Brrrrrrrr…..the cold weather has been keeping many folks inside, even with the brief break of a balmy five degrees! Inviting sun…..frostbitten tootsies. The live music scene, however, is not slowing down and is, in fact, just starting to heat up. Behind the curtains local clubs, bars, concert halls and music festivals are busy sprucing up, prepping, and booking music that will make your ears dance.
“The Internet is a lot like ancient Egypt: people writing on walls and worshipping cats.”
Those who’ve known me a long time – including the pre-curmudgeon me in the days before the intertoobs – can attest to my unapologetic, jingoistic rah-rah All Canadian mantra. I love my country. I love my music. But despite my seemingly anti-‘Merika crusade dating back to Ronnie’s Rocket Regalias in the early 1980s, I do love my American pop music.
There was a scourge of new releases flooding my mailbox the last two weeks from busy rockers who had spent their summer vacation in steaming hot recording studios making the sweaty into sonic saltwater taffy. It’s encouraging to know that despite the bottom falling out of the bottom of the music economy, artists are still optimistically churning out art with the hope that some ear will be turned, some feet will tap and some groins will mobilize all in the name of soothing the soul.
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Rolling Stone Magazine recently released their latest ‘list’, “The 100 Greatest Songwriters” rollingstone.com). Let me repeat that title, “The 100 Greatest Songwriters”. Their descriptive line states “From Brill Building tunesmiths to Punk poets, from Woody Guthrie to Max Martin, the visionaries who defined music history.”
The concept of ‘home’ is a funny thing. As kids, we only know what a home should feel like by the one we live in. All our stuff is there. We have a bed, and people feed us. We visit other kids’ homes, and discover that there are other ways to live, other foods to eat, but when we’re tired or sick or just generally feeling lost in a great big world, we only know one thing – we wanna go home.
Thanks to the good people at AudioBlood, Bob Segarini, Pat Blythe and myself have spent the last ten days mixing and mingling with musicians, artists, and the people who love them. It’s been simultaneously exhausting and exhilarating. I won’t lie … my feet hurt, I’ve got a desk covered in CDs, business cards, and promotional bumpf of all stripes … and I’m relieved that I don’t have to do anything more strenuous than type this recap of the festivities. Although there are a few more events tonight …
My dad was a Korean vet. He met my mum through her brother, with whom he served in the famous Van Doos (the Royal 22nd Regiment.) He was from Alberta, and she from Quebec. It’s unlikely they would have ever met if it hadn’t been for the war. They married a few weeks after attending my Uncle Leo’s wedding, and I was born nine months later.
I love album covers! Not the shrunken down versions they use on CDs, I mean those gloriously creative (mostly) 12” vinyl record album covers. I was looking through my vinyl record collection the other day and marvelled at some of the amazing designs of some of the covers. Now, before we start delving into some classic album covers as well as a few personal favourites, a little history is in order, but don’t panic – there will not be a quiz later.
You can’t blame me for being a little pissed. I just found Stone Darling last week and was looking forward to following them from that point on when what do I surmise? They’re not really the band that they used to be! Yeah! I scour their Facebook page and figure, hey, I’m going to move to the front of the line only to find that there is no line! They’re playing every Monday in August at The Satellite in L.A., it says. Yeah, in 2011! They’re rocking The Echoplex, same city, on April 7th. Again, 2011!
Bullseye Records of Canada
Segarini: Don't Believe a Word I Say 