Creep

There's something so intimate for me about sharing music with someone. I know it sounds so lame and even borderline creepy, but there really is. It takes an understanding of the audience to listen to music together, let alone play for an audience. I've always been a fan of it though. I like recommending stuff to friends that I think they might not have heard and in turn, I love when people do the same to me. The trouble is, it's hard to find music for me. I'm not terribly picky, but I've gone through so many musical phases that I've heard a lot of it and even though music is an integral part of my life, sometimes it just feels so bland. I guess I just feel numb to the experience of hearing that one song that just totally blows your mind. It's been awhile after all.

Well, that all changed last night. A buddy of mine and I were driving back from a little excursion and lord knows what flipped the switch in his mind, but he told me to grab his iPod and look up Homeless Mustard. Initially apprehensive of what sounded like an indie reject band, I went ahead and did it. What followed was probably one of the most impressive displays of musicianship that I've heard in recent history.

I admit I'm not a huge Radiohead fan, but I'll listen to some here and there. I have an appreciation for what they do. But what they do pales in comparison to this guy, Homeless Mustard's cover of their song Creep. As it played, I was literally speechless. I can't remember the last time that an audio recording has made me speechless. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a wordy guy. Words are my thing. I can't even begin to describe it though.

His gruff voice lacks the finesse of a professional, but it has such a heart. You can hear in his singing that this man has a story, he's lived a life that someone like me could never imagine. It was sort of similar to Tom Waits (one of my favorites) but there was a sadness that isn't there in Waits' music. Most of all, I felt that intimacy that I was talking about earlier. It was palpable. This guy was clearly bearing his soul in the most unflinchingly honest way, the way that music should be.