rtk's music blog
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Devotion Band playing Lunar Festival
Here's a brief press notice on Faith UMC's pit band, The Devotion Band. We will be playing from 5 - 10 PM this Saturday. Also, several of the youth bands from the church will be performing inbetween our sets.
The Devotion Band from Torrance will perform this Saturday, February 24th at the Lunar Festival in downtown Los Angeles. Featuring an all-star line-up of South Bay musicians, the twelve-piece group takes the Time Warner main stage at 5:00 PM (immediately after the Golden Dragon Parade) and will perform 4 sets of rock, soul, R&B, pop, jazz, and big band standards.
For parking information and directions, etc: http://www.lagoldendragonparade.com/
Friday, March 24, 2006
iTunes fun
Ever really look at what is in your iTunes??
I saw this on Mark Lee's blog and had to do it myself. Mark is a guitarist with Third Day, and in his spare time runs the Third Day blog, along with a personal one.
HOW MANY SONGS? 18,153
SORT BY SONG TITLE:
First = 'A' Bomb In Wardour Street - The Jam (All Mod Cons)
Last = Zoo Station – U2 (Achtung Baby)
SORT BY TIME:
Longest = 34:31: Mountain Jam – The Allman Brothers Band (Eat A Peach)
Shortest = 0:23: The System – Aphrodite’s Child (666)
SORT BY ALBUM:
First = #1 Record/Radio City – Big Star
Last = Zen Arcade – Husker Du
TOP FIVE MOST PLAYED SONGS
1. Manger Throne – Mac Powell (City On A Hill: It’s Christmas Time) = 33 plays*
(I was learning it for our Christmas Eve service…)
2. Velvet Guitar – Alejandro Escovedo (A Man Under The Influence) = 11 plays
3. Worn Me Down – Rachael Yamagata (Happenstance) = 11 plays
4. To Be Alone With You – Sufjan Stevens (Seven Swans) = 11 plays
5. The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash (American Recordings IV: The Man Comes Around) = 10 plays
FIRST SONG THAT COMES UP ON SHUFFLE:
"The Truth" Steve Earle (Jerusalem)
Search for “sex.” How many songs come up? - 20
Search for “death.” How many songs come up? - 25
Search for “love.” How many songs come up? - 831
Updates and things
Well, winter is on the verge of moving into spring and I haven't paid much attention to the blog lately.
Some highlights of the last several months have included some awesome music/worship experiences: The Chris Tomlin/Matt Redman Indescribable Tour hit OC and was amazing, as was Third Day's concert at the Gibson/Univeral venue last weekend. I need to craft a review ala the Westerberg show for you. It also marked the first time I ever , ever stood in the pit, hanging over the rail all night. It was a very moving experience. Mac Powell has a career as a preacher if he ever decides to give up being a rock star. And the band rocks. Yeah, I need to write a review.
Had a lot of fun at Faith UMC's coffee house a few weeks ago. The Devotion Band was responsible for about 18 songs, and I got to sing such great tunes as Cry Out To Jesus (Third Day), Surrender (Marc James), and To Be Alone With You (Sufjan Stevens). We also featured Mina and Malia on several Nichole Nordeman songs, including Brave from her new CD, which was produced by Jay Joyce - an old acquaintance of mine from the old Page Three days in the Midwest. He is a brilliant guitarist/writer/producer, and really did a cool job on Brave. If you ever find Bedlam's Into The Coals CD in a $.25 bin somewhere, pick it up and crank it!
On a personal note, I've been performing solo shows less and less lately, but my friend Jon Minei has been keeping the light burning at the Red Car (think he's there tonite, even) I've been busy with a new job, coaching basketball, and working with the new worship team. Maybe I should ask Jon about doing an acoustic worship concert sometime...I think we'd have fun.
Oh, and my latest indie find is a band called The Hold Steady. They are from Brooklyn, but the singer is originally from Minn/St Paul. The latest CD Separation Sunday is an astounding work - a rock opera about a girl named Hallelujah, nicknamed Holly. Traces of the 'Mats, Springsteen, Boomtown Rats, Guided By Voices. There are Biblical references throughout although it is not a Christian record by any stretch. Girl gets lost, gets found, gets saved...and the writing is totally inspired.
Sample lyric:
i guess i heard about original sin. i heard the dude blamed the chick. i heard the chick blamed the snake. i heard they were naked when they got busted. i heard things ain't been the same since.
I never throw around terms like genius, but it is as close as it gets.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Ciao, Rhino
I was struck by the demise of Rhino Records Westwood. Totally. There was one last day, so said the LA Times that morning. So, after gathering the kids to show them what a real record store was, we headed to Westwood. We parked. And then, when we reached the door to make one last tour of the place, it was over. Closed. No entrance.
I walked back to the car and drove away more disappointed than I had been in years. Why? I have no idea since I had never stepped into "that" Rhino. And it'd been years since any one there even had a clue who I was...
Rhino for me was 1720 Westwood Blvd., one block north of Santa Monica Blvd. Those were the directions I gave a thousand times over the phone when I worked there at the end of the 80's and into the 90's. My days and nights and days were spent discovering obscure Japanese-only jazz imports and the latest indie 7"s. It is where I evangelized on the brilliance of the Arc Angels. Overplayed an under-rated band called Bedlam. Where I made sure we had every KCRW hit of the week. I arrived at Rhino as they were expanding - moving into selling more CDs, less vinyl and opening the traditional "hipster" conclave up to the masses. But you better not come looking for a Britney Spears CD or you'll get chased all the way to Wilshire!
But the music business moved on. Aron's is on the way out, Rhino is shuttered. My friend Sherre's classic rock haven Disc Connection in STL is still there, although I am sure she has had her fair share of second thoughts about maintaining a bricks and mortar retail store in the days of LimeWire and iTunes.
In my days at Rhino, I remember constantly mentioning that there were probably only 3 great record stores: Rhino, Waterloo in Austin, and Amoeba in Berkeley. And not always in that order. Waterloo was notable for being completely alphabetical, Coltrane next to Colorbox. Amoeba overwhelmed me the first time I visited there. I remember mentioning the store's amazingly deep catalog selection once to some folks at Rhino, inferring that we should expand that way. Alas, it didn't happen. And Amoeba was probably the dirt thrown on top of the Rhino coffin that was already being lowered into the ground by downloading and discount stores.
So, I grieve.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Favorite Waste of Time
There is a record store in St Louis called the Disc Connection. It is owned by Sherre and she sells all sorts of obscure classic rock - the songs that were playing as we cruised around the County blaring KSHE out of our '73 Duster's.
She has a great email list that she updates every week with the latest reissues, etc. A while ago she asked her customers to come up with some favorites for a special sale she was offering during the dog days of releases during January.
I wanted to share a few of my favorites that I suggested for that "best by request" list. As I compiled it, I figured I would use a theme instead of just listing a bunch of CDs, so I chose Concept Albums (AKA works best enjoyed in one sitting...)
Here's the list I gave her:
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars": This classic contains not only recognizable classic rock staples, but some of Bowie's best writing.
Aphrodite's Child - 666: (don't know if this is around on CD anymore) A stunning collection of songs - it offers so much more great music than the KSHE classics like Break and Four Horseman.
Paul Kantner / Jefferson Starship - Blows Against The Empire: Kantner's sci-fi rock opera sits right there with Townshend's Tommy/Quadrophenia as a well conceived, well executed concept piece.
The Who - Sell Out: Not a conceptual story per se, but an artfully sequenced collection of Townshend gems.
Gypsy - Gypsy: A St. Louis classic with such awesome book ends (Gypsy Queen and Dead and Gone/Tomorrow is the Last to be Heard), it needs to be slowly enjoyed in one long savory bite.
Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus: The late Randy California was the most vastly underrated guitarist of the late '60's. Lou Adler is nowadays more famous for his courtside presence next to Jack Nicholson at Lakers games, but his masterful production work with California here perfectly captured their fusion of pyschedlia, jazz and showcased the group's songwriting.
I also threw in these live albums as well, since I had just bought a few of them:
Steppenwolf - Early Steppenwolf
David Bowie - David Live
Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour '74
Climax Blues Band - FM/Live
Roy Buchanan - Live Stock
Hendrix - Band of Gypsys
Allman Brothers Band - Live at the Fillmore East
Rolling Stones - Get Your Ya-Ya's Out
Just like the guys in High Fidelity, us old school record store creeps cannot stop making lists!!!
Friday, November 25, 2005
flashbacks
It's already winter! Wow, haven't updated this since summer?
Well, I haven't been performing live much lately - been very busy taking care of some family things.
A few groovy things are happening, though:
Been seeing emails from a lot of St. Louis scenesters and musicians that reminded me of a lot of bands from the early days. Two guys back there have undertaken an enormous project to document the late 70's/early 80's new wave/punk scene in St. Louis. They are targeting a late 2006 release of a CD/zine that includes a lot of cool old recordings from that era, and hopefully will include some Dear John and Page 3 recordings.
As I think of them, maybe I'll recount some of my memories here...
Oh, and I start a new job in a few weeks.
Peace,
rtk
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Hot August Nights and Days
Been a busy summer, and haven't had much time to update the blog, but making the time tonight.
Last weekend seemed like a non-stop gig! Saturday night was spent at the Red Car, revving up some old-school covers and the usual parade of RTK originals. Special guest Joe Saldana joined me on harp for a very cool version of All That Matters to close the place down.
Sunday afternoon was my first visit to Papasito's Cantina. It used to be called Anthony's, and was the location of our CD Release party back in January. The menu has gone from Italian pasta to Mexican tortas and burritos (big ones, too!) and the outside patio area has been updated. After enjoying the other acts on the bill, I took the new, lowered stage. My set ran about 45-50 minutes and included some more rockin' tunes than usual. Also, I stood the entire time, which hasn't happened in a while. A cool group called Witton followed me, and I spent some time afterwards chatting with Bob V and some of the other southbaymusicscene.com folks.
I am looking forward to next Thursday afternoon, when I get to be the inaugural act at the Beach Cities Summer Spectacular. After me, Lori Doswell and Michael Holmes will be taking the stage, so plan to stick around for a while!!
Other gigs coming up include September 2nd at Borders in Pasadena, and my first appearance at the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair the first weekend of October.
Monday, July 25, 2005
This is only a test...
I just had to see how to post a picture to this blog. I've been curious, and now just decided to try it. Hmmm...
