Category Archives: Articles

My Biggest Fan Story – Vol. 2

 

biggestfan2My story all started in July of 2000 and the founding of IndieVisionMusic.com. What was once a dream, a figment of my imagination, had become a reality by the time July of that year hit. I had started the site with one simple premise: to share my hope in Jesus through a website, which at that time happened to be selling independent music from a wide variety of faith based artists. I started Indie Vision Music to share my love of music and my Faith in God with a global audience of avid music listeners. I never dreamed at the time that my little (cheesy) website would go as far as it would over the course of 14 years on the web. This isn’t about the history of IVM because that quite frankly would fill pages and bore you to tears, this is about my time working on a little known Tooth & Nail compilation album called “I’m Your Biggest Fan Vol. 2” that if you blinked, you probably wouldn’t know existed. In fact, it’s not even listed on any digital networks and tough to find on CD these days. I guess Capital Christian Music Group (Tooth & Nail Records back catalog current owner) would rather keep that title under lock and key. Read on for my story about I’m Your Biggest Fan Vol. 2….. Read the rest of this entry

Flashback Writing: Progressive Safety (2005)

I spent some time digging through old files on my PC thanks to years of old back ups and found some interesting finds. One such find was this little poetic writing if you can call it that, which I wrote in 2005. As is evidenced by the tone, I must have been under somewhat of a BiPolar high at the time of writing. I also found a few other “articles” I wrote around this same time period. Some are laughable, some are questionable, some might make you think, or not. haha.

Read the rest of this entry

New Sounds: Sean O’Donnell “Spirit Junkie”

seanodonnellspirit

I just recently purchased this new album from Sean O’Donnell titled “Spirit Junkie” off of iTunes and so glad I did. Sean has been playing in bands for nearly two decades including such groups as Dogwood, Yellowcard, and Reeve Oliver. Heck, his band Reeve Oliver even appeared on an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba that my kids were watching one day, that’s big time right? Anyway, back to the music. Sean has truly perfect his craft from years of past experiences songwriting and slinging the guitar around. It pays off on “Spirit Junkie”, a alt-rock gem hidden among and endless trove of bands all clamoring for the spotlight. Sean’s witty, and sometimes sarcastic lyrical input, gives these songs a certain charm lacking in today’s modern alternative rock. The songs strike me as finding a balance somewhere between Death Cab For Cutie, Yellowcard, and Jimmy Eat World if that makes sense.

I still remember watching Sean shred on stage many nights behind Josh Kemble (Vocals/Dogwood), some shows even I booked. Best show I witnessed was with Thrice and Dogwood at House of Blues of Anaheim in 2001. BEST.SHOW.EVER! Enough about that. Spirit Junkie is the album you absolutely need to add to your collections as soon as possible. It’s available in most digital formats including bandcamp here or on iTunes.

A Day in the Life: October 2014

Hi friends, welcome to my first official “blog post” here on Freedom Like a Song. I am going to label all my personal blogs as “A Day in the Life” and just kind of sum up what has been going on at that particular moment, a snapshot if you will. So here we go.

Read the rest of this entry

Mxpx “Pokinatcha” Turns 20

mxpxpokinatcha20

It’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed since the release of “Pokinatcha”, the album that put this little Bremerton Washington pop-punk band on the map. I still remember walking into a “Christian Bookstore” (remember those?) a year after it released and discovering this band everyone was beginning to talk about and going “Whoa!”. It was under produced and RAW but had that punk rock spirit and real heart. If it weren’t for bands like MxPx, Plankeye, The Blamed, The Crucified, Stavesacre, Focused, Strongarm, Unashamed, Bloodshed, Blenderhead, and all the other amazing faith based artists of the time especially Tooth & Nail Records. I probably wouldn’t have given thought about rekindling/recommitting my life to Christ which would have caused a chain reaction disrupting the space time continuum to where I’m at today 😉 Seriously, I am so grateful for these bands and especially the music of Mxpx. So thank you Mike Herrera for sticking with it all these years and fighting the good fight against all odds. Read a little retrospective by the band as posted on facebook today and a video from Mike, below. -Brandon Jones / Freedom Like a Song

Read the rest of this entry

%d bloggers like this: