1. There’s Gotta be a Change, Jonny Lang (Lie to Me)

2. Your Love is Everything, JUDE (Sarah)

3. Lock Your Devils Up, Nathan (Travelling Roadshow)

4. Sick of Me, Ani DiFranco (Reckoning)

5. Even So, Rachael Yamagata (Happenstance)

6. Lucy, The Black Crowes (I Am Sam)

7. Beercan, Beck (Mellow Gold)

8. Tappy Tappy, The Gypsy Moths (Live on KBOO)

9. Bowl of Oranges, Bright Eyes (Lifted or The Story is in the Soil)
10. Looking East, Jackson Browne (Looking East)

The Gypsy Moths were my sister’s first band, back in the days when she had first moved out of my parents’ house and was just starting out on this path to make music her life. The band started out with just the two girls, although by the time this particular song was recorded, they had added a drummer and bass player.

Raina and Meredith have been friends since middle school and by the time they were 21, had been playing music together for nearly ten years. They learned to harmonize together and pushed one another to further and more challenging heights on guitar. When they played together, there was an incredible syncronicity that was hypnotic to watch.

The band slowly fell apart when dynamics of dating and jealousy subsumed the magic. Raina headed out on her own while Meredith chose to have a baby.

Tappy Tappy is a song that went through several iterations before landing on Despite the Crushing Weight of Gravity as Nameless Ship. On that album the intro is played by a small assortment of string instruments that are collected and amplified into the sound of an orchestra. When Raina plays that song in performance, she alters the tuning enough so that she can get a similar effect by firmly tapping the strings, turning the guitar into a melodic percussion instrument. Which is why it’s called Tappy Tappy.

I had to go to great lengths to get my copy of this live jam session that was originally broadcast on KBOO, the public access radio station in Portland (when I was in the 4th grade, I got to act in a radio play that aired on the station). I missed it when it originally aired and so I got in touch with the host of the show to see if I could get a copy. He extorted a contribution to the station from me, saying that he would be happy to send me a copy. Weeks went by as I bugged him via email for my copy. Finally he told me that he had already given all the copies of the show to my sister. It took me another several months to get her to send me the copy. Of course now, you the live disc is available on CD Baby. The injustice. To this day I still get pledge requests from KBOO.

If you’ve made it this far and still want more, check out my fellow Random Friday spinners:

Autumn
Ben
Brian
Howard
Lauren