WEEZER - STILL 'RED' HOT

Considering that most rock bands don’t last five years in the music business, you’d expect one that has thrived for more than 15 to stick to its proven formula for success. But on their latest self-titled release (a.k.a. The Red Album), the members of L.A.’s power-pop-rock band Weezer decided to shake things up a bit.

“One of my greatest challenges this time was to write songs that didn’t have the same old verse-chorus-bridge structure,” says singer, songwriter, and guitarist Rivers Cuomo in a press release for the album.

Beyond arrangements and song structures, a more obvious change can be found in the song credits. Weezer’s biggest hits from its previous five albums include “Buddy Holly,” “Say It Ain’t So,” “Undone (The Sweater Song),” “Hash Pipe,” “Island In The Sun” and “Beverly Hills” — all written and sung by Cuomo. On The Red Album, all four members of the band, which also includes guitarist Brian Bell, drummer Pat Wilson, and bassist Scott Shriner, contribute to the songwriting, and each takes a turn on lead vocals.

In an exclusive interview last September, Bell said that Cuomo’s decision to more fully involve the entire group in the creative process generated a sense of camaraderie that blossomed when the band regrouped for some unique live performances in the summer of 2008.

Dubbed “the Hootenanny Tour,” it allowed musically inclined fans to bring their acoustic guitars and other instruments to the shows and play along with their heroes on a set of Weezer originals and covers. The lucky participants were selected in advance via YouTube tryouts.

“It was more fun than I could possibly imagine,” Bell said. “We hadn’t played live for [more than two] years as a band, and it was a really good way to get our feet wet again. It really helped get a great vibe going within the band and was a great bonding experience between us.”

Much of the thrill for both the band and the fans stemmed from the interactive nature of the shows.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” Bell says. “We weren’t up on a stage. We were in the middle of the floor, and the people were between us. It was kind of frightening at first, but the energy was so positive, and the smiles on people’s faces were so welcoming and inviting that we all relaxed and had a great time.”

Here's "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" from The Red Album:



Bell said that same sense of fun and rekindled excitement within the band was evident on the group’s recent tour.

“We’re utilizing everybody’s talents, the way that I always wanted to,” he said. “Along with playing bass, Scott has keyboards on his side of the stage. I also have some keyboards, as well as vocal responsibilities. Pat sings and plays guitar. Rivers plays some drums. It’s fun for all of us to show what we can do in addition to playing our usual instruments.”

Much of the media attention Weezer has received lately focuses on the more democratic nature of the group, largely because in the past Cuomo was perceived as a control freak — a view further propagated by the fact that he was uncomfortable with interviews and media attention in general. As James Montgomery wrote for MTV News, “[Weezer] was seen as his personal vehicle, operating on his personal schedule and subject to his personal whims.”

But Bell, who joined the group prior to the recording of the band’s self-titled 1994 debut (a.k.a. The Blue Album), says all members of the band have always had creative input in the recording process.

“We’ve always contributed things like introductions, suggestions of arrangements, the feel of songs, ideas for sounds,” he says. “Of course, Rivers is extremely talented and knows what he wants. I think he’s one of the best melodic writers of our time. If he has a melody and a song that he’s into, I try my best to see his dream through and make it a reality.”

Bell also believes that, as Cuomo has gotten older, he has become more comfortable with the non-musical aspects of the music business.

“There was a time when Rivers would give a number to the amount of interviews he was going to do for an album cycle,” Bell says. “It’s not his favorite thing to do. But I see him getting much, much, much better at it — really answering questions truthfully, and with some wit, and not letting it affect him so much.”

If nothing else, Cuomo finally seems comfortable in his own skin. While he’s always written from the perspective of someone out-of-step with the trendy and popular, his lyrics on The Red Album seem to embrace his inner geek.

“I’m ‘a do the things that I want to do / I ain’t got a thing to prove to you” he sings on “Pork and Beans.”

With a revitalized sense of purpose, it’s no surprise that Weezer is already making tentative plans to record its next album, currently penciled in for a late 2009 release.

“There are so many incarnations and periods of the band that it does feel fresh and new again,” Bell says. “I keep using the word ‘fresh,’ but it’s really true. I don’t feel burned out. In a way this feels like a first album for this band.”





Read my latest posts!

Visit my Music Examiner page at Examiner.com!

IDINA MENZEL - BROADWAY STAR SHINES AS A SINGER-SONGWRITER

It can be a daunting task for an established Broadway musical actor or actress to cross over to a career as a mainstream pop singer. That’s especially true when the artist creates or defines a memorable stage role, and audiences begin to view the performer and the role as one and the same.

In a relatively brief twelve-year Broadway career, Idina Menzel has already created two landmark characters – the bi-sexual performance artist Maureen in Rent, and her Tony Award-winning role as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West in Wicked. She’s also branched out to non-musical roles in television and film (most notably as Patrick Dempsey’s fiancé in Enchanted).

The 37-year-old Long Island native has been touring in support of her latest album (and Warner Brothers Records debut) I Stand.

Her character? Singer-songwriter Idina Menzel.

In her performances Menzel will certainly acknowledge her stage career, perhaps with renditions of Wicked’s “Defying Gravity,” or Rent’s “Take Me or Leave Me,” but concert-goers should expect the bulk of Menzel’s repertoire to be drawn from her own material.

Make no mistake – this is NOT a case of a Broadway singer simply “turning pop.” Menzel’s professional resume as singer-songwriter dates back to 1998, when she released her underrated debut album, Still I Can’t Be Still. The lively, wide-ranging mix of pop, rock, and soul showcased Menzel’s wonderful voice and knack for crafting memorable, somewhat quirky (in a good way) tunes, but failed to find a large audience.

Menzel was eventually dropped from her record label. She spent the next ten years establishing her stage career, but never abandoned her music. During that time she contributed to a few soundtracks and other albums, and in 2004 released a six-song EP entitled Here on the independent Zel Records label.

Menzel was signed to Warner Brothers Records, which released I Stand last year.

Menzel worked with Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, Shakira, Annie Lennox) who produced and co-wrote all but one of the songs on I Stand with Menzel. Featuring the singles “Brave,” “Gorgeous,” and the title track, the album is a strong mix of engaging, soulful pop and heartfelt ballads. Menzel’s powerful voice is in top form throughout, but the bigger surprise is the maturity of her songwriting.

Here's the "I Stand" lyric video:



In a press release, Ballard commented, “It's very rare when you have somebody with Idina's vocal skills who also writes so eloquently about what's important to her. I knew I was working with a first-rate writer. She has stories to tell and they're really worth hearing."

Menzel says she’s thrilled when fans dig deep into her lyrics and interpret her songs.

"Sometimes when people hear my new songs they take a completely different meaning from them than what I originally intended,” she says. “I just love that. As a songwriter, it means I've accomplished something bigger than myself."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOOD WORKS: Menzel has recorded a brand-new song called "Hope" in support of Major League Baseball and its ongoing programs to raise awareness, as well as funds for research through the new Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) initiative. Idina's recording of "Hope" was selected as the signature title song for important, inspiring efforts throughout the baseball industry. The song release marks the launch of a series of forthcoming initiatives to be announced at a later date.

"Hope" — which was written by award-winning composer Paul Hampton and produced by Steve Lipson (Annie Lennox, Whitney Houston, Paul McCartney) — is available for purchase through iTunes® and other online retailers.

Proceeds from the sale of the track will go to benefit Stand Up To Cancer. Fans will also be able to get the info on downloading the new song by visiting http://www.idinamenzel.com/, as well as www.MLB.com/Hope.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming tour dates for Idina Menzel:

Mar 25, 2009 Glenside/Philadelphia, PA - Keswick Theatre - Buy Tickets
Mar 27, 2009 Wilmington, DE - Grand Opera House - Buy Tickets
Mar 28, 2009 Greenvale, NY – Tilles Center Concert Hall - Buy Tickets




Read my latest posts!


Visit my Music Examiner page at Examiner.com!

METALLICA, KANYE WEST, PERRY FARRELL & TORI AMOS AT THIS YEAR'S SXSW MUSIC FESTIVAL

Does the performance of a superstar act like Metallica help or hurt SWSW?

The South by Southwest Music Festival, or SXSW for short, is one of the biggest, most high-profile annual music festivals in the United States. The Austin, Texas event is one of three festivals (film and interactive media are the focus of the other two) hosted by Austin each year.

Originally geared to music industry professionals to showcase unsigned or up and coming talent on a national level, the twenty-three-year-old event is now a bona fide schmooze-fest for fans, media, and music industry insiders alike. It is the musical equivalent of France’s Cannes Film Festival, with a bit of Mardi Gras thrown in for good measure.

This year’s event ran from March 18 to 22 and featured more than 1,800 musical acts of all genres from around the globe performing on over eighty stages in downtown Austin. Traditionally, most of the performers at the Festival are up-and-coming acts for which an appearance at SXSW has provided early national exposure. For example, Lily Allen was one of the breakout performers at the 2007 Festival.

In recent years, however, more and more established acts have been making “surprise” appearances at SXSW. While their performances are welcomed and appreciated by the music fans in attendance, the presence of chart-topping stars naturally draws media and industry attention away from the newer artists SXSW was originally intended to spotlight.

This year’s Festival featured performances by superstar artists like Metallica, Kanye West, Perry Farrell, and Tori Amos. That was great for the fans, but perhaps not so great for Beach House, the Pepper Pots (pictured left), or any of the hundreds of other lesser-known artists that were trying to generate a buzz in Austin.

Here’s a YouTube video of Kanye West performing “Amazing” at this year’s SXSW (warning: graphic language):



The participation of a few established artists is beneficial to SXSW – it generates publicity, and fosters continued interest in the Festival and similar events around the country. But when it comes to superstars at SXSW, it's not a matter of the more the merrier. I hope that SXSW organizers will be wise enough to regulate the number of star performances in the future.

As it is, SXSW is the United States’ premier music event highlighting new or unknown artists. I’d hate to see it turn into just another red-carpet celebrity showcase.





Read my latest posts!

Visit my Music Examiner page at Examiner.com!

GEORGE THOROGOOD BACK HOME IN DELAWARE FOR A "GRAND" SHOW

The self-proclaimed “World's Greatest Bar Band” – George Thorogood and the Delaware (yes, we’ll use the group’s full name here) Destroyers – return to their home state for a show at Wilmington, Delaware’s Grand Opera House on Monday, March 23 at 8:00 pm. Tickets are priced from $35 to $52. For more information, call the Grand box office at 302-652-6677.

It’s hard to believe, but it has been six years since Thorogood and the Destroyers performed in Delaware. They rocked Wilmington's Big Kahuna back in 2003.

I’ve never interviewed Thorogood, but through stories told by friends of friends, he always impressed me as a fairly unpretentious guy who charted his own course – as passionate about his semi-pro baseball team as he was about his music career.

The March 2009 issue of Delaware Today magazine features an article that chronicles Thorogood’s career, and what writer Matt Amis calls Thorogood’s “checkered relationship” with his home state. Maybe Thorogood did have a rough adolescence here, but by the early 80s, after he had become Delaware’s first bona fide rock star of the MTV age, Thorogood seemed to have reconciled with his past.

Even though he didn’t officially live here, he certainly was spending time in the area. On at least one occasion circa 1982-83, Thorogood showed up unannounced with his guitar at a now defunct Newark, Delaware bar and grill called the Crap Trap and played a set for open mic night.

Thorogood appears to have maintained that same unassuming personality trait to this day. Regarding his return to Delaware, Thorogood is quoted in the Delaware Today feature as saying, “I’m really looking forward like you wouldn’t believe…. I used to think the only way I’d get into the Grand Opera House is if they asked me to sweep the floor.”

Monday’s show at the Grand is going to be recorded for an upcoming live album. If it comes to fruition, it will be the first live album by a nationally known music artist ever recorded entirely in Delaware.

Give “Lonesome George” credit for remembering the First State. Thorogood is one of only a handful of nationally known music artists to mention or allude to Delaware in his songs. In addition to Thorogood’s “Delaware Slide,” the slim list includes “School Days” by Loudon Wainwright III, “Dover, Delaware” by Canadian folk-roots band the Duhks, Perry Como’s “Delaware,” and Fats Waller’s “(You’re A) Square From Delaware.”

Examples of live recordings originating in Delaware are even rarer. In fact, the only other occurrence that I can find of a live recording taking place in Delaware during the rock era is a track on Earthbound, a 1972 album by the British progressive rock band King Crimson. The album opens with a track called “21st Century Schizoid Man” that was recorded in Wilmington at the old State Armory (which used to be located at 10th and DuPont Streets) on February 11, 1972.

King Crimson was opening for the J. Giles Band that night.

Read my latest posts!


Visit my Music Examiner page at Examiner.com!

TOP-10 IRISH ARTISTS IN ROCK AND POP

Irish musicians have played important roles and influenced every style of music imaginable – from classical, to jazz, to folk, to country. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, here’s a list of ten notable Irish artists and bands in the pop and rock genres. The list is by no means meant to be definitive, just this Honorary Irishman’s humble opinion. In alphabetical order:

***

The Boomtown Rats – Led by future humanitarian Bob Geldof, these post-punk rockers never found a large audience in the States. Even their biggest worldwide hit, “I Don’t Like Mondays” fell short of the Top-40 here. Still, the group’s blend of epic, Springsteen-esque story-songs and punk attitude are worth checking out, especially on the group’s U.S. debut, A Tonic for the Troops.

***

Clannad / Enya – Clannad had been creating its unique combination of traditional Irish folk, Celtic, pop and new age music since the early 70s. It took ten years for the group to achieve international success, primarily through its work on various movie and television soundtracks. Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, better known as Enya, struck out on her own in the mid-80s and found even greater success creating ethereal, multi-layered vocal orchestrations that walked a fine line between pop and new age.

***

The Corrs – This three sisters and a brother act enjoyed a great deal of worldwide success in the ten year period between 1996 and 2006. The band’s sound, epitomized by hits like “Runaway” and “Breathless,” leaned heavily toward pop-rock, but contained a fair sprinkling of traditional Irish influences and instrumentation.

***

The Cranberries – This Limerick-based alternative rock band enjoyed plenty of airplay and chart success for most of the 90s on the basis of its two great strengths – sharp pop songwriting (typified by hits like “Linger,” “Dreams,” and “Salvation”), and the pure, powerful voice of lead singer Dolores O'Riordan.

***

Rory Gallagher – The late, great blues-rock guitarist Rory Gallagher died too young – he was only 47 when years of substance abuse finally caught up with him in 1995. Although his albums sold over 30 million copies worldwide, perhaps his most important and lasting contribution to music is evidenced by his acknowledged influence on guitarists like The Edge, Slash, Johnny Marr, Glenn Tipton, and Brian May.

***

House of Pain / Everlast – In the early 90s, white rappers were still a novelty, and legitimate white rappers were an even bigger rarity. Spittin’ lyrics in a full-on brogue, Everlast stepped to the plate not as a copycat, but as a “copy that.” With an even more successful solo career he demonstrated his range in a variety of musical genres.

***

Van Morrison – Morrison is the reigning monarch of Irish singer-songwriters. Fans might question whether this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee should be recognized more for his exceptional songwriting or for his unique, soulful voice. Fortunately, there’s no need to rush a decision – at age 63, Morrison is still going strong.

***

The Pogues – Some reviews of Pogues concerts talk of shows of unparalleled power and elegance, others of performances marred by incoherent drunkenness. The focal point of contradiction is always Shane MacGowan — singer, songwriter, and enigmatic leader of the group — the man who's equally responsible for the Pogues' greatest achievements as well as its occasional downfalls.

***

Thin Lizzy – For my money, Thin Lizzy is one of the most underrated rock bands of all time. Lead singer Phil Lynott was a fine songwriter, and a charismatic front man. The group was one of the pioneers of the twin lead guitar sound, and a terrific live act.

***

U2 – Okay, Bono and the boys can get a bit pretentious at times, but as a band they’re still the current kings of the mountain. The group has been around long enough to be considered classic rock, but as evidenced by its new chart topping effort, No Line on the Horizon, the band is still taking chances – and finding a large audience in the process.

Read my latest posts!

Visit my Music Examiner page at Examiner.com!

Carrie Underwood Does Motley Crue on 'American Idol'

My friends are usually very surprised to learn that I’ve never watched a full episode of “American Idol.” Knowing how much I love music and how I try to stay hip to new artists, they are astonished by my indifference to the show. Call me old-fashioned, but I still prefer musicians to work their way up the ladder – playing local clubs and bars and building their audience and reputation one fan at a time.

I’m sure the contestants who make it to the finalists round on the show have worked hard and are dedicated to their music. But by its very nature, the “American Idol” setup is flawed.

I’ve always maintained that being a music critic is much more time-consuming than reviewing theater, movies, television, or books. In every other case, only one viewing or reading is necessary to form an opinion. Music, on the other hand, must be listened to repeatedly before a valid opinion can be formed.

How many times has your opinion of an album changed the more you listened to it? Sometimes a CD that didn’t grab you for weeks ends up being one of your all-time favorites. On the other hand, music that has instant likability often loses its appeal and proves trite or shallow in the long run. But with “American Idol,” the whole point is to gauge the public’s instant, knee-jerk reaction.

Shouldn’t an artist’s songwriting ability also play a part when judging his or her overall talent? On “American Idol” it’s not even considered. Maybe the name of the show should be changed to “American Idol Cover Artist.”

There have been American idols chosen from the country and soul/R&B genres, but most are cast out of the same homogenous Top-40 pop-rock mold. If you are a fan of bluegrass, hip-hop, reggae, or jazz, don’t expect to see an “American Idol” winner representing your favorite style of music anytime soon.

All that being said, I did tune in the conclusion of the Wednesday, March 11 show. I wanted to hear how well country-pop ingénue Carrie Underwood could pull off a version of Mötley Crüe's “Home Sweet Home.” It was about what I expected - a country-rock-pop ballad that reminded me of Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."

The season-four winner recorded a cover of the metal band’s most famous power ballad to serve as the new swan song for voted-off contestants. If watched the show and you like what you heard, the song will be available as a digital single exclusively on iTunes through March 16. After that it will be released via other online music retail sites. A portion of the proceeds from sales of the single will benefit the Humane Society of the United States.

"American Idol" airs Tuesdays at 8 pm and Wednesdays at 9 pm on Fox.






Read my latest posts!

Visit my Music Examiner page at Examiner.com!

BMG Music Service Shutting Down

Brick and mortar music stores aren’t the only outlets adversely affected by the digital download era. First the Columbia House Music Club bit the dust, now BMG Music Service is closing up shop.

Current members recently received an email informing them that the BMG Music Service is being discontinued as of June 30, 2009. They will have until May 31 to redeem certificates or make purchases on the club’s website - bmgmusic.com.

The closing marks the end of an era. For years, both Columbia House (originally known as the Columbia Record Club) and BMG Music Service (originally known as the RCA Music Club) provided music connoisseurs a way to start or add to their music collections in bulk, with their “6 for the price of one” or “Get 11 albums free” offers.

I can still remember as a young teenager getting my introductory shipment of a dozen or albums from Columbia House and thinking, “Wow, I’ve got every album I’ve always wanted.”

A few thousand albums later, I’m still working on that – but that’s another story.

The history of the record clubs starts with Columbia, which was founded in 1955 and was originally owned by CBS Records. RCA Records started up the RCA Music Service shortly thereafter. For most of the years the clubs were in competition with each other, CBS recordings were not available from the RCA club, and RCA recordings were unavailable through Columbia House.

The specifics of the offers changed over the years, but RCA always offered a better deal. With a smaller library of albums, RCA offered fewer “up front,” but required members to only buy one more to complete their membership commitment. Columbia House loaded you up on the front end (11, 12, or more albums), but the membership fulfillment commitment was 5 or 6 albums within three years.

Ahh, those were the days...

Sony acquired Columbia House in 1987 when they bought CBS Records; the same year, RCA was acquired by Bertelsmann Music Group, and its music club was renamed BMG Music Service.

The clubs have not totally vanished - Columbia House still runs a DVD club, and BMG is going to continue its yourmusic.com service, where CDs are sold at reduced prices. But I can’t help but feel that another piece of recent Americana is fading away.

Future generations of young music fans will never know the joy of opening a big box of CDs and thinking, “Wow, I’ve got every album I’ve always wanted.”

Read my latest posts!

RACING KITES FLYING HIGH WITH NEW EP

New Jersey's Racing Kites headlines a show this Friday, March 13 at Wilmington, Delaware’s Harmony Grange showcasing five young, energetic pop-rock bands. Joining Racing Kites on the bill are suburban Philly’s The Skylife, The Dangerous Summer from Ellicott City, MD, Horrible Horrible Creatures from Chester County, PA, and Elkton, Maryland/Newark, Delaware-based Christian rockers Love Beyond Reason.

For Racing Kites, the gig is an early stop on a cross-country tour (see complete tour dates below) in support of its brand-new five song EP, Be My Runaway. It’s also a homecoming show for guitarist and backing vocalist Matt Federer, a native Delawarean who still resides here.

The band, which also includes singer-songwriter Alex Ziabko, drummer Rick Szpakowski, guitarist Matt Howard, and bassist Preston Rahbari, has been steadily gaining momentum and growing its fan base since forming three years ago. Racing Kites’ 2006 release, We Hold It All Together sold close to 2,000 CDs and 2,300 downloads on Itunes. Absolutepunk featured them as a “top band to know,” and last year Abercrombie & Fitch selected Racing Kites’ CD sampler to be played in its stores nationwide.

Be My Runaway should only further the group’s chances of landing a recording contract. These young 20-somethings play well-written, high-energy, melody driven pop-rock anthems in the Fall Out Boy, Cartel, All-American Rejects vein.

The title track is typical of the smart, clap-your-hands appeal of the five songs on Be My Runaway. Ziabko sings his young love tales with heart-on-his-sleeve sincerity – all the better to strike a chord with the band’s large contingent of female fans. Backing harmonies, sing-along choruses, and layers of power chords only add to the infectious nature of tunes like “All Night Is Alright,” “Takeover,” and “Tonight’s Attraction.” For a change of pace, there’s the bouncy, acoustic-based “My Everything.”

There’s nothing groundbreaking on Be My Runaway, but everything is done with a professional flair and style. Just as important, the guys all sound like they’re having a blast. Their sense of fun and excitement is contagious and should translate well to a packed house at the Harmony Grange this weekend.

Tickets for the 6 p.m. show are $10. Harmony Grange is located at 3201 Limestone Road in Wilmington. If you can’t make it to Friday’s show, Racing Kites will also perform a free acoustic show at Hot Topic at Wilmington's Concord Mall on Saturday, March 14 at 6 p.m.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Racing Kites Tour Dates

March 12 Blairsville, PA The Corner Pocket

March 13 Wilmington, DE Harmony Grange

March 14 Wilmington, DE Hot Topic: instore

March 15 Winchester, VA ZeroPak

March 17 Wilmington, NC Soapbox

March 20 SXSW

March 21 SXSW

March 22 San Antonio, TX White Rabbit

March 25 Dallas, TX Live @Mokah

March 26 Rosewell, New Mexico The Unit Center

March 27 Tempe, AZ The Sets

March 28 Palm Springs, CA Ignition

March 30 San Francisco, CA Sub Mission Art Space

April 1 Tacoma, WA Viaduct

April 3 Palmdale, Ca The Crossing

April 4 Irvine, CA Bamboozle Left
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

April 5 Irvine, CA Bamboozle Left
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

April 17 LaCrosse, WI The warehouse

April 18 Mokena, IL The SoundLab

April 19 Morris, IL The Korova

Read my latest posts!

PAUL STANLEY: ROCK AND ROLL ARTIST

Paul Stanley – singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the theatrical rock group Kiss – has been known as a rock and roll artist for years. However with his latest endeavor, that title has taken on a whole new meaning.

Last year Stanley’s paintings, not his music, accounted for over $2 million in sales.

Stanley regularly appears at exhibitions of his paintings at various Wentworth Gallery locations across the country.

Stanley, 57, had been an art major at the prestigious High School of Music and Art in New York City. As a teenager, music became his passion, but he never abandoned his love of visual art. Over the years as a member of Kiss, he has expressed his visual creativity at photo shoots, and in stage or album cover designs.

In 2000, while going through a divorce from his first wife, he started painting as a form of personal therapy.

“I turned to painting as a means of self-expression,” Stanley said in a telephone interview. “But what I’ve always found is that when I do something that pleases me, it usually finds an audience and takes on a life of its own.”

His first formal showing was in 2005. To date, he has completed approximately 50 pieces. His work is priced at between $1,000 for a print, to $60,000 for an original acrylic painting.

Stanley admits that his rock star status helped jump start his career as an artist.

“The truth is, my success allowed me to get my foot in the door,” he says. “But ultimately you’re going to be judged on your work. No one is going to buy one of my paintings because they like the way I sing ‘Love Gun.’”

Stanley says he hopes that his name recognition will attract people to exhibitions and museums who would otherwise feel out of place in an art gallery.

“I believe that everybody on the street should enjoy art in a way that perhaps they’re not doing because they’re intimidated by this notion that your opinion has to be educated for it to be valid,” Stanley says. “That’s absurd, because the truth of the matter is that a work of art is valid because you like it. You don’t have to know the reasons why you like a painting, anymore than you have to know why you like a hamburger.”

Most of Stanley’s paintings are bold, stream of conscience abstracts combining basic shapes with a variety of colors and textures. Critics have compared his style to that of Peter Max and LeRoy Neiman.

“The exciting for me is that this success has come so quickly that people actually get to see me develop [as an artist] in front of them,” Stanley says. “I really am a work in progress.”

Kiss is also still going strong. The band recently celebrated its 35th anniversary with it’s most successful tour of Europe ever, playing 30 shows to over a half-million people. The band is preparing for a summer 2009 U.S. tour, and has also begun working on a new studio album, its first since 1998’s Psycho Circus.

Stanley says the two careers can easily co-exist. “I don't bring guitars into my painting studio, and I don't bring paintbrushes on stage,” he says.

The only obvious tie-in between the Queens, New York native’s music and art are four portraits Stanley painted of the Kiss band members in their famous make-up. Stanley says he did it a “a tip-of-the-hat to the fans.”

Ironically, and much to Stanley’s delight, the Kiss portraits are the least popular in the collection. To Stanley, it’s further confirmation that the people acquiring his art are not acquiring it simply because of its Kiss connection.

In many ways, painting now provides the creative outlet that music once did for Stanley as a teenager.

“I find the great thing about art is that it’s very solitary,” he says. “It’s something you do by yourself without an audience. In music, the journey has been much longer. I think I’ve established my musical identity. In art, I’m still finding my way. There’s a newness to it that’s very exciting.”





Read my latest posts!

BLACK CROWS FLY IN THE FACE OF CONVENTION

The Black Crowes has always been a band that marched — or should that be flew? — to the beat of its own drummer. Much has changed since brothers Chris and Rich Robinson formed the group — originally called Mr. Crowe’s Garden — in Atlanta, Ga. in 1984. Musical trends as well as bandmembers have come and gone, but the band’s independent spirit, and commitment to the creative vision of the Robinson brothers remains steadfast.

The band released Warpaint, its first studio album in seven years, in March 2008.

“Warpaint is a declaration of our soulful independence,” lead singer Chris Robinson said in a press release for the album. “The thing about the last three years has been, ‘How do we continue to be independent? How do we begin to exercise control and freedom over our own trip?’ That’s what the title is all about.”

“Every record was a great experience to get us to where we are today,” added guitarist Rich Robinson. “This is what we love to do, and we want to do it the best we can. That’s what’s in this [album].”

The band, which also includes original drummer Steve Gorman, bassist Sven Pipien, guitarist Luther Dickinson, and keyboardist Adam MacDougall — is performing a series of sold out shows at Levon Helms Barn in Woodstock, New York through March 7. The group will begin a European tour in the spring.

The long layoff between albums apparently didn’t hurt the band’s popularity. Warpaint entered the Billboard charts at No. 5, making it the group’s best debut since 1992’s The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion.

Since making its major-label debut in 1990, the Black Crowes has enjoyed both critical and commercial success, selling over 18 million albums. The band’s sound, typified by Warpaint’s lead single, “Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution,” mixes Southern-flavored, guitar-based rock, R&B, and a touch of ’60s psychedelia into a groove-heavy mix. The group's best known hits include “Jealous Again,” “Hard To Handle,” “She Talks To Angels” and “Remedy.”

The band has enjoyed its current success strictly on its own terms. Despite the long absence from the public eye, the group granted only a few press interviews to promote Warpaint, which was released on the band’s own label, Silver Arrow Records. The closed-door policy toward the press might be the result of an exchange with Maxim that started when the magazine published a lukewarm review of Warpaint in its March 2008 issue. The problem wasn’t so much the tone of the review, but the fact that the reviewer had only heard one track from the album before writing it. Maxim later admitted its blunder, and issued an apology to its readers (but not to the band).

A rocky relationship with the press is nothing new for the Crowes. In a 1995 interview for the Amorica album (infamous for its bikini bottom cover photo), Rich Robinson told me, “The things that are written about us always have to do with something other than music. People write about what we wear, what we say, what drugs we do, what drugs we don’t do, our album cover, anything other than the music.”

Music has always been the central focus for the Robinsons. They handle nearly all of the songwriting for the band, with Rich writing most of the music and Chris writing lyrics. Chris told me in a 1991 interview that having a songwriting partner that happens to be your brother has its advantages. “Musically there are a lot of unspoken things between us,” he said. “We know when something feels right and when something doesn’t. I’ve tried to write songs with other people and it’s just never felt right.”

And while the band never shunned commercial success, Chris Robinson maintains that even at the height of the band’s popularity, the Black Crowes flew its own course. “Even in our most commercially successful period,” he said, “there was nothing like us on any format. By the time grunge happened, Southern Harmony and Amorica didn’t fit into any part of popular music. We looked different, we sounded different, and we set up our culture a little different.”

Both Robinson brothers insist that their music, not commercial success, has always been their driving force.

“You could take it all away tomorrow and I’ll go back to Atlanta and start again,” Chris said. “You don’t kick the habit just like that. It’s your passion. This is the one vice I’m never going to get rid of."






Read my latest posts!

CHRIS BOTTI - THE ROCK STAR OF JAZZ

By jazz musician standards, Chris Botti is a huge rock star.

The trumpet-playing Oregon native earns kudos from jazz critics for his virtuosity and his rich, distinctive tones, but it’s the familiarity of Botti’s romantic melodies and the accessibility of his arrangements that appeals to most fans.

Botti is gearing up for three weeks of radio station appearances starting February 28, 2009, followed by a spring/summer tour in conjunction with the airing of his PBS special and forthcoming album, Chris Botti in Boston.

Botti’s session work with artists like Paul Simon, Sting, Joni Mitchell and Aretha Franklin broadened his familiarity and appeal to pop audiences, while his cinematic good looks and Oprah’s stamp of approval helped shore up a large contingent of female fans.
But Botti is not simply the new millennium’s version of Kenny G.

“I think there’s a huge appetite for jazz-influenced music which is melodic, accessible and reins it in, but doesn’t dumb it down at all,” the 46-year-old Botti said in an interview for the Associated Press last year.

Take Botti’s 2007 release Italia, for example. The songs on Italia are drawn from sources ranging from classical opera, to standards, to the soundtracks of film composer Ennio Morricone. Guest on the album include Paula Cole, Andrea Bocelli, and, through the death-defying powers of studio magic, Dean Martin.

“I think in your mind, you want to have an approach that threads the sound together, even if it’s a very loose thread,” Botti said in an October 2008 telephone interview. “I mean, Italia is a very loose thread, but you just want to have something that you can hang your thoughts on.”

At the time of the interview, Botti was mixing tracks that were recorded last Sept. 18 and 19 during his performances with the Boston Pops Orchestra. Chris Botti in Boston is scheduled to be released on CD and DVD March 31, 2009.

Featuring guest appearances by John Mayer, Josh Groban, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee, classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and Sting, the shows with the Boston Pops were typical of the eclectic star-studded projects for which Botti has become known.

Botti’s touring band is a mix of old and new musicians. In addition to long-time bandmembers Billy Kilson (drums), Billy Childs (piano), and Mark Whitfield (guitar), violinist Lucia Micarelli, known for her work with Josh Groban and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, recently joined the group.

“She comes in and does some of the more classical things that the audience really likes,” Botti says. “She’s a rock star to say the least. So it’s been really fun to have another voice that plays that way. We’re slowly but surely adding her to more songs.”

Botti says that growing up he admired jazz soloists who had crossed over into the rock world like David Sanborn, Steve Gadd, Michael Brecker and Richard Tee.

“All these guys were original sounding on their instrument,” he says, “but they also played with people like Paul Simon, James Taylor, and the Rolling Stones. They were musical and interesting to me, and they had something to say. I thought that [a similar career path] would be a great avenue for me.”

Through his work as a session musician, Botti not only had the opportunity to play with a number of music legends, he also gained valuable studio production experience.

“One of the reasons why I know my way around the studio is because of the training I received sitting in a room watching producers like Arif Mardin make a record,” Botti says. “I got the opportunity to work with every great producer of the last 20 or 30 years.”

Botti released his first solo album, First Wish, in 1995 at the age of 33. At the time, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis had burst upon the scene with an album of standards, but Botti knew he had to set his own course.

“That atmospheric quality is what I really loved about jazz,” he says. “On my earlier CDs I tried to marry that feel to the textures and melodies you might hear on a record by Peter Gabriel or Bryan Ferry.”

In the years since, Botti has stayed extremely busy. Not including Chris Botti in Boston, he’s released a total of 10 albums, as well as a live DVD. He’s produced and guest starred on numerous projects. He was the leader of the house band on "The Caroline Rhea Show" from 2002 to 2003, and he hosted a weekly radio show called "Chill with Chris Botti." He even did a brief acting stint on the daytime drama, "One Life To Live."

Botti already has tentative plans for his next studio album, which he expects to begin working on in June.

“What it’s going to be, I don’t know,” he says. “One of the great things about being successful is the ability to widen your palate and work with orchestras and great arrangers that are very flattering to the trumpet. That ability to make those kind of more classy records as far as the ingredients used — the players, the studios and the arrangers — is something that I don’t want to lose. The key is figuring out what’s the theme, what’s the vibe, what’s the main thread to the album — and that I don’t know yet.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All Roads Lead Back to Sting

Ask Chris Botti to name the person who has had the biggest influence on his life besides his parents, and he won’t hesitate to answer. “Sting,” he says. “He’s like a brother to me.” Sting hired Botti as the featured soloist on his 1999-2001 "Brand New Day Tour." The last performance of the tour occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. The date is memorable to Botti for more than the obvious reason.

After the show, Sting did Botti the biggest favor of his career. He fired him.

“Actually, he asked me to leave the band, and to become the opening act on his tour in the same breath,” Botti says. Shortly thereafter, a week of shows were booked at New York’s Beacon Theatre.

“I was opening for Sting,” Botti says. “At one of the shows there was some guy in the audience who listened to the show, then went out, bought my album, and sent it to Oprah.”

Oprah liked what she heard, and invited Botti to be a featured guest on her show. The appearance helped jump-start Botti’s career.

“Sting’s the guy that’s responsible for breaking the sound of my trumpet to the world,” says Botti. “All my roads lead back to Sting’s involvement in my career.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris Botti 2009 Tour Dates (as of February 2009):

March 2009
31 Mexico City, MEXICO Teatro la Ciudad

April 2009
04 Atlantic City, NJ Tropicana Hotel & Casino
08 Harrisburg, PA Whitaker Center TICKETS
11 Easton, PA State Theater TICKETS
16 Daytona Beach, FL Peabody Auditorium
18 TV APPEARANCE: CBS Saturday Morning Show
23 Sarasota, FL Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall TICKETS
24 Birmingham, AL BJCC Concert Hall w/ Alabama Symphony Orchestra TICKETS
25 West Palm Beach, FL Kravis Center TICKETS
26 Miami, FL Fillmore
28 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall TICKETS
29 Durham, NC Carolina Theatre of Durham
30 Charlotte, NC Blumenthal Performing Arts Center

May 2009
02 Columbus, OH Ohio Theatre
03 Ventura, CA Ventura Music Festival TICKETS
07 Tarrytown, NY Tarrytown Music Hall TICKETS
08 Great Barrington, MA The Mahaiwe Theatre
10 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre TICKETS
13 Wilmington, DE Grand Opera House TICKETS
14 Englewood, NJ Bergen Performing Arts Center TICKETS
15 Red Bank, NJ Count Basie Theatre TICKETS
16 Utica, NY Stanley Theater TICKETS
21 Meridian, MS MSU Riley Center TICKETS
22 Atlanta, GA Symphony Hall
23 Atlanta, GA Symphony Hall
30 Cerritos, CA Cerritos Center for the Arts

June 2009
03 Boston, MA Symphony Hall w/ Boston Pops
04 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
06 Monterey, CA Monterey Conference Center-Sierra Ballroom

July 2009
02 Montreal, CANADA Montreal Jazz Festival
09 Los Angeles, CA The Greek Theatre
10 Sparks, NV John Ascuaga's Nugget-Celebrity Showroom
11 San Francisco, CA Davies Symphony Hall
12 San Francisco, CA Davies Symphony Hall







Read my latest posts!

STEPPIN' OUT WITH JOE JACKSON

Joe Jackson’s name might not frequent the Top-40 or MTV like it did when hits like “Breaking Us In Two,” “Steppin’ Out,” “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” and “You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)” made him a star more than 20 years ago, but these days the British singer-songwriter isn’t overly concerned with commercial success.

“I have no expectations at all about how my music will be received,” Jackson told the Toronto Star in March 2008. Truth be told, Jackson has never seemed concerned with the commercial aspects of the music business, preferring to follow his creative muse. Slapped with the new wave/punk label when his debut album, Look Sharp! was released in 1979, he disregarded expectations and explored swing (Jumpin’ Jive), jazz (Night and Day), and classical music genres (Symphony No. 1) on subsequent albums.

Jackson recently completed a U.S. tour in support of his latest album, Rain.

For both the album and tour, Jackson reunited with two-thirds of his original band — bassist Graham Maby and drummer Dave Houghton — who worked with Jackson on his first three albums - Look Sharp!, I’m the Man, and Beat Crazy.

“I’m having a lot of fun this tour, especially playing with two old friends,” Jackson said in a telephone interview in the midst of the tour, “and they’re playing better than ever.”

For the Rain album and tour, Jackson wanted to explore the piano-bass-drums trio format. “It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a few years,” Jackson says. “I think it’s interesting how wide-ranging you can be using just the minimum of resources — just the trio.”

The material on Rain touches on nearly every musical style Jackson has explored in the past, with the bulk of the songs falling close to the pop/jazz flavor of Night and Day, his most popular album.

Jackson says he doesn’t mind playing his oldest hits for his fans. “You can get a bit fed up with playing the same songs over and over again,” he says, “but I think it’s important to give the audience some familiar landmarks, so to speak. We do quite a long show, so we do a lot of new stuff as well as old.”

In the first four years after being signed to A&M Records, Jackson released five albums and an EP. He kept up that prolific pace throughout the 1980s, but has made a conscious decision to slow down in recent years.

“I’m much less of a workaholic now than I was early on,” he says. “I think in the early part of my career, I made too many records and put out too much stuff that was just not as good as it could have been. I think now I’m a lot more particular. I think I’ve come a long way as a lyricist.”

Over the years, Jackson has branched out creatively. In 2000 he published a well-received memoir entitled A Cure for Gravity that he calls “one of the best things I’ve done.” A few years later, he became a bit of a social activist, campaigning against the public indoor smoking ban now in effect in many American and British cities. His most recent endeavor is "Stoker," a play he is co-writing about author Bram Stoker and his process of creating "Dracula."









Read my latest posts!

YES, INDEED

In March 2008, members of the British progressive rock band Yes announced plans to celebrate the band's 40th anniversary with its first North American tour in five years. The tour was to feature the group's most commercially successful lineup: singer Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe and drummer Alan White.

Unfortunately, shortly after the tour was announced, Anderson suffered a severe asthma attack and was diagnosed with acute respiratory failure. Doctors advised him to rest and not work for at least six months or risk further health complications.

Fans assumed they would have to wait at least another year for the tour, but Squire, Howe, and White were determined to carry on. Thus, the "In the Present" tour kicked off in December 2008 in Ontario. The tour was suspended last week after Chris Squire was rushed to the hospital suffering from a blood clot in his leg. He is currently recovering and the tour is scheduled to resume Tuesday, Feb 24 in San Diego at the House of Blues.

Filling in for Anderson on the tour is Benoit David, a Montreal native who fronts a Yes tribute band called Close to the Edge, named after one of Yes' most popular albums. David was discovered when Squire saw a clip of him performing on YouTube and called to offer him an audition.

“This isn't an attempt to replace Jon Anderson because, as we all know, that would be impossible,” Squire said in an earlier statement. “With Benoit, we are bringing in a talented singer so that we can go out and honor the music of Yes for the fans who have waited for the past four years to see us perform.”

The quartet is also joined by keyboardist Oliver Wakeman, the son of legendary Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who, like Anderson, is not touring with the band for health reasons.

Prior to the rescheduling of the tour, I spoke with drummer Alan White by phone. Yes has earned a reputation for crowd-pleasing, virtuoso live performances, but White admitted that choosing a set list from nearly 20 studio albums worth of material can be difficult.

“I like to play the more obscure, crazy stuff," he said. "But the public sometimes demands to hear the stuff we've always done, so we have to do a mixture. The set list is being worked on right now. We're rehearsing some classic songs that personally I like to play, like 'Perpetual Change,' "Close to the Edge,' and 'Awaken.' It's going to be a great evening, I can tell you that."

The last studio album Yes released was Magnification in 2001. White said that at this stage of the band's career, it can tour with or without a new album to promote. However, he added that the group has been working on new material and fans can expect to hear at least one new song on the tour.

By the time White joined Yes in 1972, he had already amassed an impressive resume. While still in his teens, he had worked with Denny Laine, Ginger Baker, and Steve Winwood. In 1969, White received an invitation by John Lennon to drum for the Plastic Ono Band at a show in Toronto. This led to White's participation in recording sessions for Lennon's Imagine album, as well as his involvement in George Harrison's solo debut, All Things Must Pass.

"It was very, very cool," White said about working with Lennon and Harrison. "The one thing about that whole era was I was only 20 years old and I thought it was just a natural progression in the music industry. I thought, 'I guess this is what happens.' It was a very, very special time in my life, but at the time I was just a guy playing the drums that John really liked. Years later, I eventually realized what I had done, in terms of the history of music."

White is equally proud of the place Yes holds in music history, even if the music establishment is reluctant to acknowledge it.

"There's no reason in the world why this band shouldn't be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," he says. "It's really quite surprising how many young fans the band has. I'm not sure whether or not it's brainwashing from their parents, but these kids know all of our music inside and out. I guess the legacy of the band has been pretty huge."

White has witnessed countless changes over his 40 years in the music business. But he says that at least one important aspect of the business has remained constant throughout.

"Playing has stayed the same," he says. "The basic root of everything is how people play together on stage, and the feeling you get performing and creating something that's really, really good. It's like that with Yes. Everybody in the band is very talented. It's a great feeling to perform with people that create such great music."

Read my latest posts!

REVEREND LOVE

Al Green was born to preach. Even before he became an ordained Baptist minister, Green was spreading his gospel of love to music fans around the world with signature hits like “I’m Still In Love With You,” “Let’s Stay Together,” and “Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy).” His recent critically acclaimed Top-10 album, Lay It Down, introduced the soul legend to a new generation of fans.

Proving he can still hang with anyone, Green was a last minute replacement for Chris Brown at the 2009 Grammy Awards telecast, and wowed the crowd performing a duet version of his signature hit “Let’s Stay Together” with Justin Timberlake.

In a telephone interview earlier this year, it quickly became clear that you can take Al Green out of the church, but you can’t take the church out of Al Green. Like a preacher swept up in the middle of a fiery sermon, Green has a tendency to break into song in the middle of an answer, and often refers to himself in the third person. It made for an unusual, but entertaining interview.

Green also has a playful sense of humor. When asked if he follows any special regiment to keep his voice in such good shape, he answers, “Yeah I drink a whole bottle of lemonade!”

Green should be in a jovial mood these days. The 62-year-old soul legend is riding a wave of positive publicity in the wake of the May 2008 release of Lay It Down, which incredibly became the first album by the nine-time Grammy winner to debut in the Top-10 of Billboard’s Album Chart.

“I had never had that happen,” Green said. “I really was shocked, and everybody in the band was shocked. Even the album I’m Still in Love With You didn’t debut in the Top-10, and it sold a lot of records.”

From 1971 to 1976, Green did indeed sell a lot of records. He had 13 Top-40 hits, including “Here I Am (Come and Take Me),” “Call Me (Come Back Home),” and “You Ought to Be With Me,” as well as eight albums that reached the Top-30 on the charts.

Green abandoned secular music in the late-’70s, became an ordained minister, and took up residence at the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church, just outside Memphis, Tennessee. For nearly 25 years, Green recorded only gospel and Christmas music.

In 2003, Green signed with Blue Note Records and agreed to record secular music again. Lay It Down is Green’s third album in the past six years. On the previous two, I Can’t Stop (2003) and Everything’s OK (2005), Green reunited with Willie Mitchell, the producer behind Green’s hit albums. In an attempt to recapture, as well as update Green’s classic sound, the albums were recorded in the same studio used in the ‘70s, employing many of the same musicians from 30 years ago.

While both albums were well received critically, I Can’t Stop sold less than 300,000 copies, and Everything’s OK sold under 125,000. Hoping to generate more commercial appeal, Blue Note Records asked Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson of the Philadelphia-based hip-hop group the Roots, and his associate James Poyser, to produce what would become Lay It Down.

Once Green agreed to the proposal, Thompson and Poyser began an intensive study of Green’s recordings. Thompson says his goal was to make the unofficial follow-up to The Belle Album, Green's last major critical success from the ’70s.

"Thing is, you really have to do your homework. I studied all of Al's music," Thompson told the Philadelphia Daily News. "I studied the engineering of every album. That's basically what we were trying to approximate and also get a mark of our own."

Contemporary artists Anthony Hamilton, Corinne Bailey Rae, and John Legend were brought in for guest appearances.

In the end, Lay It Down manages to sound like classic Al Green without sounding like it’s trying to recreate the past. But while Thompson says that was always the intention, Green maintains that initially the team envisioned a more modern sound.

“They wanted to play the music as hip-hop as they could,” Green says. “I told them to go right ahead, because I knew they wasn’t going to be able to do it. Because once you start wrapping the music around Al…. You gonna try to play it a different way, but when you get done with it, it’s gonna come out [sounding] like 1973, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’77….

“Eventually they just started playing it like we were singing it,” Green added. “That’s all you can do, really. With a song like ‘Take Your Time,’ or ‘Stay With Me (By The Sea),’ ain’t no sense in playing no Jimi Hendrix on it, or Miles Davis on it. You’ve got to play (singing) ‘Stay with me by the sea’ the way it goes, you know?

Green is in full preacher mode now.

“My name is Otis Redding,” he says, to illustrate the other cloth from which he’s cut. “And my name is David Ruffin… and Sam Cooke… and Jackie Wilson… and Wilson Pickett.”

Lay It Down was in production for over two years, but most of that time was spent working out the logistics of the participants. Green says the songs were written quickly, soon after entering the studio.

“What you’re getting is the cream, baby,” he says. “This is not something we had in a box for 4,000 years, this is something we just wrote this past February. Yeah, ‘Lay It Down’ I just laid it down.”

Green has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and is the recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. On June 24, Green added to his long list of achievements when he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards in Los Angeles. Three days later, he fulfilled a lifelong dream when he headlined Carnegie Hall for the first time.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From The Pulpit:

Rev. Al Green is not shy about speaking his mind. Here’s a little fire and brimstone on a variety of topics.

Were you familiar with the Roots, Anthony Hamilton, Corinne Bailey Rae, or John Legend before working with them on "Lay It Down"?

“No, no, no, I was not. I saw the Roots on TV once in Trinidad. That was the only time I’d ever seen the Roots. I’d only heard the song that Corinne sang on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Something about ‘put your records on.’ I heard one song by John legend, but I can’t really think of what it was. I had heard a song by Anthony Hamilton, because I have two of his CDs, but I have never played one yet.

“I’m kind of reeling, man. I get a lot of music. I mean, record companies send me boxes of music, and I can’t play everything and stay sane at the same time. It’s just a lot of stuff.”

Do most visitors come to the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church to worship, or to see Al Green?

“I know people come for a thousand reasons to church. They mostly come to hear me sing ‘For The Good Times.’ I know that. I don’t care what reason they came for. Our thing is while they are there we get to tell them about the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and do a little bit of ‘Amazing Grace’ and let them know that that grace is for them.

“So I don’t care what reason you came. And then after that I send him back to Elvis’s place.”


On touring and performing at various House of Blues venues:

“The House of Blues is one of my favorite places to play, because we can get down in the House of Blues. There’s like 14 or 15 of us up there [on stage]. We’ve been together like six or seven years. So we know each other. Every time I twitch my foot they know what I’m doing.

“We can really have a good time. And when you come upon our hotel floor, you don’t hear no noise, no parties, no women, no hollering and tearing up the room and trashing the hotel…. We don’t have that kind of junk. You get a $5,000 fine if you do that junk in my band. I’ll fine your ass.”

On rap music:

"All our songs are about love – not machine guns, killing, war, drugs, gangs and sex. You gotta be able to invest 12 years in prison to be a rapper, or at least you been shot five or six times or committed some crime to be a rapper. ‘I was shot nine times right in the toe – now I can rap because I know what I’m talking about. I’ve been behind bars…’

“I just think that’s a poor illustration for our young children, 11, 12, and 13 years old. I mean, if you listen to that, or look at that stuff long enough in the videos with them big dog chains around their necks, and all them diamonds shining out of their mouth – you would think that’s how real life is.

“And I have to tell those children that that ain’t the way life is, baby. You ain’t going to be surrounded by a bunch of girls in two-piece bikinis dancin’ and wigglin’ all the time. You have to get up off your ass and go to work. Make sure you put that in your article. That’s coming from the Reverend.”

NICOLE ATKINS WALKS A FINE LINE BETWEEN MODERN AND RETRO

Singer-songwriter Nicole Atkins has been riding a wave of positive press and publicity since the October 2007 release of her full-length major label debut album, Neptune City, which she named after the northern Jersey shore town in which she grew up. The album received positive reviews in publications like Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, and Spin, and Atkins was named one of the “Top 10 Artists to Watch” by Rolling Stone.

Atkins built national recognition performing with her band, The Sea on the late night TV circuit, including “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “Late Night with Conan O'Brien” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.” They were also featured (playing themselves) in a television commercial for American Express as part of its “Are You A Cardmember?” campaign.

Atkins music sets introspective lyrics to Brill Building-style pop fused with lush, atmospheric layers. The 30-year-old Atkins calls her cinematic songs “pop-noir.”

“It took me a long time to find my sound,” she says. “When I first started writing songs, they were kind of country-ish. I was into that [sound], but I was also really into ’68 garage rock and psychedelic music. I could never figure out how to put together all the sounds I wanted into one. After many years of trial and error, it finally happened.”

Atkins sings in a traditional, melodic, retro style that may have been at least partly inspired by all the classic lounge singers she witnessed accompanying her parents on weekend trips to Atlantic City. Her sense of drama was kindled by her participation in school plays.

“I did a lot of musical theater growing up,” she says, “but I was always more drawn to singers like Roy Orbison, Scott Walker, or the Righteous Brothers – people that sang in a really dramatic way. Even the Beach Boys on Pet Sounds – things that just really have a soundscape.

“It’s a shame people don’t really sing with melody anymore,” Atkins adds. “All of my songs are really emotional. They’re stories. There might not be that many words to them, but it’s just the way that they’re sung, or the violin or piano lines underneath – that tell the whole story.”

Atkins and the Sea have been touring for over two years.

“We’ve been touring so much the shows have gotten pretty dialed in,” Atkins says. “It’s easy and fun for us now, whereas before we were just finding our footing.”

Atkins says the years she spent playing to audiences of 15 people taught her how to work a crowd. Even when playing to large crowds, she says she tries to create an intimate, interactive atmosphere.

“That’s what’s most fun about what I do – just being on stage and getting to live through all the experiences of the songs and interacting with the crowd, telling stories and jokes,” she says. “It should almost be like me and the people in the audience are at a party together and I’m the loudmouth in the room. I almost get more upset if one of my jokes bombs than if I flub a note on one of the songs.”

In concert, the band has no trouble recreating the lush sound of Neptune City, but Atkins says the energy level is turned up a few notches.

“Our live sound is pretty true to form, but it’s a lot more raw and rockin’,” she says.

After nearly two years on the road, Atkins says she’s looking forward to returning to the studio to record her next album.

“I’m excited to see what these 30 songs are going to turn into on a 14-song album,” she says. “There are some that are similar to Neptune City. Then there are some that are almost like dirty blues songs, in a Black Keys or Jon Spencer Blues Explosion-type way. That’s why I’m glad there are so many different styles and elements in my sound. We’re kind of free to take it where ever we want.”

The new album won’t be out until sometime later this year, but fans check out Nicole Atkins Digs Other People’s Songs, a four-song EP of cover tunes Atkins and The Sea recorded between legs of the current tour. It features songs by the Doors (“Crystal Ship”), the Mamas and the Papas (“ Dream A Little Dream”), the Church (“Under the Milky Way”), and Nada Surf (“Inside of Love”) and is available for download at Amazon.com.

“Yeah, I listen to a lot of different music,” Adkins says about the eclectic nature of the collection. And judging from the positive buzz surrounding her, other people dig Nicole Atkins’ songs, too.

“I worked really hard for seven years as a solo artist, and then one summer I made a demo that turned into these songs and got a band together,” Atkins says. “Everything just fell into place. It happened quick, but it was seven years in the making. Finally I had a cosmic bone thrown to me.”