November. Nashville. N...

At some point in recent years I made the unconscious decision to make one major annual pilgrimage to the United States to see a musical hero, usually situated in or around the area of Nashville. I could often go see these exact same musicians/artists somewhere closer like Detroit but then...I'd be in Detroit. The only thing worth seeing in Mitch-gan is the unnatural amount of road-kill. Ouch. (Before I get a barrage of Pro-Michigan hoopla let me apologize forthwith...it's just that I spent five years of my life going up and down and up and down the I-69 and have seen so many mangled deer it's a wonder I'm not more traumatized.) 

But back to the beginning.

I've seen artists such as Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, Dailey & Vincent (OK, that was Indiana), The Cox Family, some crazy buskers on Broadway that I'll make a point to avoid this time around...suffice it to say, I love Nashville for all the musical history that's been made there, is being made there and will undoubtedly continue to be made there. So it's hard to say "no" when a hero stops in at The Ryman. Especially when that hero is from Manchester, UK and doesn't spend a lot of time State-side.

About a year or two ago I was wasting time on YouTube yet again, watching Dan Auerbach interviews and stumbled across a "series" (YouTube has destroyed us) called "Amoeba: What's In My Bag?" It's basically a bunch of musicians who go shopping at Amoeba Records in LA and get interviewed on what CDs and records they're buying so we can all see what inspires them, blah, blah, blah. It's the kind of crap I can watch for hours. So after Dan Auerbach had convinced me to buy a copy of Moby Grape's "The Place And The Time" I started looking for other videos and saw one of a guy called...

Noel Gallagher.

*Here is where I apologize for not  having known who Oasis was. While they were getting famous in England I was watching Bugs Bunny re-runs and falling in love with Prince Eric from "The Little Mermaid" so forgive me if I wasn't caught up on my current stadium bands.

Anyway, I clicked on the video because I liked the way he'd done up his flannel shirt and the fact that he used the word "accosted" and couldn't stop listening to him talk. I looked up interview after interview, discovered Oasis, discovered Oasis had split, became a Noel-over-Liam fan, realized I'd heard a few of their songs before and got positively amped when I heard Noel was doing a solo album, bought the album, loved the album (very different from Oasis and better), bought tickets to see Noel. In Nashville. This November.

I'm very, very excited.

So is Mr. Gallagher.



And if schedule's and things work out I'll be joined on this pilgrimage to the Musica Holy Lands with none other than brilliant fellow blogger and Muso Jessica.

Noel Gallagher is a proper rockstar. He seems to have created a legend of himself in the Oasis heydays and has been both a self-ascribed and critically acclaimed genius. He's certainly not the greatest guitar player which he admits but he makes up for that by writing great songs and giving brilliant and hilarious interviews. He's an outspoken, opinionated, mouthy, leather-jacket clad Irish lad from Manchester who thinks the world of himself. He swears too much, brags too much, probably still drinks too much...Aside from his excellent accent and solo album I had to re-evaluate why I was so enamoured with him. A lot of it comes down to seeing eye to eye with him about much of the music industry. I can be listening to him in an interview and find myself nodding and amen-ing along as he bulldozes through issues like royalties and songwriting and rap and the like. But that's about it. I don't have any similar experience with drugs or Blur wars or not getting on with my brother. And I think he reminds me a bit of Bob Dylan...or at least the '64-'66 Dylan. Not sure what either one would think of that. Although I can say with all certainty Noel Gallagher will never be mistaken for a poet.

And yes, it is imperative that I go. He infamously takes off 1-2 years between tours and recording...I could be ancient by the time he gets around to the next tour. Life is already too short and why wait until later to do what can be done now?

So there you have it. I've got to find some creative way to announce my departure to my parents and buy a detailed road map of the USA before November 4. Until then, I'll be listening to this album and, oh yeah, Snow Patrol. Cause they'll be there too.