No band has meant more to me the past 13 years than a band from Lawrence, Kansas which goes by the name The Appleseed Cast (ASC). For me, it all started in December '01 when a girl who I had a class with at JMU recommended checking them out. Sadly, I cannot remember this girl's name but I do remember she was from Pennsylvania. She happened to be a DJ at the campus radio station and knew about all the bands that I hadn't yet heard of. I vividly remember writing down ASC's name along with a bunch of other bands she had recommended. A short time later I got onto AudioGalaxy and blindly downloaded about 10 of their highest rated songs.
I recall that the first song that I listened to was Fishing The Sky and I was immediately intrigued. The next song I checked out has become my all time favorite ASC song, On Reflection. After that it was Sunset Drama King, Forever Longing The Golden Sunsets, and Ring Out The Warning Bell. I guess the reason why I can remember every single detail of this discovery is because of how much ASC's sound has inspired me and opened up my eyes and ears to a different way of thinking and playing music. Everyone has "their" band which has influenced them in some powerful way, mine happens to be The Appleseed Cast.
As the years have passed, ASC has always been there with me and maybe this is another reason why they mean so much to me. When I found them, I was 22 years old and having the time of my life in college while living with my best friends. There was not one road trip I took after December '01 where ASC refused to make an appearance on the car radio and there were countless times when I would take the long way home just to hear a couple more ASC songs. When I moved to Arizona in '03, I went through about a 6 week period where I hit a rough spot. The dust had settled upon living in a new place where I didn't know anyone and I finally realized college was over and there would be no more wild 80's parties. I was trying to find my niche and searching for a way to connect with people. Once again, ASC was right there with a new album called "Two Conversations".
Although my favorite ASC album is their insanely beautiful Low Level Owl Volume 1 & 2, Two Conversations holds a special place in my heart as it seemed to speak to me at times when I was lonely, confused, sad, and upset. Two Conversations seemed to be the only emotional relief I could find for those roughly 6 weeks. If I could have only figured out how to make the album last longer than 35 minutes! As with a great deal of other things in life, timing is everything. Discovering and being aware of ASC has seemed to occur at the right times.
Since '03, I have seen ASC live almost each time they have come through Phoenix, once in Tucson in October of '05, and once in San Francisco in March '11. I was fortunate to have beers with Chris Crisci (singer, guitar) at the show in Tucson and that experience in itself kept me on an emotional high for days. I must have been super annoying but I recall trying to tell Cris how much his music meant to me and which parts I loved of certain songs. He was soft spoken and extremely grateful. I picked his brain about a song off Two Conversations called "The Page" and a song off Low Level Owl Vol. 1 called "Bird of Paradise". Right before he went on stage to play, we did a shot of Yagermeister together. I was too excited and too thrilled at just meeting one of my idols to be drunk. I was a sober as they get by that point and you could not remove the smile off my face.
Thanks ASC for always being there for me and letting me imagine a world inside of each of your songs.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy: