this is music?

[darkglow]

Hi, Hello,

Longtime fan, and I mostly lurk around this thread and I don't post as much as I used to. Just figured I'd share a little something on here for youz guyz. It's kind of long but to those who take the time to read it thank you for the time.

First a little history on my fandom with MMJ. in June of 2004 I was 19 and got hooked up with a sweet ass job as a stage production manager for a business out of TN and we had put up the stage and production for the Lebowski Festival in Louisville. One of the guys who was working for us suggested I stick around and check out the main act, which was a local band and this was their "homecoming" of sorts. Well you've heard all the stories from everyone else so I'm not going to go into too much detail but basically I was hooked on the first note. Just as they were disassembling the merch tent I slipped a few greenbacks to the guy and he suggested I take "At Dawn".


I listened to the album 3 full times on the drive back down to TN and I cannot describe the feeling that it put inside of me. Part of it was curiousity and part of it was something else that I still get today and I can't quite put my finger on. There's so many good things about the inperfections in this world we live in, and that record reminded me of the beauty that you can find in a scar, or a situation that happened on accident but had a humorous or ironic outcome. Maybe you get what I'm trying to say here. I think they captured that pretty well in the Louisville video that is on the main page of the website right now. We have to fight to preserve the genuine things we have.

Ok I'm rambling off topic, sorry.

So anyways, June of 2004 was a trying time for myself and At Dawn really pulled me through it. I knew there were other records out there by this band but for about 3 months or so I refused to move on to them. "this feeling it is wonderful, don't you ever turn it off"

Later on I picked up It Still Moves and my first and lasting impression of listening to that record is : " I do not know what it feels like to float on a cloud passing by rainbows and beautiful warm sun but what I feel listening to that has got to be close. " - myself, in an old email i dug up about listening to It Still Moves

Shortly after, they started playing on the Vote For Change tour for John Kerry and they unveiled some of their new songs that would eventually come out on Z. I still remember the first time I saw this shitty quality fan-shot video (thanks fan) from Philly of them playing "What a Wonderful Man" and it was electrifying. It was such a strange suprise to see Jim James with short hair and they were playing with such a different sound and swagger to them. It was a bit unraveling to say the least.

Around this time I was doing a lot of growing up and realizing at the same time that each day should be lived to the fullest. I had weathered the storm on that bad time I talked about earlier but I wanted something new, still. On a whim my brother, a friend, and I took a roadtrip (the first of many that summer) down to Birmingham to see MMJ play at the Sloss Furnace. I had always heard it was a good venue and with only the slightest bit of hesitation did I bolt out of the house and into the car to drive 7 hours to B-ham. It was a hot summer night and a great time to appreciate growing up in the south. After that show we wandered around the Furnace just to check stuff out. It was so beautiful and creepy at night. We ran into the entire band as we were walking around. I told them my story and how they inspired me and tried to not sound cheesy or creepy about it. They were all real genuine dudes. I guess that is the best way to describe this band. They seemed really appreciative when we told them we drove all that way just to see them. I wondered if they knew yet how good they really were. I get the feeling that around that time they were teetering on the brink of success almost like in that movie "Almost Famous". They still drove the white van at that point. No tour bus. Anyhow the journey ended well as we got to say a big thank you to the guys.

Later on that summer I decided to enlist in the US Navy and was set to keep moving on with the "carpe diem" mindset. Z was released and I felt like that album, too, captured exactly what my life was like at that present time. It was then that I realized that you don't pass through time, it passes through you. It's better to be as formless as possible, always adapting to the time as it passes through you, as opposed to trying to guess or play god with it. "It's not what happens to you, it's what happens in you."

Fast forward to today: almost 4 years later, I've grown up a lot and at the same time I've watched my favorite band and all it's fans grow up as well. Things change, and people change. That is the natural order of the world. Where ever I am, I am thankful that I can still share the connection of music with the band and more importantly all you'nz. I was walking around town here in Sasebo, Japan, earbuds jammed deep into my ears, blasting Evil Urges from beginning to end, watching all the people, the scars on their faces, the dents in their cars, and it hit me again. I fucking love this band and the way the music makes me feel, even from 8,000 miles away here in my apartment in Japan. I am constantly reminded what the word "genuine" means and it's because of this music and all of you guys who surround it. I hate it because people say this at work all the time and it annoys me, but I think it fits well here so I'll just say "It is what it is."

Thank you to the band and thanks to such a great fan community for keeping this crazed fan pacified with lots of love.

[tomEisenbraun]

Dude, thank you for that.

Seriously, that is perfect and what this music should be about in all of us.

From one long-winded poster to another: Keep it up. That was perfect.

[weeniebeenie]

Wow.
That was a great post.

[MarkW]

Nice post.

[Sparkle]

Great post, thanks for sharing :)

[Love Dogg]

I love testimonials.  Preach on preacher!  

[MickeyReds]

F YEAH!

[masterplanjohn]

Thanks man, that hit the spot.

[Janet]

Wow.  That was an incredible post.  Thank you.