something kind of awesome

I was driving home from work last week one day, later than usual. Although it was a long day, it wasn’t a stressful day.

I think that’s the thing I love about my job right now, it’s not stressful, it’s very A to B, nothing outside of that, meaning I can be very busy all day, go home and leave work at work. As I drove home I was listening to 91.7, kxt.org, enjoying the long trafficless commute. I think it was Tuesday afternoon now that I really think about it…and this song came on and I fell in love with the bands soulful and heartfelt music. The voice, the lyrics, everything.

No clue who it was. Three songs later the DJ comes on and announces that the song I fell in love with was by a group named the Dawes, from their North Hills Album, and the song was, When You Call My Name. He also mentioned that if you went to the website, they had recorded them in their studio when they went to visit just a couple of weeks before.

I got home, played their video online, and I had this moment.

I was talking to Maggie the next day about this…and she put it way better in words than I can describe. I’m a horrible writer, please tell me you’ve noticed…hmm, no wait, please don’t tell me. I’m very aware of my lack of vocabulary, lack of writing skills, lack of expression through the words I type on my keyboard, it’s okay, i make up for it in height. LOL ;p~

I’m listening to their song, Love is All I Am, and the lead singer, Taylor Goldsmith, on the video has a serious stink face thing going on…rock on! And then he sings:

“And love is not convenient; it does not cease at your command.
You might take and leave it, but love is all I am.
Love is all I am.”

As soon as he sang those words, I googled the lyrics, started the video from beginning and had one of those, “YES!” moments of realization that the lyrics are not only brilliant, but…oh so very true for me, what I’ve lived, what I’ve experienced. It’s kind of one of those, “A-HA!!! I FEEL what you mean, I understand!  That’s SOOO TRUE!” So I went downloaded their CD and listened to their entire album that night. Read every lyric, I googled them, saw all their videos. (Btw, you can download a free mp3 of their song When My Time Comes on their website, here.)  If you watch their Love is All I Am video, you’ll realize they’re obviously huge Wonder Years fans. On their youtube page they have a Joe Cocker’s cover of With a Little Help From My Friends. That alone, makes them amazing. Tell me you haven’t sang that to someone once in your life time in your worst singing voice. Your best friend, your sister, your brother? Is it just me? I can’t be the only dork walking the planet.

They’re young, folk rock and from California. Taylor Goldsmith, Wylie Gelber, Griffin Goldsmith and Alex Casnoff. I know that I say I love all bands all the time…as my friend says to me all the time, “Everything is awesome to you Claudia.” True, yes. But this band, there’s something really sincere about them.  They’re not stand out spectacular in one area, they’re young and it makes you wonder where these lyrics are coming from, but I’m truly in love with every element they bring together that makes them…them. Their music is slow, mellow…not something you’d rock to and get out of your chair to dance to, just so you know.

I’m really bummed that I missed them by weeks when they came to Dallas. And last week I missed the Moondoggies *double sad face*.

And as if that wasn’t enough with the sad faces, Dawes is playing in McAllen today, it’s like, are you kidding me?!??!!

Dawes is not to be mistaken with Simon Dawes, although Taylor and Wylie did play for that band, they’re completely different, IMO.

This is the album that I’ve been silently waiting for and the reason I go out there and listen to new music. My heart is full, for now.

So go Lala them, listen to them on last.fm, whatever you use…check them out.  I’ve already gifted this album to 5 people, who are sending me emails telling me how much they love them.

Favorite Lyrics of all their songs are as follows:

If You Let Me Be Your Anchor:
I want love to stretch it’s fingers wide…

Peace in the Valley:
I want you to know why you hold me close
Pull the quarter from my ear, or say you tried
I need magic or the holy ghost.

Bedside Manner:
I’ll be somebody now, and I’ll be somebody then,
And I’ll be all of you all in between.
And then I’ll be ready to leave
When the whole world is taken with me.

Give Me Time:
If there’s one thing you could give,
To help me show you all that’s mine,
Give me time.

God Rest My Soul:
You have tried to define romance,
And all the things that it is not
Your time became some old man’s cane
While he dances to a song that he forgot.
Oh, you can’t throw something out there without watching it fall.
Only thing that’s scarier than dying is not dying at all.

Love is All I am:
(I already quoted some lyrics earlier, but I’ll add more, and fyi, my fav song on the cd)
I need a graceful, proud way to let go
To smile and accept the things that you don’t know

My Girl to Me:
She’s good with quick goodbyes
And whenever she rolls her eyes
That’s her admission of guilt
On the temper she built,
And for me that’s her most familiar side.

Take me Out to the City:
I feel my reflection slide along the eyes that march me past
I found my direction high up close to sun
That I’ve kept to my back.

That Western Skyline:
Well how I curse that western skyline.
And yet I thanked it for my start.
Oh rue, though my dreams did not come true; no they only came apart.

When My Time Comes:
(the chorus of this song reminds me so much of something I’ve heard before, and I can’t put my finger on it…and I’ve searched for days!)
Oh you can judge all the world on the sparkle that you think it lacks.
Yes you can stare into the abyss, but it’s staring right back.

When You Call my Name:
So I am taking off my wrist watch,
to let the time move how I please.
To let my day be guided by the sunlight,
Through mornings knell and twilights soft release
So if you want to get to know me,
follow my smile into it’s curves
All these lines are born in sorrows and in pleasures,
and every man ends up with the face that he deserves.

I’m not sure how much my taste counts for anything, but these guys I swear they’re going to make it big. They’re young enough and brilliant enough to do just that…with time on their side.

I hope i get to see them live before they make it big, that would be something kind of awesome.