Blogger Street Café

When I was in high school, I worked (so did Harden!) at a bagel shop that made THE BEST chicken salad in Memphis. I don’t know if they were ever actually awarded that distinction, but it was a HUGE seller and seriously tasty*. Lucky for me (and you), I was able to get the recipe and it’s been a personal favorite ever since.

Since this is the first week of the LOML’s summer (permanent) vacation, we did a little meal planning on Sunday, and thought we’d whip up some of this tasty chicken salad to munch on all week.

TMF’H Chicken Salad (adapted from anonymous Bagel café)
4-5 lbs chicken breast
1 C sliced almonds
1 lb sliced (halved) grapes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder (we were out, so I used 1 tsp fresh chopped garlic)
2 tsp thyme
1 C (light) sour cream
2 C (light) mayo

So I used these five MONSTER chicken breasts (from a local meat distributor) that probably weighed about a pound each, and poached (or boiled, rather) them until they were cooked through. After letting them cool off a little bit, I chopped/shredded the chicken, and then let them cool some more.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “That is a **** ton of sour cream and mayo!!!!”

I know. It looks a little much. But here’s what I’d do. After the shredded/chopped chicken has completely cooled off, I’d mix in the sliced almonds and grapes and then combine all the other ingredients in a separate bowl. Then I’d fold in the mayo/sour cream mixture in small batches until you get the consistency you want. When you’re finished, throw it in the fridge and you’ve got chicken salad GOLD that should last you (at least!) a week.

In addition to having this for lunch most of this week, we had this for dinner with the LOML’s homemade pita chips and organic baby carrots (on sale @ Publix). The LOML can make some mean homemade pita chips.

* For comparisons sake, this is probably closest to Birmingham’s O’Carr’s chicken salad vs. a Zoe’s or some other sub-par version.

Jay Reatard

I've always* been really proud of the local music that's come out of Memphis. Besides the obvious (Lucero), I could easily put albums by the Glass, Reigning Sound, Pawtuckets, Corey B, Snowglobe and even Augustine (one LP wonder!) among my favorite records.**

A few weeks ago, the Memphis (errr, global) hipster community was rocked when Jay Reatard passed away at the age of 29. I'm gonna be honest. I had never listened to any of his music. I remember seeing the Final Solultions and Lost Sounds mentioned in the Memphis Flyer from time to time, but I can't claim that I'm some Reatard super-fan (I did watch p4k's A>D>D interview with him last fall though). I always thought the coolest thing about him, was the bass player in his band went to my high school ("boring rich kids") and escorted my sister for Spirit Court six (?) years ago.

Well, today I've been streaming (FOR FREE) a good bit of his stuff on his website (and myspace) and I'll say it's pretty good. Nothing helps you tie down a Statement of Cash Flows like crazy, lo-fi, jangly noise pop (with a touch of faux British accent!). But seriously, he put some good stuff out there, and you should at least check out his (major, errr Matador) indie label debut, Watch Me Fall.

* Accidental Mersh notwithstanding

** I know it'd really impress you if I said I liked the Oblivians, too.

Nostalgia has a Playlist (REMIX)

I think if you asked any of our significant others and/or college friends during the early 2000’s, they would all say our ECS friends were obsessed with each other. And I’m not saying this was a bad thing. I mean, basically, we all just really loved high school, and loved talking about all the fun we had in high school, and all the fun we were having during college, with our high school friends.


Back in college (freshman/sophomore year, specifically), our group of high school/Memphis friends had the EZ Board (a message board). I know this sounds nerdy/cheesy, but I really think this was one of the ways we were able to stay so close, even as we went away to our respective colleges.


“Back then” we didn’t have social networking or Web 2.0, and this little corner of the internet was our pride and joy. We had our fair share of drama/controversy on the board, but over the course of 18 months, made it over 10,000 posts. Eventually, the board fizzled out and I haven’t thought about logging in (could I??) in about 5 years . . .


Long story short, I discovered the Wayback Machine last week, and eventually found my way back to the legendary ezboard!!! Hope you enjoy these old school pictures (eyes not blacked out) of the old gang (mostly from Spinny J’s birthday party @ the SDR Estate).

1372 Overton Blog

So this week saw the release of LUCERO’s major label debut, 1372 Overton Park!


I received my pre-ordered* CD last Saturday and I have to say it’s really good (what else would you have me say??). In addition to Rick Steff (?) and Todd Beene (??) “joining” the band, the boys have added a full horn section to this record, completing their slow and steady transformation into the next E. Street Band.


I wasn’t sure what I thought about “rock piano” on their last record, and I’m not sure I love the horns on all these new tracks, but "What Are You Willing to Lose?" absolutely DESTROYS with that Memphis horn-y soul!!

Last night was the Memphis record release show at the Levitt (Overton) Shell (I read this morning that something like 4,000 people attended the free show). Can’t believe it’s been almost 9 years since I was at their s/t record release show @ the Hi-Tone (I’ve been to four of their six Memphis release shows).

If you’re only looking to download a few tracks, check out “Smoke”, “What Are you Willing to Lose?”, “Hey Darlin’ Do You Gamble?” and “Mom” (as heard on One Tree Hill, oh double dear).

*Included in my pre-order was a pretty sweet Lucero patch . . . but I think you all know where this is going

Give or Take the Subject or the Verb

So I was browsing around the interwebz this week and saw HOLY MOLEY, Corey Branan (sic) and Jon Snodgrass just released a split EP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I could wax nostalgic about Cory Branan for 2000 + words, but what else is there to write about him. He’s a brilliant word-smith. He’s half bat-s*** crazy (have you seen him perform live?). His debut propelled him to semi-stardom (Dave Letterman, Rolling Stone, the Playboy mansion, etc.), but his oft-delayed follow-ups have him slipping back into obscurity (I think he likes it like better that way). Anyways, if you haven’t heard his music, you should, and if have, but don’t like him, why are you blog-stalking me?!?!?

Jon Snodgrass is one of the vocalists for Drag the River, a fantastic “alt.country” band from Fort Collins, Colorado, who are “bad at breaking up” (they love to announce the band is calling it quits, only to reunite some odd months/years later). The first time I saw DtR was at the P&H Café, opening for you know who (Lucero), ummmmmmmm, 7 years ago?? I’ve seen them a couple more times since, but their Live @ the Starlight** has been on steady rotation of my life since. Lucky for Birmingham, Jon will be here this November, as part of the Revival Tour.

Well, Cory and Jon teamed up this summer to release this SWEET 7 song EP on Suburban Home records. You can get it on vinyl or cassette, but don’t worry; each comes with an instant mp3 download. Oh, and you can stream the entire thing here or below.


** Suburban Home is also offering a FREE download of Live @ the Starlight (WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?? You should be downloading this!!!!!). George Jones, Steve Earle, and the Misfits (in addition to Drag the River originals) never sounded so good!

Cleaning Out My Closet

This week, I was home on “stay-cation” and doing random tasks around the house (mostly yard work, cleaning out our storage shed, and de-cluttering closets in anticipation of the baby). Thursday I was working on our (home) office closet and found all these old framed posters/autographs I had from back in the day. There’s a (personalized) Bryan Adams autograph from the first time I saw him in concert (I’ve seen him three times). I also had (generic) Galactic and Medeski, Martin & Wood autographs and a framed Widespread Panic poster from their Thanksgiving 2000 shows at the Mid-South Coliseum. I’m planning on giving those away (possibly through BHAM.FM) to anyone who wants them, but there was another framed poster I was sure no one (outside of Memphis) would be interested in.

In high school, some of my good friends were in a band called RETROSPECT. They were really good (seriously, I’m not just saying that). They went through a “jam-band” phase, and then settled on straight ahead pop-rock (Big Star is so hot right now). I know the music industry is tough (darn near impossible), but I really thought they could have “made it” had their music fallen into the right hands.

The New Daisy Theater (was) a pretty “hot” venue back in the day, and would book RETROSPECT with other local (high school) up and coming bands. This was a good business move on the Daisy’s part because it brought in tons of high school aged kids when there weren’t any other shows going on. One band RETROSPECT would often get booked with was Accidental Mersh. They were a bunch of punk MUS/White Station kids and they were awful!!!! Seriously, they were so annoying and played the crappiest cover songs and all their preppy/snobby East Memphis friends would pack out it out!!!!!! As a “real” music fan, it was just annoying (and confusing) watching all these kids rock out to such crappy music. Even today, I can still picture their dopey bass player singing the “Owwwwww” part to Elastica’s “Connection.” Lucky for Memphis, the Mersher’s eventually graduated high school and went on their separate ways (and the RETROSPECT fans rejoiced!).

A few years later, I heard one of the Mersher’s started a band at UGA called the Whigs. They were getting a lot of buzz, but I was reluctant to give them a chance. Then I heard them on-line, and I couldn’t help myself. I felt like Rob Gordon after hearing those punk skater kids (the Kinky Wizards) outside his record shop. I didn’t want to like them, but I couldn’t help it. I bought Give Em All a Big Fat Lip and it was really good.

So I found an old concert poster from a Big Ass Truck show that RETROSPECT and the Mersh opened for (B.A.T. was an awesome local band from Memphis that “almost” made it - I think they had a video on MTV at one point, and had some college radio play, too). I was dropping off a load of old clothes and other sundries at Goodwill and threw the B.A.T. poster in for good measure. Before I left, I took a pict on my phone and sent it to N!ck and Harden for a good laugh.

“Some kid at Goodwill is really gonna be pumped when they find this,” I wrote.

N!ck replied, “CAN YOU BELIEVE that the lead singer of Accidental Mersh is now in MGMT?!?!”

WHAT?!?!?! Are you serious?!?!?! I quickly Googled (I’m already addicted to my iPhone) “MGMT Accidental Mersh” and sure enough there was an article in the Commercial Appeal last year about how this Mersher was now hitting it big. I’m sure you’ve heard their song “Kids” on the radio (I still think of Lil Kim when I hear it – thank you Hood Internet). Not only has MGMT signed to Columbia Records, but they’ve played the Late Show with David Letterman, and OPENED FOR RADIOHEAD!!! Holy Crap!!!!

So yeah, if any MGMT super-fans are living in Birmingham. Head on down to the Goodwill on Green Springs and pick yourself up a framed poster from Andrew VanWyngarden’s high school band Accidental Mersh (opening up with RETROSPECT for Big Ass Truck). I’m sure it’s a one of a kind!!!

Steal the Crumbs

When I moved to Birmingham, I was really bummed there wouldn’t be a Young Avenue Deli here in the Magic City (NOTE: the Bottletree has done a nice job filling the Y.A.D. sized hole in my heart). Not only is the Deli a great place to grab lunch, it’s also hosted all your favorite hipster-tastic bands that came through town. I’ve seen Yo La Tengo, Drive By Truckers, Bright Eyes (wow, that was 1997), Snowglobe, and LUCERO (probably fifteen plus times) over the years. Before heading over to “the Big One” Saturday afternoon, we grabbed lunch at the Deli and enjoyed the outdoor patio. I ordered the Curry* Turkey Wrap and split an order of Sweet Potato fries with my sis. I’m a sucker for anything listed as a “Deli Favorite.”
I’ve been hearing things about Fresh Slices Sidewalk Café and Deli since it opened a few years ago, but this weekend was my first time to go. I pictured more of an organic, Whole-Foods-y, O’Carr’s type café, with tons of fresh fruit, but this restaurant had burgers, pasta, steak, fish and a ton of other choices, I ordered the Evergreen Chickamauga Club (named after the Uncle Tupleo song??) which consisted of a grilled chicken breast, pepper-crusted bacon, swiss cheese and creamed spinach . . . CREAMED SPINACH?!?!? (I’m also a sucker for anything that you’re not likely to find at any other restaurant). The sandwich was pretty good (creamed spinach on a sandwich is kind of a weird textural thing), but I don’t think I’d order it again.
I also need to shout out my Mom and sisters who whipped up a feast among homecoming feasts Friday night. Here’s one of two Bandaniel-approved Fruit Pizzas, my sister, Laurie, made for dessert. My family knows how to cook.
*Speaking of curry, our good buddy Jay is doing a three month tour of duty over in India right now. Even with his “tax-ing” schedule, he’s done a great job documenting his Indian adventures. He passed on my suggested blog name “Debit, Not Credit” (think about it, it’ll come to you), but you should still check his blog “One Indian Summer” out.