Broken Hearted Health Care Bill: When 2009 was coming to a close my hopes were high for health care reform, so high that it was almost toxic. I rang in the new year with a kiss from my boyfriend and a dream that when I went back to college in 2010 I would be able to have my driver's license back. But I was wrong. Let me explain.

I don't have a drivers license because I don't have health insurance. In the seventh grade I was diagnosed with a childhood seizure disorder. I take medications to control the seizures, a medication that is supplied to me by a prescription assistance program that I financially qualify for. The state of North Carolina requires a neurologist's clearance for me to obtain my driver's license. The paperwork has to be renewed every two years and when my paperwork came up for renewal two years ago I was without health insurance, so my license was revoked. Attempting to fix the solution I tried to purchase the most basic health insurance coverage but because I have a pre-existing condition my premiums were outrageous. A monthly payment over $300 is not in my budget. It is just not possible. So when there was talk that the reform would mandate insurance companies to extend the age limit for students from 24 or 25 to 27 and only require half-time enrollment, instead of the full-time requirement, I thought this would be my answer. I was returning to NC State as a part-time student working on my second degree.

As March comes to a close and my 26th birthday approaches in April I will keep my head buried in my chemistry books because the health care bill that passed has left me with a broken heart. NPR reports that the bill extends the age to 26, one year less than the predicted age of 27, and the earliest reported date that the reform will come into effect is September, five months after my birthday. So for me it's back to saving money. The lowest quote for a neurologist appointment starts at $150 and can easily cost twice that. The necessary EEG, a routine test used to asses epilepsy, starts at $850 and can shoot upwards of $2,000.

Back to the music, cue "What Becomes of The Broken Hearted," by Jimmy Ruffin

Robert Francis ... "rock n' roll my little girl, rock n' roll in your big big world"

His 2007 release, One by One, on Aeronaut Records is one of my all time favorite records. Every time I listen to the recording it gives me something new, something a little more than the last. His new record is out on Atlantic, although I haven't listened to it yet. And he recently visited Daytrotter for a session which you can find HERE.

"Hey Kelly, who is this?"



When I hear that question more than once I know I've found a nugget of goodness, which was again the case this Sunday when I tended bar at Raleigh Times. Tending bar at any established, well functioning restaurant is kind of like winning the lottery and working at The Times there is an added bonus, not only is the lucky, hardworking, winner pouring great beers, but they are also choosing the tunes. So for me, although I am usually waiting tables, this is absolute heaven. This past Sunday, after the lunch rush of downtown visitors, young professionals with their hangovers, and the always lovely regulars looking for a cold beer, I slipped in an album I've been coming back to on a regular basis lately, "Golden Touch" by Wow and Flutter. It's out on Jealous Butcher Records. You can listen to most of the album on the band's MySpace or visit Jealous Butcher to buy the sweet 180-gram vinyl. The above video is the first track, "Red Face," from the album. Dig it.


:hearts and guitars:

New Finds

www.reverbnation.com/cinderellamotel

Cinderella MOTEL, duo from LA that reminds me of The Raincoats and Joan Jett. The duo is also the July Band of the Month for LA's Deli Magazine

To listen to exclusive songs, decide if you want a free download and in turn pay the band--the basics of the Sponsored Songs program--click on the names of the artists below. For their ReverbNation profile, follow the link.

Cinderella MOTEL



Dead Unicorn

A duo that puts out edgy Fugazi like songs. A def for when you want to crank it loud.

www.reverbnation.com/deadunicorn







Sketchnote
Quality hip-hop and quality musicianship.



www.reverbnation.com/sketchnote


Sounds Delecious

An Aussie find, easy to leave playing forever, this song is for fans of Liam Finn but their other tracks remind me of Explosions in the Sky.

www.reverbnation.com/soundsdelecious








The Sheaks

Acoustic song that reminds me of Ryan Adams.

www.reverbnation.com/thesheaks







Corey Landis

Found this guy through NC's Dan Bryk, similar sound, excellent lyrics.




www.reverbnation.com/coreylandis






and an artist without the best pictures, but still worth a listen

L. David Segovia a Charlotte NC guy, interesting song writing and vocals, not typical singer songwriter

I stumbled across this today. Reminds me of Emily Hanes and Metric.

in love

I cannot get enough of this song

NEW MUSIC, yes sir

Bowerbirds, "Beneath Your Tree"


Polvo, "Beggars Bowl"

Because I can't play it on the radio

whoa, I am not the only one

Brian Williams? Really? Bri Tunes? Does the production and MSNBC staff really call Brian Williams, "Bri"? As in, "Hey Bri what's up?" I seriously doubt it.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And for the record, I stood next to David Fricke during the Deer Tick SXSW performance at the Ground Control Touring Stage. He is a very tall man.

NBC, come on, give a gal a chance! I could have delivered you this band a year and a half ago. Props to Deer Tick though.

For all things beautiful

Balmorhea with, "Harm and Boon."

In memory of Ian "SpyK" Quick



Spyk, I am missing you, terribly. The words I want to write won't come together, but the thoughts in my head are churning, so I am doing the best thing I can--- playing you a song. For every time we danced in the kitchen at work, rocked out our apartment and pissed off the neighbors downstairs, for all of the milk you loved to drink and every time you took care of my dog, this one is for you. Dance.

We Are The People


"We can remember, swimming in the summer... we are the people that ruled the world."

Tweeting.

Subscribe to my twitter here, www.twitter.com/kellyisthere

and for the original tweeting, here is a Disney Classic*


*by Classic, I mean a copyrighted-till-the world ends-video clip of the 1947 Academy Award Winner for "Best Song," which was never released in its entirety on home video in the USA due to a controversy that argued it to be racist.

"This Too Shall Pass," by Danny Schmidt from Austin, Texas.

I was unable to catch his show during SXSW and I am regretting the missed opportunity. This song is stuck in my head. It requires three listens-- the first to be mesmerized, the second to hear all the layers, and the third to realize that the lyrics are an extended metaphor of cancer.

SXSW09 pics arriving, finally.

Follow this here link, for photos of local NC bands at SXSW. More are on the way.

Adorned with the North Carolina flag,
Daniel Hart of Physics of Meaning
packs away his violin after a show
at Friend Island for a Hometapes party.

Next to Chip Robinson's merch table, Van Alston
spells out the best way to support NC bands at SXSW.
[photos of Chip's show soon to come on the Picasa site]

SXSW09 Travel Mates


Escapees from
the Kentucky
zoo travel
with Wax Fang.

A lovely lady
watches over
Philly group,
Drink Up
Buttercup.

My First Assignment: Bad coffee, Texas heat, and technology



Right now I am sitting in a hotel room in Killeen, Texas, drinking a second cup of complimentary hotel coffee that I loaded with those terrible tasting-French Vanilla-no refrigeration-required-creamers. Tonight I will drive down to San Antonio to connect with the band, Megafaun. Wednesday morning I will follow the band up to Austin and start posting twice-daily blog posts for The Independent Weekly <http://www.indyweekblogs.com/scan/> thus beginning my coverage of the beast of a music festival that is South By Southwest, or SXSW. Somehow, in the mix of post-graduation life, I scored this writing gig and it wasn't till the second cup of crappy coffee that I realized this is the start of my life as a writer.

SXSW is a four-day event that takes place is the wonderfully weird city of Austin. During these four days over 1,500 bands will perform for more than 125,000 attendees. Music shows start at eleven in the morning, run til five or six in the evening, followed by an hour break so the clubs can clean up and get ready to do it all over again, going until three or four in the morning. My job is to find the unknown or half-known bands, those both local to North Carolina and others known on a national level, interview them, review their performance, take pictures, write about it all, and upload the content on to the blog—in the midst of a hectic music festival. Most of my writing will be done on a sidewalk where I can cop a free wi-fi signal, and my editor, Grayson Currin, will receive the file on his iPhone, edit and upload the content from the palm of his hand. As the week goes on, things will get desperate. I will scourer the streets for any free electric outlets in order to charge my Macbook, camera, and Blackberry. My knees will ache from sixteen-hour workdays and my ears will ring from the continuous hours of live music. I will be on assignment.

If you climb the stairs of Tompkins Hall you will find numerous signs that promote the English department's internship program. On one of the signs, during my last week of classes, I felt so inclined to leave my mark. Underneath the question, "What will you be after graduation?" and between the options "Waiter" or "Writer" I took my pen out and wrote, "BOTH!" Although the first two months of life after graduation felt flat-lined and pale, taking that I finished school in the onset of what some call "Recession 2.0," I continued to write and save my tip money. I am balancing life as a waitress and a writer. It's nothing to brag about, or maybe it is, after all I am writing you this e-mail. Being a writer, for me, is about freedom—the freedom to think, to make my own schedule, to read what I want rather than what is assigned by a boss, the freedom an assignment, and all its unpredictable challenges and gifts.

So as classes, budget cuts, and headlines continue, eliminate no option, because all those late-night hours of serving two-dollar Pabst Blue Ribbons have funded my first writing gig.

"Are you scared of making money!?!"

Things in my life have changed, as they do after one graduates from college. I could write a two page essay on why it is the worst time economically to graduate and ramble on about misfourtunes, letting the paragraphs stack up to a grim conclusion on how my generation is a pile of sponges. But I am not going to write those words. Complaining doesn't help a damn thing. So I am facing the facts; Bev Perdue is Governor, we are teetering between a depression and painful recession, and because I have chosen not to enter the 9-5 workforce straight out of college, my life is not going to follow the books, and I will not exactly be raking in the money, or health benefits. But I am doing what I want to do: perusing a life of music, writing, art, and happiness--- creating a self-defined position that has no list of college requirements. And, hey I graduated and at the same time, managed to squeeze a lil' drop of blood from a sugarcube.