When choosing to get a vinyl pressed for an upcoming release, today’s artists have a variety of choices to enhance their decision.  Digital downloads, 120 grams vs 180 grams, colored or pictured discs and gatefold covers are all factors to consider for a vinyl pressing. But what about trick grooves hidden in the platter or maybe backmasking to hide subliminal or inane messages in reverse? Why not take it one step further and release a hybrid CD-Vinyl disc? In a nutshell, vinyl is cool so why not make it even cooler for your fans to own your record albums?

Continue Reading Vinyl Oddities

Jukebox the Ghost has been compared to everyone from the Ben Folds Five to a “muted incarnation of Queen.” While these comparisons are both flattering and overall pretty accurate, the description NPR offers is spot on; “If School House Rock morphed into an actual band, it’d be Jukebox the Ghost.” Like School House Rock, their lyrics are witty and thought-provoking and the piano hooks and memorable melody lines prove that catchy and superficial don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand. I mean who hasn’t had “Conjunction Junction” stuck in their head at least once in their lives.

Continue reading ‘Tour De Force: Jukebox the Ghost’

Feel creatively blocked? Career counselor and consultant JoAnn Braheny (pronounced bra-HAY-nee) to the rescue. Based in Los Angeles, JoAnn is practically the guru of developing and maintaining artistic creativity. Her husband, John Braheny wrote what is considered the songwriter’s bible, The Craft and Business of Songwriting, now in its third edition, and between them the pair teach both the nuts and bolts and the more ethereal sides of songwriting through her workshop and Web site, Goosing Your Muse.

Since we are at the beginning of a new year and many artists have made New Year’s resolutions that involve their music, I thought it would be a good time to check in with JoAnn for some creative advice on staying inspired throughout 2010.

CD: Can you explain what you mean by “Goosing Your Muse”?

JAB: I actually searched Google for “What is a muse?” and here’s the response: Many artists, writers, poets and musicians have said that their creative work has been inspired by an individual whom they refer to as their muse. A muse is someone who has such an influence on another that he or she becomes the focus and inspiration for that person’s creative work. The term has historically been used by men to describe the women that they have been in love with and made the subject of their work.

Basically, the idea of goosing your muse is to stimulate people’s creative process, to provide some way of helping them think “out of the box,” be even more creative and to discover ways in their own experiences/adventures that delight themselves and others.

CD: How did you start helping artists to goose their muses?

JAB: This question has three answers. First of all, my older brother is now an opera singer. But when we were kids, our parents worked. When he had to babysit me, he dragged me around our hometown, Chattanooga, Tennessee, to his interminably long voice lessons, auditions, rehearsals and performances. I got to see, first hand, just what it really takes to work full-time in the music business. I also got to play backstage with makeup and costumes and props, but I was perfectly happy not being in the spotlight. (He, however, won voice scholarships to both Julliard in New York City and Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He still sings bass-baritone, lives in Germany and performs all over Europe, Russia, Israel, USA, etc.) I learned from him and his colleagues how valuable a support person is for artists. I liken artists to champion race-horses or Olympic runners. It’s not just about having a good idea, or talent; it’s about being productive life-long.

The second beginning was when I worked, several years ago, in a music publishing company at a small indie label (now defunct), called GRC Records, in Atlanta. Songwriters/performers would stop by my office where I was learning about copyrights and licensing songs for international markets and they would play me a demo or two. They seemed to want someone to bounce song ideas off of. As I am not a songwriter or singer/musician, but a major fan of all kinds of music, I was glad to take the time to listen. (They knew I had “ears” because I’d already been Atlanta’s first full-time female DJ at a popular rock station.) Those songwriters let me into their world of trial-and-error and allowed me to voice my opinions because they knew I was objective and not brutal.

The third beginning of how I got my own muse goosed was when I worked in Talent Development at Walt Disney Imagineering (Glendale, California) with graphic artists, painters, designers, animators, architects, etc., and helped to develop workshops for them such as, “Managing My Inner Critic,” “Interdisciplinary Dynamics,” “Collaboration Skills” and so forth. What I realized at Disney is that it doesn’t matter if you’re a songwriter, musician, singer, painter, sculptor. At any level of expertise in any artistic endeavor, you will still find yourself working through a lot of the same mazes of trial and error and to make a product that others will want to own.

Continue reading ‘Fine Tunings: JoAnn Braheny, Muse Gooser’

Calculating my travel expenses for tax preparation, while rummaging through mounds of receipts from the countless days on the road, I find myself lost in the sonic memory of 2009. Listening to fresh mixes in mid-sized white rental cars, clothes drenched in the odors of bar band bacchanalia, tour buses idling outside broken down theaters, green room amenities for dinner, late night recording sessions in instrument strewn dens of iniquity, such is the life of an Editor-at-Large. What makes it easy to keep tacking on the miles is, of course, the music — hundreds and hundreds of hours of music. But how much of it will live into the next year and beyond?

Joni Mitchell says “songs are like tattoos,” but is today’s plethora of songs nothing more then a bunch of iron-ons? No decade seemed to have swept by so fast yet be filled with such a wide spectrum of advances that immediately integrated into day to day lives, especially when it came to how we discovered, aggregated and consumed music. With the decentralization of the business, i.e. labels, terrestrial radio, and print publications all on the fast track to irrelevance mixed and the virtual tidal wave of online purveyors it can seem unbelievably daunting to enter the media fracas to find music that fits us.

Yet, we must remember through all the noise, like the haunting violin in Shelly’s Frankenstein, music has the power to soothe the savage beast raging inside us. It should be easy to do now that our entire music collections, which were once proudly displayed in our home, fit into the palm of our hand. This is an amazing technological accomplishment; now we have access to every type of music — anywhere, anytime.

However, do we really LISTEN to our music today? I am not talking about during a commute, riding the stationary bike or in a favorite watering hole. I am talking about sitting back in your favorite chair, putting on a record or CD, reading the liner notes, checking out the artwork, learning the lyrics, etc. In other words, how much time do we actually spend “communing” with our music? We take coffee breaks, smoke breaks, workout breaks, happy hour breaks, bathroom breaks, but where is the daily music break?

So, there it is, my New Year’s resolution; an hour of music a day. I know it sounds like a lot when the five minutes in the shower seems like the only “free time” by today’s clock, but don’t consider it merely a luxury. Music is good for you. It makes you a better person. Our lives are only enhanced with an ongoing soundtrack. So find some music that can stand the test of time and support it by giving it the attention it deserves. Open your ears and press play; it’s a whole new decade and time waits for no one.

-Jay Sweet

Last month we brought you a selection of some of our most talented, highest-ranked artists from our November competitions. It’s only logical then to follow with, fanfare please, some of December’s best! These artists were carefully chosen from diverse genres to give you a tasty sampling of last month’s holiday-time treats. We’re sure you’ll enjoy our latest playlist below.

Continue reading ‘The Honor Roll: A Few of December’s Best and Brightest’

Fun Facts: State Tree: tulip poplar, State Song: “My Old Kentucky Home,” State Flower: goldenrod

Home of: The Kentucky Derby, The Judds, Montgomery Gentry, George Clooney, Cage The Elephant, Will Oldham (aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy), Billy Ray Cyrus

Continue Reading 50 States In 50 Weeks…Week 32: Kentucky

January 1, 2010 signaled the beginning of a new year, a new decade and, for movie fans, another step closer to the release dates of several highly anticipated films. This year many artists are making their mark on the big screen by contributing their music to movie soundtracks in ways that both are completely expected and a bit of a surprise.

The upcoming Tim Burton adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic Alice in Wonderland is, of course, highly anticipated.  But perhaps more anticipated then the film is the collaboration of Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus and Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz as they come together to produce a song for the movie.  Pete has been quoted saying the sound is unlike anything Blink or FOB have done before, so hopefully that’s a good thing.  Also to be included in the soundtrack are All Time Low, Owl City, Robert Smith from The Cure and Franz Ferdinand.  Avril Lavigne will have a new song on the soundtrack as well.  With these pop artists creating the music for the film, the adaptation should sound as thrilling as it looks.

Continue reading ‘Under Supervision: Music To Watch in 2010′

Let’s back it up for a moment. Remember back in the late ‘80s and ‘90s when the music industry played the “singles” game? For all of you younger readers that’s when a label would release the artist’s single off their album along with two additional tracks, possibly a remix, acoustic or a rare song (depending on settlements). With iTunes taking over the digital age of music retail merchandising, it seems as though the singles game is slowly coming back into play. Since many users nowadays download full albums after previewing or purchasing a single on iTunes, many independent rock artists are beginning to “up-the-bar” of their writing. To stand out amongst the vast sea of artists flooding the Internet, young artists are working harder to write catchier, hit tunes to help them gain recognition and, of course, a nicer paycheck in the end. This week’s edition of “iRock” showcases OurStage rockers who wrote catchy songs that keep your foot tapping and hair standing on end.

Below you’ll find a playlist ranging from the Indie Rock and Soft Rock Channels that showcase catchy melodies, hooky lyrics, pounding guitar riffs, solid beats and driving bass lines.

‘Tis the season to be… metal! Unlike many genres of music, winter is a popular touring season for metal bands. This year it seems some of the biggest and most highly- regarded acts are teaming up for mammoth tours. From death metal to progressive metal, there’s something for everyone. If you’re looking to see some metal veterans, there’s some of that. If you’re looking to see some of the metal rookies looking to make waves, there’s lots of that too. Exodus, Scale the Summit, Revocation, Nile, Between the Buried and Me and many more are all hitting the road!

Check out the winter metal tours, as well as tour dates, after the jump…

San Diego's The Surrender

We wouldn’t go so far as to call The Surrender a shoegazer band, yet the term does leap to mind when listening to the layers of guitars, keys and drums that permeate every song. Take that wall of distortion, add to it a dash of romanticism, and just like that, your gaze might rise from your footwear and lock eyes with a real live human. That’s the magic of The Surrender.

The San Diego band cites influences like Interpol and the Killers. Sure, you may find some similarities in the melodic crush of their arrangements, or the vocal languor of singer Colin Elliott. But for the most part the Surrender are a little more emotionally charged and soundscapey (not a real word, but you get the idea).  In “Off the Rails,” the band builds banks of guitar fuzz and palpitating drums while Elliott sings, “Everybody wake up / We’re going down.” Join them for the ride – you’ll feel the rush down to your shoes.