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GRAMMY Awards Voting Process Infographic

The process begins with members and record companies submitting entries, which are then screened for eligibility and category placement. The Academy’s voting members, all involved in the creative and technical processes of recording, then participate in (1) the nominating process that determines the five finalists in each category; and (2) the final voting process which determines the GRAMMY winners.

Submission
The Road To GRAMMY GoldRecording Academy members and record companies enter recordings and music videos released during the eligibility year which they consider worthy of recognition in the GRAMMY Awards process.

Screening
Reviewing sessions by more than 150 experts in various fields are held to ensure that entered recordings meet specific qualifications and have been placed in appropriate fields such as Rock, R&B, Jazz, Country, Gospel, New Age, Rap, Classical and Latin, among others. The purpose of screenings is not to make artistic or technical judgments about the recordings, but rather to make sure that each entry is eligible and placed in its proper category.

Nominating
First-round ballots are sent to voting members in good dues standing. To help ensure the quality of the voting, members are directed to vote only in their areas of expertise; they may vote in up to 20 categories in the genre fields plus the four categories of the General Field (Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best New Artist.) Ballots are tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Deloitte.

Special Nominating Committees
In craft and other specialized categories, final nominations are determined by national nomination review committees comprised of voting members from all of The Academy’s Chapter cities.

Final Voting
Final-round ballots are sent to voting members in good dues standing. The finalists determined by the special nominating committees are also included in this ballot. In this final round, Recording Academy members may vote in up to 20 categories in the genre fields plus the four categories of the General Field (Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best New Artist.) Ballots again are tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Deloitte.

Results
Results of members’ voting are not known until the GRAMMY Awards presentation ceremony when names of the winners are delivered by Deloitte in sealed envelopes. GRAMMY Award winners are revealed during the GRAMMY Awards telecast.

The Puppets Inside Jim Henson’s Creature Shop

When we talk about puppets in television and film, Jim Henson is the first name that comes to mind. Henson’s legacy endures at his Creature Shop, where fabricators, engineers, and animators continue crafting the art of puppet-making and performance. Tested were privileged to be able to visit Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and learn how modern technologies combine with classic techniques to bring characters to life.

‘Electric Ladyland – A Sunny Afternoon’ Doc on Bristol music shop

Next year will be the 40th anniversary of STeve Baker’s eclectic Electric Ladyland record shop. Steve has seen countless musicians, local bands and rock stars pass through his shop over the years, while the music was evolving and local music shops slowly decaying. In all of this, what remains is his love for the music and an inspiring willingness to give back.

If you ever find yourself in Bristol, don’t hesitate to go push that tiny door and step in this peaceful smoky musical haven for a minute or two.

Electric Ladyland – A sunny afternoon from Outdoor Live on Vimeo.

This Taylor Swift and Nine Inch Nails Mashup Is Great, Great, Great Great, Great

YouTube user Isosine doesn’t reveal why he chose Nine Inch Nails to be mashed up with Taylor Swift, but mixing the 1997 NIN hit and Swift’s monster 2014 smash is pretty great, great, great, great, great.

Bob Mould’s Performance Made The Dust Fall From David Letterman’s Studio

Bob Mould, founding member of Husker Du, performs a medley of “Tomorrow Morning” and “Kid With a Crooked Face.” Jason Narducy, the bassist for the band, tweeted that “people in the studio audience confirmed that dust fell from the rafters as we played!”

http://youtu.be/tEvo_dW_xFE

Rick Bragg on Jerry Lee Lewis: “He shot his bass player, why not shoot your biographer?”

For nearly sixty years, Jerry Lee Lewis has been a monumental figure in American life. The wildest and most dangerous of the early rock and rollers, he electrified the world with hit records such as “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Great Balls of Fire,” and “Breathless.” His music was raucous, exuberant, slyly sexual; his wailing vocals were grounded by the locomotive force of his pumping piano. But his persona and performing style were what changed the world: whipping his long hair back, he would pound the keyboard like a coal-fired steam engine, then kick back the bench, climb atop the piano, and work the audience like the Pentecostal preacher he almost became. Poised to steal the crown from Elvis Presley, he seemed unstoppable—until news of his marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin broke during his first British tour, nearly ending his career.

Now, for the first time, Lewis’s story is told in full, as he shared it over two years with Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Rick Bragg. In a narrative rich with atmosphere and anecdote, we watch Jerry Lee emerge from the fields and levees of Depression-era Louisiana, blazing a path across Bible colleges and nightclubs en route to international fame. He shared bills with Johnny Cash and Chuck Berry, toured Australia with Buddy Holly and Paul Anka, and went Cadillac for Cadillac with Elvis on the streets of Memphis—even as both of them struggled with the conflict between their faith and their music. After a decade in the wilderness, he returned as the biggest star in country music, but his victory lap became a marathon of excess, a time of guns and pills and Calvert Extra. He crashed Rolls-Royces and Lincolns, including one he drove into the gates of Graceland; suffered the deaths of wives and loved ones; and nearly met his maker twice himself. Yet after six marriages, a long spell without a recording contract, and a bruising battle with the IRS, he overcame a crippling addiction, remarried, and scored his biggest hit records since the 1970s. Today, as he approaches his eightieth year, he continues to electrify audiences around the world.

The story of Jerry Lee Lewis has inspired songs and articles, books and films, but in these pages Rick Bragg restores a human complexity missing from other accounts. The result is a story of fire and faith and resilience, informed by Rick Bragg’s deep understanding of the American spirit, and rich with Jerry Lee’s own unforgettable voice.

Eric: I worked Jerry Lee Lewis’ Last Man Standing album and it was the only time I’ve ever been scared to meet with an artist because of his reputation. I know he can be a great guy, a gentle and kind man. But he still scared me.
Rick Bragg: Well you know, one of the things that happen was he showed me the brush steel .357 Magnum pistol that he had under his pillow. And he shot his bass player in the chest. And I was thinking to myself every time that I would ask him a hard question or brutal question, he shot his bass player, why not shoot your biographer?

Eric: What was your first meeting with him? When did you first realize that you wanted to write a book on Jerry Lee Lewis and how tough was it to get him on board?
Rick: Well, I was very lucky quite frankly. Jerry Lee had reached a point in his life where he wanted to tell his story. He wanted to tell, you know everyone else had had a shot at. He wanted to tell his story his way, at this point in his life. But he also did one whitewash. Jerry Lee doesn’t want to be whitewash in oh he wanted to do one of those books that make him less than he it. And I was just lucky that I got a call from a publishing house in New York that had Harper Collins had bought the rights to his story. And I got a call from my agent in New York saying, and this succinctly “You got any interest in doing a book on Jerry Lee Lewis”? And looking back I probably should’ve gone and he under my bed. But instead I thought, how can this be dull? How can this not be more fun than anything I could make up about Jerry Lee? And I was right about that.
Eric: Jerry Lee’s always been very paranoid about the journalist getting the story right. I don’t think it’s an act, I truly think he believes that we might have him all wrong a little bit. How much do you think we know about Jerry Lee Lewis is accurate?
Eric: Well I think in the things that matter. I think the historical record of Jerry Lee has been pretty straightforward. You know he did when the news of his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin Myra came out. He was savage in the press and he did claw his way back. All that is pretty basic. But it’s the details that Jerry Lee – generally owns up to his lifelong drug addiction. He owns up to the violence. That you could land the plane he was on at one point and you could shake the pills out of the cushion. And he doesn’t deny that he did that. And that he hit a guy in the face with the butt end of a microphone stand once. He really did make Elvis cry. But the way it happened is not the way that the news and others have portrayed it. It’s the details.

Eric: That’s why I love this book and that’s why I think in the age of the internet, living in social media in 140 characters, there’s still a place for a good biography where it takes a few weeks to read. Jerry has always owned up to everything he’s done. He’s claimed that God has not killed him in order to just keep reliving the punishment of his past sins. He’s not trying to deliver a line that we’ve never heard before or tried to change history. You were the perfect writer to tell the stories and the details. Did he recognize that in the beginning?
Rick: I don’t know. We had to do some pretty tough days together. There were days talking about – there’s so much death that has swirled around Jerry Lee Lewis. Not to be melodramatic, he buried two sons. Two wives. He’s had Rolling Stone virtually accusing him of murder, the death of one of his wives.
Eric: No to mention all the battles with the IRS.
Rick: Right, the IRS has dogged him but not just dogged him but cleaned his house out. Took the piano that his father bought for him when he was a little boy. There’s always been violence. He’d be playing a piano in Atlanta, look up and there’d be a .45 caliber bullet resting on the ledge of the piano where some jealous husband had put it. He doesn’t deny any of that. He talks about, every day I would sit in his bedroom – he was feeling terrible. Across two summers he had chronic arthritis in his back that resulted in a back surgery. He’s actually feeling a little better now. He had a compound fracture in one leg with an infection that almost killed him. He had pneumonia, you name it. He almost left us again. His obit has been written 100 times, he almost left this world again. But day after day, he’d lie there in that bed, in the cool dark of his bedroom and he would just take me off down to Sun Records in 1957/58. He’d take me to Faraday, LA in the bottom land where he learned to play in a church. Where he hid under the table in the Juke Joint to hear the gut bucket blues. People ask me – “Did you realize you were getting to listen to fine history?” I was so anxious to get it all down that I didn’t really appreciate it until I was done. Then I thought; man, you should have enjoyed this a lot more!

The Music Industry’s Most-Loved Albums Of All Time, Part 36

This is part 36 of an ongoing series where the kind folk of the music business reveal their favourite album of all time.

Ask people in the music industry the seemingly simple and straightforward question, “What is your favourite album of all time?” and you’ll find that it’s not always easy. After all, my industry peers listen to hundreds of albums a month – thousands of songs during that time. Because the question isn’t the best album of all time – the one that’s made them the most money in sales – but the one release they personally can’t live without, that one title they have two copies of in several formats, in case one breaks. It’s also about that album that for them has the best back stories and the one that has the most meaning in their lives.

download (3)
Scadz, Host, Nod On The List, CITR FM
Bizarre Ride II, The Pharcyde

Hilarious, psychedelic, bursting with colour and creative energy, laced with addictive jazz sounds and unique mc styles, it makes you wonder why other rappers or groups were so boring. This an album that stood out from it’s genre, an album that has a special place in the hearts of true hip hop fans. Shall I say “timeless masterpiece”?

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Lorenz Rychner, ‎Editor at Recording Magazine
Ellington at Newport 1956, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra

The festival appearance was a comeback of sorts for Duke’s full band, after years of slim pickings, and the new charts and the surprisingly good sound of the recording (aside from the mishap with Paul Gonsalves playing his 27-chorus firebrand solo into the wrong microphone…) make for an exciting disc. I have the old vinyl – the concert has since been re-released and doctored, not for the better—the tracks I hear on Spotify for example just don’t sound right, but the original is still glorious.

download (4)
Ming Wu, Host, No Filler, CHUO FM
Funeral, Arcade Fire

The first time I heard that album, I was blown away to how innovative and original it was. At that time I was listening to garbage Top 40 music. It was the first band that got me into Canadian Indie music. I couldn’t stop listening to it.

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Shaun Aquiline, Host, EZ Rock, Revelstroke, BC
Slugcology, Doug and The Slugs

My Uncle Steve Bosley was the original bass player, and as a kid I was always going to bars, and events and watching him perform. It was always just ‘Uncle Steve’ doing his thing, but as you get older and realize that Doug & The Slugs were an extremely well received and popular Canadian band, then it was even more impressive. The Gold record Grandma had hanging in her house made much more sense to me when I became a teen. Plus, they were on Arsenio Hall, the first time around. Speaks volumes.

Jenna Melanson, Canadian Beats
Storms, Hedley

The album was released around the time I was going through a lot in my life, most specifically when I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and feeling very down. Some songs on this album had the power to lift my spirits and give me hope that it will in fact, get better. “One Life”, “Invincible” and “Heaven’s Gonna Wait” were the three specific songs that hit me hard when I heard them. “One Life” inspired me to take life by the horns and do what I want to, and not long after I began working towards my blog, Canadian Beats, which now is up to 87, 714 hits, which is something I never dreamed of. On top of these songs, the album features a great selection of “get up and move” songs, and I would recommend this album to anyone because there really is something for everyone on it.

64 Artists Who Have Never Won A Grammy

The 57th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show will be broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST. Rapper LL Cool J will host the show for the fourth consecutive time.

Instead of taking a look at the winners, let’s focus on artists who have never won a Grammy. Pretty good company.

(Eric B. &) Rakim
ABBA
Björk
Bob Marley
Boston
Buddy Holly
Busta Rhymes
Chuck Berry
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Curtis Mayfield
Deep Purple
Depeche Mode
Diana Ross
Dusty Springfield
Funkadelic
Guns n’ Roses
Iggy Pop
Jackson Browne
Janis Joplin
Jimi Hendrix
Journey
Justin Bieber
Katy Perry
Kid Rock
Kiss
Morrissey
Mos Def
Motley Crue
Nas
New Order
Notorious B.I.G.
Oasis
One Direction
Parliament
Patsy Cline
Patti Smith
PJ Harvey
PSY
Public Enemy
Queen
Queens of the Stone Age
Run D.M.C.
Rush
Sam Cooke
Sly & the Family Stone
Snoop Dogg
Talking Heads
Teddy Pendergrass
The Doors
The Everly Brothers
The Grateful Dead
The Kinks
The O’Jays
The Pretenders
The Ramones
The Sex Pistols
The Smiths
The Stooges
The Strokes
The Who
Tiesto
Toby Keith
Tupac Shakur
ZZ Top

Noll Billings of Blackjack Billy: “We played 250 shows before we broke ‘overnight’

Blackjack Billy is a Country Rock band composed of Rob Blackledge (vocals, guitar), Noll Billings (vocals), Jeff Coplan (electric guitar), and Brad Cummings (drums). Based in Nashville, they describe their music as “Redneck Rock.” Their debut single, The Booze Cruise, was independently released in March 2013 and Sirius XM Satellite Radio’s new country channel The Highway began playing it as a ‘Highway Find’. Combined with BjB’s heavy touring schedule The Booze Cruise took off and has sold more than 250K digital downloads, even reaching Platinum status in Canada. On top of their regular load of shows they are currently on their radio promo tour promoting their brand new single Get Some. Get Some is currently climbing the charts.

BjB played over 300 shows in 2013 and 2014 between festivals, clubs and fairs to well over 200K fans at some of the Summer’s biggest festivals including WE Fest (MN), Hodag (WI) , Taste Of Country Music Fest (CT), Sturgis Bike Week (SD), Toadlick (AL), Country Concert (OH) and some of the largest Canadian festivals including Cavendish, Calgary Stampede, Havelock Jamboree, and Big Valley Jamboree.

Eric Alper: SiriusXM really kickstarted your career, didn’t they? “The Blues Cruise” was played pretty early on The Highway channel.
Noll Billings: It was so early in our career and one of our big believers and supporters was John Marx over there in Nashville. Stormy and those guys, we came in and played him a song a he goes “I will play it today.” We were like, “Really?” And he said “Yeah!”
Eric: It’s like the 50s where an artist would cut something in the studio, get the vinyl right away and then walk down to the radio station and play it. Let’s get this on the air!
Noll: Ha! Just the fact that the freedom is there to do that is so nice to have that outlet still available in the music world. Because you know, it has changed a lot and you know with us and the Road Hammers and Doc Walker (two bands Blackjack Billy were on tour with at the time of this interview), we are all blue collar artists. We are tour-first artists and to have somebody like John who will show up at a show and go, “I’ll play that one tomorrow” and brings it in is real cool.

Eric: You’re from Missouri?
Noll: Arkansas border, Missouri, close to Memphis.
Eric: Rob is from Mississippi and Jeff Copeland, he’s the Canadian in the band.
Noll: Yeah, born in Montreal.
Eric: You guys are getting heat from Montreal because you’re not stopping there on the tour? You don’t want to upset them!
Noll: Ha! I know, man.

Eric: Take me back to those days and how you all got together. You were all songwriters in your own right and pretty successful.
Noll: Jeff knew Rob from Love and Theft. So Jeff had produced the first Love and Theft album which had the song “Runaway” on it, which was their first top ten. And Rob wrote that song with the Love and Theft guy. So they knew each other and Jeff was a huge fan of Rob’s, always was and wanted to do something with him. He didn’t really know what yet, he just liked his vibe and liked the way he sang and played. And when I met those guys, I just signed a deal at EMI and met Jeff and Jeff was just like, you gotta meet my buddy Rob, you guys gotta write some songs. And we didn’t really know what we were doing yet and what it was going to become and if it was going to become anything, and really we met Brad and we hooked up and were like we really have a band here. Lets go play some shows and the first night we played together we were looking at each other like, I’ll quit what I’m doing if you’ll quit what you’re doing and lets roll.
Eric: So, it’s that immediate? You knew right away?
Noll: Absolutely, yeah. And we all knew and we were all so excited about it, but at the time it was a little scary. Everybody had a job and a career making music which was the original dream, anyway. We want to play music forever. So, everybody had to put their pride and their safety zone away and say “alright, lets go.” And a lot of people doubted us at first. Rob had some people that loved his solo stuff and I had some people that liked my solo stuff. And Jeff had already made a great name for himself as a producer and people just said are you really going to quit producing that album for everybody and get in a little bus?
Eric: When that happens are you thinking, maybe I can fall back on all the rest of the music I have going on, or was is this band so true, and so real, that you were – this is it!
Noll: I was just praying that the other guys would be as committed as I was because once I played a couple songs with those guys, I just knew that. I just believed in it. I didn’t want to go back to playing any other kind of music. You know those guys, I’m just big fans of the guys in my band. I love their creativity and their talents and I don’t want to do anything else. So I was just hoping that they liked it as much as I did.

Eric: You guys are from all different parts of North America. Your music really has those kind of influences. Could you have come from a different place in America and have the band still sound like this? How deep do your influences run with what people bring into the band based on where you’re from?
Noll: There’s a little bit of the Cajun aspect. I knew my background and my influences, but having a group of guys who are involved in a the creative process, I didn’t know how it was going to work but everyone brought something great. Rob’s from Jackson and he’s a through and through blues/folk Taj Majal, Crosby, Stills – all that singer/songwriter stuff that I probably lacked in my arsenal, he just had that. It bleeds through whenever we’re writing and it bleeds through into the melodies. Jeff man, he’s a rocker. Jeff may have produced some great country stuff but I’m telling you – Jeff knows every Aerosmith or AC/DC song and he owns every Stones and Beatles records.
Eric: I love it when someone in a group says their influences are The Carter Family, Johnny Cash and then another member says, to them, it’s AC/DC and Aerosmith. That’s country music for you today.
Noll: Yeah, and Jeff was a hardcore rocker before he dove into country. For me, I did grow up on the classic country but the performers I fell in love with as a kid, when my mom was watching pull up ol’ Janis Joplin videos, Steven Tyler. I fell in love with the performance of that. Even Elvis, as great as the music was I just couldn’t stop watching that stuff. I was like, man if I ever get on stage, I’m going to go crazy. I want to have that much fun as it looks like she’s having.

Eric: When “Booze Cruise” starts to explode, even going gold in Canada on the way to sell 250,000 copies in North America, are you ready for that? It’s a cliche when artists say success doesn’t change them but when everything else around you is getting better, better shows, better food, more shows, more drives, bigger audiences and venues, are you comfortable and taking as it comes?
Noll: We were ready and I’ll tell you why because we had some good advice from some good people in Nashville. Doug Howard who ran Lyric Street for a long time, he signed the Rascal Flatts. Jeff and people he was working with at Ole and Open Road, he gave just good advice. We never chased radio and labels in Music Row first. We chased shows. We played 250 shows before we broke “overnight.” I think we were really ready for that. We just wanted to focus on the fans because that was the best way that you can make sure you have a job forever and play music forever. If you can bring it on stage, no one can ever take that from you. That’s your time up there, we focused on that first and we had done it a bunch before anyone really knew we were relevant at all. If there are any musicians out there, trust me, go play your butt off man before you tell everyone about your stuff.
Eric: So you can be on the road to the biggest band in the world.
Noll: There are people out there that really don’t care about the success or whatever, they just really like the creative process of the writing. Man, for me, it was always like – why would I want to play for 100 people when I can play for 1,000. Why would I want to play for 1,000 when I could play for a million? I want it. I want to play for the biggest crowds on the planet.

Arthur, The Stray Dog who joined a Swedish race team and refused to be left behind

Meet Arthur the stray dog who followed an extreme sports team during a grueling 430-mile race through the Amazon rainforest and refused to leave their side until the finish.

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That Eric Alper
6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week, a 16-time JUNO Award winner overseeing PR campaigns, and have also been truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

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