July 22, 2008We've had 400 commentsJust got No. 400 from Jess, last name not included, who concurs with others that James Pace is the best keyboard player in the area. Other people cited other keyboardists, and that's what we love. July 18, 2008We're on twitter.comIf you want to keep up with the old cut n scratch blog via your cell phone, go to https://twitter.com/cutnscratch. Sign up for an account and activate cell phone messaging, click to "follow" us, and I promise not to send out so many messages that you go broke receiving them. July 17, 2008Rough mixes from The Wading GirlThe Wading Girl is recording some new tunes. Here are rough mixes of two songs, "Worn Thin" and "Liquor and Pills". I like these tunes, and they show the band at its stripped down best after losing too many drummers and bass players. Someone is swirling up a mess with wire brushes to a snare drum on the second cut. Maybe it's Adam Baber (formerly of the Silent Press), in whose studio the band is recording. By the way, the band is playing tonight at Doreen's -- formerly High Point Coffee -- with the Juniors opening. Go to the band's myspace page for more info. It's an all-ages show. July 14, 2008Your boy on drumsA couple of months ago, I wrote a story that nobody read. It was about open mic nights in Roanoke. While I was going to the different bars and reporting it, I actually sat in a few times. At one of the shows, a friend of mine got video. So now you all get to see how lousy I am. Check me out, jamming at Martin's, with open-mic host Aaron Oberg on bass, and Heevahava's Sean Matuk on guitar. It was fun, even if the drums were set up opposite from my left-handed style. Without further ado, as if you needed proof that I don't know what I'm doing ... July 9, 2008Ya can't stop. Ya don't stop. But I did.It's been more than a few days since I've posted here, and I owe you a question of the week. We'll get to that. But first, here's what's been keeping me away from the bloggins. I did interviewed Chris Wood, of Medeski Martin & Wood, the progressive jazz trio that's playing Jefferson Center on Saturday. Look for that story and a podcast in the paper later this week. Podcast bonus: Wood will tell you why he's into Cracker Barrel restaurants. His brother -- and my old picking buddy -- Oliver Wood, called his brother's CB interest a fetish. But Chris says no, it's just that you can get actual food there, as opposed to other chain restaurants you find on the road. Also coming up this week is the story I did with the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz, who is playing the Sedalia/James River Blues Society Festival on Saturday. That'll have a podcast, too, from the ever-engaging Wirtz. By the way, the Sedalia folks asked me to judge that contest, so I won't be able to make the mmw show. Normally I would review that, and I'm kinda bummed that I'm missing it. So I'll post an item at the end of the week, and you faithful blog readers can give me your reviews of the show. Those will probably be more interesting than my own. You there, Pete Johnson? Continue reading "Ya can't stop. Ya don't stop. But I did." » June 26, 2008What I hate about the adult contemporary chartsFirst off, here it is -- this week's top 10 adult comtemporary chart, from the AP, via Billboard: Adult Contemporary There are so many reasons to hate this chart ... Continue reading "What I hate about the adult contemporary charts" » June 19, 2008She "Kissed a Girl" and got a hitEvery Thursday, I prepare the music top 10 list for Saturday's paper. I usually notice trends and oddities, so I figured, why not spray them all over you, blog style. This week's oddity is the big hit Katy Perry has scored by covering Jill Sobule's old song, "I Kissed a Girl." I don't remember this song being a smash hit when Sobule did it, though MTV played it plenty (Fabio was in it -- haha!). Perry's cover, though, has been in the chart for a couple of weeks, at least, and is at No. 2 as of today. That's a lot better than Sobule did with it in 1995. According to wikipedia, the song reached No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year, and peaked at 20 on the Modern Rock chart. What's the difference? June 11, 2008Guest blog: Man reunited with long-lost guitarGuest blogger Jeff Sturgeon, a business reporter here at the paper, gives us this great item. Click below for the accompanying video: Seven or so years ago, I found a guitar on the shoulder of Interstate 581 in Roanoke. Continue reading "Guest blog: Man reunited with long-lost guitar" » June 6, 2008Alison Krauss -- calling Gene ParkerThis will probaby run next week in the paper as a corner shot, but I'm scooping myself -- as if 4,000 people didn't already know about it! Here goes ... Alison Krauss was the embodiment of cool and calm last week during her concert with Robert Plant at Roanoke Civic Center — until she started talking about Gene Parker. May 15, 2008Our old pal Daine VineyardYou remember the late, (sort of) lamented TimesCast? Daine Vineyard made it what it was, with great graphics, ridiculously funny ideas and a generally good natured vibe that made him easy to work with. Daine was down for the goof, and in his time here, we got plenty of that in the can. He shot them, he edited them, he made them rock, and then he went to the bar and got drunk. Daine is also a bass player, and that took him away from us. He moved to Austin a while back, to get into the music scene. So, he just posted a myspace bulletin, saying he has a gig with Lions of Tsavo -- http://www.myspace.com/lionsoftsavo. The band plays the thrash-ist metal that Daine loves so well. If that's your thing, and you're on myspace, add the band and check it out. Keep it metal, Daine. Still mad at you for leaving me! May 13, 2008Worst songs by good bandsCollege sportswriter extraordinaire and rock music fan Doug Doughty e'd me a link to the Worst Songs by Good Bands site. The Replacements are in the top 10 -- which leaves the shot glass either half-empty or half-full: Should I be glad that knowledgeable scribes consider them a "good band" or should I be ticked off about the "bad song" they picked? (It's a song I really like, too!) I do love this quote about U2's "Discotheque" (a worthy choice for this list): April 22, 2008Where's all the news??Tad and Ralph are on hiatus this week. Both are out of the office until early next week. Until then, keep an eye on the music page at roanoke.com. April 8, 2008The Mix One6 reduxLast week, I wrote this article about ownership of the Mix One6 cancelling much of its live music schedule. The last of those shows is Wednesday night, when Bassnectar plays the room. Owner Steve Mullens had told me that he didn't think the shows drew consistently enough. The promoters later wrote to me, saying I should've talked to them, and that the article made it look like their part of the business was messed-up. I told them I'd follow up on some of their concerns, but that the article didn't cast any aspersions on them. It simply said that the owner didn't feel like the nights were doing good business. He obviously wanted the room to sell out every night, which is impossible for a medium-sized club in a small city. C'est la vie. Lots of other folks weighed in on our message board. Check out their opinions. April 3, 2008Concert photos: The Greencards
March 14, 2008HOFers in RoanokeThe news that Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen are coming to 202 Market April 4 got me to thinking: Hillman was a member of the Byrds, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 ... I wonder how many other RnR HOFers I've covered in Roanoke the past eight years? March 12, 2008Top 5 local music videos for the weekThanks to new channels editor Dwayne Yancey for this update: > This week's Top 5 list of local music videos is out and The Roanoke Allstars stay atop our Top 5 list for second week in a row. Mack Jones and Red Clay River swap places, and Alec Baldwin hangs in there. But the Juniors make a return with “Blacktop.” So we wind up with a very eclectic mix of songs – some basic rock, some hip-hop, some traditional music, and some alternative stuff. To see these videos, check out our MusicCast blog. And if you’re thinking your band’s video should be in the Top 5, well, send it along and maybe it will be. Details on how to post your videos are on the site. 1. “OxyContin Rock,” by the Roanoke Allstars 2. “We Underground,” by Mack Jones 3. “Rattlesnake Mountain,” by Red Clay River 4. “Blacktop,” by The Juniors 5. “Two Chicken Sandwiches,” by Alec Baldwin March 5, 2008Top music videos this weekCourtesy of Dwayne Yancey, our editor for new channels: >We have a new No. 1 local music video in Roanoke this week – “OxyContin Rock,” by the Roanoke Allstars. It’s also a video submitted by the band, not one we recorded. In fact, three of our Top 5 videos this week come directly from the artists – so if you’re thinking your band’s video should be in the Top 5, well, send it along and maybe it will be. For details on how to submit, see our MusicCast blog of local music videos. February 27, 2008MusicCast top 5 vids for this weekUpdated today, courtesy of new channels editor Dwayne Yancey: For the third week in a row, Red Clay River claims the No. 1 spot on our local music video countdown. But we have a new entry. Roanoke Allstars just added “OxyContin Rock” to the MusicCast, and already it’s in the Top 5. (Want to submit yours? See below for details.) 1. "Rattlesnake Mountain," by Red Clay River February 20, 2008This week's Top 5 local music videosFrom my colleague Dwayne Yancey, who keeps a close eye on these things: Same bands as last week, just a different order -- but Red Clay River continues to dominate the MusicCast charts. And Illbotz just missed the list. 1. "Rattlesnake Mountain," by Red Clay River 2. "Company Men," by Red Clay River 3. "Two Chicken Sandwiches," by Alec Baldwin 4. "Can’t Hate the Hater," by 3feetup 5. "Burned Out Car," by Red Clay River Watch them on the MusicCast. February 19, 2008Darrell Scott's Nashville portraitWhen I wrote a review of Darrell Scott's Friday night show at 202 Market, I noted that a photo of Scott is part of the Nashville Portraits exhibit at The Art Museum of Western Virginia. Today, Scott sent a message through his publicist, responding to my request to know more about the photo. February 18, 2008What is country music?I received an e-mail on Sunday from someone who read my review of the Keith Urban / Carrie Underwood show at Roanoke Civic Center. He wrote: "Carrie IS Country. She might cover some Pop/Rock stuff in her live shows but she always has been and always will be a Country singer/songwriter." February 14, 2008New Riders of the Purple SageSo, after our epic error on the New Riders of the Purple Sage show, I heard from a gentleman named Howard Bullen, who was very nice and promised to send me his thought on the show. He also sent some nice photos. February 6, 2008More ExtraCast = more musicThis week, the 'cast has schtuff from, Cyrus Pace (playing at 202 on Friday), Perpetual Groove (playing at Mix One6 on Saturday), the Wiyos (at Sun Music Hall on Sunday) and New Riders of the Purple Sage (202 next Wednesday). February 5, 2008New MusicCast features Red Clay RiverCheck out one of Roanoke's darkest and most interesting bands, right here. February 4, 2008New podcast: This Week in RockTony Hume, the manager of Col. Bruce Hampton and the Quark Alliance, has a great new podcast, This Week in Rock, on radio station 95.1, Young Harris College, Ga. Here's his description: The self-produced show covers major classic rock events from days long gone during that week that the show airs. January 31, 2008Roanoke: Music CityOne of the perks of my job is I get to copy-edit Inside Out the day before it's published each week. This week, while perusing the music listings, I counted 22 musical acts among the Roanoke-area nightclub advertisements. When I added in the bands, duos and singers from the entertainment calendar, that number exceeded 40 acts playing somewhere this weekend between Roanoke and Blacksburg. "Derby Idol" tonightHey, it's almost like live music, and certainly cooler than "American Idol." Pay a buck to vote on the best singer among those elbow-throwing, knee-sliding Derby Babes. January 29, 2008Eric Clapton's influenceThe past few weeks, multimedia editor Seth Gitner and I met, interviewed and videotaped several area guitarists who were influenced by Eric Clapton. The story I wrote is scheduled to run on Sunday. But the videos we shot are already available on roanoke.com's video page. Check them out ... January 23, 2008Music on the ExtraCastThis week on the ExtraCast, we have video from Enter the Haggis and the Asylum Street Spankers, both playing in the area this weekend. Also, we have the Juniors, who you can find on our MusicCast blog. And we have some audio from the Ministers of Soul, whose Hoppie Vaughan hosts 202 Market's Wednesday night jam. http://www.roanoke.com/multimedia/video/ecast/wb/134420 January 22, 2008Do you have video of your music?We're still shooting the MusicCast, but we're also accepting submissions for live video that you shoot. Here's how to do it: Go to http://blogs.roanoke.com/musiccast, and click on "click here to upload your band's video", on the right side of the page. You can figure out the rest from there. Hey! It's the music blog!What's up ... Tad Dickens here, slinging The Roanoke Times new music blog, cutNscratch. Ralph Berrier and I will be posting music news, tidbits, reviews, etc., ad nauseum here. But it won't be any fun if we don't get you all in on it. ... |
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