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Save Our Stages: Help Your Favorite Local Venues Survive
While we’re all bummed out about spring and summer tour dates getting cancelled, the impact of COVID-19 on the music industry will continue to be felt well after festival season. Necessary shutdowns have put our favorite music venues across the country in jeopardy. The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) reports that 90% of venues don’t […]
Jaki Liebezeit and CAN: A Look at Krautrock’s Human Drum Machine
With the news of Jaki Liebezeit’s recent passing, what better time than now to take a look back at his influential body of work? Let’s begin where it began. “Communism, anarchism, nihilism” — those were the powerful words rumbling through Jaki’s head in 1968. Christening the band CAN — a move away from their original name Inner Space — […]
Leonard Cohen Dead at 82
If we know anything about these times, it’s that sacrifices — whether earned or unearned — are coming. Leonard Cohen’s whole life was one moved by sacrifice. He was the first of his generation of Polish-Jewish immigrants to look for a better life in Quebec, Canada. Born into a middle-class family in 1934, his upbringing […]
Flea’s Lesser-Known Grooves
Flea’s Signature Fender Jazz Bass came as quite the surprise to us at Summer NAMM this year, and we’re stoked it’s now available! Fender had previously created a custom shop version of Flea’s bass, but this is the first time a production model has been made for the masses. The Flea Signature Jazz Bass features […]
Scotty Moore & The Language of Lead Guitar
At around 11:30 yesterday morning, the news broke that legendary rockabilly guitarist and rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Scotty Moore had passed at his home in Nashville at the age of 84. As a guitarist, it’s not every day that one of your own passes, let alone one of the formative figures. At the pivot point between […]
Prince Found Dead at 57 in Paisley Park Estate
These are the words the no one expected to hear today: “Prince dead at 57.” Just this past Friday, the town of Moline, IL experienced probably the largest amount of internet chatter it has ever had because of one man. This force of nature, Prince, had to touch down his airplane not to rock this small […]
The Musical Almanac: The Rise of France’s Chanson
The Musical Almanac is an ongoing series highlighting musical styles or genres from around the world. Our future destination is to get to the powerfully sublime Nouvelle Chanson music of France. But, first, we have to explain how we’ll get there. Today we take one step back and discover its humble beginnings. Stay tuned for the next […]
SXSW Survival Guide
This year I had the awesome opportunity to tour down to SXSW with my band and another band on our label. Having gone to school for music business and playing in bands for the better half of my life, I’ve been familiar with the fest for quite a while, but have never bit the bullet and […]
‘The Life of Pablo’ As Imagined By A Japanese Producer
Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo is supposed to be a deeply personal, impenetrable, and massive work-in-progress presented as a released album. I mean, at least that’s what I’ve heard. Myself, I haven’t heard it personally. Unless you’ve had access to Tidal and/or money to burn at the iTunes store, most likely the only way you’ve had a chance […]
