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
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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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ARTIST NEWS
Technical Difficulties:
This site displays best in Internet
Explorer, but viewers using Chrome or other browsers may see a degraded
result. Apologies for the inconvenience, which we are working to
resolve.
Robben Ford with
Miles Davis
This edition we are diving into the Robben
Ford appreciation pool, and a good place to start is his time
spent with the way special school cool of Miles
Davis. Robben Ford has the power to fit into any musical form
he wishes to explore. Check out the Blues (and even the Country!) he
contributed to Miles Davis' Jazz strokes.
Here and Abroad Cool
Volker Strifler
If you are
looking for a working class hero/gunfighter guitar player, who broadens
the six-note Blues scale with Mixolydian and Dorian flourishes, and who
sings just like you want a Blues guy to sing, you should Google
Volker Strifler and get his number.
Volker, opening for B.B. King in the video below, plays with the
Ford Blues Band. That band includes
three Ford brothers, i.e., Robben, Patrick and
Mark. This makes Volker "the other guitar player" in that band,
according to his own website (use
this link). They will be playing Finland's
Puisto Blues Festival, as well as dates in the Czech Republic,
Slovakia and Hungary. Volker has been a mainstay of Northern
California music for many years, fronting his own band as well as
working with the Ford band. In 2006 he released a tremendous album of
original tunes, The Dance Goes On, that impressively captured the
depth of his talent, of which he is a triple threat:
writer/singer/musician. He is a really wide-ranging and gifted
songwriter. His childhood was spent in Germany and to this day he
maintains a cadre of German musicians with whom he tours Europe. He has
his California band, too, and functions kind of like a Napa Valley local
who can be seen at venues from Sacramento to San Luis Obispo. Besides
his talent, Volker has another calling card in his authenticity. He is
about as real as you can find in the entertainment business. Somehow in
his earnest and honest performance, he achieves the unthinkable, giving
his audience a purity of musical expression that seems not so much about
him as it does about a shared musical experience. That's a rare magic
and probably comes from being that other guitarist. That is a
tribute to Robben Ford, whose probably had more than enough already.
Maybe A Little
More...
Robben Ford with Larry Carlton
Here is that other guitarist who plays with Volker Strifler (i.e.,
Robben Ford) performing in Tokyo with
Larry Carlton. What one hears
listening to these two, and to their backing band, is silk, as in
the fine fabric of their execution. They are tone and technique
virtuosos. It isn't so much what they play as how they play what they
play.
More Volker
From the Sierra Center Stage series, check out the
Ford Blues Band in top form, and check
out Volker Strifler. He is the edge in this great band, that is
otherwise somewhat ethereal in their approach to the Blues. The
interviews with the Ford brothers are charming, too.
All Kinds of
Hotel California
Styx and
Foreigner have toured together in
previous summers, and their planned tour starting this week (May 16)
wouldn't be worth the mention were it not for the addition of
Don Felder, formerly of The Eagles,
as the opening act this time around. Continue below...
Felder is one of the most under-appreciated guitarists
in the music world. He replaced Bernie Leadon, when the banjo-plucking
Leadon left The Eagles in 1975, and he ushered in a change in the band's
sound, making it less country and more rock. When former James Gang
guitarist Joe Walsh was added, The Eagles had a dual-soloist setup that
gave them an edge they had otherwise sorely lacked. It was Felder who
wrote the music to Hotel California, which is arguably the best song in
The Eagles repertoire. It is a song so compelling that Styx and
Foreigner have teamed with Felder to record a new version of the song,
which they will feature on this tour.
"It's a different take on the song," Felder says,
"with different people (including Styx's Tommy Shaw and Foreigner's
Kelly Hansen) singing different verses and guitar solos by me and then
Tommy and Mick. So who knows, we may wind up doing that (song) in the
show at the end of the night."
The tour -- which currently has 35 dates locked in and
will be adding more soon -- is also the most extensive road trek that
Felder, who parted ways with the Eagles in 2000 and released his second
solo album, "Road to Forever," in 2012, has lined up as a solo artist.
Felder was famously fired from The Eagles, after Don
Henley and Glen Frey rewrote the band's working agreement, paying
themselves significantly greater shares of the band's earnings than were
paid to the other members. Lawsuits ensued that were finally settled out
of court. Felder wanted $50 million. Now at 66 years of age, and doing
the longest solo stint of his long career, one suspects that he didn't
come out of the legal hassles with his due share. The good news is that
the world is going to get to hear a really too little heralded guitarist
on is own terms. |
Paying Tribute to the Guitar Gods
With this edition,
the recently rechristened Creative Culture Journal (CCJ) takes a look at
some of those surveys done recently that purport to rank the Top 100
guitarists of all time.
Use this link to read
about the surveys completed by industry pros for Rolling Stone, and by
readers for Guitar World magazine. There are fascinating contrasts,
though both spotlight the fact that there are a lot of great guitar players in
just those corners of the world that English speakers attend to. Imagine
the lists including virtuosos from Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and
Eastern Europe! If we can find it we will bring it to you, but for
now... |
The School of Satriani
Left entirely off the Rolling Stone 2013 100 Top Guitarists survey
were some pretty extraordinary guitarists, many of whom learned their
chops studying with guitar virtuoso and legendary music instructor
Joe Satriani. Use
this link.
LOOKING FOR
SOMETHING YOU SAW IN THE PREVIOUS ISSUE?
Use this link.
Loren Worsham Honored
with Tony Nomination Congratulations to
Sky Pony lead singer
Lauren Worsham, who has been nominated
for a Tony Award -- Best Featured Actress for her role as Phoebe in A
Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder! That musical has been
nominated for 10 Tonys total, the most for any show this season. |
Richard Botto:
Stage 32
That confident adult male there to the right is actor, producer,
screenwriter, and voice artist Richard Botto. Add Internet entrepreneur
to his resume, for in 2011 he launched the website Stage 32, which (from
their Wikipedia page)"links
professionals in the entertainment industry including directors,
writers, actors and entertainment staff. It caters to film industry
professionals with featured bloggers, news from Hollywood and a projects
page that allows members to connect with others on film ventures, along
with standard social media functions." Use this
link for more.
Appearances and
Tour News
The CCJ is always looking for Websites and media outlets that provide
information on the popular music scene, and among the best is the
NYC-based site Oh My Rockness.
They present constantly updated, and fairly exhaustive, show listings
that are a blast to peruse. Check out these links, which will take you
to the OMR sites for the three markets they cover:
New York City
Los Angeles
Chicago
State of Emotional Affairs
What does love have to do
with anything? Use this link. |
Sky Pony
This Sky Pony video
of their tune "Say You Love Me Like You Mean It" features the full dose
of what makes Sky Pony cool. It is a high
end unit of really talented musical theater pros who have the advantage
of having songs by Kyle Jarrow. He
specializes in off-beat weirdness that is sweet, strange, often funny, and
typically quite beautiful. Sky Pony is his second big-time band, his
first, The Fabulous Entourage, being one of this site's all time
favorites.
VOODOO CHILDREN, "Chile" or Child
One of the nicest things Jimi
Hendrix left this world was his songbook, filled with tunes
that have inspired guitarists since they were first given life by the
alien love force himself. From Electric Ladyland, Hendrix'
third and final album, "Voodoo Chile" was recorded in 1968.
Use this link to watch a variety of
interpretations by guitar greats Stevie Ray
Vaughn, Zakk Wylde, and Kenny Wayne
Shepherd.
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The Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame - What is it Really?
Former
Talking Heads member
Christ Frantz wrote a really good piece
in the Huffington Post recently that shed some light on the selection of
inductees into Cleveland's Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame. Somehow it feels
important to call it "Cleveland's" Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame because it
really is a kind of a Cleveland confection. We have discussed the
development of that institution in previous editions of this
publication, but to offer a quick recap, the "RnR HoF" was a civic
improvement project funded as a centerpiece of a riverfront restoration
initiative designed to make Cleveland look modern and relevant to the
outside world. San Antonio has its riverwalk, and Cleveland has the
Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame, though it could probably be argued that San
Antonio is a better match to running water than Cleveland is to music
history. Whatever, it's just a promotional thing.
That,
actually, was the point of Frantz's article, to wit - "...when we talk
about the R&R HOF we are talking about a celebration of the music
industry. It is a night when the music industry can get dressed up,
spend a ton of money for a table and say to themselves, 'See that band
up there? They're up there because of me and my people. We took care of
business for them so that they could write songs, do tours, have their
records played on the radio, and be Rock Stars.'"
This is an
excellent insight from someone who knows. Frantz and the other T-Heads
were inducted into the HoF in 2002. "We performed together at the
induction ceremony for the first time in 18 years, since our lead singer
had decided to pursue a full time solo career," wrote Frantz.
That is,
of course, what the induction ceremony does, is bring back together a
bunch of musicians who probably don't even speak to each other any more,
to conjure up the spirits of some long dead band. It is a last reward
for a bunch of work well done, not just by the band or performer but by
the huge team of people who work to create this ghosty moment, likely
coming years after the royalties have slowed to a trickle.
Frantz
credits record chiefs like Seymour Stein of Sire Records "who signed us
and the Ramones...and Seymour has been on the board of the R&R HoF board
since it's beginning". One could see where Seymour might like to blow up
the Talking Heads all over again, so the HoF provides the opportunity to
assist with that bubble resurrection. Inductees get a little career
bounce following the airing of the award ceremony, carried annually as
an HBO special.
Frantz's
insight into what that night is really about also explains why the
induction ceremony feels the way it does. It is tacky in that way that
corporate events are tacky, with office mates drunk and slurring their
phony accolades for one another.
He goes on
to offer large measures of credit to managers, secretaries, agents,
promotions people, lawyers, road crews, and sound engineers, and in
doing so he does every aspiring musical artist a favor by detailing the
reality of the business of making music as a professional. In an era
when "Do It Yourself" (DIY) is the byword, encouraging every
entrepreneurial creative type in the world to believe that DIY is a
viable alternative to being connected and represented by pros, who take
all your money for their services, is largely wishful thinking.
For the
vast majority, the only way to enter the magic kingdom, if you can
imagine Cleveland's Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame to be that, is to be an
"inside trader". The DIY thing is a useful alternative in terms of
getting one's self noticed, but to get the machinery working that turns
players into stars, and gives them viable careers, remains dependent
upon deals with industry pros who one can only hope will not turn out to
be the devil. That said, only the real dark lords can get you into
Cleveland.-RAR
Saustex Stable Turns Out for Margaret
Moser
San
Antonio-Austin-Texas (aka Saustex) Media is a San Antonio-based record
label and entertainment management outfit that specializes in a very
specific brand of Texas Alt-Country, Punk, and Outlaw Blues (I made that
last one up). They are tons of cross border fun, running a stable of
acts that give the impression that Texas is an outlaw paradise of
musical mischief. That is probably not be mistake or calculation. Some
in the Saustex label do take the whole entertainment thing more
seriously than do The Hickoids,
performing in the video below, but all have a similar raw edge. A bunch
of them got together this week to celebrate
Margaret Moser, the retiring Editor-at-Large of The Austin
Chronicle and Director of The Austin Music
Awards. Ms. Moser is hugely respected in Texas music circles
for bringing public attention to musicians who time has forgotten, or
who perhaps never got their due share of acclaim. She has been valuable
as a musician's liaison, as well, often serving as the nexus between
players who really needed to meet one another.
Celebrating Margaret Moser with a roots-rock party were
Saustex acts Churchwood, Eve & The Exiles, Hickoids, The Wagoneers, The
Painted Redstarts, Paul Oscher, Jon Dee Graham, Rosie Flores, and Kathy
Valentine. Proceeds from the event went to the SIMS Foundation.
Use this link to see other of the Saustex
bands in action.
Sassparilla
Raucous, melodic Americana outfit Sassparilla, led by
songwriter and front man Kevin Blackwell, delivers Pasajero and
Hullabaloo, a 19-track, double-disc set of two divergent, but
distinctly Sassparilla albums. The two albums, totaling 19 songs, move
in polar directions; Pasajero more akin to the band's latest two records
(2012's The Darndest Thing and 2013's Magpie), boasts tight studio
production and a melodic focus, while the ten tracks of Hullabaloo
capture the live essence and playful nature of the band. His reasoning
for making two different records, yet packaging them together is simple;
to provide fans two distinct experiences: A studio record, and a "come
as you are" record. "I've always maintained that bands wear two hats,
the live show and the recorded product. With our last two releases, we
made studio records. Songs that could be performed live, but with a
different energy or spin on them," explains Blackwell. "The recorded
product was something I saw as a different entity. With those albums I
wanted a recording folks could listen to over and over again and find
things they hadn't heard the first couple of times." Below is a
video of the band in performance.
Super Furry Animals
We
haven't heard from the Super Furry Animals in awhile. Wales' best
argument for year around open season on creatures we should otherwise
love has been on hiatus since 2010, and since releasing their last album
in 2009 as a digital product available through their Website. We do
occasionally hear from their eccentric singer-songwriter
Gruff Rhys, who
has a solo album being released in May (American Interior). Rhys
is the product of poet parents, who one senses created within Gruff the
sense that everything he does is interesting. He rushed this video out
to promote his upcoming album release. What do you think?
Silent Lions
Exploring the possibilities of the red metering zone, Toledo, Ohio's
Silent Lions, now a Detroit duo, have an EP out that they are touring
behind. Their story is this: Dean Tartaglia
simultaneously plays affected octave bass, sampled synths, and
manipulated atmospheric vocals, all while drummer
Matt Klein grooves and thrashes beside
him, often providing soulful singalong melodies and harmonies. The duo’s
live shows sound as thick and creamy as they do on record. Their music
has been tagged as “heavy soul,” “chill punk” and “Hall and Oates backed
by Rage Against The Machine.” Silent Lions’ sophomore six-song EP, The
Compartments, is a deeper exploration into genre manipulation. From
hip-hop to stoner rock, Silent Lions create moments of lo-fi chaos out
of hi-fi clarity. To wit:
Andy Frasco & the U.N.
Sometimes music can be a mystical conveyor of deep thoughts and
emotional resonance, which is all fine and good coming out of your car
speakers or your home stereo system, but if what you really want to do
is party on a boat you need to be skippered by Frasco and his band.
Besides providing the unabashed good nature of a party band, they
provide some wicked chops in an old school style. They are good fun for
the whole family, particularly if the family is drunk. There is more on
Frasco below.
Andy
Frasco and his band of nomads the U.N. will be road-tripping
across the US this Spring and Summer in support of their new full-length
studio album Half A Man, set for worldwide release on 06.03.14 through
Frasco’s own, newly launched label, Fun Machine Records.
Half A Man Tour will kick off May 14th through the end
of July, before returning to tour Europe in August. Highlights along the
Half A Man Tour include a handful of Pre-Wakarusa Party shows with Mike
Dillion and his band of Outsiders, 2 sets at Wakarusa, as well as
performances at Electric Forrest, Riverfest, and Alive After Five,
Ridgeway, United Way and Newpark Summer Concert Series’.
Frasco, the 26-year old Los Angeles, CA native
singer/songwriter/band maestro/entrepreneur/party starter/everyday
hustler, and his band of gypsies “The U.N.” have been dubbed “Party
Blues with a touch of Barefoot Boogie.” Frasco’s shows have been
described as infectious, entertaining, and feel good. His performances
are recognized as orchestrated chaos, inciting frenzied, undeniable good
times, dancing, and perhaps even a good ole fashion freak out.
Andy Frasco first got his taste of the music industry
managing and promoting bands when he was 16 and began touring at age 18,
working with labels such as Drive Thru and Atlantic Records, as well as
venues like The Key Club in Hollywood, CA. Embracing a DIY attitude,
Andy has been averaging 200+ dates a year, building a loyal following
everywhere he goes. To date, Andy has shared the stage with artists such
as Joe Walsh, Leon Russell, Galactic, Jackie Greene, Gary Clark Jr,
Jakob Dylan, The Flobots, Deer Tick, John Mayer, Fishbone, Luke Nelson,
Corey Smith, JJ Grey & Mofro and more.
In 2013, Frasco graced some of the finest clubs and
festivals in the U.S. & Europe including Yonder Mountain String Band’s
Harvest Music Festival, String Cheese Incident’s Festival at Horning’s
Hideout, Hatch Festival, Seattle’s Fremont Fair, and Sundance Film
Festival.
Frasco has showed no signs of slowing down in 2014,
currently winding down his globetrotting Frobilization Tour that
included performances at SXSW, Paaspop Festival (NL), Kings Day Festival
(NL), Mai Open Air Festival (DE), and the Wine & Dine Festival in Macau,
China.
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L.A. Music
1966-75
This BBC
documentary on the singer-songwriter era, as it existed in
Los Angeles from the mid-60s through the mid-70s, isn't
really very good, but it does get one thing right: it all
culminated in the Eagles, who represented the nadir of a
brief, moderately golden age in American music. They gave
the world the "platinum" album, marking 2 million-plus in
sales, and turned bland pandering to non-discriminating
consumer tastes into the music industry as it exists today.
Use this link to see the video on the
L.A. links.
Songwriting Made Thoughtful
Cliff Goldmacher
Cliff
Goldmacher, pictured here, is a songwriter, producer,
engineer, author and owner of recording studios in Nashville, Tennessee
and Sonoma, California. He may also be one of an evolved species of
hairless human, which you see a lot of these days, though that
observation may be influenced by this reporter's viewing of endless
reruns of "Unsealed: Alien Files". Did you know that there are 160 alien
species visiting planet Earth? A significant number of them play
instruments - the talented Mr. Goldmacher plays numerous - and perform
in rock bands playing some version of metal. That is not really Mr.
Goldmacher's thing, but he has worked with multi-platinum selling
artists Chris Barron (Lead singer of the Spin Doctors), Mickey Hart
(Grateful Dead drummer), Lisa Loeb, and Ke$ha.
Mr. Goldmacher’s songs have been cut by major label
artists in genres ranging from country, pop, and jazz to classical
crossover. His music has also been used on NPR’s “This American Life”
and in national advertising campaigns. His song “Till You Come To Me”
spent 27 weeks in the top ten on Billboard Magazine’s jazz chart and
finished as the Mediabase #1 and Billboard #2 jazz song of the year.
As an educator, he teaches workshops for BMI, ASCAP,
The Stanford Jazz Workshop, The Songwriter’s Guild of America, the
Nashville Songwriter’s Association International, Taxi, and The Durango
Songwriter’s Expo. What brought him to the attention of the CCJ was an
eBook that he has published, and made available for free, that provides
insights on the songwriting process.
Read more...
Tommaso Zillio's Theory
Music Theory for Guitar. Knowledge is Power!
The musician who is searching for a deeper
understanding of his or her instrument would be well served by becoming
a regular visitor to Tommaso Zillio's
Music Theory for Guitar
website. Tommaso is a full-time professional
rock/metal guitarist, teacher, and composer based in Edmonton, AB,
Canada. He is the main writer at musictheoryforguitar.com, and
collaborates as writer with websites such as ultimate-guitar.com,
cyberfret.com, guitar9.com, metalguitarlessons.net, insaneguitar.com,
and MyGuitarWorkshop.com, among many others. Among Tommaso's favorite
musicians and influences are: Dream Theater, Pink Floyd, Joe Satriani,
Andy Timmons, Mike Oldfield, Jean-Michel Jarre, Deine Lakaien, Litfiba,
Nightwish, Astor Piazzolla, Hans Zimmer.
Besides being an excellent instructor, Zillio does a
great job with interviews of guitarists who are able to further
demonstrate the approaches to playing the instrument and using it as a
composition tool.
Zillio has a really good piece up currently with
Obscura guitarist
Christian Muenzer, which included his
overview of his songwriting techique:
"Most of our riffs still outline a chord progression
but in single notes, many notes which are included in the chords, maybe
some transition notes.
"But very often, many songs that I write start with a
chord progression first. Let's say, for example, I would pick two
diatonic chords, like if I'm in the key of E minor for example, I would
pick E minor and a B minor chord. Then I would maybe connect them with
secondary dominants. I would go E minor, F-sharp 7, B minor, B7 for
example. Then I might replace the F-sharp 7 with a G diminished until I
get a nice sounding progression which makes sense for the ear but which
is not too conventional or diatonic. Like something which is real
unique.
"Then from there I try to use those notes to create a
certain single note riff maybe, from it. Once I have a really good riff,
a really good idea that I like and I figure out the tempo of that, the
BPM, I put on a metronome.
The audience for Zillio's site will find much to learn
and much to like in terms of comparing their experience with music with
those of players like Muenzer. These types of sites - Zillio's and Cliff
Goldmacher's (above) - are tremendous resources for players interested
in going deeper into their songwriting and performance craft.
Rocking Arkansas in June - Wakarusa Festival
Those folks on Mulberry Mountain in Arkansas are organized for their
June 5-8 festival, which in its 11th year will feature 150 acts on four
stages. The acts range in style from Electronic Dance Music (EDM) to
Americana. Use this
link to visit their Website lineup page, which provides further
links to information on each of the booked acts.
SURPRISE DISCOVERIES
High-end guitar manufacturers C.F. Martin and
Taylor Guitars are both offering affordably priced instruments that are
so outstanding that one wonders why anyone would buy their expensive
models.
I spent several hours at my local Guitar Center
recently playing everything in the store that
interested me in the slightest - electric and acoustic - and most of
what I found was pretty awful. This was true of virtually all of the top
name brands, including Fender, Gibson, Epiphone, and Carvin, among other
on the electric side. I did find a PRS that was dynamite, and some other
less known brand that was killer, but most of what hangs on the wall
there is crap. I came home with renewed appreciation for my Jeff
Beck Strat, my Rickenbacker, my Epiphone Broadway, and even my cheapo
DeArmond. (That DeArmond sells for $159 and it is the best $159 you will
ever spend as a guitarist. It is a great everyday pick-up-and-play type of
guitar, and its cool looking. It has toaster pickups that actually bite)
In the Guitar Store acoustic room - the one where they
keep the guitars in the $500 range, I found two instruments I could
hardly stop playing.
Martin is making a an X series of affordable
acoustic-electrics that I found to be extraordinary. Great tone and
really easy to play. The DXR has a high pressure laminate (HPL)
back and sides, which is probably where the cost savings reside, but a
solid Sitka spruce top. The fabricated back and sides have no impact on
the quality of this instrument that I could perceive, though certainly
there are more perceptive and more discriminating people than myself in
the guitar universe. The DXR can be had in an acoustic-electric
arrangement (Fishman electronics) and purchased for $549-$749, I
believe. It is a tremendous value, but then...
The freakin' Taylor 114 is every bit as good and
possibly better! It has a slightly brighter, snappier tone than does the
Martin, at least to my ears. Playing it put me to mind of vintage
Gibsons that I have had the pleasure to play but only fleetingly, as
they are nearly impossible to find and, these days, to afford. The
Taylor 114 is better than almost any acoustic guitar I have ever
experienced. In fact, I don't know how it could be more perfect in
playability and tone. It is rich and responsive and satisfyingly warm.
Both the Martin DXR or the Taylor 114 sound great, whether you are
finger or flat-picking or just strumming. As a flat-picker's tool, I'd
have a slight preference for the Taylor because it sort of likes being
attacked.
The Taylor also uses the Sitka spruce top.
Both guitars have a comparable scale (25.4"), neck radius, and nut
width. Either would be a fine buy and serve as tremendous everyday
guitars, whether you are playing your living room or your area theater.
Both leave me baffled as to why anyone would spend $2,500 to get one of
either manufacturers' top-end models. They are showier looking and seem
to carry a lot more laminate finish, but they tend to feel a little over
presented to my hands. On the other hand, these two guitars featured
here feel and sound like items of actual value.-RAR CHATTERBOX
In progress...
Stuff We Stole Off Facebook
Returning in our minds to those Colorado daze...
Judy Rudin, the
L.A.-based harmonica player and singer, was a hot item on the Boulder,
Colorado music scene back in the 70s and early 80s. A free range bird,
she had hitchhiked to Colorado from her native New Jersey en route to
her greater life as an artist. Back in those Colorado days, Judy Rudin
could pack the Blue Note with people eager to experience her wailing
sounds. The similarities to a night with Janet Joplin were too obvious
to note and yet unavoidable. To Judy's credit they did not diminish the
integrity of her performances in any way. She wasn't imitating anybody,
but rather was just blowing like a hurricane and plastering the walls
with her own musical passions. It was cool, kids, and probably still is.
I haven't seen her in years, but always loved her. She has worked with
stellar San Francisco music producer Linda Perry (4 Non Blondes),
who has produced hitmakers Christina Aguilera (who had a worldwide hit
with Perry's "Beautiful"), Gwen Stefani ("What You Waiting For?" from
her album Love. Angel. Music. Baby.), Adam Lambert's "A Loaded Smile"
and Grace Slick ("Knock Me Out"), as well as albums by Courtney
Love and Kelly Osbourne.
Mark Hallman and Robert McEntee:
Someone named Jan Bowman shot this photograph
of these two talented young dudes near Boulder, Colorado back in
mid-70s. Hair grew wild then. They played together in the band
Navarro, which for a time was
songwriting legend Carole King's
show band. Mark Hallman has been the operator of Congress House Studio
in Austin, Texas for years, recording a long roster of top-name talent.
Below is another Bowman photograph of the Navarro boys
picking on the front porch with Larry Novick. While it appears to have
been taken circa 1875, this musical event actually occurred in 1975.
Spencer Bohren
Spencer Bohren, who
some readers of this site will know from his long residence in New
Orleans, and still others from his earlier time on the Boulder, Colorado
music scene, has for years been doing his educational one-man-show DOWN
THE DIRT ROAD BLUES. Recently he did this for for 2,000 students in
Fayetteville, Arkansas, but this time with modification. The
Walton Arts Center was interested in giving their students state
ownership of the piece, so Spencer brought in new characters from
Arkansas to tell the story of America's music. In addition, the show was
given new life with historic photos projected as a backdrop to several
scenes, and stage sets provided further enhancement to the story.
Use this link to learn more about
Spencer Bohren and his program that teaches the history of the Blues.
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