Tomiko Dixon, blues singer and granddaughter of late blues great Willie
Dixon with R&B legends Marshall Thompson (left) and Gene Chandler. |
James Foster/For the Sun-Times
It was a day after Marie Dixon,
widow of blues great Willie Dixon, died, and several legends were
gathered in a downtown hotel in support of a granddaughter, Tomiko
Dixon.
There was R&B legend Gene “Duke of Earl” Chandler, who is Tomiko
Dixon’s amore, and her godfather, Marshall Thompson, founder of the
legendary Chi-Lites, credited with birthing a generation of R&B
vocal groups.
New Album Art For Billy Don Burns - Graveyard In Montgomery
Would
like to say thank you to everyone who has really dug this illustration
for Billy Don Burns new album cover, Graveyard In Montgomery and all the
shares. We thought on it and realized that maybe we should give away
the original art for the album as a way to say thank you to the fans for
sticking by him through thick and thin. So this Friday, once we
announce the pre-sale, every physical album order
sold through our webstore will be entered into a drawing to win the
original pen and ink sketch. Sure you can wait to stream it for free on
Youtube or Spotify, but if you want something to live on past your next
Appleoid Omega malfunction, purchase the album and maybe this art along
with BD's story about his travels to that infamous graveyard and much
more can potentially hang on your wall and reverberate from your
speakers for years to come.
All of the press and hype surrounding the music gear industry follows
a similar pattern every year. New products get announced at NAMM in
January, unleashing a wave of buzz that ripples through forums and
YouTube channels, and ultimately into shopping carts of websites like
Reverb.com.
Smaller brands often release gear later in the year to less initial
fanfare, building their reputations on merit rather than marketing. You
see this a lot with boutique pedals and guitars where an off-the-cuff
artist endorsement or a single demo video can do as much for a product's
popularity as any trade show press release.
Here is a look back at both the big
releases and sleeper hits that generated the most buzz in the music gear
industry in 2016.
Korg Minilogue
The Korg Minilogue
was easily the most talked-about synth at NAMM this year, and a steady
stream of praise has followed since. Analog synths are as en vogue as
ever, and this portable keyboard strikes a perfect target zone in the
broader market. It's analog, but not too expensive. Highly tweakable,
yet extremely approachable.
Korg understands the blossoming affordable analog market better than
anyone and brings a unified vision of how to lower the barrier to entry
for these machines. While it may not sound as juicy as vintage Juno or
any modern Moog, the Minilogue represents a major step forward for Korg
and claims a definite spot as the new entry point into the realm of
analog synths. As a testament to how well the Minilogue is doing, Korg
has a already announced a smaller follow-up – dubbed the Monologue – set for release next year.
Fat
Wreck Chords... The influential music label proud to say they've spent
the past 25 years "ruining punk rock". A Fat Wreck tells the story of
founders Fat Mike (of the legendary punk band NOFX) and his ex-wife Erin
Kelly-Burkett, spanning the birth, growth, struggles, and survival of
the Fat Wreck Chords label.
Half
inspirational story of chosen family and community, half debauchery and
occasionally involuntary drug use... A Fat Wreck blazes exciting new
ground in the cinematic genre of puppet-driven punk rock music
documentary filmmaking. If you only see one film featuring a dominatrix
spanking a puppet in your lifetime... Make it A Fat Wreck!
When legends release new material, it can be quite disappointing. For instance, when Metallica released Load, most heavy #metal
fans were let down immensely. The crunch was gone, the complexity was
all but absent, and years of over touring had taken a toll on singer
James Hetfield much sooner than his age would suggest. While the mighty Met have managed to redeem themselves since then, thankfully #Testament has yet to release a slab of sub par material, and thankfully their newest, “#Brotherhood of the Snake”
keeps that tradition in tact. If anything, with guitarist Eric Peterson
at the songwriting helm, they may have just released the most exciting
metal album of the year, if not of their career.
Pinecone Fletcher talks about why he likes cigar-box guitars and what drew him to the craft.
Andrew Thayer / Staff Video
Bluesman Pinecone Fletcher finds joy in re-creating instrument for 21st century
Back when cigars were plentiful and money was not — especially during
the Civil War, for example, or the Great Depression — some musicians
decided to work with what they had close at hand and built their own
cigar-box guitars.
The concept was pretty simple: Cobble together a
box, a stick and some strings, then tune it up and start playing. The
raw, organic sound proved to be much different than what a store-bought
instrument would deliver, giving a different twist to blues, country and
folk tunes.
As Americana and roots music have undergone a revival
in the last 15 years, led by the 2000 film “O Brother Where Are Thou?”
and bands like Mumford & Sons, the interest in cigar-box guitars has
grown, too. Ambitious do-it-yourselfers still prefer to put together
their own, but a few companies have sprung up to fill the need.
Recreating the wild wild west out of discarded
farm equipment, South Dakota-based artist John Lopez’s amazing metal
sculptures will blow your mind! Check them out below:
Source: John Lopez Studio
Sculptor John Lopez is a product of a place. His people’s ranches are
scattered along the Grand River in northwestern South Dakota—not far
from where Sitting Bull was born and died. Not far from where thousands
of buffalo were killed during the westward expansion of settlers and
gold miners. In the bone yards of Tyrannosaurus rex and grizzly
bears. Since farmers and ranchers populated this chunk of reservation
land, real cowboys have been roping and branding and sheering and haying
and harvesting.
From Buzzoven Kirk's blog on Google... "So its
been right at a week since our west coast tour with the mighty Bongzilla
ended. Needless to say, we hit it off very well with the Bongzilla
boys.Actually Dixie played on one of their albums and did a tour with
them. Me and Michael (Pee Wee) really hit it off and i firmly believe i
have a new brother in him for life. Touring with them,renting their
back line and all around working together made life on this tour much
easier. Bongzilla is still out there touring so get out and see them and
buy some merch if you can to support this hard working band.
I have a
few individual stories to tell but I'm just typing some thoughts and
observations from this recent 8 day jaunt through the west. I want to be
sure i tell the stories i have as they actually happened and get
permission from all those involved so i don't step on any toes or piss
anyone off. I never piss anyone off. HA!! While our first tours back, in
2011,after 10 years of doing nothing proved to be lucrative and full of
hype, this recent leg of shows, which by the way was after another 4 year
lull proved to be good but only part of the hype previously experienced
was present. It's becoming painfully obvious that if we don't stay
busy, tour and work harder we will slowly dwindle back to an unknown band
of the past. Some musicians i feel get spoiled from certain things being
a certain way and expect that every tour or show will be just as
lucrative and also bigger venues with a consistent amount of crowd
attendance. Which of course is not the reality of being in the
music business as things change year to year and even day to day.
Johnny Lydon, otherwise known as Johnny Rotten.
mbl.is/Freyja Gylfa
Reykjavik has a new museum, the Iceland Punk Museum and, with a nod
to anarchy it's actually located in the former public toilets in
Bankastræti in the city centre. Who better to open a punk museum than
the world's most famous punk - John Lydon- better known as Johnny Rotten
from legendary UK punk band The Sex Pistols.
Lydon is a guest of the Iceland Airwaves festival and took part in
the Airwords programme at Harpa where he read excerpts from his books.
The Icelandic Punk Museum offers a fascinating look at the history of
punk in Iceland with photographs and objects related to the period
around 1980. Iceland's music history is documented from early days to
the punk and new wave revolution which in turn served to create some of
Iceland's best known artists including Björk, The Sugarcubes and Sigur
Rós.
Singer Neil Diamond and songwriters and producers Ellie Greenwich, Bert Berns and Jeff… more
Michael Ochs Archives
Show times: 4:15 p.m. Thursday, 9 p.m. Saturday and 11:15 a.m. on Nov. 13 at United Artists Denver Pavilions
Industry it spotlights: Music recording
The story:Bert Berns
was a 1960s pioneer in the music industry, producing records ranging
from “Twist and Shout” to “Hang On Sloopy.” This documentary recalls
both Berns’ successes and challenges and focuses on his business
dealings with both a cut-throat industry and with the mob.
