The Avett Brothers were a ton of fun. They were energetic and provided a new and unique sound. When I saw these vested-men with stringed instruments in hand, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It was a bit of bluegrass, a bit of rock and a lot of fun. The best thing about the entire show was that it was free. I cannot believe I did not take more advantage of these free Wednesday night shows. Alas, it was the last one, but it was wonderful.

Each band seemed to have a good Midwestern sound. The songs had stories. Not only did I enjoy dancing and feeling the music, but I found myself paying attention to the lyrics, which I rarely do. And the messages of a lot of the songs, I understood and felt.

I rushed from an SPJ event to get there in time. I caught the end of Ha Ha Tonka’s set. Freshman year, I knew them as Amsterband and actually was able to interview them for a story. I put the story in this post so you can get a better idea of their southern-rock sound.

Ha Ha Tonka’s Brian Roberts

The band has performed nearly 250 shows in more than 60 cities.

By Laura Parkinson, Staff Writer
April 6, 2007

The Ozarks are home to country shows, outlet shopping and lakes. Amsterband, a foot-stomping indie band, will perform at the Blue Note Saturday, proving that there are several talented acts coming out of Southern Missouri.

Since haphazardly choosing the name before entering a talent competition three years ago, Amsterband has come a long way. It has performed nearly 250 shows in more than 60 cities and has just signed with Chicago-based Bloodshot Records.

“We didn’t plan on making it a career,” lead singer Brian Roberts said. “We wanted to have a good time, play around Springfield, play at parties and the bar scene. Those were the initial goals and aspirations. Otherwise we would have come up with a better band name.”

Although Roberts laughs about his inability to come up with a good name, the name is probably pretty apt. Amsterband was inspired by Roberts’ trip to Germany mixed with his Ozarkian heritage and desire to create a “liberal enclave in the conservative Ozarks.” He grew up with Luke Long (bass, vocals) and Lennon Bone (drums, vocals) in West Plains, Mo., and met Brett Anderson (lead guitar, piano, vocals) at Missouri State University.

“The more we did it, the more serious we got about it,” Roberts said. “We felt like mixing indie rock and Ozarkian foot-stomp style of music that we all enjoyed playing. We did some touring two years ago, and we’ve been touring it ever since.”

Roberts’ influences include Mark Bilyeu of Big Smith and more recent groups such as R.E.M., The Shins, The Magic Numbers and The Flaming Lips. The band is now moving away from other bands’ sounds to create a sound that is uniquely them.

“Any band when you start out, if it’s your first band, you are probably going to stink,” Roberts said. “We definitely stunk up the place for a long time. (But) the more time you play with each other and dig into your own background, you can carve out your own sound. We are just now doing that.”

The band’s second record, Buckle in the Bible Belt, gained the attention of Bloodshot (home of Neko Case and Split Lip Rayfield), which will release the record nationally and also add tour dates to Amsterband’s already busy schedule. Roberts said he hopes the record captures something from the band’s past, as well as places it hopes to go with its music.

“It grabs a lot of attention,” Roberts said. “I think that it accurately represents our sound on stage.”

Even though the record stands on its own, the band really enjoys touring new cities and encountering different audiences. And, even though it has traveled to many large cities, Roberts prefers playing in smaller ones such as Warrensburg or Emporia, Kan.

“I love playing in those markets,” Roberts said. “Emporia doesn’t get big bands. When you play there, it’s bonkers.”

Amsterband has toured with Ben Kweller, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Steel Train, Say Anything and Soul Asylum.

With so much traveling, the band is collecting many road stories. While in Indianapolis, Amsterband was looking for a place to stay at night. Long said he woke up in the back seat in nothing but his overalls. When a possum jumped out across the road, Long got out of the car to chase it, ran into a fence and ripped himself up pretty badly.

“There have been lots of great shows and happy moments along the way,” Roberts said. “You get to travel with three best friends and make music. We are very fortunate that we’ve made it to this point.”

With their new label, the members of Amsterband hope to continue developing and improving “both with audience and music.”

“Hopefully we continue to mature and make better music,” Roberts said. “We all four love playing together, and hopefully we continue to make interesting music.”

One of my favorite events was the past Pulitzer Prize winners sharing the stories for which they won one of the most esteemed journalism awards. Jacqui Banaszynski, who teaches intermediate writing and advanced reporting, shared her story AIDS in the Heartland about the life of a gay couple dying of AIDS. I found it interesting how diverse the stories were. Banaszynski’s story, she said, was a love story. The other stories were investigations and watchdog stories.

On Friday there was a technology summit. I heard from people who are implementing different models of journalism including such as Propublica.org, which is investigative reporting that is supported a large donation (or endowment). It’s goal is to find abuses of power. In a world where there is less room and money to devote to investigative journalism, it is great to be able to have opportunities to support this vital watchdog role.

The restaurant was busy that weekend. As I was refilling waters, I could hear discussions about journalism at pretty much each table. It was really interesting to just hear snippets of conversations—a lot of the time it revolved around the future of the industry—the same theme of the entire conference.

The centennial brought in some big names such as Ken Paulson, editor of USA Today and editors from the New York Times, St. Petersbug Times and the Kansas City Star, just to name a few. This just goes to prove that the MU School of Journalism is top notch. The new Reynolds Journalism Institute provided a great backdrop for this event. The building is finished and it is great, just in time for the Centennial. So much work went into it, I think that it went really well and was a complete success.

The songs went fast. They were catchy and fun to hear in person because I can now say that I saw the phenom that is Vampire Weekend. They didn’t have strings, but they did the best that they could to perform a great show.

What stole the show was not the music, however. There was an older woman who started interpretive dancing. This became really popular among the high school crowd and started cheering her on. Then she came up to our level and started dancing with the group of kids. It was great to see a group of students so excited about dancing and singing along.

As part of Society of Professional Journalists executive board, I was able to go to Atlanta for the national SPJ conference. It was worth taking some time off of school and work to attend. When we got there, I first went a program on what to expect in the first five years in the industry as well as how to craft a powerful resume.

My favorite part of the conference was the presentations on narrative writing. There was a Pulitzer prize winning author who spoke about trusting our own voices. If there was a way that we want to tell a story, then the story should be told that way. There was another features write with the St. Petersburg Times. She spoke about ways to search for story ideas as well as how to write a profile that really gets at the true character of a person. They both spoke about the importance of realizing a “universal truth” to each story. This overarching theme allows the story to have more meaning to an audience.

I really enjoyed the sessions on features and narrative writing. It was pretty great to be able to hear from people who are doing the type of journalism that I could see myself liking… a lot. I admire this type of journalism, which is almost like fiction storytelling, but it is all true. This makes the stories resonate with an audience and it is certainly more powerful when the facts are true.

Another supersession that I enjoyed was when Charlayne Hunter-Gault, foreign correspondent for NPR, spoke about integrating the University of Georgia and the state of journalism today.

We explored Atlanta, (or Hotlanta, which actually wasn’t very hot). When we visited Atlantic Station, we happened upon an outdoor arts festival. I bought a homemade necklace, and we ate cheesecake on the patio of the Cheesecake Bistro. We also found a cute Italian restaurant by the Fox Theater as well as had some delicious southern cooking at Mary Macs. It almost was as if we ate our way through Atlanta, which was just fine with me.

So the conference was small, yet fulfilling, and I hope to learn more about the state of journalism at the wonderful Journalism Centennial tomorrow through Friday.

I went to the new Reynolds Journalism Institute. What a building! I will be having class in the futures lab which is  a multimedia newsroom. The building is unparalleled. I am just happy that it is finally done in time for the centennial. My convergence class met there, and it will be exciting. I will be spending time in two newsrooms– Kbia a well as Current TV or the Columbia Missourian. I am excited to do some individual reporting as well as editing and producing.

My other two classes today were Hispanic Lit II and Communications Law. Spanish will be challenging since we will have a lot of essays and in class paper. It seems like my professor knows a lot about analyzing literature, which will be an interesting perspective. Com Law will include a lot of studying, which is totally manageable. For now, I’ll know more about my workload a week or two into classes. So we’ll see.

Then since they had to work on Monday, I made a day of it. I visited my aunt’s office and then we went out to a sushi restaurant where it rotates around and you grab whichever sushi you want. When my aunt grabbed the raw calamari, I knew that the limit of my cuisine curiosity ended there. Needless to say, I did not try it. After my meal, I visited the modern art museum or (MOMA) and saw the Frieda Kahlo exhibit. It was super crowded but definitely worth it to be able to see those unforgettable works in person.

I also had a nerve-wracking bus ride to the Haight (or hippie central). While the bus was uncomfortable, it was great to explore the city and be able to see some sights. Earlier in the week I visited Pier 39 and had some delicious clam chowder. Then I was able to visit the public radio station KQED—the most listened to public radio station in the United States. I met up with a someone who runs a health show that introduced me to everyone at the station including the former news director who was really excited about convergence. I walked out of his office wanting to work there. The huge bowl of dark chocolate sitting out reaffirmed that desire. If anything was a sign, that was.

All in all, it was a great trip full of excitement before school starts Monday–A mini-vacation that was greatly needed.

Last week, I traveled to San Francisco for a conference on poverty. It was put on by the National Network of Presbyterian College Women—and my church paid my way. Last year the conference was in D.C., but I thought that the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge was a significant indicator that I should go again this year.

At first the topics did not seem to tie into the theme of The Power of Poverty much. We talked about race, class and gender and the intersections among them. I found that what really resonated with me was the discussion about class. With everyone so quick to classify themselves as in the middle class, class as a topic is generally glossed over. However, I learned that class actually includes more than I would have expected, and the divisions among class have very little to do with a person’s income. I learned that it actually has more to do with knowledge of middle class values, and access to resources such as education, emotional connections, coping strategies and health resources.

This really opened my ideas to understanding the different classes. For example, if a person won 10 million dollars–that would not automatically make them in the upper class (two generations are needed to change class) but rather what would make them mobile within class would be acting and having the understanding of the upper class and so forth. I really enjoyed the discussions, and I learned that it actually had a lot to do with poverty because it is all interwoven.

What opened my eyes to poverty was our visit to the Tenderloin district—one of the most concentrated poor districts in San Francisco. We walked the streets and saw a man pull out needles out of a black bag, smelled pot on the streets and say people just standing around looking hungry, but not necessarily begging. When we returned to the Network Ministries (an outreach nonprofit in the area) to discuss what we had seen, it seemed as if each girl saw a different thing. The buildings weren’t decrepit, the people seemed to have a sense of community, but we all saw that there was a need for something to be done. With less funding for mental health services, many people are not getting the help that they need. Network Ministries helps prostituted women leave that lifestyle as well as provides other services including counseling.

After this workshop, I left refreshed. After seeing and hearing all of this, it is easy to become really discouraged about all the poverty in all the different forms that exist. However, I live in a community where there is poverty as well – maybe not as severe as the Tenderloin district- but still I could make a change if I decided to. And you know what? It is possible if I find my niche and a way to contribute that I could make a difference. I just need to find where I fit.

I moved in. And it happened to be one of the most stressful experiences of my life. Well, we got the key and entered the door on August 1, and nothing was done. This includes painting, cleaning or any maintenance. We were ready to move. Our parents came in town, and we had rented a truck. I wanted to walk away right then and find the nicest apartment in Columbia. It was really awful. Well, my roommate’s dad decided that we could do the painting ourselves. So we ended up painting, cleaning and moving all in the SAME day.

As I was painting in the kitchen, I hear a scream. Sure enough the scream came from my roommates’ room where her parents were installing a window air conditioning unit. When I got to the room, everyone was gathered around the window. Sure enough it fell out the window and crashed two stories below.

Then our box springs didn’t fit up the stairwell. And our knob to the hot water in the shower fell off. We had to use pliers to get it to work for the past few weeks. I still don’t have a bedroom door.

Now, we are finally moved in and settled. Jimmy the cat joined our little family. I love my room. And once we put some art up, it will truly be a home– with a few maintenance issues that will maybe be resolved in two weeks to a year. Who knows.

Fun times were had at Six Flags on Sunday—big surprise. It was my first Six Flags experience—ever. After buying tickets online for the children’s price, I hopped in a car with my roommates. We jumped right in with our first ride on Batman. The line was minuscule. Perfect weather (not too hot) made it a superb day. In fact, there were very few lines even for the most popular rides like Mr. Freeze. This is the one with a 90 degree vertical incline. It lasted about thirty seconds, but it was the most intense thirty seconds, especially considering the fact that it went from 0-70 mph in about four seconds.

Superman was the ride which I was the most scared. It was a straight drop. The worst part was not knowing when I was going to fall. I ended up really enjoying it, but it was quite intense. I actually really like the ride Evil Knievel despite the fact that it was a wooden roller coaster. My experiences with wooden roller coasters have left me wanting to go to a chiropractor. This as well as Screaming Eagle were well worth it.

One of the best parts was not having to pay a lot for food. We ate lunch before entering the park and then brought a snack bar. When we got hungry, we split a funnel cake. Good deal. Everything was so expensive. I couldn’t believe charging $9 for a bucket of cotton candy or $3 for a soda. Parking alone was $15 and locker rental was $9. Thus, spending as little as possible made it worth it. And the trip overall was worth it despite getting lost on the way home.