Paper music for your paper ears.

Friends, today I present you with a WONDERFUL guest post by my very dear friend, Megan Renart.

It is a band review + show preview for California band Paper City, who plays in town on Sunday.  Megan and I were both charmed by Paper City Marisa's witty email to Austin Eavesdropper last July.  And, let's be honest -- we out-and-out girl-crushed on her, too.

And now you understand why.

Speaking of crushes, after you finish this post, I can pretty much guarantee that you will want more of Megan in your life.  Or at least on this blog.   

Here is her post!:

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Marisa Predisik reached out to Austin Eavesdropper recently in anticipation of her show at Beauty Bar this Sunday, September 11th.  Her to-do list in the email caught my eye, as it included, among other things, being the “only girl with two dudes in a van for two months, going across the country, playing shows and crashing on peoples' couches” as a member of her band Paper City.

Personally, that experience is up there with getting stuck in an elevator with the Black Eyed Peas as they rehearse their ‘greatest hits’. I’m just kidding--I’d love to be in a van with two dudes.  And no, no, also kidding--none of the Black Eyed Peas’ hits can be classified as ‘greatest’.

Predisik originally started out as a solo musician, and went by the name Moedog Darling. At 17 she started playing the guitar and writing songs, by 19 was performing live, and now, she exclaims, “I’m a full band touring!”

Before we get down to the nitty gritty, let’s answer the question I know you’re all thinking: Is this Marisa hot?  Yeah, totally.  Her photos, like this one:

... have that perfectly-bohemian-60s/70s-rock-goddess-thing going on that I’m slowly trying to emulate in gradual phases without alienating family or friends.  Oh, you and your dark hair and perfect bangs, Marisa!  Hey, do you guys think we look alike in this one?

Back to Marisa.

So the girl’s got style in spades, both in fashion and in music: distinct and nostalgic in equal measure. Her music is a party thrown on a garden rooftop in the favorite city of your choice: light, sophisticated, flirty.

“Drifting Away On The Sea” makes me think I should be listening to it in a rowboat on a British pond in the 1920s while Joseph Gordon Levitt plays the ukulele in his white-on-white suit. It’s delightfully jaunty.

“Paris in the Wintertime” This is one you can wrap around your neck like a scarf while your breath comes out in frosty clumps. Wes Anderson, heed my wisdom: play this in the foreground of your next film as your protagonist commits a crime of endearment.

Source.

“Oh the Cargo” is deliciously, delicately, melancholy. It made me think of wistfully watching someone from afar at a party.

If you can hear water in her songs, you’re not crazy. “I grew up in Southern California and was influenced not only by the music that was popular in my area, but also by my proximity to the ocean,” says Predisik. So she can sing and she is one of my lifelong ambitions: a mermaid!  Not fair.

You know the kind of friend you can take to any party because they make friends with anyone and everyone?  Paper City is that friend.  Play them while driving (right before the sun sets), play them while cleaning (dusting), play them while serving red wine and bruschetta to your friends in the half hour before True Blood starts.  And most importantly, go see them at Beauty Bar!

Paper City is Marisa Predisik (Vocals/Ukulele), Ben Swenson (Bass), Shelby Prendergast (Keys), and Dave Waterman (Drums). With two full-length albums and two EP's in their catalogue, Paper City has been busy with recording and playing live shows. Currently their most recent full-length release, "Popular Talk" is taking them on a 2-month summer tour across the USA, playing over 24 States.

*And Megan Renart is a secret mermaid.