One of my passions is my music. When I was very young, I begged my mom to take me to a record store (remember those?) to let me spend some of my allowance money on some vinyl albums. While I was browsing the Kiss, Foreigner (hey, it was the 70s,) and Aerosmith....my mom had the store clerk pick out the two albums that I would be allowed to buy. I ended up taking home an Abba album and ELO's greatest hits. I was young and eager enough that I thought the Abba was OK, I actually really dug the ELO. A couple of weeks later, my grandma bought me Kiss "Dressed to Kill." Grandma was awesome!! My uncle would help me out by sending Stones or Springstein albums for Christmas or my birthday. I cut my teeth on Kiss, Aerosmith, Zeppelin and Ted Nugent. Later, got into Adam & the Ants and watching DEVO playing on SNL. In the early 80s, harcore hit. WOW! Black Flag, Minor Threat, Misfits, Dead Kennedys, Negative Approach...These bands changed my musical leanings for good. I'll alway consider myself an old punk rocker. Shows at the Jockey Club in Newport, KY and even some good ones at Bogart's back in the day. Lot's of good stuff back then: Beastie Boys, Slayer, RHCP (when they really rocked,) Black Crowes, NIN, early Metallica, and the list goes on. I like it all...
In this section I will share new music, and some of my all time faves. Feel free to get into a discussion, or let me know if you want my opinion on a certain album/band.
You can check out some of my favorite music on the Pandora widget to the right.
HEY !!! Do you have band?...Do you have a demo?...Are you an Indy band with an album?...Do you know someone that does?
Use the "Contact" section to e-mail me if you want to send me your music.
If I like it, or even if I think it is horribly bad, I will post a review on this page. It would be even better if you sent me a pic (or two) and definitely a Bio of your band.
Special thanks to Green Monkey Records for the CDs! Reviews will be posted soon. See link to Green Monkey Records in my "links" section.
Sun, May 19, 2013 at 2:41PM This is Soundgarden, live in Indianapolis at the Klipsch Music Center on May 11th.
What a great show! Soundgarden is one of my all time favorite bands, and to see them this close up was amazing. They played songs from King Animal, but also dug out oldies like "Flower" and "Hands All Over." Chris Cornell sounded great, and the band was tight. If you get a chance to see them on tour, you will not be disappointed.
Mon, May 13, 2013 at 9:45AM This past weekend, I got the chance to see the May Fest concert at Klipsch Music Center in Indianapolis. I went primarily to see Soundgarden, but we got to see AWOL NATION and Bush as well.
AWOL NATION was OK...I had never heard them before, and I was told by many people that they were very good. They seemed pretty solid, but I'm not rushing out to buy any of their albums. I may check out a couple of tracks on iTunes, but for the most part they were not someone I got real excited about. They were a couple of moments where they really started to rock, but those moments were generally to few and far between.
Bush on the other hand was awesome! Gavin Rossdale put on a great show. Very solid setlist, they played all the hits and more. The sound was great and Gavin even ran off stage and into the lawn crowd. I always liked Bush, but seeing them live I had forgotten how good they were. Very impressed!
Soundgarden pics and review to come (but OF COURSE they were phenomenal.)
Mon, May 6, 2013 at 7:23AM The night before I saw Willie Nelson at The Backyard, I got at a chance to see the Black Crowes at Stubbs BBQ in Austin. My brother came down and met me for the show. First off, what great food Stubbs has! My brother and I both had the smoked quail...delicious.
Great place to see a show! Stubbs' concert area is outside, and is a hill that slops down towards the stage. There really isn't a bad place to be, and the sound quality is great.
The Black Crowes put on a great show, although it started pouring rain towards the end.
Sat, May 4, 2013 at 4:36PM I happened to be in Texas last week, and I got the opportunity to go to Austin the same night that Willie Nelson had his 80th birthday party show at The Backyard.
Willie turned the show into a benefit concert for the people of West, Texas. He bused in 3 loads of firefighters, police, victims, and their families for the show. He even let many of them sit on stage for the show.
This was my first time seeing Willie Nelson, and since he just turned 80, I thought it might be my last shot.
Willie put on a great show!
His son Lukas put on a great show as well with his band "The Promise of the Real." That guy can REALLY play the guitar.
Highlights: Willie and Lukas playing Pearl Jam's "Just Breathe," Randy Travis joining Willie for one song, and all of the cool people in the crowd.
Mon, April 15, 2013 at 7:26PM Greg Ginn is a punk rock icon. He was the guitarist, leader, and primary songwriter for the mighty Black Flag. His guitar style is instantly recognizable, and he was even named one of the top 100 guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. When he called it quits with Black Flag, he continued on with Gone (which ironically later turned into Henry Rollins' new band. Greg Ginn has put out a sizable catalog of music since his Flag days, but most of it has been experimental and and far removed from his roots as a founder of hardcore.
Enter Good For You...
Good For You is Greg's new project, and features vocals by skateboarder Mike Valley (Mike V.) The album is a return to the music of the later Flag albums. In fact, this album could have easily been a follow up to In My Head. Ginn returns to his signature ferocious style, complete with the solos that we have come to cherish.
When I gave this album the first listen, I was horrified that Mike V sounded just like a weaker Henry Rollins clone. Mike sang during a "Black Flag Reunion" show back in 2003, where he sang the entire My War album with Ginn. His band, Mike V and the Rats, opened for some of Greg Ginn's post-Flag shows. The more I listened to the album, the less I minded. I have to admit that I was hoping for a Black Flag type album, and this is about as close as it's going to get.
The album has 11 tracks, and they range from the plodding "I'd Rather Die" to the faster tunes like "Stupid Me" and "Good Sport." There are also some slower My War type songs that have the same vibe as "Scream" like "Knife in the Face."
If you were a fan of the later Black Flag releases, you're going to enjoy this album. To me, this album could be a very promising sign that Greg Ginn is ready to get back to what he did best. Whether it's a second Good For You album, or something else that might even be faster, I'm looking forward to what Greg puts out next. Just to hear his classic guitar sound and song structures take me back to the mid 80s scene when he was the king. Greg Ginn never particularly cared what people thought of the music he was putting out, which is why all of the Flag albums started sounding different from the last. Let's just hope that he misses what he was doing back then, and is re-visiting the time period that he left off at.
If you liked any Black Flag from My War on, you owe it to yourself to give this album a listen.
