Ginger or Mary Ann . . .

. . . and YOU thought the current pop culture's preoccupations were ridiculous!!  The recent passing of actor Russel Johnson brought that age-old party game, barroom discussion to mind.  Methinks it won't be too long before we realize how silly our current pop culture obsessions truly are, but by then, there will be new ones to savor.

Current ones like:
Miley Cyrus
Zombies
Beyonce
Downton Abbey
Breaking Bad
Carbs and Lycopenes
The NSA

. . . enough to make you WANT to be stranded on a desert island.

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Let's Take Him Up. . .

. . . on his offer . . .

TOTALLY!!



(from http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/14/22298718-israeli-minister-apologizes-to-kerry-for-messianic-remarks?lite)
(Moshe) Yaalon was quoted by the Yediot Aharonot newspaper on Tuesday as saying that the only thing that could "save" Israel was for Kerry to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and "leave us alone."

"Secretary of State John Kerry came here very determined and operates based upon an unfathomable obsession and a messianic feeling," Yaalon was quoted as saying. "Throughout the recent months, there is no negotiation between us and the Palestinians, but rather, between us and the Americans. The only thing that can 'save' us is that John Kerry will get a Nobel Peace Prize and leave us alone."

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Linked . . .

. . . in


What is going on with Linkedin???  (or is it just me?)

Seems within the past nine months or so (maybe more), there are all these attractive young ladies inviting me to connect on the Linkedin website, who are (of ALL things!) 'Consultants at Self Employed'.

CONSULTANTS AT SELF-EMPLOYED!!

For what it's worth, they also seem to be from anywhere but the U.S. 

Something about this seems to be a bit fishy to me.

What exactly is a "Consultant at Self Employed" and shouldn't a self-employed consultant be required to add the specific business in which they are qualified to consult?  Maybe I'm skeptical or possibly just naive, but their photos would indicate their commonality to coincidentally be either:  1. they are all simply nice looking young ladies with a desire and talent for consulting;  they are each operating an escort (or some other less conventionally acceptable business) service.

Looks like spam to me.  Has anyone else had this happen?

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Is This Draggin' You, Man? . . .

(from Straight, No Chaser; The Life and Genius of Thelonious Monk by Leslie Gourse)
". . . Invited to witness a rehearsal with Monk and Charlie Rouse, (Robert) Kotlowitz (for Harper's) wrote:

Monk feeds . . . Rouse . . . a note or phrase at a time, a mouthful to be digested to bewildered shakings of the head. It can take the entire two hours to get one full minute of music set between the two. Monk and Rouse say their notes, as though music were the simplest, most direct language available to man, and even more, as though B-C sharp, played on an instrument, means something as precise and unmistakable as C-A-T. Throughout the rehearsal, Monk directs with short comments. "You're not making it," he says placidly after the seventh repetition of an octave jump. "Dig it" Well into the next phrase, Monk says, "Don't tough the note, hit it.  And when you it it, augment it."

When he was satisfied, Monk said slowly, "Solid"  To Kotlowitz, who was listening to the repetitions, he said, "This dragging you?" . . . "

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Ties . . .

One of my favorite parts about visiting the Songwriters Showcase at Brewer's Alley in Frederick (MD) every month, apart from playing my Gonzo tunes and improvisation for the appreciative crowd and seeing (and now frequently accompanying) some wonderful people, is discovering a musical talent of immense proportion.  No, I don't mean overweight, I mean that special, musical artist that actually moves me.  And this week, I have found another . . . Korby Lenker. 


(from http://www.korbylenker.com/index.php/bio#bio)
An abbreviated list of Lenker's achievements so far includes: a significant amount of airplay on the legendary Seattle indie rock station KEXP; a BBC 2 interview with Bob Harris, which is only about the highest honor a rootsy singer-songwriter touring the U.K. can get; opening slots for acts ranging from Willie Nelson to Ray LaMontagne, Nickel Creek, Keith Urban, Susan Tedeschi and Tristan Prettyman; a successful run with one of the hottest young West Coast bluegrass bands of the aughts; and wins in the Merlefest folk songwriting contest as well as the Kerrville Folk Festival's elite New Folk songwriting competition. . .

"I like it simple," says Lenker. "I just do. As soon as there's a weird chord, I'm like, 'Why? That's all been done. Who cares?' What's really hard is to hit people in the heart and to reach them. That's what I'm trying to do: make music that's easily likeable, but with a kind of secret sophistication. I'm always trying to write a song that you can hum along with on the first listen. You're like, 'Yeah, I'd like to hear that again.' Then maybe you hear it 20 times and you're like, 'Damn, that's actually something I'm going to think about now.'". . .

"I like it tight," he offers about his experience fronting the 5 piece bluegrass outfit, which SPIN magazine called "The Young Riders of the bluegrass revolt". "I like the solos short and I like harmonies in tune...it was all song-driven for me.". . .

Deep down, Lenker is drawn both to the sort of unadorned expression the discerning folkie crowd treasures and to the sort of playful pop embellishment and electronic textures that may land one of his tracks in a primetime T.V. show or film any day now. . .

And there's nothing at all wrong with having it both ways musically when it comes this naturally. "I can't abandon either one of them," Lenker says, "because they're both so me. One of my favorite musicians in the world, bassist and composer Edgar Meyer once said in an interview 'The boundaries of music have been and always should be limitless.' I couldn't agree more."

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A Heavy fifth . . .

(from http://www.planetmellotron.com/revd2.htm)
"Dark Side were, essentially, a continuation of Baltimore's avant-gods OHO, although the musical path they chose was utterly different. Imagine a 1980-style 'noo wave' band, with pointed, ironic lyrics, a scratchy, punkish approach to their playing and dollops of Farfisa all over everything, and you won't be too far out. They released one album, the now-so-rare-I-can't-even-find-a-cover-scan-on-the-'Net Rumours in Our Own Time, Legends in Our Own Room, which should probably have done an awful lot better than it did. Just think; what if The Cars had had brains? Decent enough material, although Back On The Streets clearly deliberately rips off (Sittin' On The) Dock Of The Bay, for some unknown reason. Mellotron on one track, Down The Tubes, with some background strings that don't really make that much difference.

As part of a general OHO reissue programme, the whole album was released on CD in 2005 as Odd Fellows on an Even Day: Anthology 1977-1995, expanded to double its original length. Y'know, you've got to really like this stuff to want to listen to an entire album of it... That's not to dismiss it in any way, however; it's good at what it does, just doesn't really hold the attention of one not into the style for over an hour."



Inspiration comes when, and from where you least expect it.   Listen to Oho trying out a heavy, Beethoven and Dark Side-influenced new piece containing several warts but with ample potential from a recent rehearsal . . .



The 5th
(working title references the musical quote from which it comes)
written by John P. Graboski
(OHO rehearsal recording-
Jay Graboski, David Reeve and Ray Jozwiak are OHO)







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The 2014 Edition. . .

        . . . of the Brewer’s Alley Songwriters’ Showcase . . .

                              Tomy Wright

. . . continues with  Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano opening the January 13th show @ 7:30PM

Brewer's Alley Restaurant & Brewery
124 North Market Street Frederick, MD 21701
Telephone: 301-631-0089 Fax: 301-631-1874
http://www.brewers-alley.com/

 Monday Night Songwriters' Showcase is now in its ninth year!) The program starts at 7:30 pm with a piano prelude, followed by three or four songwriters doing three songs each (lots of variety). The featured songwriter for the evening goes on around 9 pm for around an hour, followed by two or three more three-song performers. Somewhere in the mix we may throw in some poetry. Our MCs are Ron Goad, Todd C. Walker and Tomy Wright, frequently interrupted by Rod Deacey on sound.

There is no admission charge per se, but there is a collection for the featured performer. If you don't want to put money in the hat, you don't have to. And you don't have to give a reason, or you can simply say “I can't spare anything this week” or words to that effect. That is totally fine as people’s circumstances change all the time.

If you CAN afford to put cash in the hat, please give generously – most touring songwriters live on an unbelievably small amount of money. They often drive all night to their next gig because they can't afford a motel. It is not an easy life. And all the tip money goes to the featured songwriter – no money is siphoned off for Ron, Todd or Rod, or for Tomy, Walt or John Holly, or for any of the cameo players, who perform for nothing. It actually costs them money to put on the shows, but they keep doing it for mysterious reasons that they have yet to fathom!

Featured songwriters are a mix of national and regional touring performers, with many award winners from all genres.

What do you think?
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My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

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