Time For A New Chapter

          I'll start this post off by saying that this is going to be my final blog post of all time. Yep, you heard it hear first, I'm retiring. At least for now. Its been a lot of fun over the last two years but since I'm transferring schools next semester, it just feels right to end it. Just like the title of this post, I'm starting a new chapter in my life.
          In case you haven't heard, I'm starting at Georgia State next semester. I'm really excited to do something different. Not that I didn't love MTSU. Quite the opposite, actually. Well, I can't really say I liked MTSU as a school, but I'll never forget all the amazing people I've met up here. You guys know who you are. I can only hope that Atlanta has as many cool people. I'm pumped to find out.
          It's been an interesting year to say the least. Lots of ups and a few downs. I'll spare you guys the details (they're not all that interesting, I promise). I loved living in an apartment with some of my best friends. It was an unbelievable experience.
          I'll end on the same thing I always do. Don't worry, I won't give you guys a bunch of useless information about some bands. I'll just let you enjoy some good music.

          Well, that's it, guys. Its been a fun ride. Who knows, maybe I'll start this up again. But I seriously doubt it.

-Colby McHugh

Couldn't Think Of A Cool Title

          Man, I just realized how long its been since I've done a post. I guess I just haven't really thought about it. Sorry about that (I'm just pretending like you guys actually care about reading these). Anyways, its good to be back up in Murfreesboro with all my friends and believe it or not, my classes really aren't all that bad so far. Actually, they've been pretty interesting.
          If you've known me for a while, then you know that I took French in high school. FIVE years. Yeah, I know you're probably wondering why in the world anyone would want to A) take French at all B) take it for five whole years. I don't exactly have an answer for that. I just liked it for some reason and my teachers were awesome. Fast forward to the end of the last semester, I decided I'd try to get back into it after a couple years, so I signed up for beginner's French just so I could have an easy class and get an easy A. The first day of class rolls around and the teacher asks if anyone here had ever taken French before. Without really thinking, I raised my hand. I was the only one with my hand up. The teacher says, "Follow me". I'm kind of confused at this point, but I follow her anyways. She then made me go take the placement test for French. Now I'm just thinking to myself that I don't really remember anything and I'll probably wind up doing really bad on it. So I finish up and the teacher comes over and checks my score and gets this look of incredible surprise on her face. She then informs me that I nearly got a perfect score and had just tested out of three classes and into the highest possible class. Apparently, I wasn't as rusty as I thought. Honestly, it was a little bittersweet for me. There went my easy A, and here comes a really hard class. On the bright side, if I do well, I automatically get 9 extra credit hours, so I guess that makes it ok. So far, its actually a pretty enjoyable class and surprisingly not too hard.'
         The other interesting class that I'm in is a literature class based around serial killers in American fiction. Yeah, that about sums it up. So far, we've read Psycho (yep, the movie one) and The Killer Inside Me, and both were pretty awesome. I just love the fact that I'm reading books for school and they're actually really interesting to me. I'm about to start Silence of the Lambs so needless to say, I'm pretty excited about this class.
         Unfortunately, this will be my final semester at MTSU. Yep, I'm transferring back to good ol' Georgia. At this point, I'm pretty set on Georgia State. I really want to study film there so with any luck, I can finally put my fairly extensive movie trivia knowledge to work. I'm pretty excited to be there, but its definitely going to be tough leaving everyone up here. I guess I've just gotta make the most of my here.
        I'm really excited to talk about a few bands that I've gotten into within the last month or so. I've recently really gotten into the Seattle music scene. I don't exactly know what it is about Seattle, but they've got SO many talented bands and singers. I'm kind of sad that its taken me this long to get into their music, but I'm so glad that I have. Campfire OK and Pickwick are two bands that I literally have not been able to stop listening to in the last few weeks. Campfire OK has kind of an indie-pop sound with some awesome folk influences. Pickwick has almost a throwback sound to their music. They've definitely got some groove and some bluesy aspects to their music. I especially love the guys voice. He's got some serious pipes. I seriously hope you guys like them as much as I do, because they absolutely deserve it. ENJOY.

Christmas Break Here I Come

          Alright, so I know its incredibly cliche to say this, but this semester has completely flown by. Seriously. Tomorrow is the last day of classes and it feels like I just moved into my apartment yesterday. Unfortunately, with the end of the semester comes those things that all college students dread: FINALS. Yep, finals are the only thing that stand between the student and Christmas Break. I honestly can't wait to get back home. Not that I haven't loved this semester, its just that I always look forward to hanging out with all my close friends from high school. Thanksgiving break was all well and good, but it was just a tease. It wasn't long enough to be able to make plans to hang out with everyone you wanted to. That's why Christmas Break is so great. Well, that, and Christmas, I guess.
           It has been a fairly uneventful month or two since my last post. Well, except for the fact that I turned 20 but honestly, I don't feel any different so I always forget that I'm no longer a teenager. Honestly, I still feel like I'm 12 years old in my head. It blows my mind thinking that I'm actually 20 years old now. That's so old! I hope that doesn't mean that I have to grow up now. I hate to sound like Peter Pan or something, but growing up is pretty scary to me. I'm not sure why, but there's just something about it that doesn't sound appealing to me. I guess I just want to be a kid forever, even though that's clearly impossible. Oh well, I can dream can't I?
          I've kind of been on a music overload for the last couple of weeks so it was pretty difficult trying to think of just one or two musicians that really stood out. Then I remembered that probably my two favorite artists of all time recently came out with albums and trust me when I say this, they're great. The first comes from Ryan Adams, who is easily my favorite songwriter of all time. That said, his incredible songwriting continues on his latest record, Ashes and Fire. Overall, it really is just a fantastic CD. Especially if you're as into folky stuff as I am. The second album comes from a guy named Jay Clifford, the former lead singer of my favorite band of all time, Jump Little Children. Unfortunately, Jump broke up back in 2006 but thankfully, Jay Clifford has continued to make music. His second solo CD, entitled Silver Tomb For The Kingfish, has far less production than his first solo album. This one focuses more on his voice and songwriting. I will always believe that Jay has one of the most unique and beautiful voices I've ever heard. He truly never fails to disappoint. The same goes for Ryan Adams. They're both incredible musicians and I hope they continue to make music for many years to come.

Camping (Blair Witch Style)

          So this past weekend I went camping with two of my roommates, Andy and Chandler, and another one of my close friends, Phillip. To be completely honest, we didn't do a very good job planning this trip. We didn't even know where we were going when we left, all we had was a map one of our friends gave us. Nonetheless, we decided we would have an adventure and just hope for the best. That always works out right? Most of the time, it doesn't, but we got lucky this time and actually found our way exactly where we wanted to go: The Stone Door. Yeah, it sounds pretty cool doesn't it? Well, it was VERY cool.
           We found our way to the campsite and set up the tent and everything. With nothing actually planned, we figured we might as well go check out this Stone Door thing and see what it was like. It was an easy hike and, before we knew it, we were overlooking some of the coolest scenery I had ever seen.

Just imagine this same view from about 500 feet higher. That's where we were.

          While overlooking some of these awesome views, Phillip decided that it would be a great idea to try to climb down the side of this incredibly high peak. I swear, that guy fears nothing. So obviously, I decided to follow him (while taking the safer way down, of course). It was well worth the risk. We found some pretty awesome caves down below the cliffs. So after we finished risking our lives, we decided to actually go find this "Stone Door" thing, which we had no idea what it was or where we could find it. We were pretty amazed when we came upon it.

It looks kind of like something out of Lord of the Rings

          It turns out that the Stone Door is a huge cavern type thing carved out of the rock that leads down into the valley below. There were even stairs carved out of stone. Pretty Impressive, to say the least. After that, we decided to head back to camp and try our hand at making a fire. And when I say "try OUR hand", I mean watch Phillip do it all by himself. It took him a while to get it up and going, but after a few hours we had it pretty solid.  We decided to roast some hot dogs and make some chili, which turned out delicious. Obviously, we had to make s'mores as well, which is always followed by an endless stream of Sandlot quotes.

          Before we knew it though, it was pitch black by about 6 o'clock. This made me realize that there truly is nothing creepier than a forest at night. Seriously, it completely reminded me of The Blair Witch Project (hence the title of this post), minus all the the witch stuff, just the creepiness. With nothing left to do really, we decided to call it a night around 9ish. This was easily the earliest I had gone to sleep in 3 or 4 years probably. Anyways, the next day, we packed everything up and headed back home to good ol' Murfreesboro. It was a successful trip indeed, and hopefully we'll do it again next semester sometime.

         Before I finish up this post, I'll leave you guys with a few videos from two incredibly talented female Irish folk singers that I have been listening to as of late. The first is Wallis Bird (awesome name, for sure) and the other is Lisa Hannigan, who kind of made a name of herself by singing alongside fellow Irish singer Damien Rice. Don't worry, I'll spare you guys all the extra stuff I usually talk about, and just let you hear them. Enjoy.

           

The Sophomore Slump

          I've always known the term "sophomore slump", but I never thought it would happen to me. Man, was I wrong. I don't even know why its happening, I've just kind of felt uninspired as of late. I couldn't tell you why, I just have the feeling that I'm not really doing anything that matters. I almost feel like I'm wasting my time in a lot of my classes. That's not to say that I feel like I'm too good for my classes, its just that I think that there's something more important that I need to be doing, but I have no idea what that should be. Its almost like I'm having a mid-life crisis, even though I'm only nineteen. I've never had this lack of inspiration before, so I'm not exactly sure what to do about it. All I know is that something needs to change, because I really don't like it.
           I think that, more than anything, I'm worrying about my future for the first time in my life. I've always been a fan of living in the present and just letting life happen but, for some reason, I'm starting to get stressed about what I'm supposed to be doing with my life. If you know me at all, then you know that I DON'T get stressed. Ever.
          Well, that's about all I've got. I just wanted to get that off my chest and out in the open. I guess I feel a little better, so thanks for letting me vent. On a happier note, there is an incredibly talented singer/songwriter has some of the catchiest pop songs I've heard in the last few years. Jeremy Messersmith is a Minneapolis based singer that has been playing music for some time now, and I'm just now starting to get into his stuff. I stumbled across his latest cd entitled "The Reluctant Graveyard", and I haven't been able to stop listening to it for about a month now. He has a very pleasant and gentle voice that is especially present on his softer songs. Many of his songs have very lavish orchestration in them, which is always a plus because I think that strings always sound great in any kind of music. All in all, I think he has some of the most well-crafted indie-pop songs that I've ever heard. He's just great. Enjoy.

Classes So Far..

          Now that classes have started up, it seems like I never even left for the summer. Everything just kind of falls back into place. Everything, that is, except for the whole dorm life thing. I'm glad that part of my life is over with. Anyways, I figured I'd just do this post about the classes I'm taking this semester and give you guys a little update.
          I'm taking Survey of the Recording Industry,  Speech, Math, American History, and Astronomy. The only real significant thing about my Survey class is that my professor is a musician and songwriter who has been doing his thing for the last 40 or so years. He's written hit songs for tons of successful singers (most of whom I have absolutely no idea who they are, but I'll just take his word for it I guess). The class is pretty interesting so far, so here's to hoping it stays like that.
         Now Speech, if you know me at all, is pretty terrible for me. I've always hated talking in front of any group of more than four or five people. I absolutely hate it. I mean when I was the best man at my brother's wedding, I was probably more nervous than I've ever been in my life right before I had to give the big toast. Apparently it didn't turn out too bad, but honestly, I barely remember any of it. So far though, this class hasn't been too bad. Unfortunately, I still have to do 4 speeches this semester. I'm really really not looking forward to it but oh well, you've gotta do what you gotta do. On the plus side, there's a guy in my class who looks pretty much EXACTLY like Matt Damon. On an even cooler note, he used to be a ranger in the Army, which makes him that much cooler.

Just imagine that I have Jason Bourne in my Speech class

          I really don't like math, so I can't really say there's anything good about that class. My teacher kind of reminds me of a mad scientist. A mad scientist, that is, that is an absolutely terrible math teacher. He has a really poofy afro type thing. He also looks vaguely like Steve Perry, which makes his class somewhat bearable, since its so hilarious.

          I'm trying to keep this post fairly short, so I'll just skip over my American History and Astronomy class. They're about as interesting as they sound. 

          Before I finish, I really want to tell you guys about this insanely talented Irish folk singer name James Vincent McMorrow. Once again, I first heard him on NPR's tiny desk concerts. That podcast is seriously the greatest thing ever. His music has a certain kind of soul that is really hard to find in lots of folk music. It is lavish and filled with beautiful harmonies that perfectly complement his equally beautiful songwriting. Along with that sense of lavishness, comes a sense of simplicity that truly makes folk music what it is. Enjoy. I know I did. 

Doing It All Over Again

          Once again, a summer has come and gone and I'm back up to good ol' Murfreesboro. I've missed this place. I really have. I've missed all my friends. I've missed living on my own. It really feels good to be back up here. Getting used to living in an apartment instead of the dorm really isn't that hard, quite easy actually. The funny thing is, that a ton of people who I lived around last year have moved into the same apartment complex as me, so it really doesn't feel too different.
          Unfortunately, looking for a job is still incredibly hard/borderline impossible. So far I've had ZERO luck but I'm still optimistic towards finding one. If any of you guys has any suggestions, please feel free to let me know. I'd love some advice.
          As good as it feels to be with my friends up here, I still feel kind of torn from all the people back home that I had grown close to this summer but hey, that's just life I guess.
          Honestly, I'm ready for classes to start. I've been up here for a week already and have found myself being super bored sometimes. Even though I'm ready for classes at this point, I'm not necessarily ready for the workload to start up again, but I'll just suck it up and do it as always.
         I figured I'd just give you guys a little update so I'm trying to keep this post fairly short. I'll end it by telling you guys about a band that I found out about just a few days ago. Warpaint is an all girl, Los Angeles-based band that has pretty much been on repeat since I first heard them. Their music can best be described as ambient, ethereal rock/pop. That's how I hear it at least. I honestly couldn't tell you exactly why I like their music so much, it just gets stuck in my head (in a good way). There are two main singers in Warpaint, but you probably wouldn't be able to tell because they basically sound the same. Their voices never really do anything crazy, yet there's a sort of hypnotic sense to them. Its just cool sounding music to me. Enjoy!