Michael Beauchamp//Do What You Could

[Local! Music! Friday!]
Tell me...what is this Local Music Fridays?

Although I rarely see him these days (damn you, too-large America), Michael Beauchamp remains extremely dear to my heart. Michael was one of my very first and very best friends from the Michigan portion of my life. When we first met (back in the days of burning CDs), we traded selections from our music collections. His highlights, a 30 disk stack of Modest Mouse, Cat Power, Leonard Cohen, etc for my highlights, a 30 disk stack of Sleater-Kinney, Liz Phair, The Smiths, REM, etc. This is where we had a startling revelation that we were the only two people in the United States of America who owned the album, Tales of Great Notch Glory, by a strange mostly unknown band called Sammy. We had both bought it used. We drove around listening to it on many occasions. There was also one particularly amazing evening of walking around the Arb. Oh A2, I miss you some days.

Michael and I were in a band together called The Dumb and Ugly Club. It was so fun. I miss writing and playing music with this man, dearly. He is a beautiful man with a beautiful voice who writes beautiful, beautiful songs.

Thank god for all of us, he’s still at it. He released his first stellar solo album, My Northern Voices, earlier this year. It was great how I got this album. I was on a train going from Ann Arbor to Chicago. The train stopped at Kalamazoo. I got off the train and Michael was there. He gave me a hug, handed me the album and then I got back on the train. It was very romantic.

This song was one we used to play together. It is a heartbreakingly good song about heartbreak.



Do What You Could.mp3

You can hear more from Mike on his myspace and you can purchase his album at CDBaby or at iTunes.

I ain’t your problem no more, problem no more.
Lord, how I miss being your problem.