Voices Of The Underground is a series that seeks to explore one question from many different angles. Every week, we will ask one question of many of your favorite music artists. We will post their responses below, and what you will find is that there is never truly one answer to every question, but instead a whole world of ideas that come from simple matters of taste, to deep held beliefs. Our hope is that through this series you are able to see past the promo pictures and the stage persona, and get to know the hearts of believers who are creating music every day.

Need to catch up?
Read Pt.1-What do you love about music?
Read Pt.2- What was your first musical experience?
Read Pt.3-What is your favorite/ultimate song?

It did not seem like I could ask about people’s favorite song without also asking about live music. If you are not a big concert goer, I implore you to change your ways. I have discovered that they songs themselves are only half the story, and the WAY they are played really brings out different aspects of songs you can never capture in a recording. For myself (Chuck, I am expecting you to answer this one because I know you have a million concerts to choose from) this is a hard one to narrow down. I have seen Smashing Pumpkins on their Mellon Collie….tour, Zao right before the release of Liberete…, and I even got to see MC Hammer on the 2 Legit 2 Quit tour (with Boyz 2 Men and TLC none the less). For me though it comes down between mewithoutYou at Cornerstone 07, and Wovenhand at SXSW 09. Both shows really left me speechless, and I would recommend both bands to anybody wanting to see shows that will change something in you. Enough about me, let’s see what everybody else has to say.

Joining us this week is Mark, guitar player and singer from Tooth & Nail Records newcomers The Letter Black. The band has a new EP, entitled Breaking The Silence, due out at the end of the month, so get ready for their brutal hard rock to come in and knock yer socks off.

What is the best live show you ever seen?

I saw Grizzly Bear at SXSW 09 in an old stone church with huge vaulted ceilings. The perfect setting to listen to their music to, I think. It really was amazing!

Michael W. Smith, with DC Talk opening. So awesome. I was 12, maybe? I still know so many of Toby Mac’s raps. My husband gets embarrassed by it, but I’ll totally rap…no, I think “repeat” is a more accurate term…anyways, if the party gets boring, then I get rap-repeating.

Kiss. (I) was about 14 years old and it was for their reunion tour when they put the make up back on. It was in the civic arena in Pittsburgh. It was the loudest and wildest show because of all the pyrotechnics and make up, and the stage moved, Gene Simmons flew above the crowd.

I had seen them before, but I went to see Thrice on their tour for Vheissu in Seattle in 2005. It was at this rad venue by the waterfront called the Showbox and I drove down from where I was going to college at the time to catch the show. Vedera, The Bled, and Underoath opened the show, and were all good, but Thrice was an entirely different element, that was the first album and tour where they started drastically experimenting with different instruments, tunings, and styles. It left a big impression on me and I felt that as they were maturing beyond their earlier records, which I was in love with, I was maturing right along with them.

R.A.T.M. at the Air Canada Center in Toronto when I was 20.

I don’t know. I recently saw a radical show featuring two guys from L.A. named (1) Dorian Wood and (2) Mooey Moobau a couple months ago. It was powerfully interesting.

Best live show I’ve ever seen would have to be Justin Timberlake. It was in South Florida with The Black Eyed Peas. I was like 19 i think. He just knew how to put on a show.
But on a more important tip, any show I’ve ever seen by Ascend the Hill. They are on Come&Live! Records and those dudes bring me to the throne of God every time I see them.

I’ll have to give two… one from a good number of years ago and one more recently:

1. Growing up in Southwest Florida, I ventured to a small record store called 403 Chaos in Tampa a number of times for shows during my later high school and early college years. One of the most intense (and eclectic) shows I ever saw featured Assuck, Hot Water Music, Frodus, and Darkest Hour. Just a few highlights of the evening include: Frodus‘ bassist breaking his E string on the first part of the first song of their set (“Invisible Time Lines”), every single person in attendance (or what seemed like it) singing along to Hot Water Music and them bringing at least a few people to tears, and literally people flying through the air during Assuck‘s set. I’m sure my memory of the evening has built it beyond what really happened, but I trust it was something close nevertheless.

2. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Burning Fight Festival in Chicago in May. Among those who played were Unbroken (!!!), Have Heart, Betrayed, Indecision (!!!), Split Lip (who did an Operation Ivy cover)… and TRIAL!. While people who weren’t entirely wrapped in the moment have said they played sloppy and didn’t sound great, the experience of being among 800-1000 hardcore kids all singing along to a band in unison was something I’ll never forget.

As a matter of fact, I would say Death Cab For Cutie. It was why they became my favorite band. I was 16 and I drove up to Las Vegas to see the show. The entire time I felt as if I was intoxicated. The show was amazing! They are such good musicians and put on a great show.

Nine Inch Nails Downward Spiral Tour–I don’t even remember the city or how old I was. It was an incredible performance and was a huge influence musically both in my life then and today. The Rob Zombie/Korn Tour around the same time, for the same reasons and The Black Sabbath Reunion Tour at Ozzfest–getting to see Slipknot, Pantera, System Of A Down….just the opportunity to see all these bands all in one place and to see the band that started it all (Black Sabbath). Epic.

Norma Jean/Underoath/Beloved/Dead Poetic/Haste The Day I think I was 15 it was in Fort Smith, Arkansas it was just the craziest show I’ve ever seen and it was before any of those bands were huge so it was pretty special to be apart of.

Its hard to say. I saw Coldplay in a huge amphitheater and it brought tears to my eyes, but I also went to a crappy house show and saw Lightning Bolt play and I will never for get it. There completely different experiences but they both equally changed my life. With all that being said, I would say seeing Sigur Ros play last year was one of my favorite shows. They played so many different instruments and their music is so overwhelmingly intense yet peaceful.

Its hard to pick a best show. I have seen a ton of amazing bands play before. If I had to pick, I would say that my favorite show was Comeback Kid at the Triple Rock in Minneapolis for Kevin’s last show for them as their bassist. They were flawless live, sounded better than the CD. Pretty much blew me away. Solidarity also played that night.

I don’t even know how to answer this one. I’m gonna say My Morning Jacket.
They played for almost 3 hours with no opening band. The House of Blues (Orlando) was sold out, and I bought the tickets off of a scalper for almost 3x’s the price. I can’t even begin to describe it, it was just incredible. Still one of the greatest nights I can remember hands down.

I’d probably have to say Sufjan Stevens at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in Washington DC. It was in February of 2007 and I was 21. It was just awesome. I’m a huge Sufjan fan. The theater was completely sold out and I had a front row ticket. He was performing that night with a portion of the National Symphony Orchestra. It was more magical than Disney World, I can tell you that much.

Dude–some of those old Five Iron Frenzy and Supertones shows I have very fond memories of… They were some of my earliest concert going experiences – and I just remember them being a blast – I was probably 16-17 at that point… Saw My Chemical Romance about 2 years ago and it was a PHENOMENAL show… But absolutely probably THE most memorable show for me was Andrew WK at Furnace Fest in Birmingham, AL in 2002. There were so many kids up on stage – he had kids up on his back – it was a straight up out of control party. Unbelievable…

James Taylor in Little Rock, AR. I think I was about 20. It was very raw, very scaled back. I don’t remember a lot of bells and whistles…really, just him on a stool and his acoustic guitar. However, he managed to captivate the thousands in the arena. It felt so personal, like he was just serenading me. He’s such an amazing musician and I felt like he invited each of us into his life for that moment.

Voices Of The Underground is a series that seeks to explore one question from many different angles. Every week, we will ask one question of many of your favorite music artists. We will post their responses below, and what you will find is that there is never truly one answer to every question, but instead a whole world of ideas that come from simple matters of taste, to deep held beliefs. Our hope is that through this series you are able to see past the promo pictures and the stage persona, and get to know the hearts of believers who are creating music every day.

Need to catch up?
Read Pt.1-What do you love about music?
Read Pt.2- What was your first musical experience?

This week we will continue with the more light-hearted questions, but this one is not by any means easy. Most people have at least a few gigs of music available to them at all times, which in most cases represents a few thousand tracks at least. Most people though have at least one song that always gets them, no matter when and where they hear it. I was (yes, I get to answer the questions sometimes too) 13 when i heard Smashing Pumpkins perform “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” on SNL while sitting in a hotel room with my dad. That song introduced my to world of music that was not only creative, but emotional and intelligent all at the same time. That is my favorite song, whats yours?

If you had to pick one, what would be your ultimate/favorite song?

It definitely fluctuates from time to time, but I find myself coming back to this song by a band called Thrice called “The Flags of Dawn.” Its a b-side from their album Vheissu and I was listening to it a lot around the time our original founding guitarist Kyle was dying of cancer. The title refers to flags coming over a hill at dawn to signify a new morning- a metaphor for the hope we have in Christ and that all things will come to pass. It really helped me get through that time in my life, and even though its over, the song has become sort of a reminder of Kyle and that time.

This is hard. I like “Heaven” by The Fire Theft. I don’t know what it means to Enigk, but I know what it means to me. I love the line “my whole world is falling in love with you.” When that record came out I was just beginning to realize the Grace of God in my life. I became a Christian within a couple years. That song still brings me to tears.

“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” is my favorite song right now. It is a great melody, and the lyrics are striking. Ewan MacColl wrote it for his wife-to-be, and I just read on wikipedia that he disliked almost all the subsequent covers of it, which he called a “chamber of horrors.” His recording of the song isn’t really my favorite version. I like Johnny Cash‘s the most, but this may change.

That’s a tough one, but I’d have to say “Bigmouth Strikes Again” by The Smiths. Not only are The Smiths my favorite band of all-time, but this song in particular really showcases both the band’s musical prowess and Morrissey‘s cryptic, yet provoking lyrics. It’s a great example of why their band seems so timeless and wholly unique.

I don’t think I could pick one if my life depended on it. But if I must…I absolutely love “Basin Street Blues” by Ella Fitzgerald. Anything she sings steals my heart. You can just hear the passion in her voice. Plus anything recorded back in the day was done WITHOUT Pro-Tools so these artists had to be good at their chops.

I normally would pick a Johnny Cash song or The Beatles. You really can’t go wrong there. But, with this question I usually go back to the very first song that I ever remembering hearing, and it is my favorite for that reason alone. “Walk Like An Egyptian” by The Bangles, the whistling verse will change your life.

I’m torn between 2 songs that were a huge part of my life.
“Recovering the Satellites” – by Counting Crows
This song is filled with massive emotional swells in the music. The Crows were my first real music influence. Their first album came out when I was eleven. Even to this day I listen to that album on a weekly basis (August and Everything After). “Recovering The Satellites” is from the second album and it really changed the way I look at American music.
“Stand inside Your Love” – The Smashing Pumpkins
This is the song that I proposed to my wife with. I played it for her on the roof of a building in downtown Lynchburg Virginia surrounded by candles and cold weather. The Pumpkins are probably the greatest band of my generation. Their first album was recorded in 89, and if it was put out today it would still be groundbreaking. This song makes you feel like you’re in a dream, a massive massive dream. And it’s the first real love song that Billy wrote after 10 years of making music. I just figure that whoever it was for must be someone really really special.

I don’t wanna pick a song that’s lame. I have new favorite songs all the time. Can I pick one of my own songs? I’ve loved being able to put all of my heart into one of my own songs, cause then night after night I get to sing my reality out in song… Would it be lame if I picked “My Life Would Suck Without You” (Kelly Clarkson) as my favorite?? I’ve kinda been digging on that one lately… I know it’s not very cool to pick that one. I’ve been way into Colbie Callet “Realize” lately. Beastie Boys “Sabotage” holds special meaning to me right now.. Freaking “How He Loves Us” John Mark McMillan I’m SO INTO IT… It’s so incredible leading that song in worship – it’s electric.

My favorite song is always shifting. I one point I think it was The Cranberries “Dreams” – at one point it was The Cure “Plainsong” – I got to see them play it live in Nashville it was EPIC.

Sometimes songs will jump out and hit me at just the right time in just the right way and then I’ll kinda love the song for a while cause it spoke something to me at some point. This happened a few years ago with Sara Evans version of “I Could Not Ask for More” man it was intense…

It would take me way too long to make a decision on this question. I can say, though, that the song “Saeglopur” by Sigur Ros would definitely be a first choice to throw in the drawing. That song is amazing. It will send you on an emotional roller coaster. Simply put, it is satisfying. There’s also a lot of music that I have yet to hear. So maybe if you ask me this question again in 50 years or so I would have a better answer for you.

Mine is between “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins or “I Can’t Get Started With You” by Nancy Wilson. Nancy Wilson is my girl! I wish I could have seen her perform live. She captures my feelings through her voice and I just want to sing along. I have no clue why I love “Against All Odds” so much…such a great passionate song..soft beginning…buildup…So Take A Look At Me Now…you know you’re singing it right now!!

Its hard to pick one favorite song in music, especially since I listen to many different styles of music. I think that my favorite song is “Like Knifes” by City and Colour. I just love the flow or the song from start to finish.

Underoath – “Alone In December”: I love the emotion in both the lyrics and the music and how well they match each other, with the intensity and emotion.

If I absolutely had to choose one song, I would choose “We Looked Like Giants” by Death Cab For Cutie. I would have to choose that particular song because of the intensity. The song itself is composed with two parts; a fierce but passionate beginning half that explains a story of the singer and a female he once knew, then the second half is a long overwhelming instrumental interlude that gives a tranquil mood.

Umm, if I had to choose id have to say “Juicy” by Notorious B.I.G. His flow was just so mind blowing and the way he painted his life so vividly with words was inspirational.

”Walking In Memphis” by Marc Cohn is my all time favorite song in any genre. I think it’s the perfect song. Good music makes you feel something, and no matter how many times I hear that song…it gives me chills.

“Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. Its just one of the most beautiful melodies every written. It always feels so dreamy, almost sad but hopeful. I think part of that feeling comes from the association with the movie.