Joe Tell's Music Blog

Music Blog covers the Underground/Indie Rock Music Scene in a positive manner with a focus on the WNY area. Bands and promoters are encouraged to submit promo material for review. Listening to new music with an open mind is important. This blog isn't about Joe Tell it's about exposing new music and promoting new bands that want a push. I also post about any interesting topic that may cross my mind. Music blog sponsored by Buffalo's best comic book shop Queen City Bookstore.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Contagious Woo

Before succumbing to a sudden illness I did mange to get this shot pf S.K.R in action...

Sean and Maria hangin' out at the show.

Check out my Contagious Woo self-titled CD review, Click and Enjoy! Woo! http://voices.yahoo.com/contagious-woo-11612992.html

www.contagiouswoo.com

https://www.facebook.com/contagious.woo

McGee Art Gallery, 10931 Main St., Clarence, NY 14031

"Night Terra"

"fearplanet"

“Classic to Post-Modern “: Landscape Art of Today”
at McGee Art Gallery 10931 Main St. Clarence, NY 14031
http://mcgeeartgallery.com/

Show will run from Saturday July 14-Saturday September 8

Artwork by Jaimie Ellis, Paul Hirshfield, Bill Huggins, Keilka Salsbury, Mary Wyrick, Jackie Burdman, Joe Agen, Judy Horn, Eric Evinczik, Joanne Sloan, Kristin Gilmet, Sakura Paterniti, Michael Mulley, Barb Ernst, Betsy Marie, Jenna Switzer, Chris McGee and Sibel McGee.

The artists in this exhibition have utilized a big variety of styles, materials, techniques and points of view to depict the nearly universal subject matter of the landscape. The end result of this diverse combination is a striking montage of realism, abstraction, exotic flora, futuristic cityscapes and imaginary dreamscapes. This intricate variety of visual creativity illustrates the vital dynamic tension between the timeless world of human consciousness and the constantly mutating environments of the modern information age.

The attached picture below is one of Christopher McGee's landscape paintings which won an award for acrylic painting in ArtBuzz international competition of 2008. The title of the piece is "The Rhythms of Nature".

http://mcgeeartgallery.com/

Thank You Chris!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Savannah King

My name is Savannah King and I am a singer and songwriter from Buffalo.
I recently recorded my album "She Sends Her Love" and I am currently donating all the proceeds from the CD sales to Music is Art.
My website is www.savannahkingmusic.com and you can hear all the songs from the album under the media - music tab.
I really want to raise as much as I can to donate!
Please goto my website and help me donate to Music Is Art!
Thank You So Much!
http://www.musicisart.org/Festival.html

http://savannahkingmusic.com/blog/

More of Sara's online links...

http://www.facebook.com/savannahkingmusic11

https://twitter.com/#!/savannahking11

http://www.myspace.com/savannahkingmusic

http://www.youtube.com/savannahkingmusic

Thank You Savannah!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Michi "Where Your Heart Is" CD Review

Michi "Where Your Heart Is" CD Review

Michi's "Where Your Heart Is" features songs that could easily blend right in with the Top 40 music of today. Country pop fans will, no doubt, enjoy the opening tracks. Further along into the music is when I really started to appreciate Michi's talents as a talented singer and songwriter. Songs like "Enchanting Gazes Meeting" and "Darling" feature a smoky smooth side of Michi, creating a relaxing, sing along type atmosphere. "Darling" is a standout song, very nice!

The second song,"Where Your Heart Is" has a unique and individual sound that brings to mind a vision of an outside bar, with an ocean breeze flowing through the air, listening to Michi singing on the patio. I could easily hear this song being played on country Top 40 radio.

The seventh song on the CD, "He Said" stood out as it showcases Michi's vocals in a perfectly placed and controlled country yodel, only a very limited amount of young singers can do with this quality like Michi.

"The Best Of Me" is a well written, great song, simply sung sweetly.

"The Vibrant Flood" is another great song, one easy to imagine listening to on the radio, driving on down the road.

Writing, singing and young, Michi is a triple threat, "Pop Star" is written all over Michi.

A Great Big Thank You to Sera, Dan and Cheryl Manzella for reviewing the CD and Michi!

Edited by Joe Tell.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

King Washington "The Gears" CD Review

King Washington " The Gears" CD Review

This recording by King Washington has several high points, as well as a few slow moments, but overall it is a very pleasing recording.

King Washington takes “Beatlesque” harmonies to a new level, and the result is amazing. From the opening strains of the title track “The Gears”, to the fantastic song “Cotton”, this recording focuses on tight vocal harmonies and intricate guitar work that harkens back to the golden age of rock and roll recording.

Singing and performing on piano, trumpet, drums, guitar and bass, Gene Russell has been musically active since age four. Joined by guitarist/singers Tyson Kelly and George Krikes, the band stands apart from other new rock bands for several reasons. The first and foremost to me is that these guys sound like The Beatles in their prime. The better songs from this recording could easily fit on the classic albums Rubber Soul or Revolver; (My favorite Beatle period) while others may remind you of a Sgt. Peppers groove. I don’t mean to put pressure on a band with a comparison like that; it’s just the feel that I (and others) get from these songs. They don’t seem to imitate, replicate, or duplicate Beatles songs, but have the feel and the songwriting chops to pull it off. Their sound is tight yet ethereal, intricate but still hypnotic.

Now before I put them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, there are a few boring clunkers on this CD; but the good songs (The Gears, Fourth of July, Cotton, Bawl and Change) clearly outweigh them and point this talented young band in a great direction. I was impressed by the production, songwriting, guitar work and those beautiful harmonies. A few more evocative rock numbers and this band will be seen and heard by a much larger audience.

Bud Redding 7/25/2012

Thank You Sera, Bud & King Washington!

Cowboys Of Scotland

COWBOYS OF SCOTLAND

The band started in early 2002, as Bud Redding's recording project. Multi-instrumentalist Redding played guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and sang all of the original songs. After several people heard his music and persuaded him to play live, he began performing as Bud Redding's Shock & Awe. Several people would guest star in Bud's monthly shows, performed at Staples on Allen (now DBGB’s) These guest slots lead to Steven Myers joining the band, in 2006, playing guitar, bass, percussion, and adding some vocals. They began writing songs together, as well as learning each other’s originals... In 2007, they changed the name of the band to COWBOYS OF SCOTLAND...Playing the massive Tribute to Mark Freeland; the band took a Freeland song title and made it their name, as a tribute to their mentor and friend. Joined on stage by performance artist "Z. Mann Zilla", the band rocked the house, setting the stage for a new direction...

The addition of drummer Joe Marciniak led the band down a different path, placing less emphasis on electronic rhythms, and more on a real rock drummer. Performing a wide variety of music and musical styles, and often incorporating video and live art into their shows, Cowboys of Scotland continue to grow an audience in the Buffalo, NY original / underground music scene...

In 2009, the band temporarily added former Veil rockers, Steve and Johnnie Perry to play the Rolling Stones tribute benefit, with the proceeds going to Children's Hospital of Buffalo...The formula added a hard rock element to the band's sound, and they played again with this 5 piece line-up at Music is Art...This MIA show was the premier of the atomic science themed song “1905”, now a live performance favorite.

The 2010 spring schedule also featured a performance at Nietzsche’s, for the annual Mark Freeland tribute. This would mark the 4th performance by the band at a Freeland tribute, this one hi-lighted by a performance of Mark Freeland’s hip-hop classic, “Macaroni & Cheese”. They were joined on stage by legendary Buffalo rapper / funk-master, Nate Schneekloth, whose smooth style fit well with the band’s electro-groove.

After a 2010 summer hiatus while guitarist / bassist Steve Myers toured France, the band has come back with a new lineup... After drummer Marciniak quit the band, the band was lucky to have drummer super-star Bill Moore perform with them for two epic shows. Due to Bill's touring schedule, he was not able to remain a permanent member of COS, and the band has since added veteran indie drummer Damon Madden to handle the drums and percussion...Veteran progressive rock guitarist / multi-instrumentalist Robert Raithel was recruited and agreed to join the band, and has begun blending his “wall-of-sound” and synthesized guitars to the bands ever-evolving mix.

The band is was then in the midst of rehearsing and recording “Original: The Mark Freeland Story”, a multimedia, hour long piece about Buffalo music icon, the late, great, Mark Freeland…

In the summer of 2011, the band performed their epic rock opera entitled
"Original - The Mark Freeland Story" several times in Buffalo. The performances included a special projection / light show, and was filmed for an upcoming DVD release.

The band is currently writing and rehearsing new material, including a song about the "occupy" movements, entitled "Running Out of Time", and writing songs for a new concept piece called "1952"...New drummer, Doug Jones is now with the band, providing the most solid foundation the band has ever had to work with...

Next up is the finals for "Rage on the Stage", Saturday, July 21st, at The Tudor Lounge...tix only 5 bucks...Come root on Cowboys of Scotland...

August 18th,2012, we will be at Fillagrees at Elmwood and Forest for a special event...the rest of our time we are writing, rehearsing, and getting ready for some recording...Have a great summer and see you soon!

Find out all the latest on The Cowboys Of Scotland, Here's the Facebook link for Cowboys Of Scotland https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.487060456516.265994.74889111516&type=3#!/pages/Cowboys-of-Scotland/74889111516

The Cowboys In Action!
Thank You Bud!

Michi "Shivers"

The singer-songwriter's vast talents have not gone unnoticed in the music industry, she’s worked with seasoned musicians such as Grammy-award winner Steve Mitchell and Jazz guitarist Sheryl Bailey. With the release of “Where Your Heart Is” Michi exposes her honest songwriting skills, with a touch of Fiona Apple’s fluid honesty and Avril Lavigne stark attitude, which blend seamlessly with her unique voice.

Check out the video and download the free mp3 via sound-cloud.

Official Video "Shivers" http://youtu.be/jVdjpntchhE

MP3 "Shivers" http://soundcloud.com/mt-press/michi-shivers

More on Michi - http://www.musicbymichi.com

Monday, July 23, 2012

Road to Recovery Acoustic Duo

Click on https://www.facebook.com/pages/Road-to-Recovery-Acoustic-Duo/206282802767150 to goto Road to Recovery's Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Road-to-Recovery-Acoustic-Duo/206282802767150

Photography by Lindsey Robinson
Thank You John & Katie!

Tracee Perrin "Providence"

www.traceeperrinmusic.com

Photography: Marjorie Salvaterra www.marjoriesalvaterra.com Denise Leitner www.deniseleitner.com

Thank You Sera & Tracee!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Crash Cadillac

www.crashcadillac.com

Here's a classic shot of Crash Cadillac from '81.

Eddie Grey "The Love Thief Sessions"

9/19/12: CD review content update.

The Eddie Grey "The Love Thief Sessions" CD is better than I expected it to be. It has all different styles of music on it. It starts off with a great reggae song called " Just Say It". The next song is a cool rockin' song called "Hideaway". "The Love Thief Sessions" has a song for everybody reggae, funk, acoustic, rock and rhythm and blues. I like "The Love Thief Sessions" and would recommend giving it a listen. A new artist bringing some great new music. Check out his facebook site for more info https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eddie-Grey/126232640723034

CD review by The Professor.

Thank You Rob, Sera and Eddie!

Eddie Grey is an ever evolving artist that continues to defy genre classification by consistently producing music that is both impressive and eclectic. The newest single “Only On The Weekend” is a subtle, pop-infused jam that is reminiscent of a sunny day lounging by the pool. It’s the perfect background to a hot July day, with Eddie’s smooth vocals gliding over a slow-molasses style beat, the guitar fluid as a summer breeze making a track that the repeat button was designed for.

The bridge builds to an electrifying guitar solo, backed by the ever swaying bass that keeps you moving from beginning to finish. It tells the story of a love kept secret that is intensified by Grey’s talent at crafting lyrically seductive songs. All the elements combined together for an effortlessly sexy song that is a distinct new direction for the progressive Grey. “Only On The Weekend” is another hit for Eddie Grey, a mainstream sound mixed with the unique signature touch that Grey adds to every track, makes for a laid-back, listener-friendly track that is sure to attract a whole new group of fans.

Download the free MP3 and share via soundcloud

www.soundcloud.com/mt-press/eddie-grey-only-on-the-weekend

www.eddiegreymusic.com

www.twitter.com/EddieGrey8

www.facebook.com/EddieGreyMusic

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

To Write Love On Her Arms

To Write Love on Her Arms: www.twloha.com - To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery. Since its start in 2006, they have donated over $1,000,000 directly into treatment and recovery and have answered over 160,000 emails from over 100 countries. TWLOHA has one of the largest online audiences of any non-profit on both Facebook and MySpace, and has been featured on NBC Nightly news with Brian Williams, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN.com, Rolling Stone and founder Jamie Tworkowski has won an MTVU Woodie Award. TWLOHA was most recently awarded a $1 million grant from Chase at the first-ever American Giving Awards (AGAs) announced on NBC.

Thank You Rachel!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Troy Harley

Troy Harley is a bona fide rock star in his home country of Russia, and is well on his way to breaking here in the states thanks to Randy Jackson (yes, the American Idol judge), who partnered with Troy to produce his American debut. In addition to having his single drop on July 1st, he will also be playing with at the Warped Tour for a month of dates.

Troy Harley - End Of The Summer video stream:

www.facebook.com/OfficialTroyHarley/app_2405167945

Warped Tour Dates

Wed 7/18/2012 Toyota Pavilion Scranton, PA

Thu 7/19/2012 Comcast Center Mansfield, MA

Fri 7/20/2012 Susquehanna Bank Center Camden, NJ

Sat 7/21/2012 Nassau Veterans Mem. Coliseum Uniondale, NY

Sun 7/22/2012 The Comcast Theatre Hartford, CT

Tue 7/24/2012 Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, MD

Wed 7/25/2012 Farm Bureau Live At Virginia Beach Virginia Beach, VA

Thu 7/26/2012 Aaron's Amphitheater at Lakewood Atlanta, GA

Fri 7/27/2012 Central Florida Fairgrounds Orlando, FL

Sat 7/28/2012 Cruzan Amphitheatre West Palm Beach, FL

Sun 7/29/2012 Vinoy Park St. Petersburg, FL

Mon 7/30/2012 Charlotte Verizon Amphitheatre Charlotte, NC

Tue 7/31/2012 Riverbend Music Center Cincinnati, OH

Wed 8/01/2012 Marcus Amphitheatre Milwaukee, WI

Fri 8/04/2012 King County's Marymoor Park Redmond, WA

Sat 8/05/2012 Rose Quarter Riverfront Portland, OR

[Bio Info]

Though a stranger on American shores, Troy Harley is a bona fide rock star in his home country of Russia. After stealing the spotlight while competing on the American Idol style show Star Factory in 2006, Harley went on to rock stages all over Russia, becoming one of the most popular artists in Eastern Europe and winning himself 3 Golden Gramophone awards injust a few short years.

But conquering the American music scene has long been a dream of Harley’s, so in 2011 he made the move to LA and began writing songs with the legendary music producer (and American Idol Judge) Randy Jackson. Harley and Jackson began working at Jim Henson Studios, the site of classicrecordings by his heroes like John Lennon, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Metallica and Bon Jovi. "Working with Troy has been a great experience" said Jackson. "His voice is amazing and he is definitely star material. We got some hot records coming your way, so look out!"

Harley’s American debut, “End of Summer” is set to drop on July 1st, the same day he heads with the Vans Warped Tour. Despite being stuck on a bus for the grueling 40 city, 30 state trek across the U.S., Harley is excited for his first tour of the country and his first chance atrealizing his American dream.

www.troyharley.com

www.facebook.com/OfficialTroyHarley

www.twitter.com/#!/TroyHarley

Thank You Tyler and Troy!

Gimme Shelter

This post is for all you classic rock (The Rolling Stones, Ike & Tina Turner, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Santana, The Flying Burrito Brothers) fans out there. If you've never seen this movie, you absolutely need to see it ASAP. I'm serious, seek it out on-line or where ever you get your movies from and watch it today. The documentary has a timeless quality about it and you get the sense you are watching history unfold before your very eyes.

Gimme Shelter isn't just an average, run of the mill, classic rock concert movie. The initial idea was to follow the Stones around on their '69 concert tour to make a concert movie. That's exactly how the film starts out, it contains some great footage of the Stones at Madison Square Garden and continues on to the Stones performance at Altamont Speedway. All the while the footage is shown it is also being watched in a studio by the directors and the Stones.

The Altamont concert was doomed from the outset, having the Hell's Angels as a security force wasn't the best of ideas and thing go south as soon as the concert footage begins. The footage that was caught really classifies this film as a documentary. I don't want to give away too much but actually seeing the footage they caught during the Stones set is chilling and speaks volumes about the people that were involved. Why the show wasn't cut short after Marty Balin got knocked out during the Airplane set is the question that I have. After learning that Marty Balin from The Jefferson Airplane was punched out by a Hell's Angel the Grateful Dead opt out of the concert and leave. I don't know if the Stones knew about the violence before they played but if they did they should have opted out of playing as well. Maybe it was about the promise of some big $ and the pressures involved or maybe the old adage "the show must go on" came into play. Or maybe the Stones thought they could control the crowd after they took the stage.

Whatever the intentions the Stones had, things get really out of a hand as soon as the Stones begin playing. The crowd rushes toward the stage and the bikers up front violently push back. The footage shows a couple of unconscious people being sifted through the crowd toward the stage as the Stones play. It's frightening to watch and the music suffers. Between the first 2 numbers Mick Jagger begs the crowd to stop fighting but Mick's pleading doesn't help. It's at this moment that the Stones should have realized that they should have stopped playing. Again, maybe it was about the $? or maybe they were intimidated by the Hell's Angels into continuing the show?

Anyway, the Stones continue into their 3rd song and this is when things get really ugly. The incident that occurs during "Under My Thumb" is shocking, mind numbing and brutal to watch. Shown in real time the incident is hardly noticeable. When the footage of the fatal incident is slowed down and analyzed frame by frame, right in front of the Stones, they are left speechless and you will be too.

"Gimme Shelter" is really a documentary of the events leading up to and surrounding the incident. All the while the film footage is being shown it is also being watched by some of the key players involved, namely The Rolling Stones and the film makers. It's easy to forget this as you watch the film but frequent cuts to the band as they watch make the movie that much more interesting. Mick is shown watching the fatal incident and his glance toward the camera after he gets up to leave the room is priceless. So much so that a still frame of his face is the film's DVD cover.

The commentary goes on to explain the why and the how and the trials and tribulations the director's went through to release "Gimme Shelter".
It's easy to shrug this off as a "classic rock" film but the new, uncensored footage and commentary that was added in 2000 tells an accurate tale. The commentary explains that the raw, adrenaline fueled emotions that the music was creating had nowhere to go, mix this raw emotion with a violent security force that had already taken out several people during the concert and something had to give. What gives and explodes is a tragic incident that really has to be seen to be believed. This is the type of incident that everyone was afraid of when the numbers of people that were at Woodstock were first reported to the public. I believe that the promoters, the bands and the crowds at Altamont were lulled into a false sense of security because of the Woodstock love-fest. What happened at Altamont was not love and the violence is so brutal that it is shocking to watch.
I think it's important to note that 30 years later the Woodstock brand would forever be tarnished by violence as well.