Prepared Like a Boy Scout

So besides your guitar and your amp, what do you bring with you to a gig?

15 Other Things In Your Gig Bag from Fender.con

This just sounds painful to me

Guitarists' Brains Swing Together

ScienceDaily (Mar. 18, 2009) — When musicians play along together it isn't just their instruments that are in time – their brain waves are too. New research shows how EEG readouts from pairs of guitarists become more synchronized, a finding with wider potential implications for how our brains interact when we do.

Steven Page ventures out on his own

Steven Page, former lead singer of Barenaked Ladies, is working on a solo album, and he has an interesting blog post about the process.

Springsteen is ‘exactly where I want to be’

I think this is turning into a "All Bruce All The Time" blog ...

MSNBC.com

The Big Man keeps Rocking

Great article about E Street Band saxman Clarence Clemons. No matter what - surgeries, age, racism - he just keeps on rockin'.

Re-Meet The Beatles

PopMatters.com is saluting the genius that is the Fab Four with a month full of feature articles and blogs. Enjoy!

Geeks get a hold of Hey Jude

This is exactly what we need - a flow chart for "Hey Jude."



From the loveallthis.com blog.

So When Does the MEB get our White House Invite?

Lots of cool music has been happening at the White House, with lots more planned.

MSNBC.com

R.E.M. Rediscovers R.E.M.

This is a very interesting interview with Michael Stipe of R.E.M. He makes some interesting points about how you never know which of your songs will be popular.

Love this quote from Mike Mills:

"The fact is," Mills says, "that you never know what your best songs are. Losing my Religion is a five-minute song without a chorus where the main instrument is a mandolin — and it’s our biggest hit."

TimesOnlineUK

Kanye, Kanye, Kanye

Dude, really?!? I mean, yes, Beyonce is a goddess and deserves all the acclaim she gets, but why diss Taylor in the process? C'mon, man, you're better than that.

All Hail Motown

Motown turns 50!

What's Your Fantasy?

Wanna spend a week rockin' with the stars? Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp will let you do just that, and this year's guest artists include Ace Frehley, Jon Anderson, and Meat Loaf. Does it get any better than that?

Bruce, You Totally Rock

On September 20 in Chicago, Bruce Springsteen is going to play the entire "Born To Run" album in concert. If you were trying to define awesome, this is it.

Roger Wilco!

We're big Wilco fans. Check out this article from MSNBC.com about their new CD.

Eminem: Inside The Comeback

MSNBC.com has an in-depth article on Eminem and his latest release. It's an interesting read.

Hipsters Love 'Em, But Why??

People who claim to be hip and cool love some very strange music, and Spike lists 7 bands that the hipsters love but they are not impressed with.

Are you really listening?

Gizmodo had a great article on "audiophiles," those folks who will spent tens of thousands of dollars on fancy audio equipment, because they swear it sounds so much better. They say that the trend of popping little tiny ear buds in, listening to highly compressed low bitrate mp3s while we attack the treadmill has ruined our appreciation for the way music can really sound.

The author of the article is understandably skeptical when he's getting ready to meet this gentleman, but he changes his tune by the end. It's a good read; check it out.

Rock Hall inducts its New Class

Metallica, Run-DMC, Bobby Womack and more were inducted into the Rock Hall in Cleveland this weekend. Lots of articles, videos and photos at Cleveland.com.

R.I.P. Uriel Jones - Motown drummer

One of Motown's Funk Brothers, drummer Uriel Jones (pictured above with Annie Jamerson, left, and Rosalind Holmes of the Vandellas), passed away in Detroit Tuesday. His muscular, hard-rocking drum style was an integral part of the Motown sound on classics such as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" and "Cloud Nine" by the Temptations. Jones was 74.

DetNews.com

VH1 is Bringing Back "Behind The Music"

I LOVE this idea. Can't wait.

TheHollywoodReporter.com

Geddy Lee says Canada is "really farkin’ cold"

I think you'll get a kick out of this laid-back casual interview with Geddy Lee of Rush. I think I want to party with this guy.

Blender.com

Road Trip to Cleveland, Anyone?

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced that it will launch "From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen" on April 1. If you're a music fan, you gotta visit this place once in your lifetime. And what better time than now; the exhibit runs through spring 2010.

MSNBC.com

Alas, Our Streak Continues

Once again, the MEB was shutout of the Grammy's. When will they ever learn?!?!

Full list of winners.

Guitarist Tim Herron joins the MEB

Echoing the wave of forward-looking change sweeping the country, the Baldwinsville-based acoustic-rock Mike Estep Band is making changes, adding veteran local guitarist Tim Herron to its lineup.

A stalwart on the Syracuse music scene for many years, singer-songwriter Tim is best known for fronting the Tim Herron Corporation, and most recently helmed the funk-rock unit The Assassins of Hip.

When founding MEB guitarist Jeff Favalo left the band in 2007, the three remaining members – Mike Estep (vocals & acoustic guitar), Steve Orlando, Jr. (vocals & drums), and Paul Opel (vocals & bass) – invited Tim to join the group, but scheduling commitments and conflicts meant the time just wasn't right. As the calendar turned to 2009, former guitarist Brian McArdell left the band to pursue other interests and Tim's schedule opened up, so the invite was extended again.

“We're really fired up about having the chance to work with someone as talented and experienced as Tim,” said Estep. “He's a great fit in the MEB, both musically and personally. We expect the folks that come hear us will have just as much fun as we're having.”

Fans will have a number of chances to hear the new lineup in the next few months, starting with a show Saturday February 7 at Coleman's on Tipp Hill in Syracuse, and including a special St. Patrick's Day performance at the Dinosaur BBQ on March 17.

Much more information, including the band's performance schedule and a music blog can be found at their website and social networking sites MySpace and Facebook.
Band Website: http://www.mikeestepband.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mikeestepband
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mike-Estep-Band/33985972132

See, Songwriting's Not That Hard!

OK, this is just hilarious. Lots of entertainment.

Microsoft SongSmith allows you to sing into your computer and it will add its own music allowing you to create songs just by singing. Thanks to this, many (especially azz100c on YouTube) are taking classic songs, extracting the vocals, putting it through SongSmith, and dubbing the new song over the original music video. Here are some of the best videos we've seen that prove computers know nothing about what sounds good.

The Geek Pad

Where's the Hall of Fame? Walk This Way

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2009 inductees: Run-DMC joins the heavy metal band Metallica, guitarist and former Yardbirds member Jeff Beck; soul singer and guitarist Bobby Womack and doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials as this year’s inductee class.

MSNBC.com

Stereogum's best of 2008 - Fleet Foxes

It's always interesting to see what indie music blog Stereogum feels is the top albums of the year. Take a listen to Fleet Foxes - it's some good stuff.

The KISS boys are peeved

They want to know why they're not in the Rock'N'Roll Hall of Fame. Interesting question, eh?

Yahoo!

Why do I want to punch these people?

They seem like nice enough folks, friendly, happy, comfortable in their tony Manhattan loft. But then I read the article and I just start shaking my head.

Audiostiles in New York helped Jessica Goldberg, 35, three years ago when she wanted music to match the apartment she and her husband, Billy, a doctor, had recently renovated in the West Village. With two small children, Ms. Goldberg said, "I’m not going to clubs anymore to hear what’s new."

The Goldbergs filled out a questionnaire about their daily life and their musical tastes. In a phone interview, they described their home, which has wide-plank wood floors, large windows and modern furniture. "It was amazing how they extrapolated from that what we liked and would fit our place," Ms. Goldberg said.

Most of the tracks on the 10-hour compilation that she continues to play are by acts she had previously never heard of, like the contemporary pop singer Joshua Radin and the folk artist Brett Dennen. The playlist has an overall warm sound, Ms. Goldberg said, which harmonizes with her apartment’s open floor plan and casual, contemporary feel. "It was like they could read my mind."

Ms. Goldberg hired Audiostiles again earlier this year to create a playlist to listen to at home while playing with her children. She said she wanted tunes that were "kid-friendly" and yet "wouldn’t make me want to tear my hair out strand by strand." The resulting list included Stevie Wonder, the Barenaked Ladies and Simon and Garfunkel. "It’s calming," she said.

I think I'm going to puke.

They're (he's) back!

With Chinese Democracy from Guns'N'Roses scheduled to be released (finally) on November 23, they've started streaming the single. Check it out here.

Eye of the Tiger at #3

I think the 80's were the heyday of iconic movie tunes, and here's a list of the top 20 according to a blogger from Tampa. Like the list or hate it? Any other suggestions?

Not much teamwork here, eh?

Curb Records is releasing another greatest hits package of Tim McGraw tunes, and he's not on board with the plan. Hmmm, doesn't sound good to me.

MSNBC.com

I got no argument here

Fight The Power has been named the best Hip-Hop song of all-time. Props to Chuck D and the boyeeeeeez.

MSNBC.com

Old: CDs - New: MicroSD cards

I'm a little surprised this didn't happen sooner. Soon we'll be able to buy our music on tiny digital media, playable just about anywhere.

Good thing we have Childhood's End and The Machine

Want a Pink Floyd reunion? Forget it, says David Gilmour.

MSNBC.com

MEB is an Underrated Alternative

Blender Mag dishes on 33 Overrated People Places, Trends, and Other Junk in Rock. I totally agree with #18.

Patience is a virtue

For Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, it's still incredible that 38 years after the release of his "Cold Fact" album, he is finally getting some recognition and respect. It's an amazing story.

DetroitNews.com

In Your Eyes

So if you're writing a song, what body part do you think of first? Well, according to this research project, it depends on the genre of music.

Across all of the categories, the eyes are most frequently mentioned body part (Hall & Oates, "Private Eyes"), with the exceptions of hip hop, which places a firm emphasis on the posterior (Sir Mix a Lot, "Baby Got Back") and blues (Louisiana Red, "Keep Your Hands Off My Woman") and gospel music (The Gospel, "Put Your Hands Together"), which are respectively focused on the keeping off of one's hands and the clapping or raising of one's hands.

Relax with a Best of Sarah

Canadian songbird Sarah McLachlan is releasing a 16-song collection (14 classic hits and two new tunes) in October. Looking forward to that.

Monsters and Critics

We know how you feel, John

John Mellencamp just recently released his 23rd album, and he's OK with being know as an old man of rock and roll. More power to ya, John.

MSNBC.com

Roadtrip, anyone?

Lollapalooza 2008 is happening this weekend in Chicago. I'm not doing anything; let's take a road trip.

Guide from Metromix Chicago.

The Ugliest Musicians of All Time

Luckily, none of us are listed.

Slideshow.

Lyle Lovett makes money for the record company

And we think that musicians must make all this cash selling records. Well, Lyle Lovett says he makes nothing from records, but pays the bills by touring.

So get out and see a band live, OK?

Unique record collection coming to Syracuse

A vast collection of 78 rpm records — valued at $1 million, weighing 50 tons and representing more than a half-century of American music history — is being donated to Syracuse University by the estate of a prominent New York City record shop owner.

The more than 200,000 records represented the entire inventory of "Records Revisited," a landmark Manhattan store owned by Morton Savada, who died in February from lung cancer at age 85.

Savada's collection included recordings from 1895 to the 1950s, with big band, jazz, country, blues, gospel, polka, folk, Broadway, Hawaiian and Latin among the genres. It also contains spoken-word, comedy and broadcast recordings, and "V-disks," which were distributed as entertainment to the U.S. military during World War II.

Yahoo News

Prince @ 50

Wanna know what makes me feel old? Knowing that Prince has turned 50. Wow. The Daily News does a retrospective of The Purple One's career, including a photo gallery.

Bonnaroo 2008 rocks Tennessee

Pearl Jam, Chris Rock, B.B. King, Jack Johnson, Cat Power, Kanye West; yep, we should have been there.

bonnaroo.com
RollingStone.com coverage
Stereogum
The Tennessean

Great songwriter quotes

iSound has collected a bunch of quotes from great songwriters about the art (and work) of writing a song. It's funny and interesting and entertaining. Here are a few examples, and the full article is here.

Irving Berlin: "Listen kid, take my advice, never hate a song that has sold half a million copies."

George Gershwin: "Out of my entire annual output of songs, perhaps two, or at the most three, came as a result of inspiration. We can never rely on inspiration. When we most want it, it does not come."

Burt Bacharach: "Music breeds its own inspiration. You can only do it by doing it. You may not feel like it, but you push yourself. It's a work process. Or just improvise. Something will come."

Hal David: "I tended not to be concerned about whether a song was going to be a hit when I wrote it. Because it became evident that none of us knew what was a hit and what wasn't. So I thought if I just write what I like, why shouldn't people like what I like?"

Leonard Cohen: "I wish I were one of those people who wrote songs quickly. But I'm not. So it takes me a great deal of time to find out what the song is. I am working most of the time."

Neil Diamond: "Performing is the easiest part of what I do, and songwriting is the hardest."

Hank Williams: "If a song can't be written in 20 minutes, it ain't worth writing."

Gavin doesn't like labels

The term "singer-songwriter"” makes Gavin DeGraw cringe. "It makes you feel like a weakling the way all the singer songwriters are marketed, you know what I mean? ... It's not masculine enough for me. I don't feel like I fall into that category in a lot of ways."

MSNBC.com

Dear Keith:

Blender Mag lets fans ask Keith Richards anything they want, and it makes for a pretty interesting interview (with audio of his answers).

R.I.P. Danny Federici

Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen whose stylish work helped define the E Street Band’s sound on hits from "Hungry Heart" through "The Rising," died Thursday. He was 58.

MSNBC.com

A few minutes with Max

It's always good to sit down and chat with Conan bandleader and E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg.

Popmatters.com

Hey, where's my key?

My hometown of Bay City, MI, wants to honor Madonna with a key to the city, since she was born there in 1958.

That's nice and all, but when am I gonna get a statue? Where's the Pimp Daddy Monument?!? I get no love.

MLive.com

New R.E.M. CD out tomorrow

Accelerate hits the stores tomorrow, and this reviewer really likes it.

Order from Amazon.com here.

I'll believe it when I see it

"We'd love to have Bruce in the Dome," Campbell says. "We've had some conversations. We're waiting to hear. They have a number of places they're looking at. We'd love to do it. They haven't been able to tell me anything."