In sixth grade I was going to perform in the talent show. I remember working hours on my tune, only to have a motorcycle accident the weekend before, leaving me with a broken hand. Then there was the High School talent show where another guitar player put the guitar behind his head and beat me…..Then there was the battle of the bands to play City Stages. A band in college slipped through the high school division and beat my high school band by a point. Along the way there have been some good ones too…. Last year we won a big one out of 2000 bands, and got a bunch of gear. We also did SXSW and the Folk Alliance conference. Saturday marked the latest installment…Review below…http://flagpole.com/Weekly/LiveReviews/SlushFundRecordingAndNewWestShowcase-30Jun09
Video of the day..This put Vai over the top….The end taken from one of Paganini’s Caprices…
It seems everybody is putting their version of cover songs on the internet. Even selling them on iTunes…..Go to iTunes and search for the song “Clocks” written by Coldplay…There are at least 30 versions for sale…And there are some funny ones…I wonder how many of these folks went through the proper licensing channels before uploading….Probably not many…Bet If they knew how much money the original artist publishing company can sue for they would reconsider the risk…Almost 8 months ago the band recorded our version of 4 cover songs. We intended to release them digital distribution only in April, but here we are in July and no release….I am quickly learning about the lengthy process of licensing music…We are blessed to have an ace music attorney guiding us through the process, but some folks go it alone…Check out the link below…http://http://www.vocalist.org.uk/recording_cover_songs.html
We played weekly local gig on Thursday. It’s laid back and gives me a chance to play in a non structured environment. Friday night we we’re the headliner at a festival in Clanton. I love the gigs that you think go great, and then afterwards your sound eng. says the whole right side of the P.A. had blown speakers….Perfect…Saturday we met at 8 A.M. in a parking lot to work out a showcase set, then we drove to Athens Ga. A record label was hosting a showcase with our music attorney. We played a 30 min. set and then buzzed back home. Today after church, the whole family waded up buck creek. Nice closer…..This is a friends kiddo. It’s pretty amazing….
Dad is an interesting guy. He has some really cool hobbies..A new addition is RC stuff. He mounted a camera on one of his helicopters.
He recently aquired a Lotus Elise with upgraded super charger. This is great track footage at Barbers of a similar car.
These are some of the outdoor exhibits at the museum where he is the current director
Adam and I wrote the last song on this artist album. It was released today worldwide. The link is a free stream. It’s called “The End Is Here-The End Is Beautiful….http://www.decoymusic.com/featured_streams/6
I am much happier watching the video performance. I wasn’t so happy when we left today. The headliner band took a 3 hour sound check. Leaving us with about 20 min. I was cool with this, until a deafening buzz started coming through the monitors….And it kept coming and coming… 18 min. of it to be exact. All the while I’m watching from the stage in panic mode as 4 blocks away spectators are now starting to flood the street. At literally the last minute Mr. asleep at the wheel monitor sound man traded boards and the buzz went away. The panicked stage hand threw a mic to a unuspecting friend of ours and said “hurry up announce them” …..Ladies and Gentleman……And we’re off….To make matters more interesting, the Playstation roaving 18 wheeler had set up shop and started cranking the bass right beside us…So now we have no monitor mix and some random guy going “come play the newest such and such game”…Pretty nuts…In a funny side note…Half way through the set I look up to see a blimp flying overhead. It was advertising another concert in August at some casino. What a marketing move…Ah yes it’s festival season in full effect…Gotta Love it!
Act of Congress - 'Carol of the Bells' - live at City Stages
Act of Congress - 'Paperback Writer' - live at City Stages 2009
Act of Congress - 'Such Great Heights' - live at City Stages
Adam and I wrote the last song on this artist album. It was released today worldwide. The link is a free stream. It’s called “The End Is Here-The End Is Beautiful….