The Forgotten New Yorker who Changed the ‘80s Music Scene

Ruth Polsky at Danceteria

When the members of New Order arrived in New York for their first North American gigs in 1980, they were greeted by a booking agent, a drug supplier, a tour guide and their own personal chef — all of whom were the same woman.

The Brits were just one of dozens of new wave and post-punk acts imported across the Atlantic by New Yorker Ruth Polsky. During her tenure as a talent booker at seminal Manhattan nightclubs Hurrah on West 62nd Street (1979 to 1982) and Danceteria on West 21st Street (1982 to 1986), she was the first to take chances on then-unknown bands such as Simple Minds, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Smiths, the Psychedelic Furs and many more. With disco and rock still dominant in the charts, Polsky had a rare ear for fresh sounds, and took chances in bringing them to the United States before most other club bookers would dare.

Heavy Metal Cruise of the Caribbean

The "Independence of the Seas" set sail from Florida for the loudest sea cruise in the Caribbean. Some 60 bands are to play on board for 3,000 music fans who'll spend five days and nights dancing on the pool deck. 

The organizers, "70,000 TONS OF METAL," claim it to be the original and biggest heavy metal sea cruise. The first such music festival on a cruise ship took place in 2011.

This year will feature acts like the legendary bands Anthrax and Overkill as well as Uli Jon Roth, the former Scorpions guitarist.

From Port Everglades, the cruise head to Labadee, on the island of Haiti, and back again. The cruise lasts four days, from February 2-6.

Introducing the Artiphon INSTRUMENT 1

Instrument 1 is a MIDI controller, a tool for generating the standard digital music file. But whereas most MIDI controllers are keyboards hooked up to inscrutable boxes, Instrument 1 is shaped like a purposefully vague string instrument.

Typing notes into software can’t capture the totality of writing and performing music. The physical act of hitting a drum or plucking a string or moving yours hands up and down piano keys, on stage or in a tour bus, is crucial to the experience. Instrument 1 wants to replicate that. Pressure sensitive buttons let you strum, press frets, or even hold the device up on your shoulder like a violin. And if you lay it on a surface, the neck acts as a piano/drum kit.

You can learn more on Artiphon’s site

WhammyPhone is a Bendable Smartphone that Makes Music when Bent

Flexible phones aren’t exactly a new concept as they have been seen in demonstration and prototype form several times. The last flexible smartphone that Slash Gear talked about was from Lenovo and the flexible phones it showed off were cool. Over at Queen’s University’s Human Media Lab some of the researchers have developed a device called the WhammyPhone. It’s being called the world’s first musical instrument for a flexible smartphone.

The Trailer for L7: Pretend We’re Dead Brings the Punk Rock

Even among the grunge-punk bands of the late ’80s/early ’90s, there was something foot-stompingly primal about L7. The band’s music was fuzzed-out, four-on-the-floor rock that didn’t earn the sobriquet “heavy” so much as prove why the term should be applied to music in the first place. People didn’t go to L7 shows for Rush-style technical wizardry; fans were there for the raw three-chord churn of distorted mayhem. And, as the trailer for a new documentary, L7: Pretend We’re Dead, reminds us, it kicked ass.

MTSU Gets Trove Of Live Bluegrass Recordings

This rare 1963 single by “The Weedpatch Boys,” is part of a the bluegrass audio collection donated to MTSU’s Center for Popular Music.

Listen to the radio version of this story here

A rare collection of live bluegrass recordings has a new home at Middle Tennessee State University.
The Center for Popular Music on campus will use a $19,537 grant from the Grammy Foundation to sort and digitize the songs, which have an unusual origin story.

The recordings were gathered by Marvin Hedrick, an Indiana musician, electronics repairman and hobby folklorist.

Hedrick captured “priceless” recordings from the Bean Blossom Music Festival near his home, but also roamed to backstage jams and even hosted impromptu sessions in his repair shop, according to the center.

In all, Hedrick’s surviving sons provided 167 open-reel tapes and other recordings to MTSU. They include Bill Monroe and other pioneers playing from the 1950s through 70s.
The collection will join the centers 1 million holdings and become accessible to researchers — as soon as the MTSU staff can identify who’s playing on each.

Gonzalez, Tony. "MTSU Gets Trove Of Live Bluegrass Recordings." Nashville Public Radio. July 25, 2016. Accessed July 26, 2016. http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/mtsu-gets-trove-live-bluegrass-recordings#stream/0.

Does Music Sound Better on Vinyl Records Than on CDs?

Paul D. Lehrman, a lecturer in music and director of the music engineering minor program, weighs in on the debate

Vinyl is back, no doubt about it. Sales of vinyl records have been soaring, although they still represent only a tiny fraction of the music industry’s revenues: about 2 percent in 2014. Is this growth because, as some respected sources breathlessly state—I’m looking at you, Wired magazine—vinyl sounds better than digital media? Or is there some sort of retro-hype going on?

It’s true that some digital media really don’t sound very good. Low-bit-rate MP3 makes compromises in fidelity, as does low-bit-rate AAC, the higher-tech successor to MP3 that is used by iTunes and YouTube. Low-bit-rate AAC files are also what you typically hear on Pandora, Spotify and SoundCloud, and on your phone. While they are OK for casual listening in the gym or the car, many people can hear their limitations in a quiet environment.

Why Rock Stars Die Young

It’s been hard to avoid tragic tales of troubled musicians lately. Two recent documentaries, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (on HBO) and Amy (in theaters), chronicle the lives, and early demises, of Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse, respectively, beloved singers whose struggle with drugs, depression and the consequences of fame precipitated their deaths at age 27. Another recent biopic, Love & Mercy, takes us inside the head of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, who only just survived such swirling forces and more in his own life.

Bands Tell Us About the Worst Places They've Crashed While Touring

I've interviewed musicians since I was a teenager, and in that time, I've learned two main lessons. The first lesson is that playing in a band is the greatest job in the world. For months at a time you and your friends get to travel from place to place sharing your art and ideas with audiences who are excited to see you play. The second lesson is that playing in a band is the worst job in the world. For months at a time you're away from your family and loved ones, performing songs you poured your heart into for minuscule crowds that are only there for the beer.

There are a lot of highs and lows for touring musicians. Anyone who has spent time on the road can tell you that one of the biggest concerns is figuring out where they're going to spend the night post concert. Recently I sat down with a handful of bands and asked about the worst place they've ever slept.

The Best Time To Practice Your Instrument Might Be During The Middle Of Brain Surgery

On today's episode, we head to the University of Chicago to speak with one of the nation's leading neurosurgeons, Dr. David Frim, PhD. Dr. Frim discusses the basics of brain surgery and how surgeons will examine the brain to make sure they avoid damaging the areas that effect speech and motion. He also discusses why some patients perform their instruments during surgery, and how music, and its effect on the brain, is currently being studied by doctors.

The Excavators, A Brand New Side Project From The Fellas In Hellbound Glory

The Excavators album was recorded in a couple hours at someones house in Reno, NV sometime in late October of 2010. The Excavators consist of Leroy Virgil and Rico Peterson of Hellbound Glory, performing all tracks. All performances are raw and the recording techniques used are extremely primitive. The album comes out November 27th 2015 on Rusty Knuckles Music.

Pre-order your copy now

1. Big Time
2. World Coming To An End
3. Feudin'
4. Working Hard A'int Hardly Workin
5. Another Dead Friend
6. The Repo Man
7. Stateline
8. The Black Mass
9. If The Good Lords A Good Ol' Boy
10. Bonus Track L.O.F.

Colin Hanks Directs Documentary Film About The Rise And Fall of Tower Records

Colin Hanks Directs Documentary Film About The Rise And Fall of Tower Records

"In the first trailer for the Colin Hanks documentary “All Things Must Pass,” we see the events that led to the rise — and eventual fall — of iconic record store chain Tower Records. 

In 1999, Tower Records made $1 billion. In 2006, the company filed for bankruptcy. The documentary charts the store’s rise to prominence as an international chain to the conditions that led to its downfall. 

The film also features interviews with music legends like Elton John, Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl. Each shares fond memories of the days when they could walk into Tower Records and immediately connect with staff, who knew everything there was to know about the latest music.

Hanks directed the film, with Steven Leckart serving as writer. Glen Zipper and Nicholas Ferrall executive produced, while Sean M. Stuart produced. The film premiered at the 2015 SXSW film festival. It will debut in theaters on October 16th."

View this story and more on The Wrap

Watch The Newest Video From Dead Soldiers, Entitled Wicked River

As a music label, merch production company and diehard music fan there are many reasons for us to be at Muddy Roots Music Festival. From the welcoming atmosphere and positive vibe, to the vast array of friends that we have made directly from the festival itself. But ultimately the reason we go, is that being a part of a great music scene requires much more than just enjoying the tunes. It is about the individual people you meet, the camaraderie, the late night conversations that seem to linger on for a few years and the proof in the puddin' of a notion is that to have a real music scene, you have to be a part of it. Who cares if your band is not playing, go be a part of something bigger than any individual and contribute to a scene that only requires you to show up and have a good time. Stop by the booth and have a beer or twenty with us!

Will Apple Music Help To Get Artists Paid?

Will Apple Music Help To Get Artists Paid?

How Many Streams Equal The Sale Of One Album? Who The Hell Cares, Write Music That Everyone Wants To Hear, But They Don't Know It Yet

How Many Streams Equal The Sale Of One Album?

Music is everywhere around us. Whether it be the rhythm of bull frogs chirping in unison on a warm summer night or a perfectly balanced and tuned engine, a syncopated noise is happening everywhere we go. What was once considered a high art form, has now just become a commodity as cheap as a bowl of Ramen noodles. 

This is not a sad state of affairs, but a natural evolution that creates a leveling of the playing field and one ripe for opportunity. Bands can now afford to record on their own and do it for a minimal budget. Be thankful for the opportunity as now you have the potential to create your own future and do it on your own terms. Where as only a few decades back, the struggle was to be heard on a national level and to be signed to a huge recording act. Now in a matter of hours a song could be crafted and uploaded to the masses.

Do Technology Company's Have More Creativity Than The Music Industry?

How often have you wanted to smash something computer related?

Not too far in the recent past, making a living as a musician was a bit easier and the audiences paid a bit more attention to a live act, rather than just a guy with a laptop standing on a stage with headphones. In our current time frame, dance clubs are packed elbow to elbow, while many rock, punk and country acts are playing to less and less fans. 

Could this be a paradigm shift in musical taste? Or, maybe fans are just wanting something new and the immediacy that they are used to, from the internet. Could these electronic musicians be tapping into a larger unknown sphere of influence that in actuality is a database of the pre-programmed minds of video game sounds, website dings modem rings? Hmmm.... Maybe the electronic music evolution is just another part of the internet revolution and music that has been performed in a style for decades is just going out of fashion.

Billboard Debuts Charts For Music Trending Via Twitter, From Mashable

Twitter #Music is now chartable on Billboard

Link to article on Mashable

"Billboard debuted the Billboard Twitter Real-Time Charts on Tuesday morning. The four interactive music charts will rank trending songs from popular and emerging artists based on how often they are mentioned in tweets in the United States.

Twitter first teased this partnership in March, with Bob Moczydlowsky, Twitter's music head, describing it as "the new industry standard for tracking and surfacing the conversation around music as it happens."

The ranking system is a new music strategy for Twitter, which earlier this year shut down its Twitter #Music app, a short-lived service that launched in April 2013 but failed to gain mainstream attention in a market full of rival music apps.

The Story Of The Focusrite Recording Console

Focusrite crafts one of the finest recording sound boards in the industry

Find out more on Focusrite

"Having developed modules for the world's leading mixing consoles, the company's first recording console, the Focusrite Forté, was launched, before a streamlined version called the Studio Console was put into production. Only 10 Studio Consoles were ever made, and six remain in operation to this day -- the documentary tells the stories of these consoles and the people who used them.

In honour of Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd.'s 25th Anniversary (and 29 years since the creation of the Focusrite brand) the company are running a dream recording competition, giving you and three of your bandmates a once in a lifetime opportunity to record a track with Grammy award-winning Producer, Guy Massey at the world famous AIR Studios in London, UK."

Are Your Songs Being Skipped on Spotify?

Are you ADD about getting to the next track?

Read more great articles on Inc.com

"Music blogger Paul Lamere recently analyzed Spotify's data for skipping frequencies.
He wanted to learn more about the circumstances under which Spotify users are skipping a song and moving on to the next one, rather than listening to the tune all the way through. 

For business leaders, who are constantly trying to hold the attention of a room during meetings or presentations, the insights are startling. For example, Lamere assessed how often a song gets skipped in the first five seconds that it's playing. His finding? "The likelihood that a song will be skipped within the first five seconds is an astounding 24.14 percent," he writes.

In other words, nearly one out of four songs gets skipped before it even has five seconds to make an impression. 

Lamere compared this five-second skipping rate to skipping rates after 10 seconds, 30 seconds, and before a song finishes. Here are the results:  

• First 5 seconds: 24.14 percent likelihood of skipping to the next song.
• First 10 seconds: 28.97 percent
• First 30 seconds: 35.05 percent
• Before song finishes: 48.6 percent

Lamere's numbers are an eye-opening reminder of how important it is to seize the attention of your audeince in the first few moments. Especially, the stats suggest, the younger members of your audience: "Young teenagers have the highest skipping rate," writes Lamere. "Well above 50 percent, but as the listener gets older their skipping rate drops rather dramatically, to reach the skipping nadir of about 35 percent."  

In other words, even ostensibly patient older listeners--you know, those who remember when you had to stand up and flip the vinyl record--skip more than one out of three songs. 

While Lamere's study is new, the business takeaway is something that meetings experts have been touting for years. For example, Patrick Lencioni, author of Death By Meeting, believes it's vital to hook listeners within the first 10 minutes: 

The key to making meetings more engaging--and less boring--lies in identifying and nurturing the natural level of conflict that should exist. One of the best places to learn how to do this is Hollywood. Directors and screenwriters learned long ago that movies need conflict to hold the interests of their audiences. Viewers need to believe that there are high stakes on the line, and they need to feel the tension that the characters feel. What is more, they realized if they didn't nurture that conflict--or drama--in the first 10 minutes of a movie, audiences would lose interest and disengage. Leaders of meetings need to do the same by putting the right issues--often the most controversial ones--on the table at the beginning of their meetings.

Writing a hooky tune or a Hollywood script is one thing. In actual meetings, what can leaders do to make sure the attendees are engaged and invested in the subject from the outset? One method is to ask questions that bring latent conflicts to the surface. "When people seem to be holding back their opinions, the leader must draw out feedback and put all issues on the table to be discussed," is what Jeff Gibson, Lencioni's colleage at The Table Group, once told me. 

The key: Don't think of conflict as a negative. Think of it as the natural by-product of an intelligent group discussing a complex topic.

As for presentations, it's no secret: Hooking the audience in the first 30 seconds is vital. If you're presenting to executives or investors, well, you know what they're usually looking for: bulletpoints and takeaways, up front. "Say you're given 30 minutes to present. When creating your intro, pretend your whole slot got cut to 5 minutes," advises presentations expert Nancy Duarte on the Harvard Business Review blog. "This will force you to lead with all the information your audience really cares about--high-level findings, conclusions, recommendations, a call to action. State those points clearly and succinctly right at the start, and then move on to supporting data, subtleties, and material that's peripherally relevant."

Of course, it's hardly a news flash that hooking listeners (or readers or viewers) at the outset is important. But there's a reason that experts like Lencioni and Duarte are in business: Sometimes, even talented executives need to be reminded about the fundamentals of one-to-many communication. On the subject of reminders, Lencioni is fond of quoting the legendary English author and critic Samuel Johnson (1709-1784). Johnson famously said: "People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed."

Keep that in mind, the next time someone on your team forgets an obvious step. And remember: Make it catchy, and make it fast, the next time you lead a meeting or give a talk."

Billy Don Burns And The Song - Motel Madness

Billy Don Burns and Aaron Rodgers doing what they do best

Billy Don Burns never fails to write a song that feels like an old best friend. Do yourself a favor and check out more of his material on his latest album, Nights When I'm Sober... Portrait Of A Honky Tonk Singer.

Purchase Billy Don Burns latest album