MOG

I'm not sure if Pandora is a sensitive subject here on MOG (given that it could be seen as competition), but I'm going to open the box, so to speak.

About a year and a half ago, I began using Pandora and promptly fell in love with it. It took time to train it to give me what I wanted (enjoying the Rolling Stones does NOT mean I want to hear Ratt), but my "Chaos Cowboy Rock" station almost immediately began showing me new artists that I quickly grew to love. Among those new artists was Son Volt.

I and many others had only a passing familiarity with Son Volt as being the "other" half of Uncle Tupelo (the more hip/critically lauded half being Wilco) as led by Jay Farrar. I had always been curious of this band but Pandora, by recommending their music to me, transformed this curiosity into a confirmed excitement.

This is how I was led to purchase Son Volt's 2005 release, "Okemah and the Melody of Riot," and henceforth became a Son Volt fan.

To describe Okemah is to describe why I enjoy Son Volt. There is a strong American roots influence. The arrangements are brimming with overdriven guitars that growl with an elusive organic quality that I've always sought in my own guitar tone. The songs are thematically mature and philosophical, stepping outside of themselves into the lives of others or into the ether of a greater meaning. Some songs have choruses, some refrains, most are written in structurally non-traditional ways regardless, and yet flow very naturally from beginning to end.

More to the point, however, I feel from the music as if I have a kindred spirit out there. I feel like Jay's words are my own. This is the elusive magic of rock and roll, or I suppose I should say, of all great music.

My track selection for this MOG post is one of the songs that forged this connection for me. If you've ever had the good fortune to play in a rock band, you'll know what I mean. Even if you haven't, however, I urge you to crank it up. You'll understand.

"Rock and roll around my head, alive and kicking, Rock and roll around my head, fifty watts happening, Rock and roll around my head Like a six string belief."