Newsletter Vol. 2 # 86 – August 08, 2004
Welcome to the latest issue of Guitar Noise News.
In This Issue
- News and Announcements
- New Lessons and Articles
- Worth a Look
- Email of the Week
- Forum News
- Reviews
- Thoughts and Feedback
News And Announcements
Greetings!
Welcome to Guitar Noise News!
And let me start this off the way I’m usually starting things out, with a heartfelt apology. I mean, two weeks ago I go and proudly announce the return of Guitar Noise News on a weekly basis and then promptly disappear for a week. What’s up with that, eh?
Well, I can explain this in two words: Riverside Jam. There might be many of you to whom those words mean nothing, so let me direct you to a bit of background material, one article by Dan Lasley and one by myself:
As you’ve just read, this is an annual event, a celebration of music and friendship that happened to be held here at my home over the past weekend. Some twenty-three or so musicians, plus families and friends descended upon Western Massachusetts last Friday and stayed pretty much through Sunday (and Monday in a few cases). Fun? Indeed. But it also involved quite a bit of work and preparation and I simply did not find a way to take the time necessary to write out a newsletter beforehand.
So while some of you were avidly awaiting your newsletter, I was making lunch for a lot of hungry musicians and then sitting down to eat and jam with them. I’ll write more about the event itself later on, but for now I would like to apologize yet again for not being able to juggle my schedule any better than I did.
Be that as it may, I did manage to get two new articles over to Paul who promptly put them online last week. And for this week, we’ve got three new pieces for you. Let’s take a look:
New Lessons And Articles
Acoustic Blues In Standard Tuning
By Jim Arkuszewski
Here’s a terrific introduction to the wonders of acoustic blues, using the Muddy Waters’ classic “You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had.” First time GN contributor Jim Arkuszewski will get you playing the blues in no time.
Keeping Time
by Tom Serb
Tom, who goes by “Noteboat” on our forum pages, is already pretty well known and respected by our forum members or those who’ve bought and read his book on theory. He now contributes a terrific piece on how to practice keeping the beat. Staying in rhythm is probably one of the most important things a guitarist (or any musician) can do and Tom’s article will help you to get better at this.
The Dinosaurs (Part 3)
by Len Collins
Work still continues on the Dinosaurs’ first attempt at an original song. Will they come up with chords for their lyrics and melody? What kind of arrangement will the song have? Will they accidentally (or even on purpose?) manage to learn something about music while putting together their song? And what about some lunch? Enjoy the penultimate chapter of Len Collins’ serial piece.
Worth A Look
If Jim Arkuszewski’s lesson has whetted your appetite for the blues, allow me to direct you to a few more pieces here at Guitar Noise that may be of interest to you. For a basic rundown of the structure of blues songs, plus an introduction to the “shuffle,” turnarounds and simple leads, check out these two lessons in our “Easy Songs For Beginners” section:
And definitely go read these two pieces by Alan Green:
I think that, with all this great material to guide you, you’ll find yourself adequately prepared to start in on just about any blues song you can think of.
Email Of The Week
Sometimes the strangest things happen. I was at a barbecue/birthday party last month when a young man came in to give a surprise “hello” to his dad. He was in the area and just wanted to pop in for a brief moment before heading off to see his own son, who was at camp in Upstate New York.
He was introduced to me and I found myself shaking hands with Todd Wolfe. Now, granted, this might not be as compelling (or strange) as Nick Torres sharing a train compartment with George Clinton on his (Nick’s, not George’s!) recent trip up to the Riverside Jam, but for me it was pretty wild. I asked him how he was and what was new and he gladly gave me his latest CD, Delaware Crossing, a review of which I wrote a few weeks back. I never got Todd’s email @ddress so I couldn’t write to tell him that his review was up on site, but I guess I shouldn’t have worried about that:
Hey David …
Thanks so much for the review of “Delaware” – glad you liked it! I forwarded the hyper link to management and our label, Valley Entertainment.
Great site, I might add – lots of great stuff!
Two questions though… do you have printable versions online with the GuitarNoise.com logo and I noticed the date said July 2003 instead of 2004.
We will be coming up to Massachusetts this month opening for Dickey Betts. I’ll post our August schedule below.
Nice to meet you and thanks again!
Regards,
Todd Wolfe
So, for those of you who might be interested in hearing some great blues music, let me pass along Wolfe’s schedule to you:
August schedule:
Sun, Aug. 8th at The Cape Cod Melody Tent / The Reel Blues Film Fest
call to confirm show times.
North Street Hyannis/Cape Cod, Ma (845) 342-4804
Opening for Dickey Betts
Mon, Aug. 9th at The Music Pier
call to confirm show times.
Boardwalk & Moorlyn Terrace in Ocean City, NJ
(609) 525-9248
Opening for Dickey Betts
Tue, Aug. 10th at Cookin’ at McCooks Summer Concert Series
McCooks Point Beach Park our set 6:30PM-8:00PM
Niantic, CT (860) 739-9018
Bruce Katz band follows us
Wed, Aug. 11th at Musikfest at RiverPlace Stage
our set 6:45PM-7:30PM
Sand Island Bethlehem, Pa (610) 332-FEST
1st band on a 3 way bill … Nils Lofgren & Peter Frampton
Thur, Aug. 12th at The Rockin’ Chair
music starts 9:00′ish
Dune Drive & 24th in Avalon, NJ (609) 967-3200
Fri, Aug. 13th at The Recher Theatre
512 York Road in Towson, MD (410) 337-7178
call for show time
Opening for Dickey Betts
Sat, Aug. 14th Blue Tone Cafe
music starts 9:30
683 Walnut Ave Easton, Pa (610) 258-5812
No jam tonight, just us
Sun, Aug. 15th at The Spring House Hotel Summer Concert Series
call for show times.
Block Island, RI (800) 234-9263
Opening for Dickey Betts
Wed, Aug. 18th at Stephen Talkhouse
music starts at 8:00PM
161 main St. Amagansett, NY (631) 267-3117
Thu, Aug. 19th at Scotland Yard
music starts 9:30PM
72 Hudson Street Hoboken, NJ (201) 222-YARD
Fri, Aug. 20th at The Blakslee Inn
music starts 9:00PM
Route 940 (1/4 mile west of Blakslee Corners)
Blakslee (Poconos), Pa (570) 646-1100
Thu, Aug. 26th at The Rockin’ Chair
music starts 9:00PM
Dune Drive & 24th Avalon, NJ (609) 967-3200
Fri, Aug. 27th at Belle’s Cafe
music starts 7:00PM
Gabreski Airport, Main terminal
Westhampton Beach, NY (631) 288-3927
Sat, Aug. 28th at The Knowlton Riverfest 2:00PM-3:00PM
Route 46 & Roy Ace St. (Hunter’s Lodge Field)
Knowlton, NJ (908) 475-3204
Sat, Aug. 28th at The Riegelsville Inn
music starts 8:00PM
10-12 Delaware Rd. Riegelsville, PA (610) 749-0100
Sun, Aug. 29th at The B Bar
music at 7:00PM
7611 Buffalo Ave Niagra Falls, NY (716) 283-2834
Mon, Aug. 30th at Tully’s
music at 9:00PM
7611 Buffalo Ave Sharon, PA (724) 981-3123
Tue, Aug. 31st at The South Street Seaport
our set 12:00PM-1:00PM
Intersection of South Street and Fulton St. NYC
(212) SEA-PORT
Double bill with Deborah Coleman!
September scedule:
For driving directions, call the venue or click on Map It!
Thu, Sept. 2nd at Penn’s Peak
7:30PM-8:30PM … call to confirm show times
Maury Rd Jim Thorpe, Pa (610) 826-9000
Opening for Dickey Betts
Forum News
If you’ve not been visiting the Forum regularly, you might be surprised at some of the latest developments. And even if you religiously scout out the various discussions on a daily basis, it’s quite easy to overlook two of the latest additions to the Forum Pages:
HEAR HERE
This is in the “In The Studio” section. We’ve had so many people requesting feedback to their songs or performances that Nick graciously created one place where any Forum member can post a link to his or her MP3 and then get critiques from their peers. There are some amazing pieces of music, original material and covers, just waiting for you to discover them. There are even a few “cooperative” pieces, which involve different forum members from different parts of the world working together to create a song for your listening enjoyment. Go and download a few and perhaps you’ll find that you’ve some new favorite artists and songwriters.
PICKS AND PANS
Note to self: I’m going to have to talk with Nick about renaming this. Why even discuss something that you don’t want to share? Maybe “FOR YOUR DESERT ISLAND LIST CONSIDERATION…”
Anyway, one of the greatest assets of the Guitar Noise site has always been the diversity of our readers. Not only do folks come here from all over the world, they come with so many different tastes in music and with quite an amazing collective assortment of music. Instead of complaining that there’s nothing on the radio, go out and pick up a recommendation from one of your fellow Forum members. This particular Forum page is specifically here for you to make (and read) suggestions of bands and artists that you feel people might like to hear. There’s everything from new indie artists to long established players that may have escaped your notice. Next time you have an itch to listen to something new, perhaps you’ll get some ideas on this page. And the next time you hear something that totally knocks you off your feet, take a moment and tell us all about it!
Reviews
Todd Wolfe has become an incredible blues guitarist and songwriter since his association with Sheryl Crow and his band’s latest CD will be a welcome surprise for those of you who think that no one puts out a good old rocking blues record anymore.
The Normans: Dreams of Autocrashes
This a great album which you will be listening to time and time again. Kudos to the Normans!
John Fallon at the Tinderbox Café, London
Here’s a guy who can really write fabulous song after fabulous song. And present them in such a way so that you don’t need the frills to realize what you’re listening to.
Thoughts & Feedback
At some point over the past weekend, between all the comings in and goings out of people and musical gear, a cricket managed to sneak its way into the house. It’s currently in the kitchen because I can hear him (her?) merrily chirping away as I type this at my computer.
For those of you interested in the actual goings on at this year’s Riverside Jam, I respectfully refer you to the “Gigs And Jams” section of the Forum page. There you’ll find some commentary from a number of the many participants, including staff writers and moderators, such as Dan and Laura Lasley (not to mention the “mother of all moderators,” nefarious Nick Torres himself!), as well as from various forum members who managed to attend, such as Jon BD and Wes Inman.
This was my third time hosting the event, which has now run for five years; Riverside Jams II (August, 2001) and IV (August, 2003) were held in Chicago, while the third one (attended by none other than Paul Hackett himself!), occurred in New Jersey in August of 2002. And you’ve already read about the first one, no? Each year they seem to get a little bigger, both in anticipation and execution. This past weekend, highlighted by the five-hour performance at the Berkshire Blues Club by twenty-three or so musicians (not counting the members of the Boston Symphony Chorus who sang a few tunes), was certainly a bit beyond the original nine of us playing fifteen songs at Toquet Hall back in 2000.
(In that way, the Riverside Jams have become very much like the Guitar Noise site itself. At some point in the near future, I should devote some time to discussing this. Paul and I actually spent the better part of our week together comparing notes and ideas concerning the future of this site, not to mention our own futures.)
And while the emphasis is on the music, it’s impossible, for me at least, to not think of the Jam in terms of people rather than songs. Every year there is someone new. Every year someone is unable to come, for whatever reason. Events of all sorts, monumental and mundane, have occurred in the lives of each player and the jam weekend lets us share those emotions that lie beneath the music and the performances. Any moment I get to spend in one of many private conversations is no less important than getting the chance to play banjo in public for the first time!
So while I’m sitting here at the computer listening to my cricket, I’m also eagerly waiting the chance to get together yet again – both to play and to simply be with each other.
Whatever you’re doing and whomever you’re playing with, I hope each one of you has a wonderful week.
And, as always,
Peace
David
