massive free live music archive

I recently came across a gigantic online library of free things at:
www.archive.org
Included are thousands of high-quality recordings of live music from many bands and it is all sanctioned by the performers themselves so many of the stingy bands aren't available.
You will find many bands including the insane talent of Umphrey's McGee and the underrated song-writing genius of Toad The Wet Sprocket as well as many, many more.
Some of the music files will need a more versatile unzipper so I recommend the fabulous free app 7-zip
Another great free app for playing high-quality audio formats (like FLAC) is called foobar2000. It can also convert most audio formats easily too.
So get out there and start enjoying!

Victor Wooten Bass Clinic

I had the privilege of going to see a free clinic at Sweetwater recently and was very impressed! I saw a few of our fellow bloggers there too and wondered what your impressions were? What were your favorite tips?

For me, Victor Wooten (bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones) was quite impressive as a player and performer but what really surprised me was his humble demeanor and gracious attitude. This is my first time attending a clinic so I'm not sure if this is common, but he seemed very willing to take time and make sure that every question was heard and that every topic was covered.
He had some very interesting ideas on many topics like how to practice by yourself, how to raise kids to love music without making it a chore, how to approach music as a whole to make it more enjoyable to play and create, and much more!
All I can say is that if most clinics are half as good as this one, I'd recommend going to any of them you can!  Below is a little Wooten trivia:
Wooten won two Nashville Music Awards for Bassist Of The Year and is the only three-time winner of Bass Player magazine’s Bass Player Of The Year. With the honors came sideman calls, leading to recordings and performances with artists like Branford Marsalis, Mike Stern, Bruce Hornsby, Chick Corea, Dave Matthews, Prince, Gov’t Mule, Susan Tedeschi, Vital Tech Tones (with Scott Henderson and Steve Smith), the Jaco Pastorius Word Of Mouth Big Band, and the soundtrack of the Disney film Country Bears.

Les Paul (1915-2009)

what kind of music blog is this? not even a mention of the passing of a music legend?!? for shame...

By all accounts he was a really nice guy who loved to play and perform right up until his death at age 94.

Among the numerous videos of him on youtube here are two I found interesting:

Coors beer commercial (I like the thought of him putting a punk in his place)

Showing off his licks (about a minute in he starts really flying!)

Lester William Polsfuss, known as Les Paul (June 9, 1915 — August 13, 2009) was an American innovator, inventor, musician and songwriter. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which "made the sound of rock and roll possible".^[2] He is credited with many recording innovations, including overdubbing (also known as sound on sound),^[3] delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects, and multitrack recording.^[4]

His innovative talents extended into his playing style, including licks, trills, chording sequences,fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many of the guitarists of the present day.^[5][6][7][8] He recorded with his wife Mary Ford in the 1950s and they sold millions of records.

Among his many honors, Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent, stand-alone exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[9] He is prominently named by the music museum on its website as an "architect" and a "key inductee" along with Sam Phillips and Alan Freed.^[10]

music soothes the savage beast

Today was a bad day for me and when I got into my car no average music will do.I made a cd for just this day . heres some of the songs on it. "kick out the jams"-mc5(clean)....."Winder"-hum.....,"leave me alone"-extreme....,"one angry dwarf"-ben folds....and others... so ,If you were to make a cd of this nature what would be on it????

Show your Original lyrics

I was thinking that most( if not all) on this blog write original lyrics or poems. so why not share them. this might be very uncomfortable for some but, i think that we have to put ourselves in uncomfortable places to make us better or at least get us to be less critical of our own work... so what do you think? should we set up a separate site where we could download songs we've created or what?....give me your thoughts.

Who's your favorite drummer?

So I was working on learning the song Jenny Wren by Paul McCartney and my wife and I were reminded of how much we enjoy watching Abe Laboriel, Jr. play drums. His passion for the music is contagious. I love how he makes a contribution to the song even though his part of the song is very basic. The drums (drum) kick in at about 1 minute 15 seconds. Linda's favorite part is from 2:24 through 2:40.

• Also, check out Maybe I'm Amazed - Paul McCartney - Abe really gets into it about 2 minutes 25 seconds...so much though that the keyboard player and Paul can't stop smiling at him.
• Also, the dude can sing! He starts singing at :42.
• How about any of these three?

Who's YOUR favorite drummer?

(by the way...for the bass player topic, how about Abe's Dad, Abe Laboriel Sr? :)

the 51st grammy awards

this years grammy awards: what did you think about this years show, winners, and performances?

What inspired you?

What inspired you to play an instrument? Were there songs or an artist along the way that sent you in a different musical direction? My path:


1) Randy Rhoads (guitarist for Quiet Riot and Ozzy) - I was 15 years old and my buddy played me the Tribute album by Ozzy...specifically the guitar solo for the song Suicide Solution. The solo gave me chills, so the next day I went and bought a Hondo guitar and a small amp. Still can't play the solo to this day but I'm getting there :-D


2) Stevie Ray Vaughn - I was 21 years old, watching MTV unplugged and this very ugly man sits down on the show and starts playing Pride and Joy. Next day I go to Quantum Music on State Street and begin taking blues guitar lessons from George Ogg (John Forbing was teaching down the hall). /end heavy metal influence /begin blues influence.


3) Classical - This was always there but kind of in the background because I didn't have the dexterity at the time to play any of it. There were always pieces of heavy metal or hard rock songs that I would learn such as the Love Song intro by Tesla, When the Children Cry intro by White Lion and Dust in the Wind by Kansas. My focus on classical shifted when Johnny5 and I took a music class at IPFW. The prof taught us the correct traditional fingering and Linda bought me a classical guitar. This is most of what I'm playing/learning these days.


4) Cirque Du Soleil - The Beatles Love @ The Mirage - Las Vegas - A couple of years ago Linda and I saw this show in Vegas. I was always pretty closed minded about the Beatles but I found that I did actually like quite a few of their songs. Also, I wanted to learn easy to play popular songs for gatherings and such and the Beatles fit the bill. There is much more depth to their songwriting and playing than I would have ever imagined.



What inspired you?