In showing phenomenal power on the drums even as a Ninth Grader, here’s Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins giving instant grat that practice makes perfect.
Hear Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ First Song Together In 6 Years
This holiday season sees ‘Love the Coopers’ film get released, and the story looks heartwarming already: When four generations of the Cooper clan come together for their annual Christmas Eve celebration, a series of unexpected visitors and unlikely events turn the night upside down, leading them all toward a surprising rediscovery of family bonds and the spirit of the holiday.
But it’s the Official Soundtrack Album that is sure to warm people by the fire. Capturing the Coopers’ holiday theme, the soundtrack includes the studio reunion of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on their Christmas original “The Light of Christmas Day,” their first recording since 2009’s platinum-certified Grammy Award Winner for “Album of the Year,” Raising Sand. Otis Redding’s “Merry Christmas Baby,” Sixpence None the Richer’s “Carol of the Bells,” and also features seasonal classics from Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, and more.
Check out Plant and Krauss’ song below.
Allison Janney and Stephen Colbert Give Dramatic Reading Of Foreigner’s “Hot Blooded”
On a recent episode of Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Emmy Award-winning actress Allison Janney told Colbert that she employs dramatic readings of 1970s-era pop hits as an acting exercise. Since there could be no better asking for proof, she wows the crowd with Foreigner’s Hot Blooded.
I kinda hope Janney actually does this, THAT’S a very cool idea.
Nineteenth Annual Maple Blues Awards – Here Are Your Nominees
The Maple Blues Awards is Canada’s national blues awards program. Its goal is to promote blues music across Canada, and to recognize outstanding achievement in the field.
Congratulations to all of the nominees this year, especially for keeping the blues alive in this country. Well deserved!
Entertainer Of The Year
The 24th Street Wailers
David Gogo
MonkeyJunk
Steve Hill
Harrison Kennedy
Electric Act Of The Year
The 24th Street Wailers
Anthony Gomes
David Gogo
MonkeyJunk
Steve Hill
Acoustic Act Of The Year
Big Dave McLean
Cécile Doo-Kingué
Harrison Kennedy
Michael Jerome Browne
Ross Neilsen
Male Vocalist Of The Year
Harrison Kennedy
John Mays
Jon Knight (Soulstack)
Kirby Sewell
Matt Andersen
Female Vocalist Of The Year
Angel Forrest
Cécile Doo-Kingué
Cheryl Lescom
Samantha Martin
Shakura S’Aida
New Artist Or Group Of The Year
Cécile Doo-Kingué
Jenie Thai
The Kirby Sewell Band
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar
Sugar Brown
BB King International Artist Of The Year
Buddy Guy
Elvin Bishop
Eric Bibb
Mavis Staples
Sugaray Rayford
Recording/Producer Of The Year
Faded But Not Gone (Black Hen)
Artist: Big Dave McLean
Producer: Steve Dawson
Rich In Love (Stony PLain)
Artist: Colin Linden
Producers: Colin Linden, John Dymond & Gary Craig
This is From Here (Electro-Fi)
Artist: Harrison Kennedy
Producers: Harrison Kennedy & Jesse O’Brien
Chin Up (Nood)
Artist: John Campbelljohn
Producer: John Campbelljohn
Send the Nightingale (Rench)
Artists: Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar
Producer: Rench
Blues With A Feeling Award (Lifetime Achievement Award)
Diana Braithwaite
Alec Fraser
Danny Brooks
Ellen McIlwaine
Joe Murphy
Ken Whiteley
Michael Fonfara
Stephen Barry
Tom Lavin
Michael Jerome Browne
Brent Parkin
Theresa Malenfant
Guitar Player Of The Year
Brandon Isaak
David Gogo
John Campbelljohn
Michael Jerome Browne
Steve Hill
Harmonica Player Of The Year
Guy Bélanger
Harpdog Brown
Jerome Godboo
Roly Platt
Steve Marriner (MonkeyJunk)
Piano/Keyboard Player Of The Year
David Vest
Duane Blackburn (Blackburn)
Jesse O’Brien (Colin James, Harrison Kennedy)
Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne
Mark Wessenger (Soulstack)
Horn Player Of The Year
Al Lerman (Fathead)
Chris Whiteley (Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley)
Frank Thiffault (Ben Racine Band)
Jon Wong (The 24th Street Wailers)
Richard Thornton (Jack de Keyzer)
Drummer Of The Year
Chris Nordquist (Cannery Row)
Dave King (Steve Strongman)
Lindsay Beaver (The 24th Street Wailers)
Matt Sobb (MonkeyJunk)
Tom Bona (Soulstack, Raoul & The Big Time)
Bassist Of The Year
Alan Duffy (Jack de Keyzer)
Alec Fraser (Rick Fines, Fraser/Daley)
Keith Picot (Twisters, Brandon Isaak)
Leigh-Anne Stanton (Wicked Grin)
Owen Owen Owen (Dalannah & Owen)
Songwriter Of The Year
Big Dave McLean
Colin Linden
Harrison Kennedy
John Campbelljohn
Samantha Martin
The Ladybird Book for Hipsters Nails It
Ladybird Books has been publishing children’s books in Britain for 100 year, but they take direct aim at hipsters in a series targeted at grownups called Ladybird Books for Grownups. With their classic nostalgic illustrations from their 1940s children’s books, it’s the words that nail it. The eight books will feature How it Works: The Wife and The Ladybird Book of the Mid-life Crisis, but the best one comes from The Ladybird Book of the Hipster.
Video: Dave Grohl thanks town of Cesena: “It’s the greatest moment of my life”
A couple of months ago, 1,000 Italian Foo Fighters fans made a video where they heartwarmingly played the alt-rock act’s 1999 single in unison in an attempt to bring the band to the town of Cesena. Tuesday night, Dave Grohl and Co. fulfilled their wishes and played a 27-song set featuring a handful of covers and guest appearances from some of the organizers of the Rockin’1000 campaign.
Most moving however was a six-minute speech Grohl gave detailing his initial encounter with the viral video. He already wrote about some of his feelings when he announced the show, but he got emotional again in person. “To see you people, singing our song for the whole f**king world, to me, it’s the greatest moment of my life,” he said. “Of course we couldn’t say no, we had to come. You trapped us, we had to come here.”
Via Spin
Village Voice Put In Request To Speak With Jonathan Richman. He Did Something More Personal Thank You Can Imagine.
The Village Voice put in an interview request to talk with Jonathan Richman — Modern Lovers founder and frontman and overall pop-rock purveyor as they wanted to know more about his time in New York, how it inspired him then, and how he feels about the city today.
Before long, the weekly newspaper got word that their interview request had been forwarded to the singer by priority mail, Richman’s connection to the outside world runs through the United States Postal Service. He does not do phone interviews; he does not own a computer.
In his handwritten response sent via snail mail, Richman riffed on his short stint living in New York with the kind of romanticism and eye for detail that make his music so treasurable.
Dear Ryan,
Sorry I can’t do phone interviews but here’s something: I moved to New York when I was 18 to be near the Velvet Underground and that whole Andy Warhol art scene. I thought I would do art with them but what really happened was I spent the 10 or so months I lived there, more or less alone, walking around after work (work was as a foot messenger for Esquire Magazine and before that on Wall Street).
The grand, monstrous scale of the place sticks with me. The Battery on a cold Saturday afternoon in the winter by those ancient ferry buildings with the huge ferry buildings of New Jersey and Staten Island off in the distance and the monstrous fifty-story financial buildings all closed up looming over you. Chinatown nearby on this ten-degree afternoon with the fish and salt smells cutting through the cold air.
Or a winter Saturday morning in that Ukrainian neighborhood at E. 5th and 1st Ave., with the silent old men in those little shops that sell ikons and sell honey and stuff too — with the cold, silent street outside with the rat piss smell cutting even through the six-degree air.
Yah! Bethesda Fountain in the Spring! Chestnuts as work lets out at 5 PM in the late fall! It all still lingers in me! And, as have so many other strong atmospheres, it has affected my ear for sound and music just as it has affected my eye for color.
Jonathan
Here’s a full shot of Jonathan’s letter:
Via Village Voice
Musicians 4 times more likely than the general population to suffer hearing damage
Musicians are four times more likely than the general population to suffer hearing damage, but few are doing anything to lower the risk, according to Help Musicians UK.
Though rather than blasting airhorns into the ears of unsuspecting non-musicians to help redress the balance, the Help Musicians UK organisation is instead opting to educate music types on the importance of looking after their ears. This follows research the organisation carried out, which found that 41% of musicians experience hearing problems during their career, with the vast majority blaming their profession.
Despite the increased risk, 68% of musicians surveyed hadn’t had a hearing test within the previous three years. And while 89% believed that they should be using hearing protection, only 66% ever actually had, and then only 8% every time they played.
Check out this site for more information on how you can protect your hearing, and still be able to rock out onstage.
Economic impact of UK music up 5% in 2014, says UK Music
Cross-sector trade group UK Music has published the latest edition of ‘Measuring Music’, which sets out to assess the economic impact of the wider music business in the UK.
And according to the research, the ‘gross value added’ by the music industry in 2014 was nearly £4.1 billion, up from £3.8 billion in 2013, an increase in no small part aided by the success of British artists internationally. ‘Measuring Music’ reckons that 117,000 full time jobs are now provided by the music industry, the majority of which are people involved in the writing, creating, recording and performing of music.
The music creator community – so musicians, composers and songwriters – contributed £1.9 billion to the economy last year. The music rights sector was worth just over a billion (£615 million for recordings, £410 million for publishing), while the live sector saw the biggest growth from 2013, up to £924 million. Studios and music production contributed £116 million, while music representatives contributed £89 million.
Facebook now has 1 billion daily users and 8 billion daily video views
Facebook announced its latest quarterly financial results yesterday, and they reveal yet more growth for the social network across a range of metrics – many of which are of direct interest to the music industry.
Financially, Facebook had a very strong quarter: it posted revenues of $4.5bn and a net profit of $896m, both seeing healthy year-on-year rises.
In terms of user numbers, Facebook now has 1.55bn monthly active users (MAUs) and 1.01bn daily active users (DAUs) – the latter is a significant milestone for the company.
Mobile continues to be Facebook’s driving force: it averaged 894m mobile daily active users in September, while 78% of its $4.3bn advertising revenues last quarter came from mobile ads. 47% of Facebook users *only* access the social network from mobile devices.
Via MusicAlly
