hanging and catching up.

Fueling up our buses with bio diesel on sight at the Syracuse Arena


Elliott from REVERB pointing at close to 1,000 gallons of bio diesel






Zeke on the jumbotron






Guster setlist Syracuse

Luke + Brett on Ellen

30

It's 1 in the morning. The birthday is "over". 30. Feels big. Pete's just gettin back from Coachella. Brett leaves for Europe tour in 3 hours. The crew is tearing shit up.

Spent the past 3 days in Joshua Tree reeling, trying to make sense of everything comin my way. I got faith in life. Some things I can see clear, others, I couldn't tell you what color they were for the life of me.

This morning, got up early, long run, short surf, tacos, sound check, dinner with friends.

Played Ellen TV this afternoon with the roomie. I'm headed for the airport in a couple hours, running around the house packing guitars, boxes of cds, toothbrushes, jeans.

L to R Zach Rae, Luke Reynolds, Randy Schwartz, Brett Dennen, Sean Hurley

See you on the road.

xoLuke