I Love Bic Runga

I love Bic Runga. My wife needn't be worried or concerned over my feelings, because I think she loves Bic Runga too...or at least is deeply in like with Bic. Many (most? all?) of you probably have no idea who I am talking about. Bic is from New Zealand and is a singer/songwriter who's a virtual unknown here in the States, but is probably one of the biggest musicians in New Zealand. I love Bic Runga so much that if I had to whittle my music collection down to only five artists, she'd be in the final five; maybe even final two...keeping company with Ben Folds.

Her music is guitar and piano based (she plays both), and is mellow, pensive, a bit sad, yet with emotional lyrics. Great lyricist. She has an honest, and authentic quality to her voice. She wears her emotions on her face when she performs yet seems awkwardly shy between songs receiving her applause. She's a wonderful musician.

So, for the first time in six years, I had the chance to see Bic perform live last night. She's in the U.S. to record material for a new album. She performed at Largo, one of my favorite local venues. What's more, this was Shelley's first time seeing Bic. The big unknown was whether Ella would enjoy her first concert. We're not so attached to our darling daughter enough to want to bring her everywhere we go, it's just that Ella still doesn't take a bottle. So that keeps our date nights to three hours max. Knowing that wouldn't work tonight, we brought her along. Ella was swaddled tight, fed (a lot!) and rocked to sleep as the concert was starting. Though we didn't have any crying or screaming, it was funny to hear Ella snore, hum and sort of make the smacking noises associated with breastfeeding that were clearly audible between songs.

Now, I'm not usually a star struck person. Growing up in LA you're sort of accustomed to running into famous people around town and I never went screaming like a teenage girl up to anyone. But, I was so excited and nervous at the prospects of meeting and talking to Bic tonight. There were only 25 people in attendance and the venue is tiny so there's a lot of hanging out that goes on after the show between the musicians and the fans. So when I got a chance to meet and talk to Bic, I of course blathered on and on...but she couldn't have been more sweet. She posed for a picture (seen below) and was glad we brought Ella along.

I highly encourage you to check out Bic's music. You can go to BicRunga.com, or her MySpace page to listen to a few tracks. Or you can go to Youtube.com and type in her name for videos and some live clips.

As a primer, I suggest you listen to Sway, Listening For the Weather, Something Good, Winning Arrow, Suddenly Strange, Get Some Sleep, and Bursting Through.

Finally, she will be performing at Largo on I think September 6th. So if you're in town, and have the time and inclination, I recommend seeing her in person.

Did I mention that I love Bic Runga?

Anthon the Musician

There are some things you just know your kids were born. In Anthon's case, his love for music was manifest in the womb. Shelley said he would go crazy whenever we went to the Hollywood Bowl or listened to good music. We went to a Ben Folds concert within the last trimester and I think the bass stunned him - he didn't move the entire concert.

Day by day, we're amazed at the most recent manifestation of this love for music that Anthon was seemingly born with. The other day as we were getting ready for church Anthon blasted his CD of The Three Tenors (his favorite CD, no less), strapped his little-drummer-boy drum around his neck and was walking around beating the drum in time with the rhythm as if he were in "The Music Man." But it doesn't stop with classical music.

Last night I came home from work and he was singing, "Hey Hey You You I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne. I can assure you that wasn't on my iPod. And he customized Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" by saying, "Big Boys Don't Cry."

There's plenty else...his favorite song is a Broadway show tune - "Popular" from Wicked. After dinner every night, he "plays" the piano by banging on the keys. He sings himself to sleep most nights. Shelley's begun teaching him how to play the piano via the Suzuki method. Anthon's Nana and Papa gave him cymbals and a harmonica which he loves. (The harmonica we love...the cymabls, not so much.) He likes to pretend to lead the music at church. It goes on and on.

Anyway, click on the link below for a video of Anthon trying out to be in Avril Lavigne's back up band.