Press illo to play the Overheard theme song! Or click here to play the Famous Former Neighbors song!
LOCAL TAKELESSONS.COM LEAPS FROM 'PUTER SCREENS TO CITIES NATIONWIDE
Headquartered in San Diego, TakeLessons is a full-service music and voice lessons provider. With lessons taught by TakeLessons-certified instructors in over 2,800 cities nationwide, the company was founded in 2004 as an internet-based operation, designed to help people discover their creativity and pursue their passions. TakeLessons also offers turnkey music programs for schools and community centers, as well as at-work lessons programs for corporate clients and their employees.
Learning Care Group, the second largest for-profit early education and child care provider in North America, and TakeLessons have partnered to provide at school or in-home music lessons to children ages 5-12 at select schools within the Learning Care Group umbrella of brands, including The Children's Courtyard, Childtime Learning Centers, La Petite Academy and Tutor Time Child Care/Learning Centers.
"We recognize there is an artist inside of everyone," said Steven Cox, TakeLessons' Founder and CEO. "The opportunity to take music lessons ( http://www.takelessons.com ) at an early age not only equips children with music skills, but also with self confidence and a higher likelihood of academic success."
Whether music students want to be the next American Idol, be a real-life guitar hero or become the modern-day Mozart, they will have the opportunity to foster these skills. Beginning September 1st, TakeLessons instructors will be providing voice lessons ( http://takelessons.com/category/singing-lessons ), guitar lessons ( http://takelessons.com/category/guitar-lessons )and piano lessons ( http://takelessons.com/category/piano-lessons ) onsite in over 75 participating Learning Care Group, Inc. locations, including Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Antonio and Seattle with plans to expand into other locations.
"Research continues to demonstrate a strong correlation between quality music learning programs and academic achievement," said Amy Hellebuyck, Marketing Communications Manager for Learning Care Group ( http://www.learningcaregroup.com ), Inc. "Our partnership with TakeLessons is one more way we inspire and impact lifelong learning for our students."
Top 3 Benefits of TakeLessons Learning Programs 1. Safety First: Instructors are interviewed by professional recruiting specialists before they are hired. Criminal background checks are conducted annually. 2. Talented Teachers: Music instructors are selected based on educational and professional backgrounds. Many have played with famous musicians, been on television and still perform live. 3. Comprehensive User Experience: Personal online accounts assist parents and students with goal setting, scheduling, lesson tracking, payments and more.
TakeLessons was recently featured on NBC San Diego's Morning News. The segment aired on March 5, 2009 and featured Steven Cox, CEO of TakeLessons and TakeLessons student, Kyle Riley who played a beautiful self-composed piece on his keyboard.
Learning Care Group operates approximately 1,050 schools (corporate and franchise) across 36 states, the District of Columbia and internationally, and has a system-wide capacity to serve 160,000 children.
LOCALS IN THE NEWS 8-19-10
AceShowbiz reports: During his recent concert in Providence, Rhode Island, Adam Lambert performed what he described as tongue diving. The "American Idol" alum did the stage act when performing Tears for Fears' "Mad World" and T. Rex's "20th Century Boy". Halfway through the set, he paused and leaned into the crowd. He did it twice reportedly to smooch not only female but also male fans. "TongueDiving is the new StageDiving. Get Into It," he tweeted. more
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Kataklysm frontman Maurizio Iacono tells Exclaim! that Megadeth disrespected his band at last month's Heavy MTL festival in Montreal, Quebec. "We always looked up to Megadeth, to us they're a cult band and legendary musicians and we've always been huge fans," Iacono said. "But there is a certain limit to where you can be a rock star. Sometimes you can overstep your boundaries and to us, it was a disrespectful thing." He continued, "What happened is, we were backstage and a person from our camp - I don't want to start mentioning names - but somebody from our band was waiting to go backstage where the area for musicians is. The cart was passing through and the driver stopped and said, 'Do you want to hop on?' and he said, 'Yeah' and hopped on. They drove ten meters and they just stopped and all the Megadeth people, including Dave Mustaine, just jumped off the cart and said, 'We're not going to share with everyone else.' So my guy got off and said, 'You guys can keep it, I'll walk.'" When asked whether Megadeth knew who Kataklysm was, Iacono said it shouldn't have mattered. "To me, even if we're Kataklysm and you're a fan or a person that belongs to the entourage of the backstage area and you're jumping on to get a ride to somewhere, I would never stop the guy and say, 'I'm not being on the same cart,' or 'I'm not stopping for anybody,'" he said. "That's not us, but maybe we're just different." - more on this story
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Rock Radio reports: The Scorpions well publicized farewell tour featured a run of dates with the reunited Ratt opening for them. But Ratt's frontman Steven Pearcy says there are hints that The Scorps may carry on, while his band is on the rocks.
The Scorpions could be close to changing their minds over splitting up, Ratt singer Steven Pearcy has revealed. But his own band may not reconvene after their current album cycle finishes. "We had a great tour with the Scorpions. We jammed with them on the last night and it was very cool. They're just the utmost professionals." Pearcy tells BraveWords.com. "Hopefully they won't retire – there's chatter of them doing more stuff."
But Pearcy, who admits he's not back to full health after a hernia operation, is less optimistic when talking about his own band. He says"I don't need to give that book any more attention than it deserves. I've been working on something called Ratt Tales, and lo and behold, Tales of Ratt by Bobby Blotzer comes out? It's not too original." He adds, "I'm looking forward to a break. I'm ready to go with new solo stuff with the Rat Bastards and my new band Battering Ramm. Will we do another Ratt record? I don't know. Things didn't fall into place and I've left my options open. We'll see what happens." - more on this story
Ratt, Love/Hate and Black N Blue Stars Form The HardRock AllStars |
Antimusic reports: Jaime St. James (Black N Blue), Juan Crocier (Ex-Ratt), Jon E. Love (Love/Hate) and Pete Holmes (Black N Blue) have united to form The HardRock AllStars.
The band plays hard rock, pop and metal from the 70s and 80s. "We have taken our time in selecting classic hard rock songs that have not been over played by other bands and also mixed in some of the biggest hits from our personal bands; current and past. This is an authentic line up of seasoned veterans, the kind of band that you would have seen in the early 80's playing the Hollywood clubs of the day and we perform on stage like everything depends on it," Croucier says. - more on this story
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CATHRYN BEEKS' WEEKLY LISTEN LOCAL HOTSHEET
Wednesday 8/19 - Musician owned and operated,The Stage at 5th and F offers great food and super sound with NO COVER 8:00 Lenny Morris 8:30 open 9:00 Erin McLaughlin 10:00 open full band 11:00 Vendetta Fish
Thursday 8/20 - Winston's in OB is the place to be every Thursday as you unwind from work and gear up for the weekend. Join Kate and me this week with music from 5:00 Tiny Frank 5:30 Lenny Morris 6:00 mark haemmerle 6:30 Mark Miller 7:00 Grownup Noise NO COVER
MUSIC NEWS
Artist of the Week: Erin McLaughlin plays The Stage this Wednesday at 9pm and you're not gonna wanna miss it. Learn more about her in this week's Artist Interview with Tracy Kinnaman Petrucci!
Link of the Week: Tracy Kinnaman Petrucci, wife of super talent Luke Petricci, offered to help Listen Local GROW by offering her mad blogging skills. She'll also be contributing each week via an interview with the Artist of the week. Check it out here and let us know what you think!
The KPRI giveaways this week are SUPERDIAMOND tickets at Del Mar. Join me at any shows for your chance to win these and other prizes.
LBLG All Access happens 8/27 at The House of Blues. Downstairs on the mainstage and in the adjoining Delta Room we'll feature 14 of my personal favorites AND beer tasting from our local breweries. Sweet! This event is 21+ and FREE if you get a ticket from any of the performers or me, $5 at the door otherwise. Check out the lineup happening on two stages in 20 minute intervals: Rob Deez, Veronica May, Julia Othmer, Paul Cannon, The Whole Shebang, Lindsay and The White Lies, Katie Leigh and The Infantry, Rusty King, Saucy Monky, Tori Roze and The Hot Mess, Josh Damigo, Family Wagon, Astra Kelly and Superunloader will finish off with an extended set. Sweeet!
Save The Date! The Jazz 88 Ocean Beach Music and Art Festival happens Saturday, September 11th and will feature 26 bands on 7 stages!
Jason Brock from SD Future of Music just posted audio from the last meetup. He says "It was fun to listen to the conversation we had as I was editing in the music featuring Cathryn Beeks, Todo Mundo and Lasswell. Thanks for participating in these meet-ups. Enjoy the podcast here: http://bit.ly/cm3PEq". Thanks Jason!
Hey Campers! Reservations are filling up fast for the next Songwriter SleepOver on September 24/25th in Lakeside, CA. $20 includes your wood, water, smores and a songwriting workshop with Dave Howard! Get all the details here, see you there!
Check out Lloyd Pest Control's ARTIST OF THE WEEK, Saucy Monky, when they play The House of Blues LBLG ALL ACCESS show on 8/27. Download their tune for free at Badbugs.com, compliments of Lloyd Pest Control. xoxo
Support San Diego's true local, independant. Tune yourself to 102.1 KPRi in San Diego or listen online at www.kprifm.com. This Sunday on The Homegrown Hour we're playing San Diego Music Award Nominees to help you with the voting process. Until then...
MARKY MARK'S SON ATTACKED BY LOCAL OCTOPUS?!
Alleged former rapper Marky Mark Wahlberg appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman this week to plug his flick The Other Guys, where he ended up telling the host about a wild encounter when he took his wife and four kids to Sea World recently ---
“We have a tour guide so she’s like, ‘You have a special treat today, we’ll be able to take you behind the tank and you’ll be able to see the octopus…’ So this women pulls out this gigantic octopus, the thing latches on to my son’s arm. It’s got my wife, (it’s) wrapped completely around the lady, and another guy’s just standing there. They can’t get this octopus off.”
“My son is freaking out but no sound is coming out of his mouth. So finally we rip the thing off of him. He’s got all these suction marks that look like about 30 little hickeys (bruises). The lady can’t get out, she’s yelling for help… He (the aquarium manager) said it’s never been that aggressive.”
“We haven’t filed yet but if you could recommend a good lawyer… Once the woman who handles the octopus starts freaking out I knew there was a problem. She couldn’t even get away from the thing. She had to have help come running in. Once I got my kid out of there I said, ‘Let’s go!’ I left the lady there. That’s her problem.”
LOCAL "PERSONAL RADIO" FIRM PARTNERS WITH HOT TOPIC
What, you thought Hot Topic department stores were getting out of the music biz, after too many 'tween mall "happenings" went bezerker over here-today-gone-later-today "celebs" like Miley Cyrus' brother?
Enter local-based Slacker, which calls itself "The world's first Personal Radio company offering Your Radio Everywhere." Slacker enables people to play highly personalized music online at the Slacker web site, at home on Slacker-enabled SONY TV and Blu-ray players or on the go with all leading smartphones. Mobile applications are currently available for Android, iPhone, Palm webOS, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry smartphones.
Slacker, Inc. has announced a partnership with Hot Topic, Inc. that combines the music of emerging and well-known artists with the fashions they inspire. Slacker Personal Radio web listeners can simply click the Buy Merchandise icon while playing an artist to view and purchase artist-related merchandise, ranging from t-shirts, to hoodies, to DVDs and vinyl records, from ShockHound, a Hot Topic subsidiary.
Web listeners can purchase merchandise from thousands of artists across all genres. In addition to concert t-shirts, ShockHound has nearly two dozen merchandise categories, which include an extensive catalog of artist-inspired hats, jackets, pins, backpacks, posters and much more. Similar to buying a t-shirt at a performance, nearly all artists get a portion of their merchandise purchases. Hot Topic and ShockHound feature a broad selection of music-licensed and music-influenced apparel, accessories and gift items for music fans at nearly 700 physical stores and two online stores.
"Partnering with ShockHound and Hot Topic to offer the apparel and accessories of our listeners' favorite music is an exciting extension of the Slacker Personal Radio experience," said Jonathan Sasse, senior vice president of marketing at Slacker. "With this update we are bridging the gap between the music Slacker listeners love and the fashions inspired by the artists."
Slacker Personal Radio, available for free online at www.Slacker.com, enables listeners to create their own Personal Radio stations based on any artist or mix of artists, or listen to and personalize over 120 expert-programmed genre stations ranging from Alternative Rock to Comedy and everything in between. Personalization options include rating songs or artists, playing more popular vs. more eclectic music and listening to newer vs. classic songs.
NEW CASBAH WEBSITE - A BRIEF TUTORIAL
Rosey at www.sddialedin.com reports on the new Casbah website she helped put together. "Some people are still missing some things after all this time."
"When you go to CasbahMusic.com there are several pull down menus. The one you should care most about is Schedule (though the grammar police told me that technically it should say Calendar)."
"When you pull down the menus, Extended lets you look at the calendar with pop up bios, photos, and occasional links to photos and videos."
"Simple lets you just look at the basic calendar with clickable band links."
"You should always check the Outside Casbah and Newest Added, too. Outside Casbah is where you'll find Casbah produced shows at other venues, like House of Blues, the Belly Up, The Loft at UCSD Price Center, The San Diego Woman's Club and more."
"There are anywhere from 3 to 15 shows added in a week, and there's no regular day when the calendar is updated. The shows confirm and they go on the calendar."
LOCALS IN THE NEWS 7-27-10 Rob Halford recently spoke with Circle Six Magazine about his new song "The Mower" and his forthcoming album, Halford IV. During the chat Rob explained that the fans shouldn't expect a repeat of the last Halford album, "Resurrection". Here is that part of the interview: It's kind of unusual really. It's just a bit of mix of everything. I suppose, really, where I am in my life and my musical career and everything else. I've done so much and I've covered so much territory, I think this is just me enjoying myself. It's a little bit of everything. Some of it's kind of surprising. And some of it is what you would expect from me. I suppose at the stage now where it's nice to be a musician, I don't have anything left to prove if there's anything to prove…you know what I'm saying? You know when you start off you've got an agenda and you've got a plan and everything…and I've had such a wonderful career that I'm really just enjoying myself. So this record goes from some really early blues ideas – right up to the kind of…extreme moments on "The Mower" and everything in between. - Read the full interview here
******* Rihanna was drawn to duet with Eminem on his powerful new track "Love the Way You Lie" - because she "connected" with the song's references to an abusive relationship. more *******
Three Mile Pilot Return With New Album |
Antimusic reports: Three Mile Pilot will release their first new album in 13 years on September 28th. Here's the announcement:
Are we really here? Is this really happening? When we say that we never thought this day would come, we REALLY mean it. The rumor of a new Three Mile Pilot album has been circulating for over a decade, further fueling the mystery and mythology that has swirled around the San Diego trio since the 1997 release of what was thought to be their swan song, the enormously influential Another Desert, Another Sea.
First, a brief history of Three Mile Pilot: Formed in the early '90s, the group released a debut album to a fair amount of acclaim, followed by Chief Assassin To The Sinister, an album that garnered the attention of Geffen Records, with whom they signed for all of one album. After enduring the major label wringer, the group released Another Desert, their most emotionally resonant and commercially successful record to date. Shortly after, bassist Armistead "Zach Smith" Burwell Smith IV formed Pinback with Rob Crow, and singer-guitarist Pall Jenkins began a new project with Three Mile Pilot keyboardist Tobias Nathanial. Both projects were meant to coexist with 3MP, however, both Pinback and The Black Heart Procession became unexpectedly popular. Next thing you know, it was 2009 and not a peep had been heard from 3MP in a dozen years.
That brings us to the aptly-named The Inevitable Past Is the Future Forgotten, the first Three Mile Pilot album in 13 years, and the first to be written, performed, recorded and produced entirely by the original three members in their own home studios. As such it is the most uncompromising album since their inception - it also just happens to be their most accessible.
While Pinback and The Black Heart Procession were obviously influenced by 3MP in their early days, the inverse can now be heard, with many of the songs on The Inevitable Past bearing the unmistakable and inevitable stamps of Pinback and The Black Heart Procession. This circular influence is what makes the album so brilliant; instead of a proper hiatus, 3MP's progression was charted vicariously through its members' other groups. As such, The Inevitable Past makes good on the promising glimpses heard through a long but breathless wait. Yes, we are really here! - more on this story
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LOCAL MUSIC DATABASE - NOW UPDATED DAILY!
I'm very excited about this new feature of the Reader's local music database - since we update daily, the music homepage at http://www.sandiegoreader.com/music/ now has a new section, This Just In, linking the newest revisions and additions.
Their first new album in thirteen years, the Inevitable Past Is The Future Forgotten, is their first full-length to be written, performed, recorded, and produced entirely by the original three members in their own home studios.
Bassist/guitarist Kenny Howes is moving to Dallas, so the band is seeking a replacement player. Howes is also leaving his job as Sales director at Rickenbacker International.
After less than a month on sale, the proggy metal band's new album Selfish Machines has already racked up over 700,000 downloads.
On Wednesday July 21, Counting Crows singer Adam Duritz jammed with Augustana onstage before getting behind the microphone to perform with his own band at Mountain Park in Holyoke, MA.
Kenseth Thibideau of Sleeping People has a new solo CD coming out this month, Repetition.
The pop punkers are on their first Vans Warped Tour, carrying SoCal trinkets like surfboards and beach balls onto the stage each night. Their new album California Kicks was written in San Francisco, but recorded in San Diego with producers Mike Green and Brian Grider.
Her new album Doghouse Rose just debuted at number 33 on the Top 40 Americana Album Chart.
The band's song "Grinning in the Dark" was heard on the new Fox TV cop show the Good Guys, and the July issue of Classic Rock magazine comes with a CD sampler that includes their song "Hot Mess."
And that's just over a couple of days this week! I hope you can help spread the word - I think we have the most comprehensive and up-to-date local music site on the web, with over 2,200 custom built performer pages, more than 7,000 individual musician histories, and over 2,500 local albums, most with covers and track lists and even Reader reviews.
So how are we doing???
LOCALS IN THE NEWS 7-13-10
CATTLE DECAPITATION TOUR ANNOUNCED
Cattle Decapitation will headline a fall tour dubbed the "The California Blood Tour." Support will be provided by Devourment, Knights Of The Abyss, Burning The Masses, and Son Of Aurelius. more
DAVE MUSTAINE WRITING AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has never been accused of being short of words. That comes in handy with the announcement that his autobiography Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir will be released on August 3rd in the U.S.
Shortly after the release was announced, the book shot up to #1 in the Books/Rock category and the #1 Best Seller in the Books/Heavy Metal category at Amazon.com
For fans across the pond, the UK version is said to have a different cover and will be titled, ' Mustaine: A Life In Metal', when it hits stores on September 30th. The UK version also carries the tagline, "Hello Me... Meet The Real Me". - the official word on this release
RIHANNA SEEKING POSITIVE P.R. BUT CANCELLING MORE SHOWS
AceShowBiz reports that famous former neighbor Rihanna has been forced to scrap another date on her U.S. tour due to poor ticket sales. Her show at Indiana's Verizon Wireless Music Center on August 3 has been called off - more
Antimusic.com recently posted a story about 11-year-old Broadway star Shannon Tavarez's cancer fight and her search for a bone marrow donor. Now Rihanna is urging her fans to help. Here is the announcement:
At just eleven-years-old Shannon Tavarez already had a promising Broadway career performing four shows a week as Young Nala in DISNEY'S The Lion King. Shannon juggled a full day of school before rushing to the Minskoff Theatre - - she was living her dream. Now, just over two months later, Shannon's dream is simply to grow up and return to her normal life. In April, Shannon was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia. The talented young star was performing on stage when the symptoms first hit. Her lower back and legs suddenly started hurting making it difficult for her to perform or even walk. "When I found out, it hit me really hard, like someone was throwing a ball at me. It was shocking and I thought, why me?" said Shannon. Now, Shannon lives at Schneider Children's Hospital in Long Island where she receives daily chemotherapy treatments. A bone marrow transplant from a stranger may be her only chance at survival.
When Rihanna heard about Shannon's plight, she had to do something. "Being a performer myself I know what it's like to be given the opportunity of a lifetime at a young age and I would have been destroyed if that was taken away from me," said Rihanna. "Shannon deserves to live and share her beautiful voice with the world."
The superstar, an avid advocate for children, has a long history of working with DKMS, whose mission is to save lives by recruiting bone marrow donors for leukemia patients. "When I listened to Shannon's voice, I got really sad. Her voice is so beautiful. She should be performing on Broadway, but she is confined to her bed, fighting for her life. Shannon needs to find abone marrow donor to survive. I urge all my fans to register with DKMS," said Rihanna. - more on this story
FLAME-ON, CRAIGSLIST!! (BUT DON'T TOUCH MY EMMY) -
“I wasn’t expecting to start a Craigslist flame war” says singer/songwriter Scott Wilson of his recent online classified ads. “I’ve been posting for filmmakers to collaborate on music videos. A bunch of people started attacking my resume, some accusing me of being a liar and others who said I’m not even who I say I am...there was some reference to my Emmy Award as an ‘imaginary statue.’”
“They were p*ssed off [on Craigslist] because I couldn’t afford to pay them,” says Wilson, who has edited TV shows like Rock Star: INXS, various MTV and VH1 specials, and DVDs featuring Metallica and Queensryche. “Even people who believed my resume, there was some problem with my status as a broke musician, as opposed to a successful video editor. In reality, I was looking for students or aspiring filmmakers to collaborate with, who wanted to create in the spirit of love instead of profit. If you prove yourself, the profit will come.”
Amidst the negative and frequently foul-mouthed posts (“You couldn’t print them”),
He’s decided to stop referencing his Emmy while seeking video collaborators, since people tend to associate that with deep pockets. “I could take a picture of the Award, but it’s in my storage room, packed in a box. People kept wanting to touch it.
“As long as they don’t want to touch my Emmy.”
Wilson cites his main musical influences as the Beatles (“seventh chords”), Nirvana (“grooves”), and Yes (“harmonies”), but nowadays the founding member of the Gandhi Method -- and former bassist for Cathryn Beeks -- would just as soon plug into a video-editing board as an amp. This filmmaking savvy served Wilson well when it came time to shoot a video for the song “Coffeehouse 101” from his 2005 CD Kaleidoscope’s End. “We ended up with around 50 performers in [my] video, many of them local, each one lip-synching a different line from the song,” says Wilson. Footage was shot at Lestat’s, Twiggs, the Hot Monkey Love Café, and other local spots. Cameo appearances include Gregory Page, Dave Howard, Bart Mendoza (the Shambles), Mark DeCerbo (Rockola, the Steely Damned), and a who’s who of local talent that even the most plugged-in of scenesters would be hard pressed to fully identify. “I couldn’t time it right to get the Locust in there,” says Wilson, “but I [taped] most everybody else I sought out.” “Some people -- for instance, Robin Henkel and Carlos Olmeda -- were very comfortable with the camera. Some weren’t, and I include myself in that bunch. Everyone brings their own personalities to the table, and people relate to the camera in such different ways that it becomes sort of a sociological experiment in overcoming embarrassment.”
"Shade of Eden" video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAMkv1jx5xk
First West Coast tour in 20 years!
KINKY FRIEDMAN
with guest
MOJO NIXON
Sunday August 1, 7 p.m. • SAN DIEGO • Belly Up
Two new books: Heroes of a Texas Childhood and What Would Kinky Do?
• • •
THE GO WEST YOUNG KINKY TOUR OF 2010
Kinky Friedman Announces First
West Coast Performance Tour in Two Decades
AUSTIN, Texas — Former Texas gubernatorial candidate, political commentator and self-proclaimed “author, columnist, musician and beautician” Kinky Friedman will perform on the West Coast this summer for the first time in nearly 20 years. Dates for the “Go West Young Kinky Tour of 2010” start on July 26th in Vancouver and continue into August (a full list of venues follows). Two members of Kinky's seminal band the Texas Jewboys, Little Jewford and Washington Ratso, will join him on the tour. No prisoners will be taken. Only the strong shall survive.
The Kinkster, often referred to as the “Mark Twain of Texas,” will also be hawking his wares, in this case his most recent (limited edition) books, Heroes of a Texas Childhood and What Would Kinky Do?, both of which will be available for purchase and signing at the shows. As Kinky has often said, he’ll “sign anything but bad legislation.” This includes any of his dozens of top-selling books or columns, or even his Kinky Friedman Cigars, which, rumor has it, will also be available at the venues. Bring it, and he will sign it.
Kinky Friedman rose to stardom in the ’70s, with the aforementioned Texas Jewboys as his sick and twisted sidekicks. An equal opportunity offender, Kinky, with his outrageous lyrics and crazed stage persona, may have offended some, but drew people like Don Imus, Robin Williams, Bob Dylan and John Belushi into his spiritual fan club. He toured with Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue and appeared on the inaugural season of Saturday Night Live. His infamous appearance on Austin City Limits, the only performance ever filmed by ACL and never broadcast because of content, has finally been released on DVD, to the delight of fans everywhere.
In the mid ’80s, Kinky rescued a woman being robbed at a midtown Manhattan ATM, and, based on this experience, created the character Kinky Friedman the Detective, who solved murders in what would become a series of wildly popular mystery novels. In the years since, the real Kinky has branched out into children’s books, memoirs, historical reflections and editorials, all to great success, and all powered by his razor sharp wit.
Kinky’s commentaries have appeared in such diverse media as The New York Times, Texas Monthly and Playboy, and since adding politics to his résumé, he has been a regular on cable networks, even stopping by occasionally to spar with Bill O'Reilly.
His books are now read the world over, and his tour schedule reflects this. From Bill Clinton to Billy Bob Thornton to Nelson Mandela, everybody loves a Kinky Friedman mystery. As the ever-humble author likes to say, “I write novels for Americans to read on their aircraft.” Billy Bob is currently working with him on a new book, as is Willie Nelson.
And now, for the first time in almost a generation, folks on the West Coast will get to hear Kinky perform (live!) tunes like “Ride ’Em Jewboy,” “Sold American” and “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore.” And many friends will be there too: Mojo Nixon will join Kinky in San Diego, and Van Dyke Parks has already signed up for L.A. There’s no telling who else will pop in. Will there be a Wavy Gravy sighting in San Francisco?
Tickets $20
http://www.bellyup.com/show/detail/29207
Ratt Drummer Trashes Band's Former 'Rich Kid' Guitarist |
Blotzer: I've always been the kind of person that shows up on time and does my job. Some people that are in the band, or used to be, don't treat Ratt with that type of respect. We have a great thing going with this new album and the public's interest – but people take it for granted. I never have.
Metal Sucks: You talk about getting offers for weekend shows a few years back, and certain people in Ratt not wanting to do them.
Blotzer: Yeah, that was so annoying! Warren wouldn't want to do them because he didn't want to deal with a layover at some airport. That's the kind of shit I deal with. He's a rich kid, so he didn't care about the cash as much.
Metal Sucks: Earlier in our call, you sounded very uneasy about Ratt's current situation.
Blotzer: I just see some of the things that were problems coming up again. I don't get it. I'm never not thinking about this band falling apart, because of the way Ratt operates. It's not me, dude. It's my 2 business partners. Even now with the album's success, there are power struggles within the band. I just want to tell them, "Come on guys — let's just go out there and kick ass!" But they make it more complicated. All I have to say is that if everything falls apart again for us; I'll just write an amendment to the book with all of this new shit. Hopefully people wake up, and get their shit together. I just want to go out there and play. - Read the full interview here
42 YEARS AGO – THE VELVET UNDEGROUND IN
42 years ago – July 4 through 6, 1968 – the Velvet Underground debuted one of their most oft-discussed but seldom heard lost tracks, “Sweet Rock and Roll.” The band played three nights at the converted skating rink on Front and <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />
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The performances were recorded on 4-track tape, according to guitarist Sterling Morrison in a 1986 interview for Spanish television. “After tuning, we started with ‘Waiting For the Man’ and it didn’t sound so bad…then came ‘Sweet Rock and Roll,’ which was never recorded and never played again. We wanted that tape, it sounded so great, so there was no point in recording it. I think we did it a time or two after that, but it was nothing compared to this first one."
"I remember the chords and some words, ‘Sweet rock ‘n’ roll is good to your soul.’ We used that as a preamble to ‘Sister Ray,’ it kind of just goes along and then hits the chords, which were very heavy. It was good. It was heavy, serious. Cale played keyboard on ‘Sweet Rock and Roll,’ and that was really what carried it.”
Famous former neighbor Lester Bangs wrote of the tune’s Hippodrome debut in a 1971 article for Creem Magazine. “The Velvets launched into a new song that was one of the most incredible musical experiences of my concert career. Lou announced it as ‘Sister Ray, Part Two,’ but it sounded nothing like the previous song. It was built on the most dolorous riff imaginable, just a few scales rising and falling mournfully, somewhat like ‘Venus In Furs’ but less creaky, more deliberate and eloquent.”
“The lyrics, many of which Lou made up as he went along, seemed like fantasy from an urban inferno: ‘Sweet Sister Ray went to a movie / The floor was painted red and the walls were green / Ooohh, she cried / This is the strangest movie I’ve ever seen …Ohhhh, sweet rock and roll - it’ll cleanse your soul.’ That’s classic, and no other group in
So why hasn’t the tape of “Sweet Rock and Roll” at the Hippodrome ever surfaced?
Richie Unterberger’s book White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day by Day quotes Sterling Morrison saying “That was a great performance … [but] the tape was stolen that very night. Stolen within seconds, actually. As soon as it ended, it vanished, never to reappear on earth.”
The Velvet Underground had played the Hippodrome just a few weeks earlier (the gig for which the above concert poster was created)
SCREW THE MAN!! THE EXPERIMENTS GIVE IT UP FOR FREE
Disgusted with the RIAA's lawsuits against music lovers, San Diego based rock / punk band The Experiments has released their new album, What Kind Of Animal? for free under the Creative Commons license. Anyone is free to download, distribute, re-mix or otherwise use the songs for non-commercial purposes.
"It's ridiculous that a single mom gets fined $1.9 million for downloading 24 songs. It's criminal, and the RIAA are a criminal organization," said the band's bass player, Dave Blood. "So, we say, take our songs for free. You deserve them."
"What Kind Of Animal?" is the band's 5th release. It is a complete DIY (Do It Yourself) project, with the band writing, performing, recording, and mixing the songs themselves. It can be downloaded at the band's website, TheExperiments.com.
"We recorded it in this big wood shop that some friends let us use. We pushed the band saw and drill press aside, and set up the drums in the middle of the room. It sounded great in there," said singer / guitar player Dan Bonn. "We did the vocals in Dan's bathroom, and mixed it in his spare bedroom," added Blood.
The Experiments have played their style of rock and punk in San Diego and clubs across the USA since 1994. Influenced by The Who, The Ramones, Cheap Trick and others, the band has toured the US and played in iconic clubs like NYC's CBGB and Chicago's Thurston's.
TOP 10 WEIRDEST LOCAL VIDEO s!
By Bart Mendoza: Politics makes for strange bedfellows? That’s nothing compared to the music biz. Here’s ten interesting pairings of San Diegans with musicians from elsewhere.
1) Jason Mraz with Elmo & Friends – “Outdoors”
Hands down the coolest TV team up by a
2) Stephen Bishop & Marilyn McCoo – “On & On / Save It For Rainy Day”
This is the direct opposite of the Mraz video, but then McCoo is no match for Elmo…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up4_uZfaGJ8
3) JJ Cale & Eric Clapton – “After Midnight”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5Tiqv4Irjs
4) Jewel & Jessica Simpson – “Who Will Save Your Soul”
Without a doubt, Jessica Simpson is the closest thing to the Velvet Underground in music today…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW6QrCaRrmY
5) Frankie Laine & Johnny Ray – “Up Above My Head”
A clip from Frankie Laine’s show features a dueling hits medley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcPKHLXpm7I
6) Nathan East & Bon Jovi – “Bad Medicine”
Fair enough, it’s a cliche Bon Jovi tune, but he’s playing before more people at this one gig than many bands will play to in their lifetimes…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw2pTMlVRR4
Bonus: Here’s the ultimate Nathan East band, with Eric Clapton, Mark Knofpler (Dire Straits) & Elton John: “Layla” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E13R0MAfC9E
7) Blink-182 & Robert Smith (The Cure) – “ All of This”
December 6, 2004 @ Wembley Arena,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnQkPkcAxhE
8) Louis XIV & The Killers (and Friends) – “Helter Skelter”
A live musical free for all somewhere in
9) Ratt & Michael Schenker – “Round & Round”
This is a rough audience clip but it’s notable for two things – the bassist’s interesting stage shuffle and Schenker’s fist bump with Dimartini. Oh yeah, killer solo too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhOJhXw6wOU
10) Alison Brown & The Indigo Girls – “Closer to Fine”
Rough sound, but a key tune…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP7DMY9Sowc
Bonus:
Bonus - 11) Dave Humphries & Tony Sheridan – “Music In A Friends House”
Full disclosure, I was involved with this production, but it’s kind of cool that Beatles compatriot
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SOLO TEMPLE PILOT
Rock Radio reports: Scott Weiland recorded his vocal tracks for the new Stone Temple Pilots album in a different studio from the band because he doesn't like people being around while he works, he's revealed.
And that shyness is what got him into drugs in the early 90s, the singer adds. Weiland tells Canoe.ca: "They recorded the master tracks and I'd take the file over to my studio and sing. It was a lot easier – I don't like having a lot of people in the room when I'm cutting vocals. I like to be in my own comfort zone."
He described his condition as "social fright" rather than "stage fright" and that's what led him down the road of taking drugs to feel better – a road which caused the original split of STP, then, two years ago, his departure from Velvet Revolver. - more on this story
TODAY'S "WHAT THE F-CK" ALBUM COVER
All the green grass in the world isn't gonna make this dork crew look any cooler - hey, in the lower right corner, isn't that "Newman" from Seinfeld?!
"Let's get that photo I took of the pervert stalker hiding in the bushes and make it our album cover...."
Sears must've been having a sale on those suits!
You laugh, but you should hear this soulful mama belting out "These Boots Were Made For Walking" and "Hard Day's Night"! You'll laugh even harder...
And this is AFTER he pimped his ride!
What makes this so WTF isn't the clothes - it's the medieval dungeon they look so comfortable in...
And OTHER skiing songs?!?!?! That first one killed the dude!!
Where oh where to start - the guy's giant pointy elf shoes? The mysterious brown liquid seeping out from between the girl's legs and onto the floor? The Beep Beep poster with inexplicable ocean motif? The hemorroid donut mounted on a wall with garden trellis?
If Love Ain't Nothin' But a Business, guess who just declared bankruptcy?
Gene Simmons' Family Jewels - in an alternate HELL DIMENSION! Why do they make their women dress as couches that someone threw up on?
Previous WTF Album Covers: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2010/may/31/worst-album-covers-ever-strange-bizarre-and-butt-c/
DESTROY THE RUNNER CALL IT QUITS
Carlsbad metal-core band Destroy the Runner has announced an "indefinite hiatus." According to a group statement, "We have sought to maintain musical integrity and honesty within all facets of our functioning, and unfortunately are not able to do so at this point in time..."
"Keep on the lookout for a softer, more experimental project with Nick Maldonado [guitar], Duane Reed [guitar, vocals], Marc Kohlbry [drums], Jeremiah Crespo [bass] and several others called Other Mountains. Also check out Chapter 14 with Chad Ackerman [vocals] and Tanner Sparks [bass, vocals]. And for the super heavy fans, be on the lookout for a very heavy, experimental band with Nick , Duane (vocals), Kyle (from Thieves and Liars), and our guitar tech Jason that is yet to be named."
Destroy the Runner singer Chad Ackerman told the Reader about one of his band's worst gigs. "In Cheyenne, Wyoming, we had a huge guarantee, and we were on tour with Lower Definition at the time. We were told that the show had been promoted for months. Keep in mind that we were in Cheyenne, haha. We all had hotel rooms that the promoter booked, an open bar, free meal at the restaurant, and a huge guest list."
"Two people showed up to the show! There were seriously two people. Ha! We felt so bad that everyone on the tour decided to close the open bar, and we played whatever songs the two kids wanted to hear. I think all the bands gave the kids free shirts too. That was pretty bad, though."
LOCALS ART ---- a few locals who've appeared in the Reader comix ---
More later!
Thanks to everyone who came out to the Overheard and Famous in San Diego art gallery opening on Monday, March 29th at the Ruby Room! Bunches of photos and video clips coming soon -
The night before the opening reception, I heard my name on KPRI radio as I drove into San Diego, while randomly flipping stations. It was Cathryn Beeks on the Homegrown Hour, talking about the show - and then she played the Overheard in San Diego theme song!! I almost drove off the road - thanks, Cathryn!!
Happy Ron Hill played his "Famous Former Neighbors" song (which seems to imply that I think my "sh-t don't stink," heh heh), and Cathryn Beeks was joined by co-writer Sven-Erik Seaholm to mock me in song once again, with their "Overheard in San Diego" theme song.
Happy Ron, Bart Mendoza, and Carlos Olmeda, Collage Menage, Neener, Carnal Comics writer Jamie Ralph Gardner, videographers Duane and Susan, and random passersby...
The Cathryn Beeks Ordeal and Marcia Claire were awesome, as was Collage Menage, with guest singer Jenene Lambert, who also played their own "Famous Former Neighbors" song - they came in second place in the Reader's FFN song contest.
BTW, we had six song entries - Ziva Gottesman & Dan Galant, Steve and the Pescadero Pickers, Speaking Idly, Happy Ron, Ed Cormier, and Collage Menage.
The winner? Steve and the Pescadero Pickers !! Their tune tells of the summer that Bob "Gilligan" Denver moved next door to Steve in OB -----
Due to some confusion -- no doubt compounded by me being on vacation all week --- bandleader Steve wasn't notified in time to play it at the show, but you can checkitout - and all the song submissions, along with their final vote stats - at http://www.sandiegoreader.com/audioclips/sets/famous-former-neighbors/
There was quite a fiery debate on the website about this contest, among listeners and some of the contestants themselves -- http://www.sandiegoreader.com/polls/2010/mar/vote-your-favorite-former-famous-neighbors-theme-s/results/
All in all, it was terrific to see the Reader comic strips getting their own spotlight showcase - my thanks to the Ruby Room for letting me plaster my scribbles all over their walls and letting my friends and I play all night in their colorful sandbox! Thanks also to the artists who came out to do live art demonstrations, and you can checkout a selection of comic strips from the show all thru April at the RRoom --
Thanks also to my associates at the Reader who spearheaded fun stuff like the song contest ----
Now, it's back to being an obscure underemployed cartoonatic and itinerate writer-slash-blogger - surely, it's all downhill from here...
***************************************http://www.artdamages.com/2010/04/overheard-and-famous-in-san-diego-art-show/
http://www.artdamages.com/2010/04/overheard-and-famous-in-san-diego-art-show/
Press illo to play the Overheard song!
OWES IT ALL TO THE MAN WITH NO NAME....
“We play hip-hop with a twist,” says Tim Beaman (aka Timmy B) of the trio OCT/Outta Control, who all moved to San Diego from Detroit six years ago in hopes of kickstarting their recording and performing career.
“We do the unexpected, like starting off a set with a crazy electric guitar solo and setting a sick Beastie Boy-style party vibe. We make music that reflects our life, which is pretty much a never ending struggle AND a big party, all at the same time. We don’t have sick cars or money, so we don’t rap about that.”
The band cites surprising inspirations, such as the Prince formerly known as Fresh, Will Smith. “He’s one of the sickest MCs in the game,” says Beaman. “If you don’t think so, check out his song ‘Freak This.’ We actually live our lives by that saying.”
Another big inspiration is a man whose name they don’t even know.
“We were in L.A. trying to get into record label offices to hand out our demo, even though we knew it wasn’t going to work. After getting thrown out of Capitol Records, we talked to the guy who threw us out for a while. He told us that he had thrown out 50 Cent and Kanye when they were still unsigned. After talking for a few minutes, he looked at us and said ‘If you’re good at what you do, don’t quit. It’ll happen for you too.’”
Outta Control has released three albums, as well as contributing to last year’s SDMA-nominated hip-hop compilation Best of Daygo City.
Get Uked to It (or San Diego Gets Uked) - 15 San Diego artists have their songs covered on Ukelele
By Bart Mendoza: It’s true, ukeleles get little respect in the music world. But with their portability and ease of use it’s easy to see the four stringed instruments appeal.
Long a favorite for fans of Hawaiian music and century old pop tunes, the current resurgence in popularity has seen many modern era tunes showing up in uke players set lists.
Here are 15 songs originally performed by San Diego based artists, recast for ukelele.
Local custom ukelele maker Owen Burke: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2008/apr/09/blurt4
1) As I Lay Dying / “Through Struggle”
By vik733 – my vote for most unexpected cover version, ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0y8Q6Jdy8Y
2) Blink 182 / “Rock Show”
The Sebi Next Door:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSFsmYtYQpw
3) Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper / “Debbie Gibson is Pregnant with My Two Headed Love Child”
By Henrique – he portrays both Mojo and Skid in this video!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2EZXKEW4g0
4) Nickel Creek / “Doubting Thomas”
By Abe Schmidt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Yeu6tvLrI
5) Boxcar Racer / “Letter To God”
By one man band, Hammelino:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyncCZFu_rQ
6) John Stewart (The Monkees / Anne Murray) / “Daydream Believer”
This version has lyrics by Japanese music icon Kiyoshiro Imawano:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO5LLBty3cs
7) Unwritten Law / “Save Me”
Performed by Phoebe Henry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKqvmiMp6NI
8) Steve Poltz (Jewel) / “You Were Meant For Me”
Sung by Janica Salaz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4jY24cffg8&feature=related
9) Jack Tempchin (The Eagles) / “Peaceful Easy Feeling“
performed by the Second City Ukelele Players Association:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bddC4aYML4Y
10) Stephen Bishop / “It Might Be You”
by Keone Pax:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPe9C7ro3Vw
11) Iron Butterfly / “In A Gadda Da Vida”
Performed by Fritz Herman – dig the drum solo:-):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBBOymHPozY
12) Cascades / “Rhythm of The Falling Rain”
Performed by Tonma
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMD_vXhl2HM
13) Jason Mraz / “I’m Yours”
Performed by a group of students:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUF2jiVgT4I
14) Ratt / “Round & Round”
Rearranged by The Awkward Sounds of Scott & Skiz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvK77lNoSBA
15) Kingston Trio / “Scotch & Soda”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDZuYH1h5xg
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MUSTAINE MAKES ROCK VIDEO BASED ON SAN DIEGO TANK ATTACK
Noisecreep reports: On May 17, 1995, a U.S. Army veteran and unemployed plumber in San Diego, Shawn Timothy Nelson, snapped and stole an M60 Patton tank from a nearby National Guard Armory. He drove down the highway, crushing cars, fire hydrants and an RV before he was stopped and killed by police.
The headline-grabbing story forms the basis of Megadeth's new video for 'The Right to Go Insane,' the second single from the band's acclaimed 2009 disc Endgame. In the clip, which surprisingly features no performance footage, frontman Dave Mustaine is filmed sneaking onto a military facility, stealing a tank and playing crash-up derby through the streets.
Video footage from the cockpit shows Mustaine singing and laughing, while shots from a surveillance helicopter depict a missile gunsight tracking him as he pillages.
No word from the family of Shawn Timothy Nelson, who was killed by police on live TV after the stolen tank got stick on a highway divider, on what they think of famous neighbor Mustaine having so much fun with their tragic true-life story. (more Megadeth, 'The Right to Go Insane' -- Video Premiere )
NEW COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL MUSIC DATABASE IS LAUNCHED
If you wanna see a list of over 2,100 San Diego bands, with links to full profiles, photos, discographies, articles, MP3s, etc, checkout http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/search/
Believe it or not, you can click on ANY LOCAL MUSICIAN'S NAME (around 4,900 musicos listed!) and bring up bios of every notable band they've ever been in! Try it here with Rob Crow ---
AND, if that wasn't cool 'nuff, click on an instrument, say like this here link to "Drums" - BAM, a list of EVERY DRUMMER IN SAN DIEGO!!!
We've been working on this massively cross-linked Local Music Database for over two years now, covering a century of San Diego history --- if you're a local performer who wants to add or edit a page, go to http://www.sandiegoreader.com/band/edit/
More soon!!!! JAS
******************************************************** 14 Things You Might Not Know About Jim Croce!
By Bart Mendoza: In honor of the release of a new book on Jim Croce’s music, Anthology, here are a more than ten things that you might have overlooked about the music icon. The book includes music & lyrics + stories behind 40 tunes! Penned by Ingrid Croce, published by Hal Leonard) For more info, please visit www.jimcroce.com
I also highly recommend the Jim Croce’ DVD Anthology, Have You Heard:
1) Jim Croce is now the third
2) Jim Croce’s album, Life & Times, has been immortalized at the Sleeveface site: http://www.sleeveface.com/?p=288 – from the site: “One or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion” – Amazing!
3) The Muppet Show aired a touching clip of “Time in A Bottle” – An old scientist grown younger until… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF8ZgguyQ3Y
4) And… here’s The Muppets version “Working at the Car Wash Blues,” starring Gonzo and a bunch of chickens. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8Gw5e1AnMc
5) Frank Sinatra released a single of “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” which hit #83 in 1974. Dean Martin then used the same arrangement of the song for his version. Here’s a Glen Miller Big Band arrangement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA3Eq8r8fGs
6) Glen Campbell recorded a version of “Time In A Bottle” for the BBC in 1975. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC8bygMhrvs
7) In 1977, Maureen McCormick (aka Marcia Brady) sang a version of “I’ll Just Have to Say I Love You In A Song” on the TV’s The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.
8) Croce’s character, Leroy Brown, next showed up in the Queen song, “Bring Back that Leroy Brown.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vHZU_HcXDo
9) “I’ll Just Have to Say I Love You In A Song” was covered by Cilla Black.
10) “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” was covered by Jerry Reed. Here’s his version of “I Got A Name” , with a very nice introduction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ts0qwRBx4c
11) “Lovers Cross” was covered by Melanie.
12) His songs have appeared in TV shows such as Eli Stone ("You Don't Mess Around With Jim")/ 2008), The West Wing ("Time in a Bottle" / 2003), The Greatest American Hero ("You Don't Mess Around With Jim" / 1981)
13) His songs have appeared in movies such as Home Alone 3 ("Bad Bad Leroy Brown"/ 1997) and The Ice Storm ("I Got a Name").
14) Jim Croce appeared on several TV shows including In Concert, Rock Concert and twice on NBC’s the Tonight Show: Aug. 15 1972 (other guests included Danny Thomas and the comedy duo Burns & Schrieber) and May 30 1973 (other guests included Karen Valentine)
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Dethklok, Zappa Band Contributor Mike Keneally Announces Select Shows |
Antimusic reports: Mike Keneally is set to launch his first full-band tour in nearly five years, bringing his ever-evolving, remarkably inventive musical vision to the Northeast US in early May for five shows in support of his latest Exowax Recordings release, Scambot 1.
From Keneally's well-documented recorded work as a guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist in Frank Zappa's last touring band, to his recordings and performances with Robert Fripp, Dethklok, Wayne Kramer, Steve Vai, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Andy Partridge and many others, he's earned a reputation as someone who can bring an intense, original musical voice to any situation. His extensive and wildly diverse original catalog of 19 albums and counting defies traditional classification, and concertgoers are regularly left awestruck by his band's high-wire-act execution of the eclectic material.
In a unique twist, this tour's Mike Keneally Band members also comprise the opening act, the band of Keneally's longtime bassist Bryan Beller (Steve Vai, Dethklok), whose intricate jazz/rock compositions and tasteful playing earned his sophomore album Thanks In Advance widespread acclaim.
The sneakily-titled "They're Both The Same Band" Northeast Tour 2010 features Keneally, Beller, drummer Joe Travers (Zappa Plays Zappa), and guitarists Rick Musallam (Ben Taylor, Byrd York) and Griff Peters (Billie Myers, Anika Paris). - more on this story
WTF SLEESTAKS!
I have SO many problems with this bizarre Land of the Lost relic.
First, what's up with asking the kiddies to help that Sleestak EAT poor lil' Dopey?! "He craves raw, bloody meat and does not know which rope is attached to Dopey. Which is the right one?" And why's the Sleestak a toy, while the Dino is drawn?
"Puzzle" 1 instructs "Look into this sacred cave, then cover it. How many Sleestak can you remember having seen?" Fair 'nuff, that's a KIND of a puzzle. But then look at the effin answer key -- "Any humans who gaze upon our god will die." Geez, Muhammad much?
Plus, written as if by Sleestak, the answer key indicates that THIS IS A SLEESTAK-CREATED PUZZLE! Notice the possessive apostrophe in the puzzle title, "Sleestak's...."...No wonder they wanna trick kids into killing Dopey...
"Puzzle" 2 - not really a puzzle. "Grumpy the dinosaur surprised Will, Holly and Chaka while they were out on a walk. Can you solve the puzzle of how Will and Holly will escape?" Well, clearly, we can see that some mirror thingly blinds Grumpy. BUT...
"How will WILL AND HOLLY escape?" WTF, what about Chaka?! Those sick fukken Sleetak puzzlemakers made a snuff film, and this clip shows Chaka seconds before getting bit in two...and, BTW, how stoopid are Will and Holly that they can still be "surprised" by a thirty foot tall dinosaur, AND NOT A FREAKIN' TREE IN SIGHT!
So let's refer to the answer key as to how the two mentally challenged humans escape..."Hit Chaka with a rock, breaking his leg, then run." I say again - WTF?! The dumbass duo is supposed to sacrifice Chaka to the dino?!
And if the answers are written by Sleestak, why are they such Chaka haters - or do they simply wanna eat "raw and bloody meat" offa Will and Holly themselves, while Grumpy polishes off the hairy Oompa Loompa?
The answer to number 3? "Dopey is slower than even a Sleestak. He should fall easily to the wicked eviscerating claws."
Sid and Marty Krofft - the Owsleys of Saturday morning TV ---
********************************************** ************************************************Because who can get any work done with all THIS going on????
************************************************COMING IN 2010 - ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS: JOAN JETT AND THE RUNAWAYS
Here's a sneak peek at the cover art for the full-color Runaways issue of Rock 'N' Roll Comics, which will be released to tie in to the Runaways movie --- www.myspace.com/rocknrollcomics
Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics: The Runaways with Joan Jett and Lita Ford
Writer: Spike Steffenhagen, Jay Allen Sanford
Artists: Joe Paradise, Larry Nadolsky
Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics presents the Runaways, the ‘70s jailbait rockers whose story is wild and crazy enough to merit both a feature film starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning and an even more revealing no-punches-pulled comic book bio! Three complete full-color stories chronicle the rise and fall of the Runaways themselves, as well as going far beyond the bio-pic to also cover the solo careers of band stars Joan Jett and Lita Ford.
Scripted by rock ‘n’ roll historian Spike Steffenhagen (Kiss: Comic From the Elder) and San Diego Reader columnist Jay Allen Sanford, this lovingly illustrated edition features art by Joe Paradise (Overheard in San Diego) and Larry Nadolsky (Deposit Man). Unauthorized and proud of it!
Here's a sneak preview of the story and art -----
http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/40472/2068009180
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http://inlinethumb63.webshots.com/45758/2286475540
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http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/46451/2549638090
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http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/44915/2243644840
103947755S600x600Q85.jpg
FREE TRILLION DOLLARS FROM OBAMA!!
The government is handing out Trillions. Now you can too! Help spread the wealth and holiday cheer by forwarding this Trillion Dollar gift to all of your friends! Print and pass it on!
Want another Trillion Dollar gift for your friends? Get the Trillion Dollar Bailout game! The perfect stocking stuffer only $7.99. Check it out!!!!
www.obamanationcardgame.com!!!
ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS - The Led Zeppelin Experience:
The Led Zeppelin saga is one of the wildest in rock history, and this graphic novel pulls no punches in dramatizing the backstage, behind-the-scenes story. From their early days as the New Yardbirds on through their rise to superstardom (and controversy), all five issues of the original Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics series are collected in one rockin’ volume, with art by Scott Pentzer (Razor), Marshall Ross (Deepest Dimension), David Neer (Sports Superstars), Francois Escalmel (Frank Zappa: Viva La Bizarre), and others. The collection also includes update material, bringing the saga up to 2010.
SHIPPING SUMMER 2010: ROCK 'N' ROLL CARTOON HISTORY - THE SIXTIES
Here's the first look at the cover art for the 300 page graphic novel Rock 'N' Roll Cartoon History: The Sixties, shipping summer 2010 from Bluewater Productions. www.bluewaterprod.com -- www.myspace.com/rocknrollcomics
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THE RETURN OF ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS!
Hard Rock Heroes: What goes together better than comics and rock music? With almost 300 pages of Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics, Hard Rock Heroes goes WAY beyond Behind the Music, to tell the real life, behind-the-scenes stories of rock’s most heavy hitters. Creators include Stuart Immonen (Superman: End of the Century), Ken Landgraf (Wolverine), Jay Allen Sanford (Overheard in San Diego..), Todd Loren (Beatles Experience), Scott Pentzer (Razor), Mike Sagara (Ninja High School), and many others.
Hard Rock Heroes is a book-length pictorial history, covering bands like Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Poison, Megadeth, Pantera, Anthrax, Motorhead, Sammy Hagar, and more. The cinematic stories are realistically drawn, researched from countless photo and video archives, with an encyclopedic eye toward visual accuracy, dramatic flair, and journalistic depth.
Also includes the never-before published “missing” Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics #8 from 1990, on Skid Row. The lack of an eighth issue has vexed collectors and catalogers for years – exactly 20 years later, the story can finally be told, and collectors can finally own ALL the Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics!
As a bonus treat, Hard Rock Heroes also features the Motley Crue comic story from their official box CD set Music To Crash Your Car To II, released in 2004 and written and drawn by original Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics creators Lyndal Ferguson and Larry Nadolsky. Shipping February 2010.
"Great ideas, like the marriage of rock 'n' roll and comics, have the half-life of Uranium and will always be popular," says series co-creator Jay Allen Sanford, who has worked on over 200 reality-based comic books and thousands of similar cartoon strips for the San Diego Reader, as well as for magazines like Rip, Spin, and Oui. "The folks at Bluewater clearly have their fingers on the same pop culture pulse that enabled the original Rock 'N' Roll Comics to become one of the top-selling indie comics of the '90s. Truth is often stranger than fiction...and certainly much more interesting!"
The Beatles are bigger than ever, now available online for the first time digitally, on the Vegas stage in “Love,” and in the new Beatles: Rock Band video game. Now comes the most comprehensive and encyclopedic illustrated Beatles story ever, the Beatles Experience! Over 200 pages, dramatizing one of the most compelling tales in pop culture history, drawn from thousands of photos and interviews, meticulously researched and featuring stunning art by Mike Sagara (Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics) and Stuart Immonen (Legion of Super Heroes, Ultimate X-Men).
Covering the Beatles’ lives from birth and beyond their breakup, dramatized in dialogue and scene recreations more akin to a film bio than a mere documentary, the Beatles Experience also includes a Chronolog timeline going down each page, with encyclopedia background and footnotes detailing related events happening at the same time in the world, in music, and in the Beatles’ own tumultuous and extraordinary lives.
The Led Zeppelin Experience:
The Led Zeppelin saga is one of the wildest in rock history, and this graphic novel pulls no punches in dramatizing the backstage, behind-the-scenes story. From their early days as the New Yardbirds on through their rise to superstardom (and controversy), all five issues of the original Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics series are collected in one rockin’ volume, with art by Scott Pentzer (Razor), Marshall Ross (Deepest Dimension), David Neer (Sports Superstars), Francois Escalmel (Frank Zappa: Viva La Bizarre), and others. The collection also includes update material, bringing the saga up to 2010.
WHY AL KOOPER HATES LOCAL WRITERS (BUT LOVES SAN DIEGO)
Legendary keyboardist Al Kooper has played with Dylan, the Stones, George Harrison and countless others, but he still has time to beef about local music reporters like Buddy Blue and a certain Reader columnist... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/jan/29/the-return-of-black-heart-procession-plus-anya-mar
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Rollingstone.com has added Anya Marina to their "breaking artist" profiles - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/jan/29/the-return-of-black-heart-procession-plus-anya-mar
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THE BEATLES IN
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UNEXPECTED BEATLES ART - The Fab Four turn up in the oddest places... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/jan/29/the-return-of-black-heart-procession-plus-anya-mar
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MAHARISH COMIX AND STORIES, OR "YOGI MAKES A BOO-BOO"
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WEIRD BEATLES MERCHANDISE - WTF were these licensors (and bootleggers) thinking... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/feb/06/my-brunch-with-yoko-plus-weird-beatles
MY BRUNCH WITH YOKO - Brunch with a Beatle bride... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/feb/06/my-brunch-with-yoko-plus-weird-beatles
YOKO ONO COMICS AND STORIES - When Johnny Met Yoko, with dialogue and captions paraphrased from published Lennon interviews. Plus John Lennon: A Life in the Day
LENNON OR McCARTNEY?? --We asked 25 local performers about their fave Beatle (and why), and got some surprising (and frequently revealing) answers...
CELEBRITY HOUSE HUNTING IN SAN DIEGO - Real estate broker Jeff Paiste has squired several famous musicians around San Diego in their search for decent digs to lease or rent, including Bread frontman David Gates and the late George Harrison.... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/13/celebrity-house-hunting-in-san-diego
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JOEY MOLLAND/BADFINGER INTERVIEW - Badfinger's last man standing, Joey Molland, reveals more about the tragic story of Badfinger, as well as meeting and working with John Lennon, George Harrison, and Todd Rundgren, plus the Concert for Bangladesh, and more. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/aug/21/x-jam-cancellation-controversy-plus-how-i-snuck-in/
THE DAY JOHN LENNON WAS SHOT - Local celebs share their recollections of December 8, 1980, plus guest essays from Al Kooper (who was recording with George Harrison that day) and others.... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/jan/25/john-lennon-12-8-1980-we-ask-local-celebs-where-we/
Exclusive preview and new interview with one of the creators/performers behind the new internet Trek series - click for more ---http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/04/happy-rons-hormonal-harem---loving-san-diegos-musi/#
READER EXCLUSIVE - For the first time anywhere on the web, here's the promo trailer for Star Trek: The Continuing Mission, episode six: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/audioclips/66/
************************************************The Twilight Zone made it's TV debut 50 years ago, on 10-2-59 - we asked local musicos to tell us their own favorite Zone episodes --- (more "What's Your Favorite Twilight Zone?" )
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THE ROCKETEER AND OTHER FAMOUS '80S COMICS BEGAN RIGHT HERE IN SAN DIEGO - Here's a detailed history of local Pacific Comics, who recruited comic superstars like Jack Kirby to create one of the first successful indie comic book lines. Pioneers in the fight for comic creators' rights and royalties, former employees and operators reveal how they did it, and what went so terribly wrong...
THE KOMPLETE KISS KOMIX KRONICLES - Comprehensive collection of stuff I’ve done about working with Kiss on a comic book series in San Diego, along with a bunch of never-before-seen artifacts from the Kiss Komix archives AND an article by Kiss comic author Spike Steffenhagen, offering his own very-different take, ala Rashomon, on the same events I describe in my essay...
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/12/komplete-kiss-komix-kronicles
ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS: THE INSIDE STORY - In 1989, San Diego's Revolutionary Comics ("Unauthorized And Proud Of It") launched Rock 'N' Roll Comics, featuring unlicensed biographies of rock stars, most of which I wrote. Some performers, like Frank Zappa and Kiss, were supportive, while others like New Kids On The Block considered our comics akin to bootlegs and sued. In June 1992, publisher Todd Loren was found dead in his San Diego condo, brutally murdered...
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/12/rock-n-roll-comics-the-inside-story
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK VS REVOLUTIONARY COMICS - The inside story of how a hugely successful boy band tried to sue local-based Rock 'N' Roll Comics over an unauthorized biography of the group, sparking a court case that established, for the very first time, first amendment rights for comic books. Illustrated by comic superstar Stuart Immonen (Superman, etc.)...
OVER A MILLION CARNAL COMICS ARE IN PRINT - Here's how and why we made some of the top-selling erotic comics of all time, right here in San Diego, including what Gene Simmons has to do with it all, backstage tales of porn stars, and more confessions of a comic pornographer...
COMICS AND CENSORSHIP - DON'T BE AFRAID, IT'S ONLY A COMIC BOOK - A local-centric history of comic book censorship, and the fight for the rights of comic creators...
TWILIGHT ZONE AND STAR TREK WRITER GEORGE CLAYTON JOHNSON PRESENTS - The inside story of a local horror comic book series featuring Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, plus sci-fi king Larry Niven, Zap Comix co-founder Spain Rodriguez, Matthew Alice artist Rick Geary, Vampire Lestat painter Daerick Gross, yours truly JAS, and many more...
THE BIRTH OF IMAGE COMICS: INSIDE STORY OF A LOCAL PUBLISHING POWERHOUSE - Illustrated tale revealing how Spawn creator Todd McFarlane and local comic artist Jim Lee (the Punisher, etc.) conspired to create the ultimate creator-owned comic books...
Down the Slippery Slope - Arrested For the Crime of Viewing Manga
On March 30, 2004, when Dwight Whorley found the Japanese website of Fractal Underground Studio via Yahoo and clicked on a couple of the thumbnail images... ( http://comipress.com/special/miscellaneous/down-the-slippery-slope-the-crime-of-viewing-manga )
"Before It Was The Gaslamp: Balboa's Last Stand" - Cover story 6-21-07: In the late 70s/early 80s, I worked at downtown San Diego's grindhouse all-night movie theaters, for the owner of the Pussycat Theatre chain, Vince Miranda - this detailed feature recalls those dayz, the death of the Balboa Theatre, etc.
"Battle Of The Peeps" - feature article about a weird gig I had in the mid-'80s, running a strip club called Jolar, for the nation's second biggest pornographer, Harry Mohney (Deja Vu Showgirls founder).
"Field Of Screens" - Cover story 7-6-06: Complete theater-by-theater history of San Diego drive-ins thru the years, including a few which screened X-rated fare for awhile.
"Pussycat Theaters - When 'Cathouses Ruled California" -- for the first time, the detailed inside story of the west coast Pussycat Theater chain of adult moviehouses, which peaked in the '70s but later died out. Told by those who actually ran the theaters!
More Music on the Reader Website:
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Like this blog? Here are some related links:
OVERHEARD IN SAN DIEGO - Several years' worth of this comic strip, which debuted in the Reader in 1996: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/overheard-san-diego/
FAMOUS FORMER NEIGHBORS - Over 100 comic strips online, with mini-bios of famous San Diegans: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/famous-former-neighbors/
SAN DIEGO READER MUSIC MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/sandiegoreadermusic
JAY ALLEN SANFORD MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/jayallensanford
Press illo to play the Overheard theme song! Or click here to play the Famous Former Neighbors song!
LOCAL TAKELESSONS.COM LEAPS FROM 'PUTER SCREENS TO CITIES NATIONWIDE
Headquartered in San Diego, TakeLessons is a full-service music and voice lessons provider. With lessons taught by TakeLessons-certified instructors in over 2,800 cities nationwide, the company was founded in 2004 as an internet-based operation, designed to help people discover their creativity and pursue their passions. TakeLessons also offers turnkey music programs for schools and community centers, as well as at-work lessons programs for corporate clients and their employees.
Learning Care Group, the second largest for-profit early education and child care provider in North America, and TakeLessons have partnered to provide at school or in-home music lessons to children ages 5-12 at select schools within the Learning Care Group umbrella of brands, including The Children's Courtyard, Childtime Learning Centers, La Petite Academy and Tutor Time Child Care/Learning Centers.
"We recognize there is an artist inside of everyone," said Steven Cox, TakeLessons' Founder and CEO. "The opportunity to take music lessons ( http://www.takelessons.com ) at an early age not only equips children with music skills, but also with self confidence and a higher likelihood of academic success."
Whether music students want to be the next American Idol, be a real-life guitar hero or become the modern-day Mozart, they will have the opportunity to foster these skills. Beginning September 1st, TakeLessons instructors will be providing voice lessons ( http://takelessons.com/category/singing-lessons ), guitar lessons ( http://takelessons.com/category/guitar-lessons )and piano lessons ( http://takelessons.com/category/piano-lessons ) onsite in over 75 participating Learning Care Group, Inc. locations, including Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Antonio and Seattle with plans to expand into other locations.
"Research continues to demonstrate a strong correlation between quality music learning programs and academic achievement," said Amy Hellebuyck, Marketing Communications Manager for Learning Care Group ( http://www.learningcaregroup.com ), Inc. "Our partnership with TakeLessons is one more way we inspire and impact lifelong learning for our students."
Top 3 Benefits of TakeLessons Learning Programs 1. Safety First: Instructors are interviewed by professional recruiting specialists before they are hired. Criminal background checks are conducted annually. 2. Talented Teachers: Music instructors are selected based on educational and professional backgrounds. Many have played with famous musicians, been on television and still perform live. 3. Comprehensive User Experience: Personal online accounts assist parents and students with goal setting, scheduling, lesson tracking, payments and more.
TakeLessons was recently featured on NBC San Diego's Morning News. The segment aired on March 5, 2009 and featured Steven Cox, CEO of TakeLessons and TakeLessons student, Kyle Riley who played a beautiful self-composed piece on his keyboard.
Learning Care Group operates approximately 1,050 schools (corporate and franchise) across 36 states, the District of Columbia and internationally, and has a system-wide capacity to serve 160,000 children.
LOCALS IN THE NEWS 8-19-10
AceShowbiz reports: During his recent concert in Providence, Rhode Island, Adam Lambert performed what he described as tongue diving. The "American Idol" alum did the stage act when performing Tears for Fears' "Mad World" and T. Rex's "20th Century Boy". Halfway through the set, he paused and leaned into the crowd. He did it twice reportedly to smooch not only female but also male fans. "TongueDiving is the new StageDiving. Get Into It," he tweeted. more
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Kataklysm frontman Maurizio Iacono tells Exclaim! that Megadeth disrespected his band at last month's Heavy MTL festival in Montreal, Quebec. "We always looked up to Megadeth, to us they're a cult band and legendary musicians and we've always been huge fans," Iacono said. "But there is a certain limit to where you can be a rock star. Sometimes you can overstep your boundaries and to us, it was a disrespectful thing." He continued, "What happened is, we were backstage and a person from our camp - I don't want to start mentioning names - but somebody from our band was waiting to go backstage where the area for musicians is. The cart was passing through and the driver stopped and said, 'Do you want to hop on?' and he said, 'Yeah' and hopped on. They drove ten meters and they just stopped and all the Megadeth people, including Dave Mustaine, just jumped off the cart and said, 'We're not going to share with everyone else.' So my guy got off and said, 'You guys can keep it, I'll walk.'" When asked whether Megadeth knew who Kataklysm was, Iacono said it shouldn't have mattered. "To me, even if we're Kataklysm and you're a fan or a person that belongs to the entourage of the backstage area and you're jumping on to get a ride to somewhere, I would never stop the guy and say, 'I'm not being on the same cart,' or 'I'm not stopping for anybody,'" he said. "That's not us, but maybe we're just different." - more on this story
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Rock Radio reports: The Scorpions well publicized farewell tour featured a run of dates with the reunited Ratt opening for them. But Ratt's frontman Steven Pearcy says there are hints that The Scorps may carry on, while his band is on the rocks.
The Scorpions could be close to changing their minds over splitting up, Ratt singer Steven Pearcy has revealed. But his own band may not reconvene after their current album cycle finishes. "We had a great tour with the Scorpions. We jammed with them on the last night and it was very cool. They're just the utmost professionals." Pearcy tells BraveWords.com. "Hopefully they won't retire – there's chatter of them doing more stuff."
But Pearcy, who admits he's not back to full health after a hernia operation, is less optimistic when talking about his own band. He says"I don't need to give that book any more attention than it deserves. I've been working on something called Ratt Tales, and lo and behold, Tales of Ratt by Bobby Blotzer comes out? It's not too original." He adds, "I'm looking forward to a break. I'm ready to go with new solo stuff with the Rat Bastards and my new band Battering Ramm. Will we do another Ratt record? I don't know. Things didn't fall into place and I've left my options open. We'll see what happens." - more on this story
Ratt, Love/Hate and Black N Blue Stars Form The HardRock AllStars |
Antimusic reports: Jaime St. James (Black N Blue), Juan Crocier (Ex-Ratt), Jon E. Love (Love/Hate) and Pete Holmes (Black N Blue) have united to form The HardRock AllStars.
The band plays hard rock, pop and metal from the 70s and 80s. "We have taken our time in selecting classic hard rock songs that have not been over played by other bands and also mixed in some of the biggest hits from our personal bands; current and past. This is an authentic line up of seasoned veterans, the kind of band that you would have seen in the early 80's playing the Hollywood clubs of the day and we perform on stage like everything depends on it," Croucier says. - more on this story
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CATHRYN BEEKS' WEEKLY LISTEN LOCAL HOTSHEET
Wednesday 8/19 - Musician owned and operated,The Stage at 5th and F offers great food and super sound with NO COVER 8:00 Lenny Morris 8:30 open 9:00 Erin McLaughlin 10:00 open full band 11:00 Vendetta Fish
Thursday 8/20 - Winston's in OB is the place to be every Thursday as you unwind from work and gear up for the weekend. Join Kate and me this week with music from 5:00 Tiny Frank 5:30 Lenny Morris 6:00 mark haemmerle 6:30 Mark Miller 7:00 Grownup Noise NO COVER
MUSIC NEWS
Artist of the Week: Erin McLaughlin plays The Stage this Wednesday at 9pm and you're not gonna wanna miss it. Learn more about her in this week's Artist Interview with Tracy Kinnaman Petrucci!
Link of the Week: Tracy Kinnaman Petrucci, wife of super talent Luke Petricci, offered to help Listen Local GROW by offering her mad blogging skills. She'll also be contributing each week via an interview with the Artist of the week. Check it out here and let us know what you think!
The KPRI giveaways this week are SUPERDIAMOND tickets at Del Mar. Join me at any shows for your chance to win these and other prizes.
LBLG All Access happens 8/27 at The House of Blues. Downstairs on the mainstage and in the adjoining Delta Room we'll feature 14 of my personal favorites AND beer tasting from our local breweries. Sweet! This event is 21+ and FREE if you get a ticket from any of the performers or me, $5 at the door otherwise. Check out the lineup happening on two stages in 20 minute intervals: Rob Deez, Veronica May, Julia Othmer, Paul Cannon, The Whole Shebang, Lindsay and The White Lies, Katie Leigh and The Infantry, Rusty King, Saucy Monky, Tori Roze and The Hot Mess, Josh Damigo, Family Wagon, Astra Kelly and Superunloader will finish off with an extended set. Sweeet!
Save The Date! The Jazz 88 Ocean Beach Music and Art Festival happens Saturday, September 11th and will feature 26 bands on 7 stages!
Jason Brock from SD Future of Music just posted audio from the last meetup. He says "It was fun to listen to the conversation we had as I was editing in the music featuring Cathryn Beeks, Todo Mundo and Lasswell. Thanks for participating in these meet-ups. Enjoy the podcast here: http://bit.ly/cm3PEq". Thanks Jason!
Hey Campers! Reservations are filling up fast for the next Songwriter SleepOver on September 24/25th in Lakeside, CA. $20 includes your wood, water, smores and a songwriting workshop with Dave Howard! Get all the details here, see you there!
Check out Lloyd Pest Control's ARTIST OF THE WEEK, Saucy Monky, when they play The House of Blues LBLG ALL ACCESS show on 8/27. Download their tune for free at Badbugs.com, compliments of Lloyd Pest Control. xoxo
Support San Diego's true local, independant. Tune yourself to 102.1 KPRi in San Diego or listen online at www.kprifm.com. This Sunday on The Homegrown Hour we're playing San Diego Music Award Nominees to help you with the voting process. Until then...
MARKY MARK'S SON ATTACKED BY LOCAL OCTOPUS?!
Alleged former rapper Marky Mark Wahlberg appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman this week to plug his flick The Other Guys, where he ended up telling the host about a wild encounter when he took his wife and four kids to Sea World recently ---
“We have a tour guide so she’s like, ‘You have a special treat today, we’ll be able to take you behind the tank and you’ll be able to see the octopus…’ So this women pulls out this gigantic octopus, the thing latches on to my son’s arm. It’s got my wife, (it’s) wrapped completely around the lady, and another guy’s just standing there. They can’t get this octopus off.”
“My son is freaking out but no sound is coming out of his mouth. So finally we rip the thing off of him. He’s got all these suction marks that look like about 30 little hickeys (bruises). The lady can’t get out, she’s yelling for help… He (the aquarium manager) said it’s never been that aggressive.”
“We haven’t filed yet but if you could recommend a good lawyer… Once the woman who handles the octopus starts freaking out I knew there was a problem. She couldn’t even get away from the thing. She had to have help come running in. Once I got my kid out of there I said, ‘Let’s go!’ I left the lady there. That’s her problem.”
LOCAL "PERSONAL RADIO" FIRM PARTNERS WITH HOT TOPIC
What, you thought Hot Topic department stores were getting out of the music biz, after too many 'tween mall "happenings" went bezerker over here-today-gone-later-today "celebs" like Miley Cyrus' brother?
Enter local-based Slacker, which calls itself "The world's first Personal Radio company offering Your Radio Everywhere." Slacker enables people to play highly personalized music online at the Slacker web site, at home on Slacker-enabled SONY TV and Blu-ray players or on the go with all leading smartphones. Mobile applications are currently available for Android, iPhone, Palm webOS, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry smartphones.
Slacker, Inc. has announced a partnership with Hot Topic, Inc. that combines the music of emerging and well-known artists with the fashions they inspire. Slacker Personal Radio web listeners can simply click the Buy Merchandise icon while playing an artist to view and purchase artist-related merchandise, ranging from t-shirts, to hoodies, to DVDs and vinyl records, from ShockHound, a Hot Topic subsidiary.
Web listeners can purchase merchandise from thousands of artists across all genres. In addition to concert t-shirts, ShockHound has nearly two dozen merchandise categories, which include an extensive catalog of artist-inspired hats, jackets, pins, backpacks, posters and much more. Similar to buying a t-shirt at a performance, nearly all artists get a portion of their merchandise purchases. Hot Topic and ShockHound feature a broad selection of music-licensed and music-influenced apparel, accessories and gift items for music fans at nearly 700 physical stores and two online stores.
"Partnering with ShockHound and Hot Topic to offer the apparel and accessories of our listeners' favorite music is an exciting extension of the Slacker Personal Radio experience," said Jonathan Sasse, senior vice president of marketing at Slacker. "With this update we are bridging the gap between the music Slacker listeners love and the fashions inspired by the artists."
Slacker Personal Radio, available for free online at www.Slacker.com, enables listeners to create their own Personal Radio stations based on any artist or mix of artists, or listen to and personalize over 120 expert-programmed genre stations ranging from Alternative Rock to Comedy and everything in between. Personalization options include rating songs or artists, playing more popular vs. more eclectic music and listening to newer vs. classic songs.
NEW CASBAH WEBSITE - A BRIEF TUTORIAL
Rosey at www.sddialedin.com reports on the new Casbah website she helped put together. "Some people are still missing some things after all this time."
"When you go to CasbahMusic.com there are several pull down menus. The one you should care most about is Schedule (though the grammar police told me that technically it should say Calendar)."
"When you pull down the menus, Extended lets you look at the calendar with pop up bios, photos, and occasional links to photos and videos."
"Simple lets you just look at the basic calendar with clickable band links."
"You should always check the Outside Casbah and Newest Added, too. Outside Casbah is where you'll find Casbah produced shows at other venues, like House of Blues, the Belly Up, The Loft at UCSD Price Center, The San Diego Woman's Club and more."
"There are anywhere from 3 to 15 shows added in a week, and there's no regular day when the calendar is updated. The shows confirm and they go on the calendar."
LOCALS IN THE NEWS 7-27-10 Rob Halford recently spoke with Circle Six Magazine about his new song "The Mower" and his forthcoming album, Halford IV. During the chat Rob explained that the fans shouldn't expect a repeat of the last Halford album, "Resurrection". Here is that part of the interview: It's kind of unusual really. It's just a bit of mix of everything. I suppose, really, where I am in my life and my musical career and everything else. I've done so much and I've covered so much territory, I think this is just me enjoying myself. It's a little bit of everything. Some of it's kind of surprising. And some of it is what you would expect from me. I suppose at the stage now where it's nice to be a musician, I don't have anything left to prove if there's anything to prove…you know what I'm saying? You know when you start off you've got an agenda and you've got a plan and everything…and I've had such a wonderful career that I'm really just enjoying myself. So this record goes from some really early blues ideas – right up to the kind of…extreme moments on "The Mower" and everything in between. - Read the full interview here
******* Rihanna was drawn to duet with Eminem on his powerful new track "Love the Way You Lie" - because she "connected" with the song's references to an abusive relationship. more *******
Three Mile Pilot Return With New Album |
Antimusic reports: Three Mile Pilot will release their first new album in 13 years on September 28th. Here's the announcement:
Are we really here? Is this really happening? When we say that we never thought this day would come, we REALLY mean it. The rumor of a new Three Mile Pilot album has been circulating for over a decade, further fueling the mystery and mythology that has swirled around the San Diego trio since the 1997 release of what was thought to be their swan song, the enormously influential Another Desert, Another Sea.
First, a brief history of Three Mile Pilot: Formed in the early '90s, the group released a debut album to a fair amount of acclaim, followed by Chief Assassin To The Sinister, an album that garnered the attention of Geffen Records, with whom they signed for all of one album. After enduring the major label wringer, the group released Another Desert, their most emotionally resonant and commercially successful record to date. Shortly after, bassist Armistead "Zach Smith" Burwell Smith IV formed Pinback with Rob Crow, and singer-guitarist Pall Jenkins began a new project with Three Mile Pilot keyboardist Tobias Nathanial. Both projects were meant to coexist with 3MP, however, both Pinback and The Black Heart Procession became unexpectedly popular. Next thing you know, it was 2009 and not a peep had been heard from 3MP in a dozen years.
That brings us to the aptly-named The Inevitable Past Is the Future Forgotten, the first Three Mile Pilot album in 13 years, and the first to be written, performed, recorded and produced entirely by the original three members in their own home studios. As such it is the most uncompromising album since their inception - it also just happens to be their most accessible.
While Pinback and The Black Heart Procession were obviously influenced by 3MP in their early days, the inverse can now be heard, with many of the songs on The Inevitable Past bearing the unmistakable and inevitable stamps of Pinback and The Black Heart Procession. This circular influence is what makes the album so brilliant; instead of a proper hiatus, 3MP's progression was charted vicariously through its members' other groups. As such, The Inevitable Past makes good on the promising glimpses heard through a long but breathless wait. Yes, we are really here! - more on this story
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LOCAL MUSIC DATABASE - NOW UPDATED DAILY!
I'm very excited about this new feature of the Reader's local music database - since we update daily, the music homepage at http://www.sandiegoreader.com/music/ now has a new section, This Just In, linking the newest revisions and additions.
Their first new album in thirteen years, the Inevitable Past Is The Future Forgotten, is their first full-length to be written, performed, recorded, and produced entirely by the original three members in their own home studios.
Bassist/guitarist Kenny Howes is moving to Dallas, so the band is seeking a replacement player. Howes is also leaving his job as Sales director at Rickenbacker International.
After less than a month on sale, the proggy metal band's new album Selfish Machines has already racked up over 700,000 downloads.
On Wednesday July 21, Counting Crows singer Adam Duritz jammed with Augustana onstage before getting behind the microphone to perform with his own band at Mountain Park in Holyoke, MA.
Kenseth Thibideau of Sleeping People has a new solo CD coming out this month, Repetition.
The pop punkers are on their first Vans Warped Tour, carrying SoCal trinkets like surfboards and beach balls onto the stage each night. Their new album California Kicks was written in San Francisco, but recorded in San Diego with producers Mike Green and Brian Grider.
Her new album Doghouse Rose just debuted at number 33 on the Top 40 Americana Album Chart.
The band's song "Grinning in the Dark" was heard on the new Fox TV cop show the Good Guys, and the July issue of Classic Rock magazine comes with a CD sampler that includes their song "Hot Mess."
And that's just over a couple of days this week! I hope you can help spread the word - I think we have the most comprehensive and up-to-date local music site on the web, with over 2,200 custom built performer pages, more than 7,000 individual musician histories, and over 2,500 local albums, most with covers and track lists and even Reader reviews.
So how are we doing???
LOCALS IN THE NEWS 7-13-10
CATTLE DECAPITATION TOUR ANNOUNCED
Cattle Decapitation will headline a fall tour dubbed the "The California Blood Tour." Support will be provided by Devourment, Knights Of The Abyss, Burning The Masses, and Son Of Aurelius. more
DAVE MUSTAINE WRITING AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has never been accused of being short of words. That comes in handy with the announcement that his autobiography Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir will be released on August 3rd in the U.S.
Shortly after the release was announced, the book shot up to #1 in the Books/Rock category and the #1 Best Seller in the Books/Heavy Metal category at Amazon.com
For fans across the pond, the UK version is said to have a different cover and will be titled, ' Mustaine: A Life In Metal', when it hits stores on September 30th. The UK version also carries the tagline, "Hello Me... Meet The Real Me". - the official word on this release
RIHANNA SEEKING POSITIVE P.R. BUT CANCELLING MORE SHOWS
AceShowBiz reports that famous former neighbor Rihanna has been forced to scrap another date on her U.S. tour due to poor ticket sales. Her show at Indiana's Verizon Wireless Music Center on August 3 has been called off - more
Antimusic.com recently posted a story about 11-year-old Broadway star Shannon Tavarez's cancer fight and her search for a bone marrow donor. Now Rihanna is urging her fans to help. Here is the announcement:
At just eleven-years-old Shannon Tavarez already had a promising Broadway career performing four shows a week as Young Nala in DISNEY'S The Lion King. Shannon juggled a full day of school before rushing to the Minskoff Theatre - - she was living her dream. Now, just over two months later, Shannon's dream is simply to grow up and return to her normal life. In April, Shannon was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia. The talented young star was performing on stage when the symptoms first hit. Her lower back and legs suddenly started hurting making it difficult for her to perform or even walk. "When I found out, it hit me really hard, like someone was throwing a ball at me. It was shocking and I thought, why me?" said Shannon. Now, Shannon lives at Schneider Children's Hospital in Long Island where she receives daily chemotherapy treatments. A bone marrow transplant from a stranger may be her only chance at survival.
When Rihanna heard about Shannon's plight, she had to do something. "Being a performer myself I know what it's like to be given the opportunity of a lifetime at a young age and I would have been destroyed if that was taken away from me," said Rihanna. "Shannon deserves to live and share her beautiful voice with the world."
The superstar, an avid advocate for children, has a long history of working with DKMS, whose mission is to save lives by recruiting bone marrow donors for leukemia patients. "When I listened to Shannon's voice, I got really sad. Her voice is so beautiful. She should be performing on Broadway, but she is confined to her bed, fighting for her life. Shannon needs to find abone marrow donor to survive. I urge all my fans to register with DKMS," said Rihanna. - more on this story
FLAME-ON, CRAIGSLIST!! (BUT DON'T TOUCH MY EMMY) -
“I wasn’t expecting to start a Craigslist flame war” says singer/songwriter Scott Wilson of his recent online classified ads. “I’ve been posting for filmmakers to collaborate on music videos. A bunch of people started attacking my resume, some accusing me of being a liar and others who said I’m not even who I say I am...there was some reference to my Emmy Award as an ‘imaginary statue.’”
“They were p*ssed off [on Craigslist] because I couldn’t afford to pay them,” says Wilson, who has edited TV shows like Rock Star: INXS, various MTV and VH1 specials, and DVDs featuring Metallica and Queensryche. “Even people who believed my resume, there was some problem with my status as a broke musician, as opposed to a successful video editor. In reality, I was looking for students or aspiring filmmakers to collaborate with, who wanted to create in the spirit of love instead of profit. If you prove yourself, the profit will come.”
Amidst the negative and frequently foul-mouthed posts (“You couldn’t print them”),
He’s decided to stop referencing his Emmy while seeking video collaborators, since people tend to associate that with deep pockets. “I could take a picture of the Award, but it’s in my storage room, packed in a box. People kept wanting to touch it.
“As long as they don’t want to touch my Emmy.”
Wilson cites his main musical influences as the Beatles (“seventh chords”), Nirvana (“grooves”), and Yes (“harmonies”), but nowadays the founding member of the Gandhi Method -- and former bassist for Cathryn Beeks -- would just as soon plug into a video-editing board as an amp. This filmmaking savvy served Wilson well when it came time to shoot a video for the song “Coffeehouse 101” from his 2005 CD Kaleidoscope’s End. “We ended up with around 50 performers in [my] video, many of them local, each one lip-synching a different line from the song,” says Wilson. Footage was shot at Lestat’s, Twiggs, the Hot Monkey Love Café, and other local spots. Cameo appearances include Gregory Page, Dave Howard, Bart Mendoza (the Shambles), Mark DeCerbo (Rockola, the Steely Damned), and a who’s who of local talent that even the most plugged-in of scenesters would be hard pressed to fully identify. “I couldn’t time it right to get the Locust in there,” says Wilson, “but I [taped] most everybody else I sought out.” “Some people -- for instance, Robin Henkel and Carlos Olmeda -- were very comfortable with the camera. Some weren’t, and I include myself in that bunch. Everyone brings their own personalities to the table, and people relate to the camera in such different ways that it becomes sort of a sociological experiment in overcoming embarrassment.”
"Shade of Eden" video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAMkv1jx5xk
First West Coast tour in 20 years!
KINKY FRIEDMAN
with guest
MOJO NIXON
Sunday August 1, 7 p.m. • SAN DIEGO • Belly Up
Two new books: Heroes of a Texas Childhood and What Would Kinky Do?
• • •
THE GO WEST YOUNG KINKY TOUR OF 2010
Kinky Friedman Announces First
West Coast Performance Tour in Two Decades
AUSTIN, Texas — Former Texas gubernatorial candidate, political commentator and self-proclaimed “author, columnist, musician and beautician” Kinky Friedman will perform on the West Coast this summer for the first time in nearly 20 years. Dates for the “Go West Young Kinky Tour of 2010” start on July 26th in Vancouver and continue into August (a full list of venues follows). Two members of Kinky's seminal band the Texas Jewboys, Little Jewford and Washington Ratso, will join him on the tour. No prisoners will be taken. Only the strong shall survive.
The Kinkster, often referred to as the “Mark Twain of Texas,” will also be hawking his wares, in this case his most recent (limited edition) books, Heroes of a Texas Childhood and What Would Kinky Do?, both of which will be available for purchase and signing at the shows. As Kinky has often said, he’ll “sign anything but bad legislation.” This includes any of his dozens of top-selling books or columns, or even his Kinky Friedman Cigars, which, rumor has it, will also be available at the venues. Bring it, and he will sign it.
Kinky Friedman rose to stardom in the ’70s, with the aforementioned Texas Jewboys as his sick and twisted sidekicks. An equal opportunity offender, Kinky, with his outrageous lyrics and crazed stage persona, may have offended some, but drew people like Don Imus, Robin Williams, Bob Dylan and John Belushi into his spiritual fan club. He toured with Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue and appeared on the inaugural season of Saturday Night Live. His infamous appearance on Austin City Limits, the only performance ever filmed by ACL and never broadcast because of content, has finally been released on DVD, to the delight of fans everywhere.
In the mid ’80s, Kinky rescued a woman being robbed at a midtown Manhattan ATM, and, based on this experience, created the character Kinky Friedman the Detective, who solved murders in what would become a series of wildly popular mystery novels. In the years since, the real Kinky has branched out into children’s books, memoirs, historical reflections and editorials, all to great success, and all powered by his razor sharp wit.
Kinky’s commentaries have appeared in such diverse media as The New York Times, Texas Monthly and Playboy, and since adding politics to his résumé, he has been a regular on cable networks, even stopping by occasionally to spar with Bill O'Reilly.
His books are now read the world over, and his tour schedule reflects this. From Bill Clinton to Billy Bob Thornton to Nelson Mandela, everybody loves a Kinky Friedman mystery. As the ever-humble author likes to say, “I write novels for Americans to read on their aircraft.” Billy Bob is currently working with him on a new book, as is Willie Nelson.
And now, for the first time in almost a generation, folks on the West Coast will get to hear Kinky perform (live!) tunes like “Ride ’Em Jewboy,” “Sold American” and “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore.” And many friends will be there too: Mojo Nixon will join Kinky in San Diego, and Van Dyke Parks has already signed up for L.A. There’s no telling who else will pop in. Will there be a Wavy Gravy sighting in San Francisco?
Tickets $20
http://www.bellyup.com/show/detail/29207
Ratt Drummer Trashes Band's Former 'Rich Kid' Guitarist |
Blotzer: I've always been the kind of person that shows up on time and does my job. Some people that are in the band, or used to be, don't treat Ratt with that type of respect. We have a great thing going with this new album and the public's interest – but people take it for granted. I never have.
Metal Sucks: You talk about getting offers for weekend shows a few years back, and certain people in Ratt not wanting to do them.
Blotzer: Yeah, that was so annoying! Warren wouldn't want to do them because he didn't want to deal with a layover at some airport. That's the kind of shit I deal with. He's a rich kid, so he didn't care about the cash as much.
Metal Sucks: Earlier in our call, you sounded very uneasy about Ratt's current situation.
Blotzer: I just see some of the things that were problems coming up again. I don't get it. I'm never not thinking about this band falling apart, because of the way Ratt operates. It's not me, dude. It's my 2 business partners. Even now with the album's success, there are power struggles within the band. I just want to tell them, "Come on guys — let's just go out there and kick ass!" But they make it more complicated. All I have to say is that if everything falls apart again for us; I'll just write an amendment to the book with all of this new shit. Hopefully people wake up, and get their shit together. I just want to go out there and play. - Read the full interview here
42 YEARS AGO – THE VELVET UNDEGROUND IN
42 years ago – July 4 through 6, 1968 – the Velvet Underground debuted one of their most oft-discussed but seldom heard lost tracks, “Sweet Rock and Roll.” The band played three nights at the converted skating rink on Front and <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />
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The performances were recorded on 4-track tape, according to guitarist Sterling Morrison in a 1986 interview for Spanish television. “After tuning, we started with ‘Waiting For the Man’ and it didn’t sound so bad…then came ‘Sweet Rock and Roll,’ which was never recorded and never played again. We wanted that tape, it sounded so great, so there was no point in recording it. I think we did it a time or two after that, but it was nothing compared to this first one."
"I remember the chords and some words, ‘Sweet rock ‘n’ roll is good to your soul.’ We used that as a preamble to ‘Sister Ray,’ it kind of just goes along and then hits the chords, which were very heavy. It was good. It was heavy, serious. Cale played keyboard on ‘Sweet Rock and Roll,’ and that was really what carried it.”
Famous former neighbor Lester Bangs wrote of the tune’s Hippodrome debut in a 1971 article for Creem Magazine. “The Velvets launched into a new song that was one of the most incredible musical experiences of my concert career. Lou announced it as ‘Sister Ray, Part Two,’ but it sounded nothing like the previous song. It was built on the most dolorous riff imaginable, just a few scales rising and falling mournfully, somewhat like ‘Venus In Furs’ but less creaky, more deliberate and eloquent.”
“The lyrics, many of which Lou made up as he went along, seemed like fantasy from an urban inferno: ‘Sweet Sister Ray went to a movie / The floor was painted red and the walls were green / Ooohh, she cried / This is the strangest movie I’ve ever seen …Ohhhh, sweet rock and roll - it’ll cleanse your soul.’ That’s classic, and no other group in
So why hasn’t the tape of “Sweet Rock and Roll” at the Hippodrome ever surfaced?
Richie Unterberger’s book White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day by Day quotes Sterling Morrison saying “That was a great performance … [but] the tape was stolen that very night. Stolen within seconds, actually. As soon as it ended, it vanished, never to reappear on earth.”
The Velvet Underground had played the Hippodrome just a few weeks earlier (the gig for which the above concert poster was created)
SCREW THE MAN!! THE EXPERIMENTS GIVE IT UP FOR FREE
Disgusted with the RIAA's lawsuits against music lovers, San Diego based rock / punk band The Experiments has released their new album, What Kind Of Animal? for free under the Creative Commons license. Anyone is free to download, distribute, re-mix or otherwise use the songs for non-commercial purposes.
"It's ridiculous that a single mom gets fined $1.9 million for downloading 24 songs. It's criminal, and the RIAA are a criminal organization," said the band's bass player, Dave Blood. "So, we say, take our songs for free. You deserve them."
"What Kind Of Animal?" is the band's 5th release. It is a complete DIY (Do It Yourself) project, with the band writing, performing, recording, and mixing the songs themselves. It can be downloaded at the band's website, TheExperiments.com.
"We recorded it in this big wood shop that some friends let us use. We pushed the band saw and drill press aside, and set up the drums in the middle of the room. It sounded great in there," said singer / guitar player Dan Bonn. "We did the vocals in Dan's bathroom, and mixed it in his spare bedroom," added Blood.
The Experiments have played their style of rock and punk in San Diego and clubs across the USA since 1994. Influenced by The Who, The Ramones, Cheap Trick and others, the band has toured the US and played in iconic clubs like NYC's CBGB and Chicago's Thurston's.
TOP 10 WEIRDEST LOCAL VIDEO s!
By Bart Mendoza: Politics makes for strange bedfellows? That’s nothing compared to the music biz. Here’s ten interesting pairings of San Diegans with musicians from elsewhere.
1) Jason Mraz with Elmo & Friends – “Outdoors”
Hands down the coolest TV team up by a
2) Stephen Bishop & Marilyn McCoo – “On & On / Save It For Rainy Day”
This is the direct opposite of the Mraz video, but then McCoo is no match for Elmo…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up4_uZfaGJ8
3) JJ Cale & Eric Clapton – “After Midnight”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5Tiqv4Irjs
4) Jewel & Jessica Simpson – “Who Will Save Your Soul”
Without a doubt, Jessica Simpson is the closest thing to the Velvet Underground in music today…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW6QrCaRrmY
5) Frankie Laine & Johnny Ray – “Up Above My Head”
A clip from Frankie Laine’s show features a dueling hits medley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcPKHLXpm7I
6) Nathan East & Bon Jovi – “Bad Medicine”
Fair enough, it’s a cliche Bon Jovi tune, but he’s playing before more people at this one gig than many bands will play to in their lifetimes…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw2pTMlVRR4
Bonus: Here’s the ultimate Nathan East band, with Eric Clapton, Mark Knofpler (Dire Straits) & Elton John: “Layla” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E13R0MAfC9E
7) Blink-182 & Robert Smith (The Cure) – “ All of This”
December 6, 2004 @ Wembley Arena,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnQkPkcAxhE
8) Louis XIV & The Killers (and Friends) – “Helter Skelter”
A live musical free for all somewhere in
9) Ratt & Michael Schenker – “Round & Round”
This is a rough audience clip but it’s notable for two things – the bassist’s interesting stage shuffle and Schenker’s fist bump with Dimartini. Oh yeah, killer solo too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhOJhXw6wOU
10) Alison Brown & The Indigo Girls – “Closer to Fine”
Rough sound, but a key tune…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP7DMY9Sowc
Bonus:
Bonus - 11) Dave Humphries & Tony Sheridan – “Music In A Friends House”
Full disclosure, I was involved with this production, but it’s kind of cool that Beatles compatriot
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SOLO TEMPLE PILOT
Rock Radio reports: Scott Weiland recorded his vocal tracks for the new Stone Temple Pilots album in a different studio from the band because he doesn't like people being around while he works, he's revealed.
And that shyness is what got him into drugs in the early 90s, the singer adds. Weiland tells Canoe.ca: "They recorded the master tracks and I'd take the file over to my studio and sing. It was a lot easier – I don't like having a lot of people in the room when I'm cutting vocals. I like to be in my own comfort zone."
He described his condition as "social fright" rather than "stage fright" and that's what led him down the road of taking drugs to feel better – a road which caused the original split of STP, then, two years ago, his departure from Velvet Revolver. - more on this story
TODAY'S "WHAT THE F-CK" ALBUM COVER
All the green grass in the world isn't gonna make this dork crew look any cooler - hey, in the lower right corner, isn't that "Newman" from Seinfeld?!
"Let's get that photo I took of the pervert stalker hiding in the bushes and make it our album cover...."
Sears must've been having a sale on those suits!
You laugh, but you should hear this soulful mama belting out "These Boots Were Made For Walking" and "Hard Day's Night"! You'll laugh even harder...
And this is AFTER he pimped his ride!
What makes this so WTF isn't the clothes - it's the medieval dungeon they look so comfortable in...
And OTHER skiing songs?!?!?! That first one killed the dude!!
Where oh where to start - the guy's giant pointy elf shoes? The mysterious brown liquid seeping out from between the girl's legs and onto the floor? The Beep Beep poster with inexplicable ocean motif? The hemorroid donut mounted on a wall with garden trellis?
If Love Ain't Nothin' But a Business, guess who just declared bankruptcy?
Gene Simmons' Family Jewels - in an alternate HELL DIMENSION! Why do they make their women dress as couches that someone threw up on?
Previous WTF Album Covers: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2010/may/31/worst-album-covers-ever-strange-bizarre-and-butt-c/
DESTROY THE RUNNER CALL IT QUITS
Carlsbad metal-core band Destroy the Runner has announced an "indefinite hiatus." According to a group statement, "We have sought to maintain musical integrity and honesty within all facets of our functioning, and unfortunately are not able to do so at this point in time..."
"Keep on the lookout for a softer, more experimental project with Nick Maldonado [guitar], Duane Reed [guitar, vocals], Marc Kohlbry [drums], Jeremiah Crespo [bass] and several others called Other Mountains. Also check out Chapter 14 with Chad Ackerman [vocals] and Tanner Sparks [bass, vocals]. And for the super heavy fans, be on the lookout for a very heavy, experimental band with Nick , Duane (vocals), Kyle (from Thieves and Liars), and our guitar tech Jason that is yet to be named."
Destroy the Runner singer Chad Ackerman told the Reader about one of his band's worst gigs. "In Cheyenne, Wyoming, we had a huge guarantee, and we were on tour with Lower Definition at the time. We were told that the show had been promoted for months. Keep in mind that we were in Cheyenne, haha. We all had hotel rooms that the promoter booked, an open bar, free meal at the restaurant, and a huge guest list."
"Two people showed up to the show! There were seriously two people. Ha! We felt so bad that everyone on the tour decided to close the open bar, and we played whatever songs the two kids wanted to hear. I think all the bands gave the kids free shirts too. That was pretty bad, though."
LOCALS ART ---- a few locals who've appeared in the Reader comix ---
More later!
Thanks to everyone who came out to the Overheard and Famous in San Diego art gallery opening on Monday, March 29th at the Ruby Room! Bunches of photos and video clips coming soon -
The night before the opening reception, I heard my name on KPRI radio as I drove into San Diego, while randomly flipping stations. It was Cathryn Beeks on the Homegrown Hour, talking about the show - and then she played the Overheard in San Diego theme song!! I almost drove off the road - thanks, Cathryn!!
Happy Ron Hill played his "Famous Former Neighbors" song (which seems to imply that I think my "sh-t don't stink," heh heh), and Cathryn Beeks was joined by co-writer Sven-Erik Seaholm to mock me in song once again, with their "Overheard in San Diego" theme song.
Happy Ron, Bart Mendoza, and Carlos Olmeda, Collage Menage, Neener, Carnal Comics writer Jamie Ralph Gardner, videographers Duane and Susan, and random passersby...
The Cathryn Beeks Ordeal and Marcia Claire were awesome, as was Collage Menage, with guest singer Jenene Lambert, who also played their own "Famous Former Neighbors" song - they came in second place in the Reader's FFN song contest.
BTW, we had six song entries - Ziva Gottesman & Dan Galant, Steve and the Pescadero Pickers, Speaking Idly, Happy Ron, Ed Cormier, and Collage Menage.
The winner? Steve and the Pescadero Pickers !! Their tune tells of the summer that Bob "Gilligan" Denver moved next door to Steve in OB -----
Due to some confusion -- no doubt compounded by me being on vacation all week --- bandleader Steve wasn't notified in time to play it at the show, but you can checkitout - and all the song submissions, along with their final vote stats - at http://www.sandiegoreader.com/audioclips/sets/famous-former-neighbors/
There was quite a fiery debate on the website about this contest, among listeners and some of the contestants themselves -- http://www.sandiegoreader.com/polls/2010/mar/vote-your-favorite-former-famous-neighbors-theme-s/results/
All in all, it was terrific to see the Reader comic strips getting their own spotlight showcase - my thanks to the Ruby Room for letting me plaster my scribbles all over their walls and letting my friends and I play all night in their colorful sandbox! Thanks also to the artists who came out to do live art demonstrations, and you can checkout a selection of comic strips from the show all thru April at the RRoom --
Thanks also to my associates at the Reader who spearheaded fun stuff like the song contest ----
Now, it's back to being an obscure underemployed cartoonatic and itinerate writer-slash-blogger - surely, it's all downhill from here...
***************************************http://www.artdamages.com/2010/04/overheard-and-famous-in-san-diego-art-show/
http://www.artdamages.com/2010/04/overheard-and-famous-in-san-diego-art-show/
Press illo to play the Overheard song!
OWES IT ALL TO THE MAN WITH NO NAME....
“We play hip-hop with a twist,” says Tim Beaman (aka Timmy B) of the trio OCT/Outta Control, who all moved to San Diego from Detroit six years ago in hopes of kickstarting their recording and performing career.
“We do the unexpected, like starting off a set with a crazy electric guitar solo and setting a sick Beastie Boy-style party vibe. We make music that reflects our life, which is pretty much a never ending struggle AND a big party, all at the same time. We don’t have sick cars or money, so we don’t rap about that.”
The band cites surprising inspirations, such as the Prince formerly known as Fresh, Will Smith. “He’s one of the sickest MCs in the game,” says Beaman. “If you don’t think so, check out his song ‘Freak This.’ We actually live our lives by that saying.”
Another big inspiration is a man whose name they don’t even know.
“We were in L.A. trying to get into record label offices to hand out our demo, even though we knew it wasn’t going to work. After getting thrown out of Capitol Records, we talked to the guy who threw us out for a while. He told us that he had thrown out 50 Cent and Kanye when they were still unsigned. After talking for a few minutes, he looked at us and said ‘If you’re good at what you do, don’t quit. It’ll happen for you too.’”
Outta Control has released three albums, as well as contributing to last year’s SDMA-nominated hip-hop compilation Best of Daygo City.
Get Uked to It (or San Diego Gets Uked) - 15 San Diego artists have their songs covered on Ukelele
By Bart Mendoza: It’s true, ukeleles get little respect in the music world. But with their portability and ease of use it’s easy to see the four stringed instruments appeal.
Long a favorite for fans of Hawaiian music and century old pop tunes, the current resurgence in popularity has seen many modern era tunes showing up in uke players set lists.
Here are 15 songs originally performed by San Diego based artists, recast for ukelele.
Local custom ukelele maker Owen Burke: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2008/apr/09/blurt4
1) As I Lay Dying / “Through Struggle”
By vik733 – my vote for most unexpected cover version, ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0y8Q6Jdy8Y
2) Blink 182 / “Rock Show”
The Sebi Next Door:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSFsmYtYQpw
3) Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper / “Debbie Gibson is Pregnant with My Two Headed Love Child”
By Henrique – he portrays both Mojo and Skid in this video!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2EZXKEW4g0
4) Nickel Creek / “Doubting Thomas”
By Abe Schmidt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Yeu6tvLrI
5) Boxcar Racer / “Letter To God”
By one man band, Hammelino:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyncCZFu_rQ
6) John Stewart (The Monkees / Anne Murray) / “Daydream Believer”
This version has lyrics by Japanese music icon Kiyoshiro Imawano:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO5LLBty3cs
7) Unwritten Law / “Save Me”
Performed by Phoebe Henry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKqvmiMp6NI
8) Steve Poltz (Jewel) / “You Were Meant For Me”
Sung by Janica Salaz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4jY24cffg8&feature=related
9) Jack Tempchin (The Eagles) / “Peaceful Easy Feeling“
performed by the Second City Ukelele Players Association:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bddC4aYML4Y
10) Stephen Bishop / “It Might Be You”
by Keone Pax:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPe9C7ro3Vw
11) Iron Butterfly / “In A Gadda Da Vida”
Performed by Fritz Herman – dig the drum solo:-):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBBOymHPozY
12) Cascades / “Rhythm of The Falling Rain”
Performed by Tonma
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMD_vXhl2HM
13) Jason Mraz / “I’m Yours”
Performed by a group of students:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUF2jiVgT4I
14) Ratt / “Round & Round”
Rearranged by The Awkward Sounds of Scott & Skiz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvK77lNoSBA
15) Kingston Trio / “Scotch & Soda”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDZuYH1h5xg
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MUSTAINE MAKES ROCK VIDEO BASED ON SAN DIEGO TANK ATTACK
Noisecreep reports: On May 17, 1995, a U.S. Army veteran and unemployed plumber in San Diego, Shawn Timothy Nelson, snapped and stole an M60 Patton tank from a nearby National Guard Armory. He drove down the highway, crushing cars, fire hydrants and an RV before he was stopped and killed by police.
The headline-grabbing story forms the basis of Megadeth's new video for 'The Right to Go Insane,' the second single from the band's acclaimed 2009 disc Endgame. In the clip, which surprisingly features no performance footage, frontman Dave Mustaine is filmed sneaking onto a military facility, stealing a tank and playing crash-up derby through the streets.
Video footage from the cockpit shows Mustaine singing and laughing, while shots from a surveillance helicopter depict a missile gunsight tracking him as he pillages.
No word from the family of Shawn Timothy Nelson, who was killed by police on live TV after the stolen tank got stick on a highway divider, on what they think of famous neighbor Mustaine having so much fun with their tragic true-life story. (more Megadeth, 'The Right to Go Insane' -- Video Premiere )
NEW COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL MUSIC DATABASE IS LAUNCHED
If you wanna see a list of over 2,100 San Diego bands, with links to full profiles, photos, discographies, articles, MP3s, etc, checkout http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/search/
Believe it or not, you can click on ANY LOCAL MUSICIAN'S NAME (around 4,900 musicos listed!) and bring up bios of every notable band they've ever been in! Try it here with Rob Crow ---
AND, if that wasn't cool 'nuff, click on an instrument, say like this here link to "Drums" - BAM, a list of EVERY DRUMMER IN SAN DIEGO!!!
We've been working on this massively cross-linked Local Music Database for over two years now, covering a century of San Diego history --- if you're a local performer who wants to add or edit a page, go to http://www.sandiegoreader.com/band/edit/
More soon!!!! JAS
******************************************************** 14 Things You Might Not Know About Jim Croce!
By Bart Mendoza: In honor of the release of a new book on Jim Croce’s music, Anthology, here are a more than ten things that you might have overlooked about the music icon. The book includes music & lyrics + stories behind 40 tunes! Penned by Ingrid Croce, published by Hal Leonard) For more info, please visit www.jimcroce.com
I also highly recommend the Jim Croce’ DVD Anthology, Have You Heard:
1) Jim Croce is now the third
2) Jim Croce’s album, Life & Times, has been immortalized at the Sleeveface site: http://www.sleeveface.com/?p=288 – from the site: “One or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion” – Amazing!
3) The Muppet Show aired a touching clip of “Time in A Bottle” – An old scientist grown younger until… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF8ZgguyQ3Y
4) And… here’s The Muppets version “Working at the Car Wash Blues,” starring Gonzo and a bunch of chickens. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8Gw5e1AnMc
5) Frank Sinatra released a single of “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” which hit #83 in 1974. Dean Martin then used the same arrangement of the song for his version. Here’s a Glen Miller Big Band arrangement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA3Eq8r8fGs
6) Glen Campbell recorded a version of “Time In A Bottle” for the BBC in 1975. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC8bygMhrvs
7) In 1977, Maureen McCormick (aka Marcia Brady) sang a version of “I’ll Just Have to Say I Love You In A Song” on the TV’s The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.
8) Croce’s character, Leroy Brown, next showed up in the Queen song, “Bring Back that Leroy Brown.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vHZU_HcXDo
9) “I’ll Just Have to Say I Love You In A Song” was covered by Cilla Black.
10) “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” was covered by Jerry Reed. Here’s his version of “I Got A Name” , with a very nice introduction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ts0qwRBx4c
11) “Lovers Cross” was covered by Melanie.
12) His songs have appeared in TV shows such as Eli Stone ("You Don't Mess Around With Jim")/ 2008), The West Wing ("Time in a Bottle" / 2003), The Greatest American Hero ("You Don't Mess Around With Jim" / 1981)
13) His songs have appeared in movies such as Home Alone 3 ("Bad Bad Leroy Brown"/ 1997) and The Ice Storm ("I Got a Name").
14) Jim Croce appeared on several TV shows including In Concert, Rock Concert and twice on NBC’s the Tonight Show: Aug. 15 1972 (other guests included Danny Thomas and the comedy duo Burns & Schrieber) and May 30 1973 (other guests included Karen Valentine)
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Dethklok, Zappa Band Contributor Mike Keneally Announces Select Shows |
Antimusic reports: Mike Keneally is set to launch his first full-band tour in nearly five years, bringing his ever-evolving, remarkably inventive musical vision to the Northeast US in early May for five shows in support of his latest Exowax Recordings release, Scambot 1.
From Keneally's well-documented recorded work as a guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist in Frank Zappa's last touring band, to his recordings and performances with Robert Fripp, Dethklok, Wayne Kramer, Steve Vai, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Andy Partridge and many others, he's earned a reputation as someone who can bring an intense, original musical voice to any situation. His extensive and wildly diverse original catalog of 19 albums and counting defies traditional classification, and concertgoers are regularly left awestruck by his band's high-wire-act execution of the eclectic material.
In a unique twist, this tour's Mike Keneally Band members also comprise the opening act, the band of Keneally's longtime bassist Bryan Beller (Steve Vai, Dethklok), whose intricate jazz/rock compositions and tasteful playing earned his sophomore album Thanks In Advance widespread acclaim.
The sneakily-titled "They're Both The Same Band" Northeast Tour 2010 features Keneally, Beller, drummer Joe Travers (Zappa Plays Zappa), and guitarists Rick Musallam (Ben Taylor, Byrd York) and Griff Peters (Billie Myers, Anika Paris). - more on this story
WTF SLEESTAKS!
I have SO many problems with this bizarre Land of the Lost relic.
First, what's up with asking the kiddies to help that Sleestak EAT poor lil' Dopey?! "He craves raw, bloody meat and does not know which rope is attached to Dopey. Which is the right one?" And why's the Sleestak a toy, while the Dino is drawn?
"Puzzle" 1 instructs "Look into this sacred cave, then cover it. How many Sleestak can you remember having seen?" Fair 'nuff, that's a KIND of a puzzle. But then look at the effin answer key -- "Any humans who gaze upon our god will die." Geez, Muhammad much?
Plus, written as if by Sleestak, the answer key indicates that THIS IS A SLEESTAK-CREATED PUZZLE! Notice the possessive apostrophe in the puzzle title, "Sleestak's...."...No wonder they wanna trick kids into killing Dopey...
"Puzzle" 2 - not really a puzzle. "Grumpy the dinosaur surprised Will, Holly and Chaka while they were out on a walk. Can you solve the puzzle of how Will and Holly will escape?" Well, clearly, we can see that some mirror thingly blinds Grumpy. BUT...
"How will WILL AND HOLLY escape?" WTF, what about Chaka?! Those sick fukken Sleetak puzzlemakers made a snuff film, and this clip shows Chaka seconds before getting bit in two...and, BTW, how stoopid are Will and Holly that they can still be "surprised" by a thirty foot tall dinosaur, AND NOT A FREAKIN' TREE IN SIGHT!
So let's refer to the answer key as to how the two mentally challenged humans escape..."Hit Chaka with a rock, breaking his leg, then run." I say again - WTF?! The dumbass duo is supposed to sacrifice Chaka to the dino?!
And if the answers are written by Sleestak, why are they such Chaka haters - or do they simply wanna eat "raw and bloody meat" offa Will and Holly themselves, while Grumpy polishes off the hairy Oompa Loompa?
The answer to number 3? "Dopey is slower than even a Sleestak. He should fall easily to the wicked eviscerating claws."
Sid and Marty Krofft - the Owsleys of Saturday morning TV ---
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************************************************COMING IN 2010 - ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS: JOAN JETT AND THE RUNAWAYS
Here's a sneak peek at the cover art for the full-color Runaways issue of Rock 'N' Roll Comics, which will be released to tie in to the Runaways movie --- www.myspace.com/rocknrollcomics
Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics: The Runaways with Joan Jett and Lita Ford
Writer: Spike Steffenhagen, Jay Allen Sanford
Artists: Joe Paradise, Larry Nadolsky
Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics presents the Runaways, the ‘70s jailbait rockers whose story is wild and crazy enough to merit both a feature film starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning and an even more revealing no-punches-pulled comic book bio! Three complete full-color stories chronicle the rise and fall of the Runaways themselves, as well as going far beyond the bio-pic to also cover the solo careers of band stars Joan Jett and Lita Ford.
Scripted by rock ‘n’ roll historian Spike Steffenhagen (Kiss: Comic From the Elder) and San Diego Reader columnist Jay Allen Sanford, this lovingly illustrated edition features art by Joe Paradise (Overheard in San Diego) and Larry Nadolsky (Deposit Man). Unauthorized and proud of it!
Here's a sneak preview of the story and art -----
http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/40472/2068009180
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http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/46451/2549638090
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http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/44915/2243644840
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FREE TRILLION DOLLARS FROM OBAMA!!
The government is handing out Trillions. Now you can too! Help spread the wealth and holiday cheer by forwarding this Trillion Dollar gift to all of your friends! Print and pass it on!
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www.obamanationcardgame.com!!!
ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS - The Led Zeppelin Experience:
The Led Zeppelin saga is one of the wildest in rock history, and this graphic novel pulls no punches in dramatizing the backstage, behind-the-scenes story. From their early days as the New Yardbirds on through their rise to superstardom (and controversy), all five issues of the original Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics series are collected in one rockin’ volume, with art by Scott Pentzer (Razor), Marshall Ross (Deepest Dimension), David Neer (Sports Superstars), Francois Escalmel (Frank Zappa: Viva La Bizarre), and others. The collection also includes update material, bringing the saga up to 2010.
SHIPPING SUMMER 2010: ROCK 'N' ROLL CARTOON HISTORY - THE SIXTIES
Here's the first look at the cover art for the 300 page graphic novel Rock 'N' Roll Cartoon History: The Sixties, shipping summer 2010 from Bluewater Productions. www.bluewaterprod.com -- www.myspace.com/rocknrollcomics
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THE RETURN OF ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS!
Hard Rock Heroes: What goes together better than comics and rock music? With almost 300 pages of Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics, Hard Rock Heroes goes WAY beyond Behind the Music, to tell the real life, behind-the-scenes stories of rock’s most heavy hitters. Creators include Stuart Immonen (Superman: End of the Century), Ken Landgraf (Wolverine), Jay Allen Sanford (Overheard in San Diego..), Todd Loren (Beatles Experience), Scott Pentzer (Razor), Mike Sagara (Ninja High School), and many others.
Hard Rock Heroes is a book-length pictorial history, covering bands like Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Poison, Megadeth, Pantera, Anthrax, Motorhead, Sammy Hagar, and more. The cinematic stories are realistically drawn, researched from countless photo and video archives, with an encyclopedic eye toward visual accuracy, dramatic flair, and journalistic depth.
Also includes the never-before published “missing” Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics #8 from 1990, on Skid Row. The lack of an eighth issue has vexed collectors and catalogers for years – exactly 20 years later, the story can finally be told, and collectors can finally own ALL the Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics!
As a bonus treat, Hard Rock Heroes also features the Motley Crue comic story from their official box CD set Music To Crash Your Car To II, released in 2004 and written and drawn by original Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics creators Lyndal Ferguson and Larry Nadolsky. Shipping February 2010.
"Great ideas, like the marriage of rock 'n' roll and comics, have the half-life of Uranium and will always be popular," says series co-creator Jay Allen Sanford, who has worked on over 200 reality-based comic books and thousands of similar cartoon strips for the San Diego Reader, as well as for magazines like Rip, Spin, and Oui. "The folks at Bluewater clearly have their fingers on the same pop culture pulse that enabled the original Rock 'N' Roll Comics to become one of the top-selling indie comics of the '90s. Truth is often stranger than fiction...and certainly much more interesting!"
The Beatles are bigger than ever, now available online for the first time digitally, on the Vegas stage in “Love,” and in the new Beatles: Rock Band video game. Now comes the most comprehensive and encyclopedic illustrated Beatles story ever, the Beatles Experience! Over 200 pages, dramatizing one of the most compelling tales in pop culture history, drawn from thousands of photos and interviews, meticulously researched and featuring stunning art by Mike Sagara (Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics) and Stuart Immonen (Legion of Super Heroes, Ultimate X-Men).
Covering the Beatles’ lives from birth and beyond their breakup, dramatized in dialogue and scene recreations more akin to a film bio than a mere documentary, the Beatles Experience also includes a Chronolog timeline going down each page, with encyclopedia background and footnotes detailing related events happening at the same time in the world, in music, and in the Beatles’ own tumultuous and extraordinary lives.
The Led Zeppelin Experience:
The Led Zeppelin saga is one of the wildest in rock history, and this graphic novel pulls no punches in dramatizing the backstage, behind-the-scenes story. From their early days as the New Yardbirds on through their rise to superstardom (and controversy), all five issues of the original Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics series are collected in one rockin’ volume, with art by Scott Pentzer (Razor), Marshall Ross (Deepest Dimension), David Neer (Sports Superstars), Francois Escalmel (Frank Zappa: Viva La Bizarre), and others. The collection also includes update material, bringing the saga up to 2010.
WHY AL KOOPER HATES LOCAL WRITERS (BUT LOVES SAN DIEGO)
Legendary keyboardist Al Kooper has played with Dylan, the Stones, George Harrison and countless others, but he still has time to beef about local music reporters like Buddy Blue and a certain Reader columnist... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/jan/29/the-return-of-black-heart-procession-plus-anya-mar
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Rollingstone.com has added Anya Marina to their "breaking artist" profiles - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/jan/29/the-return-of-black-heart-procession-plus-anya-mar
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THE BEATLES IN
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UNEXPECTED BEATLES ART - The Fab Four turn up in the oddest places... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/jan/29/the-return-of-black-heart-procession-plus-anya-mar
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MAHARISH COMIX AND STORIES, OR "YOGI MAKES A BOO-BOO"
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WEIRD BEATLES MERCHANDISE - WTF were these licensors (and bootleggers) thinking... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/feb/06/my-brunch-with-yoko-plus-weird-beatles
MY BRUNCH WITH YOKO - Brunch with a Beatle bride... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/feb/06/my-brunch-with-yoko-plus-weird-beatles
YOKO ONO COMICS AND STORIES - When Johnny Met Yoko, with dialogue and captions paraphrased from published Lennon interviews. Plus John Lennon: A Life in the Day
LENNON OR McCARTNEY?? --We asked 25 local performers about their fave Beatle (and why), and got some surprising (and frequently revealing) answers...
CELEBRITY HOUSE HUNTING IN SAN DIEGO - Real estate broker Jeff Paiste has squired several famous musicians around San Diego in their search for decent digs to lease or rent, including Bread frontman David Gates and the late George Harrison.... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/13/celebrity-house-hunting-in-san-diego
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JOEY MOLLAND/BADFINGER INTERVIEW - Badfinger's last man standing, Joey Molland, reveals more about the tragic story of Badfinger, as well as meeting and working with John Lennon, George Harrison, and Todd Rundgren, plus the Concert for Bangladesh, and more. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/aug/21/x-jam-cancellation-controversy-plus-how-i-snuck-in/
THE DAY JOHN LENNON WAS SHOT - Local celebs share their recollections of December 8, 1980, plus guest essays from Al Kooper (who was recording with George Harrison that day) and others.... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/jan/25/john-lennon-12-8-1980-we-ask-local-celebs-where-we/
Exclusive preview and new interview with one of the creators/performers behind the new internet Trek series - click for more ---http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/04/happy-rons-hormonal-harem---loving-san-diegos-musi/#
READER EXCLUSIVE - For the first time anywhere on the web, here's the promo trailer for Star Trek: The Continuing Mission, episode six: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/audioclips/66/
************************************************The Twilight Zone made it's TV debut 50 years ago, on 10-2-59 - we asked local musicos to tell us their own favorite Zone episodes --- (more "What's Your Favorite Twilight Zone?" )
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THE ROCKETEER AND OTHER FAMOUS '80S COMICS BEGAN RIGHT HERE IN SAN DIEGO - Here's a detailed history of local Pacific Comics, who recruited comic superstars like Jack Kirby to create one of the first successful indie comic book lines. Pioneers in the fight for comic creators' rights and royalties, former employees and operators reveal how they did it, and what went so terribly wrong...
THE KOMPLETE KISS KOMIX KRONICLES - Comprehensive collection of stuff I’ve done about working with Kiss on a comic book series in San Diego, along with a bunch of never-before-seen artifacts from the Kiss Komix archives AND an article by Kiss comic author Spike Steffenhagen, offering his own very-different take, ala Rashomon, on the same events I describe in my essay...
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/12/komplete-kiss-komix-kronicles
ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS: THE INSIDE STORY - In 1989, San Diego's Revolutionary Comics ("Unauthorized And Proud Of It") launched Rock 'N' Roll Comics, featuring unlicensed biographies of rock stars, most of which I wrote. Some performers, like Frank Zappa and Kiss, were supportive, while others like New Kids On The Block considered our comics akin to bootlegs and sued. In June 1992, publisher Todd Loren was found dead in his San Diego condo, brutally murdered...
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/12/rock-n-roll-comics-the-inside-story
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK VS REVOLUTIONARY COMICS - The inside story of how a hugely successful boy band tried to sue local-based Rock 'N' Roll Comics over an unauthorized biography of the group, sparking a court case that established, for the very first time, first amendment rights for comic books. Illustrated by comic superstar Stuart Immonen (Superman, etc.)...
OVER A MILLION CARNAL COMICS ARE IN PRINT - Here's how and why we made some of the top-selling erotic comics of all time, right here in San Diego, including what Gene Simmons has to do with it all, backstage tales of porn stars, and more confessions of a comic pornographer...
COMICS AND CENSORSHIP - DON'T BE AFRAID, IT'S ONLY A COMIC BOOK - A local-centric history of comic book censorship, and the fight for the rights of comic creators...
TWILIGHT ZONE AND STAR TREK WRITER GEORGE CLAYTON JOHNSON PRESENTS - The inside story of a local horror comic book series featuring Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, plus sci-fi king Larry Niven, Zap Comix co-founder Spain Rodriguez, Matthew Alice artist Rick Geary, Vampire Lestat painter Daerick Gross, yours truly JAS, and many more...
THE BIRTH OF IMAGE COMICS: INSIDE STORY OF A LOCAL PUBLISHING POWERHOUSE - Illustrated tale revealing how Spawn creator Todd McFarlane and local comic artist Jim Lee (the Punisher, etc.) conspired to create the ultimate creator-owned comic books...
Down the Slippery Slope - Arrested For the Crime of Viewing Manga
On March 30, 2004, when Dwight Whorley found the Japanese website of Fractal Underground Studio via Yahoo and clicked on a couple of the thumbnail images... ( http://comipress.com/special/miscellaneous/down-the-slippery-slope-the-crime-of-viewing-manga )
"Before It Was The Gaslamp: Balboa's Last Stand" - Cover story 6-21-07: In the late 70s/early 80s, I worked at downtown San Diego's grindhouse all-night movie theaters, for the owner of the Pussycat Theatre chain, Vince Miranda - this detailed feature recalls those dayz, the death of the Balboa Theatre, etc.
"Battle Of The Peeps" - feature article about a weird gig I had in the mid-'80s, running a strip club called Jolar, for the nation's second biggest pornographer, Harry Mohney (Deja Vu Showgirls founder).
"Field Of Screens" - Cover story 7-6-06: Complete theater-by-theater history of San Diego drive-ins thru the years, including a few which screened X-rated fare for awhile.
"Pussycat Theaters - When 'Cathouses Ruled California" -- for the first time, the detailed inside story of the west coast Pussycat Theater chain of adult moviehouses, which peaked in the '70s but later died out. Told by those who actually ran the theaters!
More Music on the Reader Website:
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Like this blog? Here are some related links:
OVERHEARD IN SAN DIEGO - Several years' worth of this comic strip, which debuted in the Reader in 1996: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/overheard-san-diego/
FAMOUS FORMER NEIGHBORS - Over 100 comic strips online, with mini-bios of famous San Diegans: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/famous-former-neighbors/
SAN DIEGO READER MUSIC MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/sandiegoreadermusic
JAY ALLEN SANFORD MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/jayallensanford