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The old band went the way of the steam engine. A solid, powerful design, but the gasoline engine won out.
Given the right conditions, maybe we could have been something great. We all had other callings to answer, and so our opportunity to make music is lost, perhaps for good.
But not to worry. Even gasoline will be obsolete, someday. An old friend and a new friend are helping raise a racket these days. Jonathan Lewis and Adam Nelson on drums and bass, respectively.
We are Record High, a nasty little power trio.
Not quite a zero emissions, ultra-efficient driving machine. More like a moped, modified with a Soviet-era jet engine. With rocket launchers. And a Gatling gun.
No, two Gatling guns.
Peace, kiddies.
Tags: Record High Band Music
"Irie," Olivei said more than once, much like one might use punctuation or grunts of approval. I make no secret of my love for Rastafarian lingo, with all of its colorful and mish-mash turns of phrase. Despite hearing the word on dozens of reggae records, it wasn't until I met the singer of Talent's Living Roots that I wondered what 'irie' means.
UrbanDictionary.com defines it as: "to be at total peace with your current state of being. The way you feel when you have no worries."
Nice. Do we have a single word for that in the Queen's English? Despite my bachelor's degree in the subject, I'm stumped for an answer.
Listening to Living Roots at their band practice last Tuesday, I began to understand Olivei's affinity for the word. Their music sounds like fun, upbeat skank and dancehall reggae; their lyrics are about universal love and expanded consciousness. Kent plays some funky bari-sax, Sunny's basslines are thick, and Mikey's drumming is solid. Dj Marko also plays with the Roots, but was running late that night.
Actually, everyone but Olivei was running a bit behind schedule that night, and he didn't have a key to the jam space. No matter. We sat in his well-traveled Suburban and listened to some studio recordings of the band. Olivei runs his own studio, and serves as producer and engineer for the band. Having heard both live and recorded tunes from Living Roots, I can say what you hear on the record is what you get live, which is generally a mix of tight songwriting, and more open jam-pieces.
Sunny and Kent eventually joined us, but still no one had a key to the room (allegedly shared by the rumored-to-be-defunct Rose Hip Ramblers and another local act or two). Sunny cracked a few Caldera Pale Ales, and Kent talked about his grueling schedule of jazz concerts with other bands. Finally, Mikey drove up and unlocked the practice space, and the guys started setting up their gear.
I brought along my recording equipment on the off-chance they'd let me record their practice session. Lucky for planet earth, they cleared off a table and a few spaces on the power strip for me, and now we can all listen to the results.
Tags: Living Roots Music Reggae Talent
Just a few spicy bits to share...
The Vinyl Club in Ashland will hold an open mic every Tuesday from 9 PM to Midnight, starting tomorrow night! For information or sign up, call Zack at (541) 646-6381.
I got an email from The Living Roots, a funky little raggae band from Ashland. They're holding a CD release party on June 7 at The Mobius, in Ashland. They seem like nice folks, so maybe we'll hang out, maybe I'll post some pics and tell you more.
Finally, The Physics of Meaning from North Carolina are coming to The Beanery in Ashland this month!! They're a really amazing indie band, and they're playing for free! It's not until the 31st, but I can hardly wait. Check back for more on the POM show...
That's all for now.
Peace.
Tags: Local Music Ashland Medford Living Roots Vinyl Club
I recently sat down with Matt Fawcett, a practicing lawyer in Medford, to record seven original songs. Matt was the first to take part in my community recording project, and he set the bar pretty high. Playing several unique, beautiful guitars and a mandolin, Matt performed these songs in a single sitting, and with two exceptions, on first takes. He wasn't "feeling too photogenic," so I left my camera tucked away, but the music speaks for itself.
Bands and singer/songwriters: the offer still stands.
Music@LocalsGuide.com
Tags: Matt Fawcett Music Recording Demo Ashland Medford
This is very simple, I hope, and it seems to be catching on:
I will bring my
to your rehearsal space, record a handful of tracks, take a few pictures, and hang out.
A few days later, I'll hand you a shiny, new demo.
You provide only
and that's it.
No money involved.
Optionally, you may donate
A community service, by me.
I'll be posting the results here in the coming weeks.
Long live the Music.
Contact: Music@LocalsGuide.com
Tags: Music Ashland Medford Demo Recording Free
From Left: Â Nick and Brandon, hosts of KSKQ's Fungle Junk, chatting off the air. Â All photos by rockstardave. Â I dropped by KSKQ studios in Ashland tonight to hang out with Brandon and Nick, hosts of the music/talk program, Fungle Junk. Â I've been on the radio a couple times before, but I've never been interviewed live. Â I'm usually the one asking the questions and taking notes; sitting on the other side of the microphone was an interesting change of pace. Â We talked about my band, The Friend Ship Pagota, and Brandon played a few tracks off our two albums. Â We also discussed the booming LocalsMusic Guide and some of my experiences with local musicians.
KSKQ broadcasts on 94.9 FM in Ashland, and no thanks to a tiny 50-watt transmitter, Brandon told me, "You can hear us in the parking lot, and that's about it." Â He also told me a brand new transmitter is arriving tomorrow, which should effectively double their broadcasting power, so keep your ears open for some awesome community radio. Â KSKQ plays as much local music as they can get their hands on, as well as popular programs such as Democracy Now! Â You can also listen in online at KSKQ.org. Â Peace. Â  Â Â
Tags: KSKQ Music Ashland Radio
From Ashland: The Oxygen Collective's biodiesel bus.  Photo from www.02collective.org.  Staying out of debt on tour is about the choices and sacrifices a band makes.  Everyone chooses to take time away from day jobs and significant others in search of uncertain rewards.  They sleep on the bus instead of a hotel.  They eat whatever they can, often for a cut rate at the bars they perform in.  Fuel is a huge chunk of the tour budget, but more musicians are beginning to choose alternatives to fossil fuels as the price of oil soars. Most tour buses and RVs run on large doses of diesel, which can bleed the tour fund dry over long hauls. For example, if the band plays in San Francisco one night, Portland the next, and Seattle on the third, that’s eight hundred miles to cover.  Assuming the band makes a hundred bucks a night—a generous sum for an unknown act—at least half of their three day total will go strait into the fuel tank. That’s not much left over for four guys working three nights in a row. Many musicians are solving this problem by converting their diesel tour buses to run on straight vegetable oil (SVO), a conversion that generally costs five hundred to one thousand dollars. Don’t confuse SVO with biodiesel, which is derived from the very same vegetable oil or animal fats, combusts easier, and is much less viscous. The new breed of tour buses runs on recycled cooking oil, often acquired directly from restaurants with fryers. Restaurants must pay to have their barrels of used oil carted away each month; many are perfectly willing to give the stuff away to save a few bucks. Popular artists such as Neil Young and Willie Nelson converted their rigs years ago and began spreading the word about eco- and wallet-friendly vegetable oil. The trend is catching on. In recent months, the Rogue Valley was a destination for many of these cooking oil machines, including Oakland’s Vermillion Lies and LA’s Woven. I interviewed Woven’s lead singer, Ory Hodis, just before their January appearance at The Mobius in Ashland. Regarding their touring rig, he said: “The two things I’m really opposed to are the meat and oil industries. It’s a lot of energy in, and pollution out. When we drive from LA to New York, that’s a lot of gasoline. Plus, we’re all broke.  So it’s a win-win situation.†The phenomenon isn’t limited to musicians or big rigs, either. Any diesel engine can be converted to burn veggie oil, from a brand new Ford pickup truck, to an aging Mercedes Benz D-class passenger car. Check out The Oxygen Collective in Ashland.  They're not a band, but they have a forty foot biodiesel bus: http://www.o2collective.org/biodiesel.shtml The State of Oregon has taken note of the trend: http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/do_reports_biodiesel.shtml In Phoenix, OR:  http://www.phoenixorganics.com/index.asp?cat=160465 In Corvalis, OR: http://www.greaseworks.org/ Still want more veggie oil?  Check out: http://www.cleanfuelcaravan.org/ http://www.veggiebus.com/ http://www.batmakumba.com/veggie.html http://www.greasecar.com/index.cfm http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1514202/20051121/mewithoutyou.jhtml http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0315-10.htm  Â
Tags: Vegetable Oil Biodiesel Music Tour Bus Alternative Energy SVO
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