Three weeks ago as I was driving to church, a song came on the radio that I really liked – I didn’t know it, but I was kind of blind humming to the chorus.  At the end of the song, the DJ said, “That was from Third Day’s latest album, ‘Revelation‘.” And it was with a shock of recognition that I realize that’s the Other Tai Anderson’s band. Sah-weet!

I’ve been listening to this great album for two weeks now: in the car, at the gym, while working, cooking and writing. It’s a good, solid, Southern Rock album, with great songs, and some really awesome ones. Ok, it’s technically Christian Rock, which is a genre I am wholly unfamiliar with. I have been frankly uncomfortable with religious songs that are not sung in a traditional reverent (read, quiet) way – however, this album is completly accessible to me. It’s full of uplifting songs with a good message that aim to inspire. I can’t figure out how to type that without making it sound like a Sunday School/Sesame Street production – which it most definitely is not. The songs are well written, great music, and I’d listen to them any day of the week. And dude, I’m picky.

I was most drawn to the songs that have a more acoustic feel – I think because that’s where I’m at right now, what with learning the guitar and all.  For example, I loved “Take It All”  -  it’s one of the mellower tracks, has a great melody and when I’m practicing my guitar I can strum happily along to it. (Yes, I realize that’s a really arbitrary way to judge a song – but it’s on my playlist now with Dylan, Clapton and the Eagles, so yeah…) The song “Ready” is great for strumming along to also, it’s got such a great southern rock sound – so down home.  “Give Love” is another one that is mellower, with a folksy happy feel to it, and a head bobbing beat that makes it perfect for summer night barbecues and get togethers.

“Otherside” is my favorite track – it’s a heavy rock-blues song – and peeps, I love the blues more than any other type of music – which you should know by now. The song has got this searing, soaring feel to it, and the lyrics read like a black spiritual, “Take me to the other side, I want to live forever.” Black spirituals are what I was raised on – my milk and honey, so to speak. MmmmHmm.

“Let Me Love You” is great to sing along to – and I actually liked it at the gym,  not that I sing at the gym, mind you. But it’s inspiring, in sort of a Rocky way (random, huh?) and it’s got a good motivating feel to it – even though it’s a really sweet love song. I guess it’s a song that is meant to go either way – it could be a ‘praise’ song or a love song. Regardless, it’s a great track.

So, not to be dramatic or anything, but the song that affected me the most was “Revelation” – and these lyrics really did it for me. Decision making is like pulling teeth for me. So often I’ve wished the Lord would just beam down a manila envelope of detailed date, name, place instructions, you know? Anyway, so this song is about that feeling – that asking for direction in life. There is a great live version of the song on the album, but I would still KILL for a pared-down acoustic version of this song – the melody is beautiful, and the lyrics are so fantastic to me.

Also, for some fun, there are a few guest stars on the album too, which is kind of cool: on the song “Slow Down,” Chris Daughtry makes an appearance singing backup. “Born Again” has Lacey Mosley singing also – and it’s lovely.

So there ya go, guys. The Other Tai Anderson is a totally cool dude, and I really like his music. What a relief!

P.S. I really liked the slick album design – which duh, I’ve gotta mention – and it was masterminded by Tim Parker.

I get the most amazing spam.

Tomorrow night is my Two Months Past Midsummer’s Barbecue. I’m doing North Carolina style barbecued pork, which involves very slowly cooking a gigantic pork shoulder in a jerry-rigged barbecue/smoker thingummy monstrosity – well, for me it does, for most people it’s just in a smoker. My main goal for the day is to finish it out with my eyebrows still in tact, since I’m speaking in church on Sunday. I shall document the whole thing and post pictures. I SWEAR.

The menu is as follows:

I mispunctuated “Finger’s” – it should have been just “Fingers,” bah.

I have no idea why I made this menu brown, except that it barbecue seems cowboy-ish, and that is a brown color, I guess. Also, both chocolate and peanut butter are brown, and I’ve been thinking about those a lot lately. I also have absolutely no idea why I typed “our” secret sauce – there is no “our”. It’s just me, in the kitchen, alone. Slaving away over a hot stove/grill/monstrosity thingummy.

Speaking of thingummies…. No, just kidding! Ha, I crack myself up. Anyhoo, you know the other Tai Anderson? The one that is the bass player for the band Third Day? Yeah, well, I’ve been jammin’ to their latest album “Revelation” for the last week and a half, and it’s the official soundtrack to tomorrow’s barbecue. Look for my in depth review NEXT WEEK.

Semi-spoiler (because I’m impatient and really kind of ADD today): I will say this -  I am not generally a fan of religious music – outside of the context of simple hymns and say… Handel’s “Messiah” (as my buds will know). But this is a good album – surprisingly so – I found it applicable to all religions, and most definitely good, uplifiting music that – bonus- you can really rock out to! What is more, (and this is a great, great thing in my book) it isn’t cheesy, or embarrassingly dramatic under the guise of spiritual experience. However the lyrics do read sincerely, and the album is a great listen. More later, with the official review.

Rodney Smith photo from this week’s New York Magazine.

It’s not worth crying over spilled milk, har har. This morning as I was eating my cereal, I spilled about 1/3 cup on my keyboard. Never fear, not my laptop keyboard, but my external keyboard. No, if I had spilled milk on my MacBook Pro, I would be dissolving right now. I once had a dream my MacBook was stolen from my New York apartment, and I WOKE UP CRYING. This sucker is my life, and yes, I do back it up constantly.

Anyway, so I spilled milk on the lower left hand corner of the keyboard, all over the Control key region.  So I popped the Control key out, set it aside, and then dabbed at the keyboard with a clean paper towel until I’d soaked up all the milk, and then I wiped it out with a clean, damp paper towel to make sure it doesn’t get sticky. Somewhere in that process, I lost the Control key.

And I thought to myself: Isn’t it indicative of my entire life, that I’ve lost the Control key, of all keys? Yes, yes, it really is.

*Update: I found the Control key hiding under my stack of New Yorkers.