I walked into a store this evening where they were playing the theme song from The Lion King, which reminded me that despite mental notes I had neglected to send birthday wishes to my friend, ECN, who got another year older over the weekend.

I assume you do the same thing I do: associate music with events or people. Queen songs, for instance, remind me of my mother; “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” calls to mind Dad. Sometimes, as with “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” it’s because I attended an event with someone, and other times it’s because they either introduced me to certain music or they are a particular fan of an act.

In addition to seeing The Lion King with Grey Kitten and me, ECN also introduced my circle of friends to Vertical Horizon. If I remember the story correctly, he was walking past a neighboring dorm one day and heard deft guitarwork and lilting tenor voices emanating from a basement window. He inquired of its resident what cd was being played, and the rest is (our) college history.

While I am a fan of the earlier works of Vertical Horizon, back when they were a duo not long out of their own undergrad days at Georgetown, you should be forewarned that the band has undergone a surprising number of iterations, with vocalist/guitarist Matt Scannell (seen below) remaining the only constant. (Co-founder Keith Kane amicably left the band last summer to pursue other musical options.) Their earliest work is very folky while some of their late ’90s work gets kind of grunge-rocky. I’d suggest visiting their website to preview songs on an album before buying, because they really really do differ vastly.

Channeling Casey Kasem back in his 1980s version of the Billboard Top 40 radio program, this is my long distance dedication to ECN:

Happy belated birthday wishes, my friend. I hope you had a fantastic weekend doing all the things you love best.