Local Licks

      This past year, I made me second trip to Lutsen for the Snowball Music Festival which includes a weekend of skiing and three nights of really good regional bands. Last time I went two folk bands blew the doors off the place and I was absolutely amazed. Pert Near Sandstone from Minnesota around the cities played an amazing set that included a clogger equipped with the wood shoes and all. The guys in the band are super talented and I've been lucky enough to meet a couple of them and they're pretty awesome guys. The other group that played was Trampled by Turtles, another folk group that was absolutely amazing. They played with a tempo and fervor that was surreal to listen to at the concert. It was a great time and we even had a jam with a bunch of locals and fest goers at the hotel during the weekend.
      The trip this January was also a blast, minus the 40 mph winds, and we got treated to a group called Roster McCabe and they play a kind of techno-rock music that was pretty incredible. The lead singer rocks a huge fro while playing keyboards, the guitar players are sick, and the drummer had a monster fro and was super talented as well. I was digging their music, but then they played a Led Zepplin cover of Kashmir that was fucking sick...I was in heaven.
    I think it's awesome that there is a ton of regional bands that are talented and have the desire to commit to their music and the daily grind of touring. To me, these are the types of band that really drive the music industry. It's not the prima-donnas that have songs written for them, it's the groups and individuals that craft their lyrics and music from personal experiences, both good and bad, and pour it all out on the stage when they're performing, then will have a beer with you after the show. We are lucky to live around this area because the local music scene is actually very strong, and bands like Roster McCabe and Three Beers til Dubuque and Charlie Par are usually playing within driving distance.
    To give you an idea what I'm talking about, I've posted three videos down below. The first one is Roster McCabe with Kashmir. Second is Pert near Sandstone, and the third is Trampled by Turtles. Enjoy and get out there to support your local smaller bands!

Pert' Near Sandstone

                                                        Trampled by Turtles

Auto-Tune. Give me a break.

I'm so damn tired of crappy hip-hop in today's music scene. Most of it is pure shit made only with beats and auto-tuned vocals. I'm entirely convinced that a large percentage of today's "pop" stars have very little natural talent, and any that they do is lost in their stupid outfits designed for shock factor. What ever happened to real music? Even the rock scene today is weak. Remember in the 90's when we still had epic bands like Guns N Roses? Or early 2000s when we had rock that was real and hard from bands like Rage Against the Machine. I wish we could take artists like Katy Perry and Kanye (although he's somewhat talented) and Lady Gaga and put them on a bus and drive that bus into the ocean. Yuck. Pop and hip-hop just suck right now. EVERY hip-hop song is auto-tuned and it's annoying. What the hell is that anyway? There should be a rule, if you can't do it in a performance without using sound effects, then don't do it (I'm talking vocals here obviously). Sounds stupid.

I talked about Rage earlier. Love that band. Love how they don't give a shit about what people think and how they're all cerebral guys that care about what's going on. Tom Morello, the lead guitarist, went to Harvard. How awesome is that? I didn't know much about rage when they were hugely popular because I didn't listen to much music then. Not sure why, but now I think they're awesome. When they split up and formed Audioslave, I was a mega fan. The first album, Cochise, is one of the best albums I've ever heard. Just about every song on there rips with a unique blend of Chris Cornell's voice and Tom Morello's crazy guitar licks. Good hard rock. None of this crap that's out today (with some exceptions of course). So here's a badass song from a badass group. Audioslave, with Show Me How to Live. Oh and by the way, he does auto-tune here...by slapping himself in the throat which they don't show in the video. Check out the live version below for that.

Turning Passion into Performance.

Stevie Ray Vaughan is my absolute favorite guitar player of all time. I can sit and watch videos of him for hours (and I have) without being able to fully comprehend the genius and talent I am watching. I was introduced to his music in college by two of my best friends, AFlint and MickFnOlsen, and I've been addicted to his playing ever since then. The first video I saw was a dvd of Stevie Ray's 1983 performance at Austin City Limits, which is a legendary gig for any musician. What I saw was a life-changer; SRV playing she shit out of Hendrix's Voodoo Chile. Un frickin believable. Raw passion and power, insane talent and technical skill, and an "I don't give a fuck attitude". Loved it and still love it.

On a personal level, he was a compassionate but troubled musician. By 1983 he had developed a pretty severe drug and alcohol problem that he would battle for a good part of the 80's. In his 1983 ACL performance he was pasty white and looked sick, which I am guessing is from drug use. Unlike so many other musicians, however, Stevie turned his life around with the help of his wife Lenny (who he wrote a song about) and continued to amazing fans from all around the world with his beat-up Strat. His music emulates his love and struggles in struggles in life, and the passion/pain can be seen in his eyes. From anything from "Texas Flood" to "Life Without You", Stevie Ray Vaughan touches your soul while simultaneously melting your face. Enjoy my two favorite clips of many favorite SRV clips.

Austin City Limits 1983 

"Voodoo Chile"

                                                    Volunteer Jam in Nashville, TN 1987
                                                             "Life Without You"

                                                                   "Texas Flood"

Zakk Wylde

Ok so this crazy bastard has always been viewed by me as a dirty hard rocker that just liked to shred and was able to link up with some badass bands along the way. But then I started watching some videos of him on youtube, mostly his acoustic work, and I have become...dare I say it...a fan. This clip from the 90's shows a young, clean-shaven Zakk playing an acoustic like few others can while delivering powerful vocals along with it. I play a little guitar (I suck and I'm the first to point it out) and it just amazes me that he's able to play this song while singing his ass off. Here's the video. Enjoy. 

Intro

I love music. However, I feel like there's a lot of music today that is pure junk that's thrown together with some shitty auto-tune program by people with a knack for technology rather than a knack for playing a musical instrument. So I'm going to blog about some good music, new and old, and vent about some worthless crappy music along the way.