#i have a way more midwest vibe than a southern vibe

[aurorawest]

Reading update

Best Men by Sidney Karger - 3.5/5 stars

Man. When I started reading this, I was positive I was going to rate it 5 stars. The first third or so was hysterical, often to the point of me not being able to breathe because I was laughing so hard. Ultimately though, the romance fell extremely flat. There wasn't really enough development for it, and I don't think it boils down to a marketing issue—the romance is too big of a focus to say, "Oh, this was just general fiction they wanted to market as a romcom." It really was an issue with the romance just not being very well written. Another issue I had was that at times, the writing was very...cringey. Like, I couldn't tell if the author was trying to keep Max's voice (which was funny) or if he just can't write genuinely heartfelt scenes. The big, romantic sex scene could probably be added to that one post with the collection of horribly written sex scenes.

There were also some weird inaccuracies about Midwesterners that of course bugged me as a Midwesterner. We call soda "Coke?" No we don't. It's pop. Maybe there's some southern creep into the Midwest but I've N E V E R heard anyone say Coke when they meant pop generally. Also, Midwesterners like pools? I mean I guess, but we learn to swim in lakes (as opposed to the ocean).

In case you're wondering, I knocked an entire star off for the Midwest inaccuracies.

Mountain Ghost Stories and Curious Tales of Western North Carolina, edited by Randy Russell and Janet Barnett - 3.5/5 stars

I picked this up at one of the visitor centers in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on our trip there last fall. Most of these are more like folk stories than ghost stories.

Timberdark by Darren Charlton - 5/5 stars

What if the real dystopia isn't the zombie apocalypse, but "normal" life?

I was going to leave it at that but NO, I have more to say. Why aren't these books more popular? Why isn't everyone screaming about how gorgeous they are and how this is what YA should be? Why do they not have a US publisher? Why are they not all over freaking BookTok tables at bookstores?

I honestly don't even want to say that much about the Wranglestone duology because I want everyone to read them and experience them. Wranglestone and Timberdark are genuinely a couple of the most gorgeous books I've ever read, Timberdark in particular.

Road of Bones by Christopher Golden - 3.25/5

Immaculate vibes and incredible setting. Not much more to it than that.

Ravensong by Carla Fay - DNF

At 4 pages in. I hated everything about this book immediately and I don't have a good reason.

Maelstrom by Jordan L Hawk - 4.5/5 stars

BODY SWAP.

A Pocketful of Lies: Collected Stories by KJ Charles - 5/5 stars

5/5 stars for Masters in This Hall alone.

If I See You Again Tomorrow by Robby Couch - 4.25/5 stars

Considering this is billed and marketed as a romance, there was surprisingly little romance in it. It was good, though. Robby Couch is one of my favorite queer YA romance writers.

Eleventh Hour by Elin Gregory - 3.75/5 stars

OMG they were mission partners! Interwar period gay spies in London, hard to go wrong.

Out in the Open by AJ Truman - 3.75/5 stars

Truman has this habit of describing sex scenes in bizarre and not particularly sexy ways ("I sucked his cock a thousand times harder than a vacuum cleaner" is an actual real comparison from this book), but his books are funny with endearing characters, so I give him a pass. I also think it MIGHT be something he does when he's writing younger characters, because the other time it was really pronounced was in The Barkeep and the Bro, where one of the characters was in his mid 20s (Out in the Open is a college romance).

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell - 5/5 stars (reread)

This book was as good, if not better, the second time around. Kiem is so funny and lovable and Jainan's history made me even more sad. I really love how well Maxwell handles the fact that Jainan was in an abusive marriage for five years while still writing a slow burn romance that doesn't span multiple books. This book is an inspiration to me and is pretty much my perfect book—gay and sci-fi. On this reread I could really see its influence on my own writing, haha. Which is cool to know that I can still be influenced in a major way even this far into my writing life!

Anyway if you haven't read this book, I honestly don't know what you're waiting for. Read it read it reeeeead ittttt.

A Veil of Gods and Kings by Nicole Bailey - DNF

DNF at 15 pages. The main character was annoying and the author took 'show don't tell' a little too far. Everything was described in flowery, overwrought purple prose. Seriously, it's a road. You can just say it's a road. Also I never want to see 'Artemis' shortened to 'Temi' ever again. Please just no.

[drewmoi]

okay i know you probs won’t post this (hopefully you do bc i want everyone’s opinion) buttttt……

like for starters i hate even trying to put a political label on ppl (celebs especially) but i swear as someone who’s in a midwest/southern state (growing up in a small conservative town) i can almost confidently say i think he’s slightly conservative and i wanna clarify and say that i personally don’t think that’s a bad thing. being a conservative doesn’t make you a bad person at all. i think being cruel and mean to ppl for what they believe in is cruel. or ppl who discriminate are cruel.

i wanna add that i think he’s socially liberal (believes in all these rights for EVERYONE, but is probs economically a conservative. i could be wrong but i have more reasons why i believe this)

okay but this is why i say this….

he rarely posts about politics like most celebs do (even the ones who aren’t active still post). but i’ve never once seen him post about the ab0rti0n problems or climate change stuff. (that i know of at least). and from what i can tell from most ppl in hollywood, the ones who are typically slightly to fully conservative don’t speak on their beliefs to save themselves from backlash. (like i said before even the ones who are reserved still post about ALL the problems in the world rather than just some. i hope that makes sense)

he’s from a conservative town AND family. which typically influences ppl and their views (but not always) and grew up religious (from what i’ve seen or heard he still is slightly religious)

and lastly like i said in the beginning as someone who’s from a mainly conservative country town i’ve had the opportunity to people see and learn what a conservative looks and acts like. it’s the way he carries himself. 9/10 i’m correct. and it’s easy for me to spot a lowkey one bc i know many and am just a smidge of one as well.

hopefully this doesn’t make anyone upset. i don’t intend to make this “dislike” him. i can see why ppl think he’s a liberal but for me i just get the vibe of him being a LK conservative:) i love your account and hope this doesn’t upset anyone. this is just my personal opinion.

Not gonna lie I was thinking about not posting this cause politics is a very touchy subject. But I’m a firm believer in everyone has a right to there own opinion and to share it. But I’m not gonna comment on this one just cause I don’t feel comfortable giving an answer ( Nothing towards you anon!!! ) politics in general makes me uncomfy

[silverandebony]

i'm sorry. TAGGING SASKATCHEWAN CANADA AS KANSAS SOUTHERN GOTHIC AND APPALACHIA????

TAGGING SASKATCHEWAN CANADA AS KANSAS SOUTHERN GOTHIC AND APPALACHIA*

*i misremembered and the one tagged with appalachia&appalachian gothic isn't Explicitly saskatchewan (all of the pictures with location captions are apparently from saskatchewan so i'd be inclined to guess it probably is too, but there's no way to know for sure). so who knows!! i don't know what appalachia looks like! maybe it IS appalachia! in which case why is it also tagged saskatchewan

[Image ids: three cropped screenshots of 'regional gothic' style tumblr picture posts and their tags. The first picture is a truck at an empty intersection with a hazy yellow sky; the second is part of a building mural depicting a nature scene with canada geese captioned 'rural saskatchewan'; the third is of the edge of a town on a foggy day, with old, short buildings fading into the mist, captioned 'uranium city, sk'. Tags common across all three posts are: ethel cain, southern gothic, regional gothic, rural gothic, midwestern gothic, kansas, and midwest. Two of them are tagged with 'gibson girl'. Additionally, the truck picture is tagged with appalachia, appalachian gothic, twin peaks, and hayden anhedonia; the mural picture is tagged with small town usa, small town, small town america, small town canada, great plains, prairies, prairie, and prairiecore; and the foggy town is tagged with 'ghost town, liminal, liminal spaces, and foggy day.

End id.]

I also went back to the blog to see if those posts were still there so I could take better screenshots (they weren't; hooray reporting things for spam) but upon further scrolling I realized that every tagged post. Every. Single. Post. With Tags. all of them. Are tagged with southern gothic and kansas and saskatchewan. THESE ARE NOT THE SAME. WHY ARE YOU USING ALL OF THEM THESE ARE NOT THE SAME

*coughs* anyway. Among all of these, in all their spammy mistagged glory, there is one I would like to give a special shout out to, for in my opinion being the most wildly tagged:

[Image id: another screenshot of a tumblr picture post. This one is a picture of a small motel with a rundown fence in the foreground. A colour filter has been used to make the picture look washed out and fit the regional gothic vibes. This picture has been tagged with: gibson girl, americana, appalachian gothic, midwest gothic, preacher's daughter, regional gothic, rural gothic, southern gothic, hayden anhedonia, ethel cain, nebraska, kansas, motelcore, appalachia, southern aesthetic, saskatchewan, alberta.

end id.]

Take a moment to appreciate it. Bask in its questionable glory. Allow yourself the time to question why?

I think it's the 'alberta' tag that really makes it for me here. The 'nebraska' as well. The latter I assume is from the title of one of Ethel Cain's songs, which would explain... to some degree... how it got there. Why 'alberta' though? Why this picture, out of all of them? Is it actually from Alberta? (It could be; I've seen similar looking things) If it's from Alberta, why is it also tagged 'saskatchewan'? 'kansas'? 'appalachia'? 'southern gothic'? Do not each of these preclude all others? If it's Saskatchewan or Albertan, why is it tagged 'americana'?? Is it for views??? If you want it seen, it's already got the tags! Regional and rural gothic are fine! They'll probably get you a lot more views than tagging something with a Canadian province ever will! I just. I don't understand. why. why have you done this. please stop. i'm begging skfjjsjfjj

in conclusion: tumblr has tagging etiquette and i am begging the young aesthetic bloggers to take a moment to learn it. it will save you so much being reported for spam and having your posts and or possibly your entire blog taken down because of it. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a blog to go report specifically because of this

[urne-buriall]

3 11 17 26 our lights in ashes, only if you're so inclined!

okay, our lights in ashes. probably my most ambitious and intentional fic. (the "time has come today" series is longer but it was all an accident.) let's jump in.

3. How did you find the visuals for this fic? Is there a method you have?

no focused method! whenever I see a picture that catches my eye, I save it. if I visit a place or read about a place, I keep a picture too. I do the same with quotations I come across. my memory isn't photographic, but it's not far off and my visual memory is the key to unlocking everything else about a place or a feeling. this was a really visual fic and I definitely made up a special folder of images saved over the years that got me into the right headspace. there wasn't much I looked up deliberately, but I remember I was looking at a lot of Andrew Wyeth paintings--though they're more Midwest than Southern--and I watched quite a few movies that fit the Southern Gothic vibe like Eve's Bayou (highly recommended) and Shy People.

11. Was there a scene that you hadn't originally planned to include? Why did you decide to fit it in?

in the outline I shared, I mentioned Cas as "homo sacer" which is a concept the continental philosopher Giorgio Agamben writes about. I read his book but, as is becoming a trend with me it seems, find it more compelling in summary than in depth. Homo sacer (sacred man) is "a figure of Roman law: a person who is banned and may be killed by anybody, but may not be sacrificed in a religious ritual." and I had considered how this might apply to Cas in relation to the other angels because he is an outsider, to my mind. it feels right to me that he can be killed but not sacrificed, should it come to that in Heaven. that was something I wanted to explore but then it was way, way too far outside the plot and would've been incoherent with the narrative. I love to read and write about philosophical concepts but I hate when an author includes them just because it's their hobby horse. so I sacrificed that pretty quickly and continued on with the romance.

17. What was the hardest scene to write?

I didn't want to write the hangman episode because I really wanted it to be so good and was afraid it would suck. 😶 but since I write in order, I couldn't continue unless I wrote it so I just had to.

26. Wild Card! I'll tell you a fun fact about this fic!

might've already said this before, but I originally wrote this for @deancaspinefest, finished in October more than a month ahead of deadlines, and was too impatient to wait till Feb/March for posting. I write fast and am very bad at waiting.

ask game

[ziracona]

Do you have any headcanons for how survivors/killers' voices sound like?

Yes, absolutely. Every character I write, I have a voice for that I hear in my head when I write their dialogue. There are like /60/ characters though, so idk if I should list all of them. It can also be a little hard to describe it beyond like, pitch or accent, because it’s never like, “Like X famous actor” or something. They’re just voices I made up. So I am unsure how helpful my descriptions would be.

For a few of them though, Claudette is quiet and has a soft voice. She’s anxious, and stutters or hesitates a lot when talking unless she’s really comfortable, and then she will happily go a mile a minute. Higher pitched, and pleasant.

Jane has a very refined tone. She enunciates like someone who went to school to learn how to do it properly, and sounds calm and collected and in charge almost all the time. Her default is a midwest standard/hollywood/actor accent, which is essentially no accent at all in English. Except that you add to that sounding like an orator. Her voice is deeper, and sophisticated. It would carry well.

Joey has a medium vocal range, probably higher than low if it was on a slider. Youthful and sounds like a generally happy and energetic person. He has a very specific way of enunciating I could easily replicate, but don’t know the name for. Like...you’re talking more inside your mouth and throat, than you are projecting? Is the best way I can think to describe it? More sound from the back of your throat than the front of your mouth. 

Philip has a very nice voice, deeper, but not like deep-deep. Calm and reassuring, even damaged. He tends to speak very softly, which is a learned choice. If he is speaking English, he tends to talk over-formally, because he would much rather be that, than perceived as under-educated or unprofessional, which were basically his two choices where he was culturally in America. He’s Nigerian, and he has a bit of an accent in English, as one tends to.

Vigo has an accent that almost sounds slavic. You’d have to actually listen to videos of people who are Southern Sámi to get the most accurate picture, but while he grew up in Norway, his family is South Sámi, and accent wise, it sounds to more a little bit slavic, but...softer on the consonants? It’s a very pretty accent imo. 

Jake has a much deeper voice than most of the survivor men, and a no-nonsense way of talking. Often sounds exasperated or slightly annoyed--he has resting done with your shit voice. Exasperated first half of Fellowship of the Ring Aragorn vibes, but younger.

I could keep going, but I’m not sure how well this translates for other people. :’-] In general, if they have a voice in DbD, they sound quite a bit like their voice lines. Well, if you can actually tell. Some have very exaggerated sounds when hurt, some rein it in more, and the ones who rein it in are the ones more likely to actually sound like that instead of just scream like that. So like, Claudette and Meg sound fairly similar. Jake isn’t as close? I don’t know what is going on with Steve, tbh, lol. Ace is pretty dead on. That kind of thing. Anna sounds like she sounds singing. Mid-low voice, Russian accent, softer intonations except when angry. She has the range, darling kinda scale haha. If there’s anyone specific you want to know about, let me know, but I’m gonna stop this one here bc I will feel bad if it gets a ton longer.

[renegadehoneybee]

2, 4, 5, pick any you want to answer

Ooooh, thank you for the ask!! <3 <3 <3  2. What's a character that you dislike? Dislike for writing reasons? Alex, i get why they integrated her with the Jody plotline to set up Wayward Sisters, but honestly i would’ve preferred to spend that time developing Claire further (and honestly, i did not get anywhere near enough Claire & Jody, OR have Claire & Donna do a hunt???? Iconic. Can you imagine???)  Dislike because they’re terrible in-universe? I feel like the common answer here would be John. The neglect and child abuse is just difficult to see past, especially given the long-term effects his actions have on both of his sons (and the various people they then go on to interact with). I just. I don’t like John Winchester.  4. What spinoff would you have liked from the show? THE BANES TWINS. Twigs, Twine, and Tasha Banes would have been a phenomenal backdoor pilot AND i think there was a lot of opportunity there to have further exploration into magic as a concept. I also just really loved Max and Alicia, and i think there was so much opportunity to delve further into those characters and their relationship and dynamics, especially the plot that gets set up with Max having damned himself to bring Alicia back. 

Also potentially fantastic opportunity to have like, a different atmospheric vibe for the show. I may be misremembering but i think when they call Mary they mention being in Louisiana, and i like the idea of contrasting a sort of southern gothic backdrop with Max and Alicia as these very modern characters, both aesthetically and in terms of who they are. Being really cognizant of the role of race and sexual/gender identity in how they occupy space in (many predominantly white) small towns and suburban areas. The conflicts and insecurity that sometimes results from them traveling areas where they aren’t safe, not because of monsters but because of other humans. It’s a more explicitly dark take on the supernatural-americana-road trip vibe, because it’s very much outright suffused with this country’s terrible struggle with racism. In fact, there would definitely be opportunities to examine the history and legacies of concepts within the genre that have really racist connotations--the glorification of pre-civil war america, the legacy of segregation, even, i think in season 2 of the Max and Alicia Banes series that exists in my head, moving to other locations set in the midwest, west coast, and the north and exploring and contrasting how these issues are different and the same. I mean, racism certainly isn’t exclusive to the south, and in some ways i think it’s more insidious in places where people think prejudice is either gone, at least where they are, or that it’s not their/a problem. 

And i mean here’s the thing too right, Max is a witch, Alicia technically isn’t human. The big problematic element of hunting as a white paramilitary fantasy eradicating “the other” can be subverted if we (”we” lol this is all in my head, @kripke like i’m the showrunner now) correctly handle how their identities 1) impact their approach to hunting and b) we reconsider/reframe the power dynamics. Max and Alicia don’t hunt on the fringes of society, seeking out monsters that threaten traditional family values/structures, their hunting focuses on targeting monsters that abuse the power they hold over others. And more often than not, that kind of power is derived from institutions (everyone from the man that abuses his wife and kids to the pharma CEO insider-trading), which often not just permit, but actively facilitate the abuse of power in order to preserve it (and the existing order). I think what makes a monster is not being an “other” (it can’t be, if our protagonists are “others” but are not monsters), but rather having power and using that power to exploit weaker/less powerful individuals. The natural foil that Max and Alicia provide is to show people using their power to protect others, especially the vulnerable/institutionally disadvantaged.

At the same time, i think they’re both a lot of fun, and the show would definitely have some lighthearted elements to allow the characters to develop through positive experiences as well as through struggle. For Max, I’d say a long-term, slowburn love interest, and for Alicia i could see two directions, one could be a mentor-figure (as a means of exploring and later reconciling how Alicia felt disconnected from her mother, in some ways, because she doesn’t have magic) kinda cast in a similar mold as Rowena (who i love). Another potential option is a bestie, personally i think there should be more representations of positive female friendship in tv and movies, and i really think it could be interesting for Alicia to bond with another non-human character (maybe there’s dramatic tension between her and Max because he brought her back and she’s unsure what that means for her personhood to be contingent on his magic, and we have a character going through a parallel struggle with notions of personhood, free will, and control of one’s own life).  But, of course, they will never make this show.  Sorry, this one turned into a really long answer because once i started thinking about this i had to write out my thoughts.  5. Favourite character that appeared in only 1 episode? I mean. Hester. Iconic homophobic queen, she told Dean that the very touch of him corrupts, from the moment Castiel laid a hand on him in hell, he was lost. She was onscreen for like 70 seconds, dropped That Line, and then died. Seriously who the fuck wrote that dialogue???  Dealer’s choice: 26. Cutest scenes in the show? I already wrote you an entire essay no one wanted about the secret spinoff that lives in my head starring the Banes twins. So. I’ll try to keep this short(ish).  Tombstone, Dean and Cas in the car, with the hat, i made you watch it? Cas introducing himself as agent Val Kilmer. Just. Overall a scene that was so soft and dorky and sweet.  Any scene involving Cas and Jack together. I love their dynamic and sometimes i cannot believe they really gave the gay angel a baby.  Full disclosure, I am a Cas girl (gender neutral), but I love Dean. So much. Any scene where he’s interacting with kids (Dead in the Water, the scenes with Ben, the scene where he takes Jack fishing) honestly just feels so heartbreakingly sweet. Elder sister syndrome really is being baby crazy but also not having kids because you’re like, too unstable for them. 

Anyway thank you for the ask!! <3 

[jumphq]

Post-Mortem, Sparrow Tour 2018

This was a month that felt like four months. I don’t mean that in a bad way. I mean that in the amazing way that doing all sorts of brand-new things and being very much in the moment seems to slow down time. There are articles written about this phenomena, actually: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-empowerment-diary/201705/how-slow-down-time. According to this article, the reason September went by so freaking meaningfully is that we were bombarding ourselves with Firsts. First big tour in support of Sparrow. First time in a long time heading back to the Northeast and Midwest. First time I had to add an actual keyboard to the list of instruments I bring on stage, and within that one instrument there were dozens of sounds I had to reproduce. Etcetera, etcetera.

We worked hard. I don’t know if it’s readily ascertainable that being in a rock and roll band is tons of work by looking at one. It’s fun work, usually, but has its moments of being very intense. Especially when a new album comes out. There is radio to do in the mornings, interviews scattered during the day, loading in and out of venues, and we added soundcheck meet & greets that meant that once we arrived in a city, we were going to be working from then until show, basically.

It’s so fulfilling, though. I am the kind of person that works hard, all the time. I push and push myself (sometimes for no seeming reason), and am frustrated and disappointed with myself when I don’t get enough done. I would be classified as a “type-A” person, and I don’t mind. But sometimes I’m just working on “things” that I’m not as passionate about. An eight hour day of working on something I’m not emotionally connected to is much more tiring than working sixteen hours a day on something I believe in and care about. Being in JLC is that kind of job.

We needed every second that we had to put this tour together. These new songs are hardto play. There is so much going on in each and every song on Sparrow. Not necessarily more than on earlier recordings, but keep in mind that we never had to re-learn songs after other albums; we had been playing them live forever before we got to the studio and didn’t change them much after. There has always been a “live version” and a “studio version” of early Jump songs.

Not this time. Jay spent a crazy amount of time accessing the original recording files and turning his voice and Ward’s cello parts into samples that I could play on the keytar. While Evan didn’t really want to play to tracks, he add some electronic drums to his repertoire to approximate some of the parts live. Ward brought two guitars on tour for the first time, and Johnny played not only electric bass but a beloved new Moog Phatty. It was complicated, felt a little bit fragile, at first, but once we got the hang of things it was fun.

Hurricane Florence, while not visiting Charleston, still brought chaos to the city. There was anxiety felt wondering whether we’d be hit and how that would affect our practice. Shops and roads started closing down and we made a move so the entire band could be close by in case of flooding. In the end we were very very lucky, but there were still repercussions for us. We were trying to fulfill our PledgeMusic items, to get them sent out before tour, but this didn’t happen because mail basically shut down in NC, SC, and GA. This put us a full week behind, and we spent the rest of the month trying to catch up on many things.

Even in the last few days of rehearsal we were all feeling a bit overwhelmed. We camped out at the Footlight Player’s Theatre and the goal was to have a “listening party”, a final rehearsal before we hit the road, and that night, to be honest, I was not ready. Lyrics weren’t memorized and I had to think way too much about parts and how to play them. We were being hard on ourselves, though, and the response was so encouraging afterwards I didn’t mind spending the rest of that week’s dinner breaks to get in some extra practice so that the songs could feel comfortable.

Once the shows began, a quick weekend to some of our favorites: Charlotte, Atlanta, Columbia, where we were starting to find our groove. Raleigh, though, and the Lincoln Theatre, was a special surprise. It was Sunday, we hadn’t had a day off in three weeks, we were exhausted. It wasn’t the largest crowd we’ve played to, but that show was so much fun. People there were there to have a good time, and it put us into overdrive. Thank you so much, Raleigh.

The next leg was in the Northeast (and DC, where I insulted many a mid-Atlantic inhabitant). We hadn’t been there in fifteen years, but every show was sold out or nearly so, and that made us feel so great. These shows were our first of the City Winery gigs, and they were good to us. Great sound, great food. There were many highlights, for me, up North. We had a duo of ASL interpreters in DC that had mad sign-singing skills, and were more fun to watch than we were. Our show at Le Poisson Rouge made us feel so sexy to sell out such a great place in the Big Apple. Performance-wise, the NYC show was my favorite performance-wise; I felt really “on” that night. The super-intimate punk-rock feel of Union Pool in Brooklyn was refreshing after the lovely but slightly clinical City Wineries. We had to put Wardie in a corner to fit on stage, and many Dirty Dancing jokes were necessary. Our old pal the Mommyheads came to play with us, and they were as good as they were 20 years ago. Lots of our fans came just to see them that night and I didn’t mind at all. We had a lovely evening off with three people that pledged for the album and got to go to a Dr. Who-themed bar with us. The trio couldn’t have been more interesting and fun to hang out with: the professional bassoonist, the research monitor, and the Facebook developer. Loved that evening, and Ward got to show off his hipster Brooklyn knowledge by taking us to great places for dinner and dessert.

And Chicago! My kind of town. Chicago was a big deal for me personally, because I knew that the audience was going to be made up of a lot of friends and family that had never seen the band before, never seen me in that light, literally. I was a little nervous about that show, and I rarely get nervous. I also wanted very much for Chicago to be the show that was 100% accessible to the d/Deaf and hard of hearing. City Winery worked so hard with me to provide CART real-time captioning for all the goofy stuff we said in-between songs. And the captioning of the lyrics was provided by my other passion job, CaptionPoint, built by my wife Lindsay and run by my dear friend Lora. It was even more successful than I had hoped, the captions looked great on both sides of the stage. It was the first time Lindsay had ever been able to fully experience a JLC show; I am sure that our stage patter was absolutely worth the wait.

Wow. As I’m writing this I realize again how relatively short the tour was: after Chicago there were only three more dates. But it felt like we did so much. We saw so many of you, talked to everyone as long as we could and took pictures. The “soundcheck parties” were so fun for us. Seeing everyone again was energizing, to me. I wished at times that I could have spent more time. You said such wonderful, heartfelt things, things that I heard very clearly and appreciated completely. I am honored that this band and music and community has meant so much to you over the years; you mean everything to us. When people told me that they liked Sparrow I knew they were telling the truth and not just making conversation. Nothing could have made us happier. Like I said: fulfilling.

Athens was a highlight: we hadn’t seen the GA Theatre since it burned in 2009. The renovation was beautiful. They managed to keep the vibe of the place while making it all so much…better. But the fans in Athens have always been a special breed and we could have played on the streets if that was the only way to get to them. In the new GA Theatre we didn’t have to.

And finally, the Charleston Music Hall. Our new home. Our new “Dock Street”, a place that just makes us feel like the chamber-pop stars we are. We will see you soon, CMH.

This post is a marathon. If you’ve gotten this far, you must be a fan of the band, so I appreciate it. I want to thank many people for making this tour and this year possible, because…contrary to pop belief, we are not a famous rock band with loads of cash and there were many many donated hours that made this tour work.

Our manager Vance’s sidekicks on the Crew were Nick Stewart, the Ultimate Intern, hazed by his boss into oblivion and seemed to love every minute. He sold you tee shirts this time, but he’s going to be running something big someday. Herbie Jeffcoat, monitors and front-of-house, the sweetest “country boy” (his words, but also true) you could want on your team. Especially funny this time was hearing Herbie converse in his potent Southern accent with the FOH in Boston with a potent accent of his own. Translators were required.

Mike Rogers: what a treat it is to have gotten to know you both as a professional sound engineer and family member. I think that if Dad and your Mom had a reason to work with each other growing up like Evan and I have with you, our families would be closer than they are. Let’s keep working at it.

Alison Kendrick! The person that would be sooo bad at being a ninja because she simply wouldn’t be able to be quiet because life is just SO MUCH FUN and worth every giggle: thank you. Teasing aside, Alison is a complete and utter professional, a doer but more importantly a Problem Solver, and I truly would not have been able to do all the things internet-related without you. Thank you for being a mentor and a real friend. If you’d like to work with Alison yourself, please go to akshouts.com

Our uncomfortably attractive lawyer Gabe Fleet is genuinely fun to hang out with, giving attorneys a good name. Old pal Josh Terry and his amazing team in Maddison and Jen at Workshop Management opened doors that are closed to most people so thank you for helping us walk through them. New friends Sue, Lindsay and Tyler at Stunt Company put us in front of the movers and shakers and some (NPR, Paste, American Songwriter) actually liked what they heard.

Chris Slack, you hold all the archival keys to our kingdom and are dear to us for much more than that. Nate Baerreis and Ed and Val Schooling Brantley made us look so cool, so often. How, we will never know. Thank you.

Thanks to our families who let us be gone as much as we have been, this year. Some of you haven’t experienced not having us around, and I know it was hard, but thank you for being so supportive. We love you.

And Chief “Not-Getting-Paid-What-He’s-Worth” is Vance McNabb, who is still working on this tour two weeks later and won’t be done for a while. There are no ways to thank you, V, except perhaps to find a way to make Sparrow huge so you can get a massive raise and hire tons of people to help you. So, we’ll work on that.

Actually…will y’all please help us work on that? If not for us, for Vance? Thank you. And thank you most of all, for letting us make this album. Sparrow is a beautiful thing to us and we’re so lucky that you wanted to hear it. We are lucky that we got to make it. But it isn’t over, is it? There are ways we can try to keep this machine going, if you are willing. More in another post.

[artificialqueens]

Red Light - Chapter 2 (Trixya) - Arizona

AN: Yee haw country boyz. I’m back with chapter 2. I really hope you guys like this. I’m trying to develop Katya further by sign ~deeper into her mind~. Please let me know if you’re enjoying! as always, leave me a fucking comment I’m very lonely. xoxo Arizona

April 26th, 2008

The inside of Katya’s house seemed bigger than the outside. It had more windows than most the houses on the street which, granted, wasn’t much of an accomplishment, but it did a lot to free up the space. Katya lived a little farther southwest than Trixie, near the town. The houses were closer together; there was more than one grocery store in a 6-mile radius. It was nice, Trixie decided. She had never been to Katya’s house, in fact, she had only even seen her in person once since they met at Carl’s, but they had talked on the phone nearly every day since the encounter. As much as they talked, they never seemed to run out of things to talk about. Trixie would ask Katya for her opinions on song lyrics. Katya, in return, would tell Trixie stories about Boston, and how much she loved to travel.

“California is my favorite,” Katya said once night, as Trixie laid sprawled out on her bed, listening to the owls singing deep in the woods. “I want to take you to Malibu, you would love it there.” Trixie herself had never left the Midwest. She went to North Dakota on occasion for funerals and Minneapolis for her cousin’s graduation. It wasn’t that she felt trapped in Wisconsin, but rather that she felt she didn’t belong in a place that was bigger or more exciting. She wanted to, but she didn’t.

But Katya had a way of bringing Trixie’s imagination with her through all the places she had been, and Trixie was more than happy to come along. Both of them felt like they had known each other since childhood. Despite this, Trixie still felt a knot of anxiety in her stomach when Katya asked her to come over for the first time. She hadn’t grown up having a lot of friends, at least not ones that lasted, and committing to Katya’s invitation tasted too much like inevitable bitterness in Trixie’s mouth. But she did it anyway. She wasn’t sure why.

She also wasn’t sure why she felt so nervous about how she looked before hand. She must have changed her outfit seven times before settling on a 70’s inspired caftan and her cowgirl boots. Her thick blonde hair was still damp and she laid it down flat with a headband.

It was raining outside, but not hard enough for Trixie to put on a jacket. Her eyeliner was uneven, but she was running late, so she just left it and hopped in her stepdad’s truck.

Her blood pressure steadily rose as she approached Katya’s door. The yard was much cleaner than Trixie’s, she noticed. No piles of wood and scrap metal littering the lawn. No old couch on the curb, and no tattered American flag above the front doorstep. It was just a tidy, freshly mowed, albeit brown, patch of grass and a dusty orange door with a big bronze knocker. The doorbell was broken, so Trixie knocked and wrung her hands as she waited, shivering in the rain. She waited for nearly two full minutes and had half a mind to just go home before the door was plug open, causing Trixie to jump. Katya stood in the entrance, rubbing her hair with a towel and beaming at Trixie.

“Hey Trix! Get your ass in here, you look freezing!” she exclaimed. Trixie’s nerves dissolved almost immediately. Katya’s living room smelled like wet grass and lilac with a faded shag rug that Trixie dug her toes into as soon as she took off her boots.

“You wanna cup of coffee?” Katya asked. “It’s a couple hours old, but it’s the fancy Columbian stuff my mom likes. Trixie nodded and smiled. “How have you been girl?” Katya called from the kitchen. Trixie stretched her legs out on the couch.

“Pretty good,” she replied. “I mean not much has changed since we last talked.” She could hear Katya wheeze-laughing from the other room.

“You mean like 12 hours ago?” she gasped. Trixie couldn’t help but laugh with her. When Katya came back with the coffee, her hair was almost dry, but her damp bangs clung to her forehead in chunks. She wasn’t wearing makeup and was almost unrecognizable without her signature red lips and her black-rimmed eyes. Trixie found herself staring as the two of them sipped coffee in silence while the rain outside grew steadily more intense. “What’s up with you?” Katya asked. Trixie blinked in confusion. “You’re just a little quiet.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve just been thinking a lot.”

“What about?” Trixie felt herself about to get way more personal than was necessary, but she allowed herself over the threshold. Katya had a way of getting her to talk.

“You remember the night we met? And we were talking about your ex?”

“And I told you I’m super gay?” Katya interjected. Trixie nodded and laughed.

“I was just wondering….how did you know? Or when did you know?” She felt herself tripping over her words. “I don’t know what I’m talking about I just don’t know a lot of gay people.”

“Are you worried you might be a lesbo Trixie?” Katya lowered her voice and spoke in a ridiculous southern accent. Trixie laughed, letting herself feel less afraid.

“I mean…I don’t know,” she said hesitantly. “I wouldn’t say I’m worried. I’m just…curious? I mean…I’ve never had a real boyfriend.” She took a shaky breath. This was harder than she knew it should be. “I just…it’s a possibility,” she managed to get out. Katya stared back at Trixie with a look conveyed both understanding and concern. There was a strange silence that hung in the air as Katya looked Trixie up and down as if that would help her assess Trixie’s sexuality.

“Well bitch. You are in the right place,” she finally said. “My gaydar is almost always accurate and you my dear give off strong gay vibes.”

Katya had identified as bisexual for a long time, but after graduating high school had realized her attraction to women far outweighed her attraction to men. At first, this made her nervous. She was scared to admit that she had been wrong about her sexuality and that it really had been “just a phase.” For a while she slept with men just to try and convince herself that she still wanted to. But it never felt quite right. She would always leave in the morning feeling detached from her body, like she was looking at herself from the outside and all she saw was a pathetic, dirty husk. It wasn’t a lifestyle she could maintain. She started dating women. She had her heart broken time and time again, but it was always better than the alternative of feeling nothing at all. At least while she hurt she knew she was capable of hurting.  Lately, she had been in one of those phases in her life. When she stepped out of a cloud of smoke and drug-induced haze and realized she was alone. That week she met Trixie. Katya didn’t believe in love at first sight, in fact she hardly believed in love at all, but seeing Trixie for the first time was probably as close as she was going to get. This perfect, picturesque girl, glowing gold against the night sky, had made Katya’s heart feel like it was taking a sharp inhale of fresh air for the first time in years. She hadn’t stopped thinking about her since. Which was why they were where they were now, at Katya’s coffee table, watching the rain paint blurry streaks on the window and sitting just a little too close together. Katya hated coffee, but Trixie made it sweeter.

“You think so?” Trixie asked, eyes wide. Not with fear, but with curiosity. Katya nodded and leaned back into the couch.

“Yes god, Barbara. No way in hell you’re straight,” she said. Trixie exhaled sharply.

“Damn,” she said. “That’s a lot to think about.”

“No rush,” said Katya. “You don’t have to label yourself right away. We’re all just meat sacks trying to get laid and kill time on this earth. Have fun with it.” Trixie giggle softly. Almost simultaneously, the two of them realized how close together they were. Katya had splayed her legs out across Trixie’s lap and though she was previously laying back against the arm of the couch, she was sitting up now, her elbow resting on the back of the couch behind Trixie’s head. She could feel Trixie’s hair tickling her fingertips and reflexively brushed it away from her face.

“I’m so glad we met,” Trixie said, smiling. It was in that moment that Katya wasn’t sure if her heart had stopped beating, or if, for the first time in a long time, it started again.

[strwbrymoonchild]

Keeping It Funky with Sal Yvat

Interview by LaChelle Chrysanne

Everyday when we wake up and get dressed, we put together outfits that say something about who we are. Though fashion is a large part of American culture, having a distinct personal style takes wearing clothes to the next level. I haven’t met anyone with style quite like Memphis-bred stylist, Sal Yvat. From working with Nike and buzzworthy singer-songwriter Ravyn Lenae, to styling an entire cast of women for a stage play, Sal is well on her way to becoming a well-known stylist in the fashion world. We chatted with her about her southern upbringing, why she’s inspired by church ladies, best methods for thrift shopping and how to hone your personal style.

UC: You're originally from Memphis and moved to Chicago to study at Columbia College. During your time at Columbia we met and you styled me at a photoshoot. Tell me about your southern upbringing and what led you to go to art school in Chicago.

Sal Yvat: I went to Ridgeway High School in Memphis and I was in theater. We had this lighting tech guy named Alex Nahon and we were kind of cool. He went to Columbia and recommended it to me because I was telling people I want to go to school for fashion. I didn't really know what I wanted to do in fashion but I just knew I didn't want to go to a regular school. I only applied to Columbia and told my mom I'm either going to Columbia or I'm staying in Memphis. I got accepted! Much thanks to Alex because I'd never heard of Columbia before he told me about it.

As far as my southern heritage and upbringing, I think it definitely influences my style. I'm super into the concept of Sunday's best. You should always look your best, for yourself or for whoever you believe in or worship. That is definitely reflected in my personal style and what I do.

UC: What do you feel are some of the main differences between the south and the midwest?

Sal Yvat: In the South we're kind of funky, more playful and even gaudy. Sometimes I joke and say southern people are the closest to our OG ancestors from the motherland, so we get it. I think Midwesterners are pretty bland. Most people who I think are kind of  saucy in Chicago are from St. Louis or Atlanta or somewhere like that. I think it's because in the south it's warmer and there’s a greater opportunity to be colorful. It's colder in Chicago so I understand why they're bland.

UC: As a native midwesterner, I'll try not to take offense to that.

Sal Yvat: I'm sorry *laughs*

UC: How did you get into fashion and styling, was it something you always knew you wanted to do?

Sal Yvat: I've always loved fashion. I've always gone to church and Sunday's best has had an influence on me because I was always at church and had to look good--it kind of molded me into who I am. My mom always dresses nice, I've always been her mini-me as she calls me. When I was younger I used to draw a lot and I actually wanted to be a fashion designer first but just kind of let that dream go. Once I became a senior in high school and had to pick a college, I was looking at Columbia. They had a fashion business program and I thought that maybe I can open a store or something like that. Once I got to Columbia, I took a fashion styling class and I was like ‘wow this is amazing!’.

UC: Have you ever seen Mahogany?

Sal Yvat: I have not seen Mahogany which is crazy, I know.

UC: *gasps* You went to school in Chicago to study fashion and you’ve never seen Mahogany? The film where Queen Diana Ross styled and designed her own wardrobe?!

Sal Yvat: I know and everyone always tells me I remind them of her in that movie so I’m rude for not having seen it yet.

UC: Yes, you need to watch it, it’s a classic. Do you still have a desire to get into design at all?

Sal Yvat: Not necessarily fashion design but probably accessory/product design.

UC: What type of product?

Sal Yvat: I would say things that kind of reflect me and my aesthetic. I'm really into sunglasses. I have a thing for bags and bracelets, I also make earrings.

UC: That’s really cool. Switching gears a bit here, let’s talk about young Sal. I feel like middle school is when everyone starts to really dress themselves for the first time. What was your style like in middle school?

Sal Yvat: Wow. In 8th grade, I started to figure out who I was and I remember this girl pointed out my style to me. She was like ‘you just be putting stuff on and you make it look good’ and I think that was when I kind of transitioned to a punk rock type of theme. I started to get really into slip-on Vans and skinny jeans and  button-down shirts with cropped moto jackets. I would wear tote bags, I was really into matching my bag with my shoes. I remember I had these pair of slip-on Vans with hearts on them, they weren’t real Vans but I loved them because of the hearts. I went to the beauty supply store one day and I saw there was a bag with the same kind of hearts on them and I was like ‘this is fate! So I had to buy the bag and I just kept trying to do that. I would have a checker print scarf and a checker print purse and then I found some checker print shoes, that was my theme. I also went to a school where we wore uniforms.

UC: So accessorizing was how you were able to express yourself?

Sal Yvat: Yes. That was my style, I was weird.

Be comfortable with yourself, know how you like to dress your body and don’t let any outside force dictate that

UC: Are interested in pursuing further aside from the styling fashion styling?

Sal Yvat: Designing earrings is my newest thing, it gives me a chance to be super creative and play with shapes..  I'm really just trying to culminate all of my interests into one entity which is what I call The Look Authority. We had our first Fashion Show last month with AMFM in Chicago. The brand is a mixture my own creative concepts, a blog, my designs, and (soon to come) events.  

UC: I've noticed that when you've styled certain clients, you’ve created certain things such as earrings and other accessories. What is that process like? It seems like you're able to get your clients to trust your creative vision.

Sal Yvat: I really try to understand people and be open to their ideas. I know I'm real extra and loud and clanky and I’m still working on losing myself in the work so I can just be the vessel and transporter in the process of making someone look their best. I always try to remember that I'm here to amplify them and it’s my job to take what they want and add a little bit of me.

UC: You've done some work with Nike,  you’ve styled Raven Lanae who I love. What are some game-changing styling gigs that you've done and when did you get to the point where you were like ‘yes, this is what I’m meant to do’?

Sal Yvat: My first like game-changing job was with Victory Garden’s Theatre. I styled a cast of women for The House That Will Not Stand which is written by a Black playwright. It was a cast of seven Black women which is almost unheard of in play world. That was my first big job and I got to do two looks per cast member, so in total it was 14 looks. I feel like that was a game-changer because I was booked by someone who was outside of my friend circle who saw something in me based on the work that I had made with my friends. I was able to recreate historical looks and it really gave me more confidence.

UC:  I could totally see you styling like Solange or Rihanna who are some of the biggest Black style icons right now. Who are some celebrities you would die if you were able to style?

Sal Yvat: Definitely, Leiomy who's one of my favorite voguers. I first saw her on America's Best Dance Crew. I love that she's so athletic and I just love dancers especially voguers.  BbyMutha and Queen Key are also on my radar. I would also love to style Angela Bassett but that’s just because I think she's just the best.

UC: She is the best and she looks good in every color too.

Sal Yvat: Yeah it's like Angela Bassett, what do you drink every day? Are you eating honey? What is it?

UC: One of the first things I noticed about you when we worked together is that you love music and you love a good vibe. When we were shooting it was like the music really helped get into your zone. How does music inspire your creative process as a stylish?

Sal Yvat: I love music. My first love is dancing so I have a visceral connection to music the same way a musician or a producer does. It just puts me in this place where I can center my thoughts and this rhythm where I’m able to fine tune the vibe. Music really elevates the mood and look I’m going for…..  kind of like activates another creative side of me.

UC: We were talking today and you said this outfit that you have on right now, you just bought today. How much do you shop?

Sal Yvat: I actually don't bulk shop that much, surprisingly. I buy like one shirt or one pair of pants every other week or month.  I'm on vacation technically so I did come to spend but I can tell you how much! This dress was like $6, the jacket was $8, the hat was $10 and my shoes were like $9.

UC: Do you have any tips for people when they go thrifting?

Sal Yvat: I would say look for pieces not an outfit and try to find things that don't look dated. I feel like this jacket I’m wearing looks thrifted but a name brand company or fashion house probably could have made it, you know what I mean? Don't get overwhelmed when you're shopping. You may have a large number of things that you like but you have to learn how to streamline what you really want, unless you can use all of it and you can afford it. For example, when I'm on a budget and shopping like I was today, I went to the dress section I went through the whole section and I picked about five that I wanted. After I picked what I wanted, I looked at them asked myself if I’m going to wear any of those items more than once. I also asked myself if I have enough shoes in my closet to go with the items I’m buying. I ask myself these type of questions to make sure I’m getting longevity out of something and I'm not just buying it just because I see it. I don't like to spend more than $10 per item at the thrift store.

UC: If you had to wear one outfit every single day for a week what would that look like?

Sal Yvat: Oh is it like per season or is it's like an all-weather outfit?

UC: Someone says to you, ‘Listen, you got to wear this same outfit every single day for seven days.’ what would that look like?

Sal Yvat: Well, I’m going to go with an all-weather look, just so I don't get caught lacking. I love to be cozy so I would say something like a baggy suit and then underneath I would probably have like a corset, white tee, or like a bandeau top or a bodysuit. If my hair isn't done I will have a hat on like I'm wearing today *laughs*. If hair is done, it would be laid,  pimp shade to the side. I always have on a big pair of earrings. As far as shoes go I probably would wear sliding mules or something like a low heel to give me a little action, a little sauce. The suit would need to be a color like pink, blue, red and maybe have my initial on the back, you know what I mean? A little sauce!

UC: Sounds fly, do you have any style icons?

Sal Yvat: Oh my gosh, so many! Of course, Solange. I think she's everybody style icon at this point.

UC: She’s been killin it for a while. I remember when she was wearing banana pants.

Sal Yvat: Yes! When she was wearing the box braids. Of course Erykah Badu as well. I love church women and their hats. I like my mom’s style, she's really classy. I like classic 1960s Twiggy, Shirley Kurata, architecture, Japanese design methods, Wes Anderson’s characters. Grace Jones, I love her androgyny. I also just like  random people on the street. I get inspiration from everybody, even the postman, I love postman pants I love the army and people in uniform.  Uniforms say so much without saying anything.

UC: In your wildest dreams, where do you see yourself at next year?

Sal Yvat: I would be a curator for a fashion exhibit at a museum. Another dream would be working as a celebrity’s personal stylist or maybe the key stylist in a recurring TV show or a film.

UC: Styling allows us to express ourselves and make statements. For those of us who are just now beginning to hone in on our own taste and what looks good on us. What would you say is a good starting point for mastering our personal style?

Sal Yvat: Be comfortable with yourself, know how you like to dress your body and don’t let any outside force dictate that. It doesn't matter your gender, sexuality or your size. Obviously, you want to make sure your clothes fit you how you like but if you want to wear mini skirts everyday for the rest of your life, do that. Just be comfortable because style is really confidence in expression.  Find out who you are and how you like to see your body and do that.

Follow Sal on social media at @SalSoGroovy and check out her curated playlist below: 

[lyndsey-parker]

‘The Voice’ Playoffs, pt. 2: Have a little faith in Team Adam

On Tuesday, Blake Shelton was declared the Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine, but he may soon be feeling like the Stupidest Coach Alive, when his longtime Voice rival (and People’s Sexiest Man of 2013), Adam Levine, wins this Voice season with ex-Team Blake country contestant Adam Cunningham. “As happy as that makes me for you, it makes me feel really stupid, because you were on my team,” Blake told Adam C. this Tuesday, when Cunningham kicked off the Team Adam episode of Voice Season 13 Playoffs with a heartfelt cover of John Hiatt’s “Have a Little Faith in Me.” Perhaps Blake should have had a little more faitch in Adam C.

Adam L.’s fellow coach Miley Cyrus might also be kicking herself with her fancy star-spangled boots in a few weeks’ time, because her former contestant, Addison Agen, also has a fantastic chance of making it to the finale. “Dang, Addison is probably gonna win this, and Adam’s gonna really shove it in my face,” Miley mused after she heard Addison’s gorgeous take on John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery. How interesting it is that Team Adam’s two strongest singers this season — the only two singers who received standing ovations Tuesday night — are Steals. Levine really does know how to play the game.

Here’s my recap of all six Playoffs performances from Tuesday:

Adam Cunningham

Looking all beardy and Stapleton-y and serving Grizzly Adams/Marlboro Man realness, Cunningham crooned “Have a Little Faith in Me” with a ton of Southern-rock soul and true grit. Miley summed it up nicely with her side comment, “My mom is going to be loving him!” Adam C. is indeed the kind of rugged, Wakefieldian everyman that’ll easily charm every housewife in the South and Midwest.

“You blessed my spirit with that. I felt your energy,” said Jennifer Hudson. “There’s no easier and quicker way to my heart than someone who makes Blake Shelton feel stupid,” quipped a gloating Levine. Adam the L shouldn’t get too cocky, just yet, but Blake definitely should be worried. Cunningham may not be as outgoing and wacky as Team Blake’s Hee-Haw-ready Red Marlow, but this is the country dude who has my Season 13 vote.

Whitney Fenimore

Last week, Whitney simpered some treacly Train ballad and almost had to take a train back home. Wrong. Song. Choice. But thankfully, Adam picked her as his Comeback Contestant, and he must have been reading my Knockout Rounds recap from last week (hi, Adam!), because he clearly heeded my advice and gave her a much more suitable Sheryl Crow song. While a couple of the coaches thought Whitney sounded labored during the very tricky low verses of “If It Makes You Happy” (“To have a cool rocker guitar chick would be awesome… but I feel like the complete first half of the song was a struggle,” griped Blake), I enjoyed her sleepy/sexy rasp and general guitar-slinging badassedness, and everyone agreed she sounded great when she powerfully belted the chorus.

“I think the hardest part of that song was what you were doing perfectly, which was the soaring big note there. That’s almost impossible to do. That’s really, really hard. So you showed me a lot of strength and a lot of things that I didn’t know about you vocally. I’m really, really happy,” said Adam.

Emily Luther

Emily was assigned the Adele version of the Cure’s “Lovesong,” which was a triple-challenge: Adele is one of the best singers of her generation (or any generation); the Cure are the BEST BAND OF ALL TIME (this is fact); and Candice Glover created one of the BEST AMERICAN IDOL MOMENTS EVER when she did this arrangement in 2013. (Sorry for the all-caps, but this is serious business here.) Emily created another challenge for herself when she expressed her desire to conjure a cinematic, “Bond-theme” vibe during her performance. Emily may have Bassey-level pipes, but none of her stuffy performances this season have exhibited that Shirley swagger.

Emily sounded, as Blake put it, “so professional and ready and poised.” She always does. But something was missing. Her vocals on point, of course — she’s the technically finest singer of Season 13 — and Jennifer even called this “a flawless performance,” but perfection can be boring. There was no passion here. Keep in mind, Robert Smith wrote “Lovesong” as a wedding present for his wife. But Emily just sounded like a wedding singer to me.

Adam was feeling the love, however. “This is such a huge step in the right direction for you, because it’s making people understand even more the human side, the soulful side of you,” he told Emily. “I think this is a great progression for you.”

Anthony Alexander

I know I’m going to sound like Goldilocks here, but while Emily was too perfect, teenage Anthony was too raw. (Ironically, he performed an Ed Sheeran ballad titled “Perfect.” It wasn’t.) Neither were “just right.” Anthony’s vocal lines trailed off unsatisfyingly, he seemed disconnected from the loved-up lyrics, and his stage presence was lacking. He had this vacant, vaguely terrified look throughout, like Cindy Brady on a kiddie quiz show.

“I still detect a lot of nerves. I know that you’re 18, and that’s probably what it boils down to. But I hope you know that you are super-talented,” Blake said kindly. Adam, who’s always had a soft spot for Anthony similar to Jennifer’s fondness for teen Team J.Hud hopeful Shi’Ann Jones, still seemed confident in his young charge. “It’s not a matter of if you’ll be ready, it’s a matter of when,” he asserted. “You have a tremendous voice with tremendous potential. I see a lot of improvement, and I am 100 percent proud of you, man.” I just hoped Adam wouldn’t make the same mistake with Anthony that Jennifer made Monday with Shi’Ann. This show needs for ready-for-primetime players.

Jon Mero

Jon’s “Blame It on the Boogie” Knockout Rounds performance last week was montaged and kept off YouTube, which didn’t bode well for his chances. What I could see of it, however, was pure corporate-party-band cheese with a side of extra cheese, topped with more cheese. I was not  fan. But it turns out we can indeed blame it on the boogie, because when Jon dropped his Jacksons-esque dancing-machine shtick this week and simply, sentimentally crooned Adele’s bittersweet “When We Were Young,” he was so much more believable, relatable, and likable. Without all of his distracting party tricks, I finally was able to notice Jon’s impressive vocal range. The man can saaaang. Finally, he connected.

“Your voice, it seriously is like a laser; it just cuts through everything. … You’re more than ready for this,” marveled Blake. “You’re so multi-talented. You didn’t dance today, and I loved that. You sang from your heart,” said Adam.

Addison Agen

Closing the show wearing milkmaid braids and exuding rosy-cheeked, country-girl charm, Addison may have looked her age (16), but she performed the Bonnie Raitt version of “Angel From Montgomery” with incredible maturity, somehow combining the poise and grace of Emily Luther with the youthful fragility of Anthony Alexander. This wasn’t Addison’s best vocal, but her warm tone and ethereal stage presence was still a magical enough combination for Adam to call her a “unicorn” — a label he once gave Team Adam champ Jordan Smith, mind you.

“You have so much character in your voice that would normally have to come from somebody who’s been doing this for 20 years and smoking cigarettes every day and drinking whiskey, and luckily for you, you got to skip all that horrifying stuff,” said Blake. “You’re just born with this understanding of how to convey a lyric. If you don’t move forward into the Lives, I’m gonna have somebody cut Adam’s brakes.”

Thankfully, Adam didn’t need to worry about driving home from the Voice set, as he did pick Addison to move forward to the live shows, along with Adam Cunningham and Jon Mero. Jon looked utterly shocked, but I wasn’t. Though I’d been rooting for Whitney, in the end, I agreed with all of Adam’s decisions tonight.

Come back Wednesday, when Team Miley’s contestants compete, and then we will have finally our top 12.

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