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!

Almost There

         Well, that time of year is coming around again. The time when you're preparing to go off to college again. Its a strange time, indeed. Most of your hometown friends are already at college, which makes you look ahead to connecting with your college friends yet again. You look back on what (if anything) you've accomplished this summer and all the old friends you meant to hang out with but never found the time to. Then you feel guilty for not seeing said friends all summer. Finally, you just prepare your mind for getting back into the swing of classes, homework, and job searching (and hopefully finding).
         I've already said my goodbyes to many of my close friends and accepted the fact that I probably won't see them until Christmas break. Just like last summer. That said, I am incredibly excited to get back up to MTSU and see all my friends and move into my apartment. Dang, that sounds weird. MY apartment. It makes me feel like an actual adult. Let's face it though, I probably won't actually think of myself as an adult for another few decades. Its a fun thought though.
         Its been a good summer though. I had a good job and I worked hard at it. That, probably more than anything else, was what I'm most proud of this summer. Even though there were a lot of people that I had meant to hang out with but never did, I still got to be with my closest friends quite a bit. I wish I had the chance to be with my siblings more though, but I guess that's just what happens when they all live in different states. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait until Thanksgiving break.
        Its pretty much a given that everyone knows who John Lennon is (hopefully), but have you ever listened to his son Sean? If not, allow me to remedy that. Sean Lennon has been doing his solo thing for a while, but a few years ago he began a project entitled Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, which conveniently spells out GOASTT. This project is just Sean and Charlotte Kemp Muhl, a model-turned-singer-turned Sean's girlfriend. I first heard them once again on NPR about a year ago and had listened to them on and off since then. Last week though, I finally got some of their music and I really haven't been able to stop listening to it. Their style is like a quirky and cerebral kind of folk. The only way I can think to describe Sean's lyrics are whimsical, scientific, but with some sort of historical significance. They're very strange, to say the least, but a good sort of strange. Sean's voice sounds eerily similar to his father's, which is even weirder because they look almost identical (except Sean has some Asian in him from Yoko). Charlotte's voice is soft and soothing and it meshes incredibly well with Sean's. Enjoy!

Movies, Movies, and More Movies

           There are few things in life that I can truly say I have a passion for. Sports and music happen to be a couple of the bigger ones. The other is film. I already know that in my short life I've seen WAY too many movies, and I'm totally ok with that. I like to consider myself a bit of a movie buff (but then again, who doesn't?) Every once in a while I'll get in a conversation with someone else like me and I realize that I could literally talk for hours about films. That realization is a bittersweet one simply because, although I have ZERO shame in the amount of movies I've seen, all of that information is basically useless trivia fodder that rarely becomes relevant in real life. I will say though, that I can play a mean Trivial Pursuit.
           Anyways, last night I had a movie marathon with with a bunch of guys at my buddy Christian's house (the same Christian mentioned in previous posts). We watched a whopping five movies in the span of about 10 hours. Pretty pathetic I know but like I said, I'm shameless. I personally really enjoy horror movies so I was able to convince the guys to watch 2 fairly scary ones (Martyrs and Insidious. Seriously, DON'T watch the first one, you'll probably regret it) Luckily, we broke up the scariness by watching The Little Rascals in between them. There's really nothing like a little Alfalfa to cleanse your metaphorical film palate. After we finished watching all the movies at around 5, we finally decided to call it quits. Needless to say, I can't wait until the next movie marathon.

I swear, Christian's cooler than he looks

            A few months ago, I first heard of this band with this really strange name on the NPR Tiny Desk Concert podcast (which is an UNBELIEVABLE podcast. seriously, check it out). The band was called Ivan and Alyosha, and they played I think three songs. I wasn't really paying attention when I first listened, but I found myself humming the melodies later on that day. So I went back and listened to it one more time...and then another...and another, etc. That's what their music does to you. Its truly addicting. Their a folk-pop band based out of Seattle, Washington that was formed in around 2007. Their songs are a combination of solid songwriting, a very cool lead vocalist, and really awesome three and four part harmonies. As far as I'm concerned, Ivan and Alyosha are about as close as it gets to pop perfection. Enjoy.

Eggs and Car Paint (Surprisingly, Not a Great Combination)

            There's really no specific reason I'm writing this post (other than the fact that I'm a little bit bored and haven't written anything in a while). I just felt like I hadn't done a post in too long of a time and I was starting to miss writing. Since the last post, nothing really significant has happened. Basically, I've just been working a lot.
             "Where do you work?", you might ask. Well, I work at my old high school as a part of the maintenance staff (janitor). I do everything from cleaning carpets to painting to running cable through the ceiling. As terrible as this job might sound on paper, its actually pretty awesome. I mean I get to work with a bunch of my old friends from high school, the pay is great, and the work itself really isn't that hard. All positives. The only downside is that my sleep schedule is always changing. On nights that I'm working the next morning, I try to go to bed at a decent time (12 or 1ish). Every other night I'm not working, I wind up staying up until like 4 or 5. That can't be too good for my body, especially when I have to wake up at 6:45 on work days. But I guess that's just life for ya.
             In other news, my car got egged a few days ago. This wouldn't be too especially bad except for the fact that I WATCHED it happen from 5 feet away. Talk about bad luck. I was leaving my friend's house at around 3 in the morning and I was standing next to my car talking to my buddy Dan when, all of a sudden, a black sports car drives by and eggs my car. They must not have seen us standing there because, once they saw us, they sped off through the neighborhood. My initial reaction was shock. I didn't even know what to do. Then Dan has the genius idea to go follow them in his car. So we do just that and surprisingly enough, we catch up to them. Clearly, since it was just two of us and probably four or five of them, we weren't going to try to fight them or anything. We just wanted to see if we could get their licence plate number. We got the first three letters and then they turned off and we never got the chance to get the rest of it. Now, I've always been a person that is very slow to anger, but this was about the angriest I think I can remember myself probably ever. It was probably just the fact that my car got egged by a bunch of high school kids that I don't even know that really got to me. Whatever, it happened and there's nothing I can do about it now. Might as well accept it, I guess.
             On better note, I've got a FANTASTIC band that you guys need to listen to if you haven't already. Eisley has been one of my favorite bands for the last three years or so and they just released their third LP entitled The Valley (which is ah-mazing, by the way). Eisley is made up of 1 brother, 3 sisters, and a cousin from the small town of Tyler, Texas. The singers are Sherri and Stacey, who also play guitar and keys, respectively. Chauntelle, the other sister, plays lead guitar while the brother Weston plays drums. The only one not in their immediate family, Garron, plays bass. There really is something about a band that is made up of family members that makes them awesome. I'm not sure what it is, but for some reason, their voices just always seem to sound perfect together. That's part of what makes Eisley great. They have some of the most beautiful harmonies I've ever heard. That, combined with the sometimes bizarre/always stunning imagery their lyrics provide, makes for a powerful combination. I had the pleasure of seeing them live a few years ago and they sound even better live than they do on the albums, and that's saying something. Anyways, I hope you enjoy their music as much as I have.

Losing Teeth (And Apparently Wisdom)

         Well yesterday I got my wisdom teeth taken out. Yeah, tons of fun, I know. It was a strange experience for me, considering I had never had actual surgery or been put under before. Surprisingly enough, I was actually kind of nervous coming into it, which, if you know me, is strange because I like to pride myself on being laid back at all times. I was very NOT laid back this time. So the doctor put the IV in and I had no idea what to expect. I felt totally awake and then the next thing I know, I was waking up an hour later. My entire face was numb, which can be incredibly frustrating when you're trying to talk. I guess that wore off in about an hour after the surgery. Then the REAL fun started. My mouth hurt so much worse than I ever expected it to. I was miserable. Then the good ol' meds kicked in and I felt great. Luckily, my friend Morgan got hers out that same day, so we were comparing stories and pain all day. Its a refreshing feeling to have someone going through the exact same stuff you are.

This give a whole new meaning to the term  "getting swole"

          My face wasn't especially swollen yesterday, but today it got a little worse. Fortunately, I've had a big old ice pack stuck to my face to hide the swollen-ness. Thank God for the little things, I guess.
         In other news, my big brother Collin got called up to the AA team in the minor leagues last week. He got to start and pitched really well. Needless to say, I'm a proud brother. Hopefully he'll be able to stay there the rest of the season, or even get moved up to AAA. By the way, he writes an awesome blog called "A Day Older, A Day Wiser". You should definitely go and read it because it gives great insight into what it means to be a minor league pitcher and also a newlywed couple. Go check it out.
        I recently found out that one of my favorite bands of the last year or so just came out with a new CD. Company of Thieves is an alternative band based out of Chicago. This three-piece came out with their first CD a couple of years ago and I've been listening to it ever since. The lead singer, Genevieve Schatz, has a powerful voice that complements the music in a very unique way. Anyways, I'm stoked to get their new album and I hope its as good, if not better, than the last one. Here's their singles "Oscar Wilde" and "Death of Communications" from their first and second albums, respectively. Enjoy!

-Colby McHugh

One Year Down.....

          Well my first year of college life is officially over. Honestly, I feel like I just moved into my dorm last week. It flew by that much. Its hard to believe that it's over and I'm back home in Atlanta living with my parents again. Needless to say, it's an adjustment. Not necessarily a bad one though. I'm truly excited to see all of my high school friends again. I've missed them quite a bit. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to see a lot of my college friends this summer because they're from all over the place. Anyways, there are a lot of things I'm going to miss about not being at college this summer and probably an equal amount of things I'm NOT going to miss.
     
          So I've made a list of pros and cons of moving back home. Enjoy.
Pros:
1. No more Mcallie (that's our dining hall, which consists of the laziest workers on the face of the earth. Oh yeah, and the food sucks big time)
2. I don't have to worry about school work for FOUR MONTHS. Awesome.
3. I'll actually have a job in Atlanta. Sorry Murfreesboro, I'm kind of starting to get sick of your over-saturation. Seriously.
4. I'll get to hang out with some of my best friends in the entire world. You guys know who you are.
5. My sister and brother-in-law live close (relatively) now. I guess the same goes for all of my family. Oh wait, nevermind that because Evan lives in Nashville and Collin is in Port St. Lucie. Eryn, I'm glad you're still in Atlanta.
That's all the pros I can think of so far so here are the Cons:
1. I won't get to see most of my college friends until next semester. You guys also know who you are. I already miss you guys.
2. I'll probably find myself being incredibly bored at certain times this summer. Its bound to happen.
3. I won't be able to go to the rec center at MTSU and play pick-up basketball games with people who automatically think I'm bad. Its ok, I relish the idea of proving them wrong.
So I think that's all I've got at this point, but thanks for putting up with all of these posts these past two semesters. I understand if they're pretty lame. And I'm totally ok with that.
As you go, I'll leave you with a video of I think 3 songs from this guy that I've been listening to like crazy for a while. His name is Conor O'Brian (yes, of  course he's Irish) and he's the frontman for a band called The Villagers. They're awesome so enjoy. Oh yeah, try to ignore his terrible teeth. They can be a bit of a distraction.

-Colby McHugh

Just A Little Update...

         First of all, I'd like to apologize for not keeping all you guys updated in blog form. I guess I've just been a little more scatterbrained this semester than I had originally expected. Nonetheless, there have been some happenings in my life that some might consider significant. Of course, I'm referring to me cutting my hair.

Yep thats right, it actually happened. Let the record show that COLBY MCHUGH CUT HIS HAIR OF HIS OWN FREE WILL. Normally, I wouldn't be making a big deal out of this at all, but it seems that it is in fact quite a huge deal (at least according to all the people who no longer recognize me, which is a little too many for my comfort). People keep asking me, "What made you cut it?" and I always give them the same answer: "It was just the right time, I guess". That's really the only way I know how to describe the decision. I figured I'd played around with the long hair for a while, and now people had begun associating Colby McHugh with long hair. What mean when I say that is that having hair became all I was to everyone around me and nothing more. I didn't like that. So, I figured the best way to deal with that was to just cut it without telling anyone, and then see their reactions one by one. I must say, it was quite entertaining watching friends look at me and do triple takes before they realized it was me. What's funny to me is the fact that, up here at MTSU, people don't even know what to think of me with short hair and back home in Atlanta, I'm back to normal in their eyes. Its backwards almost. Whatever, I'm sick of talking about it at this point.

          One thing I'm NOT sick of talking about is music, of course. I've really been listening to a super talented singer/songwriter from Minneapolis named Matt Moberg. The first thing that got me about him was his unique voice. The only person I can think of that he really sounds like is a guy named Joshua James, who I talked about in a post a while back. The second thing that got me was his great songwriting. He tells stories and paints pictures with his songs, which is something that I've always enjoyed and appreciated in writers. Anyways watch these videos, and let me know if you like him as much as I do. Oh yeah, I almost forgot! His EP is FREE on Noisetrade.com! There, now there's no excuse to not go out and get his music! Enjoy!

-Colby McHugh

Killin' Wasps and Takin' Names

          So I just had my Spring Break last week. Its so strange to think that second semester is already halfway over. I mean seriously, it seems like I just got here a couple weeks ago. Anyways, I decided that I would go to Chattanooga with a couple friends and stay at their lakehouse/cabin in kind of the middle of nowhere. Coming into this, I didn't really know what to expect, I just knew I was going to be hanging out with some friends doing who knows what.
          When we got up to the cabin, we immediately realized that we had ZERO phone service and ZERO internet. Personally, I was pretty much ok with that. I'm normally pretty solid without internet. Unfortunately for my friend Nigel, he needed internet in order to be able to Skype with his girlfriend and his family in Australia and Malaysia. Needless to say, he got bored pretty quickly. One of the first things we realized was that there were literally tons of wasps everywhere. Our first order of business was to kill them. The thing was that whenever we thought we had gotten all of them, some more would just appear the next morning. I think we got the magic number up to 21 before we finally got rid of the dreaded wasps.
          The other thing we realized was that we didn't exactly have a lot to do except watch whatever movies they had up at the cabin. Unfortunately (or fortunately, however you look at it), all of the movies they had were VHS tapes. Man, that brought back some memories. I had forgotten what it meant to have to rewind a movie before watching it. We wound up watching everything from Fight Club to The Jungle Book. We even went and tried some fishing, which eventually ended up with us just standing out at the dock and not even getting a nibble.
          Long story short, I had a great time at the cabin. I loved just being able to hang out with some cool people and not have to worry about things like my phone or internet. It was very refreshing.
         Next on my spring break agenda was to come back to Murfreesboro a couple days early to meet one of my great highschool friends Christian, who was coming up so we could go see a concert in Nashville together. I hadn't seen him in a couple months, so I was pumped. He also brought one of his friends from college whose name was Wes. These two introduced me to the 50 count nugget at McDonald's for just ten bucks. That's right, 50 nuggets for TEN bucks. Obviously, we split them. Otherwise, one of us probably would have passed out just from the sheer number of nuggets.
         Later that night, me and Christian headed to the concert. We were going to see one of our favorite bands, The Bridges. I think I've talked about them before in a post but if you haven't listened to them, you really should. You won't be disappointed. What really surprised me though was how good the other two performances were. The headlining band was Apache Relay (yep, that's a Heavyweights reference for all you movie buffs out there). They had one of the most energetic shows I've seen in quite a while. It consisted of lots of jumping around and dancing, but in a really cool way. The opening singer/songwriter of the night was a guy named Rayland Baxter. I had never heard of him before, but I was really blown away by his great songwriting, unique voice, and catchy songs. Plus, he has one of the most rocking mustaches ever. Check him out for sure. As always, I hope you enjoy! (sorry this post went a little long, I got a little carried away)

-Colby McHugh

In The Presence of Something Great

          For those of you who don't already know, last week we saw more or less the "Big Break" of one of our favorite local bands, Elenowen. We had found out that they were playing a FREE show right outside of campus so obviously we were pumped for a great show. We were all introduced to Elenowen last semester when they played another free show that pretty much blew away all of us. We all thought the same thing: "Why have we never heard of these guys before?" 

         So we went to this show fully expecting a great show and needless to say, we weren't disappointed. Then we were greeted with quite an unexpected surprise. After finishing their first or second song, the owner of the venue came up on stage and handed the band an envelope that was entitle The Voice. I personally had no idea what The Voice was, so I was completely lost. As she opened and read the envelope, it was easy to see that something big was going down. She read it and said in a voice that really showed true joyfulness and excitement, "You have made the final cut for The Voice!" (or something like that, I was thoroughly confused as to what exactly was happening). Quickly, I had someone explain what this mysterious The Voice was. I soon saw the importance of what had just happened. The Voice is basically ABC's version of American Idol or something like that, and Elenowen had just made the final cut for the show, which means that they would be on TV and get tons of exposure. The next thing we knew there were these big TV cameras coming out of nowhere. Elenowen was asked to repeat the act of opening the envelope and acting surprised so they could get the reaction on camera. It was clear that the band was maybe a little too flustered by the excitement that they couldn't really make it seem realistic. We (the audience) were also asked to give a standing ovation at least 4 or 5 times. I lost track after the third. After all the hooplah (yes, I did just say hooplah) died down, we were treated to one of the best shows I've seen in quite some time. One of the highlights include a folked out cover of the Spice Girls' Wannabe. It was AWESOME.

          As for some background information on Elenowen, here it goes. Elenowen is basically the husband and wife duo of Josh and Nicole Johnson. They released their first cd about a year ago and are currently working on a releasing a new one sometime soon. As for genres, I've never been one for just labeling bands with a genre but if I had to, I would call Elenowen a folk band with some basic, subtle country influences. Many of their songs are co-written, which gives each song a certain kind of dynamic that is hard to find. That said, the subjects of most of their songs revolve mainly around Josh and Nicole as they have gone through their first year of marriage. Every once in a while, I'll hear a guy and a girl singing, and it'll give me goosebumps because their voices just go so well together. Elenowen is pretty much the definition of that feeling. PLEASE check them out and support them, because they absolutely deserve it.

          I couldn't find any quality videos on Youtube, so the best I can do is paste a link to their Myspace. http://www.myspace.com/elenowenmusic. Enjoy.

Finally, Some Decent Weather

          With this winter being one of the coldest I've experienced in my life, I have been counting the days until I would be able to walk around in shorts and a t shirt again. I mean seriously, I got iced in over christmas break for 3 full days. IN GEORGIA. Its not like I live in Minnesota or something, where ice is a normal thing. Georgia is NOT supposed to snow more than a single day out of the year, and absolutely never ice over. Nonetheless, it happened, and I had to deal with it so its pretty safe to say I was ready for warm weather.

          Well my dream came true. Earlier this week, it was warm enough to go outside and throw the frisbee (which I think has become one of my favorite past times). We wound up doing this for probably about 2 hours before our arms started to feel like they were going to fall off. And I was perfectly ok with that simply because i got to be outside in athletic shorts and a t shirt. Like I said, it was a dream come true.

          I'm going to cut this blog post a little bit short this time because I feel like all of my other ones have been pretty long, so I'm trying something new. Keep it simple: that's the mindset here. Anyways, I've been listening to a really talented guy that goes by the name The Tallest Man On Earth. He's a Sweden-born singer/songwriter who's real name is Kristian Mattson. He clearly has been influenced by Bob Dylan (you'll know what I'm talking about as soon a you listen to him). Mattson has one of the most unique voices I've heard in quite some time. He really doesn't sound like anyone I can think of. Oh yeah, and he sings in English, so you don't have to worry about learning Swedish to listen to him. So I hope you guys like him and sorry for not being nearly as consistent with these posts as I was last semester. I've gotten a little distracted by life, I guess. Anyways, Let's hope this awesome weather keeps up. I'm sick of being cold.

-Colby McHugh

Getting Back To Normal

          Well I've been back at college for about 2 or so weeks now and, to be honest, I've missed it quite a bit. Like I said in my last post, I was pretty much on the verge of insanity for those last few days I was at home. To say the least, it was a relief to get back to college life. It was incredibly refreshing just to see my friends that I hadn't seen for about a month. After seeing them almost everyday for pretty much the whole semester, it was pretty weird to not see them for almost a month. My first order of business when I got back was to just see everybody. I never thought I would miss good 'ol Murfreesboro this much.
           So far, my classes aren't too bad. Psychology is pretty interesting so far, but I kind of figured it would be. Computer science is about as boring as it sounds. I mean as much as I love learning how to use Microsoft Word and Powerpoint, I think its pretty safe to say that I wouldn't be taking this class unless I absolutely had to (which I do). My writing class is fairly difficult so far, but that's only because he requires a lot of research to go along with the writing. If you know me, then you know that I would much rather just write instead of finding sources and such. I mean what kind of teacher actually wants us to back up our writing with facts?? Lame teachers, that's who. Don't get me wrong, I understand why it's important, it's just that it makes something that I actually enjoy doing (writing) kind of burdensome, that's all. I really thing I'm going to like my history of the recording industry class because I had the same teacher last semester, except he taught a different class, and he's a really good teacher.
         I can already tell what my hardest class is after only having two classes so far. Audio Fundamentals. It's going to be incredibly hard for two reasons. First of all, I have literally ZERO interest in recording and sound engineering, which is what all the content in the class covers. Second, after a single class, I can safely say I understand about 5 percent of the stuff we've gone over so far. Normally, I would feel like an idiot because of this, but after talking to people who actually enjoy recording and things like that, they're about where I am in terms of comprehension. Needless to say, I felt a little bit better about myself after talking to them.

         I've got a couple of really talented guys that I've been listening to these last couple of weeks. First, yet another Nashville-based singer named Andrew Belle (sorry if it seems like I'm obsessed with Nashville, but I think I'm a little bit biased since I live really close to there). The song I'm going to show you guys the single from his CD called The Ladder. It features Katie Herzig singing backup on the song. In case you don't remember, I talked about her in my last post. Second, make sure you check out a guy named Allen Stone. I found out about him because he sang backup for Andrew Belle a couple of times and I really liked his voice so I looked him up. Honestly, I really didn't expect a goofy looking white guy to be able to sing like he can, but that just goes to show that you can't judge a book by a cover. So check out these guys because I really enjoy their music, so I hope you will too.

- Colby McHugh

Christmas Break

          I've been home for about two weeks now, I guess. To be honest, I'm kind of ready to go back to school. Don't get me wrong, I've loved seeing all (or some) of my old friends and getting to hang out with my family for a pretty good while, but I just kind of miss college life. I miss living on my own in a different state and seeing my newer friends pretty much every day. Not to mention, I'm starting to get sick of people that haven't seen me in a while commenting about how long my hair is when they see me. Yeah, I know my hair is long. Its on MY head so I don't need you to remind me about it. This is also another reason why I kind of miss college. All my friends up there are used to my long hair so they don't even notice it. But oh .well, I guess that's what I get for not cutting my hair.
         On a lighter note, I finally got a computer! So this is my first official blog post on my own computer. Thank you Chandler (roommate) for letting me do this on your computer this whole first semester. I no longer have to go to the library just to type a paper. I know that doesn't really seem like a big deal, but it is to me.
          In a post I had a couple months ago, I mentioned how much my family plays ping pong. I also mentioned how I considered myself a pretty dang good ping pong player. Well, I'm going to be honest and admit that my oldest brother Evan tore me up over this break. I decided to take the high road and go ahead and admit how badly I got beaten. On the other hand, I beat my other brother Collin pretty badly so that makes me feel pretty good, I guess.
          Over the last couple weeks, I've started listening to a couple of Nashville-based singer/songwriters named Madi Diaz and Katie Herzig. The first, Madi Diaz is a folk singer that kind of borders on country, but definitely more on the folk side. She's got a powerful voice and solid lyrics and she likes to employ a slide guitar along with her acoustic sound, which is always a plus for me. Check her out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpicC7fd8YY
I heard about the second artist, Katie Herzig, through my very talented cousin, Holly Lovell, because she went on tour with Katie. I'm disappointed to say that I'm just now getting into her music, because it is really awesome. She's got a very unique voice and the only person I can think of that she sounds like is Ingrid Michaelson. Their voices are very similar, except Katie's voice is a little bit higher and has a little bit more vibrato. Anyways, here's a video of her: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI2k7R65EZY

So Close...

          Well, this semester has just flown by. It really has. Frankly, I should've seen this coming because everyone I had talked to said that the first semester goes by incredibly quickly. Of course, I didn't believe them but they hit it right on the dot. It seriously feels like yesterday when I moved into my dorm and the only person I knew was Chandler (my roommate). Now, we only have about 2 weeks left in this semester and I've got a solid group of friends that I really feel at home with. Another great thing about college is that, even though I do have these really close friends, I'm still meeting new people almost everyday that are more or less really cool.
          It feels so weird to already be planning for christmas break in these next couple of weeks but, to be honest, I'm pretty excited to see some of my old friends from Providence, with an emphasis on "some". There are definitely a few that I could and probably will go without seeing, and I'm perfectly ok with that. That said, I've missed my closest friends so much and it'll be great to get to hang out with them for a while. I'm a little nervous though because, after making all of these new friends up here at MTSU, I feel like it might be kind of weird to go back home and hang out with my old friends like nothing ever changed. I already know that I'm gonna miss these new friends over the break but hopefully I'll be able to see a couple of them while I'm home, some way or another. I'm also really looking forward to hanging out with my family a ton and the answer is yes, we WILL be playing a ton of ping-pong over the break.
          With there just being two weeks left in this semester, obviously I've been pounded with work this weekend. I have to type a 5 page paper for monday and I've got four tests in the mere three days of classes we have next week. Then finals start. I thought I was going to have to take just 3 finals but I found out yesterday that I am in fact going to have to take a fourth. Needless to say, I wasn't happy at all when I found out. But oh well, that's life I guess.
          I was recently introduced to a band called Seabear by a good friend of mine. Obviously, they're really good, otherwise I wouldn't even bother mentioning them. They are an Icelandic band (yes, there are other bands from Iceland that aren't Sigur Ros) that are the definition of chill and relaxed folk music. The singer's voice is very low key and kind of breathy. The instruments consist of a couple acoustic guitars, pianos, mandolins, and violins and the composition of all the songs sounds fantastic. Definitely check them out. You won't be sorry.

-Colby McHugh

Being An Uncle (Among Other Things)

          First of all, I would like to apologize to everyone for not really keeping up with the blog very well. I knew that when I started this, I would eventually wind up struggling to keep up with it. These last few weeks have been pretty busy, so I haven't really been doing a good job of keeping everyone up to date with what's going on in my life.

          Well, to get started, I'M OFFICIALLY AN UNCLE! If you can't tell, I'm a little excited about this. My brother Evan and his wife Rebecca gave birth to a beautiful baby girl a couple weeks ago. Her name is Adalyn Larue McHugh. I'm not exactly sure how they came up with the name Adalyn, other than the fact that it's just an awesome name. I do know, however, why they had her middle name be Larue. That's the name of my awesome grandma (who we all affectionately refer to as Bunna). Anyways, this is the first time I've ever been an uncle and I'm really looking forward to being around Adalyn as she grows up. I'm also really happy since she's only about thirty minutes from MTSU, so I'm obviously going to be her favorite uncle (sorry Collin...). I'm already looking forward to seeing her all the time and watching Evan and Rebecca as they become the awesome parents that I know they will be.

          The other somewhat important thing that has happened in the last few weeks was that I turned 19. I was thinking about it and I realized that this is one of the most insignificant birthdays ever. I mean think about it; It's right after turning 18, which is obviously a big deal because it feels like you're finally an adult (kind of). Then it's right before turning 20, which is important because getting to your twenties just seems like a big deal to me. 19, on the other hand, is just not important. Nothing big happens when you turn 19 and I don't really feel any different at all. That said, I'm still hoping that this coming year is going to be great and that I'll continue to enjoy college and just life in general.

          During these last couple weeks, I've gone through a couple different phases of music. I've seen some really awesome concerts (Mike Mains and the Branches, Horse Feathers...etc), so be sure to look up those bands because they're really awesome. On the other hand, I've been introduced to Dallas Green, who plays under the name City and Colour. I have my good friend Andrew Travis to thank for showing me his music. He is kind of a folky, singer/songwriter who has a lot of tattoos and wears glasses that I could see an old man wearing. And the answer is yes, he does look awesome in those glasses. He has a very good voice that I can't really compare to anything else just because it doesn't really sound like anything else. His songs truly sound like they were written straight from his heart and the lyrics reflect that perfectly. If you're wondering what songs to check out, look up "Sleeping Sickness" and "Body In A Box". They're definitely solid. As always, check him out and let me know what you think.

-Colby McHugh