New Music Monday 5/16/2011 'William Fitzsimmons'

Well, hello there. I hope this blog post finds you warm and well. We're having a bit of a cold snap here in the midwest. We went from almost ninety degrees last week back down to the forties this afternoon. Brrrrrrr!!! Nothing like running both your A/C and your furnace in the same week!! No worries though..... we'll be sweating it out in the summer heat soon enough.

Today I spent the afternoon at home catching up on some much needed laundry and housework. I was also nursing a sickish husband. He came home Friday afternoon from work with a terrible toothache that drastically worsened over the weekend. Our dentist put up some pain meds and antibiotics to hold him over until he can have it pulled tomorrow morning. Poor guy. There's nothing worse than tooth pain!!!

While catching up on said housework and putting together some unfinished nightstands with Ethan (that kid is so amazing at assembling furniture from IKEA - he must get it from me right?), I of course had our Pandora radio playing in the background. We were keeping busy when this amazing song came on and I just had to stop and see who it was. It ended up being this guy I had never heard of before - William Fitzsimmons. That doesn't happen very often, so instantly I was super curious. I started looking up some of his work and listening to his other songs. Wow. I am hooked. It's so hit or miss with Pandora. You never know if it's just going to be the one song you're hearing that's great or if there's a whole album of amazingness.

William Fitzsimmons is one of those rare artists that really make me excited about music right now. The radio is so filled with crap. You can yell at me if you want to, but it just is. In a world full of overproduced crap, singer/songwriters like Fitzsimmon's are a breath of fresh air.

Who is this guy, you ask?? Well, he has had quite a different life from you or me. Both of his parents were blind, but quite musical. Due to their inability to communicate through visual means, their home was filled with the sounds of musical instruments and family sing-a-longs. He taught himself how to play several instruments and began recording his own music during the summer break of college. He was noticed on Myspace and gained quite a following from there, but once his songs were featured on hit tv shows like Grey's a Private Practice it didn't take long for people to get on board. He stands right up there with artists like Iron & Wine, Mumford and Sons, Sufjan Stevens and even the late great Elliott Smith. Most of his songs are quite serious in nature and tackle difficult subjects such as betrayal, divorce and mental illness. He has quite a few albums out - none of which I currently own at this time. I am still working my way through all of the tracks to decide which ones I'm going to get for myself!!! For now, here are a few of my absolute faves so far.....

'So This Is Goodbye'


'I Don't Feel It Anymore - Song of the Sparrow' duet with the lovely Priscilla Ahn


'I Kissed A Girl' Katy Perry Cover - this is brilliant!!!


'If You Would Come Back Home'


'Passion Play'


'I Don't Feel It Anymore' George Raquet Remix - I do love some remixes


'The Tide Pulls From the Moon' - luuuuvvvvvvv


That's about it for now! There are so many other songs of his to explore! But now I'm off to go enjoy the rest of the Bulls game with my doped up husband, a cup of tea and a blanket. Happy listening!!!!