Summerfest 2008

Why I love the idea of Summerfest: In the span of one hour on a random Thursday night during the biggest music festival in the world, you have to choose between Alejandro Escovedo, Ingrid Michaelson, and Marie Digby. Later that same night, you'll get to choose between Gomez, Gavin DeGraw, Lucinda Williams and the Plain White T's. All for a flat entry fee of $15.

Why I find Summerfest very trying in practice:
1. The crowds -(See pic)


2. The technical difficulties -

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Summerfest, Unplugged - Boom boom go the lights for almost three hours

3. But perhaps most importantly, the escalating beer prices! Grrr... -

WISN 12: Price of beer goes up for Summerfest 2008

A bit of 'Bubbly'

Colbie Caillat has a touch of the rock royalty about her (father Ken co-produced and co-engineered Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, among many other credits), but it's her stunning voice that won me over as soon as I heard her on Cities 97 this morning. No album out yet, but she has songs available for download on iTunes and you can listen to them on her MySpace page as well.

She's on tour opening for the Goo Goo Dolls right now - I'm toying with the idea of braving the crowds at Summerfest weekend after next to check her out.

The sound is warm, acoustic, jangly - and rising above it all is that honey-smooth voice that sounds both innocent and wise at the same time. Start with the single "Bubbly," but don't stop there - listen to all of it. Lovely.

Or check out this video of her performing "Realize" in LA:

Tom Petty bonus

Tom Petty's "American Girl" is one of my favorite cruising-around-in-the-summer songs, and with the weather hitting 90 today, it seemed like a good time to dig out some Tom Petty and dust it off for the season.

How fortuitous then that I checked my email today to discover that a new special edition of Petty's Highway Companion was released today. Click on this link to hear full songs and clips from the new special edition.

Or visit Petty's MySpace for a sneak preview and a couple of demos. (I recommend "Big Weekend.")

I'm pretty sure I will never forget hearing him perform "Free Fallin'" at Summerfest last year as I watched the Big Bang fireworks overheard... truly amazing.