My Vampire Heart

In honor of seeing New Moon last night, I am posting a video of one of my favorite singer/songwriters doing a song he calls "My Vampire Heart". His name is Tom McRae, and his songs and talent constantly amaze me. There are few musicians that can hold my emotions so completely with only a voice and a guitar. He is one of them.

I saw him perform in Seattle last year and I was absolutely mesmerized. I don't know if many people will appreciate him as much as I do, but I am completely drawn by his ability to bring the dark and light together. He addressed this at his concert by dicussing the Spanish term duende. I would best describe this idea as celebrating our lives wholly; where grief and misery are embraced (just as frequently as happiness and joy) as essential aspects of learning and growing and loving.

For me, Tom's songs bring a wonderful duality of soul. His music has a multi-level harmony that isn't found just in his tones . . . but also in his language, his messages, his ideas and the feelings he emotes. It's a brilliant complexity sung with utter simplicity.

You may not find the same draw to Tom that I do, but check him out anyway.



Okay, and just for kicks, I'm adding another one of my favorites. It's called "The Boy with the Bubblegun".



(The videos seems a little off between the audio and visual, but whatever. The music is all there.)