The Buzzcocks’ Pete Shelley, dead at 63. While I appreciated the Buzzcocks’s brief initial splash — and often mention that bands who wouldn’t be bands without The Buzzcocks are now getting into the Hall of Fame — I enjoyed Pete Shelley’s and Howard Devoto’s solo/post Buzzcocks careers much more. With amazingly crafted albums that boasted …
This is so beautiful it hurts. This is live Chicago blues. I’m thirty years past Chicago and I’d swear I rode the Englewoood-Howard B Train tonight, shared a bottle of Christian Brothers on the down low and got clotheslined by “the Hawk” wind when I transferred for the Ravenswood line. Heaven on a bone, Smiffy’s …
“So Excited,” the latest blast of emotional energy from Brooklyn indie artist Foxanne, is the bold, upbeat antithesis to “cool kid” apathy. The song is an unapologetic ode to being shamelessly yourself. Foxanne, a songstress and science writer belts out, “I just want to be embarrassingly honest to me.” For this song, she was inspired …
Infectious and uplifting, Tina’s newest single is all about loving yourself when you’re at your loneliest. Quite often, we’ve set upon a path of success that leads us down a path that only we can travel. This is especially true when pursuing the art of music and pushing onwards to the success as a recording …
Before I am 50, I want to have an orchestra perform a symphony I wrote. The melodies and themes, and chord structures will be a breeze. I can lay that out now. But to arrange the music with the brushes available to Beethoven, that’s the hard part. I am really good at the skeleton of …
“Why didn’t they leave us to wander through buttercup summers?” – Van Morrison, “The Master’s Eyes” For me, this is Van Morrison’s most most memdorable lyric, by far. Please engrave it on my my tombstone. Don’t worry, I’m not ill. You’ve got many years to plan for this.
Some of my conservative friends got mad at me for even analyzing ‘Baby it’s Cold Outside’ after they made a political post comparing it to the pass so called Liberals give rap. Especially the rap we grew up with. It was actually a really good discussion topic. But of course when I simply analyzed the …
Congratulations to Marco Collins. He’s going back on the air. I grew up listening to Marco on The End. He is featured in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for his roll in making Seattle very very very very famous for becoming the final frontier of this Revolution we still love, called Rock & Roll. …
My wife Joyce and I are personally saddened by the passing of one of the most honorable and decent men our country ever had serve as its President. I had the honor of performing at his 1989 Inaugural concert Joyce co-produced ‘The Celebration for Young Americans’, his and Barbara’s 50th wedding anniversary celebration, where The …
There’s no substitute for genius. David Gray is back with an incredible song and video. Dig it! David Gray personally sought out Baltimore-based zoetrope artist Eric Dyer to create the kaleidoscopic clip featured in the video. The visual nods towards the track’s rumination on the cyclical brevity of life and ecology with projected time lapse …
The Village People have a new Christmas tune for this holiday season and it’s a stone cold jam. Give it a listen. Victor Willis, the lead singer for such yesteryear hits as “YMCA” and “In the Navy” has returned for this track.
Behold the world you have created… This will become the country-hop “Jolene” for the smartphone generation. “Nothing Breaks Like A Heart” was co-written by Ronson with Miley Cyrus, along with Ilsey Juber, Thomas Brenneck, The Picard Brothers, and Conor Rayne Syzmanski. The track was produced by Ronson and co-produced by the Picard Brothers, with additional …
On November 27 I had the esteemed privilege of attending a concert by Squirrel Nut Zippers. I have been a fan of this band for over 20 years and was elated to learn they were touring again and making a stop at Seattle’s Crocodile, one of Seattle’s long-standing clubs. This eight-piece hailing from Chapel Hill, …
LAND OF A 1000 Hooks: I am working with Adam Kutchman on a new track. It’s been an exciting challenge to connect with different producers and friends on developing singles I intend to reproduce on stage. Some of these songs…they sound like hits. I am used to playing a song for years before I even have a …
What a photo of Justin Smith and I at possibly the last Staxx Brothers show in Seattle. This was not long before I stripped down to my boxers and made deep precious love to that hammond like the sexy and consensual piece of furniture she is. Yesterday a customer came in the shop and said “wait, you’re …
Seattle – Green Lake – Nov. 2018 Photos by Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
I finally wrote a song about The Mongols. I was on the way to work listening to Persian history and the Mongol King Tamerlane comes up. What a name. I wrote this wondering wanting to sing about The Golden Horde of Mongols that ruled Russia up until Ivan The Terrible. Well it turns out the …
As a youngster, Licia Chery wanted to “talk to music.” She started learning piano at age 6 and discovered Soul music a few years later. Born and raised in Switzerland by Haitian parents, Licia Chery craved for references during a long time. With Soul music, she could finally see artists who looked like her physically …
“Candy”, captured beautifully on 8mm film and playfully nodding to pushy photographers and crazed shoots, was shot by director, songwriter and actress Nöel Wells (perhaps best known for her role in season one of Master Of None / Saturday Night Live) and is a perfect meeting of minds between the two artists. Of the collaboration, …
I love this new tune from Stephen Michael Murphy. Check it out. Here’s what he has to say about it: “We were heading for the hills when I got that familiar call from mission control to create something new . The end result “Root Down Low” is another soulful voice in a booming chorus demanding …
Here’s the most recent from The Black Tones, you’re gonna love it!
Known for his comic and controversial lyrics, Kafinal brings us another song that should be a definite conversation starter. After having won Canada’s coveted music award, the Juno, in 2016, fans have been greeting each new release from Kafinal as a long awaited hit or crowd favorite. Timing is everything; this summer was busy with …
Oh this is dumb. But I want to know how dumb it is. Can you water proof regular cordless headphones? Probably not. I am betting 3 to 1 odds against me. None of the headphones for swimming are really suitable for a myriad of reasons, including the fact that bluetooth is trash when it comes …
8 years ago at The Boom Boom Room George Clinton sent down his troops in Parliament Funkadelic to sit in The Staxx Brothers after their show at Yoshis. The owner Zander Andreas who was considering managing The Staxx Brothers at the time, gave us the heads up that George had mentioned his plans, and that …
I replied to my old and dear friend Richard Mockler just moments ago, upon encountering in my FB feed this latest evidence of his audacious creativity and legendary Montana charisma. Ahem, “Richard, to describe this exemplary feat of communicative compression as a Masterpiece would be to undersell, I think, its many charms! I for one …
January 5th one of my dreams comes true. Eva Walker is interviewing me that evening on KEXP’s Audio Oasis. The label, which I have yet to announce and will soon, is reintroducing ‘Free Your Mind’ in digital stores in conjunction with Eva’s interview. To my knowledge, I have never been played on KEXP. Given that I released …
ElectroBluesSociety has succeeded again. I love this tune. They are a group of Dutch musicians who gather to record blues songs in the most faithfully traditional way possible by using vintage equipment. Here’s what they have to say about “Tell Me.” For this recording ElectroBluesSociety went back to basics and teamed up with Mississippi bluesman Boo Boo …
Let’s hear it for the SoundCloud algorithm. Less than four hours after the song above was posted. SoundCloud was making sure I heard it because the algorithm “just knew” I would love the classical choral sound and appreciate the enormous social import of this piece. (Don’t worry, I write these words facetiously. I am concerned …
Getting into the Irish poet Phil Lynott. I always knew I would. I think I need to start covering ‘Whiskey in a Jar’. He had what Van Morrison called the Hurrrrah in his voice, that real singers have. You either have it or you don’t. A singer should make you turn your head and turn …