#grateful guitars foundation

[krispyweiss]

Album Review: Various Artists - Grateful: The Music Plays the Band

In a world where virtually nothing is surprising, Grateful: The Music Plays the Band is a nice surprise.

Released to benefit Grateful Guitars Foundation’s music-in-schools efforts, the 17-track compilation features such family members as David Nelson (“Friend of the Devil”) and Oteil Burbridge (“Stella Blue”); tribute acts like Bertha: Grateful Drag (“One More Saturday Night”) and John Kadlecik (“So Many Roads”); and acolytes like Katie Skene and Andrea Whitt, who turn in a steely, countrified “Candyman” that’s among the record’s highlights.

Many of the artists and songs (Dark Star Orchestra on “Jack Straw” and “Morning Dew,” ALO on “They Love Each Other” and Cubensis on “The Music Never Stopped”) are little more than cover bands aping the Dead. That leaves outliers like La Horsa Bianca singing “China Cat Sunflower” -> “I Know You Rider” in their native Ukrainian, Afro Dead’s Cuban-leaning “Dark Star” and Jerry’s Middle Finger offering the Garcia Band’s arrangement of Eric Clapton’s “See What Love Can Do” as the most-interesting cuts.

Alex Jordan & Friends (“Peggy-O”); Michael James Wheeler (“Loser), Doom Flamingo (“Touch of Grey”), Unlimited Devotion (“Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”) and Brown Eyed Women (“Sugaree”) also appear.

The result is a bunch of good songs for a really great cause.

Grade card: Various Artists - Grateful: The Music Plays the Band - B-

6/19/24

[crmsndragonwngss]

Rehosted from rocksound.tv. Be sure to visit the page and support rocksound and the author, and to see the digital feature, which includes photos of the band!

ERRA, ‘Cure’ | The Album Story

by Jack Rogers | March 28, 2024

ERRA return with their highly anticipated sixth studio album ‘Cure’, featuring recent singles ‘Pale Iris’ and ‘Blue Reverie’ and set for release on April 05 via UNFD. Ahead of its arrival, we chatted with vocalist JT Cavey and guitarist and songwriter Jesse Cash about the process behind the record, from capturing their modern metalcore sound to lyric writing, choosing the artwork and more.

Read ERRA ‘Cure’ | The Album Story below:

ERRA are still determining what it is about the last few years that has allowed them to rise to the top of the modern metalcore ladder, but they aren’t complaining. Thanks to this shift in scene perception and passion, these have been the most successful and exciting years of their decade-and-a-half career. And with that success and building a ravenously passionate fanbase, they have felt the most at ease with their creativity. They can do whatever they want, and that’s a fantastic spot to be in.

“The biggest thing we have taken in is that we are blessed to be able to do our own thing,” vocalist JT Cavey smiles. “We have always been hyper-focused on ourselves within self-improvement and creating stuff that we like, but now we are lucky to have cultivated a fanbase that just trusts us. We’ve grown substantially post-COVID, and I can’t explain why things like that have happened, but we are grateful. We can continue to be ourselves while making the things we have always been working on. It’s really nice.”

It’s with this openness that they have been able to create a record as dense, destructive, and dizzying as ‘Cure’. Weaving gleefully between all-out sonic battery, ethereal atmospheres, and experimental expansion, it is a collection of songs that pushes what is expected of the band without losing any of the phenomenal technicality and vigour that has defined them all these years.

“I think part of why this album is cool is because it does sound more accessible to us, but it doesn’t sacrifice anything,” guitarist and primary songwriter Jesse Cash expands. “It gets tricky when accessibility becomes an objective. It ends up backfiring a lot. We hoped that it would sound easy to listen to whilst still managing to be personal and profound. Hearing the end result made us realise that’s what we did. More than anything, this sounds like an ERRA record.”

To dive deeper into everything that makes ‘Cure’ what it is, Rock Sound sat down with JT and Jesse to discuss the ebbs and flows that go into crafting such a gorgeously gritty piece of art.

THE SOUND

Historically, when it comes to ERRA heading into the studio to commit a record to tape, most of the music is already in place. That comes down to meticulous pre-production and demoing from Jesse, serving as a foundation of what he anticipates that particular chapter of the band to encompass. In the case of ‘Cure’, rhythm was the focus, with more attention being put on what the right hand was doing more than the left in terms of guitar playing. The result is groove, and lots of it.

“Because of the time that had passed since our last record [2021’s ‘ERRA’], this album was going to sound different no matter what,” he muses. “I really wanted to focus mostly on groove because that is what I listen to and enjoy more recently. Bands like Tool and Gojira and Meshuggah, a lot of the technicality of those bands is just crazy rhythm. It’s way more of a workout on the right hand. So that is how my guitar adapted to the riffs I wrote. It just naturally happened, as that was the style of metal I was listening to.”

That’s how you end up with the pulsating brutality of ‘Slow Sour Bleed’ rubbing shoulders with the shimmering gorgeousness of ‘Past Life Persona’. The painstaking intensity of ‘Crawl Backwards Out Of Heaven’ slots perfectly next to the all-seeing power of ‘Glimpse’. It is a tapestry of technicality and tenacity that feels as grand as it does natural. By focusing on how their creativity can serve the individual song rather than the broader picture, the possible leaps and bounds felt all the more endless.

“I feel like we had more fun with these songs in the risks we were taking, even if you could call them a risk,” JT adds. “As long as people trust in and have faith in that, including ourselves, then we can’t go wrong.”

THE COLLABORATORS

One of the most significant changes from how ERRA have previously functioned is introducing an external producer. With Jesse being so hands-on throughout their career, they knew that if they would let somebody else into the fold, they needed to know exactly what this was all about. That’s where Daniel Braunstein comes into the mix. The man behind the desk for bands such as Spiritbox, The Ghost Inside, Volumes and Silent Planet, he is as close to modern metalcore royalty as you are going to get. Being so intertwined into understanding what it takes to write a song that is as boundary-pushing as it is wonderfully heavy, there was nobody else better on their list.

“Just the simple notion of having a producer involved meant that [this album] would be different,” Jesse explains. “There’s more space for the songs to change and evolve. And Dan was the right producer for us. He understands the assignment more than anyone else would because he is in the middle of the genre—creating a more nuanced version of metal.”

Even with such high regard and understanding for what he was capable of, Jesse went to extra lengths to ensure they were all on the same working page when it came time to hit the studio. With both him and Dan living in Los Angeles, it was easy to pop around and see how he functions whilst sitting in on a handful of sessions with other bands, one being their close friends Kingdom Of Giants as they worked on their track ‘Wasted Space’. Over two years, they built a relationship that allowed the creation of ‘Cure’ to be as seamless as possible.

“I feel like Dan allowed Jesse to be pretty experimental within this record,” JT points out. “He’s not a yes man, and he will tell you when he’s not feeling something, but he also has a lot of great ideas and is incredibly supportive. He’s very diplomatic like that. We couldn’t ask for more.”

THE LYRICS

So often in heavy music, the lyrics take a backseat. This is something that ERRA make sure is far from the case, even putting more emphasis on what their songs are saying at times than what it sounds like. Making sure that whatever direction they were heading in sonically, the words attached served them. Because of this, ‘Cure’ became quite the dark record in the grand scheme of things. Dwelling in the darkness is something that Jesse and JT are used to and more than happy to express. This time around, much of their expression came from the other forms of media that Jesse was consuming. One such morsel was the 1997 film Cure, a Japanese atmospheric crime picture that wallows in the depths of unhinged brutality and philosophical questioning. Though nothing on the record is actually inspired by the movie, despite sharing the title, the atmosphere and pondering of existence, and the pursuit of purpose within that questioning, is draped throughout.

“Records are an imprint of a time and place of where you are at,” Jesse muses. “So, when we were tracking this one, I dipped my toes into the darkness and stayed there for a few months with the content I was ingesting. It enforced the way the record sounded and felt. Because of that, the record is pretty dark but ends on a positive note. It’s the idea of focusing on the darkness, but then somebody turns on a flashlight. I like how it is focused in that way.”

Though much of what Jesse was being inspired by could be seen as nihilistic and bleak, that’s not to say it reflects on who the band are as people or how they want their mindsets to be interpreted. It’s more of a case of understanding that these ways of thinking exist and that it is possible to approach life from these angles and feel like you have everything figured out through this lens. Every person making their way through this life views their everyday differently, and that is as beautiful as it is overwhelming when you think about it too much. Using ERRA to try to interpret these different strands of humanity, no matter how pitch-black they may seem, is how Jesse learns more about himself and his own way of seeing things. It’s also so he knows that the band have done enough to cover every base they can.

“We’re making songs; it doesn’t always have to be a direct reflection of us,” He expands. “This isn’t us saying we are super dark people, but I just want to go there and see what I find. Any kind of art is about trying to nail down a relatable feeling. Something to make you understand what you are going through and feeling. That’s why I take it so seriously, and it’s what I obsess over the most during the process. Let’s make these lyrics as good as they can be. We’re going to be a band that does that.”

THE TITLE AND ARTWORK

If this album wasn’t going to be called ‘Cure’, another option batted around was ‘Wish’. Though it ended up being the former, ‘Wish’ is still an essential word to the record’s anatomy. It is not just the title of the ethereal introduction to the stunning ‘Glimpse’ but also a word that appears in a particular lyric alongside cure in the sprawling title track. In many ways, both go hand in hand. The idea of a cure is rooted in positivity, but what if the cure that ails our existence is that nothing truly matters. What if all we were wishing for was to exist in the grey rather than spiral and bounce between the black and white?

That ambiguity stretches into the eerie artwork, showing off distorted human-like figures clinging to each other like their lives depend on it. As you move further away from the details, you see how these figures make up a gigantic earth-shaped structure. Such a foreboding structure feels otherworldly in scope, but on a smaller scale, it almost represents how much we depend on connection to make it through the day. It’s as human as it is alien, depressing as it is enlightening, and that is absolutely the point.

“This collection of beings forming a sphere—it’s pretty interesting and exciting,” Jesse explains. “This broad view of humanity that, at times, can be bleak. At other times, it can be very beautiful and connecting. There’s a lyric in the title track I like where we say, ‘We are connected by loneliness, through a kinship of detachment. The juxtaposition in these words that defile one another—those are my favourite kinds of themes.”

Though many of the themes within the record come from a pursuit of understanding, Jesse realises that being able to sit and question what everything means and what purpose is within that is a luxury. Many people are just trying to make it from dawn to dusk, getting enough food, sleep and shelter. In many ways, that is what all of this is about. Being content in what we are capable of and understanding that our neighbours are just trying to do the same.

“I don’t think the record declares any answer or preaches anything. It’s a bit more open and ambiguous,” Jesse admits. “I think we are always doing that. It’s a dicey place to be, as everyone is right and everyone is wrong at exactly the same time. It’s a difficult thing to carry around and show off, but there is a sweet spot to it. It’s about not letting your mind dominate you within the ambiguity.”

THE FUTURE

On a professional level, ERRA are having the time of their lives right now. They have more eyes on them than ever before, and as they approach their biggest-ever headline tour, even more will be facing their way. Though on that more profound level, this era of the band will allow the variety of eyes and ears engaged in their output to expand. Described by JT as a “Delivery service for whatever you want from us”, it means that within the ambiguous scope of what they have achieved with ‘Cure’, the potential connection will be even more prominent. From searching for your calling to simply trying to make your brain quiet down a bit, ERRA is the cure. Though that might not have been the intention, it’s a pretty extraordinary place to be.

“The album we have made is so full of variety; the avenue you want to travel down is up to you,” JT smiles. “That’s the same across every song on the record. It’s just really fun to be able to do that. I feel like with any artist, a part of their journey is presenting a practical thing impractically and hoping it clicks with somebody. We are all on a different means of connecting and trying to meet in the middle. That feels like a global goal, and we’re having fun participating in that.”

[hamsterbellbelle]

Additional CC list for Waterfront Nightclub🎦:

Air con (deco) || Animated dropping lights || Animated vent fan || Arch || Bag/thrown clothes || Bag || Bamboo hologram/bathroom counter/Cube coffee table || Bamboo || Bar bottles || Bar sink || Bathroom soap/towel || Beer bottle || Bottle || Bubble lamp ||

Cardboard rug || Ceiling tile || Ceiling glass shelves || Ceiling light || Ceiling/floor - A - B - C - D || Chair (reception) || Clothes clutter || Computer || Counter island || Counter || Cyberpunk neons/vending machine ||

Detective board || Door - glass - slide || Door panel/stage screen || Drain cover || Drink crate - A - B || Elevator || File cabinet || Flashlight/book || Floor clothes || Floor dirt || Floor line || Floor mess || Fog machine || Folding chairs || Foundation || Graffiti || Guitar - deco - wall || Guitar amp || Guitar/mini amp ||

Hang beam || Hanging clothes || Headphone || Headphone || Hexagon wall lights || Janitor bucket || Janitor cart || Lab set || Ladder || Laptop deco - A - B || Laser lights || Laster lights/neon alphabets || Leather sofa || Light box - A - B || Magazine ||

More CCs listed on post #2🔗

🐹             🐹             🐹             🐹             🐹    

Animated cyberpunk monitor - A - B || Animated magazine || Animated scroll || Animated waterfall || Astray with smoke || Bar table/chairs || Ceiling crane || Chair with clothes || Club dot scrolling light || Coat rack || Coffee table || Corner booth || Cube lights || Cyberpunk divider || Cyberpunk neons || Cyberpunk posters / framed || Cyberpunk wall decal || Industrial ceiling light || Modular sofa || Pool table || Road traffic scroll || Special effect machine || Suitcase laptop || Transparent metal grate || Venue wall speaker || Wall desk || Wall duct || Wall light || Wires/panel/suitcase ||

[singeratlarge]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Carlos Alomar, J Balvin, the 1824 debut of Beethoven’s 9thSymphony, my excellent cousin Jane Biddle, Johannes Brahms, Teresa Brewer, Robert Browning, Cornelius Bumpus, Armando Castellano (Quinteto Latino), Eagle Eye Cherry, Tex Cobb, Gary Cooper, ace drummer Rich Dart (Micky Dolenz, Monkees), Anne Dudley, Mic Gillette (Tower of Power), Olympe de Gouges, the late, great Col. Ed Hall, Robert Hegyes, Thelma Houston, Bill Kreutzmann, the late, great Johnny Maestro (good to have met you), Mamas & Papas 1966 single “Monday Monday,” Darren McGavin, Glenn Miller’s 1941 single “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” Christy Moore, Keith Richard’s “Satisfaction” (guitar riff born today in 1965), David Ruffin, Rabindranath Tagore, Derek Taylor, Pyotor Illyich Tchaikovsky, Johnny Unitas, Rick West (Tremeloes), and the acclaimed and eclectic artist, set designer, and drummer: Prairie Prince. He’s a foundational member of the great satirical art rock band The Tubes, and he’s performed on countless recordings, the short list includes David Byrne, John Fogerty, George Harrison, Todd Rundgren, and XTC. Prairie and I have had a few musical adventures, and I’m grateful for his artistry. Here’s a track we did a few years back. https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/track/halfway-to-dakota    ...Meanwhile, HB PP thank you for banging on the drum all day...

#prairieprince #tubes #toddrundgren #johnnyjblair #chrisvonsneidern #dakota #sanfrancisco #birthday #tapevaultstudio #drummer #drums

[gerogerigaogaigar]

The Roots - Things Fall Apart

The early 00s would see lightning quick evolution in hip hop and this album represents both the foundation on which those changes would take place and the last hurrah of 90s alt hip hop scene. And what a cast of features! Common, Most Def, Erykah Badu, J Dilla, and what I believe is Beanie Sigel's first appearance ever. Almost all up and comers who were hitting the turning point in their career and are now legends. All of this glosses over how well constructed Questlove's beats are and how well Black Thought and Malik B interact with them.

The Meters - Look-Ka Py Py

A great collection of funk grooves from the inventors of the groove. The influence on 70s funk is obvious but I tend to think of The Meters as the sample pack from which the golden age of hip hop is crafted. Taking these songs on their own merit isn't difficult though. Smooth organs, extremely tight punchy drums, and crisp choppy guitar. This album is the essence of funk. The platonic ideal of funkiness.

CHIC - Risqué

Disco is an unfairly maligned genre. The hate was manufactured by racist homophobes who had too much stock tied up in both rock radio as an industry and as an outlet for toxic masculinity. But the meme lives on. Twisted and malformed as only a meme can be. Leave your preconceptions behind and listen with an open mind. You may find that the link between this album and hip hop run deeper than just the bassline from Good Times. You might find that even disregarding the influence on future 'cooler' genres this is just extraordinarily good music. Risqué in particular finds just the right balance of bass and string swells to make the songs engaging to at home listeners and club goers alike.

Credence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, a dash of psychedelia, and various other herbs and spices and you've got CCR brewing. Fogerty's raspy voice is the perfect compliment to the down home bayou vibe. Although this album is the most polished of their output the production values don't get in the way of the raw soul and heart. In fact it might be one of the best production jobs in rock music. And of course, it must be said, if you have not heard their epic 11 minute cover of I Heard It Through The Grapevine then you haven't heard one of the best songs ever recorded.

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Going To A Go-Go

Have I mentioned that I really love Motown yet? This is a really solid collection of Smokey Robinson's soulful songwriting. Really anything I've said about the Motown sound goes here as well so I won't be repetitive. This album is made up of song after song that could have been another artist's biggest hit.

Bob Dylan - Love and Theft

Y'know 500 isn't actually that many albums. And Bob Dylan has, like other albums. Better and more important ones. I'm not saying Love and Theft is bad, but is it really one of the 500 greatest albums of all time? How uh many Dylan albums did you put on here guys? Didya get Nashville Skyline, Desire, Before the Flood, John Wesley Harding, Planet Waves, Another Side? All better albums from the deeper recesses of his discography.

The Beach Boys - Wild Honey

W-what? really? I don't... Uh... I mean it's not a bad album at all. It's just. It's like. If there's a Beach Boys album that I forget exists it's this one. Um okay I'll review it for real though. So after the collapse of the Smile project the Beach Boys were left in a weird place. Brian Wilson had become even more reclusive and tension was high. The end result was Wild Honey, an album that clocks in at only 24 minutes and sounds more like bedroom pop than any Beach Boys record before it. It kinda works though, it feels hazy and tired and constricted. It feels warm but unlike previous records this isn't the warmth of the sun on a beach, it's the stuffy heat of a too small apartment with only one window in the summer.

The Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead

In under a year The Grateful Dead went from twenty minutes psychedelic jam sessions to three minutes country rock songs. This was their first album in that country style and it's unbelievable how natural they sound. You would never guess that 69s Live/Dead and 70s Workingman's Dead could ever be the same band. Although I think it's overshadowed by American Beauty which they released only five months later this still marks the biggest turning point in their career.

[therecordconnection]

What's in a Name?: The Allman Brothers Band and the Song Title "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed"

(The gravestone of Elizabeth Reed, located in Rose Hill Cemetery, Macon, GA)

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet." That's the famous question Juliet asks during the equally famous balcony scene in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Taken outside of the play’s context, it refers to the idea that names are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps that's true, however, I don't see it that way. I think names are important. It's part of what makes us what we are. It's one of the many things that make us unique and one of the first things that give us personal identity. A name is a gift, one of the first things that is bestowed upon us by our parents at birth. It’s one of the only things we keep when we die, as it gets to remain on display, reminding loved ones that this is where we are, where we can be found again once we’re in the ground. So what’s in a name? Well, a hell of a lot, actually. Here’s a story about a band and how the strange series of events that led them to the name of a great song title.

In September 1970, The Allman Brothers Band released their second album, Idlewild South. While it didn’t see a ton of significant success in its day, it did spawn what is perhaps the most important song in the Allman’s discography: “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.” A concert juggernaut for the band as well as a live favorite, it was played some 913 times from its inception in 1970 to the end of the band’s life in 2014. Much like the Grateful Dead’s “Dark Star,” “Elizabeth Reed” was a song that evolved and took on many different forms throughout the years. In concert it served as the band’s war horse, a massive jam that combined elements of the rock and blues that the brothers were already known for, but also Miles Davis and John Coltrane’s approaches to jazz, with Santana-tinged latin thrown in for extra spice. It also served as a great showcase for wild and intricate guitar, keyboard, and drum solos, allowing for the members to let loose and go wherever the song takes them. Like other jam bands of the Allman Brothers’ ilk, the song could range anywhere from eight minutes to a staggering twenty. You wouldn’t know until you were in it. “Elizabeth Reed”’s core structure is centered around Gregg Allman’s haunting, mysterious, magic carpet Hammond organ, setting a fantastic foundation before his brother Duane and Dickey Betts’ guitar work take center stage and begin driving the rest of the track forward.

The song is one of the best ways to introduce a newcomer into the band beyond songs like “Ramblin’ Man” or “Whipping Post.” Though the most mysterious part for newcomers might be the name of its song itself...

Who is Elizabeth Reed? What was her connection to the band and what led to her getting a song named after her?

The answer to all of these questions is this: there is no connection. At least, there is no physical connection. She never knew The Allman Brothers Band and the band never knew her... mostly because she was already dead for thirty-five years before the band came along and named a song after her.

(Elizabeth Reed Napier, ca 1865)

Information on Elizabeth Reed is rather limited, but there are at least some things known about the woman whose name the Allmans would later attach a song to. She was a southern belle who came to Macon, GA to attend Wesleyan College, later getting married to Confederate Army captain Briggs Hopson Napier a few weeks after the Civil War ended. She had twelve children (three that died before reaching adulthood), and was also known to be a farmer and the operator of a local pub with her husband in the early 1900s. If there is other noteworthy info on her, it’s been lost to time.

On the flip side, there is a plethora of information on the Allman Brothers Band available. So, in the early days of the Allman Brothers, the band used to hang out in Rose Hill Cemetery. The band would often hang out, relax, write songs, and use it as a rehearsal space. Ironically, it's now the same cemetery where both Allmans and original bassist Berry Oakley are buried. There are a few stories that are told as to the genesis of the song. Some are more grounded, with the story being that Betts named it after Elizabeth in tribute to a headstone they would always see while hanging around Rose Hill... and others are to the tune of Duane Allman saying the song’s inspiration was, “He fucked some girl across the tombstone.”

The main story that’s generally told goes like this: Dickey Betts (guitarist) wrote an instrumental song inspired by a woman. He couldn’t use the name of the woman who inspired the song, so Betts titled the song after a headstone he saw in the cemetery. But why couldn’t he name it after the woman who inspired it? Well, it’s because he needed to hide the fact that the woman that inspired the song was the at-the-time girlfriend of fellow musician/friend Boz Scaggs... and she was someone Betts was having an affair with.

I just think this entire story is wild and fascinating. Think about it. There's a woman lying in the ground in Macon, GA who has, for the last 50+ years, had her name immortalized in song all because some guy who spent time hanging out in a cemetery needed a name for a song he was getting ready to perform and record with his band. She'll never know this song and she'll never hear it. Nowadays, fans from all over visit Rose Hill to pay respects to the band members that are buried there... and also a woman both connected and unconnected to the band who died in 1935. Through the odd series of events that gave “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” its title, Betts answered Shakespeare’s famous “What’s in a name” question. Realistically, the name of the song is pointless, as Betts could’ve chosen from any number of headstones in that cemetery. Since “Elizabeth Reed” is an instrumental, any name would’ve worked. Perhaps there are other worlds where Betts went with another name, “In Memory of Delilah Smith” or “In Memory of Jennifer Johnson” or something of the sort. In a way, Shakespeare is still correct. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” But in another way, Shakespeare is wrong because we do put so much emphasis on a name. What we call ourselves and what we name songs does have importance to people. Betts went with the name “Elizabeth Reed” and naturally, everybody wanted to know who she was to him and why Betts picked that one out of all possible names. It’s a strange conundrum and we contradict Shakespeare’s famous question all the time. The naming of things is indeed ultimately meaningless... but we, as the stubborn humans that we are, have a need to attach meaning to all kinds of things. We feel this strange compulsion to give people and places and things names. We name our WiFi routers, we name our cars and other vehicles, we name our pets, we name streets and bridges and buildings, and so much more! If a thing has significant meaning to us, it deserves a name. Some names get lost to time, but some people, like Elizabeth Reed, get luckier and their name lives on in a way they never could’ve expected.

Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, and Bassist Berry Oakley are dead. They now all lie in the ground not too far from where Elizabeth Reed sleeps. Drummer Butch Trucks is also dead as of 2017. So it goes. The only two original members left alive are Dickey Betts and drummer Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson. The Allman Brothers Band name has been defunct as of 2014 but the name lives on through song. Elizabeth Reed’s name lives on through song and through the hearts of those that feel a connection to that music. Through the Allmans and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” they’ve proven that if someone can put your name to the beauty of great music or art, you’ll never truly be gone. You’ll find eternal life through ever changing and beautiful sounds that people want to keep on hearing. The hands and musicians that play the now sacred song have changed, but the music remains just as wonderful as ever. Immortality through sacred song is the best thing any of us could hope for, and we’ll be better for it if we never throw sacred things away. To quote Vonnegut, “What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet for instance. And all music is.”

[matinek-p]

CAS declaration📄

————-———————————————————----

CREATIVITY-🧠-

Language acquisition:🇪🇸

When I thought about this particular aspect, I knew it would be a perfect opportunity to continue my Spanish journey. Levelling up to a fluent level is my main objective, while making the process of language acquisition as enjoyable as possible. Currently, my level is A2, after an exam in summer, so at last I would like to write a B2 exam, which is said represent an articulate and communicative level.

Main goal: B2 exam.

Musical instrument:🎸

However, whenever my brain hurts from thinking in Spanish, playing the guitar would take the spotlight. Having played a bit in the past, I really regretted leaving playing an instrument. Maybe it is encoded in my genes, as my grandpa got kicked out of musical school, but I deeply believe I could be the first in the family to be in harmony with music.

Main goal: 5 pieces, by heart.

Acting:🎭🎬

If not sport, I am planning to spend my time on the filmset. Here often creativity and activity overlap, as sports abilities are often the key component on top of acting itself. This endlessly creative world offers many components like photoshoots, campaigns and film, which I want to be a part of.

Main goal: 4 projects during the next year.

ACTIVITY-🎯-

Here I seek for diversity, following my old routines of staying active. Ones are going to be intense in terms of what my body is capable of and other will focuse more on critical thinking and finding the peace of mind. These will include fishing, skateboarding practice daily, gymnastics, running, MTB, parkour and what I relatively found incredibly amusing, playing pool. What I would love to introduce would be certainly gym, as I have never been enthusiastic about heavy weights. Before, I focused much more on callisthenics and mobility training. Having such a variety will certainly never get dull.

Main goals:

🏋🏽-100kg, chest press.

🏃‍♂️-5km, 21 minutes.

🤸🏽parkour, flips, strength.

🚲-kazoora bike park.

🛹-new tricks: treflip.

🎣-peace of mind.

🎱-mastering the techniques.

SERVICE-⛑

Ronalds McDonalds foundation:🏥

The most exciting, full filing and essentially the heart of CAS is going to the Ronald McDonalds foundation. I have been its member for the past year and I have never been so thrilled to work with children, help around the hospital and spend time with good-hearted people. The sense of community and bonds the bonds that have been made is what I am most grateful for. Here I am planning to spend the most time, given how diverse the tasks can be. They vary from entertaining children to screwing together hundreds of beds, to meeting with the representatives of the foundation. Life in the foundation never gets dull.

Recently, other foundations visited our school. I was the most impressed by Level up and I am sure I would like to be a part of their projects, without forgetting that my heart will be in Roland’s:)

Main goal: +-30h of volunteering

Trash picking:🗑🌲

For the short term Service, I thought about a close nature reserve just a few streets from where I live. Even though it is a close terrain, people keep littering it. Every now and then, I will leave the park, with a few kilos of trash and put it where it belongs:)

Main goal: 2 full bags of trash each visit.

[juliaksblog]

This year of CAS activities has been very transformative. Each activity contributed uniquely to my personal growth, teaching me valuable life skills and expanding my horizons.

This year, climbing has taught me perseverance and problem-solving. Each climb presented unique challenges, requiring both physical strength and mental strategy. I definitely see a progress in my skills and I’m ready to take on grander difficulties.

It was the first time I really focused on improving my cooking. Before, my food used to be really bad and no one in my family would eat it. Experimenting with different recipes and ingredients has not only helped me cook delicious meals but also improved my culinary skills overall. Sharing meals with family and friends was the most rewarding part.

Drawing has always been my outlet for self-expression. Though I lack free time to focus more on consistent practice, I've seen improvement in my creativity. This hobby has encouraged me to slow down and observe the world more closely, fostering a greater awareness of beauty in everyday life. I’ve fostered an appreciation for visit art galleries and seeing the amazing works done by other artists.

Maintaining my guitar playing has been more challenging this year. I could only play during the day, because of the noise, and didn’t have enough time. Although I didn’t advance as much as I hoped, the joy of playing familiar tunes kept my passion for music alive.

Volunteering at the foundation fundacja akacja and their biking lessons to wheelchair users has been profoundly impactful. It has taught me empathy, patience, and the joy of helping others achieve their goals. Witnessing the determination of the participants has inspired me to be a more considerate about other peoples needs but also to stay as a motivated individual. This experience has enriched my perspective on the resilience of the human spirit. I also made connections with the people there. They taught me that verbal communication isn’t the only way to talk to eachother. We communicated in new ways, such as gestures and expressions.

I'm grateful for the journey and look forward to continuing these activities in the future.

[theghostpinesmusic]

Alright! I walked to the taphouse and am sitting in the sun and wind on the patio drinking a really good imperial cider so it's time to keep writing about fucking GOOSE.

We're on to the second night in Dillon now, 8/17/22, also known as the show that I attended after getting up at 5am, driving an hour up into the Rockies, and summiting three 14ers before driving back down, wolfing down a huge burrito, and getting into the venue right before the band took the stage.

I watched a little of this show sitting down on the lawn because my knees gave up. There wasn't much dancing. From me, at least.

This was a ridiculous show. Probably better than the first night. Definitely better than the band's Red Rocks debut the next night (more on that later). There was a great "California Magic" opener for those of us who traveled to Colorado (I live in Oregon but can see California from my front window). There was an incredible, almost thirty-minute "Borne" into "Dr. Darkness" in the first set. The second set opened with a twenty-plus-minute evil-disco-groove version of "Wysteria Lane," and also had a one-off "It's My Life" cover (which was great, no matter what anyone else says), a blissed-out take on "Rosewood Heart," an absolutely filthy "Rockdale," and one of my all-time favorite "Madhuvan"s, which is saying something considering it's my favorite song from my favorite band.

But, again, none of those are easily found on YouTube. What is there is this cover of "Mississippi Half-Step," which was the first set closer. There isn't a huge jam to speak of here, per se, but this was a cool moment in the show that I thought was worth writing about anyway.

So, after the rainy, cold first night in Dillon, the weather during the second night's show was amazing. The view across the lake and of the surrounding mountains was clear, it was sunny but not too hot, and with good weather the venue instantly became one of my favorite places I'd ever seen a show. As a follow-up to a day of climbing in the mountains, the first set was amazing, and I was even happier than I usually am at a live show. I distinctly remember that at the moment the band launched into "Half-Step," a Grateful Dead cover and one of my absolute favorite covers that they do, a group of grizzly old dudes dressed in tie-dye hoodies with Dead stealies on them, who had been watching somewhat reservedly throughout the whole set, all started yelling and jumping up and down and hugging each other in sheer joy, just as the sun was starting to go down behind the mountains behind them. It was one of those randomly wonderful moments that happen sometimes at shows if you're paying attention, and remembering it makes me love this really well-played version of the song, even if it's not some twenty-minute jam that gets way out there.

I'm not going to do a typical write-up here, but a few observations from my re-watch of the tune...

Trevor's jacket is totally amazing. He needs to bring it back in '24.

I don't think I ever consciously realized that Peter plays guitar instead of keys on this song until just now. His solo at 1:22 is not necessarily his best, but it's fun.

I remember very clearly the crowd cheer at the lyric "...and pray for better weather" because we'd all been there the night before and were happy to finally see the sun.

At 6:00, the band moves from the outro of the song proper to an upbeat jam. Some fun interplay between Rick and Peter (and Trevor) here in the early going.

Jam starts to turn funky at 8:30, and this remains the direction for most of the rest of the tune. Those of us with really sore knees were doing our best to groove at this point. This reminds me a bit of a "Tumble" jam, with Peter adding the rhythm guitar foundation to Rick's soloing.

There's a great panning shot of what my view of the venue was starting at about 11:02.

This is a fantastic disco jam, but it's pretty one-dimensional, so I don't know that I have much else to add. There's a tension-building bit that starts at 14:20 and then the band blasts back into the "Half-Step" outro at 14:38. It's great, but doesn't necessarily require any deep analysis. A super high-energy jam from a great show. Check out both the "Borne" and "Wysteria Lane" for something crazier.

It's probably not in the cards at this point, but I'd love to go back to Dillon for Goose again some day.

[gregg-reuben]

Why tell the others?

Why tell the others? https://seths.blog/2024/04/why-tell-the-others/ Every internet success works because the network effect kicked in. There’s no other way for an idea to reliably and economically reach a big enough audience to be sustained. That’s why Super Bowl ads make so little sense in 2024. Ideas that spread win. I wrote a bestseller about this 20 years ago, and I still take the insight to heart.  One challenge with fundraising is that it’s awkward to share. Perhaps your friend isn’t ready to donate, or isn’t interested in the non profit… It simply doesn’t feel as easy or as fun as sharing a silly video or meme. Also, if you’re in an auction, you probably don’t want to share it with others, because they might outbid you. That’s where the second innovation of GOODBIDS comes in. Every registered user gets a unique referral link. If you share that link and someone bids, you get a free bid. In any auction you like. The free bid can be for any amount. And if you get the reward with that free bid, it costs you nothing (and it doesn’t cost the charity anything either). Here’s a simple example: Today, we’re launching three cool auctions: 1-on-1 office or Zoom meeting with Nicole Walters (to benefit WalkGoodLA) Priceless guitar signed by Bob Weir (for the Grateful Guitars Foundation) Autographed jersey from Christian McCaffrey who played in this year’s Super Bowl (for the Million Meal Project) A deadhead cares a lot about this guitar. A business owner would walk across hot coals to spend time with bestselling author Nicole Walters. And unlike the commercials, jerseys are actually worth something to fans. These are worth sharing. If you tell your friends about one of these auctions, post on Reddit or share on social media, and someone bids any amount, even $10, your special link will get a free bid added to your account. You can use that free bid to participate in the Apple Watch auction at $350 or $550. It works because the free bids simply ratchet the auction forward. If you get outbid, the new donor just put in $360. If you don’t, it’s still raising as much as it would have if you hadn’t used your free bid. I’m imagining that some folks will bid early in auctions because they want to support the charity and the work they’re doing, or because they’d like to be part of something. And it’s likely that many people will eagerly spread the idea of GOODBIDS to support a charity they care about. Or because the reward is really cool and worth talking about. Or because they’d like to earn an account filled with free bids. Now it gets fascinating. And fun.

[krispyweiss]

Quarter Notes: Blurbs & Briefs from Sound Bites

- In this edition: Billy Strings; Billy Joel; Grateful Dead; & Aerosmith

BILLY LIVE STRINGS ON TAP: Billy Strings will livestream his spring tour - 13 shows running April 12-May 25 - on Nugs.net.

BILLY JOEL TO BROADCAST FROM MSG: The 100th concert of Billy Joel’s years-long residency at Madison Square Garden will air live on CBS at 9 p.m. Eastern, April 14.

GRATEFUL GUITARS TO APPEAR AT DARK STAR JUBILEE: The Grateful Guitars Foundation will display Jerry Garcia’s Alligator axe and the Martin D-28 used to record American Beauty along with two of Bob Weir’s guitars at Dark Star Orchestra’s Dark Star Jubilee, scheduled for Memorial Day weekend in Ohio.

AEROSMITH RESCHEDULES FAREWELL TOUR: Aerosmith will relaunch its Peace Out farewell tour Sept. 20 in Pennsylvania with dates scheduled through Feb. 26, 2025. Black Crowes will open.

The tour was suspended after three gigs in 2023 after Steven Tyler developed vocal problems.

4/12/24

[dustedmagazine]

David Nance and Mowed Sound — S-T (Third Man)

Photo by Anne Gustafson

David Nance rouses an old-school, country-blues racket on this latest outing. His last full-length, Staunch Honey, was largely solo, but this is a full-band effort supported by musicians you might recognize as Rosali’s back line (Nance himself, James Schroeder and Kevin Donahue).

It kicks off in rich power chords and old-time-y picking, an electrified “Mock the Hour.” It swings and wheels in a righteous way, spiraling out of a foundation laid by the Band and the Grateful Dead and built upon by latter day roadhouse rockers such as D. Charles Speer, One Eleven Heavy, Howlin Rain and Oakley Hall. Megan Siebe arranges a full string section for “Mock the Hours,” which adds a nice density but doesn’t distract from its essential guitar roar.

Life on the road has honed Nance’s sound, tightening up his slouching blues sound into something more mobile and propulsive. Tense, roving rhythms drive these songs, giving cuts like “Tergiversation” a near-African heat and seething shimmer. “Side Eyed Sam” likewise dances lightly like it’s barefoot on hot pavement, little blurts of flute bursting out of restless propulsion.

Nance brings in a couple of guests. Omaha fixture Pearl Lovejoy Boyd takes a turn on the lovely, acoustic “Tumbleweed,” where shadowy harmonies recall prime 1970s Gram Parsons, while Kansan Sam Lipsett plays occasional bass.

That’s all fine and good, but it’s striking when Nance slows to a smoldering torpor in the closer “In Orlando,” a song he wrote after a dream about his deceased sister Angel. The cut gives him an opportunity to spin out the vocals, which are rough but full of honey sweetness, like a lost 1970s cosmic cowboy classic from the cut-out bin.

The Mowed Sound debut has the rough-cut energy of live performance, the precision that comes from lots of playing together. It’s a nice step ahead for David Nance, as he brings country blues forward into the 21st century.

Jennifer Kelly

[kianbe]

𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆𝒔.

𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔, axis labels hq, seoul, kr, early morning. 𝒕𝒍𝒅𝒓,  kian begins writing for the songwriting camp. 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕, written in 475 words.

while it was originally his goal to collaborate with another person during the songwriting camp, an idea blossomed in kian's mind and he's been hyper-focused on it ever since. he's been putting in long hours watering the bud that's sprouted in his brain; providing it with his beaming sunlight, and even going so far as to speak (or rather, sing) aloud to it in hopes that it absorbs his oxygen, too.

much to his delight, his efforts are paying off, and only after a few days, it's standing tall on its own—vibrant in hue and fragrant like the breath of springtime. while he may have been the one to nourish the idea into becoming something glorious, its foundation is wholly built by his feelings about a certain someone—a man that's been on his mind every hour of every day ever since he started his training.

ryu nicky has been a constant in his life since the day they met, and kian's always been grateful to have a friend like him around, but now that the time they can spend together has drastically decreased due to his brutal schedule, he catches himself missing him so much that it feels painful.

during break times, he'll rush to his phone so he can message him, and he looks forward to their facetime calls almost every night before bed. whenever they don't or can't happen, the blueness that swathes him is immense. it's unlike anything he's ever experienced before, and it's put a lot of things into perspective for him.

his emotional response to the situation at hand has him fully believing that the love he feels for nicky is much deeper than anything platonic, and now that he's finally accepting that, it's inspired him to write music. sprawled out in front of him are wrinkled pieces of paper full of sloppily scribbled down chord ideas, lyrics, and doodles from his bouts of distraction. the piece is slowly coming together, and he feels like a mad scientist trying to come up with the perfect musical formula.

now that the gears in his brain are turning, he's got to kick them into high gear by revving up the engine in his heart—using his emotions to string together stanzas that beautifully convey his truth. it shouldn't be too hard, especially when he has nicky on his mind. picking up his beloved six-string acoustic guitar, he delicately places it in his lap and begins to strum; trying to manifest the right vibe.

hopefully by the end of today's brainstorming session, he'll feel comfortable enough to share it with someone for critiques. until then though, he's working hard to let his heart and soul do the talking. he knows he can trust them, and with that confidence in tow, he embarks on a journey; believing he'll be successful in the end.

[singeratlarge]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Carlos Alomar, J Balvin, the 1824 debut of Beethoven’s 9thSymphony, cousin Jane Biddle, Johannes Brahms, Teresa Brewer, Robert Browning, Cornelius Bumpus, Armando Castellano (Quinteto Latino), Eagle Eye Cherry, Tex Cobb, Gary Cooper, Rich Dart, Anne Dudley, Mic Gillette (Tower of Power), Olympe de Gouges, Ed Hall, Robert Hegyes, Thelma Houston, Bill Kreutzmann, the late, great Johnny Maestro (good to have met you), Mamas & Papas 1966 single “Monday Monday,” Darren McGavin, Glenn Miller’s 1941 single “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” Christy Moore, Keith Richard’s “Satisfaction” (guitar riff born today in 1965), David Ruffin, Rabindranath Tagore, Derek Taylor, Pyotor Illyich Tchaikovsky, Johnny Unitas, Rick West (Tremeloes), and the acclaimed and eclectic artist, set designer, and drummer: Prairie Prince. He’s a foundational member of the great satirical art rock band The Tubes, and he’s performed on countless recordings, the short list includes David Byrne, John Fogerty, George Harrison, Todd Rundgren, and XTC. Prairie and I have had a few musical adventures, and I’m grateful for his artistry. Here’s a track we did a few years back. https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/track/halfway-to-dakota    ...Meanwhile, HB PP thank you for banging on the drum all day...

#prairieprince #tubes #toddrundgren #johnnyjblair #chrisvonsneidern #dakota #sanfrancisco

[lsdunesarchive]

Travis Stever – L.S. Dunes ‘Past Lives lead to Vast Strives’.

Words by Will Oakeshott Photo by Mark Beemer November 11, 2022

“Rock n’ roll as a genre is different from pop and hip hop: it is about bands, and that for me suggests brotherhood, family, friendship and community.” – Steven Van Zandt.

What the revered Steven Van Zandt has expressed with this statement is a declaration of sincerity. An actor, author, producer, activist, songwriter and musician who has performed with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band for nearing five decades, let alone appearing on The Sopranos for numerous seasons among many other accolades; this is a man with an immeasurable knowledge of the music and arts universe. What he describes here is more than aspects of a genre of music, it is about the unifying element of that raw gritty and uncompromising energy in rock music. It is a bond, a family and in certain scenarios, a brotherhood.

L.S. Dunes represent these credentials and so much more. Built from the foundations of iconic post-hardcore, progressive rock and emo groups such as Thursday, Coheed & Cambria, My Chemical Romance, Saosin and Circa Survive – their origination is more than just “sound” tailored, it is bound by a bewildering bond. Each member of these adored outfits have toured together, whether decades ago or even with their future plans. Most have performed around the world side by side in their respective outfits; the connection is so cohesive, it is above the idea of a “reunion”, it is in fact an astonishing affinity. As guitarist (of Coheed & Cambria fame) Travis Stever elaborates:

“It’s interesting now playing in a band with Frank (Iero, guitar, of My Chemical Romance prestige) and seeing My Chemical Romance on these enormous shows that they’re doing. Then, with Anthony (Green, vocals, [Saosin, Circa Survive]) singing, I mean, he is just so powerful.” Travis pauses in almost disbelief about his talented band brothers before continuing – “With Thursday, I remember Full Collapse came out and Claudio (Sanchez, guitar and vocals of C&C) and I would like listen to that going back and forth from the studio or going to rehearse or even in the van doing shows. Then, they took us out on tour and it was the furthest we had gone in the States. I don’t even know if The Second Stage Turbine Blade was out yet; we might just have been travelling with an Equal Vision Records sampler (laughs). Anyway we travelled to Arizona and I remember thinking that this is the furthest we’ve been out in the States on tour, this is amazing! I am so grateful to them for that!” Mr Stever exclaims with unbridled excitement.

“But I mean, all the while all these bands, except for the select few times, I never really listening to them with the outside perspective of that’s who we’re playing with tonight. Playing with all these guys now, it makes me dive back into what they did. I have this whole new respect for it; the My Chemical Romance music and Circa Survive! It is so cool, because we have this real band, but it almost reminds me of when you were in high school and everybody had all these different bands, but you started bands with each other. I feel like at 40, oh, I’m not going to tell you the rest of that. But my birthday is coming up, too haha!”

For context, Vera Wang did not begin designing wedding dresses until she was 40 and the prominent American author W. B. Pitkin’s most famous work is entitled: Life Begins At 40.

“You know, to be in those years, that you’re still able to have that excitement and that kind of experience, like, wow! It’s mind blowing, actually; we have made music together we all really love. And now it’s the full circle.”

Age is only a number, undoubtedly. In discussion about L.S. Dunes’ debut full-length, or better defined as their brilliant benchmark (our review here) – Travis is bursting with elation. Understandably, as he described prior, this LP was crafted with artists he is a fan of and now family with. However, there is more to the story than the five-piece’s Past Lives; in essence, this artwork is a pandemic album. The excellent entanglement between the quintet through history is an immeasurable nexus assuredly, but the creative process wasn’t the conventional method of being in the same room; the outfit literally honed their collective craft from their bedrooms.

“The DNA is there, but it is in a bedroom, because we were stuck in said bedroom. So Tucker (Rule, drums of Thursday distinction) and I had been talking about doing things months earlier, before the pandemic hit. It hits and everybody was staying busy here, but almost like six, seven months into it, momentum was needed. There was plans to do a Thursday Signals showcase (streamed live performance), I was a part of this too, which was an honour to be a part of.” Travis pauses for a moment with a sense of gratitude before continuing – “Everybody got tested and did the whole thing, during that time, there was chatter between some of us. Tim (Payne, bass of Thursday prestige) had been writing a lot with Tucker, then Frank (Iero) was interested �� so let’s just try this. There’s no expectation. We agreed that if we sent some stuff back and forth ideas and it didn’t gel, then we could let it go. We already knew that we would gel, as stupid texts back and forth and stupid dialogue – we were doing that like memes and all that stuff.”

Mr Stever laughs in a deafening manner before switching inspirationally – “Then, here comes the music. So I sent something that now became ‘Antibodies’ on our album, I sent that as a loose arrangement of riffs. Tucker played to it right away – I was like: ‘Holy sh*t!’ Tim added bass – wow. Frank added guitar, I was in awe!”

These progressive post-hardcore pioneers had more than ideas floating around to share with one another, there was a foreseen chemistry that exploded with life to a level similar to the big bang theory – in an alternative music sense. Each member latched to the project and as Travis illustrates, this was quickly becoming an infatuation beyond measure.

“Then Frank sent an idea – I added a bunch of guitar and it was like, you know, the addiction. I was also addicted to waiting for the text that went: ‘Oh, man, this is so cool’! I would look at my phone hoping that something was coming through. Before I’d go to sleep, I’d have to turn the phone off. It’s like, that’s all you have.” In a slight change of tone, Mr Stever recalls the earlier reality – “We can’t go out and play live music right now. I can’t go to one of their houses, but we’re sending these texts, speaking sonically to each other through text and email. Eventually we had a handful of song ideas instrumental and Tucker kind of tricked Anthony in the sense that this was a good thing because we didn’t want him to get psyched out either. We also didn’t want him to think that everybody was judging him, so he told him, it was just some friends creating or something like that. He sent him ‘Antibodies’ and maybe one other track, if my memory is right. Then when we got ‘Antibodies’ back – that was it man. It was the missing puzzle piece.”

With this exuberant creative energy, there must have been a requirement to harness it, to make sense of the overflow of ecstasy that would burst through five men who have lived this “sound” for decades?

“Tim (Payne) really played a conductor and engineer from afar. He would say things and organise them. Sometimes he would just send guitars and say: ‘Hey, I just threw a bunch of paint at the wall if you want to cut parts in and out or see if anything works, go for it’. But a majority of the time, like most of the record that was worked on this way, was just everybody’s parts were just left what they were. And then some things were worked out when we finally did get together and be in a room and do what you’d call pre-production.

It was so spotty though, because we’d be together and then something would come up, like a spike in COVID, or whatever. So another pause – once Will Yip (Lauryn Hill, Code Orange) came into play, he did magic from afar too. Frank was able to go do his guitars there which helped, once it came to recording the finals and Tucker did the drums also. But Tim and I still did everything remotely.

“I imagine that without the confines of the pandemic, all of us will probably go back to going into a place when we do the next record; but I was fine with how this one was constructed – I prefer how it evolved when we were all together.”

The culmination of the virtuosos who make up L.S. Dunes have an almost insurmountable magnitude of where their sound trajectory might take them, expertly experimental almost summarises it. In all probability however, even the most perceptive of admirers will be surprised by the slightly left-field closer ‘Sleep Cult’. A salute to ‘In The Still Of The Night’ by Fred Parris And The Satins – this doo-wop number transcends time to a romantic genius where music really is adored regardless of age or genre.

“So that chord progression I could hear Frank playing it from the other room while I was working on a different song. Basically doing the pre-production for what would go to Will Yip -while doing that pre-production, some song ideas came out of it. Interestingly enough, ‘Sleep Cult’ and ‘Permanent Rebellion’ came out of that time. And that was an example of Frank just working on that chord progression and decided to throw this down.”

“I wrote some lap steel guitar to that song and then Anthony just added the ‘do-woop’ bit – it was actually my favourite song on the record for months, but that always changes for me, which to me means it is a good album!”

So will the next film clip be a throwback to 1956?

“Well I guess Anthony, he’s from the Philadelphia area right? I could see a bunch of dudes standing around the garbage can with a fire doing the ‘do-woop’ together, like in the Rocky film!”

Welcome to L.S. Dunes – brothers in charm.

Interview by Will Oakeshott @TeenWolfWill

[independentartistbuzz]

Indie 5-0 with Todd Mosby

Todd Mosby is an acclaimed Indian and jazz guitarist influenced by St. Louis’s vibrantly varied cultural blend of Indian, African-American, and Americana traditions. He is one of the few musicians in America who has mastered western composition, jazz improvisation, and Indian raga music forms and incorporates them freely as a part of his musical language.

He just released his contemporary jazz fusion composition “Place in the Sun,”  from the soon to be released album, Land of Enchantment. It’s a gorgeous sonic look at the visual, emotive, spiritual interactions Mosby experiences within the New Mexico borders.

The song  features A-list musicians, including: drummer Vinnie Colaiuta , saxophone/aerophone Tom Scott, bassist Rhonda Smith, keyboard/synth Dapo Torimiro, vocalist Laura Vall, two-time Grammy winning producer Jeff Weber, and Emmy and Grammy-winning engineer Clark Germain.

We got to speak with Todd Mosby about “Place in the Sun,” his music, and his career in this edition of Indie 5-0.

Let’s dive in:

How did you first become interested in jazz music, and what drew you to the genre?

I was first drawn to traditional jazz thruogh the back door of bluegrass and 70’s jam bands like The Allman Bros. and Grateful Dead. Bluegrass offered a level of virtuoso acoustic instrument rhythm and single note playing which intrigued me. The jam bands offered a level of extended solo plying within the context of a more popular listening format. I also loved the aspect of creating music of the moment in the moment. One minute of music in one minute of time. In college I was able to expand that process thru composition and orchestration. One minute of music in one year of time.

In music college I was also exposed the Brazilian music of Hermeto Pascal, Flora Purim, Airto, Dom Um Romeo, Milton Nascimento, and crossover albums like Chick Corea’s Light as a Feather and Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer. In Boston, I was able to witness the live performances of Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell, Weather Report, Bill Evens. The excitement and beauty of these sounds created a desire in me to want to play this music and explore it as far as I could. That exploration continues to draw me in at constantly ever evolving levels of depth.

You've said that your new song, "Place in the Sun" was inspired by your own experiences within the New Mexico borders. Can you share how the landscape and culture of the region inspired and influenced the composition of this song?

When you first cross the border into New Mexico on 40 going West the light changes and the land takes on a feminine quality. For me, I feel a beautifully strong and vibrant presence. This vibrancy translates into the various sections which are stylistically reflected in composition.

I have been on many trail sojourns, went on spirit journeys, skied the mountains, soaked In the springs, ate the food and enjoyed the Spanish inspired vibe. These are all reflected in the Brazilian / Spanish influenced vocals, the rhythmic drums and driving guitar.

What are some techniques you use to capture the emotions you felt within your listeners?

Structurally, for bass and drums, I used a mix of Tower of Power meets James Brown for the first section and the Police meets English Beat Sca for the second section to build a strong rhythmic foundation.

Melodically, I wrote for Tom Scott’s horn reminiscent of his Tom Cat album, an early influence. Atmospherically, I wrote vocal pads which blended with Tom’s synth and horn sounds to connect the music at a higher more angelic level. I always loved the vocal arrangements of Sergio Mendez and drew inspiration from there as well.

The middle layers consisting of keys, synth and guitar which musically glues the bottom and top layers together. Of note, is Tom Scott’s amazing vocal patch solo which came about from a copy error I made when transferring a shared vocal line. When he saw it he said “Do you want me to play like this?” At which point he began an amazing scat improv. On the aerophone. I wrote the vocalize lyric from listening to the cool consonances generated from Vietnamese language.

Who is your biggest source of musical inspiration and what role does that play in your works?

My list of personal musical hero’s and mentors is long and varied. At this point, I draw on personal experience and generally have a thru line on recorded projects meaning I write albums in a series of 2-3. So I get inspiration from the project theme and then draw on the people I have studied with as a way of taking what I learned, then expand and develop that as a way of respecting and continuing what these great masters have given me.

This song in particular required me to draw on every aspect of my composition, orchestration and performance experience to complete. It took the highest level musicians to be able to pull this tune off.

What do you hope listeners take away from "Place in the Sun" and your upcoming album, Land of Enchantment? What emotions or experiences do you want them to connect with when they listen to your music?

I would like people to experience the mystique and sense of adventure I felt when I first entered this region decades ago. From hot springs to spirit rides to hiking trails and skiing the mountains. I was first inspired to visit the area by Georgia O’Keefe’s biography titled “Portrait of an Artist.” Reading about her life and times in New Mexico surrounded by a community of artists which went on to shape modern American art and culture was very alluring to me. The desert always holds a space of its own in which to find a center. It is a place of inward reflection and outward expression. New Mexico is an ancient land with a long history of varied human presence dating at least back to Chaco Canyon culture. It is a place which has stayed intact as far as Native culture, Spanish influence and American frontier. Georgia O’Keefe and Ansel Adams found unending inspiration with in its surrounding environs. It is one of the poorest states in the union as far as revenue but one of the richest in terms of culture.