My mom and I split a rack of ribs that came with two sides and Texas toast. Let me tell you about these ribs. They are magical. The meat slides off the bone and melts in your mouth, the smokiness is just right and the sweet sticky barbecue sauce compliments the whole thing and will make you do a happy dance in your chair. These are seriously the very best ribs I’ve ever had. I don’t think I could ever bring myself to order something different on the menu, but I’ve heard great things about all of the food. The sides speak for themselves, too. We ordered the macaroni and cheese, gooey and cheesy with just the right kick of pepperiness. We got french fries too, but they ended up being neglected for the most part. |
Earlier this summer, my mom and I went out to dinner in Downtown Roswell. We were planning to go to our favorite pizza place, Diesel, but we couldn’t find parking easily. While we were driving around trying to decide what to do, we caught a wonderful whiff of something that smelled faintly familiar, delicious and perfect for our rumbling tummies. It was the smoke wafting in the air from Swallow at the Hollow. We immediately changed our minds and followed our nose to this old favorite barbecue place of ours. It had been years since we had eaten here, but Swallow at the Hollow has been a Roswell landmark since before we moved to Georgia in the 90s. I can remember when I was young, my friend Lindsey’s parents took us out to dinner there and tiny little 7-year-old me ordered a full rack of ribs that (to everyone's surprise) I easily put away without a problem. I was a total carnivore when I was a kid, needless to say. I’m not sure why we hadn’t gone in a while, maybe because the restaurant is tucked back in a nice little corner, sort of hidden from the rest of the downtown scene. The delicious smell is the only thing that gives away its hiding spot. But, even though I've been missing out, the food hasn’t changed at all. It’s still as mouthwatering and completely satisfying as ever. And the atmosphere at Swallow at the Hollow hasn’t changed a bit either. It’s relaxed in southern fashion, and most nights there’s live music and plenty of people eating on the picnic tables out front. My mom and I ordered a couple of beers and an appetizer to start. I went with a Blue Moon, which I really only like if it’s on draught, and it was perfect for a cool summer evening. My mom got a Stone IPA, which comes from a brewery in California that we when to when we visited my brother last Christmas. We also got an order of fried green tomatoes, which my mom really loved but I wasn’t crazy about. I’ve adopted sweet tea and grits, but fried green tomatoes are a southern favorite that will never make its way into my book. Besides, I was saving room for the main event anyway! I wish we had room for dessert, because the pies they serve come from Greenwood’s, another well-established restaurant that’s right across the street. I guess I’ll just have to go back for it next time! Which will hopefully be soon, because I’ve made myself hungry all over again by writing this post. No joke, if you’re ever near this place (or even if you’re not), you need to make your way over there and get some of these ribs so you can die happy. You can thank me later!
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As someone who has studied social analytics and knows a good campaign when I see one, this one blew my mind on another level. It helps when you’re a mega fan of the music, but to recognize, appreciate and understand how difficult this type of online connection is to achieve gave me butterflies (I know I sound like a mega dork, but that’s why I picked this industry to go into!). Marketers all over the world are drooling with jealousy, but it really goes back to the type of social brand Bassnectar has built for himself. He’s an open artist, he interacts with his fans regularly, he shows his kind-hearted and goofy personality in each purposeful message he sends out. It makes his followers feel as if they’re following a good friend, which is a breath of fresh air against the contrast of most musicians and other verified accounts. He follows his fans back, adds to our discussions, and feeds us with plenty of wonderful tidbits of happiness and inspiration. For a man that is so busy creating music, playing shows, and having a personal life, the fact that he invests so much genuine time in this outlet makes me (and every Bassnectar fan) have an immense level of respect for him.
A DEEPER LOOK INTO THE SUN
I could talk for hours about the success of the #IntoTheSun campaign and how crazy awesome it was not only to follow it from start to finish, but to also be a part of it. 'Campaign' isn't really the most fitting word; to me it takes away the beauty of it all. So, not to throw negative connotation out there, but it is a social campaign when it comes down to it. And a very special, unique and outrageous campaign at that. Just to get a visual on how mega impactful it was, I’ll let my handy infographic speak for itself.
Seriously, over 8 million impressions in 24 hours! That’s incredible, and I haven't heard of anything that compares on a social platform in the music industry. There were plenty of other stats out there that were all just as impressive, but these two are the ones I chose to bring out because they show the real impact and human impressions that this campaign caused. Sharing music and new ideas with people and connecting them across the world through one mega portal is one of the greatest and most beautiful things that social media can cause. Thank you, Lorin, for reminding us of that.
LISTENING PARTY RECAP
Like I said, this listening party was an amazing experience. I’m going to recap it the best I can, and give you a timeline of sorts that lays out the dominos leading up to the main event. Hang tight, cause it’s about to get all visual up in here!
THE HYPE:
Lorin had me drawn into his evil genius plan the moment he tweeted a teaser of his new album’s artwork the night before he released five preview tracks. So, the next day he released the full album artwork (which I’m a huge fan of). I preordered the album and started immersing myself in the new music. I had been watching Twitter all summer, seeing his amazing trips to Red Rocks, Bonnaroo, and Electric Forrest. Three big performances that I wish I could have made it to, so getting a taste of some of the new tracks he dropped there was too satisfying and made me feel that seeing him at Camp Bisco in a couple weeks will be worth the wait!
Sure enough, the release of the preview tracks was the real catalyst that started getting everyone insanely excited for the full album to drop. It was heightened even further when a week later, Bassnectar announced the listening party that was in the works. He threw one last year for his album Noise vs. Beauty, so it was another tradition many people were looking forward to. And then, on June 30th the full album dropped and, well.. you’ll see what happens next.
THE ENERGY SPREADS:
THE PARTY HEARD ROUND THE WORLD:
The listening party itself was executed perfectly. The whole point was to gather with people you love, and even though I didn't have a huge bumping system to listen to it on, or a crew to meet up with, I cozied up with our headphones and partied silent disco style. And, I had Lorin and the rest of the Bass Network synched up with me. The mixtape is a continuous compilation of every song on the album, plus a few surprises mixed in (I left those out of the list, so you'll just have to go discover them for yourself!). I picked out my favorite tweets that Lorin threw out there while talking about each song. You can listen along either on SoundCloud or Spotify. Ready to relive it with me? Yeah, I thought you were :).
CHASING HEAVEN
NO WAY - BASSNECTAR REMIX
INTO THE SUN
SPEAKERBOX (FEAT. LAFA TAYLOR)
SIDEWAYS (FEAT. ZION I)
THE MYSTERY SPOT
ROSE COLORED BASS - BASSNECTAR REMIX
GENERATE
ONE THING (FEAT. CHRISTINA SOTO) - BASSNECTAR REMIX
SCIENCE FICTION
BLOW [2015 VERSION]
SOMERFAGEL - BASSNECTAR REMIX
DORFEX BOS - BASSNECTAR REMIX [2015 VERSION]
BREATHING [2015 VERSION]
DUBUASCA [2015 VERSION]
ENTER THE CHAMBER [2015 VERSION]
BASSHEADS UNITE
While all of the above was going on, you can bet that people all over were chiming in, adding to the discussion, linking up with new friends and sharing all the feels that were a result of this epic listening party. It was an awesome addition to the mix, and these tweets embody the good vibes that were being sent all night.
A PERSONAL TOUCH:
Lorin stuck a ton of stories and thoughts into this listening party. If you noticed, there were a good number of songs that were marked [2015 Version]. He remastered a handful of older songs for this album, adding an air of nostalgia for him and some OG fans. I remember in 10th grade listening to Blow and Dubuasca before I had any clue about electronic music or Bassnectar. Hearing the new versions is such a cool trip, and who better to explain that than the King of the Sound :).
Once the party came to an inevitable end, Lorin left us with a positive message, just as he does at his shows. It was the best way to tie off the night and still leave so much energy lingering in the air.
Man, what a cool experience. I was left feeling totally inspired and energized. I'm beyond eager to get to Camp Bisco, and I'm also just excited in general about the new music I get to enjoy now. Starting with this post, I'm about to share it with anyone and everyone I can. Go find an outlet, Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes, whatever it is, and fill your ears with the amazing creation that is Into The Sun.
RELATED POSTS
Welcome to July! Another fun month, and summer is finally in full swing. I'm so excited for the upcoming things I have planned, and it's officially one month until my brother's wedding! I'll be honest, I kind of lazed around most of June. Aside from coaching, I didn't keep myself very busy and I'm a little disappointed in myself for that. I managed to make some progress on my fitness goals and started making a dent in some new ones, but this month didn't feel like the most productive for my 101 challenge. I'm just 50 days into my challenge (1/20th of the way there) and I've only crossed off two goals. I will have to kick it up in July to give myself some good momentum! But, here's some of what I've been up to in the past month.
Completed will be bolded. In Progress will be italicized. Incomplete items will stay normal.
I am happy to hear that one of my high school friends, Hanna, started her own list after seeing mine on Facebook. She and her husband live in Germany so it'll be cool to follow her unique list of things from an international perspective! A lot of people I've talked to about my list have said how cool this idea is, but haven't actually done it yet. If you're one of those people, there's no better time to start than now! As for goal 7, my high school swim coach asked me to come speak to his 2nd grade class in the fall about writing. I'm absolutely thrilled by the idea so I marked this one as 'in progress' until I actually do it.
I completed goal 12 without meaning to. When I added that one to the list I had pictured myself starting to collect coffee table books or maybe music festival pins. Then my boyfriend and his roommates started getting into Magic the Gathering. It's a turn-based combat card game that ranks pretty high on the nerdy scale, and they spent an entire weekend playing game after game. So, I became curious and played a couple rounds. The next day I went out and bought my own set and now I'm collecting these cards and building decks to battle with. I won't lie, it's pretty fun. It isn't exactly what I had in mind, but it counts! I don't want to talk about goal 21 or 22! I had hoped I'd be in double digits for my running goal, but I fell short. Again. The first week of the month I was so good at being active and drinking this green smoothie every day and really trying to make a habit of it. Then life got in the way, and I slipped out of it. I did start getting back into tennis, though. I played some with my dad (who is a total expert and really helped give me some good pointers), and Vinnie has been wanting to play more too. Once I find someone who will commit to playing a T2 season with me, I'll definitely be able to make tennis a more regular thing! I've also been good about keeping my shoulders back more often to fix my awful posture as part of goal 30. At least my chiropractor has noticed! I added to goal 47 and 48 on my birthday, which was a total blast! I'm excited to see what new brewery I'll check out next! I'm also so happy about goal 71, when I spent the day watching a Red Sox game with my dad. Read the post, it'll give you a full idea of how special it was to me! I added to a few other goals here and there, and hopefully next month I'll be able to make even more of a dent! Oh and one last thing, if you're a fan of my writing and want to get updates sent right to your email, just type it in the box below and you'll be subscribed (and you'll be helping me reach one of my goals at the same time). That's a win-win! And, a super big thank you to everyone who signed up yesterday! |
Writer, stargazer, believer in human beings. Die-hard rock and roller with an insatiable urge to dance my way through life.
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