Libation report: Lots of water, one beer. I’m proud of my self-control.

Today is our seventh anniversary and we are spending it at a rock festival. A fine meal and trinkets – we can do that shit anytime. But how often does something like this happen? And so for our anniversary meal, I bought my bride a Philly cheesesteak — a cheesesteak, I might add, prepared by a University of Florida graduate and served by a Florida State alum (the cook’s wife).

Today, the professor has gone to school. I teach rock’n’roll history at the University of Florida and often the students burn CD’s for me of their favorite bands. I listen and often like what I hear, but with that magnificent medium of radio in decline, I get easily depressed about ways to find new music.

Yesterday was dominated by Tom Petty and Steve Winwood. Today’s sets are by a number of younger artists, some of whom have already been around a fairly long time (Dave Matthews, near geriatric status), but a lot of these people are new, even to the college crowd that dominates this festival.

Let me tell you – some of these artists make this geezer very happy:

  • Ingrid Michaelson: A wonderful, engaging young singer with a great sense of melody. Nicole turned me on to her song, “The Way I Am,” a sublime piece of music. Wonderful stage presence.
  • Martin Sexton: Somewhat traditional blues, but with a softer edge. Great performance.
  • Rose Hill Drive: Great hard rock. For the first time in my five decades on earth, I’m thinking about becoming a headbanger.
  • Flogging Molly: Any rock act that uses Celtic themes gets to the Irish in me. Hairs on the back of my neck would have stood up but for a recent prison-camp cut.
  • Rodrigo Y Gabriela: All the Latin rhythms of Santana, but none of the mysticism. Listen and decide if that’s a good or a bad thing. I say good, though I still love Carlos.
  • Colbie Caillat: I’ve lived with her music for a year, thanks to Nicole. Is it so wrong to produce pleasant, melodic music? The wind has been blowing over potted plants and trash cans, so Colbie’s short-dress choice was somewhat controversial. But her song choices — including a an effervescent cover of the Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back” — were on point.

What I’ve heard today is melody. So much of the recent music I’ve heard is ponderous and dull. Today I heard a lot of joy again, and it reminds me why I like this stuff in the first place.

— William McKeen

This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2008.