Guitar Licks

Guitars, tips and great music discussions




You are here: Home / Archives for Entertainment

It’s the summer time and making posts ain’t easy

by

So I hope that everyone out there is having a great start to their summer!

As you may all ready have known, I have not been posting that much on this site. Well to tell you the truth, I’ve been working in the backyard gardening! Yes gardening! And let’s not forget the odd family adventure!

My wife and I have both been blessed with being bit by the gardening bug. We’ve had around 56 roses and about 1100 plants in there and loving every minute of it. We tend to be of the extreme variety.

Ever since I was quite young, I’ve had my fingers in the soil. It started off cutting the grass, de-weeding the flower beds and a bit of planting. Truth be told, I’m not that great at planting the greenery, my wife is strictly in charge of that area!

She is the one who does all the research into it and I must say that I do catch on eventually to her technique. There is so much to learn on gardening forums about this hobby that even to this day, it really blows my mind!

As for the family thing, I’ve been in Brantford more lately (sorry for not calling ya Dom, I will get around to it next time I’m there!) the biggest thing I had to do was putting up this massive fence at my parents.

Figuring out where exactly to start digging post holes, cementing them (I hope that they’re all relatively straight), placing the horizontal 2 x 4’s, making sure all is level … It was a hectic couple of days in the sun and rain, but it was all worth it. The multiple hangover days I could have done without.

So hopefully I get back to the task at hand that is to start to entertain you all with my less the grammatically correct writing/English!

Keep on Jammin’




The Cole Porter Movie called De-Lovely

by

Cole Porter was a genius composer. I’ve played some of his tunes as a kid and as I have grown as a musician, I now have a better feel for how great this man really was.

At work the other day, I got into a conversation with a patient. We were talking about different styles of playing guitar and it gravitated to Cole Porter. He brought up this movie called De-Lovely and said that it was a must to see.

Since then I’ve been searching our TV for it to no avail. I’ve also tried calling up some video stores to see if they have it in their collection, no luck there either.

My question to all of you out there is, has anyone seen it? Is it really worth buying it?

Keep on Jammin’

Glastonbury Festival

by

The Glastonbury Festival is something I’ve never heard of before.

This sounds like one of the best musical weekends one could ever imagine!

It started in 1970 and hasn’t looked back. In 1971 the lineup was Hawkwind, Traffic, Melanie, David Bowie, Joan Baez and Fairport Convention. Attendance: estimated at 12,000. Price: free. At the 1982 show the acts were Van Morrison, Judie Tzuke, Jackson Browne, Roy Harper, Richie Havens. Attendance: 25,000. Tickets: £8. Then in 1985 Echo & The Bunnymen, Aswad, Joe Cocker, Style Council and The Boomtown Rats. Attendance was 40,000,Tickets: £16. Now that’s not a bad line up!

They even made a documentary called Glastonbury Fayre (1972). Watching the trailer looks like it was going to be one of those weekends, don’t ya know, nudge, nudge, wink, wink?! The band Fairport Convention looked great. These guys are still around believe it or not.

Has any of my readers here been to this festival? I’d love to know if it’s well worth the price to get there?!

Keep on Jammin’

Was Jimi Hendrix murdered my his manager?

by

We all seem to, in today’s modern society, gravitate to the tabloid stories. I for one, try my best to ignore this form of journalism, but it does make one wonder about this particular story. I realize I’m adding to it’s buzz on-line, but this story caused me to react to this type hype that I am referring to above.

Was Jimi Hendrix murdered my his manager? Well I’m not sure because I wasn’t there when it happened.

James “Tappy” Wright a roadie for Jimi, claims that Michael Jeffrey, Jimi’s former manager “drunkenly confessed to killing” Hendrix. He reportedly says that he killed him “by stuffing pills into his mouth and washing them down with several bottles of red wine.”

The latest information is from a new book called Rock Roadie. Why did he wait so long to bring this to anybodies attention?

It’s definitely plausible: Michael Jeffrey “has always been a controversial figure,” and he’s “been accused by members of the Animals and Jimi Hendrix’s family of cheating them of earnings.”

If this is true, should there be a formal investigation to this tragedy? Should we just leave it along? Hasn’t the Hendrix family suffered enough? Which conspiracy formula do you subscribe to?

So my question to you, my great readership is, do we really care about this form of newz/entertainment if you can actually call it that?

Keep on Jammin’

Buffalo Auditorium’s last stand

by

The Buffalo Auditorium was just a beautiful building. They are demolishing it and making it into a parking lot! As in Joni Mitchel’s song, They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. The pictures says it all.

Some many unforgettable events were held there. I know you just have to ask Chris Noto about it and he’ll have tons of stories for you! Sorry about your loss there buddy!

Many sports teams called it their home.

Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League, the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, the Buffalo Braves of the National Basketball Association, the Buffalo Stallions of the Major Soccer League, the Buffalo Bandits of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League, the Buffalo Blizzard of the second National Professional Soccer League, and the Buffalo Stampede of Roller Hockey International. It also held a number an NCAA basketball games, as well as numerous entertainment events, such as concerts, the Ringling Brothers circus, Disney on Ice, and other things of that nature.

It held some fabulous other shows as well. The Aud. held shows by major acts such as The Grateful Dead. Some say the grand old lady helped produce the bands greatest shows ever! The Who, The Stones, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Neil Young and David Bowie are just a few of the greatest bands to play within it’s walls.

So here is a final salute to the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium “The Aud” and let us keep her in out hearts!

Has anyone here been lucky enough to have graced her hallowed walls? If so, what did you see there and do you have some stories about her?!

Keep on Jammin’

China Girl from Anna Ternheim

by

I was watching Without a Trace the other night with my wife and during the show a great version of China Girl from David Bowie came on.

It was a interpretation that we both had never heard of before. Wanting to now more about this adaptation of the original song, my wife found out that it was perfectly executed by a Swedish singer named Anna Ternheim.

It was of an unplugged nature. The song was soft, slow and very dream like. Anna Ternheim used only this haunting bass, beat box in the backdrop of her rendition of this great work. Her voice is very airy and to some her voice comes across as sounding like either Alanis Morissette. We both came to this conclusion, a couple of seconds into the piece.

I know nothing of this artist except for a insightful interview into who and what she is all about musically. Her band’s site and Myspace account does not dive to much into what makes her tick but, I’m sure I’ll find out more about her in the future.

Has anyone else out there heard of this women before? What is your take on her exclusive style of performing?

Keep on Jammin’

A cardboard grand piano

by

A Swedish packaging company, SCA Packaging, has created a grand piano that is made of cardboard. I guess it’s for people who find the real thing a little bit too heavy to lug around for gigs! Anyone one up to tickling the old cardboard?

The cardboard piano uses integrated circuits that are pressed onto paper instead of silicon chips or circuit boards. It’s based on technology developed to make paper products that change colour or include radio-frequency tags for inventory control. Ulf Carlsson, SCA’s head of development and research, said the cardboard piano features all 88 keys. Press one, and the circuit beneath it sends a signal to an external loudspeaker, which plays the appropriate sound.
Source: www.usatoday.com 3 June 2004 Copyright Associated Press

For now, the company has only generated a few of the futuristic keyboards. They have not developed a plan to send them to market as of yet. SCA is probably using this as a gimmick to create a buzz for the company. They also admit that this may be used as a vehicle to introduce the next generation highlighting the development of printing techniques. I’d still love to hear one!

Keep on Jammin’

A prrr-fectly good guitar

by

This little kitty seems prrr-fectly content in performing in front of the camera! I just wonder how it would react to a hall full of musical dogs?

00029191

I wonder if he/she uses finger picks, hummm?!

Keep on Jammin’


Half Past four

by

Now Half Past Four, that played last at the Nuance show, is unlike any band that I have heard or seen in a long time. Crafting original, fresh soundscapes from their headquarters in Toronto, Canada, Half Past Four offers exquisite musical novelty and experimentation to true musical connoisseurs and rock-party goers alike is how they define themselves and I must agree.

They are very difficult to pin their unique style, done to just one genre of music. It’s not that I’m trying to, but for my readers this may just help them out a bit.

Crafting original, fresh soundscapes from their headquarters in Toronto, Canada, Half Past Four offers exquisite musical novelty and experimentation to true musical connoisseurs and rock-party goers alike.
Half Past Four

The music is progressive in natural, but the stage presence is pure art rock. During their performances, the band has videos playing behind them all the time. If you get the opportunity to see them live, PLEASE pay attention to what’s going on in the background, it’s worth it!

The lead singer is hypnotizing and infectious to watch! Together, they elevate their audiences musical adventure to a whole new, very entertaining musical experience.

Everything about this witnessing this band live is new and refreshing to me. This is one of those bands that you route for to make it big! If you are in the GTA area, you must check out when and where they are playing … once again it’s worth the drive.

Keep on Jammin’

Meta

Archives

Pages

Tags

Acoustic amp band bands Brantford Bruce Cockburn Canada Canadian concert Entertainment fender funny General guitar Guitar Equipment guitarist guitar player guitars Home house Humor humour instrument jammin jazz John Mayer keyboard Live Music musician Musicians play playing Progressive Rock Pylis rock RUSH Songs to play sound strings Technology Toronto tour Video YES