Barry Manilow Honors Hialeah, Florida’s KC and The Sunshine Band
BARRY MANILOW HONORS KC and THE SUNSHINE BAND
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MAGNETS AND GHOSTS ANNOUNCES LIGHT MY FLAME TOUR 2013
photo – Lee Clower
July 1, 2013 – Los Angeles, CA – Atlanta, GA’s alternative rock band Magnets and Ghosts, which features guitarist Dean Roland from the multi-platinum band Collective Soul along with Berklee School of Music graduate Ryan Potesta, has announced their upcoming “Light My Flame Tour 2013.” Touring for the first time ever in support of their debut album, Mass, Magnets and Ghosts will kick off the trek on July 27th in Jacksonville, FL and will end on August 24th in their hometown of Atlanta.
Listen to a selection of songs from their album, Mass, at http://idesignprod.com/magnetsandghosts/
Watch the band’s video for “Like a Sunday” at http://youtu.be/zmH4Lsb2gC0
Roland met Potesta in 2007 while working on various projects in Atlanta, and immediately made a connection both musically and as friends. The duo discovered they had similar tastes in music and decided to form a new band, Magnets and Ghosts, in 2010. After spending the later half of that year and the next writing and recording, the band released their debut album, Mass, in November of 2011.
Influenced by bands like Radiohead, Doves and Elbow, Magnets and Ghosts craft honest, inspiring rock anthems such as “Like a Sunday” and the bluesy, Zeppelin-esque song “Light My Flame.” With Roland’s experience crafting memorable songs and Potesta’s knack for songwriting and production it’s no surprise the duo’s debut has been well consumed by listeners with sales of over 5,000 copies sold to date.
Pick up a copy of Mass now on iTunes or Amazon and catch the band’s first ever tour this summer!
Magnets and Ghosts Tour Dates:
July 27 – Jacksonville, FL – Underbelly
July 29 – Birmingham, AL – The Nick
July 30 – New Orleans, LA – Circle Bar
July 31 – Hattiesburg, MS – Brewsky’s
Aug 2 – Tuscaloosa, AL – Green Bar
Aug 4 – Nashville, TN – High Watt
Aug 6 – Louisville, KY – The New Vintage Showcase
Aug 7 – Lexington, KY – Willie’s Locally Known
Aug 9 – Columbus, OH – RUMBA Cafe
Aug 10 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Tavern
Aug 11 – Pittsburgh, PA – Hard Rock Cafe
Aug 13 – Cambridge, MA – Middle East Upstairs
Aug 14 – Brooklyn, NY – Union Hall
Aug 16 – New York, NY – Santo’s Party House
Aug 17 – Philadelphia, PA – Northstar Bar
Aug 18 – Washington, DC – DC9
Aug 20 – Roanoke, VA – Martin’s Downtown
Aug 22 – Charlotte, NC – Evening Muse
Aug 23 – Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club
Aug 24 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl
For More Information:
Darling Parade Takes Home the ‘Make A Band Famous’Award at O Music Awards
FAN VOTES GIVE DARLING PARADE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME
TO PLAY VMA WEEKEND AND BE FEATURED AS MTV’S ARTIST TO WATCH
MORE THAN 100 MILLION VOTES CAST DURING THE BIGGEST
SOCIAL AND MOBILE DRIVEN O MUSIC AWARDS TO DATE
| New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, June 21, 2013 – MTV, VH1, CMT and LOGO’s O Music Awards ended Thursday with one final loud crashing beat of a drum. During the course of the 24-hour event hosted by Sklar Brothers, awards were dolled out in categories like “Best Artist Instagram,” “Best Music App,” and “Fan Army FTW,” Andrew W.K. landed a place in the history books after successfully drumming his way to a new world record, Darling Parade won a coveted slot to play VMA weekend, while more than 50 bands, 5 kittens and one goat took part in “Live Music Day Festival,” the world’s largest online/mobile only music festival.
More than 100 million votes were cast, a new O Music Awards record, and more than doubling the votes from O Music Awards 3. The event blazed an outpouring of conversation and fan action across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Vine. O Music Awards content garnered 125 million fan impressions on Twitter, including 3 national trending topics. The event secured 60 million impressions on Facebook, and 5k likes on Vine. More than 500k livestreams were registered. For the first time, the O Music Awards featured “Make a Band Famous” award and opportunity. Artists and bands first opted into the contest via Viacom Music Group’s Artist Platform (Artists.MTV, Artists.VH1, and Artists.CMT), with 10 semifinalists determined by internal committee and fan engagement. After nearly one million votes, the five top vote-getters (in alphabetical order) Chill Moody, Darling Parade, The So So Glos, Striking Matches and Syd Arthur won a shot to play during “Live Music Day Fesitval.” During the live show, fan votes determined that Darling Parade will get a once-in-a-lifetime shot to play the VMA weekend in August, as well as the distinction of becoming MTV’s Artist to Watch highlighted band. “We’re so appreciative of our fans for bringing this award home for us, and we’re ecstatic to see where this opportunity takes us!,” said Kristin Kearns of Darling Parade. Darling Parade Performs “Ghost” Fans that missed any of the action, want to check out some cool emerging bands, or just want to see more of Pearl the Goat or Andrew WK drumming out with Marky Ramone, can go to OMusicAwards.com on their phone, tablet or desktop. In a nod to web culture and memes, categories included “Digital Genius Award,” “Most Inspiring Fan Outreach,” and “Friday Friday Award,” which celebrates the trends we would most like to go away. Presenters included a mix of comedians, television stars and even a few fabulous drag queens. The big winners of the night were Jack White for Analog Genius, Joe Jonas for Best Artist Instagram, Kitty for Best Web-Born Artist and CrowdSYNC for Best Music App. Full list of winners are below. Joe Jonas had this to say about his win: “I don’t think anyone has ever won an award for being an on Instagram before, so it’s cool to be the first one. Thanks to all of the fans that voted.” Spoofing previous O Music Award world records, Andrew W.K. bravely sought to set a new world record for himself for the LONGEST DRUM SESSION IN A RETAIL STORE. To aid in this rhythmic feat of endurance, he was joined by a who’s who of drummers including Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Marky Ramones (The Ramones), The Roots band leader and drummer ?uestlove, Zac Hanson (Hanson), Liberty DeVitto (former drummer for Billy Joel) and more. Even Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. stopped by to play the cowbell. After 24-hour banging hours, Andrew W.K. had this to say about setting the new record and winning the award for “Must Follow-Artist” on Twitter: “I’m humbled, my ears are ringing bad, I’m emotional and I’ve never felt so spent in my life. But I’m so thankful for everyone that contributed and supported me,” said Andrew W.K. immediately after setting the record. This year’s O Music Awards was built around “Live Music Day Festival,” which included more than 50 bands performing in New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles. The show kicked off with Jonas Brothers performing medley of songs off their highly anticipated, upcoming fifth album, including their latest single, “First Time,” Additional performers included Gavin DeGraw, Hanson, Atlas Genius, Kate Nash, Grouplove, and Ashley Monroe. Full list of performers are below. Sponsors for O Music Awards are Pepsi, Twix and Sony Pictures. O Music Awards Executive Produced by Lee Rolontz, Dermot McCormack and Rick Krim for Viacom. Produced by Paul Flattery. Directed by Ivan Dudynsky O Music Awards Winners: Live Music Day Festival Performers About Darling Parade: For more information, visit www.darlingparade.com. |
Interview With Ryan Hurtgen
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“I’d like to share with you all the new Rene Breton album Between City and Country. For those of you that haven’t heard from me in a while, in the last year I moved from Nashville to Los Angeles. These songs are all impressions of this journey. In many ways the album is auto-biographical, however I do think it resonates with many young people migrating around between cities, through country, looking for their place, a new adventure, love, and the American Dream. I’ve chosen to release the album now because I feel it is a summer album and will be good to listen to while traveling and doing summer things.” – Ryan Hurtgen – Rene Breton
Ryan Hurtgen left Nashville in July 2011, less than a year after the release of Rene Breton’s Asleep In Green for what looked like would be another stepping stone in the album’s success.
It has been almost two years and on the eve of Rene Breton’s new release, Between City And Country, The Nashville Bridge caught up with Ryan after watching the new videos, “Left Coast” and “Connection” that shows a departure from their first release that kind of showcases an almost M. Ward hangs in Laurel Canyon soaked in a post “OK, Computer” pop environment with a real prog keyboard twist and shiny happy “Eureka, I have found it!” California vocals.
Brad Hardisty / The Nashville Bridge: Why did you head out to California?
Ryan Hurtgen: Originally, the reason was I was in a relationship and she was from L.A. I moved out here to be with her and start a new music career. I had already been in Nashville five years and I was ready for a change. So, we did it. We arrived here. That was the original reason to just find new adventures, new types of people, cultures, thinking that kind of thing.
TNB: What did you find out in California?
RH: All that’s proven to be very true. Some people have a very progressive mindset out on the West Coast. Really, the West Coast is a very spiritual place. Its very open- minded and it’s very, like, about not seeing the rules of things or the borders of things. It’s about a kind of free your mind with no rules attitude. The spirit of the 60’s still does really exist here. I think it’s definitely more of the underbelly of things like the way it was back in the 60’s. The mentality still does exist here in the art and in the culture.
It’s different than Nashville because Nashville is very traditional. Nashville is very stuck in tradition. You know like in songwriting. There are rules to things and there are ways to doing things; more practical. You know both ways of approaching things are great. I think that Nashville was very good for me in that sense. It taught me a lot of rules, but, I think I reached a point where I needed a change. But, I think it is kind of ironic because this album is more “poppy” than the Nashville project, but, for me as a person, I definitely expanded my world a little bit more out of being about the necessity for my own self and like something more.
TNB: Tell me a little bit about what happened after you got out there.
RH: I guess I’ll tell you the whole story. I just made a cup of tea. I got up and went surfing at like 5 AM and then I just dozed off on the couch.
TNB: Where do you surf?
RH: I go to Topanga Canyon. I surf there, but, I live in Echo Park; pretty much downtown. I’m going to go outside and find a place to get in thought mode.
Well it’s about 82 degrees. It’s one of the reasons I definitely stayed. Alright, I found a place in the shade here. So, basically I hit a wall in Nashville. Okay in the last interview I said I was going out to California and I didn’t know what I was going to find there. I was finding a new direction and I think I was talking about how in songwriting I was really into the “surreal” thing there with Asleep In Green. That was the direction and method I was using for that album, but, I wasn’t totally set on keeping that theme with the next record and I then I said in that article that I wanted to go more towards more Pop songwriting which appeared to be very true. I ended up going in more of a pop direction.
I moved out here and just completely lost everything. I lost the band that originally was on tour. We had a record label and a booking agent and I was in a serious relationship and all of my ducks were in a row and it was lining up to be this nice perfect music life. Then the bottom fell out.
It was kind of hard because I felt responsible for everything. I was the main songwriter of course on everything and then it just unwound. I found myself out here and my girlfriend and I just went out in a bad way. It was a ball of fire, crash and burn. I left and I was living out of my car out here. I was determined not to leave. I was determined to stay out here and see what it had to offer and try to use this opportunity to draw on more of a path of solitude and I did that.
I moved into this sailboat and I lived there for two months. I didn’t have anything. I didn’t have phone service there. I couldn’t even talk on my phone from the boat. I could go onshore and get service there, but, where I was actually at I couldn’t get service. I didn’t have internet. I just had a journal. I had an acoustic guitar. I had a little Casio keyboard with some drum samples. So, I set up a little studio in this boat.
I found this broken surfboard on the side of this guy’s house. I was working odd jobs at the time like painting or I was working on people’s yards and just anything I could find and I found this surfboard that was broken in half and I fixed it up and had that with me.
So, every day I could go out and surf with those waves which proved to be really good, like, healthy for my mind and everything I was going through. But, it was a real time of reflection and what are you doing? I didn’t know any one out here. I just holed up in the boat and read books and did a lot of meditating. Thinking about what direction I was supposed to go as an artist.
At the time it was kind of sweet because I was being played on the radio out here and I didn’t have a band. I didn’t have a label. I didn’t have anything. Everything we had worked so hard to get to… it was like, we were starting to see the fruits of our labor and I wasn’t really able to act upon it. I was just a witness to it.
So, I was thinking a lot about where I wanted to go and what direction I wanted to go and I thought well, jeez man, look where I’m at? You should just be telling your story as an artist. Especially nowadays, it takes a certain kind of person to say I am going to live the life of an artist; to say I’m going to do that for my life and I might not make a living from it or I might not get anything from it, but, it’s a journey that is important to take on.
Art is not that important, but, at the same time it is the most important thing in a lot of ways. I was thinking: well, you know, there are all kinds of people just like me that are going through this same situation actually. There are a lot of people that are leaving their homes and leaving town and losing their friends and they are getting in relationships and they are confused about love and wondering where they need to be and all caught up in between something.
You know I grew up in the country. So, like moving from the country to the city was a big change for me. I think a lot young people in this nation are having those kinds of experiences. They are moving around. They are migrating. So, that’s when I came up with the album title Between City And Country.
I was thinking I was living in Nashville, “Country City Capital” of the world and now I’m living out here in the big city, L.A. and wow so that title struck me, that’s a good theme. That says a lot about our modern day critique of modern technology, cell phone technology, how we connect with one another and rural life and city life and what all that means and how we are changing as a culture.
I kind of wanted to make it an autobiography about myself because I couldn’t really hold back the emotions I was going through and expressing myself as a songwriter that way because that was all that was on my mind. I couldn’t really create any kind of a fictional surrealist thing. It was all very like I got to say this. I got to get this out for myself. In a way I’m not doing this record for anybody but myself right now.
At times, I thought, isn’t that really a narcissistic kind of thing to do as an artist to be all consuming to yourself and be all about your story? But, in actuality, I think I kind of made peace with that and I think one of the things I learned as a songwriter is that you can’t try to force something. You don’t have control over your own expression. You can say, well, I want to try to write a really happy song. But, if you are not feeling happy or sad, for that matter, than it is probably going to be hard to write something that is that way. You know what I mean.
I think we are just vessels for whatever is coming out of us is actually a pretty good experiment at looking at yourself and seeing yourself in writing a song and then going back and looking at it and see where did these words come from. What do they mean? You can sense a lot about yourself that way. So, that was one of the issues I was going through in writing these songs.
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Then I met Collin and Jackie out here. Collin knew Jackie and they both knew about the band from before they met me. They already knew Rene Breton and I’m like, I don’t even have a band now and I’m looking.
Collin builds synthesizers. He’s a scientist. He works on a particle accelerator. He’s totally smart, like a Whiz kid and he is a classically trained pianist. So, we hooked up together and he was bringing all these electronics out and ideas I was never exposed to. I thought, well, wow, this guy is really into the idea of Between City And Country. Not only lyrically, but, emotionally. He was talking about these topics and we connected musically too.
We took electronic instrumentation and meshed it with acoustic instrumentation and that is kind of the theme of the record as well. Musical instrument wise, it ties onto modern technology mixed with traditional acoustic guitar and drums and piano and that kind of thing.
So, then we started playing shows. We have been playing all year. We have been working on this record. It’s kind of weird for me now because I’ve kind of moved passed it in a lot of ways. But, it still rings true, a lot of the sentiments on the album.
TNB: Have you played shows with the new material?
RH: Oh yeah, we have been playing all year.
TNB: Where do you play at in California?
RH: We play at The Bootleg Theater in Silverlake. We’ve played at The Satellite, at the Echo. We’ve played in Venice Beach. We have been up to San Francisco. We played two shows at The Hotel Utah, a really awesome place. I just want to become, just like an L.A. scene band at this point.
TNB: The new music is available now as a download.
RH: We’ve decided to release this project as a name your own price download. Please support us with whatever you can, every bit helps.
http://renebreton.bandcamp.com/
– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com
Record Store Day has been a major phenomenon not just for the resurgence of vinyl, but, for musicologists and developing a deeper palette for this emerging generation.
One of the big features are Back-to-Back 7inch releases which have usually been two different bands performing the same song such as this year’s Deep Purple “Highway Star” with the flip side being Type O Negative’s version of “Highway Star.”
One release that could have been improved upon would have been The Stooges’ “No Fun” backed by the cover version by The Black Keyes. The current relativity of The Black Keyes should not have been overshadowed by The Sex Pistols performance of “No Fun” as the only song performed at their final gig not only in the United States, but, as a band where Johnny Rotten stated ”We will perform one song and one song only…No Fun.” At the end of the song Johnny is heard saying, “Have you ever felt you’ve been cheated?” That singular performance ignited the Northern California punk scene that brought forth The Avengers, MX-80 Sound and the Dead Kennedys to name a few. The Sex Pistols should have been the flip side. Can you music company tastemakers get it right? We shall see.
Let’s start with some serious suggestions for future 7 inch releases.
(Hyperlinks will get you a listen)
Terry Reid – Rich Kid’s Blues / The Raconteurs – Rich Kid’s Blues
Terry Reid was Jimmy Page’s first choice for The New Yardbirds. Terry was busy enough with his solo career and suggested Jimmy Page check out Robert Plant who was in a band called Band Of Joy. The Raconteurs did a spot on rendition on their second album. This would be an easier one to see happen since Jack White has the label and reissue experience to make this one. “Rich Kid’s Blues” could be a great first introduction to most people for little known Terry Reid in the United States.
Chuck Berry – Johnny B. Goode / Jimi Hendrix – Johnny B. Goode
Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” could be the de facto rock and roll song. It is a 1-4-5 in major chords instead of 7th’s like the blues and the beat was fast. This was the song that any band could sit down and jam to see if things would work back in the 60’s and 70’s. When Jimi Hendrix performed “Johnny B. Goode” in Berkeley, California, it was caught on film and featured on Hendrix In The West and Jimi Plays Berkeley. Jimi did “Johnny B. Goode” like he did “The Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock, this was a total barnburner not only showcasing his ability, but, there may even be more of a mental back story then you know. Jimi’s mother named him Johnny when he was born while his Dad was away in the war. One of the last places Jimi was known as Johnny was staying with relatives in Berkeley, California before he went back to Seattle and his father legally changed his name to James Marshall Hendrix. He wasn’t too happy about it. He insisted on being called “Buster” after a character from Flash Gordon. So, in a way, Jimi is the real Johnny B. Goode in disguise.
The Beatles – Hey Jude / Wilson Pickett – Hey Jude
Okay, while The Beatles “Hey Jude” may be one the longest singles ever and had a great story about Paul McCartney writing a piece of music for John’s son, Julian to help him get over his parent’s divorce, being a great supportive “uncle”’ Wilson Pickett’s version has an interesting twist as well.
It goes like this. Wilson Pickett was in the middle of recording an album at Muscle Shoals Sound in Alabama when the band decided to take a break and head out to go get some food and drinks. Wilson decided to hang out in the studio because he was black and didn’t feel like getting harassed by the locals and Duane Allman who was playing guitar on the session stayed with Wilson because he had long hair and would face some teasing by local folks as well. So, Wilson started jamming on the organ the recently released Beatles’ “Hey Jude” and Duane liked what he was doing, putting a little gospel soul into the British rock ballad. He started laying some guitar on Wilson and by the time the band got back in the morning, Duane and Wilson had the making of one heck of a “Hey Jude” cover. It was not only a great cover, but, is considered the record that started southern rock. The groundswell hit that spawned the Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band and countless other Capricorn Records.
Okay how about some call and response 7inch?
Big Mama Thornton – Hound Dog / Rufus Thomas – Bear Cat
Okay, we all know about Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog”, but, let’s go with the original on this. Big Mama Thornton singing something that Elvis’ probably heard on the “Red, Hot and Blue” radio show in Memphis. Well, Sam Phillip’s over at Sun decided it would be good to put out a response to “Hound Dog” with the cut “Bear Cat.” The only problem was it was too close to the original and “Bear Cat” ended up in a big lawsuit at the time. Now this all happened before Elvis recorded at Sun.
Okay here is a call and response that is a really sly one. Let’s see if you caught this one.
The Hollies – The Air That I Breathe / Pink Floyd – Breathe
Both songs move at similar tempo and feature some lucid beautiful guitar. The Hollies have almost that slow Eric Clapton sans George Harrison lead while Pink Floyd has the flowing pedal steel going on. It’s almost like Pink Floyd came up with the idea while listening to The Hollies. They say that Pink Floyd may have been watching film of The Wizard of Oz, but, maybe it was The Hollies as Pink Floyd sang, “Breathe, breathe in the air, don’t be afraid to care, leave but don’t leave me,” was really lead-n bridge as the first lines after the chorus by The Hollies, “Sometime all I need is the air that I breathe and to love you.”
Hey here is a debate I started.
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody / Mott The Hoople – Marionette
You really need to know the back story on this to see a link. Queen and Mott The Hoople used to tour together in England before Queen really broke big. They really got along well and Queen even referenced Mott in the song “Now I’m Here” off of Sheer Heart Attack in the line, “Down in the city just Hoople and me.” One time while enjoying “Marionette” which was written a couple of years before “Bohemian Rhapsody” I was really paying attention to the story line in the song. “Marionette” was similarly like a mini rock opera piece with changes in tempo and dynamics and told the story of a person trying to keep from selling-out, told in first person it starts out, “No Puppet, no liar, won’t bend my lips to wire.” Before going to the chorus, “Marionette – I Aint One Yet, Teacher’s pet – will you better forget it.” Before the outro, “They gambled, with my life and now I’ve lost my will to fight, Oh God these wires are so tight … I’m just a Marionette.” It is a whole conceived story that could be with a true to yourself musician eventually losing his soul to the corporate music entity, but, the way the story is told is really resembles how Queen went through structuring a “song” like Bohemian Rhapsody” another mini-opera.
I decided to contact Ian Hunter directly through his website and the interactive Horses Mouth page to see if he ever felt Queen got the idea to do “Bohemian Rhapsody” from touring together and Mott doing “Marionette?” Ian Hunter responded, “I’ve no idea. You’d have to ask them. You know Freddie was kinda like that anyway. They were what they were and we were what we were. We got on famously though. Still do.”
Okay, how about similar riffs?
X – White Girl / Nirvana – Come As You Are
Okay, the verse parts include similar almost dead-on riffs. X, who was considered the flag bearers of the Los Angeles punk scene, included “White Girl” on their second critically acclaimed album Wild Gift in 1981 while Nirvana slowed the riff down a little and featured “Come As You Are” on their second album for major label Geffen, oh, I mean DGC. While Nirvana did do a song called “About A Girl” I could never find a cover version of “White Girl.” The part where Nirvana sings, “No, I don’t have a gun,” is almost like X’s tag of “She’s a white girl, but I’m living with a white girl.” Kurt Cobain described “Come As You Are” as lyrics about “people and what they’re expected to act like”. “White Girl” was John Doe’s ode to The Germs’ bassist – Lorna Doom. John was dealing with attraction and good ol’ Catholic guilt being married to Exene. While, he may have cheated a little “mentally” it was not John’s “Norwegian Wood” since Exene knew what it was all about at the time.
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Give It Away / Black Sabbath – Sweet Leaf
Okay, hey, Red Hot Chili Peppers sampled “White Girl” in one of their songs off of Mother’s Milk, so, were they just funkin’ thing up a bit while listening to Sweet Leaf off Masters of Reality? Hey Rick Rubin was producing the thing. Rick was also working with Slayer around the same time and he just produced the new Black Sabbath album. Rick was known for mashing things up like sampling Led Zeppelin on Beastie Boys tracks. Okay, here is my presumptive back story. Rick throws Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf” up loud and lets the Chili Peppers jam with it until they come up with their own funky masterpiece.
Dude, you don’t want me running your record company because I’ll be too creative with these back to back 7 inch records and your mind won’t be able to handle it.
Well, the “Iko,Iko” super secret release was not bad.
– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, Tn thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com
“As you may have noticed my daughters are campaigning for their father’s musical legacy. Our Michele has taken the reins and with her sisters right by her side, she has tested the waters (so to speak) to see if she would be embraced by our peers and she has been 🙂
Delaney passed away not long ago and his daughters naturally want to celebrate his life’s work, secure the recognition it deserves and bring it to a wider audience. He made some great music as a solo artist, as well as with Delaney & Bonnie. “– message from Bonnie Bramlett on her official website.
An Atco copy of Delaney & Bonnie’s “Only You Know and I Know” obviously well-loved and in fair condition for $1.00 at The Great Escape – Madison location spinning at 45 on the turntable; well worth the dig!
Hearing Bonnie sing gorgeous harmony on “Let It Rain” from a vinyl copy of Eric Clapton’s first solo album along with Delaney & Bonnie’s great southern band brothers, Rita Coolidge and Leon Russell on a good condition copy found at Phonoluxe for $4.00…cool!
I found a well-worn jacket hiding a near mint platter of Bonnie Bramlett’s covers album Lady’s Choice recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and Capricorn Sound Studio at Fond Object that features the whole Muscle Shoals crew, Johnny Sandlin, David Hood, Jimmy Hall as well as guests Gregg Allman and a Tuscaloosa cat with a current Rolling Stones gig; Chuck Leavell.
Dropping the needle on the duet, “Two Steps From The Blues” with Gregg Allman reminds me of when I was standing on the back wall of the Alabama Theater in 2007 at The Scott Boyer Benefit with Gregg leaning on my arm as we peaked out from behind the horn section to watch Bonnie sing before he was going on. Gregg would whisper to me, “I played on that.” “I remember when we did that one.” Gregg knew her set as well as Bonnie. I could tell he was a fan. Finally, Gregg said, “Well, I guess I better go get ready.” $5.99 for vinyl Bonnie Bramlett Muscle Shoals Nirvana; Awesome!
Bonnie backstage cupping her hands over my ear and singing “Good Rockin’ Tonight” at The Alabama Theater in 2007 while she was waiting to go onstage…PRICELESS!
all photos of album jackets, vinyl records also photos taken of artwork and Gregg Allman at The Alabama Theater taken by Brad Hardisty.
Photo with Bonnie Bramlett backstage at The Alabama Theater – unknown *
Gregg Allman on the back wall of The Alabama Theater 2007 with my arm and one of his best friends -photo – Tiny
– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com
Very Entertaining Records Artist Charles Butler took his banjo for a ride on Daft Punk’s “ Get Lucky” a few days ago and posted it to YouTube on May 25th and after a few links by random bloggers, Huffington Post took notice and now the East Nashville banjo style version is nearing a million hits.
Charles Butler posted May 27th on YouTube, “A heartfelt thanks to everyone who left words of encouragement! And thank you to Daft Punk. Random Access Memories is amazing, go get it. I am going to cut a new version of this to offer as a free download, and produce some banjo tab for those who are interested, probably within a week or so.”
There are now videos of people watching his version on YouTube.
Very Entertaining Records Bill Davis is excited about the light being shined on his label mate and friend.
How far can this go? How about a kickstarter campaign to press a back to back 7 inch of “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk and Charles Butler? For information on Charles Butler and Very Entertaining Records contact info@veryentertaingrecords.com.
– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com
Charles Butler photo courtesy Very Entertaining Records
All photos © Brad Hardisty
The Nashville Bridge was rolled out in 2010 at the suggestion of my sister who said that I needed to share my rock and roll and country and rhythm and blues Americana post punk California life with the rest of the world. My first blog printed photo was a portion of a shot I took of The Cumberland River and the bridges crossing into downtown that I took with a 5 mg Fuji auto focus while visiting Nashville in 2006 and wondering if I would ever move here. It is a picture that means a lot to me. I visited Nashville quite often from Birmingham before deciding to move up here and make roots in January of 2008.
Although I did want to just editorialize and conjecture my thoughts on all things music since becoming a music conduit starting at the age of four when I saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and then cemented when I banged on garage doors beginning at age five to get in and listen to Count Five (“Psychotic Reaction”) and other San Jose area bands practice their next hit singles. Now,with the blog, I knew I needed pictures to tell the story.
back then, yy eyes were wide open and my neuro senses were in overdrive at age five and six watching a bunch of teenage guys hammer through guitar amps making loud music with girls hanging out until the cops would arrive and shut the whole thing down. I got to get mad at having to quiet down with the rest of the band and older kids.
Well, that’s how it started and this is where I am at right now: Nashville! There is a story behind of every picture that means anything to me.
When I started the blog, I just had a Nikon 12 mg auto-focus camera which was difficult sometimes, especially on band close-ups with lots of lights. Mike Farris was kind enough to let me shoot him down by the Cumberland River after talking about the Nashville Flood and his then current album. Mike Farris & The Cumberland Saints project to benefit flood victims at Crema in 2010 with the Nikon.
Needless to say, I had to rely on kind contributing support of great photographers in and around Nashville and Birmingham for photos when possible for the blog and my articles in Performer Magazine.
Next, I got an HTC Evo 4G phone that actually got some decent shots now and then. Sometimes, it was the only camera available and it would have to do. The pics I took of Jeff Beck at The Ryman actually turned out fairly interesting.
Finally, it was time to get a reliable camera to get some decent concert shots, so, I gathered my limited budget and bought a Canon EOS Rebel T3i about six months ago. It really paid off on Record Store Day this last April when I was shooting multiple bands at several locations. The photo of Tyler Davis of Chrome Pony at The Groove was all you could ask for. The red hair contrasting with the blue sky was superb.
The Nikon camera could be difficult with a lot of action, this shot of Peelander Z at Exit/In during Next Big Nashville 2010 made the best of the cameras limitations, tracers and all, while Peelander Red crowd-surfed, bass guitar in towl.
Okay, here was a tough one for the Nikon. Paul McCartney in Palm Desert, California at Coachella 2009 from 30 yards away, my only usable shot of a real Beatle so far. I wish I was the guy shooting that picture down front.
The Americana Festival 2010 was a real eye opener seeing fans traveling from as far away as Australia to see Hayes Carll play a set at The Basement. Ray Wylie Hubbard was hot that year and the Nikon played with the light a little bit and this photo only worked with some grit in it. I figured it was an “Americana” picture. Maybe it’s just all the facial hair, but, he looks like a smiling Jerry Garcia to me.
Infinity Cat Records had a 10th Anniversary celebration last year and Heavy Cream headlined the second night at The Zombie Shop. The HTC Evo did some kind of funky light thing when a flash went off at the same time from another camera across the room. There is no photo editing. You can’t duplicate that. That’s a real motha fo ya!
IBMA fans and musicians are absolutely some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Rodney Dillard was one of The Darlings on The Andy Griffith Show and is still laying it down on the Martin Guitar with The Dillards as he did here at the 2010 conference taken with the Nikon.
Kenny Vaughan is probably one of the most iconic guitarists in Nashville today with a portfolio of work includes Marty Stuart, Lucinda Williams and other varied projects including his recent solo record. Mike Farris had one of the biggest bands ever at Grimeys for this in-store with Kenny Vaughan on guitar. I was standing right next to him holding the care above and behind my shoulder to get this one with the Nikon. He kind of reminds me of Angus Young’s other brother from a different mother the way he is holding that SG.
Tristan Dunn is a musician from Birmingham, Alabama that I have known for several years now. He can play guitar, keys like his favorite – Billy Powell and blows harp like Topper Price. I got some great shots of him in front of the Johnny Cash wall before it got damaged and then updated. He is autistic, but, he doesn’t use that as a conversation piece or to get sympathy, he just lets the music do the talking. I have ran into so many big name Country Artists when I run around with him when he visits that I am beginning to think he has a high profile Guardian Angel like Hank Williams or Buck Owens.
Frank Fairfield did an in-store at Grimeys in 2011 and I kind of pushed the HTC Evo as far is it could go with antique sepia tones being the theme. I think Frank is from California’s Central Valley where I grew up. His music is best heard on vinyl 78’s. I have yet to talk to him about Fresno’s famous Di Cicco’s Pizza. Okay…now I’m hungry.
Jeron “Blind Boy” Paxton made the cover of Living Blues Magazine even before any kind of real record release and just a lot of You Tube buzz. He specializes in music from the early 1900’s and is a master on old banjos, guitars, ragtime piano and just about anything he touches. He was hanging out in Murfreesboro at Uncle Dave Macon Days last year jamming with people that had no idea who he was. I guess they thought he just wandered in from some boxcar in a train yard. The photo was taken with the HTC Evo.
Okay, here is backstage with my newer phone, the Samsung Galaxy S III. This is Marion James, Nashville’s “Queen of The Blues” getting ready to go onstage at Nashville’s Metro 50th Celebration downtown. Marion had a top 10 Billboard hit back in the 60’s with “That’s My Man” on Excello Records. She has multiple connections to Jimi Hendrix. Jimi played guitar for her when he lived in Nashville in the early 60’s. Also, she recorded two more singles back during that time with Hendrix tie-ins. One song was written by Billy Cox, bassist for Jimi Hendrix and Marion as well as another song written by Larry Lee who was the second guitarist in Jimi Hendrix’s band, Gypsies, Suns & Rainbows that played at Woodstock. She knew and knows them all. Marion works hard to keep the Rythm & Blues scene alive in Nashville.
Okay, back to some newer shots with the Canon. Reverend Peyton at his recent show at Exit/In provided the opportunity to learn more about the camera’s capabilities. The Rev’s management contacted me after seeing the post to email photos for their use.
Right before Christmas, when I was just breaking the Canon in, I met Mississippi Rosealee aka Rosalind Wilcox who lives in Clarksdale, Mississippi i.e “The Crossroads.” Rosealee is well known in the community as both an artist with her space called Sun House right near Ground Zero and as a musician that includes playing drums for two historic Mississippi Blues musicians, L.C. Ulmer and Robert Belfour. In fact, L.C. Ulmer wrote a song for her called “Rosalee” and is on the M Is For Mississippi soundtrack. She let me set up a shot of her at Hopson’s Commissary that reminded me a little of the first Crosby, Stills and Nash album.
Okay, I personally think this is the best candid of Tristen, that I just happened to take at The Groove, Record Store Day 2013 with the Canon. The most important thing is that she liked the picture too. Man, I want to shoot Nikki Lane. Wait, I did get a couple before they closed the set a couple of nights before Record Store Day.
There it is…man, I could do better, Nikki thinks about what she is wearing, the shot, everything, I would love to do a couple hours of shooting with Nikki. Well, Nikki, if you e-mail me, I’m there! Nikki, your neo-classic country meets retro cool thing is sublime.
Okay, the earliest shots with the Canon were the Bang Ok Bang set at the High Watt in August of 2012. I was still learning how to work with the frame speed and all that. Now, just for knowledge of the game: I did shoot 35 Millimeter on a Canon back in the day. This photo was taken in auto-mode and it caught some drum moves all in the same frame from drummer Abby Hairston. I still think it’s cool, in an art crawl kind of way.
Okay, I have been out to a couple of tapings of the Mando Blues Show. That is an adventure in itself, most notably, talking to Futureman about Return To Forever’s Romantic Warrior album and the merits of Lenny Williams’ drums on that. It is one of the famous Wooten’s favorite examples of drums. He said Lenny’s drums sound like a Timpani. Alabama drummer, Dave Crenshaw played drums for Debbie Bond that night and it looks like I set up this shot, but, I didn’t. The Canon again.
Okay, one more and I will let you go. There is a story behind this one too. I ran into Tyler Bryant at Cafe Coco before Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown were going to play at Exit/In. We talked about when he opened for Jeff Beck at The Ryman and he knew I was going to be down front shooting some photos. When I arrived at The Exit/In, Brad Whitford from Aerosmith was talking to his son Graham Whitford, the other guitarist in the Shakedown near the merch booth before everybody started showing up. He was wearing a baseball cap and being very incognito. He looked at me and realized I knew who he was. I could tell he was there just to support his son and didn’t want to draw any attention to himself. So, I just gave him the “Nashville” nod of recognition and didn’t approach or say anything. I kept his cover for him. You see, that is how we do it in Nashville. We let each other relax and feel at home. I got some great shots of the band and got one of the best color shots ever with the Canon of Graham on stage.
I’m happy with the pictures I am getting with the Canon T3i and so is my Editor at Performer Magazine. Even the bands and artists have given me kudos. Maybe next year, I’ll go for a full frame Nikon or Canon.
Well, The Nashville Bridge is almost three years old. I have been writing for over two years for Performer Magazine and a few other scattered published articles. Thanks for indulging me with my lifetime passion for music. Thanks for reading The Nashville Bridge on your laptop, iphone, ipad or droid. I make it as easy to view and read as possible.
“It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll!” – AC/DC
All photos © Brad Hardisty
– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com
After receiving a copy, I threw Drew Zingg’s CD into the car stereo and starting with track one, “Megashine City” Drew transported me back to the late 80’s like finding a lost album from current Nashville resident, Larry “Mr. 335” Carlton.
This could have easily been the follow up to Larry’s early 90’s release On Solid Ground.
But wait, track two is a very different take on Birmingham, Alabama’s The Commodores’ “Easy” by Michael McDonald. Okay Michael McDonald brings up The Doobie Brothers Minute By Minute era which Jeff “Skunk” Baxter was such a big part of.
Okay, there were two bands that Jeff “Skunk” Baxter was a big part of, The Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan which brings up production quality. The tone and quality is like a classic Steely Dan album. Hey, in fact, Larry Carlton and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter both had Steely Dan in common.
Well, with some solid a-list players like Will Lee and Vinnie Colauta on this one, Drew Zingg just sits in the mix of that kind of west coast cool jazz fusion that all of the above people were known for that was kind of post-rock jazz fusion and not quite smooth jazz format yet. The lead lines tend to build the melodies and keep the groove going.
How do you keep an albums’ worth of focus in content that sounds like it was lifted right out of a Village Recorders session recorded between 1985-1991. Well, one trip to Drew’s website gave some insight with the fact that he played guitar on the Steely Dan reunion tour as well as Donald Fagen solo gigs, Boz Scaggs and many other important sideman gigs where some of the best guitarists laid down the original tracks.
A lot of kudos have to go to George Petit’s production showing a definite analogue-trained set of ears with a ton of knowledge pulled this off. Nowadays, there is every kind of high end gear Pro Tools “plug in” but very few current engineers have any idea what settings or what frequencies need to be the focus to make the “sound.” Obviously, big desk summing amps and busses played a big part of making the music sound magnificent from the Steely Dan – Doobie Brothers golden age as well.
Drew is a great guitarist doing an album of what people who have seen him on tour would want to hear. While Drew is not breaking new ground, the production quality, playing and music could sit in with a stack of sides on a long distance drive with The Doobie Brothers’ Minute By Minute, Larry Carlton’ Strikes Twice and Steely Dan’s The Royal Scam.
Drew has some great guest vocals including Boz Scaggs on “Save Your Love For Me.”
There isn’t necessarily a revival of this era, but, the music is always in demand for 40-70 somethings and especially goes down well at a California wine country wine and cheese blues and jazz festival.
This is a well executed album that will resonate with his fans and fans of the projects that Drew has played on.
Stand out tracks: “Cactus”, “Two Steps From The Blues”.
If you like Drew Zingg, you may like Larry Carlton, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and Lee Ritenour.
– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com
– Photos courtesy dzdap.com
Local Recording Artist Jeff Blaney, a familiar face at Family Wash spent Monday night taping The Mando Blues Radio Show high on a remote mountain ridge well outside Nashville city limits in what seemed like Seattle rain forest like weather in a MASH clinic tent for tonight’s broadcast with a full house of local and regional musical comrades there to check out the music, vibes and food.
While Jeff was tuning up with Geoff Henderson on Bass, Shade Kling on acoustic rhythm and Justin Amaral on the skins, Alabama Blueswoman, Debbie Bond, keyboardist Rick Asherson, Flecktones’ Futureman aka Roy Wooten, DJ Mojo from the blues show “Spoonful” on WVOL 1470, Tony Gerber and others were catching up and talking about what has been going on since the last get together.
The latest buzz was about Gip’s Place in Bessemer, Alabama that had been shut down by the Bessemer Police for not having a business license when it has been operating as a juke joint in a residence since 1952 and doesn’t serve food or alcohol.
Host of Mando Blues, Whit Hubner gave a shout out of support to Henry “Gip” Gipson and just basically said leave the man alone.
Jeff Blaney showcased more of his bluesier style songs for the show, but, didn’t avoid some of the more countrified flavors featured on his latest full EP Labor Of Love on Very Entertaining Records.
Jeff brought some label mates music as well as some music from his hometown mentors that strayed into blues and ragtime for the in between live music sets.
Jeff shifted gears from blues chord styled singer/songwriter narratives to Bo Diddley inspired jams and beyond.
Jeff played most of the songs off his most recent release including “Going Right Back Home To My Baby”, “ Shake That Thing” and “Come With Me.”
Bill Davis joined the band for a couple of songs towards the end of the set.
Everybody stayed around for cornbread and roast beast straight out of the cast iron wood burning stove.
The Mando Blues Radio Show staff was extremely gracious and taped another BBC In Session quality rivaling broadcast.
All photos © 2013 Brad Hardisty
– Brad Hardisty, Nashville, TN thenashvillebridge@hotmail.com
The Nashville Bridge 