I’m playing a coupla songs at Genghis Cohen with some friends, (and a LOT of other talented people) @ around 9pm – here’s a map –
View Larger Map
and I’m playing a longer set at Arnie’s in Tujunga, some songs will be with the house band, here’s the info on that –
Come out and see some music goodness!
So a quick reminder about tomorrow’s contest opening for ” My Ecstasy”. I hope you’ll be able to take 5 minutes and go to http://www.reverbnation.com/playlist7, look for STILL – “My Ecstasy” and download it, it would be a huge help!
Starting at 11am EST/ 8am PST, the song will be up and ready, remember to DOWNLOAD it, not just listen because the only thing that counts as a vote is the download!
Tell your friends, tell your Mom, tell the guy on the corner!
I appreciate it, I think it’s a really good song and could use the exposure this will bring, I hope you can help out…..
Thanx – Wade Biery/STILL
My song “My Ecstasy” has been accepted into the contest below, and I could sure use your help.
“ReverbNation, the leading marketing platform for more than 500,000 artists, labels, managers, and venues, has announced the launch of a new music discovery program called Playlist 7 sponsored by Microsoft Windows.
Congratulations on inclusion in next week’s Song Pool! Your song will go live on the Playlist 7 site on Monday 1/18/10 at 11:00 am EST.”
These things tend to turn into popularity contests, with basically whoever can get the most downloads moving farther along……so acts tend to really get into this, and now ME TOO!
So what exactly do I need from you?
On or after (for 1 week) Monday 1/18/10 at 11:00 am EST/8 am PST, go to http://www.reverbnation.com/playlist7, sign up and download “My Ecstasy” by “STILL”.
That’s it!
You will be helping massively, because each download counts as a vote. Some of the songs that have moved into the next round didn’t need many votes to move up, so every one counts! The sign-in is really easy in this contest, if you have a Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter account you can do it with that without another step…..if not, maybe this is a good time to get into whichever of those you’ve been thinking about….?
If you would like to go the extra mile (awesome of you!), please go to my ReverbNation page at http://www.reverbnation.com/still (it actually IS a pretty great music site, even for the artists…), sign up as a fan, and add yourself to my “Street Team”, where I have a “mission” about the contest, with goods for the team if we can move on to the next round. In the mission there will be ways to get the word out, banners, and other things you can easily do that will help tremendously.
So yeh, reading the rules it looks like I’ve made $57 just to get this far (WOWWWWA…. Vienna’s going to YALE now dude), and that’s cool, but I would make much more ($507) if I can move it to the next round (enough to pay for the Pro Fools junk I just bought) but it’s really not about that….as you can guess it’s all about the EXPOSURE, and this thing will be getting a lot of that from Microsoft. THAT could help things along for me a great deal, and THAT’S why I’m bugging you with hat in hand, hopeful you can take a minute and help.
Here’s more blurb about the contest –
“The program will showcase emerging artists from the rock, pop, alternative, hip-hop, latin, jazz, and electronica/dance genres. Music fans from around the world will choose 7 artists each week to appear in ‘Playlist 7’ and receive additional promotion and cash compensation. The first fifty songs are already available:
“The artists get exposure and cash compensation every step of the way. Everybody wins with Playlist 7.”
“The fans get free music from up and coming artists every week, plus they get to decide which Artists make it to the top of Playlist 7,” said Lou Plaia, vice president of Artist Relations at ReverbNation. “The artists get exposure and cash compensation every step of the way. Everybody wins with Playlist 7.”
How it works:
During each week of the program, 50 songs from emerging Artists will be made available for free download at http://www.reverbnation.com/playlist7. Music fans will be able to download 7 free songs of their choice from the pool of fifty. Each download will act as a ‘vote’ for the Artist. The 7 Artists who receive the most downloads during each week will receive an additional cash prize and will have their song featured and promoted the following week inside of ‘Playlist 7’.
“Windows’ generous sponsorship of this program means that more emerging Artists will be heard as well as compensated for their art,” said Jed Carlson, co-founder and chief operating officer of ReverbNation.com. “It’s a great way to bring bands and brands together for mutual benefit.”
OK there it is, please help out if you can, I truly appreciate it!!
WB
So today I’m mixing a song called “Train” Kelly Moneymaker and I wrote recently. I’m having to remix it because of all the awesome guitars Stuart Mathis just put on there for me while I was out to NashVegas for the Different Size Gods mixing sessions…..which went very nicely, (as you can see here) and I think you’ll like that as well…..so lemme know what you think of the song, and yes I know the sound is weird….and THAT’S because…..
I recorded this video on a Jailbroken iPhone 3G, which isn’t supposed to even be able to do this, so what is up with Apple anyways? This can be done, so Apple should just add this functionality as part of the basic software in the gear, what is the deal with that? This kinda thing is why people are Jailbreaking these things in the first place, they just want to use them the way THEY want to use them….me included. Having done it to mine, I can say without reservation that it ROCKS, and that everyone who has an iPhone and is even a LITTLE techy should do it, though I’m not sure you should unless you’re pretty good with computers in general, since a lot of the benefits come with some tinkering….
Anyways, since I’m not posting as much here, (fricking Facebook, just easy I have to say, like McDonald’s, though I won’t eat there, but I’ll get the ice cream sometimes….even though I know it’s probably NOT ice cream, dunno WHAT it is) I thought I’d drop this out there just to touch base, talk to ya soon!
WB
I don’t understand it.
We now know WHAT they did, HOW they did it, and of course WHY……and yet people are still arguing about the most illegitimate issues, while people CONTINUE to pay for what has to be considered one of the most heinous non-violent (though not victimless by any measure) criminal acts in recorded history.
How can YOU not be furious?
Do YOU not agree about the facts? Do YOU think that what happened is some accident? Are YOU so afraid that your precious ideas of “free markets”, (no such thing, only protection of monopolistic markets by government), will be refuted (when even Greenspan himself has admitted that he was wrong), and that there will HAVE to be regulation in order for these things to function correctly, and that will mean you were WRONG!?!?
Is that why you’re not MADDENED by what is going on?
Is it just a right -wing idea that ANY government involvement in ANYTHING is somehow “BAD”?
What the hell?
Again, we’re seeing the effects, we’re all feeling them as well and MANY people’s lives are being absolutely destroyed, (in many cases even lost) by these scum, and yet still we don’t have even the most basic official responses to this thing that even a child would suggest. And no one is SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER ABOUT THIS!!
AND…..the same people that engineered this fiasco, profited from it, and made sure that the one person who COULD have done something about it was hamstrung, those same people are STILL in power, and in some cases are even more powerful, richer and closer to the decision making center than they were BEFORE?!?!??
And you think that Obama is your friend?
It’s completely insane.
Watch this, please! Really WATCH it, and research it if you don’t believe the information reported. You will see how the people that tried to stop this thing were stifled and pushed out of the process, which led to what we have now.
You will see the same players being rewarded, and the same players continuing to run the GAME?!?!?!?
It’s insanity, how can YOU continue to sit still for it?
A good friend, (who I really like as a person and have always enjoyed his company and thoughts), has always had a real problem with Obama, from way back when he started as a candidate, and lately he has admitted that there is a racial component to how he feels. How much of what he thinks about Obama is racial, and how much is simple disagreement is hard to tell, since a prejudice by definition influences rational and objective thought, so you have to wonder if there is ANY rational basis to objections when there is prejudice present, but I always try to give him the benefit of the doubt when he raises specific points……
But he has REALLY gotten into a lather about Obama getting the Nobel peace prize, and after he sent another email that was frankly pretty clearly a bit silly and childish, I decided to look into what actually happened with the award, why they did it, and what I felt about it, so that I could respond in a meaningful way to my friend’s anger and outrage about the award, and Obama in general to some degree.
So here’s what he wrote to me (a bit out of context I admit, but you’ll get the general point), followed by my response, including some reference links.
ME: But remember, it’s not HIS fault it happened, he didn’t choose it. People that dog him for it aren’t thinking clearly, the choice is not for him to make. And I think people are behaving brutally stupid about it, the first feeling they should have, even if justifiably confused about it, is that they should be proud, and NOT do what the right is doing, which is to senselessly attack him for something that’s outside of his control. That part of this is shameful…..and it literally makes me feel bad about what’s happening in this country because of a few self-interested and callous scum who get airtime….
FRIEND: i think he’s a damned idiot (as you know) anyway
but if i were him i would just flat out refuse to accept it, since
he didnt do anything at all to deserve it and he damn well knows itit’s jsut a further coronation of him for doing nothing
also it jsut turns the nobel peace prize into a piece of toilet paper
which these stupid norwegian liberals are handing out since they’re so overjoyed that bakwardes america finally got a black president
So here’s my response –
Well, to call him a damn idiot is obviously idiotic, and while I can understand a negative knee-jerk reaction to the award, reading the ACTUAL STATEMENT from the Nobel people can be enlightening and explains a lot. Please attempt to actually read it before you slag it or him, at least in the context of the award anyway……
And again remember, THEY are the people that decide what agenda they want to push forward, NOT Obama.
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/press.html
And here’s a reasonable response to the right-wing teeth-gritting and hand-wringing – http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/politics/2009/10/10/obama_nobel_prize/index.html?source=rss&aim=/opinion/walsh/politics –
These are both reasonable statements to make, ESPECIALLY in the light of this statement from the Nobel people –
“Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.”
and
“For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world’s leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama’s appeal that “Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.”"
These are reasonable and even lofty, idealistic goals and purposes, which SHOULD be encouraged. We’ve done nothing for the last 8 years but allowed ourselves to be driven down into ugliness and insanity as a national stance, taking the rest of the world down with us. The level of the global agenda SHOULD be lofty and idealistic, I would argue that it’s the best kind of dialogue for world’s governments to have in the global context, and this kind of movement MUST be encouraged.
Taking note of their own direct statements that this is their intent, I can support the award, since it is VERY clear that the change Obama and his international stance has brought mostly DO reflect those ideals, and the changes they mention as a result are indeed true.
This anger towards Obama is misdirected, and in my view reflects a powerful need by a group of people in this country to vilify by any means available a person of color that does not fit the idea “people of prejudice” have of him and his race. And to the extent that many people are prejudiced, it needs to remain personal, and not be dragged into the public discourse. It’s a base and shallow response with ugly roots, and cannot be given any value in any context, no matter how peripherally it is applied, and no matter what illusions are used to disguise it.
And yes, I DO think that “people of prejudice” are not looking at this thing for what it IS, they are instead turning it into another outlet for their racist rage, without bothering to actually understand what has actually been done here. For me, that makes them “people of willful ignorance”, and I have a bias against that.
WB
Wade Biery
STILL
661 513-3727
still@stillmusic.com
http://www.twitter.com/wadebiery
http://www.stillmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/therealstill
http://www.reverbnation.com/still
http://www.nimbitmusic.com/still
P.S. – What do you think, is it a good award or not?
Heya, do you do Facebook?
Duh, of course you do, Digerati that you are, and if not go here and become one with the Borg!
Once you’ve done that, then you can FAN ME on Facebook to get a start, or to further your Facebook-itis if you’re already there….
Here’s the link – http://www.facebook.com/pages/STILL/98453446469 -
I find I’m online a bunch doing all kinda stuff, in between takes in the studio, setting up licensing, looking at… (WHA?!?!), politicking, killing time in airports (the king-hell time-killer place in the universe, where time goes to die, like elephants), so Facebook gets a lot of attention right now….
I’m on Twitter too – here – I’m always giving things business on there too….I have an iPhone, therefore I must be iPhoney and use it all the damn time….
I have a cool little gadget on this page that when I turn on the app on my iPhone, my live position is mapped in real-time, and pretty accurately. I don’t have it on all the time, but when I play somewhere or am just out and want to run into friends I’ll turn it on for a bit so anyone that’s around can come hang….it’s very Big Brother yeh I know – but I can control when it’s on, so I’m cool with it…..
Anyways, gonna play a gig in Temecula coming up, I’ll fire out the info very shortly here, gotta get going, playing with friends in Palm Desert tonight, loud rocking and screaming, and we’ll be there too…..
Cya soon!
WB
An email from my buddy Harry O., which I’m just going to pass on except to say of course!
This was an open letter in the LA Times to the President from writer Anne Lamott. I’ve sent it to the White House and I suggest like-minded others do the same. What do you say…….?
Dear Mr.Obama
I am afraid there has been a misunderstanding since that election in 2008, during which 66,882,230 Americans cast their votes for you. Perhaps one of your trusted advisors has given you bum information. Maybe they told you that we voted for you — walked, marched, prayed, fund-raised and knocked on doors for you — because we hoped you would try to reunite the country. Of the total votes cast that long-ago November day, I’m guessing that about 1,575 people wanted you to try to reconcile the toxic bipartisanship that culminated in those Sarah Palin rallies.
The other 66,880,655 of us wanted universal healthcare.
You inherited a country that was in the most desperate shape since the Civil War, or the Depression, and we voted for you to heal the catastrophic wounds Bush inflicted on our country and our world. You said that you were up to that challenge.
We did not vote for you to see if you could get Chuck Grassley or Michael Enzi to date you. The spectacle of you wooing them fills us with horror and even disgust. We recoil as from hot flame at each mention of your new friends. Believe me, I know exactly how painful this can be, how reminiscent of 7th-grade yearning to be popular, because I went through it myself this summer. I did not lower my bar quite as low as you have, but I was sitting on the couch one afternoon, thinking that this adorable guy and I were totally on the same sheet of music — he had given me absolutely every indication that we were — and were moving into the kissing stage. Out of nowhere, I thought to ask him if he liked me in the same way I liked him.
He said, in so many words, no.
And Mr. President, that is what the Republicans are saying to you: They are just not that into you, sir.
This may have thrown you for such a loop that you have forgotten why you were elected — which was to lead your people back to the promises of our founding parents. Many of us no longer recognized our country after eight years of Bush and Cheney, and you gave us your word that you would help restore the great headway we had made on matters of race, equality and plain old social justice.
People, get ready, you said; there’s a train a ‘coming. And we did get ready. We hit the streets. We roared, whispered, cried, whooped and went door to door, convinced that even if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had not specifically dreamed of you, his dream of justice and equality and pride might come into being through your vision, your greatness, through the hope that your words gave us, through the change you promised.
He dreamed of a leader like you. Just like you. And something in the deepest part of this country’s soul heard.
After eight years of Bush, and then the Palin nomination, we were battered and anguished and punch-drunk. But in rallying behind you, we came back to life, like in Ezekiel when the prophet breathes the spirit of bearing witness and caring onto the dry bones, and those bones come back to life, become living people again, cherished and tended to.
We did not know exactly how you would proceed to restore our beloved Constitution. It seemed beyond redemption, like my kitchen floor did briefly last week after my dog, Bodhi, accidentally ate 24 corn bread muffins. You said you would push back your sleeves and begin, that it would take all of us working harder than we ever had before, but that you would lead. While acknowledging the financial and moral devastation of the last eight years, you said you would start by giving your people healthcare. You would do battle with the conservatives and insurance companies. You said in your beautiful way many times that this was the overarching moral and spiritual issue of our times, and we understood this to mean that you took this to be your Selma, your Little Rock.
I hate to sound like a betrayed 7-year-old, but you said. And we believed you. Now you seem to have abandoned the dream. That is why moderates and liberals and progressives like myself all seem a little tense this summer. It is time to call your spirit back. We will be here to help when you get back from vacation. We want to help you get over the disappointment of Mr. Grassley’s cold shoulder, of Mr. Enzi blowing you off, even that nice Olympia Snowe standing you up. We can and will take to the streets again, march and hold peaceful rallies, go door to door, donate to any causes that will help get out the truth of what a public option would mean. But we need you to shake off the dust of the journey and remember the promises of Dr. King, and we need you to lead us toward what is no longer so distant a shore.
Do it for Teddy Kennedy, boss. Do it for the other Kennedys too, for Dr. King, for Big Mama, for the poorest kids you met on the trail, the kids who go to emergency rooms for their healthcare, do it for their mothers and for Michelle. Just do it.
Trusting you, Mr. Obama
****Please click on title of this thread, which will take you to the actual article, where a representative of the club and I have both responded to the thread with more thoughts. It really doesn’t change my position at all, but in fairness I’d like to make sure you hear his side too.******
L.A. clubs……
Been playing in them for years, been helping them draw in tons of people, in every kind of band from covers to large touring acts……played in almost every one of them over the years, some of which have had numerous versions/owners etc…..been drunk partying, watching friends’ bands, chasing girls, being seen and seeing all that stuff….spending tons of money in them……BUTTTTTTTTTTTT…….
Also been getting treated like shit, enduring the worst class of soundmen on the PLANET, (and that’s saying something, cause there’s plenty of shitty soundmen to go around, believe me), getting the most back-handed “go fuck yourself” treatment by people who present themselves as “Music Lovers” but in fact can’t STAND musicians (sometimes understandable – but that’s another topic) and hate the fact that musicians get the girl, are cooler than them, aren’t money-grubbing freaks and are generally fine with it…..never getting a place to park that reflects the fact that we have to carry in 1/2 a ton of equipment so we end up struggling it down a dark alley in the middle of the night hoping that vampires don’t get us….having to pay full L.A. nightclub prices for shitty drinks even when you’ve filled their shithole up and they’re making so much money they could wipe their asses with it….enduring the most out of date crappy gear that doesn’t work, mics that REEK of someone else’s ass or mouth (can’t tell the difference) and if you ask for another mic they’ll take it in back and make SURE it smells of someone’s ass….their’s…..blame YOU when the gear that’s already 20 years out of date doesn’t work, or they don’t know how to MAKE it work (happens a lot that I know more about the gear than they do, but they won’t let you help them to get better at their job, even if you’re nice about it), blame YOU when the place is empty, even when they call you the day before begging you to fill the slot just vacated by their brother’s shitty band and then vibe you all night like you let THEM down….like it’s YOUR job to handle their promotion for them…..
You know what, you get the point right? As a musician in this town you’re treated like a steaming pile pretty much most of the time by pretty much most of the clubs, and you basically have to just take it and even slurp it up most of the time, because if you say a thing you won’t be playing there again until you’re Springsteen and wouldn’t do it anyway.
Ok, so what’s new about this? Nothing. Why this rant then? There’s nothing new to see here people, move along etc etc…..
Tonight is a good buddy’s B-Day, and he’s playing in 2 bands at a place called Molly Malone’s, one after the other, (they’re all friends, and friends of mine) and I was heading down to see him, hangout and buy him beers, and generally have a good time celebrating and seeing friends I see way too infrequently…..
A little setup….. Molly Malone’s is roughly about 80 miles from my house as the odometer reads, which in L.A. is easily an hour and a half driving time, and gas is about 15-20 bucks round trip, not a lot but it’ll get you to a movie….
So I’m on my way down in the Valley and realize I have no cash, which is fairly normal with me, since we like to use cards and build up miles, and what troll bridge DOESN’T use them these days anyway right? But in an epiphany of cynicism, it occurs to me that it’s possible there will be a cover charge (of course there will be, since obviously they can’t make a dime on $10 beers…DUH!?!?!), so I call down to find out what the situation is….and yep…..there’s a cover charge, and nope, we don’t give a SHIT that you don’t have cash, if you don’t have that cash, you AIN’T GETTIN IN THE DOOR, NO MATTER HOW MUCH MONEY YOU’RE GOING TO SPEND! And you’re a DUMB ASSHOLE TOO!! (Ok, I made up that last bit, but you could hear it in every syllable that splattered out of his mouth onto the phone.)
ACCKKK!!! “So you’re saying that the X amount of money I was planning on spending at your very fucking far and very full of itself bar in honor of my friend’s B-Day, is money you DON’T WANT, RIGHT?”
Right.
Ok, I should own that ultimately this is my fault, I should have had some cash yeh? But it’s an honest mistake to make in the modern world that the REST OF US ADULTS live in, we’re not in high school anymore, and I’m not buying pot, I’m going to a club……where you’d think this could come up oh I dunno…..like EVERY FUCKING NIGHT!?!?! How many people don’t use cash as a rule?
LOTS, I know them.
So I suggest they could charge my card for the entrance fee, and the reason he gives for NO!! is that the cash is where the money to pay THE BAND comes from….as though there’s a chance in hell that the bands will crack the ludicrously high minimum number of people, and NOT as a group which these bands are, but as individual bands…….so the idea that they need to pay the bands is laughable on the face of it….and ball-crushingly stupid in this context……(my guess is they just take the money off the books and act like it never crossed their radar, for tax and drugs purposes, but I’m just guessing…) and so ultimately, though he never said it, me and the money I was going to spend in their club buying myself and my buddy Dave beers, could go stick our collective dick in an exhaust pipe.
So, as a guess I’m gonna say that the cover charge was $10, and that I would have spent a minimum of $50 inside and would have gladly put the cover charge on the card so $60….lessee…..$60 minus $10…err…….humph…….oof…..ok, I get a net loss of $50 for the club, what’d you get?
Sounds like a great idea to me, why isn’t EVERYONE doing this, including Disneyland?
Because you LOSE money, and make people hate you, that’s why most businesses don’t do it!
Bars are notorious for financial shenanigans (like how I got a term related to Irish stuff in there?), so I think my guess about taxes and off the books income isn’t far off…..
Speaking of Irish, here’s a few Irish clubs off the top of my head that I either KNOW for sure or have a strong feeling DON’T do this – O’Briens in Santa Monica, Finn’s in Santa Monica, and Ireland’s 32 in Sherman Oaks, that’s off the top of my head, and BTW, these are ALL places that I would rather go anyway, but it’s not where my friend was playing tonight.
So since I didn’t want to call around to friends asking to borrow the cash (how fucking LAME would that be?), and I don’t even HAVE an ATM card, (and haven’t EVER needed one till now since the 80’s ended or dinosaurs died), I left messages on my friend and his wife’s phones apologizing for my mistake and headed back the at this point luckily only 60 miles home.
I’ll admit it again, ultimately this is my fault for not being totally prepared……but let’s remember the modern world I at least live in, and that I wasn’t going HUNTING or to ANTARCTICA and therefore needed to be ready for anything from snow to Indian attacks for fuck’s sake, I was trying to go spend money in a club. Who apparently didn’t want it.
Fine, that won’t be a problem they’ll have to face from me again, and it won’t be because next time I’ll be prepared….my preparation for going to that club will be to make sure I don’t. Even though I’ve played there with Dillon O’Brian, Ken O’Malley, and some other people with Irish names who may or may not be from Ireland or even Irish. Many times over the years.
I just wanted to pass my experience along, share the knowledge, and the story….I feel better now….
Some plugs for some places that have always been cool and I enjoyed being there…..
Genghis Cohen has always been kind and decent, and their gear and soundmen always work and are at least good and sometimes very good. Previously mentioned Ireland’s 32 – totally unpretentious non-full of themselves just cool people hang there, I recommend it highly if you just want to go have a beer and watch some music in the Valley…..there’s a sound guy that used to be around named Swan (who also sings his ass off in a Led Zeppelin tribute band) he was always cool and very good at his job……etc etc….there ARE some cool people and places out there…..it’s just the Molly’s isn’t one of them.
FREE STUFF – gotta like that headline…..
A bit ago I sent out an email asking if people would like to have Non-vocal versions of my cds, which I’ve been putting together for some licensing things I’m doing and thought maybe some folks would be into it. Well it turns out a whole lot of people are into that, so I put it together, and I have a download of it for you ready to go.
Download it here. (Right-click and “save”, or control-click and “save”)
I gotta say, most of these tracks sound really good as instrumentals, and a large number of them sound AMAZING, I was kinda stunned how good they sound. Standouts are “The Lady’s Song”, “Blessed”, “Rainbows” and several others, these tracks sound ridiculously good to me, I think you’re gonna really like this, maybe more than you would think…….
I’ve also stuck into the download packet a song that I did as a kinda spur of the moment thing….it just popped out of my head one day like I was invaded by an alien, and although it’s VERY not what I normally do, it’s also really kinda cool, and I think you might like that as well, it’s called “A Walk in the Sunshine”. Very stream of consciousness lyric, very odd vocal sound and style (after a late night playing morning voice mixed with a vibe I was getting into that day)……it’s pretty out of left field, check it out.
A coupla other things…….you may have noticed I’m not really doing a lot in the “STILL” world, and that’s not really an accident. I’ve been doing other things a lot lately, and I’m finding that “STILL” as it has been going for some time now is not as interesting to me as it used to be. While putting together these mixes for the non-vocal versions I kinda re-discovered how much I loved the music I was doing at those times, they’re like children to me, (Ok, now that I have a child I can actually say Not Really, but kinda like pets you really loved or so), and I’ve missed them a little, but it’s good to have them out of the house as well. I’m NOT saying I won’t do any other STILL type thing in the future, in fact I think it’s very likely I will, but I’m into some other things right now that are very interesting to me……..
So what are they….?
I’m in a band that is yet to be named or announced officially, and all I’m going to say about it is that the guys are truly awesome players with killer backgrounds, the songs and style are very different and yet somehow familiar, it’s kinda difficult to describe, and that when we all get in a room, it’s like we’ve played together for years, yet in some of the guys cases we literally met only days before recording, but it just works and sounds really amazing. Every one of these guys impresses me in different ways, even the one I’ve known for most of my adult life has surprised me in this project………things are moving along very nicely and I hope to be more specific and have something for you to hear fairly soon, possibly summer’s end-ish or so (there’s people in the band that are doing a lot of touring right now, so we have to make time when we can)……
I’ve been doing a lot of playing and writing for different things, if you’ve heard the new Amy Grant song “She Colors My Day”, 
that’s me on bass on that, (cool video here) I’ve been doing a bunch of work for people’s recordings over the Internet from my studio here, I love that the tech has allowed us to be anywhere and still feel connected as musicians (though nothing beats playing together, and probably never will)…….Awhile back you may have seen me mention a band called “SilverMoney” that I played on the tracks for the record, I have high hopes for the CD, it’s really slamming “female singer rocking Evanescence meets something that keeps trying to punch somebody” type stuff that I really had a blast recording with my old friend Kelly Moneymaker and my newer friend Dan Silver – check it out here. And some writing I’ve been doing has been focused at more TV/film type work, and a lot of it is surprising me with how fun it is and how cool a lot of it comes out.
I’m doing something coming up that’s SO FUCKING COOL that I’m not even gonna talk about it, but it’s amazing and I’m very excited, and I will tell I promise……but not right now….and no, you probably won’t guess….but you can try, you never know…..but to have such awesome friends who put me into some truly amazing things, I’m pretty lucky.
Ok, enough gabbing, throw money at me through PayPal (still@stillmusic.com – at PayPal) if you like the new version and want to put my girl through college because of it, or just want to give me a dollar….I’ll take it….of course you MUST follow me on twitter because everything I say is SO INCREDIBLY INTERESTING……..
I’ll talk at ya soon, keep having a ball, I know I am/will….
WB
Full disclosure, I do it too. All the time, so don’t think I don’t know that I’m right in there with everyone on this….
You’re sitting there thinking “I haven’t “said” anything on Facebook for a while, if I don’t people will “forget” me, so I better keep myself visible”……as though you’ll be “missed” in that endless avalanche of posts…..
Or you’re some kind of artist/musician/creative who has read one of those books telling you the “Path to Success and Riches” lies on social networks, (never mind that by the time the book comes out, the info is already obsolete, if it was EVER true, since what they are trying to do is “get rich from Facebook” – by selling you their dumbass book, cause they couldn’t make it happen by doing the things you just paid them to tell you to do).
Or (this is me BTW), you’re seriously political and really think everyone really NEEDS to know something you’re pretty sure they don’t already know…….even if the reason they don’t know it is because they don’t give a shit…..but of course then you KNOW they SHOULD, so you post it anyway……..like an asshole…
So far in just the last few minutes I’ve been looking at the site, people have posted about –
Etc etc etc….you get the point, just random shit that absolutely NO ONE cares to read when someone else posts it, but everyone thinks will be interesting when THEY post it.
But it’s not.
In fact it’s just as boring, irritating, pathetic, ill-informed, or whatever you think when you see someone else do it…..when YOU do it…..
Even this post is all those things, I just feel like I need to say it. And that I have the right to make you read it. Man I’m an asshole….
Funny, I’ve recently had conversations with some good friends about how I need to edit myself more, I tend to say what I think and it has cost me over the years, as well as hurt people when I wasn’t trying to…..and OH BLAH BLAH BLAH, shut the fuck up Wade willya?!!
See what I mean? It’s just keyboard diarrhea, and everyone knows it but you, unless they are doing it, then it’s REALLY INTERESTING.
But it’s not.
Here’s what a friend says about Faceboook, from a chat we’re having while I write this –
ME – I’m writing the meanest Facebook post about Facebook posting…I’m gonna be hated
HIM – nice, I rant about Facebook to everyone.
ME – Facebook is great used well, and a torture chamber the rest of the time
HIM - When people ask me if I have a Facebook acount i say this…
HIM – “I do not have a Facebook account, and I’ll give you $20 RIGHT NOW to cancel yours.”
ME – And no takers?
HIM – nope
HIM – people are addicts
ME – yeh
HIM – I’ll do one when I have a band name.
HIM – but not personal
HIM – Some fuck from highschool contacting me is my biggest fear.
ME – I’m gonna cut and paste your story in this post
HIM – please do.
HIM – Calling BMI for royaltys
ME – Eat a knife
(BTW, this guy is a serious death-metal industrial type shredder guy, but as far as I know has not one tattoo, and looks like a tall skinny version of Clark Kent. Go figure….)
Leaving aside all the Big Brother implications of putting every single little thought that flies through your head and every mundane boring thing you do in the day, out there for anyone to read, as well as entering it into a massive database of info about yourself that never goes away and grows every time you post, leaving all that aside…..if someone else writes it, do you think it’s interesting? Really? And since you probably don’t, why do you think it’s interesting when YOU do it?
I don’t get it……except when I do it, because then I KNOW that you need to know what I want to tell you, like this post.
I know a bunch of people are probably not gonna like what I’m saying here, and in a way I’m sorry about that, I’m not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings, especially my friends who read this and will sometimes see themselves in it and think I’m talking about them specifically, (and I might be).
But in another way I feel like I have to do it, because if I don’t I’ll either have to start blocking a bunch of people’s posts, or just stop using Facebook entirely, because I can’t sift through this shit any more. And the bummer is that then I’ll miss the sometimes VERY interesting and useful things that DO get listed….I DO want to know about your gig, (I might be looking for something to do that night), or that your Mom just died (it looks like my uncle just had a stroke), or that you just figured out you’re gay, (…….ok, I don’t have an example for that one), or any number of things that really ARE interesting, or important, or that I didn’t already know.
It’s a huge time-waster, and in the end I’m starting to wonder if everyone’s lives are really that boring and mundane to begin with, or if Facebook is MAKING their lives that way. Either way I just can’t get excited about emptying litter boxes or what a quiz says about the numerology of your name, it’s just Vaseline on the lens of life for me.
Except for this post, it’s REALLY interesting and exceptional and everyone should read it, because I WROTE IT!!
So you’ve always wanted copies of my CD’s, but don’t really use the CD format anymore or don’t want to pay full pop, or haven’t heard enough to know if you would like it (how did you escape them?), well I have the answer!
Right now I am really into grabbing up some new stuff myself, and I can’t STAND mp3’s unless they are REALLY high rez, which almost all vendors don’t use (highest I think is Amazon @ 256 – which is KINDA ok, but really still blows), so I always want the original CD if I can get it……but like maybe you, I think they are too expensive in this market, and it irks me that the majors continue to insist on an outdated model that has GOT to change….so here’s what I’m up to and how it might be good for you as well….
I signed up at Swap-A-CD.com, and posted my 2 CD’s there as available. These are brand new in the shrinkwrap CD’s just as if you bought them from a store or me, and they will be sent directly to you from me as if you’d bought them, but you only pay the .49 cent fee from Swap-A-CD, seriously!
In order to begin, you have to list 10 CD’s that you probably don’t want anymore anyway, then you get a credit to grab a CD (from me of course – natch), and you search for either “STILL – The Distance”, or “STILL – I don’t mind”, and grab them! As of this writing, I’m the only one posting them there, so you’re gonna get them from me…….and if you don’t see them when you check in, then check right back, since I can’t list multiple copies of the same CD for some reason. So as soon as one goes out I’ll repost another to get it back in circulation.
I’m going to try this with 25 copies of each CD, if it goes well and everyone seems to like it then I may do more…..
You may be wondering “aren’t you just giving your stuff away?’, and the answer is not really, since every CD I send out I get a credit to grab something there myself, and I pay only the .49 cents just like you. Yeh I’m paying the shipping to you, but someone else will pay the shipping to me for the stuff I order, so what it boils down to is that I’ll be getting CD’s for like $2 per, and you’ll be getting my AWESOME CD’s for .49 cents. And to be honest, almost ALL of my sales these days are from iTunes and streaming services, which are great, but if you’re like me, you want the high rez real deal at some point, this is a good way to get it!
BEAT THAT!!
Chances are good that once you check out the site, you’ll find other things you want, and this thing will be a real moneysaver for you and new music, so CHECK IT OUT, this is a pretty good deal!!
WB
This guy gets it just right, check it out!
Obama is a corporate guy.
Period.
In these videos the assertion is that Obama is keeping Bush’s policies in regards to secrecy and executive power intact, simply to appease the U.S. intelligence community and keep them on his side, (?!?!? – What other side would they be on?), but I personally feel he doesn’t want to open the can of worms that Olbermann talks about at the start of the fist vid, which is to NOT discuss any arrangements that the U.S. government and a private company may have had in matters of National Security.
Then he goes on to actually EXPAND the Executive powers Bush claimed, on TOP of what Bush’s people did! And Obama’s background is in CONSTITUTIONAL LAW!!
It’s insane.
I would argue that not being open about this MASSIVELY illegal snooping on the American Public is WAYYYYY more threatening to our National Security than any disclosure would be, especially when you consider that very likely the most damaging thing likely to come up with the release of this info would be the amount of lying and the level of illegality that the government and ATT actually participated in.
Of course there could also be effects in other relationships that the government may have that would be exposed or jeopardized, Blackwater certainly comes to mind as one that might be interesting to get some hindsight into, and that’s something I’m SURE they don’t want to get into….the examination of private contractor’s roles in taking actions the government can’t or doesn’t want to do.
I STILL think that Obama is a HUGE positive change overall, but this thing is one of the worst areas of Bush’s reign, and further coverups and continuance of these policies has got to be stopped. The wound must be uncovered, cleaned, disinfected, and the offending parties held up to the light, not only to show that we as a country will NOT stand for such behavior under any circumstances, but also that the rule of law DOES apply to everyone, all the time. Otherwise laws are only for some people, some of the time, and that’s not the kind of system I want to live under…you?
Remember, you can support him and many or most of his policies, and STILL push back against this stuff, and you really HAVE to. He has taken Bush’s worst transgressions to a new level, it cannot be allowed.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Ok, I’ve been assimilated, and I now have a Twitter account.
Hard to say what I think about it yet……it seems to me that people are beginning to spend more time talking about what they’re doing than actually spending time DOING….
I can see how that happens, but there’s only so much time in a day….and there’s lot to do……..of course I can waste time with the best of them, lemme tell ya…
Here’s a great YouTube on this –
So follow me dammit, I have NOBODY following me…..I feel useless and alone…..ok I don’t, but follow me so I can check this thing out……
Twitter links powered by Tweet This v1.6.1, a WordPress plugin for Twitter.
