My favorite things....

If you haven't already noticed, I listen to a lot of musicians that are not on the top charts.  Won't lie, I have a lot of friends that like to make fun of me for listening to such obscure music.  I'm good with that fact.  I have a hard time putting into words the type of music that I love.  Basically.  Good music.  I have discovered that I have an easier time describing why I love smaller artists.

When you see artists at smaller venues, there is something magical that happens.  You get to experience something that you never see at large venues.  Don't get me wrong, there is a high that you can get in arenas.  An adrenaline rush that is found thanks to being part of such a large crowd.  But it doesn't compare to small shows.

When you are at a small place and the artists get going, there is conversation.  There is engagement that you can't get in a large place.  The artists listen to what you want to hear, they play things that they haven't performed before.  I was at a show and once the artist got used to the whole listening room vibe, we got to hear partial songs.  Now some people may not be a big fan of this - but I loved it.  To hear the process start, to know that one day we will get to hear the finished product - it's amazing.

Even better.  When you have artists sharing a stage, there is another piece of magic that happens.  This was emphasized for me when we were at Down the Hatch.  Many of the artists there were good friends and collaborate regularly on music.  So when one was performing and another got a hankering for it, they would run up and join them on stage.  No practice, no choreography, just magic.  The harmonies, the joy, the beautiful music.  It was amazing.

This is what we get to experience when we go to small venues and see artists who maybe haven't hit it huge yet.  To buy their merch and know that you are actually helping launch someone who has such talent and passion is wonderful.  I wouldn't trade listening rooms and other small venues for anything.  If you haven't been to show like this, I encourage you to seek one out.

At DTH I had the pleasure of seeing a lot of amazing artists.  Two of them were Keaton Simons (who I had seen before) and Tony Lucca (who I had tickets to see later in the summer).  They were both awesome at what I described above.  Interaction with the crowd and with other musicians.  Here is a video of them performing together.  It really doesn't get better.

(the group shot at DTH)