“It all kinda started at Christmas when my sons and I were hanging ornaments on the tree.  We have an ornament that is a little electric guitar and my six-year-old son was looking at it and asked, “What’s this Dad?”…

I ran downstairs and pulled out an old hollowbody electric (that is my wife’s), an amp and I came upstairs, plugged it in and ripped into “My Generation” by The Who. Well, my one son actually climbed me in point 2 seconds and leaped off my shoulders while the other one looked like I had plugged the lights on the tree into him. They flew around the room dancing for two straight wonderful hours.

I got the point

Since then Mason Jennings has been letting his smooth style guitar music grace the ears of so many.  He is signed by Jack Johnson’s label “Bushfire Records” and is touring this summer with stops in Chicago, Virginia and other cities in the east.

This is one of my favorite songs by him:

If you like other chill, original sounding music you should check out bands such as Bright Eyes, Cake, or The Tallest Man on Earth.  I hope you like them but as Mason Jennings says:

“If people dig it: cool. If not: cool. I will be making it anyway. I have to.”

It’s the beginning of March and everyone is dying to break out their shorts and hit the beach…too bad it is still so cold! Five Times August will warm you right up, despite their chill sound.

Five Times August is really just one man – Brad Skistimas. He wants you to remember his name though, so he uses his birthday instead.

Brad has traveled all over these United States, and I have been privileged enough to see him perform live and meet him. The band’s performance at Warehouse Live in Houston, Texas, was amazing – he really interacts with the audience.

You may have heard their music on TV before! Brad got every single song from his first official album on TV (the first show to feature one of his songs was actually the popular Laguna Beach, featuring “Better With You”).

Five Times August creates magic with a simple blend of vocals, guitar, and piano…all performed and recorded by Brad himself. His natural feel and talent for music can bring a relaxing summery feel to anyone’s day, no matter how cold it might actually be outside.

Check out some of his acoustic sessions on YouTube – he’ll even take requests! Here’s his latest: