audio flog
one of the reasons our local paper is dying its slow, inexorable death has to be its absolute absence of online savvy. (there are less polite ways to put it, but i'll stick to the family approach for now). for awhile, it was giving online voice to various local culture mavens who were worth the payment of attention, and we could put up with the technical glitches and other insults to injuries inflicted upon us in return for the great local flavor. today, however, after having previously learned that the gourmet gal has moved on, (and long live the bistrobroad, at bistrobroad.com), it's also clear that something is afoot among the audio floss, and, if the food blog situation is any indication, it can't be good for the sun's feeble attempts at online relevance. (on the other hand, it's two fewer blogs i need to follow in my google reader...)
which is not to fault whoever thought we needed an update about roger daltry at boston's house of blues, but, seriously, do i really need to know about a 60 year old "hope i die before i get old" musician playing 25 miles from here for the same amount of money i could take half a dozen friends to see melvern taylor, jen kearney, and thunderpants johnson's hillbilly orchestra this friday night at the old court? (and save myself the cost of big city parking and the rest of the hassle of getting down behind the bowels of fenway park, AND still catch last call at the Worthen?). i'm sure the author was a big who fan when he was a kid, (40+ years ago), and i'm sure he's sure we're all big who fans, too, but, then again, what, exactly does this have to do with me or you here, 40 years later, in beautiful downtown lowell??? (not a whole heck of a lot). the good news (you heard it here first) is that i hear peter lavender is mulling the continuation of his online efforts in a new blog to be appearing shortly in a browser window near you. the even better news is that i'm sure said blog is not going to be the absolutely unreadable formatting cock-up that currently exists over on the sun's pages. (do they even check before they screw everything up when they change it, or do they just not care if we can read it anyway?) i guess it shows you how much it's worth bothering, in any case.
of course, i don't doubt that peter has a copy of quadrophenia somewhere at the back of his music closet, too, and i'm sure, if you buy him a beer, he'd even possibly be willing to tell you what he thought about it. but i hardly expect that's what anybody would want to be reading from him or anyone else online in a music blog today, and i have every confidence based on the great stuff he brought to us via the old audio floss that it won't be what you'll be reading from him soon, either. (todd rundgren, maybe...)
i, for one, can't wait. and, if he'll take it, i'll contribute my own personal re-review of the jen kearney, carl johnson, claire finley, pete maclean led zeppelin cover event over at the old court last weekend as one of the first submissions.
seriously--lowell is home to a cornucopia of incredible musicians. on top of that, it and its surrounding areas receive an incredible array of out-of-town musical talent as well, and if you have a local insider giving you tips on who to see and where to go to see 'em, you're going to have an opportunity to have your socks knocked off each and every week. (i know it's possible, because i'm living the dream these days myself).
start simple: get yourself to the old court on friday. remember to buy your $10 tickets (which are 1/7th what you'd pay to be put to sleep by the 65 year old down at the house of blues, or 1/31st of what you'd have to pay to shake the musician's hand in person, which i guarantee you'll be able to do for free at the old court) in advance at lovesongsforlosers.com to save yourself $5 off the $15 cost at the door. prepare to be amazed. then tune your radio to 88.1 WMBR radio the following thursday afternoon for joeg's "droppin' knowledge" radio program, next week featuring local entertainment phenom the reverend jj, aka justin burns, aka front man for thunderpants johnson's hillbilly orchestra, featured prominently in a conversation on a recent WCAP radio broadcast featuring coincident fellow jug-bander, maria muldaur, who may or may not have made it to the TJ'sHO halloween show up at the hynes tavern last saturday, because who knows who was there amidst all those costumes. (i gotta figure there's a good chance justin can be talked into wandering by melvern taylor's every-other-thursday gig at toad, and i'm betting, if you ask him when you see him there, the rev. jj will be unable to resist signing an autograph for you, and, for the price of a beer, telling you exactly what he, also, thinks of quadrophenia).
then watch this space for a pointer to the new local music blog, which i'm absolutely confident will absolutely kick ass. because you know you need it.
(edited to fix the dates per joeg's gracious nudge that i really have to pay better attention to such things).
which is not to fault whoever thought we needed an update about roger daltry at boston's house of blues, but, seriously, do i really need to know about a 60 year old "hope i die before i get old" musician playing 25 miles from here for the same amount of money i could take half a dozen friends to see melvern taylor, jen kearney, and thunderpants johnson's hillbilly orchestra this friday night at the old court? (and save myself the cost of big city parking and the rest of the hassle of getting down behind the bowels of fenway park, AND still catch last call at the Worthen?). i'm sure the author was a big who fan when he was a kid, (40+ years ago), and i'm sure he's sure we're all big who fans, too, but, then again, what, exactly does this have to do with me or you here, 40 years later, in beautiful downtown lowell??? (not a whole heck of a lot). the good news (you heard it here first) is that i hear peter lavender is mulling the continuation of his online efforts in a new blog to be appearing shortly in a browser window near you. the even better news is that i'm sure said blog is not going to be the absolutely unreadable formatting cock-up that currently exists over on the sun's pages. (do they even check before they screw everything up when they change it, or do they just not care if we can read it anyway?) i guess it shows you how much it's worth bothering, in any case.
of course, i don't doubt that peter has a copy of quadrophenia somewhere at the back of his music closet, too, and i'm sure, if you buy him a beer, he'd even possibly be willing to tell you what he thought about it. but i hardly expect that's what anybody would want to be reading from him or anyone else online in a music blog today, and i have every confidence based on the great stuff he brought to us via the old audio floss that it won't be what you'll be reading from him soon, either. (todd rundgren, maybe...)
i, for one, can't wait. and, if he'll take it, i'll contribute my own personal re-review of the jen kearney, carl johnson, claire finley, pete maclean led zeppelin cover event over at the old court last weekend as one of the first submissions.
seriously--lowell is home to a cornucopia of incredible musicians. on top of that, it and its surrounding areas receive an incredible array of out-of-town musical talent as well, and if you have a local insider giving you tips on who to see and where to go to see 'em, you're going to have an opportunity to have your socks knocked off each and every week. (i know it's possible, because i'm living the dream these days myself).
start simple: get yourself to the old court on friday. remember to buy your $10 tickets (which are 1/7th what you'd pay to be put to sleep by the 65 year old down at the house of blues, or 1/31st of what you'd have to pay to shake the musician's hand in person, which i guarantee you'll be able to do for free at the old court) in advance at lovesongsforlosers.com to save yourself $5 off the $15 cost at the door. prepare to be amazed. then tune your radio to 88.1 WMBR radio the following thursday afternoon for joeg's "droppin' knowledge" radio program, next week featuring local entertainment phenom the reverend jj, aka justin burns, aka front man for thunderpants johnson's hillbilly orchestra, featured prominently in a conversation on a recent WCAP radio broadcast featuring coincident fellow jug-bander, maria muldaur, who may or may not have made it to the TJ'sHO halloween show up at the hynes tavern last saturday, because who knows who was there amidst all those costumes. (i gotta figure there's a good chance justin can be talked into wandering by melvern taylor's every-other-thursday gig at toad, and i'm betting, if you ask him when you see him there, the rev. jj will be unable to resist signing an autograph for you, and, for the price of a beer, telling you exactly what he, also, thinks of quadrophenia).
then watch this space for a pointer to the new local music blog, which i'm absolutely confident will absolutely kick ass. because you know you need it.
(edited to fix the dates per joeg's gracious nudge that i really have to pay better attention to such things).
posted by kad barma at 3:54 PM
1 Comments:
That was an awesome read, but Reverend JJ and the Casual Sinners are appearing on "Droppin Knowledge" Nov 12th.....but please listen in this week to the best of DK w/ D & V to hear not only all of the local musicians you mentioned, but others as well....we'll even be playing a song recorded by Mr Audio Floss himself (Peter Lavender) a song we recorded during his appearance on the show over a year ago!
enjoy
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