10 Reasons To Buy Frank Lindamood's New Album, "To Be As Gods" (only two ranked)

November 2011, my wife's parents celebrated their 50th anniversary by throwing a pickin' party.  I was fortunate to be at that gathering on St. George Island and that's where I met Frank Lindamood.  

With a knife on his belt and a bottle of Irish Whiskey in hand, he sauntered up.  At one point that night he played a ballad on banjo.  A murder ballad.  I love me some murder ballad.  Through the fog of time I don't remember the song, but it very well could have been this one:  Mister Graves.  I don't want to pigeon-hole him as a murder balladeer, but his rich voice and his nimble fingers on the banjo sold the story and I was delighted to find more on this album.

To be clear, I don't know Frank.  I met him that day in 2011 and almost a year to the day later in a bar where he played three songs from this album.  He initially came across as a serious person, but he has a million dollar smile that brings his eyes along for the ride.  A self-described heathen, I imagine the back-story on him is as rich as the characters in his songs.

• Frank records for Gatorbone Records.  Supporting local music is always good.  Supporting the incredible roster Gatorbone has is even better.

• IMMORTAL BELOVED (track 1)- There's never been a more beautiful song written about Beethoven's Love.

• A MAN NAMED PEACE (track 4)- One of Frank's (typically) engaging murder ballads.

• THE NAZARITE (track 5)- Haunting and beautiful.

• THE STAGEHAND'S WALTZ (track 6)- Frank's liner notes to this one:  "Once I danced with a beautiful ballerina.  She left forever after the curtain call."  That line alone could launch a heart and a great story.  That and a plywood moon!

• FUGITIVE IN THE EARTH (track 7)- Even though I know it's coming, the last line still gives me chills.

• SAILOR'S FAREWELL (track 8)- "For I do not want your tears."

• This album's cover, disc and inside art are pieces by C. D. Smith.  Maybe I would have eventually stumbled across his talent, but this album made that connection sooner rather than later.  Great Artist, too!

      tie 1.  THE GENERAL'S DREAM (track 2)- I admit that when I first heard Frank I had the thought of sitting around a fire in Virginia after a battle during the Civil War, so I was already biased toward the song just by its subject.  And it's a hell of a song.

      tie 1.  EDEN (track 3)- This is one of those songs that you wish you wrote.  Or you wish you wrote something half as good.  Or you're just very thankful that you got to hear it.

(I'll supply a link to where you can buy the album when I find it.  If you want the link, email me or leave a comment.)

Ten Reasons November 8th Is A Great Day (ascending)

10. Montana became the 41st state on this date in 1889.

  9. The first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dogfight in history happened on this day in 1950.  (US-2, North Korea-0)

  8. 1933 sees FDR debuting the Civil Works Administration.

  7. Bobby Bowden was born in 1929.

  6. The 1892 New Orleans General Strike began on this day.  (And it's said a later strike gave us the Po-boy, so--Hooray for NOLA strikes!)

  5. 1960.  JFK - Yay.  RMN - Nay.

  4. Led Zeppelin IV.  1971.

  3. The X-ray was discovered by Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895.

  2.  Schlotzsky's is scheduled to open again in Tallahassee.

  1.  PENNY'S BIRTHDAY!!

Ten Rock Bands That Influenced Me. (no ranking)

I know, I know.  Where are the Beatles.  I've always thought of the Beatles as something different than a "rock band".  I put them in the Rock and Roll category.  WTF this mostly arbitrary, and possibly capricious, labeling has to do with common sense?  I don't know.  Look for the Top 10 Bands list coming sometime.  The Beatles will surely be on that.

KISS- Probably the first band I ever claimed was my favorite. I was 11. They don't do anything for me now.

Rush- First big concert I ever went to was Rush. I still dig all their early stuff, but stopped listening after Signals.

Yes- Discovering them was an incredible moment. With a classical music upbringing they grabbed me from the first notes. Not so keen on the 90125 and afterward era, but they still were putting their own mark on rock music.

Pink Floyd- If I could have been a member of any of these bands it would be PF, except for during the post-Waters era. DSOTM is still one of the best works of audio art ever.

Steely Dan- "You're calling Steely Dan a ROCK band?"  Yes, I am.  The first time I heard "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" come through my clock radio I was spellbound.  Their music sounds as fresh today as it did when I was 10 years old.

The Allman Brothers Band-  Any live version of "Whipping Post".  Even though they still sell out multiple nights in New York City, they are probably the most underrated band that everyone knows.

The Who-  Maximum R & B is how it all started for them, and the Beatles and the Stones.  I think of those three, The Who wound up as quite the rock band.  (Let's not talk about Face Dances.)

The Clash-  Listen to the London Calling album.  If you don't get it by the end, sorry.

The Police- I hear ya.  "You're including the likes of these guys and the Clash and you still don't think the Beatles fit this list?".  The Police were responsible for opening my eyes to World Music, whatever that lame catch-all phrase meant in the 80s.

Alice In Chains-  So unlike any of the other bands on this list, but they're responsible for me embracing many types of rock music that I was too much of a snob to pay attention to.  Their dissonant harmonies engaged me and I didn't let go until Layne died. I've only heard one song by the post-Layne AIC and I wasn't interested. Because I'm a snob.

So many bands are not on this list that are far better than some that are, but I reiterate-These are the 10 rock bands that had the strongest influence on me, e.g. opening my ears to new sounds, making me wear a Destroyer T-shirt and thinking, "I'm cool."  (I wasn't.)

Ten Reasons I Have Not Blogged In Over Two Years

1-10.  Got bored with it.