One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels by Bright Eyes and Neva Dinova
I will never forget the first time Bright Eyes blew my mind.
Several of us, including VailPM.com founders Ryan and Nevada, were in Park City, Utah for Robert Redford’s annual Sundance Film Festival. I had helped book Bassnectar at a multi-faceted event featuring lucid dream guru Stephen LaBerge and author Daniel Pinchbeck. Fortunately, a handful of films fit into the agenda as well. High Falls, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, was part of a collection of shorts we caught one day. Bright Eyes’ brilliant “First Day of my Life” was the soundtrack’s centerpiece. “Think I was blind before I met you,” was the specific lyric that slayed me. I vowed, right then and there, to learn the tune. It has since become a staple in my repertoire.
“When The President Talks to God”, a ballsy “Duhbya”-directed protest song that Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst performed on Leno, further wowed me. Rolling Stone crowned him “Best Songwriter” a few years later in 2008.
One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels, a collaboration between Bright Eyes and fellow Nebraskans Neva Dinova, sees upgraded re-release tomorrow via Omaha’s own Saddle Creek Records. Clark Baechle, of one of my all-time favorite bands The Faint, also contributed. “Happy Accident” is the name of the first single. Considering 30 year-old Oberst began composing and recording music in his early teens, its craftsmanship is no fluke.