Summer memories are often my favorite- roadtrips, pool parties, bike rides, cookouts, long days, and lots of time with friends. The easiest way to recall the fun times is listening to a playlist that I made for each particular Summer. This year I've yet to make a playlist, but today I got started on it, and thought I'd share the top 10 with you! (P.S. There is now more music to listen to in my sidebar off to the right!)

above photo taken at my old house with Archie a little over a year ago | lower photo taken two Summers ago

(for those of you viewing this in a reader, you will have to click through to hear the music.)

Around this time last year, I was graduating from college, working in a cubicle, and feeling bored with my life. WMC Fest came at the perfect time, encouraging me with inspiration from other young creative professionals who were taking their own leaps of faith into living the life of their dreams.

Come on out this weekend to make some great connections, enjoy some amazing live music, and refuel your creative tanks. Hope to see you there!

The day was long, but at 5pm, still very young. Baring my arms and my pasty white legs for the hot sun, I had to peel myself from the leather chair after sipping on three cosmos. Downtown Canton isn’t tiny, but it certainly isn’t very large either. Sitting outdoors at a martini bar and watching people flood the streets isn’t a normal activity for me and my friends, but a great beginning to an adventurous evening.

We joined the throng of people and stumbled towards a pizzeria, picking up more friends along the way. It wasn’t long before we discovered coffee would be a necessity if we were to make it to 3am. So, we sobered up and then remembered that even more friends would be at Mike Stone’s apartment a few blocks away.

A great group of talented friends were putting on a show at Mike’s place, also known as Love Nada. The balcony doors were open, the music of Fast Molasses adding to the sounds on the street below.

You never know who you are going to see perform at nights like these, but there is always souful singing, banjo and stand-up bass picking, fiddles, and even a washboard or two. Josh and Steve (Jeff and Steve too, I reckon) are forming a band, and since they trade musicians back and forth with Fast Molasses, I suppose it’s only fitting that they all played together on Friday night. I’ve heard Josh’s band twice in the past couple of weeks, and was very impressed. It’s so exciting to see what’s coming out of the Canton music scene these days. Especially when you not only dig the music, but the people behind it too.

Seemlessly hopping from one group of friends to the next, I hung out at Mike’s for a while before grabbing some friends and heading to a couple of bars downtown- basically just looking for the largest concentration of excellent people in one place. Along the way we talked about our dreams for Canton and where we hope our city to be in five years. As usual, the night stalled a bit at Georges as we sat talking and smoking until about 2am when we finally decided to go exploring some more. But that’s a whole ‘nother post that I will share later this week. In the meantime, go mellow out to some Fast Molasses.