THE DAMAGE IS DONE

The Features
“There’s A Million Ways To Sing The Blues”
Live @ The Exit/In
August 19th, 2005

Man, I love this song. Always great.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, album release (2004)
There’s A Million Ways To Sing The Blues, US single release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS  

The Features
“There’s A Million Ways To Sing The Blues”
Live @ Cannery Ballroom
January 13th, 2007

The most recent bootleg I have of this essential jam features what I think are some new keyboard flairs, courtesy of Mark Bond.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, album release (2004)
There’s A Million Ways To Sing The Blues, US single release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS 

The Features
“There’s A Million Ways To Sing The Blues”
Live @ The Boro
January 11th, 2003

This here’s the debut of Exhibit A’s furious midpoint barnstormer. You can hear here that “Million Ways” sprang forth from the band nearly completed. Musically it’s nearly identical to the version recorded on their debut album (the opening is a measure or two longer), and a strong outline of the lyrics is present. The most notable difference is the possible lack of lyrics during the breakdown just before the last chorus. Also notable: the chatter between Features message board superstars ray davies and richarddawson, the latter of which is responsible for this and many other bootlegs in my collection.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, US album release (2004)

OTHER VERSIONS

Today’s request comes from me, as this is one of My Top 10 Features Songs.

The Features
“There’s A Million Ways To Sing The Blues”
Live @ The Red Rose
February 28th, 2003

Few Features songs could be described as scathing or biting, but I’m finding it hard to come up with better words for this punchy number as I write this on a hard day’s night. The band’s trademark tightness is on display here as all four members pogo along at breakneck speeds, with that excellent trampoline-style bass line throbbing alongside that razor-sharp riff. It’s confident and ferocious, the sound of a band completely sure of themselves and their sound when faced with an ever-changing popular music landscape. The song is most likely about the rise of popularity emo-culture was having amongst middle-class teenagers at the time. My love for this song is obviously due in large part to it’s uptempo beat and angular sound.

“There’s A Million Ways To Sing The Blues” debuted at the near-infamous January 11th, 2003 show at the Boro. The show also included possibly the largest crowd the band ever had at the venue, ridiculously cold temperatures outside and the debut of “The Way It’s Meant To Be” among other things. The song would then be played at nearly every single Features show for the next three years, until the band’s hiatus in 2006. During this heyday, the song would be recorded for inclusion on their debut album Exhibit A and released as a single. An innovative music video was also made for it, directed by Chad Denning, that is oddly enough not on on YouTube anymore. I’ll find it at some point and link to it here. I’m not sure how often the song was played between 2006 and 2009, but it was played on June 19th, 2009 at their show at Mercy Lounge in Nashville.

A VERSION APPEARS ON:
Exhibit A, album release (2004)
There’s A Million Ways To Sing The Blues, US single release (2004)