The CD on repeat right now

is Jon McLaughlin's Forever If Ever. (You can listen to some cuts from it and learn more about McLaughlin here.) It is a strong album indeed, one that repays multiple plays.

It begins with this lovely tune.



Careful and regular readers may recall that I saw McLaughlin when he opened for Stephen Kelloog and the Sixers back on the first of October in Carrboro. The album ends with this song; the video is from the show I saw.



The sound quality for that fan-made video isn't very good, but you can still tell what a joy-filled performance it was.

They played this song in front of maybe seventy people. Seventy. Maybe.

Art you love is art you love, no matter how few or many other people also care about it. I don't know why this album didn't make any big noise last year, but I do know that it's big for me.

As artists, we have to accept that our audiences may not be as large as we'd like and still create the art we believe in. As fans, we have to support the artists whose work we love.

That's all we really can do.

The most fun live music show I've seen so far this year

Last night, I was at the Cat's Cradle for what proved to be the most fun live music show I've caught so far this year. Given all the great bands I've had the privilege to see, a list that includes Mumford & Sons, Josh Ritter, and The Hold Steady, that's saying a lot, but it's true.

What's sad is that the house was never even half full.

The opening act was someone I didn't know: Jon McLaughlin and his band. As soon as they finished their set, I bought both of their CDs that were available at the merch table.

He sang some sweet, folky songs, like this one. (He and his band are indeed from Indiana.)



Near the end of the set, he called up the main band, and they joined him onstage for a rousing version of this fun number. (Sorry about the dead space after the music stops, but this was the best example I could find.)



I've never heard of McLaughlin before, but now I feel privileged to have gotten the chance to see him live.

After the set change, the headliners took the stage: Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. Frequent readers will know that I love these guys' music, but I've never seen them live.

I'm so glad I had that chance. Their love of performing and of music was palpable. For ninety minutes the audience and the band united in that love with a power and a joy that is sheer magic on those rare moments when it happens.

They played some new songs from their upcoming Gift Horse album, and they played a lot of old favorites. They came into the audience, climbed on milk crates, and did an acoustic version of "Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts," which I've linked to before but which you can never hear too many times.



They played the single, "Gravity," from the new album.



They also played this song.

We all have the times this song discusses, those moments when you question your own self worth, when you wonder if anyone loves you, if there's any point in going on. If you're in one of those periods now, give this one a listen, and remember that there is always someone who sees you differently, sees a better you than you can see, and that person is often right.