Just a month ago I was in Atlanta, talking to Break Away‘s new Program Director, Robert. And I mentioned that we had music in common – Neko Case, to be specific. I’d been at a music festival, and her a cappella song brought me to tears, literally. (Nearly Midnight, Honolulu). The combination of Trampled by Turtles and Neko Case may be the music of my soul.
Seeing Cory Chisel tonight brought back memories. Of being 21 in 2007 and running around Madison, Wisconsin, while on my IT internship from Appleton, Wisconsin, with 15 dudes. Stumbling into a bar in Madison that Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons was playing – when Cory Chisel was playing with a clarinet and was strongly blues and jazz. Of being a student in Champaign and listening to some amazing bands at the Courtyard Cafe for free or $5, like the Headlights, Elsinore, and the Elanors. Those ridiculous shows where Erin Fein called us to the front of the crowd, because we were the only people at the back, dancing. Of discovering Ted Leo.
Of discovering my Champaign friends listened to Cory Chisel, and seeing him at the Iron Post?, and Canopy Club, and other places in Chambana. Of realizing that Adriel of the Elanors was now part of the Wandering Sons, and how amazing that was.
And the number of times I’ve seen Cory Chisel in Chicago. How Adriel is always someone I Google Image search when I need a new haircut. And how that music is so part of my adult life. And the amazing that happened tonight, with Cory and the Candles singing holiday tunes.
And how the show ends, with These Four Walls.
Geekin' Out 
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