It Must Be Jelly, 'Cause Jam Don't Shake Like That

We've been working with Jambase for ages, but hadn't gotten to meet their San Francisco-based staff until recently, when CEO Dave Rosenheim and editor-in-chief Aaron Kayce stopped by to tell us why "Go see live music" is more than a motto for them - it's a way of life. Because it was first thing in the morning, we brought in coffee and doughnuts - yum!

From left, Dave, Aaron, Chris Taillie and Andy Silva.

For Him and the Girls (and the guys, too)

A few of has had the pleasure of seeing our client Hawksley Workman play last night as part of a brief tour around the US celebrating the imminent release here of 'For Him and the Girls.' That album was the Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter's debut 10 years ago, and it's well worth hearing, as are the rest of his dramatic, passionate songs, like "Maniacs," and his intense performances.

The capacity crowd of Hawksley adorers at City Winery knew every word, and made numerous requests, which he was happy to indulge. And we were happy to spend a little time with him backstage, as captured in the photo below. (We'll attribute the slight blurring to one too many glasses from the wine list.)

From left, that's me, Hawksley, his sole bandmate Todd Lumley, Andy Silva, Diana D'Angelo and Nora Lyons.

My Life As A Toy

I've worked for Barbie. And for Joan Jett.

Now one brilliant item combines both: Mattel's Joan Jett Ladies of the '80s Doll.


There are also Cyndi Lauper and Debbie Harry dolls, but I didn't just buy either one of those on Amazon. A tiny, perfect Joan, however, complete with red Chucks and white Gibson, will take a place of pride in my office soon.

I love rock 'n' roll!

My Week with Awesome New Republic

Photos by Karp

The CMJ music festival can be a taxing time. While filled with quality music and new relationships, the arrival of CMJ often means little sleep, meals on the run, and did I mention little sleep? Well, when you spend the week with the gang from Florida's Awesome New Republic - it makes it all worthwhile. It seemed we were all over NYC last week, and with 4 shows the band, label and management took it all in stride.

But of course, it's about the music. What I saw from these three musicians was a fully formed band taking a honed and focused approach to their live show and winning droves of fans in the process. The week culminated in a packed show at R Bar on the Bowery Saturday night. From the opening vocal notes of "Digital World" through the closing snare cracks of "Last Drop," Awesome New Republic were in full stride - captivating the audience with an energy and passion rarely seen from CMJ acts. During "Alleycat" and "Birthday" the entire room was moving.

When the set was over, the week felt all too short. Even after all those shows, I somehow wanted more. Despite the tired legs and sore feet, I could've easily listened to them play for the rest of the night. Thanks for a great week ANR.

CKB's Sugar Sweet Sunshine Selection

Cupcakes this time, a selection from Sugar Sweet Sunshine, for Director of Operations and Shore Fire stalwart Chris Brudzinski (known around here as CKB). I can't say anyone complained 'cause within five minutes all the treats were gone! Happy Birthday Chris!

Big Bill Blues

Caught a set last Thursday by Big Bill Morganfield, one of Muddy Waters' many sons. Was a great set, miles beyond what I saw him play a decade ago. Back then, he had a limited stylistic range but he's broadened it and his singing, in particular, was a real joy. There were moments where one heard Muddy's voice. And Big Bill certainly fit the, uh, bill; he's a big dude! Particularly enjoyed his Little Walter cover "Too Late Brother" and his original "Dead Ass Broke."

Here's a classic Muddy performance from Newport:

No Recess

Nirvana's 'Bleach' came out in 1989. I sadly didn't spend much time with the album until recently and now I'm obsessed. Lucky for me this lo-fi sludge-fest will see a 20th anniversary release in November with an unreleased 1990 live show, on vinyl!!

For the most part, when Kurt Cobain's name is mentioned in the news, it's related to controversy. This 20th anniversary release is bringing the focus back to the music.

Some argue that many bands involved in the underground Seattle scene (and beyond) could have blown up like Nirvana did. But listen to a song like "School" or "About A Girl" from 'Bleach' and it's evident that this band would exist on a different level.

Check out previously unreleased footage of "School," performed by the band at the Reading Festival in 92.

Rolling Stone has a link to a previously unreleased live version of "Scoff" from the reissue.

'Bleach' album cover featuring Charles Peterson's photograph:

Dark Days for 'Q Fans

As if last week's news of former NRBQ manager/muse Capt. Lou Albano's passing weren't troubling enough, now comes news (to me) that original Q guitarist Steve Ferguson also went over yonder earlier this month. Steve was only an official member of NRBQ for the first couple or three years, but his influence on the group was lasting. Read the Times obit here.

Here's a weird, wild clip of Steve doing his thing on what appears to be a Hudson Valley public access show, back in the day:


And here's one for the Captain:

SFM Bake-off: and the winners are.....

We had nine scrumptious entries to our first Shore Fire Annual Bake-Off earlier this week, not to mention two celebrity judges, freelance writer and cheese expert Martin Johnson and our neighbor, Dave Park of Prefix Magazine. Thanks again to our judges for taking time out of their busy days to help us have a bit of fun at the office.


(l-r, some of the baked goods, me, Dave Park, Martin Johnson)

Entries were judged on taste and presentation and while the spread was pretty close, the winners were clear:


Nancie Martin's Fallen Chocolate Souffle Cake

On left, Andy Silva's Hummingbird Cake

On left, Matt Hank's third place savory Fig Tart.

Congrats to all the entrants and thanks to all the judges!!

Beautiful people, beautiful Seattle

One great thing about Seattle is the people are as nice as the city is beautiful. I had a great time in Seattle recently meeting with Nicole Vandenberg of Vandenberg Communications, Trey Many and Ali Hedrick of the Billions Agency and Kate Jackson and her colleagues at Sub Pop.


Vandenberg Communications prez Nicole Vandenberg with me in Pike’s Place Market after our lovely lunch at Matt’s in the Market.


I enjoyed a latte with Ali Hedrick and Trey Many at The Billions Agency near their offices on 1st Ave.


I was also given a tour of the Sub Pop offices by their PR head Kate Jackson. Here I am with Kate in front of Sub Pop’s historic photo collage.

Thanks to Virginia Piper at Vandenberg Communications who rushed to help me retrieve my Blackberry and saved the day. I hope to return to visit again soon.

Tom Russell @ Joe's Pub, Oct 3

Fresh from his appearance on the now infamous Oct 2nd episode of The Late Show w/ David Letterman, Tom Russell delivered a bada$$ badlands performance of music from a catalog that spans over three decades and an incredible twenty records. The phenomenal sound at Joe's Pub allowed Tom's crisp vocals and Thad Beckman's mean finger-picking to resonate around his Russell's characteristically dark narratives. Check out the Letterman performance here.


The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly an impromptu duet with Rosalie Sorrels, who was in the audience, performing Townes Van Zandt's "Snowing On Raton." Here's a photo of Tom with Rosalie backstage:

Stop The Show

Built To Spill, Shore Fire client and one of my favorite bands, is in town for 4 nights of shows in NYC, playing music from their 7-record catalog including tracks from 'There Is No Enemy,' their newest album, out last week.

Andy and I caught their first NYC show at Webster Hall last night and it was excellent. We walked in while the band played "The Plan," - I can't think of a better way to start a show (and an album). Highlight of the one and a half hour set was an encore of the gloriously slow-burning, guitar-charged (albeit shortened version of) "Stop The Show," from 'Perfect From Now On.' The band sent us home with an 11-minute version of "Conventional Wisdom," full of gratuitous guitar soloing (I mean that in the best way possible).

Not the best pic I've ever taken, but it will have to do:

Bring on your wrecking ball

Take a good look, America. Giants Stadium will soon be demolished and really, no one but Bruce Springsteen could give it a proper farewell.

Check out what Jon Pareles had to say about Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's final performance of their 5 night run at Giants Stadium in his stellar New York Times review.

Here's our very own Elizabeth Lutz enjoying the show with her awesome mom.

It's never easy to say goodbye to an old friend (or a 1970s sports arena/stadium). As I contemplated "Wrecking Ball" lyrics, I started thinking about all my fond memories of Giants Stadium, where I saw my first Bruce Springsteen concert. It was a bittersweet moment. Perhaps, had I brought my binocs, I would have done a better job of looking at the bright side of things. (That's my buddy Nils sporting the Casio, not the binocs.)

Luckily, Bruce Springsteen will be back in November. And although Giants Stadium will no longer be open, this tramp will still have wonderful memories.

Everybody In The House, Sing Along

Quick update to Chris's post about the Hennessy Artistry Series: a video clip of Common, The Roots and Q-Tip blending Bonita.



I personally also loved hearing Caron Wheeler of Soul II Soul with The Roots. "Back To Life" has always been a song I associate with good times, and Wednesday night at Terminal 5 sure was one.

Like celebrity photos? See some here.

Krauser's Sugar Sweet Sunshine Celebration

In what's turning out to be the bakery of choice for Shore Fire birthday celebrations, Sugar Sweet Sunshine was Rob Krauser's selection for today's b-day soire. Rob got a terrific pistachio cake. Congrats Rob and a very happy birthday from all of Shore Fire!

Myron Walden gets funky

Myron Walden blew the roof off of Fat Cat last Friday night (which is hard to do since Fat Cat's a basement club!) with his band Countryfied. They mixed funk, soul, blues, gospel, jazz, and rock and roll into an intoxicating, high energy show and Myron was working hard onstage. Jared Gold was incredible on organ and Kenneth Salters amazed on the drums. If you're into Booker T & The MGs or Jimmy Smith, you'll be into Myron Walden's Countryfied. As he reminded us, both musically and in his comments between the songs, he grew up in the south, and you can feel it listening to his playing.

Here I am with Myron and Shore Fire's own Miyako Hannan:



Here's Myron wailing:

Bonita Applebum

It was a pleasure attending Hennessy's Artistry Series last night in NYC at Terminal 5. The show, featuring The Roots, Common and many guests, was excellent. A highlight, and something I can now cross off of my "Must See" musical check list: Q-Tip performing "Bonita Applebum," with the Roots and Common, no less! Q-Tip's 'The Renaissance' and his "experimental" album 'Kamaal The Abstract' (a release delayed by over 9 years, finally released last month) have been some of my fave albums of the year. Seeing him live last night, performing ATCQ's first single, was the icing on the cake.

Diana's Texas tour

This weekend was filled with good food, good music and good weather. Friday I was in Austin to catch Todd Snider at Austin City Limits Festival and Bob Schneider at Antone's.
I also caught Them Crooked Vultures and Reckless Kelly!!

Crowd watching Todd.

Bob with the packed house at Antone's.
Don't miss Bob solo in NYC 10/7 @ The Living Room and 10/8 at City Winery.

On Saturday I headed to Houston for Hennessy Artistry 2009 Series featuring Elizabeth The Band, Makano, Common, and The Roots plus Icon Big Daddy Kane and closing out the night on a sexy note surprise guest Al B Sure. Here's Nancie S. Martin, Michael Lavigne and I on the black carpet.

This (part of The Roots band) is not a tuba!