First There is a Mountain: Sean Rowe

"Maybe the mountain in our lives looks more like a molehill from the other side."

"Gas Station Rose"

Sean Rowe

Saw this at Half-Price Books

and liked the cut of its jib. It was a single, and just a few bucks, but I am really trying to leave the impulse buying behind (for it has not served me well). So I fondled it and walked away. 

Came back a week or so later, and it was still there.

But bigger. 

But who was this Sean Rowe fellow? I pictured a skinny little twenty something with a high, reedy voice who sang acoustic songs about girls breaking his heart in coffee houses and coffee houses breaking his heart in girls. So I walked over to the cd section to see if they had heard of this so called Sean Rowe. And as a matter of fact, they had a cd entitled Magic. And it was the same price as that single with the come hither cover, $2.99. I looked at it, checked out the lyrics, thought that they confirmed my guess as to the fellow's composure and style, and was about to put it back and walk away when I noticed the corner of a blue slip of paper peeking out of the cd sleeve:

And you'd have to have a smaller heart than mine to resist that for $2.99, y'know? And while I was at it, I picked up the single, too.

When I got home and got down to it I immediately realized that I had no properly conceptualized Sean Rowe. That voice . . . so deep and resonant. I Googled. 42 years old. Big beard. Looked like a big guy (of course it's hard to tell without a reference point). And he'd been at it for a while--recording since 2004. 

And he was really, really good.

I Googled again. 

That's what I'm talking about.

Thank you, universe.

Only one catch: Thursday is a Kids With Me Night. So I asked them if they wanted to go to the concert. Jacqueline was over easy. Of course, she is a veteran, having gone to see My Brightest Diamond with me twice in Indianapolis. Joe, who is not as adventurous, was reluctant. But he eventually said he would like to go, too.

There's still a fair amount of distance between the cup and the lip, but I am jazzed, man.

You come, too?

If not, check this guy out on his web site (http://www.seanrowe.net) or The You Tub or Spotify or whatever the hell newfangled thing you use to get yer music. I'd suggest starting with "Wrong Side of the Bed." It's a groovy little fucker.