If I had to explain, you wouldn’t understand. Turn it up, and leave it up.
Ladies and Germs, this is CLUTCH.
Archive for the 'Music' Category
29
May
12
Turn It Up Tuesday!
After decades of working in bands as a professional bassist in New York City, and touring all over the US, Canada and Europe, Eric Czar is finally stepping out from the shadows of sideman status; exploring his own voices as a composer and performer, and utilizing the unique timbres of custom made, 7 string fretted and fretless basses as, “Strangely evocative” lead instruments.
Eric believes the “Extended range” bass has much to contribute to the evolution of modern music. The feedback, testimonials, and press he has received thus far would tend to indicate the public agrees. They also serve as an ever growing testament to the influence Eric is having on players (and listeners) of all genres of music.
To date, Eric’s solo videos and recordings have all been done at home with little to no budget. Written and performed by Eric, and fundamentally experimental, his compositions draw inspiration from all genres Eric has entertained over the years; classical, rock, funk, jazz, and ambient.
As a result of Eric’s rapid growth in popularity and influence on Youtube, Facebook and other platforms, his goal is to remix and master the existing recordings so they are suitable for broadcast, sale and most importantly, enjoyable listening. Eric explains this is easily accomplished, thanks to the digital era. Eric plans to utilize a professional caliber studio and engineer, along with the equipment, resources and objectivity that is above what he has at home. He hopes to improve the overall sound quality and clarity of his recordings, with the intent of releasing them as digital downloads on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby etc. in both CD and DVD format. Eric explains that the video performances will serve as an educational tool for players (reminiscent of the instructional videos that inspired him in his youth), and also provide insight to how this unusual music is written and performed.
Eric’s goal is to raise $3,500 to cover the costs of remixing, mastering, duplication of hard-copy CD/DVDs (featuring his own artwork) as well as some promotional costs.
Through this sponsorship/pledge drive process, Eric Czar hopes to finance what’s quickly become a documented source of inspiration for musicians and composers all over the globe. According to Eric, “I honestly didn’t expect my home videos to be this well received, but now that I see they are, I’m hoping to offer the best quality product that I can.”
FOLLOW THIS LINK to view Eric’s Kickstarter page, to read more about Eric and this exciting project, to see how many pledges have been received so far, and to view a short 2:39 sample video. Be sure to also check out the different incentives offered for the different pledge levels.
PS: When you visit Eric’s Kickstarter, click the green “Back This Project” button and read through the Q&A’s on the right side of the page. When you pledge, you provide a credit card number through Amazon Payments – however YOUR CARD WILL NOT BE CHARGED until Saturday June 23rd (a month from now) and even then, ONLY if the project has been successfully funded! You can pledge today and not worry about paying a dime for 30 days!
PPS: Facebook folks, please go to the comment page for this post and share this on Facebook. I’d like to get this information in front of as many people as possible.
Good Luck Eric!
22
May
12
Turn It Up Tuesday!
Let me apologize in advance for the time you may end up wasting on this site.
It’s a database of over 22,000 television theme songs and music.
Got a favorite show from your childhood or from many years ago? How about the theme from Dark Shadows, or The Man From U.N.C.L.E.? Maybe you liked Get Smart or Max Headroom? Perhaps Daktari, The Jackie Gleason Show or Wagon Train?
They’re all here, and many many more. Have fun!
15
May
12
Turn It Up Tuesday!
This week’s “Turn It Up Tuesday” revisits a band I featured back on April 12th, ZED. A few things have happened since that post.
I’ve exchanged several emails with the guys in the band, and we discussed the idea of starting a street team. This eventually led to a conference call where we discussed the idea further. I’m pleased to report that we’ve got the framework in place and launched ZEDHEADS.org, home of the ZED Street Team.
If the verbage (and promotional ideas) look familiar to some of you, it should. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ve recycled many of the things I used for the Joe Bonamassa Street Team back in the day. Thanks to “The Internet Archive Wayback Machine” (and some help from Jane Hall) I’ve been able to retrieve much of the material from the old JB Fan Website that’s been offline for years. I was kind of fun to go back and review that old website.
But anyway, back on topic. I’m really looking forward to giving the guys in ZED a hand. I absolutely love their music. It’s a brand of rock that truly bridges the gap between the classic rock of my era and today’s metal bands. Ever since I heard them on Youtube and bought their CD I’ve been hooked.
I was fortunate enough to preview the songs the guys have planned for their sophmore release, and they’re outstanding! ZED is heading back to the studio in about a month to start laying down tracks for their next album.
I also love these guy’s sense of humor. Check out this page on ZEDHEADS.org which features Youtube videos for each song on their debut album, “The Invitation.” The comments contained in the “Star Wars” scrolling text at the start of each song will give you an idea about just how much fun these guys are.
So yes, I’ve put my street team hat back on again – and it still fits! Let the fun begin.
08
May
12
Turn It Up Tuesday!
Michael “Iron Man” Burks, July 30, 1957 – May 6, 2012.
A little entertainment for Friday morning. I liken this to Michaelangelo talking about his chisels and hammers and paint brushes. Very intimate and a very rare moment.
Enjoy!
Recently I was handed a new ride at work that has an input for my smartphone which enables me to listen to Pandora Radio all day long. One of the stations I listen to allot plays selections from this guy named Buckethead and everytime one of his tunes comes on I have to check to see who the heck it is making this hauntingly wonderful sound.
Brian Carroll aka Buckethead is someone I’ve occasionally heard of but have never heard anything he put out until recently. Even though he seems to hang out in the obscure fringes of rock, he actually has a pretty large reume that includes a four year stint with Guns and Roses and some collaborations with actor Viggo Mortensen. He even has his own signature Les Paul “Buckethead” model. Read all about this guy and his career here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckethead
Here’s another tune that showcases his ability to shred, yet has a distinct delicate feel to it as it starts. And hey all you Ft. Wayne Bonamassa video fans…….this one has dancers too! Yippee!
I really like this guy……. bucket and all!
……. and was blown away! First time since 2006 when ticket prices were pretty much a bar tab, prices for this gig cost us $200.00 for both Viv & I and it was worth every penny. The set list pretty much followed what he is seen playing on his most recent blu-ray, “Live from Beacon Theater” (another ho-hummer, IMHO) with a few welcome journeys into some of the older stuff. One real treat of the evening was when he suddenly went into Blues Deluxe and just ripped it! Another real treat was when he and Carmine Rojas would get together and play some real firey improv stuff that reminded me allot of the Cream tune “Spoonful” off the Wheels of Fire “Live at the Fillmore” disc. Oh, did I mention that Carmine was on fire too?
I know we’ve all bemoaned the fact that Joe is no longer playing with the youthful inspiration and intensity found on his Ft. Wayne DVD but I will dare to say that the way he was playing here in Reno was as good if not better as he was REALLY playing from the heart. Countless standing ovations and there were a couple of times when the crowd was actually yelling and screaming during his performance, something not seen since his “Heartaches were Nickles” rendition from that forementioned Ft. Wayne DVD.
Joe is BACK!!!!…….. big time and if you have a chance to check him out on this tour, I think you too will be pleasantly shocked and surprised.
19
Apr
12
RIP Levon Helm
May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012.
The following text was borrowed from a post that appeared on Joe Bonamassa’s forum:
Eric Clapton’s speech inducting THE BAND in to the Hall of fame:
“Thank you. I want to talk about what it was like to be a musician – a serious musician who couldn’t be in the Band. And that was tough, that was hard. I remember being on tour in about ’66 or ’67 with a band called the Cream, and we thought we were the bee’s knees, you know? And I met this guy… I knew this man in L.A. who was an entrepreneur of different sorts of things, and he had a tape by a band called the Crackers, and he lent it to me, and I took it on the road with me, and it became my drug. When we would get to the end of a gig, Jack and Ginger would go off and do their stuff, and I’d put this tape on. And I’d go into another world. And it was my kind of release.
For someone like me, who had been born in England, like Elton was talking about, and worshiped the music from America, it was very tough to find a place to belong in all this – and this band that I was listening to on this tape had it all. They were white, but they seemed to have derived all they could from black music, and they combined it to make a beautiful hybrid. And for me it was serious. It was serious, and it was grown up, and it was mature, and it told stories, and it had beautiful harmonies, fantastic singing, beautiful musicianship without any virtuosity. Just economy and beauty. And I wanted to be in the band.
So I went and told Jack and Ginger that I couldn’t go on anymore. There was something else happening that I had to bow out of because. And I went – Robbie and the boys will never know this – but I went to visit the Band in Woodstock, and I really sort of went there to ask if I could join the band. I mean, I didn’t have the guts to say it – I didn’t have the nerve. I just sort of sat there and watched these guys work. And I remember Robbie saying, “We don’t jam. We don’t jam, so there’s no point in sitting here and trying to, you know… We just write and work.” And I was very impressed, you know? And from that day, I spent the rest of my career – until The Last Waltz, anyway – trying to find ways to imitate what they had. And it was an impossible dream, really, because from where I came from, and from where they came from, completely different worlds. But it was something to do with a principle that I got from what they did, which was integrity. Integrity and a standard of craft that really didn’t bow down to any kind of commerciality, and I really identified with that, and I adored it.
At the same time, it was very hard; it was very hard to sort of make my way and not be part of it, until The Last Waltz, and in some respects, I was very relieved with The Last Waltz, because it meant that there wasn’t a band that I wasn’t a part of anymore, you know? And I could just go on and be me, and it was all right. But at the same time, when The Last Waltz happened, it was a tragic thing, because as much as they may have reached the end of their journey, there were no more records. I couldn’t go to the store and buy a Band album, and have my life transformed by listening to it. And it’s been a long journey since then without their sort of guidance, because I always kind of looked up to them as older brothers in the music world.
But at the same time, they’ve always been there in spirit. And I go back, and I listen to old records all the time. In fact, most of the time I listen to old blues and old records by people like the Band. And I think it’s a long time since they were really honored and put together, and as it was last year with me and Cream, it’s a beautiful thing to have a reunion if we can, and get together and rejoice in the gift that we’ve been given, which is music. Tonight, I’m very happy to induct the Band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
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