Brand New Carolina Still Tshirt - Runnin' Moonshine

Somedays there is nothing better than letting a pencil and sharpie work their way out of my system. For the longest time I worked on "art" that was perfect. When I say perfect, what I really means was that I was all about trying to achieve the perfect human form and line work within my illustrations. The biggest thing it did was to kill any fun I was having while drawing.

Spend a long time drawing hands, faces or body gestures and you either get really good at it and can do it in your sleep or you just get burnt out on it. As of late, these looser illustrations have been a lot more fun and I can knock them out in a few hours. Really enjoyed this one as the car is one that my buddy Mopar Rob just got back on the road and it's also for the fellas in Carolina Still.

Process drawing as a photo on instagram.com/rustyknuckles

Final illustration and rendering for Carolina Still's new hot rod tshirt - Runnin' Moonshine

Samsung to Give Away 1 Million Copies of Jay-Z’s New Album, Say What?

Jay Z's new album went platinum before ever even going on sale.

Did you read that headline correctly? Yep, it's true and now that is going to be just another tactic as a well to help sell music. Prince has included a cd in the ticket price of one his tours to push huge sales, Radiohead famously allowed for fans to name their price on the album and now Jay Z has partnered up with Samsung to leverage his new album as a free download to their smartphone users. 

Gimmicks will always be a part of the advertising landscape but here is one thing that lasts, great music. For five weeks now, Carolina Still has been a featured album on Itunes. We aren't selling in the hundreds of thousands of copies nor have we moved more than 10,000 just yet, but real music fans are listening. No matter if you like Jay Z, Samsung or any of the bigger corporate entities involved in, take a play out of their strategy book and use it in your own way. 

Carolina Still, featured right up there on New & Noteworthy with quite the contemporaries

There is no safety net in rock n' roll nor are there any rules. Create your own future out of the vision you see as reality. Five years ago I would never have thought we would have gotten this far as an indie music label. Now I am looking forward to where we are in ten years when the great bands we get to work with have exploded onto the world market. As the second half of 2013 rolls around, we have some damn great albums yet to come!

 

Read the original article on The Wall Street Journal

"As the Miami Heat faced off against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA finals Sunday night, a curious TV ad aired near the end of the second quarter featuring rap star Jay-Z in a studio, riffing with a cast of characters including producer Rick Rubin and artist Pharrell Williams. At one point, a member of the posse is shown taking notes on a tablet device. More than two minutes into the three-minute video Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE -0.15%’s tagline flashes across the screen: “The Next Big Thing.”

The connection: Samsung has purchased 1 million copies of Jay-Z’s coming album, entitled “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” slated for release July 4, and plans to give them to Samsung Galaxy smartphone users for free – 72 hours ahead of the release. The users are to receive the music through an app they’ll receive later this month. (Recipients won’t be able to share it until the official release date.)

Samsung paid $5 apiece for the albums, according to a person familiar with the matter. It wasn’t immediately clear if Nielsen SoundScan will count Samsung’s purchases in its sales tallies.

The partnership could help Samsung compete with Apple Inc. AAPL -1.36%, which recently announced the launch of iTunes Radio – an online radio service bundled onto Apple devices that promises to offer listeners access to certain tracks before they’re available elsewhere.

For Jay-Z, the deal is a precious advertising opportunity and gives him $5 million in sales before the album is even released. The agreement signals the increasing importance of corporate sponsors to the music industry, which has seen sales tank over the past decade.

Jay-Z hinted at the partnership on Twitter two days ago with a photo of a Samsung smartphone displaying text telling fans to “tune in” to the game.

Neither Samsung nor Jay-Z could immediately be reached for comment."

Miniature Knucklehead Engine Built For Show And Go

One of the best things that a father or any parent for that matter can pass down, is knowledge. I got lucky and have a great dad, who can work on anything under the sun and make it perform better. One of the cool things to learn from, was seeing mechanical items being torn apart and fixed. It might be a lawn mower one weekend or a motorcycle the next, but something was always on the work bench in a state of repair. 

Do yourself a favor and pass along as much knowledge and know how as you can. It is the gift that keeps on giving. This model below is something that I could definitely see as a great father and kid project.

Check out original post on About.com

"Former Wisconsin power company worker Jerry Kieffer didn't exactly take it easy when he retired. Instead, he dedicated himself to building perfect recreations of mechanical objects, in very small scale.

What started as a 1/6th scale Harley-Davidson engine (which actually runs) evolved into a yet-smaller 1/8th scale rendition of an entire Harley-Davidson Knucklehead bike, which is currently in the process of being built. When it's done, Kieffer intends every aspect of the motorcycle model to work, from the kick start mechanism to the gearbox and the speedometer."

Miniature Knucklehead model built by Jerry Kieffer

Miniature working model of a 1947 Knucklehead motor

Using a quarter for scale reference check out the transmission shifting gears pulled out next to the frame.

Miniature springer front end

Knucklehead miniature build based on the original 1947 model

Inside of the miniature primary on the knucklehead model

Using a quarter for scale reference next to the miniature primary gears.

Original Knucklehead spark plug next to the miniature custom knucklehead and spark plugs

Billy Don Burns Performing Dead Or Alive

"Dead or Alive" performed by Billy Don Burns
The Shore Road Tavern
Robbins and Jackson Philadelphia, PA Tuesday, May 21st, 2013

Hellbound Glory In Nashville On 6.10.13

So Ya Wanna Be A Motorcycle Mechanic

So ya wanna be a motorcycle mechanic? Well, what if you were to be one for a race team such as Bubba Stewart's. Check out this process video of a bike being torn down, cleaned and then put back together to be ready for another race. 

Link to all things Bubba Stewart

James "Bubba" Stewart whipping out of a huge jump

Hank 3 Sings About Antiseen 30 Year Anniversary Show

SAT. OCTOBER 5th at Tremont Music Hall: 
The 30 YEAR ANTiVERSARY of ANTiSEEN 
Three Decades of Destructo Rock!!! 
Saturday, October 5, 2013 
Get tickets: http://ticketf.ly/18vpECF

Kara Clark Album Has Arrived

The brand new album from Kara Clark has arrived from our manufacturers and is all set for the July 9th world wide release date. We can flat out tell you that this is an album filled to the brim with peaks and valleys. The songwriting is top of the food chain and it will take you on a journey like no other. The one aspect we really dig about Kara Clark's music is the pure honesty reflected within each song. You feel as if she is sitting directly beside you as the songs progress. This is how masterful story telling is done!

Get your copy of Kara Clark's new album

Kara Clark's brand new album ships world wide on July 9th

Out of Nothing - Official Teaser Trailer

Custom Leather Tool Bag Process Video, Set To The Music of Billy Don Burns

There is one thing that is absolutely satisfying and ultimately refreshing to the mind, body and soul. Building something by hand awakens the senses and gets the blood flowing as materials have to be manipulated to take shape and to perform in the way you want them to. With a material such as leather, creating folds done properly requires an understanding of the grain of the leather and plenty of force, especially on the thicker pieces. I am quite new to leather craft in the big picture, but after a year of bending, poking and hammering, the doors are starting to open and now I can easily see the next level of new products already taking shape. 

Be on the lookout for a new wallet style along with custom guitar straps, from Rusty Knuckles customs.

Click here to purchase your custom tool bag.