Category Archives: Music

Then There’s This “All American”

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You’ve probably seen 22-year-old Steve Grand’s self-funded video, All American Boy, on YouTube. More than a million people have. It’s the latest example of this particular generation breaking barriers that seemed so insurmountable just a few short years ago. Also, the song’s damn good.

Grand seems a genuine good sort and after a lot of the stuff he’s been through, it shows two things: the resiliency of the human spirit and that karma’s a real bitch!

Here are a few links:

Good Morning America

All American Boy video

Steve’s Facebook

Steve’s Bandcamp Page (donate a buck or more and download the song).

Housemartin Memories — Happy Hour Again

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Saw a tweet this weekend from Jian Ghomeshi of the radio program Q where he called The Housemartins “a damn fine band.” I agree.

The Housemartins were formed in 1983 and first hit big in the States in 1986 with the infectiously poppy Happy Hour. Later, frontman Paul Heaton formed the long-running band The Beautiful South and bassist Norman Cook became “Fatboy Slim.” An impressive legacy for “the fourth best band in Hull.”

In a previous incarnation, I was a Top 40 DJ, when there was such a thing as Top 40. And records. The Housemartins were a big deal during this time and I was just mad for them. I still have their first two albums on vinyl and everything they’ve ever released on CD. (What a nerd!) The cassette version of “London 0 Hull 4” was a near permanent resident in my Volkswagen Beetle’s stereo. It remains the only tape I have ever literally worn out. “Now, that’s what I call quite good.”

Tom Goss is ‘Awesomesauce’

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[Interview] Tom Goss is ‘awesomesauce’.|GA Voice

The cut below is from a pretty good interview done by Laura Douglas-Brown for GA Voice. Goss is a particular favorite of mine. His live recordings feature lots of rambling interaction with the audience and it makes him come across as incredibly human and genuine. Also, he writes some lovely stuff. Click the photo for his website.

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Singer/Songwriter Tom Goss. The D.C.-based troubadour performs all over the country. Photo: GA Voice|Tom Goss.

Years ago, Tom Goss planned to be a Catholic seminarian. Now he’s headed to Atlanta to help raise funds for a bunch of fake nuns.

An acoustic singer-songwriter known for both his music and his messages, Goss performs at Atlanta’s First Existentialist Congregation on Saturday, March 9, to benefit the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the group of drag nuns dedicated to community service for LGBT people and beyond.

“I’ve met Sisters all over the country; I love their energy and their works,” Goss tells GA Voice.

And while Goss will join the Atlanta Sisters as performer rather than priest, he still packs powerful meanings into his music.

Fascinating Story of Gennett Records – “Race Music” & The Klan

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Witt grad roots out truth on Gennett | www.springfieldnewssun.com.

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Image: Springfield News Sun

This is a pretty interesting article if you’re into either jazz, early American recordings, eastern Indiana history or the Klan. The latter, hopefully, for historical purposes only.

It’s the story of Gennett Records of Richmond, Ind., and how they became pioneers in recording and manufacturing early jazz records that contain some of the very first recordings of Hoagy Carmichael, ‘Jelly Roll’ Morton, King Oliver, and many others alongside the manufacture of Starr pianos and phonographs.

The remnants of the Gennett works still reside in the “Starr Valley” in Richmond, as does a “walk of fame” featuring medallions commemorating the great artists that were recorded there. And, if you’re hungry, visit Richmond on a day when they are serving five-course farm-to-table dinners at the restored home of Henry and Alice Gennett on Main Street.

Eine Kleine Ukulele Muzik

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Check this out, courtesy of my BFF, currently snowed-in in New York, who is a big cheese in the opera world. I just LOVE this! Königin der Nacht from Die Zauberflote. (The Queen of the Night aria from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, for all ya’ll ‘Mericans.)

By the way, this ukulele-wielding soprano is Laila Salome Fischer. Awesome!

Jimmy Fallon & Brian Williams — Slow Jam the Debt Ceiling

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Says commenter “netbird” on this post on YouTube: Jimmy Fallon (and The Roots, and the entire crew, truth be told) managed to bring a breath of fresh air into the arguably pasty late night scene. They changed the late night television panorama so much in these last couple of years — my hat’s off to all of them — and this clip is the perfect example of that.

I couldn’t agree more. I love Fallon, but I can’t help thinking how awesome Brian Williams is, too. I mean, can you imagine Chet Huntley or David Brinkley slow jamming the news? Yeah, me neither.

PrideSource Interview with Fun.’s Jack Antonoff: Being Straight With ‘Lesbian Chemicals’

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You’re one of the gay community’s biggest supporters, and you’ve been very outspoken about it. When and why did gay issues become so important to you?

I wish there was a great story or a poetic answer, but I just don’t know how anyone could not be outspoken and enraged with any violation of human rights.

via PrideSource – Q&A: Fun.’s Jack Antonoff On LGBT Activism, Lena Dunham & Being Straight With ‘Lesbian Chemicals’.

A terrific interview with Antonoff.

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Good, clean “Fun.” Antonoff is at right.