Some albums fascinate me from start to finish the first time I hear them. There’s a variety of reasons for this, just as there are some restaurants or foods that make you want more from the first bite through the last. It’s one of those things that make you celebrate your senses even more.

Such is the case with an old William Fitzsimmons record I picked back up again today called Goodnight. I’ve been talking a lot about William over the past few weeks, primarily on facebook. This is because I’m a part of a group that’s bringing him to my town of Abilene, Tx next week for a very special concert session at the Historic Paramount Theater. A lot of credit to getting William to Texas and to town goes to Barry Smoot who works with artists and managers and makes the magic happen. He’s an unsung hero to the whole concert process, and he’s THE reason that we were able to bring Iron & Wine last year.

That’s a different story. So William will be here next week and I’ll get a special recording session with him the night before the show. I’m really excited about it. In the process of marketing the show and getting other people not only excited about it, but in some cases introducing his music to new audiences, I’ve been revisiting his older music. I’ve also been revisiting some old conversations I’ve had with him over the years.

My first experience with him was in 2006 in a conversation we had over the phone. It was a great talk. One of the big things we discussed was the story behind his music. His album (just released at the time) Goodnight tells the story of loss and the separation of his parents, as well as how his family coped with the divorce. Each song tells a piece of that story.

It’s a revolutionary concept in an era of music designed to sell singles. That’s where we are culturally with music, be it mainstream, indie, or underground. The miracle of the Internet is we don’t have to spend $$ on a whole album anymore. We can download whatever individual tracks we want on iTunes or artist sites. So take that place in the evolution of music and selling music and you have this indie singer-songwriter who doesn’t write singles, he writes an album. It’s an album that tells a story. Each track stands on its own, but works together as a whole, a whole story to be told together.

If you want to hear William describe the album in his own words and describe what some of the individual tracks tell in terms of pieces of the greater story, you can hear the podcast of that conversation here. Connect with The Appetizer on Facebook and Like us here to have a chance at free tickets to this event March 5th in Abilene. If you want to go down the old fashioned road, tickets can be purchased at 325-676-9620.

Two weeks on The Appetizer radio program, I featured a new band called Ivan & Alyosha in the last portion of the show. Their latest album is titled Father’s Be Kind and we listened to a smooth tune called I Was Born To Love Her. What I like about these guys is their combination of rhythm and style. Folk and folk-rock is becoming a style and just about everyone is trying to do. Some are original, others are cut-and-paste-ers. That’s a term I sort of made up. Like in business or any other endeavor, if something is working for one person, someone else will try and cut and paste the style or presentation for it to work for them. The cookie-cutter approach rarely works. Just ask pop rock, or even worse Christian music. So much of the same thing regurgitated over and over again, where originality was lost long ago. Not so here, which is why it’s easy for me to recommend this new band to you.

Actually, upon doing a little reading, Ivan & Alyosha have been around for a little while. The band is composed of Tim Wilson and Ryan Carbary. They started in 2007 in Seattle, and made some big headway in gaining a larger audience in 2009 on NPR’s coverage of SXSW. The band name is derived from Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. Their discography includes The Verse, The Chorus (2009) and the recent Father’s Be Kind (2011). Information on the band can be found at their website.

Another great blog that’s got a lot of info as well as music and video on the band is the Indie Music Blog. Check them out.

I love well written media, from books to music to movies. Add to that list TV.

One place that is doing a lot in terms of not only bringing a great storyline to network television but also bringing great emerging musicians to new audiences is NBC’s Parenthood. In any given episode you may hear Ray LaMontagne, Fistful of Mercy, Azure Ray and other emerging artists. Being a fan of the music only adds to my love for the show.

My wife and I just finished watching the most recent episode. It’s just an incredibly well-written TV drama involving what real families go through. Real subjects covering all different aspects of relationships, friendships, dating, marriage, age and maturity are there. It’s dramatic, difficult, passionate, and above all realistic. We’re moved each week, and hungry for the next episode.

There was this amazing song towards the end of the show this week, sung from the perspective of a parent describing their child and the features the child has that the parent does as well. It was beautiful. On the show, Mae Whitman (who plays Amber on the show) performs the song. I’m looking to see who the original artist is. If anyone knows, please tell me. It’s beautiful.

And if you’re watching a TV show that also has great music, please share that here in the comments.