Two weeks ago I got to see a band I have loved for a very long time, for the first time. There has always been something for me about the first time; an answering of questions if you will. An experience that while exhilarating, dabbles in fragility. REFUSED certainly left me bruised. They left me exhausted, out of breath and writhing for more. Refused reminded me of what it’s like to absolutely shake for something; to feel the pulse of music that could have been long forgotten, but was not. Refused was not fucking dead and we have long established that fact with months of cryptic messages and rumors culminating in official announcements and on-sale dates. But Refused wasn’t the only thing very much alive in that room. That room was brimming with old friends; people who came up in a scene together, went every separate way possibly known to man, and yet all came back together for a set of songs. There is something to be said about that. Call it a revelation, call it the musical equivalent of a group orgy, but looking back I’m only going to remember it as possibly the last time I may ever have an opportunity to feel the unspeakable excitement of once-in-a-lifetime.

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One of the first childhood memories I can recall involves being stung by a bee. It was summer in the woods of upstate New York and the screen door was full of holes as usual in our old spooky house. My mom and I were lying across an ugly brown coffee stained sofa watching one [...]

This year without question changed my life forever. The music I listened to had to reflect that. It had to fight like hell with me. I think that one of the things we love most about music is that it travels with us; it is our one true everlasting companion. This music traveled with me to places I never expected to go; to weddings, births and to far too many funerals. It traveled to new opportunities and gut-wrenching defeats. It traveled by car, by train and by foot. Some days it did not travel at all. Thankfully a lot of beautiful music came out this year and I think this is a wonderfully awkward collection of that. Cheers!

 1. BON IVER – Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar)

Sometimes I sit alone in my room with all the lights off drinking wine while I watch all those hallucinogenic videos that Bon Iver released to go along with each song on this record. I stare at all the colors; I ain’t ashamed!

Lyric: “…and at once I knew I was not magnificent.”

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After Jon and I finished this interview, he said “good luck making sense of that.” I thought about it for a long time and realized that maybe it doesn’t need to make sense. Some things don’t. Not everything can be put into a chronological order, stacked in a pile and spit shined. The story of Jon Loudon, Jena Berlin and Restorations is one of those; a great story with no real beginning or end. A whole lot of middle, if you will. Try to get confused.

Jon Loudon was the singer of Philadelphia’s Jena Berlin for many years before transitioning to his “easy, laid-back old dude band,” Restorations alongside other members of Jena Berlin and other Philly area bands. He grew up in Pennsylvania and now makes his home in Center City, Philadelphia, a place where he is deeply involved in the music community. A graduate of Tyler School of Art at Temple University, he is a designer, fine artist and musician making a living doing pretty much that. He also has four walls, a bed and an apartment with working heat, a major leap in quality of life compred to the Jon Loudon five years ago who was living on the floor in a back room in a warehouse owned by Jumpstart Records or the Jon Loudon two years ago who shoved towels under his front door in the winter to keep the cold air out. All in the name of art!

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Each one of us is a portion of a whole; a fraction of an ongoing story and a conjunction to the various chapters which make up our lives. The way we live, the choices we make and the way we inspire ourselves and other people are what defines which part of the puzzle we will be. This column is about sharing stories and having conversations about music, life and the occasional nerd-out. No math skills required.

Beau Kuther watches “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, wears a lot of hats and works at a Portland Brewery. Like most people from Oregon, he’s got it bad for Mother Nature. Beau is also a drummer. For ten years, Beau has played music with his brother and closest friends in a band born as KADDISFLY (Hopeless Records) which has since matured into WATER AND BODIES. He has been flat broke, broken down, robbed blind and sent home with little more than dirty laundry and a broken padlock. He has teetered on the edge of fame before having his heart crushed in an instant decision. He has been shattered, frustrated and angry. But Beau has also been inspired. He has seen the world from the window of a van and shared countless stages with his brother and his best friends. He has not given up. He will not give up; this is the fight of his life. This is his portion of a whole.

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