On heavy rotation right now

The Fray's new album, Scars & Stories, is out, and some of its songs are now in heavy rotation in my current listening mix.

Here's the first song on the CD, "Heartbeat."



And the second, "The Fighter."



Of course, from a fighter to a "Boxer" is only a short step, so let's go there.



You can't think music and a boxer, though, without "The Boxer."



And then the mood brings me back to The Fray's classic, a tune that often mirrors the inside of Jon's head, a song I heard over and over while in Italy on a cherished trip with my daughter, a trip I will never forget and always treasure.



That's kind of the way it runs in my head, sometimes, many times, this time.

The Fray at DPAC

Earlier tonight, a group of us went to see The Fray perform at the new Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC). I'd never been to DPAC, and I'd never seen The Fray, so I was quite pleased to have scored tickets to the show. As frequent readers may recall, I've been listening to their song, "How To Save a Life," almost daily during the work on Children No More, so in that small way The Fray have been a part of my life for almost this entire calendar year.

The show was excellent, better than I'd expected. The sound mix, though of course not as good as an album's, was far better than what you get in most clubs. The Fray performed all their hits and a fair selection of other songs. The lead singer, Isaac Slade, has a stage persona that at times is rather odd, but he was nonetheless fun to watch and seemed genuinely to care about the music.

The opening act, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Wheel, was also quite good, interesting enough that I plan to pick up their CD sometime soon.

If you like any of The Fray's music and their tour comes near you, definitely check them out.

A couple of songs for someone you love--or want to love

First up, the Fray. I couldn't find a good video for this one, but as compensation you get lyrics on this one.



Blue Rodeo's first big hit, "Try," is the second. I saw them perform this song in January 1988 in the Diamond club in Toronto, and I swear some women near the stage literally swooned.

Two songs

For almost as long as I've been actively working on Children No More, I've been listening frequently to two songs. I would argue that one is good and one is overblown but pretty good, but I wouldn't try to fight with anyone who said they were schmaltzy or too emotional; they are both heavy on emotion.

Nonetheless, they touch my heart in exactly the right way for sections of this book, and so I've listened to them again and again and again. I expect I'll continue to do so for as long as I'm writing this novel.

The first is The Fray's hit, "How To Save a Life." I don't expect most folks to laugh at me for this one. Someone, probably Sony, disabled the embedding of its YouTube video, so you'll have to go here to listen to it.

Go ahead; I'll wait.

Ah, good: you're back.

I expect this second song to draw some mockery, but I don't mind. Yes, it's overblown and Meat Loaf works it too hard and all of Steinman's worst excesses are on display, but I don't care. It's just right for my mood, and it will always hit my heart, and that's that.

If you don't know it, enjoy.