Said festival took place this past weekend. I have been wondering how things went for Mr. Strumpel. Luckily, Bandspotting judge Andy Whitman maintains a wonderful blog – Razing The Bar – and took time this morning to recant the festivities. He has this to say in regards to Aaron’s set:

“We hung out with Aaron Strumpel, from Colorado, and Todd and Angie Fadel, from Portland, Oregon, who somehow got together to lay down the most outstanding musical set of the conference, a raw, punk-like, discordant, and often strikingly beautiful take on The Psalms. Or, the Wail.”

The rest of the post that brackets this statement says some good things regarding pain & love & God. Read the rest here.

Further:

• Razing The Bar

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Throughout the year, we see volunteers leave to head somewhere else and help other people. To serve the global community. Maggie Canty took off last summer to serve with YWAM in Switzerland. Now, she is leading a team to Costa Rica to assist with the relief efforts surrounding the January earthquake.

“My team will be headed to Costa Rica, where we will be helping earthquake refugees in several different ways, from working on houses to passing out food to watching children and wherever else there is need.

And eating a lot of bananas. At least that’s what I hear.”

You can read more about Maggie’s adventures beyond Fort Collins – past & present – over at her blog Marge At Large. She’s a good lady and we love her very much.

Further:

• Maggie’s blog Marge At Large
• BBC coverage of the Costa Rica earthquake

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This past Friday night, I decided to check my e-mail one last time before shutting down the CPU for the day. I had basketball to watch and sleep to get. My inbox held a pleasant treat for me.

I had a message from good friend/good man Aaron Strumpel…and it involved a download of his forthcoming album Elephants. Immediate giddiness came over me causing my wife to tell me to calm down. This is the album that recently won him the Bandspotting contest. This is the album I have been hearing him talk about since September…maybe longer. This is the album where I’ve been told he pushes himself. This is the album that other musicians I listen to almost obsessively have gone ga-ga over.

Ga- ga.

Excited as I was, I was also tired and wanting sleep. I decided to listen to a couple of songs and save the rest for the next day. Eighty-six minutes later I had listened to the album twice. The elephants were in my mind and spirit. They were charging through my body gently holding my heart with their trunks. I went to bed, falling asleep in true peace. Elephants has things to say & you need to hear it & your heart needs to hear it. I wouldn’t tell you this if I didn’t believe it.

There is not much more I can say here…mainly because I can’t seem to find the words. My wife describes Elephants as tribal. This is a good word for it. It has heavy beats at parts and mandolins and strings and voices of other friends all over it. Elephants run together. They are a parade. This album is a parade…the songs walking together tail-in-trunk like that scene in The Jungle Book. They belong together.

You will be able to order Elephants online here. Aaron Strumpel will be celebrating the release of the album with a show at Everyday Joe’s on May 1.

Further:

• Listen to 2 songs from Elephants
• Order Elephants
  

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Primarily, we like two things from Chicago: Intelligentsia Coffee and Sleeping At last.

Thankfully, we drink the former everyday. Also thankfully, there is new music coming down the pipes from the latter.

Sleeping At last is entering the studio this weekend to record their follow-up to 2006′s Keep No Score. Here is a tasty treat from rehearsals:

[

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncyqwJtt8GM

All that and more can be found at the band’s studio journal, which can be found by clicking here. It also seems the band has found a drummer for the studio sessions, and I dig the economy of his movement.

Further:

• Sleeping At Last studio journal
• Sleeping At Last official site

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Location: Tempe, AZ

Drink: 8 oz. Latte

Drinker: Chris Hess

Two of the cultures I am most intrigued by are converging upon one another: coffee and beer.

Two of the local breweries here in Fort Collins now have beer/coffee offerings. At New Belgium you can try Giddy Up and the folks at Odell Brewing Company were offering their try at the concoction in the tap room for a limited time (can’t remember the name, sorry). It feels like I’ve been drinking various coffee porters for years. Even a few of the folks at Intelligentsia (our Chicago-based roaster) worked with the guys at Three Floyds to produce a very limited run of Dwarven Hammer, a delicious altbier.

Just as good coffee is something I seek out in my travels, a nice pint is never a bad thing to find either. The last time I was in Alaska, I discovered the Midnight Sun Brewing Company. I asked my cousin if we could go to the brewery to do a tasting. He said sure and off we went.

As we drove, I wondered what the tap room at Midnight Sun might be like. The tap rooms at New Belgium & Odell & Fort Collins Brewery are each so distinct to the personality of the brewery that some very grandiose visions began to form in my head. Then we pulled into an industrial complex and parked the car in front of a taxidermy shop. I was confused.

Once out of the car, I realized that Midnight Sun was located in the two spaces next to the taxidermist. One space was full of brewing equipment and the other refrigeration equipment. Taps came out of the corrugated steel covering the refrigerator and a stainless steel counter stood between me and the goodness . On the walls hung merchandise and various heads of animals that couldn fit in the taxidermist’s quarters next door. If we were to show up outside of business hours, the spaces would have been concealed by your typical industrial park garage door. It was like discovering a treasure and the beer was nothing short of mighty fine. I long for it often.

A week ago I had a similar experience when entering the Cartel Coffee Lab in Tempe, AZ. I found out about Cartel while watching the United States Barista Championship, as one of the competitors is employed there. I became excited because I was going to be in the Tempe area for vacation. After a bit more research, I realized the shop was on the way to IKEA and quickly came to the conclusion that a beverage from Cartel would be a good prelude to Swedish things.

The wife & I had some initial trouble locating Cartel, as the address we thought was correct brought us to a tattoo parlor in a smallish business park. It turned out to just be confusing signage and after driving around the corner we found our destination and the Australian woman on the GPS was able to take a break.

Once we walked in, I immediately began to flash back to my experience at Midnight Sun. The shop is long and fairly narrow with wonderful (tiny) art on the walls. The roaster sat towards the back of the shop in front of an open garage door, and the coffee bar was on wheels & covered in stainless steel. I approached and ordered a small latte, noticing the doserless grinder and naked portafilter the barista was working with (yes please, thank you). While waiting I noticed the only lights on were above the bar, and the natural light streaming in from either end of the the shop provided  the rest of what you needed. The menu was spray painted on ply wood and various seating areas – couches, stools, tables – were set up where they could fit. I almost had the feeling that if I left and then tried to bring people back, Cartel Coffee Lab would vanish and my friends would think I was making the whole thing up…like Costanza & his party full of supermodels. I had again discovered a treasure, this one tucked away amongst the hustle and bustle of the university down the street.

My latte was great enough I wished I had time for another, but we had “Swedish” lamps to buy. I will return to you Cartel, as long as you promise to be there.

Further:

• Cartel Coffee Lab Official Site
• Midnight Sun Brewery Official Site

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Have an enjoyable Monday.

love.
everyday joe’s

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Act So Big Forest is made up of many, many bands…most of which share members. One of those bands is Candy Claws, and they will be celebrating the release of their album Saturday night (3/21) at Everyday Joe’s.

To this point, CC hasn’t done much live performing, but they have made nature videos to accompany their songs or songs to accompany their nature videos. Few my favorite of these videos below. Then listen to their song . Then view the concert poster below that (designed by Rion of Candy Claws…have him design you something). Then come down Saturday night at 7 pm. House Of Leaves & Ocean Bump! are also on the bill. There is a $5 suggested donation.

“Lantern Fish” by Candy Claws

[

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFnhTh5REos

Further:

• Candy Claws Official Myspace
• Act So Big Forest Blog
• Ocean Bump! Official Myspace
• Rion’s Design Portfolio

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One of the acts that night, Young Coyotes, are beginning to make waves on a national level.  They’re currently in Austin, TX making the rounds at the ’09 installment of the SXSW festy and will surely conquer the town by the time their stay there is over. Also, Daytrotter (a fine indie music blog) posted Young Coyotes’ session today and it is chalk full of free downloads. To add good listening (though not easy) to your music library, click the Young Coyotes Coat Of Arms/Beards Advocay Shield below.

Further:

• Young Coyotes’ Daytrotter Session
• Young Coyotes Official Site
• Young Coyotes Blog

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Location: Gothenburg, Nebraska

Drink: Latte

Drinker: Seth Daire

There are days when I feel compelled to drive 21 hours from Colorado to my home in Erie, Pennsylvania. Those days don’t come often, but February 14th was one such day, and along the way, I had a craving for coffee. The road to Pennsylvania known as I-80 is long and boring, with the exception of a few cities until you hit Chicago. With my newly acquired GPS, I searched for the only coffee house I expected to find, and found one, many miles ahead.

On the way there, I saw an exit with a sign for Lasso Espresso. Not sure what to expect, but excited about the possibility of a new coffee adventure, we gave it a go. What can one expect from a coffee house in Gothenburg, Nebreska? Well, the only way to describe the decor is eclectic. As one reviewer describes it: “Lots of cute little cards, candles, piggy banks, jellies, home made treats and other trinkets. You can drive go through the drivethrough for your coffee or walk in and sit at a table or couch.” I opted to walk in and order a latte, straight up. The owner was also there and offered us some popcorn from their popcorn machine, made with corn from their corn fields! Yes, it appears the family business is corn…in Nebraska.

We talked with the owner a bit, and the quality of their coffee is very important to them. They use Seattle-based Caffé D’arte, a roaster who hand crafts their coffee in the Italian tradition. That’s not what I expected to find on a random stop somewhere in the middle of Nebraska, but found it I did, and my coffee craving was satiated.

Further:

• Caffé D’Arte Official Site
• More Reviews of Lasso Espresso

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When the findals rolled around on Sunday, Intelligentsia Coffee was well represented. At Everyday Joe’s we brew the beans roasted by Intelligentsia. We brew them with extreme care and love and sometimes an overarching feeling of elation. 4 of the 6 finalists were from Intelligentsia.

Those finalists included our sales rep Nick Griffith, who was lovingly embraced by his 4-year-old daughter during his post-routine interview. His efforts were enough to capture second place. First place was taken by Mike Phillips, also of Intelligentsia. Listening to Mike talk about his beans and concoctions was like listening to a professor whose class you enjoy. I felt like I should have been watching a really good show on PBS about the science of coffee and drink building right after Bob Ross taught me how to paint. Mr. Phillips will compete at the world championships in Atlanta in April.

Coming in third was Scott Lucey of Alterra. We watched Scott compete in & win the Great Lakes Regional in Chicago. His sense of humor makes you want to hug him.

Intelligentsia also took 4th (Ryan Wilbur) and 5th (Devin Peede). Sixth place is represented by Mark Marquard of Kaldi’s Coffee in St. Louis.

The top 3 in picture form (L to R: Griffith, Phillips, Lucey):

I’d like to point out that Mike Phillips has a beard. I’d also like to theorize that the beard probably willed him to victory.

If video is ever posted of this competition, I will find it and I will post it here. Or perhaps you’ll find it and let me know.

Further:

• Intelligentsia Official Site
• Alterra Official Site
• Kaldi’s Official Site
• USBC 2009 Official Site
• World Barista Championships Official Site
• A t-shirt concerning the power of the beard

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