Use this link to add your email
address to the RARWRITER Publishing Group mailing list for
updates on activities associated with
the
Creative Culture and Revolution
Culture journals,
and other RARWRITER Publishing Group interests.
ABOUT RAR: For those of
you new to this site, "RAR" is Rick Alan Rice, the publisher
of the RARWRITER Publishing Group websites.
Use this link to visit the
RAR music page, which features original music
compositions and other.
Use this link
to visit Rick Alan Rice's publications page, which
features excerpts from novels and other.
RARADIO
(Click here)
"On to the
Next One" by
Jacqueline Van Bierk
"I See You
Tiger" by Via Tania
"Lost the
Plot" by Amoureux"
Bright Eyes,
Black Soul" by The Lovers
Key
"Cool Thing"
by Sassparilla
"These Halls I Dwell"
by Michael Butler
"St. Francis"by
Tom Russell & Gretchen Peters, performance by Gretchen
Peters and Barry Walsh;
"Who Do You
Love?"by Elizabeth Kay;
"Rebirth"by
Caterpillars;
"Monica's
Frock" by
Signel-Z;
"Natural
Disasters" by
Corey Landis;
"1,000
Leather Tassels" by
The Blank Tapes;
"We Are All Stone" and "Those
Machines" by Outer
Minds;
"Another Dream" by MMOSS;
"Susannah" by Woolen
Kits;
Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley,
Michael Jackson and other dead celebrities / news by A
SECRET PARTY;
"I Miss the Day" by My
Secret Island,
"Carriers of Light" by Brendan
James;
"The Last Time" by Model
Stranger;
"Last Call" by Jay;
"Darkness" by Leonard
Cohen;
"Sweetbread" by Simian
Mobile Disco and
"Keep You" fromActress off
the Chronicle movie soundtrack;
"Goodbye to
Love" from October
Dawn;
Trouble in
Mind 2011 label
sampler;
Black Box
Revelation Live
on Minnesota Public Radio;
Apteka "Striking
Violet";
Mikal
Cronin's "Apathy"
and "Get Along";
Dana
deChaby's progressive
rock
_______
MUSIC LINKS
"Music Hot Spots"
LOS ANGELES
SAN FRANCISCO
NEW YORK CITY
NASHVILLE
CHICAGO
AUSTIN
DENVER-BOULDER
MINNESOTA
SEATTLE
NEW ORLEANS
PHILADELPHIA
BOSTON
PORTLAND
DETROIT
MEMPHIS
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
FLORIDA
ARIZONA
INTERNATIONAL LINKS
UNITED KINGDOM
EUROPE
JAPAN
SCANDANAVIA
AUSTRALIA
CANADA
ASIA
|

ATWOOD - "A Toiler's Weird Odyssey of Deliverance" -AVAILABLE
NOW FOR KINDLE (INCLUDING KINDLE COMPUTER APPS) FROM
AMAZON.COM. Use
this link.
CCJ Publisher Rick Alan Rice dissects
the building of America in a trilogy of novels
collectively calledATWOOD. Book One explores
the development of the American West through the
lens of public policy, land planning, municipal
development, and governance as it played out in one
of the new counties of Kansas in the latter half of
the 19th Century. The novel focuses on the religious
and cultural traditions that imbued the American
Midwest with a special character that continues to
have a profound effect on American politics to this
day. Book One creates an understanding about
America's cultural foundations that is further
explored in books two and three that further trace
the historical-cultural-spiritual development of one
isolated county on the Great Plains that stands as
an icon in the development of a certain brand of
American character. That's the serious stuff viewed
from high altitude. The story itself gets down and
dirty with the supernatural, which in ATWOOD
- A Toiler's Weird Odyssey of Deliveranceis the
outfall of misfires in human interactions, from the
monumental to the sublime. The
book features the epic poem "The
Toiler" as
well as artwork by New Mexico artist Richard
Padilla.
Elmore Leonard
Meets Larry McMurtry
Western Crime
Novel

I am offering another
novel through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing service.
Cooksin is the story of a criminal syndicate that sets its
sights on a ranching/farming community in Weld County, Colorado,
1950. The perpetrators of the criminal enterprise steal farm
equipment, slaughter cattle, and rob the personal property of
individuals whose assets have been inventoried in advance and
distributed through a vast system of illegal commerce.
It is a ripping good yarn, filled
with suspense and intrigue. This was designed intentionally to
pay homage to the type of creative works being produced in 1950,
when the story is set. Richard Padilla
has done his usually brilliant work in capturing the look and feel of
a certain type of crime fiction being produced in that era. The
whole thing has the feel of those black & white films you see on
Turner Movie Classics, and the writing will remind you a little
of Elmore Leonard, whose earliest works were westerns.
Use this link.
EXPLORE THE KINDLE
BOOK LIBRARY
If you have not explored the books
available from Amazon.com's Kindle Publishing
division you would do yourself a favor to do so. You
will find classic literature there, as well as tons
of privately published books of every kind. A lot of
it is awful, like a lot of traditionally published
books are awful, but some are truly classics. You
can get the entire collection of Shakespeare's works
for two bucks.
You do not need to buy a Kindle to
take advantage of this low-cost library. Use
this link to go to an Amazon.com page from which you
can download for free a Kindle App for
your computer, tablet, or phone.
Amazon is the largest,
but far from the only digital publisher. You can
find similar treasure troves atNOOK
Press (the
Barnes & Noble site), Lulu,
and others. |
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|

Don't take RAR's word for it!
Click here to go to
Vlad's MySpace to hear his work!
www.danielatorchia.com
DANIELA
TORCHIA has a richly layered and diverse sound that draws on her European
heritage - Austrian and Italian parents, born in Spain - and incorporates
Latin concepts to produce surprisingly muscled pop-rock that sounds right
for television theme music. She veers toward the romantic, but the
calibrated power-rock guitar sound underlines a strong defiant streak that
plays in interesting juxtaposition to her sweet, confiding vocal style.
This is pretty powerful pop rock stuff, a big sound that always seems to
find room for a Segovia-style guitar section. Again the dynamics work to
emphasize the emotional range of the songs.
Daniela
has an odd pedigree that includes teenage years spent as a circus
performer - seriously, swinging from the Big Top to be rescued from
gorillas -
followed by a successful stint as a modern dancer. Says Daniela -
"Yes I danced for many years and have done many musicals and Bob
Fosse style dance shows. That was my first passion but music took first
place. I did Grease, Pippin, West Side Story and Fosse Reviews on a local
level in Los Angeles. It was great fun."
After
that show business apprenticeship, she started translating into pop songs
the stream of consciousness thoughts and poetry that, as a young girl, she
had poured into journals, and she started playing out at open mic nights
and showcases.
Eventually she got the help she needed to realize her power folk-rock
vision from Tony Kaye, renowned keyboardist for Yes, Bad Finger and David
Bowie. Kaye, Daniela and Producer/Studio Owner Brian Yaskulka teamed to
produce Daniela's 13-track debut release Have No Fear.
The
initial reactions have been impressive. Daniela received several
nominations for the 2006 Rock City News Awards, including Outstanding Solo
Artist and Outstanding Folk Artist.
Daniela
can be seen at local venues, including the Lava Lounge and the Cat Club,
in Hollywood, the MuddHouse in Northridge, the Taverna Club in Encino, and
elsewhere.
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Daniela
Torchia in concert
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DANIELA
TORCHIA MP3s:

First
Time
Don't
You Worry
So
Little Faith
Take
Me As I Am
Copyright
© 2006-2007 Daniela Torchia, all rights reserved
Daniela's
MySpace site also features her MP3s: Go to http://www.myspace.com/danielatorchia
*
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IT
STARTED AT AN OPEN-MIC SHOWCASE...
Daniela's
site has the following piece on her Music page. It may be of interest to a
lot of people, and may even other songwriters wanting to get their starts
as performers.
"Kulak’s
Woodshed
in North Hollywood, California is the place to be on Monday night for
an open-mic: A place where everyone sings and goes back for more. When the
sun sets, and the night life begins, gutsy singer songwriters enter
Kulak’s Woodshed to walls packed with music memorabilia, theatre seats
and a four poster bed to bravely perform their latest compositions to a
discerning audience and live action web-cast cameras. This is exactly
where Daniela Torchia landed one infamous December night. It was a place
to have fun and sing, but it turned out to be much more. From that first
night, an invaluable network developed into what came to be the production
team for Have No Fear. From the lead guitarist to the producers,
the drummer to the photographers, the make-up artist to the graphic
artist, Kulak’s Woodshed on Laurel Canyon was the start of it all."
|
Have
No Fear Production:
Brian Yaskulka, of 7th Level Productions in Hollywood, got on board
to start the two-year project along with Tony Kaye, keyboardist for
YES, Badfinger, and David Bowie. Their interests were peaked by the
eclectic new sound of Daniela’s sultry voice mixed with Spanish Flamenco
and American Rock. The all-consuming musical journey resulted in the
production of Have No Fear. Knowing Daniela was fluent in Spanish,
Daniela’s manager suggested she record a Spanish version of the album.
Through Kiki Wow, the wild and fearless MC at Kulak’s, Daniela found
George Alayon, of Genius Productions, and within a few months SIN MIEDO
was produced and mixed.
Over 15 musicians played on Have No Fear, from Tony Kaye, to Robin
LeMesurier on guitar, who toured with Rod Stewart and Johnny Hallyday.
Incredible touring and studio musicians, especially the “guitar-king”,
Cole Coleman, gave their talents to Have No Fear.
Production spanned two years from the original production meetings with
Brian Yaskulka to the last day of mastering at Marcussen Mastering.-
from Daniela's website.
|
DANIELA
TORCHIA NEWS:
RARWRITER
REVIEW: Have No Fear
-
Daniela Torchia CD (click here)
|
www.coreylandis.com
I
wouldn’t be the first to speculate on the potential of COREY LANDIS, the
Ohio-born transplant to L.A. whose acerbic, witty piano-based music has
rightly been compared to that of Warren Zevon, Billy Joel and Tom Waits.
He has qualities that may elevate him to the upper echelons of "Cole
Porter-dom." You’ve probably seen him, if not playing around town at The Derby and
The Mint then on the FOX sitcom “That 70s Show,” where he had a
recurring role as the young Red Forman.
Corey seems first and foremost, however, to be a
writer who is comfortably associated with song. His website bookends him
with iconic L.A. writer Charles Bukowski and, curiously, non-writer Elvis Presley –
Corey was born
on the day Elvis died, which also happened to have been the birthday of
Bukowski. He hardly needs the coincidental connections, because his music nicely establishes an identity all his own. He
is a soloist, a guy best taken with minimal accompaniment because, as
good as the music is, you
want to hear the words.
Corey
released Feast of Scraps, his
first LP, in 2003. From his website
- "Feast was
written, arranged, performed, and produced by Landis in his home studio
over the course of about six months. It's a lo-fi, acoustic chronicle of
frustration, failure, and the trying to hold on to something when
everything around appears to be crumbling.” His song "New
Year" from Feast of Scraps was
voted a finalist in the 2005 International Songwriting Competition,
placing in the top .5 percent of around 15,000 entries.
In
2005 he released 14 Old Messages,
his second LP, another home studio production that featured his playing
every note on the recording, including guitar, piano and trumpet.
Corey
is currently working on mixing his third LP, which is a studio recording
with string and woodwind arrangements by Joey
Newman, (That would be Randy's nephew. You see symmetry here?)
"...as well as the fantastic
ear of mixer Greg Hayes, recalling records such as Elton John's
self-titled release, Randy Newman's Sail Away, REM's Automatic For The People and the works of Biff Rose
and David Ackles.” - from his website.
|
Corey Landis was nominated in the Outstanding Solo
Artist category for the 2006 Rock City News Awards.
|
COREY
LANDIS MP3s:
At
Christmas
Be
Nice to Me
Copyright © 2006-2007
Corey Landis,
All Rights Reserved
*
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 |
 |
RARWRITER REVIEW OF NEW
COREY LANDIS ALBUM
Click
here to download a .pdf of the RARWRITER review of Corey
Landis (Urban Myth Records).
|
Songwriter
on The Attacks!
Corey Landis
Brings Rock Band to The Mint
Los Angeles, California -
Corey Landis is a clever singer/songwriter who has been featured
numerous times at RARWRITER.com. Last month, in a break from the
piano stylings that have been his persona, Corey debuted a rock
band - Corey Landis and The Attacks - at The Mint in L.A. He is
back again this week, and hits the stage at Club Good Hurt later
this month.

Corey spent a little time telling us
about the change in his musical direction.
"Most of the songs I've ever
written--starting way back when I was just a kid--come fully
arranged in my head, complete with bass, guitar, drums, etc. I
grew up on Billy Joel and Elton John, and from the beginning,
that was the kind of music I wanted to do--pop/rock. But I never
had a band. Not even in high school when everybody has a band.
So I wrote my songs, recorded them with just my piano, and hoped
someday I'd get to hear them more fully realized. And then with
the help of technology, I was able to fill in the blanks a
little myself, although the results were limited and far from
ideal (see "Feast of Scraps" and "14 old messages").
"When I saw this approach wasn't
working, I knew I had to make the most of being by myself: write
and choose tunes that can stand up without much help, and have
live players fill in the blanks with tasteful but limited
strings, etc., the way it was done on those records I mentioned
that inspired my last album ("Corey Landis"). Once THAT was
done, the next logical step--one that i'd been putting off for a
lifetime out of fear, amongst other things--was to get a band.
Find people to play with so that I could play the rock songs
I've written with live people. That way the record will sound
better, and the folks at a live show will get more enjoyment out
of the experience. I've found few people like to sit and watch a
guy alone on the piano sing songs they don't know. But with a
band, they can handle it.
"So it's just the next stage in the
game. In a way, it's back to the start, but done the right way.
I want to do a piano-heavy indie-rock record, with no guitar.
Very much like Ben Folds Five and what Elton John's early trio
used to do.
"It's not disavowing what I did on
the last record. I'm proud of it. But I don't have allegiance to
any style. It's what I like about Bowie, Costello, Dylan, etc.
The songs are what makes them who they are. Every time I finish
a record, I think of what's something DIFFERENT I can do. And
for me, as lame and simple as it may seem, it's to play with a
band. Everything else is the same, really. I write the songs, I
record the demos, and then I share them with the band and we
figure out what to do.
"I like a lot of loud, heavy music.
We are by no means Metallica, but now I feel a lot more open and
able to rock out a little more, which I haven't been able to
working solo in the past."
Read
more on Corey Landis
by clicking here.
______________________________________________
http://johnpieplow.com/home.html
From
his website - John Pieplow blends various musical
influences including Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison and John Lennon.
Backed by soulful singer/dancers and a racious touring band, John
seamlessly mixes material ranging from rousing blues/gospel numbers to
revealing personal ballads.
John Pieplow played the Verizon Wireless
Amphitheater with Huey Lewis and the News and Chicago in June 2006, and
there again with Earth, Wind and Fire and Chris Botti in August 2006. He's
opened for five-time Grammy-nominees Ambrosia at the 1500 seat El Rey
Theater in Los Angeles and multi-Grammy and Oscar-winner Christopher Cross
at the House of Blues Sunset Strip and Maria Muldaur. Sean Healy Presents,
leading music promoter/booker in Los Angeles, says John is "one of
the top ten drawing bands in Los Angeles." It's the combination of
Johns velvety vocals, original lyrics and unique musical style which
blends blues, jazz and pop sounds that draws the crowds. Current band
lineup features renowned literary agent/manager Joel Gotler (Sting, James
Elroy) on harmonica, and offers audiences an intimate experience that
fuels the soul.
This year, John has entered the film and television music
world by writing and performing the music for the NBC-produced, ABC
prime-time show "Sons and Daughters", produced by Lorne
Michaels. John Pieplow has won several music awards including "Best
Alternative Band 2004" and "Best Solo Artist 2003" and a
2005 nomination for "Best Guitarist" by LA's Rock City News. In
addition to his musical appeal, John's career as a film director of cult
favorite "StrangeLand" has earned him a dedicated following of
fans. In the past year and a half, John Pieplow has performed more than 80
shows at premiere music venues in Los Angeles. Famed hotspots include
House of Blues, Key Club, Whiskey A Go Go, The Roxy, The El Rey Theatre
and Viper Room. John recently completed his first album with gold-record
recipient and producer Kevin Valentine in Los Angeles.
|
ABOVE: John Pieplow at the mic. BELOW:
John Pieplow LP cover (photo
by Ken Sax; artwork by Jacques de Groot)
|
JOHN
PIEPLOW MP3S:

John Pieplow MP3s can be heard at his MySpace
site at www.myspace.com/johnpieplowmusic
|
 |
www.javelyn.net
Javelyn
walked away with the 2005 Rock City News Best Female Solo Artist of the Year
award and this year picked up another Rocky for Outstanding Folk Band. The
model turned folkie has cultivated quite a
following with her twice a month Santa Monica indie music nights, Java
With Javelyn. From her website - "Javelyn is an
'everywoman' singing songs
that touch common chords of everyday life that everyone can relate to from love
songs to responsibilities to one's self to community building.
"Earlier this year, Javelyn released her second CD Cut to the Chase
and most recently had a music video release, available to be seen at Javelyn's
Videos . She toured with her first CD which charted on Gavin between
Sarah MacLachlan and Matchbox 20 on the Hot A/C charts, had airplay on over 200
radio stations nationwide, and had rave reviews from press, DJs & online
sources."
"Javelyn
has acted in theater, film, video, national commercials, print and MC work and
has just graduated 2nd City Comedy Improv Training Center in LA. She plays
keyboards and has her own music publishing company. Currently, she is acting in
an independent film and doing shows at Second City, Los Angeles. She is a member
of NARAS, SAG, ATAS and AFTRA.
"The
influence of professional acting schools and roles help paint the melodic,
sassy, at times, theatrical, style of Javelyn’s lyrics and song-weaving.
Javelyn literally ‘fell into’ music by being hired from a modeling gig to be
a part of a 4-piece classic rock cover band where she cut her teeth singing and
playing keyboards in the pounding world of cover bands. “Basically, most of my
songs are very personal. I write a lot of them to me, to my own soul. I’m not
one of those artists who have 500 songs sitting on the back shelf. I only write
when I’m inspired or can’t hold in what I have to say any longer. If I write
with other composers, I always come to the table letting the music and tracks
tell me what to write – kinda strange and magical how it works out that
way.”
Javelyn’s most recent CD "Bustin' Loose" is available via iTunes, as
are all her cuts from her first two CDs. She has several music videos available for viewing on
MySpace.
|

|
ABOVE
(Top): Javelyn looking pretty. ABOVE (Bottom): A still from one of
Javelyn's videos. BELOW: Javelyn released Cut to the Chase in 2004.
Bustin' Loose was released in 2005. |
JAVELYN MP3S:
You can hear Javelyn's MP3s at her
MySpace site
at www.myspace.com/javelyn
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www.cherishalexander.com
CHERISH
ALEXANDER has been making music
since she was seven years old, and making it at a high-end professional
level for more than a decade now. It has been paying off in all kinds of
ways, most recently with a 2006 Rock
City News award for Outstanding
Female Solo Artist.
Cherish
landed a deal back in the ‘90s with Warner-Chappell publishing, which
gave her multiple opportunities to do something she thought was needed in
modern songwriting – realism. From
her website – “I am about trying to bring the realism of life back
into music. Recently, the musical cliche has been to fabricate yourself
into whatever is hip, and you can feel a sense of loss for real music.
Finally, I think there’s a slow resurgence of singer/songwriters and a
place for me.”
It
seems like finding a place for herself in the music business hasn’t been
a big problem. Cherish landed a track on a benefit LP, Harmony
with the Homeless, in 1995. Former pop star Tiffany
sang Cherish’s tune "You Don't Belong Down Here." Then later
that same year, Cherish and drummer Billy
Baker founded the rock band Painkillers,
adding guitarist Curtis Hooker
and bassist Matt Boyd. The band
released a 16-track LP titled Medicine
for the Soul and landed a track (“In Between”) in the soundtrack
of the Burt Reynolds movie The Last
Producer, another (“Good Enough”) in 2000 Sundance feature Alligator Alley, and three other tunes in the television series
“The Crow: Stairway to Heaven.”
Cherish
showed up in two Cyndi Lauper music videos, playing lead guitar for two
tracks off Lauper’s 1998 LP Sisters of Avalon. The opportunities just kept coming. Cherish
created the theme song for the pilot of “Wheeler's
World” for the Comedy Central Network. She landed her tune
“State of Mind” on the MTV pilot of “The
Party Machine,” and her tune “Caffeine” was highlighted in
“Aftermath,” a made for TV/CBS movie of the week starring Meredyth
Baxter, Robert Urich and Diane Ladd.
Cherish
created a remake of the 1970's Thelma Houston song “Don't Leave Me This
Way” featured in two episodes of “Fashion
Television” on E! Entertainment Networks. She contributed
“What About Me,” co-written with Billy Baker, and did a remake of the
Young Bloods song ”Get Together” for the PBS documentary
“The
Teachings of Jon.” Cherish created two songs for Chicks
of Rock and West Coast Rock
as part of a four-game Moshpit
Software computer set.
In
2003, Cherish’s song “Goodbye”
was on the playlists of over 50 radio stations nationally. In 2004, Cherish was asked by Producer/Writer/Director Bryce Zabel to write songs
for his TV mini-series remake of the 1972 classic The Poseidon Adventure.
Cherish
has worked with independent artist Jessica
Hallett, contributing her tunes “Say Goodbye” and “More
Than You Know” to Hallett’s LP, which was co-written and produced by
Billy Baker. She also contributed her tunes “Hello to June” and
“Goodbye” to the soundtrack of Dante’s
View, another feature film project.
|

The
Winning of Hearts & Minds
Cherish
has multiple roles regarding the independent film The Winning of Hearts & Minds. She is in charge of music
supervision including writing, performing, producing and recording the
score and soundtrack of the Steve Becker-directed film.
Cherish also plays the role of Lipstick, the lead bass player in the Maxitit
band, the centerpiece of the film. Maxitit performed
a 2004 showcase (with special performance by Brittina Spearguilara) at
Swinghouse studios in Hollywood prior to the start of production of the
film.
Cherish
will be releasing a solo LP, Fallen
Awake, in early 2007. The song is all hers and she will support the LP
with a tour.
|
CHERISH
ALEXANDER MP3s:
Blue
Skies
Heaven's
Here
Bulletproof
Buy
Me Love
Copyright
© 2006-2007 Cherish Alexander, all rights reserved
Cherish's
MySpace site also features her MP3s: Go to http://www.myspace.com/cherishalexander
*
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MOBY CHICK
If Cherish isn’t quite busy
enough with all of her writing projects, she is also playing bass,
portraying John Paul Jones, in the all-girl Led Zeppelin tribute band Moby
Chick. You can find out more about the band at their MySpace site at www.myspace.com/mobychickband.
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www.crystal-phoenix.com
JIMMY
LEE YOUNG, the Native-American world music singer/songwriter
who once went by the name Crystal-Phoenix, has been popular on the L.A.
scene since releasing his first CD, Apache, in 2001. In fact, he has been
something of a darling in the awards-obsessed L.A. music community. He won
a Rocky for World Artist of the Year at the 2006 Rocky City News
Awards. He received a double
nomination at the LA Music Awards, with his single "Anduhyaun"
nominated for Single of The Year and Jimmy Lee nominated as
Male Singer Songwriter of the Year in the Americana category. The song
was recorded with drummer Gil Gabaldon II, and the following native
artists: Three time Native American Music Award (NAMA) winner Felipe
Rose of The Village People, NAMA 2005 Female Artist of The Year Yolanda
Martinez, 2005 NAMA Best Country Album winner, Qua Ti Si, seven
time NAMA nominee, native flautist Eddie Three Eagles. Lead
guitarist Ricky Lewis also appears, playing lead guitar and bass.
Jimmy,
on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, fronts a five-piece band with drummer Gil
Gabaldon II, Dave Chalala on lead guitar, backing vocalists Carl
Rabun and Amanda Guthrie, and Vic Grady on bass.
|

|
JIMMY
LEE YOUNG MP3s:
Jimmy Lee Young MP3s are available for
listening from the Music page of his Crystal-Phoenix site at http://www.crystal-phoenix.com/cphoe_music_01.html
|
Jimmy Lee Young released his CD Apache
in 2001 when he went under the name Crystal-Phoenix.
|
www.cindyalexander.com
CINDY
ALEXANDER won
NBC's 2006 "Star of Tomorrow" talent competition. (You can go to
her website to see a video of her rehearsal for the show, which is great.)
It is a continuation of a string of successes that include L.A.
Music Award nominations in the Songwriter
of the Year and Female Vocalist
of the Year categories, and included Album
of the Year for See Red, her
debut effort. She has gone on to land tracks on compilation LPs, on movie
soundtracks (Here on Earth, Smokers, Sugar and Spice, among others)
and television soundtracks (Party of Five). Cindy’s the real deal as a
performer, a heavyweight talent with a great voice and outstanding musical
chops. She’s a real pro whose touring partners include America, Suzanne
Vega, The Bacon Brothers, Joan Osborne, The Bangles, Gin Blossoms and
other established acts. Her second LP, Smash
(2003), was again nominated the L.A. Music Awards Album of the Year. She
is on a roll, going from one success to the next, all of which is nicely
detailed on her site.
“Pnut,”
as she is known to her fans – an allusion to her low birth weight –
has become a darling of critics and a proven crowd pleaser. In 2005 she
released her third LP, Angels and Demons, which has been called “a masterpiece” in some
critical corners. Cindy connects. Not long ago she did a live radio performance on KLOS
95.5 FM that sold out her entire available inventory of the CD. All
she needs for continued career expansion is more exposure, and she's working on that.
Cindy
did the USO Pacific Rim tour in January of this year, performing at U.S.
military installations in Japan. Since then she has stepped away from her
regular performing schedule to work on a new album.
HOUSE
CONCERTS - RARWRITER recently did a profile on San Francisco
House Concert Producer Drew Pearson, and it is interesting to learn that
Cindy Alexander is available for such intimate events. A gifted performer,
she would be extraordinary to see and hear in this type of setting. - RAR
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CINDY
ALEXANDER MP3s:
Cindy
Alexander has four clips of tunes from Angels and Demons posted on her
MySpace site at http://www.myspace.com/cindyalexander
|

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www.lizzywilliams.com
LIZZY
WILLIAMS performs as
a six-piece unit fronted by the strong-voiced singer/songwriter Liz
Chaffe (pronounced Chaffey), but “the band” is really more of a duo with
a supporting cast. Liz and guitarist/mandolin player David Williams are the musical leaders of the unit, which produces
an essentially acoustic-based light rock that focuses heavily on stewardship of
the environment, animal rights, and the search for God. Says Chaffe – “My
quest for God is continual and this has always inspired me in the music. It's
not really a quest however because I feel the existence of such a being in my
life already no matter how difficult times seem. I usually write about things
that are uplifting, (it's just the way it comes out) however as I continue to
play out on the club scene here in Los Angeles, different writing is beginning
to happen and I definitely like where I am going with it.”
Chaffe and
her unit – Williams, Michael
Moore, Chief, Raven and Tiger Shaw
– released their first LP Magic 8
recently. It is an upbeat affair that Chaffe acknowledges on her website “does
not represent to the fullest what we are live, which is not as poppy…”
Liz Chaffe
is a New Yorker who came to Los Angeles to continue her pursuit of an acting
career, but seems to have been diverted in that interest by her teaming with the
multi-instrumentalist Williams, who has become an inspiration to her songwriting
talents.
MP3s
can be heard on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/lizzywilliams.
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www.KristerAxel.com
Krister
Axel is someone who caught my attention as I was exploring
nominees in the Rock City News Awards. He is a soulful white boy, with a
European sensibility developed through having started his music life
abroad. He put it all down in words and sent me the following:
"I
will write up a recap of my career so far as best I can, and you can
choose to use or not use whatever you like. It's sort of a long road of
a story.
"I started playing piano at a very young age, both of my older
sisters
had mandatory piano lessons that they hated so by the time it got to me
my parents didn't even bother. We did still have a piano that I was
drawn to, and immediately I was writing my own songs - that first note
I ever played on a piano was part of a compositional effort, by the
time I was 12 years old I was writing a lot of piano ditties.
At that time my family moved to Paris, France, and I begged my father
to buy me a keyboard for that Christmas of 1986, which I was lucky
enough to get and it came with a 3-track sequencer. Around this time as
well I started listening to the Cure, which would remain a seminal
influence for me to this day. At my school, the American School of
Paris, I quickly developed a good relationship with the electronic
music teacher and I was in his course every semester, which was my
first experience with midi and sound modules. I became good friends
with Adam Cohen (He is signed to EMI Canada, I believe), the son of
Leonard Cohen who is my age and was a student at ASP at that time. We
were both just beginning our careers as songwriters at that time.
Another student at that time who was a year younger than us was Chris
Stills (V2 records), the son of Stephen Stills who incidentally took
the same bus to school that I did. In Paris I also began a lifelong
fascination and appreciation for poetry, which was to become my major
in college.
"When
I returned to the US, I began to play guitar as well, but about 5
years would go by before I would actually invest in a guitar for
myself. Having already taught myself much about music theory, it was
easy to conceptualize which notes the strings were, and so forth, so
playing upside down and backwards as I continue to do was a logical
choice. Later, in college, I would stumble across a few records by
Elizabeth Cotten that would reinforce my confidence in such a unique
style of fingerpicking. My last year in High School would finally see
me taking my first music theory lessons, but at this point I found it
was largely unnecessary - although I had a very good teacher by the
name of Anthony LaMagra, I never found the satisfaction in classical
performance that I got from songwriting, so in the end he became more
of a theory mentor and friend than a performance teacher.
"I went to college in the summer of 1991 at Madison, WI, and quickly
began performing in a number of local clubs with numerous cover bands
strictly as a piano player. I was never interested in playing anything
but piano, and then later electric piano, and organ. I abhorred the
idea of a keyboard player constantly flipping through different
patches. I took a job as a record store clerk in the shop of a friend,
and it seemed by very fortunate luck that the same summer, I think in
1993, I happened to be working in a record store when both Soul
Coughing and G Love would both be featured on the same CMJ promo disc.
That was a glorious summer, and they both remain very important
influences for me.

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ABOVE: Krister Axel in
the studio recording his LP Permanent Friday Night.
"After
soundcheck for a show at Shank Hall in Milwaukee around the same time, I
stumbled across a review of Chris Whitley's Dirt Floor. Thus was
born another lifelong appreciation for me, and to this day I
consider myself foremost a student and follower of Chris's sensibility
and vocal intonations, if not directly of his style of songwriting
which has gone through a number of different transformations. My band
throughout those years was called Sunshine Allison, and we released two
records on our own label and toured the region incessantly. Among our most
glamorous shows in those days was an appearance with Soul Asylum at an
outdoor festival in Iowa and an opener at the Cubby Bear in Chicago for
Leftover Salmon, who praised our eclectic flavor of progressive rock.
"As
time went on, I began to yearn for a simpler, more lyric-oriented
approach to the band's presentation which was at the time more weighted
towards long instrumentals and drum-circle type interludes, which to this
day is largely responsible for my percussive style - especially on the
organ, which arose from long hours in practice on the agogo bells and the
shaker.
"So
I moved to Los Angeles, in the summer of '99, and quickly became involved
with a band called Revolver principally as a keyboard player, as well as a
band called Paper Sun where I was also a co-writer and singer. With both
bands I played the local scene from 2001-2002 at places like the Roxy,
Molly Malone's, the Dragonfly, Zen Sushi, the Hotel Cafe, and the Mint.
After Revolver had been shopped to Elektra records by Tom DiSavia (now a
V.P. over at ASCAP) and just barely missed the cut, I began to conceive of
a solo project where I am the sole writer and producer. I have finished my
third album as Krister Axel which will be released this Spring. Aside from
those already mentioned, since I have been in Los Angeles, I have had the
pleasure of working with such artists as:
BILLIE
MYERS
FRANKIE JORDAN
MATT MAHAFFEY
DAWN ROBINSON
CHEYENNE KIMBALL
SHANE ALEXANDER
50 CENT HAIRCUT
WHITESTARR
SAUCY MONKY
LOONER
CHRIS PIERCE
SHAWN PANDER
to name some of my favorites. By now I am an accomplished studio
keyboardist, as well as songwriter and producer.
"I
have appeared on MTV twice now, both times with Epic artist Cheyenne
Kimball (once for a live broadcast to HDTV called Music with Altitude
shot in Breckenridge, CO, and once during an episode of her reality show
for MTV simply called Cheyenne).
"My
song 'Throw Your Arms Around Me' has been featured prominently in a movie
called A Colombia directed by Ryan Byrne that has won a
number of awards in the 2005-2006 festival circuit.
"I continue to write songs just a little bit faster than I can record
them, but I'm not complaining. Thanks for taking an interest, and
please direct any of your readers to KristerAxel.com to read a more
in-depth account of my exploits."
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KRISTER
AXEL
MP3s:
Helpless
Copyright
© 2006-2007 Krister Axel, All Rights Reserved
See
Krister Axel's MySpace site at http://www.myspace.com/kaxel
*
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2005 Release - Permanent
Friday Night |
CHEYENNE
KIMBALL
www.cheyennemusic.com
Sixteen
year old Cheyenne Kimball has been touring the country in support of her
first LP, The Day Has Come, and her MTV reality show
(“Cheyenne”). Since winning “America’s Most Talented Kid” at age
12, Cheyenne has been on a roll. The young Epic Records artist has become
a television star in both the U.S. and Canada, has singles on the radio
(“Hanging On” and “One Original Thing”), videos on MTV and VH1,
and a track (“One Original Thing”) on the Aquamarine movie soundtrack.
She released an iTunes exclusive single (“Drift Away”), is soon to
release a DVD of her reality show, and will soon release another single,
“Four Walls,” which she performed as part of the 2006 Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day Parade. Cheyenne heads to Nashville next to record her
second LP. Besides singing, Cheyenne plays the guitar and writes her own
songs.
RAR
Note - This kid is really good. My daughter pulled me to the TV
one night to watch her perform on "Fridays" on Cartoon Network
and I was struck by her ability as a singer and a player. Really
impressive. She's a good vibe, too. There is an adorable video of her
dancing around her guitar that plays on her homepage that I can hardly get
by when I go there, it's just too cute. Cool idea, really well done. |
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