Mr. Muddle's Befuddled Universe

Turn It On: New series for new indie acts

Jon James song ``Turn It On/High On A Flashback" is the theme song for this befuddled universe's Turn It On series.

In October Michelle Robb Tanner from Dark One contacted me.
She asked if I would review Ali Gray's first CD, Let You In.

I absolutely love free stuff, so naturally I told Michelle,
``Sure, send me Ali's CD."

Later, while I waited for Ali's CD to arrive, I had some second thoughts about doing a CD review.

Should new indie acts be subject to the same scrutiny and criticism as mature acts?

New independent acts have enormous pressures on them these days. If they're going to survive, they need to quickly get a website up, and a CD out as soon as possible. The website is like a storefront. The CD serves as product, portfolio, and business card. Given all these pressures, it's not unusal for the first CD to be uneven. And first CDs are rarely indicative of a performers lifetime career. We all know these things, so why ``beat up" new artists with critical reviews that tell folks what they probably already know? Maybe the focus should be on what folks don't know about a new artist.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, it took John Mellencamp several LPs to establish both his musical sound and develop his writing style. It's also well known that Bruce Springsteen had to get two LPs under his belt before he was able to transform his live act into a studio band. And Bob Dylan's first LP wasn't much more than OJT. (I'm sure most people agree Dylan's ``real" debut album was his The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.) Also, I would wager, that in today's musical environment, Bob Dylan's first LP would have ended his career. In other words, as you already know, it ain't easy.

Furthermore, the scuttlebutt I hear about the labels is that their artists have to score big with their first CD, or they're out the door. Also, even if ``labeled" artists do catch the brass ring, I often get the impression that many don't do their best work until they're middle-aged men fresh out of rehab.

As an observer and commentator on the independent music scene, I hope indie music takes a different tact, and I believe it does. Unlike the labels, I believe the indie community tries to help and nurture new acts. That's one of the many things that makes the indie music scene so appealing.

And I've decided it's not enough for me to talk the talk. I need to walk the walk, as well.

Next week I will run my first postings in a new series designed to introduce new independent acts. I will call this series: Turn It On! This series will even have it's own theme song. The theme song will be Jon James' song ``Turn It On/High On A Flashback" (lyrics).

The Turn It On! series is for new independent singers or bands that are about to release (or have recently released) their first CD. Email me to see if you, or your band, qualify. The postings in the Turn It On! series will typically include the following postings on either this befuddled universe or these befuddled photos:

1. An announcement posting in this befuddled universe of the release of the CD, and, if appropriate, the ``CD Release Party" concert.
2. A posting in the these befuddled photos blog of 5 or 6 concert photos.
3. A recorded telephone interview. A summary of the interview will be posted on this befuddled universe, and an MP3 copy of the recorded telephone interview will be included with the posting.
4. A posting in the these befuddled photos blog of photos from your ``CD Release Party" concert (or another mutually agreed upon event). A brief summary in this befuddled universe of your ``CD Release Party" concert.

The first subject for the Turn It On! series will be Ali Gray.

Early next week look for my first Turn It On! posting: Turn it on with Ali Gray! (Photo credit: Michelle Robb Tanner)

Technorati Tags: music, people

The Friday that was: The ``Clean Up Crew" came!

Put down your dust pan!

It's no secret that my house has been a mess. It's been both a private and public embarrassment for some time.

Yesterday the ``Clean Up Crew" came in the form of my daughter and unlicensed  ``son-in-law." Like the oldest daughter, Ginni Sorelli, in the marvelously hilarious  WB show Related, and her ``Clean Up Crew," my daughter totally took charge.

By the end of the day there was floor!

So if you're like me, and ``putting things back is the knack that you lack," check out Parachute Express and their ``Clean Up Crew" song. The song is available for download at the Apple Music Store and many other fine establishments.

Likewise, I have been doing some cleaning around the old website.

• The blog is now three columns wide, rather than two.
• I have added a sister blog, these befuddled photos, to post photos of concerts, recording sessions, musical events, etc. I will tell you more about this sister blog in a later posting that will follow, but please give my new blog a look/see: http://befuddled.typepad.com/photo/.



• At the top of the right column you will find a graphic ``these befuddled photos" button (see button above). If you click on the button, you'll jump right to the befuddled photos site.
• In the left-hand column, you'll see a photo of Ali Gray (more on her in a later posting) and her acoustic trio. The photo is under the heading: PUBLISH YOUR BEST CONCERT PHOTOS HERE. I am extending an invitation to all independent musical performers to publish your best photos on my site. Just send me an email. Tell me about yourself or your group and the event you have photographed (they can be of your own act, or your favorite act), and, if you qualify, I'll publish 3 to 5 quality photos on the these befuddled photos site per event.)
• Also in the left-hand column you'll find a picture of Ali Gray's Let You In CD under the GET YOUR NEW CD REVIEWED heading. This is an invitation to all you independent musicians out there: Send me a CD. I can write a review of your CD, do a story about your band, or talk about some of the best songs in your back catalog. Let's talk. Maybe I can help increase your exposure.

OK, I guess that's all the news for now. I'm going to listen some more to the  Parachute Express and their ``Clean Up Crew" song. But I don't care what they say, singing and dancing is a lot more fun than cleaning!

Technorati Tags: music, people, television

Suzanne Buirgy's ``Undertow''

Sadly, most of the songs on Suzanne Buirgy's CD The View from Here just don't Tickle me, so I can't give the CD my personal recommendation.     However,  one of the songs on this CD qualifies as one of my favorite songs of the last several years. That song is Suzanne Buirgy's ``Undertow''. You can listen to a stream of ``Undertow'' on the music page of Buirgy's website, or you can find the M3U stream here. I encourage you to take a listen, and if you like what you hear, I encourage to purchase and download a copy of ``Undertow'' at your favorite legal downloading site (e.g., ``Undertow'' is available for $0.99 at apple.com).

If Suzanne Buirgy should ever happen to appear live in your local area, I hope you will go see her. I know I am hoping I will have the opportunity to see her sing live.

Post updated 13 Sept. 2005, and again on 19 Sept. 2005.

New category: Great Music!

I am starting a new category called ``Great Music!''

I will use this category for CDs and concerts that earn my ``Stop! I can't breathe!'' rating (which is my highest rating). I will also use it for individual songs, when I find the overall appeal of a CD doesn't quite Tickle my fancy enough to warrant my personal recommendation. I plan to use the following logo to highlight individual songs that I think have great merit.

The point of this isn't to make a catalog of uneven CDs—such a list would include the vast majority of CDs released by the major labels. My purpose would be to showcase great individual songs by independent artists. If this effort has a positive impact it will encourage some folks to download some great music at their favorite site (e.g., musicmatch), and independent artists will benefit from the sales of individual songs—great songs that deserve to be heard by a wider audience.

Kerrville Folk Festival Photos

My photos from the 2005 Kerrville Folk Festival are now online. You can find them here.

Tina Schlieske: New CD to be released

Big Tickle:

Tina Schlieske's new CD, Slow Burn, is scheduled for release on 6 September 2005. This CD has been highly anticipated by Schlieshe's fans. The CD contains twelve songs—five of the songs were released early this year on an EP. (See my comments dated 5 April 2005 for a review of the five songs on the EP.)

       

Schlieske has sent promotional copies of her new CD to a number of internet radio stations. On Friday 5 September 2005 Schlieshe fans were sent an email message encouraging them to request that internet radio stations play tunes off Schlieshe's new CD.

The Following radio stations were listed:

The Current
        Request song using their form.
WVKR high
        (Hyperlink/Email no longer working)
The Promise
        Email request: Request
Whole Wheat Radio
        Must be a member to request. Membership is FREE.
Harris Radio
        Email request using this form: Request

The following songs are on the Slow Burn CD:

      Come On In
      Love Everlasting
      Adeline
      Scars of a Slow Burn
      BabyBlue
      Honey Baby Sweetie
      Never Knew Love
      Hardly Tell
      Slow Down
      Son of a Gun
      For The World To See
      Everyday

If you're a Tina Schlieske fan, I think you know what to do!

Hyperlinks updated 17 JAN 2008.

Espresso Garden: Megan Slankard to perform April 8

Tickle:

Mrs. Muddle and I plan on attending the Megan Slankard concert at The Espresso Garden & Cafe this Friday, 8 April 2005, so if you arrive before we do, please save us two seats by the ``non-mural'' wall. (You'll recognize us, when we come in. I'm the one that's been gaining weight, and Mrs. Muddle is the cute one.)

According to the bio on her website, ``Megan Slankard has got the edge of Alanis Morrisette, the rhythm of Ani DiFranco, the soul of Patty Griffin, and the cute girl-next-door voice of Lisa Loeb.''

The show will be opened by Courtney C. Patty.

Mrs. Muddle and I are looking forward to this show. We hope to see you there.

Oh, if you have a chance, you might want to give Mrs. Muddle the ``thumbs up'' sign. It should perk up her day.

Tina Schlieske releases an EP

Big Tickle:

Tina Schlieske released an EP (extended play disc) containing songs from her forthcoming CD titled Slow Burn.
The included songs are:
Come On In
BabyBlue
Love Everlasting
Scars of a Slow Burn
and Everyday

Break out songs include Come On In, BabyBlue, and Everyday.

My favorite song on this EP is Come On In. (The first couple times I causally listened to this song, I assumed the dog references were allusions to an old lover or something such as that.)

The only disappointment is the drum and keyboard work on Scars of a Slow Burn. To use baseball terminology, I would have preferred a change-up pitch on this song.

Maybe rather than the regular drums and keyboards, a harmonica and bongo could have been used. (I'm just brain-storming here. I'm sure a creative professional musician could come up with a much better idea.)

I'm just after something that would let in some air to allow the lyrics breathing room.

But this is a minor complaint.

Tina Schlieske is the real deal folks. But if your playlist is full of Joss Stone or Diana Ross, maybe  you're expecting  cool herb tea, not hot black coffee.

I'm  not talking cotton candy here. I'm talking bloody red-meat, no vegetarians allowed, blues that comes from both the heart and the intestines.

Tina Schlieske has a large catalog to choose from, but if you're on a tight budget, her new EP is cheap ($6.99).

Sarah Lee and Johnny have a new CD

Remind me to tell you my Sarah Lee story

On Tuesday, 8 March 2005 Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion released Exploration (New West) the husband and wife duo's first full-length CD. Previously they had released individual efforts plus a live EP. This is their best effort so far. (Johnny has played with many bands including one called Queen Sarah Saturday, and Sarah reportedly left college to tour with her family.)

If you expect this CD to reflect Sarah's musical family heritage you'll probably be disappointed. Clearly Sarah's strongest musical influence is her husband, Johnny. This is a very rootsy  country CD, but it also has strong rock undertones. Generally I'm not a fan of country music, but I can jump on a table top, and slap my knee, when these tunes are spinning.

Kris Delmhorst to perform in S.F. this Saturday night

Delmhorst is my fav!
Julie Wolf opens.
Noe Venable on the bill.

You might say I've had three personal folk music ``revivals." The first, of course, began with with the Kingston Trio, then branched out to include Peter, Paul, and Mary, Bob Dylan, Eric Andersen, etc and so forth. That then turned electric with Bob Dylan, the Byrds, etc. Unfortunately, groups like the Lovin' Spoonful and the Mamas and Papas, ultimately brought this period to an end with more of a whimper than a bang.

Dick Cerri & Music Americana

My second folk period was inspired by the radio personality Dick Cerri. Cerri hosted a folk music radio show called ``Music Americana" during the 80's in the Washington DC area. (If you do a Google search on ``dick cerri" you'll find numerous listings by performers who credit their start in folk music to Cerri.) Cerri also helped start the Folklore Society Of Greater Washington (FSGW).

We lived outside Washington DC for nearly four years. During most of that time Cerri's radio show was on Sunday night—if my recollections don't betray me. Since Sunday night was a time, when we normally involved ourselves in family related activities, I would frequently either attempt to  listen to  Cerri's radio show wearing headphones, or I would try to tape the show for later listening. Due to the inconvenience, I missed all too many of Cerri's radio shows. I only wish we had the technology to PodCast radio shows like Music Americana back in those days!

During our days when we lived near Washington DC, I didn't add much to my record collection, and we didn't get into the local concert scene; although we did manage to take in a few daytime—family oriented—concerts, such as Arlo Guthrie and Tom Paxton.

Friday Folk Off

My third personal folk revival was initiated by the Friday Folk Off on KKUP. (For a few years I was a regular listener of the Friday Folk Off, but recently the combination of KKUP's poor signal strength in my area and Wi-Fi interference has made it difficult to tune in the show.)

The advent of the internet made it possible for genre performers and fans of genre music to find each other. Like so many other people, I have greatly benefited from this technology, and it has enabled me to seek out and find performers that scratch the itch that no cream will sooth.

How I discovered Kris Delmhorst

One of my favorite ways of finding ``new" performers is to go to the website of a singer or group I like, and just start following the links to see where they take me. Over time I discovered that the links almost always seemed to eventually take me to Kris Delmhorst's website.

Delmhorst has a generous number of MP3's available for download on her website, so I downloaded a bunch, and included them in my iTunes playlist. (I like to let new tunes sneak up on me, when I have my guard down.) Time and time again the Delmhorst songs made good first impressions, so I went back to her website, to see if she ever came to the bay area to give concerts (not thinking there was a realistic possibility). Much to my surprise I discovered she was going to appear at the Little Fox Theatre in about three weeks.

Well, that was about one year ago.

So about a year ago Mrs. Muddle and I saw Kris Delmhorst with Julie Wolf on organ and piano at the Little Fox Theatre, and I was thoroughly delighted by the performance. (Mrs. Muddle wore a pair of headphones, and listened to a San Jose SaberCats away game, and  she also had a thoroughly delightful time, because the SaberCats won.)

The only downside of the evening last year was the second act on the bill. It was a country act. Their music didn't quite meld with Delmhorst's music.

Noe Venable

That shouldn't be a problem with Delmhorst's concert this year at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco on Saturday, 12 March 2005 at 8 pm. Noe Venable is the second act on the bill this year. I'm not familiar with Venable's music, but she's a local talent, and by all accounts unique. Noe Venable's website states this about her:

An avid sonic experimenter and home recording devotee, San Francisco based singer songwriter Noe Venable has released four records independently. Her most recent album, The World is Bound by Secret Knots, is the unique product of that glorious combination of time, space and artistic freedom that can perhaps only be achieved in the privacy of one's own living room.

I suspect Mrs. Muddle will enjoy Noe Venable.

San Jose Spiders

The only unfortunate thing about the concert this coming Saturday is that it's at the same time as the next San Jose Spiders game. The Spiders are playing the Chicago Blaze at De Anza Saturday 12 March 2005 at 7 pm.

Undoubtedly Mrs. Muddle would like to listen to the Spiders' game on the radio during the concert, but, alas, that's not a possibility.

I know the Spiders will do well even though Mrs. Muddle and I are not at the game. Our good thoughts will be with the Spiders no matter where we are. The Spiders will probably find it a bit of a relief to have a night off without me shouting out their names from the stands. I will be at the Spider game on Sunday definitely for sure, when the Spiders beat the Lubbock Hawks.

It might be fun to ask Kris Delmhorst to dedicate Little Wings (MP3) to the Spiders. But, probably, not.