“All I Have” by Until June, Tuesday, May 3, 2022 (partial repost)
The falsetto sounds of vocalist Josh Ballard's voice may not be to everyone's liking. But back in 2007 when Until June released their debut album, singing high was the way to make it in the indie scene. Until June's self-titled debut is full of soaring melodies both on the guitar and in Ballard's vocals. The band's name makes me listen to them mostly in late spring to early fall. Though hailing from Arizona, this album makes me think of an early summer trips I took up to Michigan back in 2008. The cool and breezy guitars remind me of the cool nights when walking around the lakes and ponds in a northern early summer.
SO I TRIED. The last of my high school friends graduated high school in 2008, two years after I graduated. After the ceremony we met at the only coffee house in Mern. Sasha, who had just graduated, said, "I've got this wild idea. Let's drive all night and crash Shannon's graduation party tomorrow afternoon." Shannon and her family had moved to Michigan two years ago, and Shannon and Sasha had been best friends since elementary school. It was about 7 p.m. Friday night. Being young and no work commitments until Monday morning, I was in for the adventure. We started asking other friends and got together a motley crew who helped to pitch in for gas, which was no small fee, as gas soared to the highest it had ever been that Memorial Day Weekend, $4+ a gallon with the price being higher up north. The trip to Southern Michigan would take about 12 hours. After getting practically drunk on espresso (5 shots, I think), by 10 p.m. we were on the road. It was Sasha and her father, who slept in the back of the SUV for most of the trip; my sister's boyfriend Casey who came along for some reason, playing Saliva and Cold albums; me; and we picked up Shannon's cousin who lived along the way. I was in the mix to drive all night. We listened to the new Thousand Foot Krutch album. The driving was not bad when everyone was awake. We told jokes, listened to lots of rock music, and refueled on coffee. But when the sun was coming up in Ohio, and I was driving, everyone had fallen asleep. That was the hardest part of the trip.
I KNOW IT FEELS LIKE SUMMER. When we made it to the graduation party, Shannon and her family were surprise to see us. We were all falling asleep on the lawn, and Sasha's dad joked that we must have looked like a bunch of drunks, which was funny because Shannon's family were extreme conservative Christians. The Michigan early summer was warm in the afternoon and cool in the evening. We under-packed for the journey, thinking about North Carolina late-May, but the Michiganders weren't even cold. They lent us their windbreakers, and we headed out for soft-serve custard. Early Michigan summer reminded me of growing up in New York, but there were far more lakes and ponds in Michigan. I don't remember much else about that trip. It was a blur. In and out in less than 48 hours. It was a rite of passage for young adults to coordinate road trips and drive through the night on an irresponsible amount of sleep. It's certainly not an interesting story, but just imagine today's song being a soundtrack to that mundane trip as we drove around the lakes in Michigan. After getting some sleep on Saturday night, we started driving early Sunday morning back to North Carolina.
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