Nada Surf’s cover of “The Agony of Laffitte” (originally by Spoon):
Author: aftertheshow (Page 140 of 192)
Hologram’s cover of “Pale Blue Eyes” by The Velvet Underground:
I caught up with Chef Damaris Phillips, star of Food Network’s new show Southern at Heart and the winner of last season’s Food Network Star.
Damaris shares her take on the relationship between food and music, her favorite Louisville bands and venues, and the best Taylor Swift karaoke songs.
After The Show: Do you ever listen to music while cooking? Would you recommend that people use music as a way to enhance the cooking experience?
Damaris: When I am throwing a party, I always listen to pop music of today OR the ’90s. I like to dance around the kitchen singing and gearing up for fun. For mass quantity of cooking, I’m going modern country, not too loud, but perfect for singing along and breaking up the monotony.
Thanksgiving cooking, I pull out old favorites from Ryan Adams or Lucinda Williams. And for Christmas, I ALWAYS listen to Christmas music. All-time favorite is Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Seriously, music makes everything more fun, more real, more alive.
Louisville, Kentucky plays a big role on your show Southern at Heart. What are your favorite local Louisville bands and venues?
I have always been a big fan of Joe Manning’s music….Also Cabin. And my favorite venue has to be Headliners. It reminds me of seeing G. Love and Special Sauce when I was 20 years old. I felt so cool. Also, I am always pleased when a concert is at The Palace Theatre.
Sites like Turntable Kitchen try to pair songs with recipes. Do you see any connections between music and food?
In my life, my mood affects my cooking, from technique to creativity to balance. Music highly impacts my mood so it would reason that if music affects my mood and my mood affects my cooking, then music affects my cooking. College Intro To Logic at its finest! I loved that class.
Since you described yourself as a “karaoke superstar,” what are some songs by southern bands that you love to sing? Would you ever share your singing talents on Southern at Heart?
I am often caught singing Dolly Parton songs at karaoke. Also the Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain, Miranda Lambert, Johnny Cash, Randy Travis. Maybe it would be easier to say which southern bands I DON’T love to sing. And in regards to karaoke on Southern at Heart, I don’t know if people can handle it!
On Food Network Star, you completed a lot of challenges under intense time pressure and stress. How did you achieve calm/balance and mitigate stress?
I would focus on my breathing to calm and re-center. I find that’s what I do most when stress starts to close in. I breathe lots of deep breaths.
And finally, what are your favorite Taylor Swift songs?
“You Belong With Me” because it is going to be AWESOME for karaoke. I’m saving it for my birthday party! And “Begin Again” because, let’s be real, we’ve all been there.
Ok that’s all I got. Thank you for this interview. Music and food – what a lovely couple. Almost as perfect as food and love!
Thanks Damaris! Tune in to Southern at Heart on Sunday mornings at 10:30 on Food Network, and check out DamarisPhillips.com
Kan Wakan played to a full room last night (11/4/2013) at the Troubadour. I wasn’t expecting such a large band — there were seven musicians on stage!
To begin their set, a sole violinist played as the other band members came out, and everyone wore all black (except the singer, who wore a white and red jacket over an all black outfit).
Kan Wakan played effects-laden music with a ton of influences — I heard some tropical/Hawaiian sounds, as well as smooth jazz, psychedelic, experimental, and at times folksy vibes. On the second song, the singer shook a tambourine and one guitarist shook an egg shaker — this percussion as well as the saxophone really added to the overall sound.
I also noticed that the electric guitar player used a slide and the drummer played with his snare drum turned off in a few of the long, jamming songs.
Kan Wakan finished off their set with “Midnight Moon Pt 1 & 11” — the song went on a pretty long time, but the two marimba players were the best part. People in the front of the crowd were really into the music and were moving around.
+ Check out KanWakan.com for more info. on the band.
Diego Garcia headlined the Troubadour last night, playing a good selection of tracks from his new album Paradise.
Diego kicked off his set with “Darling Please” and played other new songs like “Donde Estas” and “Tell Me.” The audience sang along to the newer songs as well as older ones like “Laura” from his 2011 release of the same name.
Diego switched between singing only and singing while playing guitar.
“Truth Will Ring” definitely stood out with all its nice guitar string work, but the highlight of the concert was the last song, “Sunnier Days.” The chorus sounded amazing live, especially the “ohhh, you’re not too far away” part.
+ Check out DiegoGarciaNYC.com for more upcoming tour dates.
“Operating” by LA-based duo Hunter Hunted: