"When he concluded with a solo rendition of 'When I Let Jesus Take My Hand,' the audience went wild. As Donnie Fritts walked on the stage, he quipped, 'It's hard enough to follow Spooner Oldham, but when you have to follow Spooner AND Jesus.....well....,' and he proceeded to bring down the house with 'Something Funky,' 'Short End of the Stick,' and 'Memphis Women and Fried Chicken.'"
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Here's the audio of Peter Guralnick's lecture on Sam Phillips at the AFA event on Muscle Shoals music.
Here's the audio from the panel with David and Patterson Hood, Jay Johnson, and Scott Boyer, Jr. and Scott Boyer III, moderated by Terry Pace and Robert Palmer
"I end the post today with the songtress who has been dominating my ears for the past week. I've been listening to Amy Winehouse non-stop. She's a massive talent and I look for her most recent album, Back in Black to be on the charts in the U.S. very soon. It is #1 on the British charts.
"Behind every successful band or artist there are at least several individuals behind the scenes who prove instrumental in the artist’s accomplishments. In the case of The Drive By Truckers, Jenn Bryant (along with Traci Thomas) operates as one of those rare folks. Not only has she known Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley over 20 years, but, like them, she’s an Alabama native. She knows the lore of Muscle Shoals and served in the trenches with artists like Johnny Sandlin, John Bell and Bloodkin."
"The Drive-By Truckers, a great rock band out of Athens, Georgia, has a video contest that we thought would appeal to Teamsters.
Here’s a description from the contest web site: “We’ve all had tough jobs from time to time, some longer than others, and we wanted to hear from you about your experience in the work place. We’d like you to make a short video that shows us what it’s like to have your job and upload it to YouTube. Keep it to 3 minutes.”
With 1.4 million members in a variety of jobs not seen in any other union, a Teamster should be a lock to win this contest, right? We’ll be keeping our eyes on YouTube to see if any Teamsters enter."
1. Drive-By Truckers, The Big To-Do (ATO): Like The Clash, for their hard core of followers, these Athens-based roots Americana rockers are the last band that matters, and on their tenth and latest album (the first for Dave Matthews' label), the five-piece group take that role to heart.
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A great collection of DBT related articles on Swampland.
"Booker T. Jones is the perhaps the greatest organist in R&B history. His band, Booker T. & the MG’s, was the heart and soul of Stax Records, the legendary ‘60s label. Besides generating instrumentals like “Green Onions” and “Time Is Tight,” the MG’s also served as the house band for nearly every vocal session at the label’s studios, backing artists like Sam & Dave, Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett on their greatest hits. Apart from his storied legacy at Stax, Booker T. has also produced and played with an array of respected artists including Willie Nelson and Bill Withers. Always a soft-spoken, elegant man, Jones re-emerged in 2009 with Potato Hole, a tasty collaboration with the Southern rock group Drive-By Truckers. This hard-hitting record will remind you why Booker T. was a major influence on ‘60s English “mod” groups like The Who and The Small Faces. Critically acclaimed, it scored a Grammy Award this year, for Best Pop Instrumental Album."
"The Secret to a Happy Ending 14th St. Playhouse Main Stage
14th Street Playhouse - Main Stage April 23, 2010 at 7:30pm General Admission
The Secret to a Happy Ending does for Athens-based band the Drive-By Truckers what I Am Trying To Break Your Heart did for Wilco and Some Kind of Monster did for Metallica. Like the terrific all-access, behind-the-scenes band documentaries that preceded it, The Secret to a Happy Ending shows the Drive-By Truckers at their most vulnerable, a three critical year chronicle of touring and recording a band overcoming trauma and surviving a near breakup—all while also searching for an ever-elusive happy ending.
Ticket Prices: $50.00 ; $40.00 for Atlanta Film Festival 365 members(must show ID in person or order online with appropriate promo code) ; All tickets are subject to 8% sales tax and a $4.00 service fee per ticket.
DIRECTIONS & PARKING INFORMATION
14th Street Playhouse 173 14th Street Atlanta, Georgia 30309"
"Originally hailing from Katonah, NY, Garrin Benfield has been based in San Francisco since 1997. Garrin has been touring nationally since 2000, playing his own well regarded solo and full band shows, as well as opening for and playing with such artists as Boz Scaggs, Dan Bern, and Rickie Lee Jones. Garrin has gained notice as a road warrior, playing 150 shows in 2008 and 2009 at some of the best venues and festivals around the country.
Garrin has four independently released albums under his belt. His most recent, Where Joy Kills Sorrow (Zacksongs), received national radio exposure and universally positive reviews. Garrin's second CD, Nowhere is Brighter, features Bonnie Raitt's band backing him up. Recently, Garrin has been focusing on solo performances that are anything but your typical acoustic act. Fiery and unpredictable, Garrin insists on reinterpreting his music every night, infusing a healthy dose of improvisation and instrumental guitar explorations into his shows. He is also regarded as a master of the looping technology that allows him to build arrangements on stage, right in front of the audience, without a net!"
Alright, so... yeah, after a few watches, it does look like her.
"beach757 — March 21, 2010 — Mischa Barton bummed a cigarette from our friend during the Drive-By Truckers show at Stubb's on March 19, 2010. I was able to quickly snap this short clip. Hope it's not too dark."
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Just a few days left to grab a $5 MP3 download of Murdering Oscar:
"What you'll love about it: The media room that previously served as Gleeson's recording studio, where he recorded artists such as Depeche Mode, Phil Collins and Earth, Wind & Fire.
The room still has some of the original acoustic insulation, and there's an adjacent office with built-in furniture that served as the recording booth."
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Elliot from Dexateens posted this on FB. First Rock Song?
"Patterson Hood’s Drive-By Truckers are still touring in support of their eighth album, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, released in January 2008, and the Athens, Ga., alt-country/Southern rock combo has found a new way to keep themselves entertained. “We just got a new turntable for the bus and have been hitting the stores on this run and playing records non-stop,” Hood says. “Here is a sample of what’s been spinning in the back lounge.”"
"There's a young lady passed out in the men's bathroom. Somebody should call her friends.'
Realizing that I was in slightly over my head, I directed the gentleman to the nearest staff member. It was 10 o'clock, and the night was just getting started. Already there had been casualties. The crowd was starting to stretch their drinking muscles, for the hometown heroes had returned. Drive-By Truckers was playing tonight."
"2. The fictional character most like you? Probably Newman’s Eddie Felson from The Hustler. I drink a lot and I play a lot of pool, and it’s interesting to note the similarities between a road player and a traveling musician. I also sympathize with the idea of chasing a singular, seemingly unattainable goal, only to realize the costs once you’ve accomplished that goal."
"Tickets for the Shoals Theater show on Valentine's Day are now available at DP's Classic Grill on North Montgomery Avenue in Sheffield AND at Pegasus Records in Florence. Please buy some. -Jason"
"Upon hearing of a Bonnie and Clyde remake directed by newcomer Tonya S. Holly and starring Hilary Duff, the original film's star, Faye Dunaway, reportedly said, ''Couldn't they at least cast a real actress?'"
"Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell, who played on such hits as 'Sweet Home Alabama' and survived the 1977 plane crash that killed three band members, died Wednesday. He was 56."
"When Barack Obama moved into the White House on January 20th, he gained access to five chefs, a private bowling alley — and a killer collection of classic LPs. Stored in the basement of the executive mansion is the official White House Record Library: several hundred LPs that include landmark albums in rock (Led Zeppelin IV, the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed), punk (the Ramones' Rocket to Russia, the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols), cult classics (Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica, the Flying Burrito Brothers' The Gilded Palace of Sin) and disco. Not to mention records by Santana, Neil Young, Talking Heads, Isaac Hayes, Elton John, the Cars and Barry Manilow."
"Happy New Year! We are pleased to announce our first US Tour since the release of 2008's critically acclaimed 'Angels of Destruction!' Although we are currently at Sixteen Ton Recording Studio in Nashville with our old friend Ray Kennedy mixing up a fantastic new record, it is our New Year's wish to return to the nightclubs this February to warm up new material and celebrate the old songs. After a year of touring Europe and the UK, we feel this is long overdue and we are anxious to reunite with our American fans.
Despite the absence of brother Serge Bielanko who is on maternity leave (it's a girl!) Marah will be touring as a folkypunkrock four piece: Dave Bielanko (lead vocals/guitar/banjo), long-time member Christine Smith (piano/bvs/accordian), and introducing stateside... Brooklyn's one and only Johnny 'whaddyagot?' Pisano on the stand-up bass, and the great Martin Lynds from Nashville on the drums. Expect shows to be long, comprehensive sweaty affairs...
Viva la future!
Go-bama!
More banjo!"
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Lynam
Lynam is a band out of Birmingham and are friends of a good friend of mine. They're getting some MTV play on 'A Double Shot at Love'.
"MTV has been really supportive of the new CD 'Tragic City Symphony'. They have been using our music in their number 1 rated reality show 'A Double Shot At Love'. Check it out!"
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Music
I'm a bit late to the show on this one.
Here's what happens when, over the holidays, one decides to watch 15 minutes of VH1's Top 100 Hard Rock Songs of all time.
4 hours later.... I watched all 100 songs.
A great internet Cinderella story.
I ask my buddy from the P.I. who was bigger. Manny Pacquiao or Arnel Pineda. He went with Manny, but Arnel may be a close 2nd.
"How Journey found Pineda is a Cinderella tale of the Internet era"
"Thirty-three years after its birth, Journey is getting a second wind from an unexpected place. In December, the band signed on new lead vocalist Arnel Pineda, a Filipino singer who they found leading a Manila cover band on YouTube. Six months later, the band has kicked off a tour of Europe and the U.S. and released Revelation, a new album featuring original songs and re-recorded classics that has already shot up to the fifth highest-selling album in the U.S. since its debut two weeks ago."
I grew up a Journey fan. Say what you will but their first 2 albums are awesome.
Also, I sang 'Faithfully' for choral competitions back in high school. Granted, it was an octave or two lower than the original, but..... "High way run...." Oh, yeah.
Check out Arnel singing 'Don't Stop Believing' live:
Also, here's a version of Faithfully. Arnel is spot-on.
"FLORENCE - All Gibson Les Paul guitars are one of a kind, but a certain Les Paul, now sitting behind a protective glass case in the Sam Phillips suite at the Marriott Shoals Hotel, has a backstory to prove it.
“This was given to Sam by Gibson to honor 50 years of rock ’n’ roll and 50 years of Sun Studios,” said Jerry Phillips, youngest son of Sam Phillips, Florence native and music pioneer known worldwide as the “Father of Rock ’n’ Roll.”
The guitar was presented to the hotel by Jerry Phillips and legendary guitarist Scotty Moore, who played with Elvis Presley, undoubtedly Sam Phillips’ best known artist.
“It’s as good as it gets,” guitarist Christian Turner said about the Les Paul. “It’s rock ’n’ roll heaven.”"
"SAVANNAH, Ga. – Gregg Allman almost had a few less silver dollars after someone broke into his southeast Georgia home and stole a coin collection, knives and unreleased concert recordings, police said."
"The world didn’t always give Ron Asheton his proper dues. But the Stooges guitarist certainly paid his dues to the world, helping transform the sound of rock music.
Fans and fellow musicians are mourning the death of Asheton, who was found dead early Tuesday at his home in Ann Arbor. The death remains under investigation, though foul play is not suspected, said Ann Arbor Police Sgt. Brad Hill."
"Apple gave the record labels that flexibility on pricing as it got them to agree to sell all songs free of ''digital rights management,'' or DRM, technology that limits people's ability to copy songs or move them to multiple computers. Apple had been offering a limited selection of songs without DRM, but by the end of this quarter, the company said, all 10 million songs in its library will be available that way."
"'I thought this guy was going to open the door. I was thinking, 'I'm not going to go down with the plane,' ' said Llewellyn, 26, a 6-foot guitarist, who was flying into Los Angeles from Atlanta on Wednesday morning for a TV appearance with hip-hop artist Asher Roth."
"Everyone needs a break. I get that. Just tell me straight. Let me know you can't take it. Or let me know that your tour wasn't selling enough tickets so you had to pull the plug. Or you had better things to do. Whatever the reason, If you're gonna call in sick to work, at least come up with a good excuse. You hear me, Jeremy Piven? That 'mercury toxicity' thing was WAY lame."
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I met Garrin Benfield, a really good San Francisco, singer/song writer, when I hired him as an exam proctor at the Law School where I use to work.
Garrin wrote a nice piece in JamBase recently on The Dead.
"Editor's Note: We thought it would be fun to have a local San Francisco musician with deep roots in the Grateful Dead world review Phil and Bobby's NYE celebration. Through the eyes of singer-guitarist Garrin Benfield, we give you an artist's perspective on The Dead circa 2009."
And, it looks like the remaining Dead will be touring again soon with Warren Haynes on guitar.
"LOS ANGELES — It looks like the old Dead are gettin' on.
Surviving members of the Grateful Dead say they'll regroup for a 19-city tour, their first since 2004, beginning April 12 in Greensboro, N.C.
The group, which now just calls itself The Dead, announced its plans Thursday.
Original band members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann have toured sporadically since the 1995 death of guitarist Jerry Garcia, but struggled to get along personally and artistically. They told Rolling Stone in November that they've worked out their differences, aided by a successful October benefit concert in Pennsylvania for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Warren Haynes joins the Dead on lead guitar, and Jeff Chimenti will play keyboards."
