Toptenning
By Guest Author
Monday. May 09, 10:28 AM
Allen Epley of The Life And Times counts down the things that matter to him the most.

10. Kasas City Royals
After losing 104 games last year and little post-season action since pounding those silly Cardinals in '85, the KC Royals have finally decided to embrace a real youth movement and endure the inevitable growing pains. But I told owner David Glass, CEO of Wal-Mart (whatever that is), to just spend spend spend and he'll see a bigger return a hell of a lot sooner. Haven't heard back yet. I'm sure he'll call...

9. My '91 Toyota Camry LE
16 valves and 4 cylinders?! 18.5 gallon tank? Completely loaded, sunroof, power everything, this is the fastest and most reliable car I've ever owned by far, save for my '86 Toyota 4×4 pickup which was falling apart and still wouldn't stop running, bless his heart. The Camry is still young with 180k on it. Just like me.

8. Louisville, KY
Besides being the birthplace and stomping grounds of Allen Epley in addition to being a stunningly beautiful city, L'ville also counts Hunter S. Thompson and Cassius Clay as residents. I was just 15 or 16 when I saw Squirrel Bait (pre-Slint / Bastro / Gastre Del Sol era) play at the Douglas Center on Douglas Blvd. It sounded like hell but something really hit me when I came to KC for college and one of my buddies tried to turn me on to Squirrel Bait. I grew up on AOR rock. I didn't understand the underground "network" and just couldn't fathom how he possibly knew the same (unknown, I thought) band from L'ville. It was a watershed moment for me.

7. Papa AE
I now resent all my friends who've had children and heard them cry about no sleep and no life and all this bullshit. I've never experienced so much fun and pure joy in my life. The keys: a) wait till you're goddamn ready to have children!, b) learn to schedule everything way ahead of time, and c) remember that sleep is over-rated.

6. Beck Sea Change
Did you ever break up with someone and have a record that defined those months (or years) afterward when you were still in mourning? This record set the tone for the months after we decided to break up Shiner. Not just lyrically, but just the whole healing feel of it. A beautiful record and the highwater mark for him, in my opinion.

5. Will Ferrell
When Phil Hartman walked out on stage on SNL, all he had to do was stand there and he made me want to shit my pants laughing... LITERALLY (David Cross anyone?)! I truly did not expect anyone else to be able to do that for me after his tragically fucked up wife killed him. Will Ferrell is that person for me and more sometimes. Any sketch with Will in it is worth watching, even the bad ones, and there are many. But his performance in Old School is Oscar worthy.

4. Swervedriver
This is consistently the band that I refer back to when beginning “the search for inspirado.” Early '90s English swirly shoegazing rock to which those adjectives don't do justice. Rockandroll for space travel is appropos, perhaps. Pre-Radiohead, but still clearly influential on them and many other bands of the early to mid '90s, Shiner was lucky enough to play three shows with Hum and Swervedriver in '98. It was a big deal for me then, but their legend has grown even more since. Which may be why so much of the new The Life And Times record echoes them.

3. Dirty Three Horse Stories
I met these drunken geniuses backstage at Memorial Hall in KCK a few years ago when they were opening for (the aforementioned) Beck. I had no idea what kind of music they played when I met them, but when they took the stage I was abslutely transfixed. This is music that reflects life so vividly and colorfully with no words at all. Drums, guitar, and violin. It rages as often as it soothes and comforts. My favorite song is “Hope” on Horse Stories and it never fails to produce chills of fear, tears of joy, or both.

2. Kansas City, MO
Moved here from Louisville to attend William Jewell College. Graduated six short years later and stayed ever since. I'm drawn to this city’s endless potential, ultra rich history (Google Tom Pendergast for a good place to start), plus its ingrained inferiority complex. Big enough for three major sports teams, but small enough for amazing urban neighborhoods. It boast a hugely pioneering modern art scene fed by the KC Art Institute that, in turn, continues to feed the urban revitalization. Jazz and BBQ, to be sure, but so much more. Too many influential bands to list here. Let no one mislead you into thinking small of this fair city. You will live here soon after the East Coast tsunamis and the West Coast falls into the ocean, or vice versa. Plus we just got the intraweb, or whatever you call it.

1. Making music for a living
Well, I'm not quite there yet. But life is too short to chase something you don't love. I refuse to trade following my dreams for a desperate life of financial "security." If that means I work in a restaurant for the time being in order to help facilitate this dream chasing, then so be it. Music-making is among the most honorable of professions in this world, and is such an intrinsic part of being human. It's there at birth. My children moved and swayed to music long before seeing anybody else do it. It's as needed and satisfying as oxygen and sex for the human race. It (and all of art) is the proof that we have souls, are conscious that we exist, and it is how we reflect the world in which we live. That's worth chasing.

(The Life And Times' new album, Suburban Hymns, will be released on Desoto on Aug. 8th)
www.thelifeandtimes.com
www.desotorecords.com

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