Pearl Jam have raised millions for Seattle’s homeless and other non-profit organizations, after donating the proceeds from their hometown shows recently as they performed two shows at the city’s Safeco Field. During Friday’s gig, they covered the rare Chris Cornell track ‘Missing’.
Toronto’s Choir! Choir! Choir! Sings “You’re The One That I Want” For Grease’s 40th Anniversary
40 years ago this summer, the musical movie Grease was released! The songs from this timeless classic have never stopped playing on repeat in our heads.
Toronto-based Choir! Choir! Choir! sang “You’re The One That I Want”, and had a little too much fun. Sing along, whether you’re Danny or Sandy….or Rizzo!
Norway’s William Hut Releases New Single, “I’m Staring At The Sun”
In a distinguished career that spans almost 20 years as both a member of Poor Rich Ones and his own solo career, Norway’s William Hut brings a shade of Death Cab For Cutie’s wistful lyricism into a new bittersweet pop song, I’m Staring At The Sun. He continues to the art he was born to do.
The Mutineers Want You To Get Back To The Basics With “Drug For That” Video
The Mutineers recently released their video for “Drug For That”, set in the river valleys of the Pacific Northwest. Joined by their long time collaborator Clovis IV on camera/video director duty, they explore places where decay and growth are intermingled; places where beautiful buildings that once held so much promise, are left to rot away—shadows of someone’s else’s dream.
The song serves as a blistering commentary & dystopian take on current social attitudes, for those who would like to get back to the basics of life.
Singer and guitarist Brian Mathusek roamed the world from far East to West and countless places in-between, en-route to founding The Mutineers. Along the way, he gathered stories of hope and fear, love and loss. If there is one constant theme throughout Mathusek’s songwriting, it’s an openness and honesty that comes straight from the heart. Joined by his wife Merry Young on drums and on the road, the now duo have played 120+ dates all across the US, for their latest album.
Brian and Merry returned to Merry’s home state of Oregon and have continued to hone their harmonies, tightened up their sound, and play continually tour dates & festivals such as the Treefort Music Fest, Wildwood Music Festival.
The Mutineers are just finishing up mixing their next release, Threshold with a release dates of September 14th, 2018.
Upcoming tour dates so far…
Portland to Portland Tour, 2018
9/13 – Ten Depot St., La Grande, OR
9/14 – Release Show, The Funky Taco, Boise, ID
9/16 – Lion’s Lair, Denver, CO
9/18 – Boobie Trap, Topeka, KS
9/19 – The Lift, Dubuque, IA
9/20 – Milwaukee, TBA
9/21 – The Outer Limits Lounge, Hamtramck, MI
9/22 – The Five O’clock Lounge, Cleveland, OH
9/23 – Howlers, Pittsburgh, PA
9/25 – Cedars West, Youngstown, OH
9/26 – The Abilene Lounge, Rochester, NY
9/27 – The Low Beat, Albany, NY
9/29 – Gerry’s Place, Norwood, NJ
10/3 – Radio Bean, Burlington, VT
10/4 – The Dogfish Bar & Grill, Portland, ME
10/6 – Dream Away Lodge, Becket, MA
Watch Wax Poetics’ “Soul City” Music And Travel Series Highlight Chicago
In the pilot episode of Wax Poetics’ new music/travel series, “Soul City,” host (and Wax Poetics writer) Ronnie Reese explores his home town of South Side, Chicago, first visiting with Todd Mayfield, son of soul icon Curtis Mayfield and writer of the new biography “Traveling Soul” (which was co-authored by Wax Poetics writer Travis Atria). They talk about Curtis’s desire to own his own work, which led to starting the record label Curtom. In the second segment, Reese meets with Chicago house icon Ron Trent, where they talk about his rise through the local and international scene, which culminated in cofounding his own label, Prescription Records. In the epilogue, we pop into the (Discogs) Crate Diggers record fair and speak to cofounder Zernell Gillie, as well as chat with Ron Trent again about the joys of record digging.
Carol Kaye: Rock’s Most Prolific Session Musician Gets A Short Doc
More people should really know about Carol Kaye, one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years.
Read that again. 10,000 songs.
And it’s not like she was on some outsider tracks or artists you’ve never heard of. As a session musician, Kaye was the bassist on many Phil Spector and Brian Wilson productions in the 1960s and 1970s. She is credited with the bass tracks on several Simon & Garfunkel hits and many film scores by Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin. She contributed to the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.
Besides her contributions on bass guitar, she also played 12-string and six-string electric and acoustic guitars – a rareity for female musicians back then.
So, grab a coffee and 10 minutes of your time, and check out this doc.
Watch Mark Hamill’s Audition That Won Him Star Wars Role
According to Robert Englund, he auditioned for the role of Han Solo but was told he was too young for the part. At the end of the meeting, he suggesting his friend, Mark Hamill, audition for the film. “I said, ‘Hey, Lucas is doing this space movie. Maybe you’re right for it. The lead guy’s like a teenager,” the future Freddy Krueger recalled. “So Mark got on the phone to his agent and I think he went up the next day. He nailed it, and the rest is history.”
Electron microscope slow-motion video of vinyl LP
This is what happens to your phonograph needle while playing a vinyl record, all shown in the groove using an electron microscope.
Grease’s Director Breaks Down the “You’re The One That I Want” Scene
In this episode of “Notes on a Scene,” Randal Kleiser, Grease’s director, breaks down the “You’re the One That I Want” scene at the movie’s finale. Grease is now available with a new 40th Anniversary Edition on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from Paramount Home Media Distribution.
Nikki Sixx on The Myth Of Sex, Drugs, And Rock And Roll
Nikki Sixx is one of music’s legendary musicians, as the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the band Mötley Crüe.
For a lot of kids the lure of sex, drugs, and rock and roll is still a powerful, romanticized thing. It becomes this myth that a lot of people get attached to—the brilliant, fucked-up rock star. It becomes aspirational, this idea that getting fucked up helps you become more creative somehow. Your book unpacks that idea. It becomes the opposite of glamorous.
It’s 100% true. I understand it. I gave a speech once at a prison. They asked me to come in to one of their NA meetings and talk about heroin. This was about 10 years ago. There was a major outbreak in the prison system with opiates and they wanted someone who had experience with that addiction to come in and give advice and encouragement. I remember getting the stink eye from the guy that brought me in because the first thing I said to them was, “Can I just start off by saying that heroin is amazing?”
So I say that and everyone in the room is like, “Yeah!” And then I follow with, “And then you die.” That’s the story. It has a beginning and a end and the middle is not very interesting. Then I say, “Or you end up in jail.” Everyone’s looking at me like, “Fuck you.” I’m like, “You’re in jail. You’re in jail because of drugs.” All of these guys were. Then we started talking about the experience of it, the whole, “I just didn’t think I could get through my life without it. It made me feel comfortable in my skin,” part of it. Then you start talking about things like depression or how your families, friends, and critics have beaten you down and you need something to feel good. Eventually you realize that you have all the power and that the drugs don’t actually do anything, they actually don’t move you forward. All they do is suspend you in time. No matter what, it’s not going to work out for you while you’re on drugs. I remember that moment when I was like, “I can do anything I want to do because I’m not strapped down to this belief system that I have to do drugs or drink to be creative.” It was really freeing.
Here’s a story: After the Dr. Feelgood album was out and we had finally gotten done touring after something like 18 months on the road. It was our biggest album. Every arena and stadium was sold out and back then, back when albums sold 10, 15, 20 million copies. The amount of money and everything that came in was just astounding. So eventually it’s time to work on a new album with Bob Rock, who calls me up and asks, “What are you gonna rebel against now, Nikki Sixx?” I said, “Even though I live in a 10,000 square foot house, I can still lay my head down in Hell when I need to. I can tap into all those feelings and also be sober.” What’s important for creative people to understand is that when you remove the thing that’s clogging the system you actually have better access to all those feelings. If you’re a writer, you can actually tap into what that darkness feels like but you don’t have to be fucked up to do it. You just don’t have to.