THE M:M MUSIC TEAM (LOTR): Crystal Ann Lea, Meg MacDonald, Rene Magallon
FEATURED ARTISTS
Freya Ridings
"Lost Without You"
Lucie Silvas
"Kite"
TODAY Show performance 8/27
The Devil Makes Three
"Bad Idea"
Milo Greene
"Move"
Rex Orange County
"Loving Is Easy (ft. Benny Sings)"
Jade Bird
"Uh Huh"
Almost a year ago I wrote that we are now, for the most part, a vegetarian household. Our dog Emmett remains the only carnivore and we’re fine with it. Anything that helps us get him to eat, we have to take advantage; we’re convinced he has an eating disorder. He turns his nose up at almost everything and it takes us 20 minutes to get him to his bowl then another 20 minutes to get him to finally eat.
Without steak or chicken to coax him, he’d be a hairy Karen Carpenter.
The decision to go veggie was made by my wife without my consent. I have no say as our kitchen is the place where she goes to cook our dinner and I go to pour our wine. So as Maia’s pallet goes, so go I (grudgingly).
She’s more die hard about it than I am. I’m heading back to Iowa over Labor Day weekend and trying to stay vegetarian in the Midwest would be like trying to light a cigarette on the summit of Everest, only harder. So I’ll partake of my mom’s goulash, and when we go to my dad’s favorite restaurant, we’ll all order his favorite burger, tell stories and give a toast to him. You just can’t do that over a bowl of kale.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are also off the vegetarian table. There will be turkey and stuffing or there will be a MacDonald family mutiny (led by me).
It’s no secret that we’re moving to Nashville in 2019. I’m betting being vegetarian there will be harder than California but easier than Iowa, like trying to light a cigarette at base camp (not as difficulat, they have tents there).
Nashville now has a Trader Joe’s and a Whole Foods so that helps. What Nashville also has are several carnivore-loving friends. They tend to make fun of our new limited menu.
An exchange between Maia, me and one of our Nashville besties this past weekend highlighted what we’re moving into.
I texted our friend a picture of a grill I thought would be great to have for cookouts when we move, asking her advice. That won’t happen again.
Me: Is this a good one? You’re going to have to teach us how to use it. Her: Why would you guys bother to get a grill? Me: We can bbque some veggies! Her: (No words, she texted an emoji with a gun to its head) Me: Allllll riiiiggghht. We can do veggie burgers. Maia: HA! Maia: Are you going to be in LA in December before Christmas? We’re having a Christmas party.
About 10 minutes went by with no response.
Me: We’ll have meat there. Her: I’ll try and make it. But don’t get anything for me. I do not trust either of you to buy meat. I’m not kidding.
We don’t know if she’s coming but if she is, instead of showing up with a bottle of wine like most of our California-based friends and family, I’m guessing she’ll show up with a bottle of A-1 and the steak to go with it.
Either way we are fine with it. Holidays and my once-a-year trip home to the Midwest aside, we can now look any cow we come across in the eye and feel no guilt.
Unless we’re walking Emmett.
“Sometimes, what you’re looking for is already there.”
– Aretha Franklin (1942-2018)
Amos Lee
“The most personal and deeply felt of Lee’s seven studio albums.”
– Billboard
“Stunning… Amos Lee illuminates nature with ‘No More Darkness, No More Light.’” – NPR Music
Jade Bird
"...channeling the storytelling of Americana-country godmothers like she sold her cold tea-sipping English soul to the devil for some of distilled Loretta Lynn essence. However, despite obvious comparisons to country queens, she's got that dry-as-hell humor and animal-cry growl of heartbreak, which can boil up to explosion and back down to a sweet whisper in one chorus...which places her firmly in the lineage of power-chord wielding solo female icons like Alanis Morissette, Liz Phair, Fiona Apple and more." – Paper Magazine
Static and Surrender
“On their self-titled debut album, Static and Surrender embody the best of indie rock. Intense emotion pours through these concise, carefully crafted tracks” – Skope Magazine
“Upbeat Rock Sound”– California Rocker
“Depth and Dynamics” – Blurt Magazine
George Ezra
“What better way to soundtrack the summer than a song about a road trip to the beach? George Ezra's bouncy, carefree Shotgun resurrects the fretless bass sound of Paul Simon's Graceland.
It's already number one, and it looks set to stay there.” – BBC News
“George Ezra writes songs that are simple, catchy, and always seem to put good vibes out there. Check out this new one I can’t stop listening to.” - “Jared’s New Favorite Song” on KINK.FM
