At first, I was a little apprehensive because I wasn’t sure what message they were going to be sending out.  I bought their latest record Back Spacer right before the concert and the first song was basically an all out rant about escapism from pain.  I was a little dissappointed that the self absorbed angst was still front and center in their songs, but now that I have been able to listen to the record a few times around, and I have found more depth and deeper levels than those initially expressed.  I heard about love, family, and hope mixed with dispair and mortality.

I can accept that life is a broad spectrum of both good and bad, and where better to express that than in your music?  That’s when one can battle it out in constructive dialouge.  No winner has been named , the fight still goes on, it’s yet to be determined, but I think in the end the winner will always be the side you choose to take.

At the end of the day, the show was AMAZING! Solid, fun and a fan’s dream come true.  Thank you to my good friend Leona for celebrating my birthday in that way!

If you really want to watch a quick dissection of a record, feast your eyes on this.  Pearl Jam’s new record is coming out next month, September 20th ( my birthday…well happy birthday to me!)  I found this video and it’s like I’m a kid again.  Studying the lines on the faces of these guys, to see where they have been and what they have been up to.  Pearl Jam has just been such a force in my life.  In so far as speaking the words for me when I couldn’t or evoking the emotion I didn’t have at the time.  Manifesting the dream, man.

Even though in this day and age, I usually download music onto my ipod. September 20th, I am going to walk into a good old fashioned record store and buy myself their new album as a birthday gift to myself.

To say any music of mine is an completely original idea would not only be hugely self inflated, it would also be a lie.  Admittedly, I tend to stick to the music of yesteryear that capture the angst and passion of my life; Pearl Jam, Tori Amos, Jimi Hendrix, Ani Difranco , Bob Marley. Still I am always  open to new and exciting music that I have yet to explore.  I think the single biggest influence for me will always be my brother Dave Knudsen.  I remember he would come home from college with his acoustic guitar and I would play along on my casio keyboard and sing harmonies at the ripe old age of 7 years old.  He was my hero and still is for the amazing and artistic life that he has held strongly too.  Some people consider themselves an artist, he is one. He has done me the honor of still letting me hang out and sing harmonies on almost every major project he has recorded.  Music doesn’t get any more fiercely independent than Dave’s.  He has done everything he has had to do to write, produce and keep his original material.  He has volumes of songs that are full of secret melodies and poetry that the world has yet to hear.

Someday I believe we are destined to release a record together when all the stars line up.  Although his repertoir dwarfs mine any day, he still let’s me believe that I am a songwriter too.  To me though, I will always be his little sister singing along with him and his biggest fan .  If you want to explore his world check out www.hauntedrock.com .