Track 34: "Red Barchetta" by Rush

Well-weathered leather, hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome, the blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware

I don't know how much simpler I could say it. Rush is awesome.

I was in 8th grade when I first came across THE Canadian power trio. A kid on my soccer team, Chris Pellicer, would always play either the cassettes of "Classic Yes" and Rush's "Exit Stage Left" when his mother would drive us to soccer practice. I immediately loved progressive rock. Yes and Rush especially seemed to fit perfectly into my explorations into classic rock--similar to Led Zeppelin and The Who--but with a step in a different direction musically.

The double-disc "Rush Chronicles" was my first Rush purchase and the amount of awesome rock songs on that album is absurd. But Rush has been at it well over 30 years now and it's the amount of music the band can create with just three people is nothing short of amazing.

This band has mega-chops, especially drummer Neil Peart, who also is the song-writer for the band. Most band's drummer's songs equate to nothing more than filler--a bathroom break at a concert--but Peart's lyrics are uber-intelligent and highly-advanced, just like his drumming skills.

In 1991, Rush was my first live concert ever. Their "Roll the Bones" tour came through the Carolina Coliseum, Primus opened, and I saw the show with my brother, Matt. Liking music is one of the few things I do better than he.

I got to see the band fifteen years later at the Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta and Rush just defies aging.

"Red Barchetta" is just such a cool tune and easily my favorite Rush tune. According to the infallible Wikipedia, the song is loosely based on the short story "A Nice Morning Drive." In the post-petrolem future, gasoline has been outlawed. And the narrator ventures to his uncle's cabin to take his prized 50+ year old sports car (a Red Barchetta) out for a weekly spin. He's encountered by enforcement vehicles (he is breaking the Motor Law after all), but through some bad-ass driving he eludes them. And heads to back to share a drink with his uncle.

So that's Rush in a nutshell. Their version of the quintessential rock song about "driving" seems like something out of some Orwellian or Ray Bradbury future. But the music is amazing--dramatic changes, ridiculous drum-fills, ebbs and flows--and undoubtedly a great song for the road.

So track 34 goes out to Chris Pellicer (who I haven't seen or heard from since my freshman year of college), my brother Matt P., Dan Balser (Creative Circus dept. head and big Rush fan), and my buddy Tillman Smith who ravenously loves this band.

Track 33: "The Waiting" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

Just as a song came to me that perfectly captured my feelings of finishing up school at The Creative Circus (see track 32), I found the perfect tune for the post-graduate feelings of "what the hell do I do now?"

The job hunt is on! It's as exciting as it is uncertain. I am dying to get started on my career...and also sweating it. Severely. With each day the finite amount of money in my checking account takes another hit and the looming feeling that I have to get a job--any job--is constantly on my mind. I'm not against working some part-time gig to help make ends meet, I'm just over it. I've done all those jobs before, it's a big reason why I decided to go back to school, and now that I'm done and KNOW exactly what I want to do--I only want to do that!

I love Tom Petty, much for the same reasons I like CCR, it's just music that's perfectly simple and simply perfect. Petty is another favorite song-writer whose catalog of music is just amazing. So many stellar songs, but "The Waiting" has always been a favorite.

"The waiting is the hardest part," perfectly sums up what I am going through right now. Sending out feelers, making contacts, hoping that some creative director out there at some great shop sees my stuff and thinks I'd be a great fit. It's been an intense two years, and I'm proud of the portfolio I made and now I am just waiting on my career to begin.

There's a snippet of "The Waiting," with Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder singing the lead vocals on the Tom Petty documentary "Running Down a Dream." And I was glad to have found the whole track on You Tube. The documentary is truly fantastic and a must-see. And Vedder just sings the ever-loving shit out of this tune.

Track 32: "Theme from The Flintstones" by the George Barnes Quartet

As of tomorrow, I will be officially done with my two-year Copywriting program at The Creative Circus in Atlanta. And I've been thinking for a few weeks about what track on my Ultimate Playlist I'd pick to coincide with the momentous day. And I had nothing I felt could truly some up the experience. Until today.

Oddly enough I was driving home from school, tying up the very last loose end of something that has occupied literally every waking moment of my life for the last two years, when this song came on the iPod. And a beaming smile grew on my face immediately.

The transition from thinking about school all the time to not at all (other than the full-time job I now have to find a real full-time job) really hasn't hit me yet and I know it will be strange at first. And I'm terrified of 'growing up and getting a job' (for about the 3rd time in my life) about as much as I'm excited about it. Except this time I also get to have the burden of student loan debt!!! USA...USA...USA

I discovered this George Barnes CD (I know nothing about the guy other than he was a fantastic jazz guitarist) thanks to mandolin genius David Grisman. I did a story on him back in my freelance writing days and somehow got added to the mailing list of his very own Acoustic Disc label and subsequently got this CD.

I just love the super clean tone to Barnes' guitar and there's just something about the groove of upbeat jazz songs that I've always really enjoyed.

And when the song came on today (totally randomly from playing on "shuffle"...or was it totally random?) it just sort of let me enjoy the moment and let the feelings of finishing up with school sink in a little bit. It's been a really fun and really stressful two years and I've got to say I'm pretty proud of what I accomplished. I also can't get enough of shamelessly plugging my website www.mark-pantsari.com. And chances are, if I see you in person, I'll try and lay a business card on you.

Come Monday, I'll face the full-time stress of the full-time process of finding a full-time job. But until then I just want to be like Fred Flintsone when that work whistle ends his day at the quarry and he slides down the trunk of his elephant-crane-thing--Bursting with joy. Yabba-Dabba-Doo!



A heartfelt and most sincere "Congrats" to the Winter 2010 Creative Circus grads!!!

Track 31: "It's Just a Thought" by Creedence Clearwater Revival

It's just a thought,
but I wondered if you knew,
that the song up there is you.
They can't take it from if you don't give it away.

Few things in this world are as simple, or effective, as a Creedence Clearwater Revival song.

CCR is just one of the bands you HAVE to like. I mean seriously, how could you not? It's also one of those bands where I couldn't even begin to think of the first time I heard them, nor can I think of a time in my life where I didn't absolutely love this band.

CCR, by no means at all, could ever blow you away with their musical chops. And I think that's my favorite part about them. It's just easy. And certifiably impossible not to enjoy.

John Fogerty is easily one of my favorite singer-songwriters of all time. Just such a cool, gritty voice and the number off fantastic songs he's written is overwhelming: "Who'll Stop the Rain," "Long as I can See the Light," "Proud Mary," "Looking Out My Back Door," "Fortunate Son," "Bad Moon Rising," "Some Day Never Comes," and "Lodi" just barely scratch the surface.

"It's just a Thought" has been one of my favorites since college. I remember driving up to Highpoint, NC with my buddy Jeff Allara to spend a weekend of beer drinking at a friend's cabin (that's literally all we did as there is nothing interesting to do in Highpoint, NC for college dudes at all) and we listened to both CCR "Chronicle" albums on the drive up from Clemson. We each heard this song for the first time that day, and I wish I had a shiny nickle for every time I've listened to it since.



CCR is also just another reason that "The Big Lebowski" is just some awesome.

Track 30: "The Inlaw Josie Wales" by Phish

I've been struggling for a while thinking of which Phish song I'd put up on the ole blog. Just as it was hard picking out my favorite Led Zeppelin or Allman Brothers song, there's just so many, but those are also two of my favorite bands of all time.

And while Phish, at one time, may have been in the coveted ranks of my favorite bands, they're really not anymore. I'm not sure when or why, but my relationship with this band has changed over the years.

Don't get me wrong, I like this band and always will. Some of my fondest memories with my best friends involve the band--particularly the Big Cypress millennium concert (which by far is one of the best times I've ever had). But I was never a full-fledged, foaming at the mouth fan. I've probably got about a dozen shows under my belt (which is a paltry sum in a music community where most 'phans' judge their sense of self-worth by how many shows they've been to or how many set lists they can recite). But I sort of blame the phans for me liking Phish way less than I used to. All the incessant Phish talk (serious, in-depth discussions about setlists, band member relations, etc), I'm just over it. All of it.

I really thought it was it for the group after the Coventry festival in 2004 (which was a giant muddy mess and the music was less than stellar) which was supposedly their "official" retirement festival. And I was perfectly fine going forward with life without Phish. But of course they came back this year with a huge tour, much to the delight of hard core phans everywhere and much to my own indifference.

I still appreciate the band and most of their songs (they have a handful of tunes I'd be fine never hearing again..EVER...(read:"Character Zero" and "Simple"). And I still think they're a hugely talented group and put on a great live show. And I'm sure I'll see them play again at some point, I'm just not going to put much effort into it.

"Inlaw Josie Wales" may not be the typical Phish song. But it's a gorgeous instrumental. And this version from the "Farmhouse" record features some nice touches by Bela Fleck and Jerry Douglas. And seeing Phish front-manTrey Anastasio perform this song with a full orchestra at the 2004 Bonnaroo festival was a true musical highlight for me.

Track 29: "Soup" by Blind Melon

You gotta do your best to decorate this dying day...this dying day

It's kind of awesome how your musical tastes can change so much over time, but certain bands will just always stick with you.

As much as the public in general seems to complain about their high school years, those memories for me are almost inevitably tied into music. Sure there was plenty of that adolescent awkwardness (hell, I'm 33 and still have plenty of awkwardness), but I think the mid-1990s were a great period for music.

And as much as my high school years were filled with classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who and Rush (I still get giddy when either of those artists pop up on the ole Ipod shuffle), several of my other favorite bands came about during my formative high school years.

I'm sure I'm no different than anyone else in saying that "No Rain" was the first Blind Melon song I'd ever heard. How can you not recall the "Bee Girl" video? The song was a mega-hit, and the band's self-titled debut album (which is all together superb) reached quadruple platinum.

I even got to see Blind Melon open for the Rolling Stones at Williams Bryce Stadium in Columbia, SC in 1994. And sadly, I wish I could go back and pay more attention. Shannon Hoon died in October of 1995 and the band put out "Nico" in 1996--a collection of unreleased songs and a really dreary take on the otherwise sunny and happy "No Rain."

I'll always think Hoon had one of the best voices ever in rock and the first time I heard the track "Soup" it literally sent chills up my spine. The beginning is just so pretty and the song also rocks a bit. And though it's sad to think of Hoon writing a line like "I'll pull the trigger and make it all go away," it's nonetheless a great song. And a band that will always take me back.