The First Echo

My series of throwback blogs continues, excavated from my personal archives. These were originally sent as e-mails to friends and family back home. Life updates from Los Angeles filled with humble brags made by an insufferable twentysomething... Subject: Paradise Wasteland Sent: July 27, 2005 " Los Angeles is a paradise wasteland ." - Me. The least photogenic city, yet the most photographed. A city that is full of both hope and hunger. Gorgeous palms frame boulevards of rundown mini-marts and hollowed buildings a decade long dead. Pretentious pretty people hardly mix with the indie-inclined artsies, but there is a shade of gray one may discover during a late night in Silver Lake where martinis and Miller Lites stand side by side on the same bar while Gucci and Target color-coordinate in a non-discriminatory display of fashion. When you're up, you can't help but think of the possibilities and good fortune that may come your way. When you're down, you que

This month, I'm wondering who the hell is David Hodges because he is providing the vocals on "Waking Up With You," Armin van Buuren's latest single from his upcoming album, Balance . But that's what Google is for... Turns out Hodges is a former band member of Evanescence (among other bands) and a pretty prolific songwriter from Arkansas, which would explain the slight country twang in his voice. Anyway, I'm digging the song, which is a sonic departure from the EDM maestro. The lyrics are hitting a little too close to home for me...and I can't get enough of it. @TheFirstEcho