I’m reading a great book on Brazilian music styles called The Brazilian Sound. Yep, you’ll be hearing some of those sounds from me in some new songs. 🙂 There’s an interesting comment about the way some indie bands are handling their music there. In the world of Technobrega music, the composers freely allow DJs and…
1.5 Billion shoes are sold in this country every year. 60% of those belong to my girlfriend. And she’s Chinese, so they’re all by the front door. —- Adults 35 and under send more humorous greeting cards than any other age group. Because people over 35 realize that greeting cards are a ridiculous scam. —-…
I’m sure this is a very “comedian” point of view, but I believe that we have to be able to laugh at everything. Especially that which is most important to us. Being able to do so gives us perspective on the subject. I find it interesting that the one topic that so easy to get…
I’ve been doing a lot of reading/listesning about music lately. I get on reading jags about different subject, and I often return to music for obvious reasons. 🙂 Been thinking about where the next revolution in music will come from. And I don’t have a good answer. “The next big thing” usually starts with an…
I drive a little Japanese car and it’s great. Except it has a little Japanese horn. “meep” The thing gets awesome mileage. I can get from San Jose to LA on one tank. Can’t beat it for a non-hybrid. But that tiny little horn doesn’t intimidate anyone. It’s like, “Excuse me please. I’m sorry, excuse…
Yep, it’s definitely something that’s coming down the pike. As early as September ’09. So, which of my songs would YOU like to play on Rock Band? I’ve got some ideas of which I’d like to put out. I think, on the easier side, would be songs like Horizontal Tango and Share My Pixie Dust….
Here’s a way to get a great deal. When you want to buy something really special, go ahead and sign away your first born. Then… don’t have any children. Man, that is a great way to get a free dvd player. Why can’t we use children as credit? “Hey Bob, how much did you pay…
Last year, my girlfriend came home and told me she’d bought a Magic Bullet. Now any guy that knows anything about the habits of women knows that a Magic Bullet is a vib-a-ra-tor. So, I give her a knowing look and say “And what are you going to use that for?” She’s says “Making smoothies…”…
I just finished reading Confessions Of An Alien Hunter by Seth Shostak, the head of the SETI institute in Mountain View, CA. If you don’t know, SETI stands for Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Fantastic book… At one point in the book he describes how we might determine what aliens will look like by extrapolating what…
I was watching the Michael Jackson Dateline special last night and they were talking about how “Thriller”, the song and the video were such a huge turning point in music. And it’s true. Musically, it was a turning point merging disco and pop into a form that would dominate the 80’s radio scene. The video,…
There’s been so much death over the past week. Michael Jackson, Farrah Faucett, Karl Maulden. It just makes for a difficult week when that’s all everyone is talking about. But none of those deaths have affected me as much as the one that took place last night. We had to put our poor old dog…
I was looking at StarTrek.com the other day. For business, not pleasure, I assure you. In reading, I found out that trekkies call William Shatner, “The Shat”. Maybe it’s just me, but I wouldn’t want to be called any name that is the past tense of Shit. And if you are “the shat” does that…
Let’s look at a live show. My fee for an hour on stage is anywhere from $200-$1500 depending on the venue. That means, at the minimum, my time is worth $200/hr. Someone like Paul McCartney would get considerably more. Let’s say an arena full of 10,000 people at $45 per ticket. Conservative estimates on both…
A lot of people ask me about my views on downloading. Particularly as they’re buying one of my CDs after a show. Well, here it is. It’s bad. It’s illegal. I don’t like it. And I don’t participate in it. Now I understand giving away free samples and such. That’s not my beef here. That’s…
So, Ms Jammie Thomas-Rasset now owes the RIAA $1.92 million for her illegal downloading activities. Here’s the original article: http://www.startribune.com/local/48287937.html?elr=KArksUUUU But didn’t the RIAA stop suing people months ago? Yep. They finally figured out that it’s a bad idea to sue your customers. Doesn’t due a lot for customer loyalty. I’m sure there was some…
When people speak of comedy music, very few names pop up. Some people know Stephen Lynch. Some know Tenacious D. Many know Adam Sandler, but only has an actor. Everyone knows Weird Al Yankovic. Al is the king of parody, which is exactly why I don’t do parody. It can’ t be done better. If…
This in from Music Industry Report via Trent’s Nine Inch Nails board: http://musicindustryreport.org/?p=8944 Now, this article may just sound like a whiny rock star at times, but he has some valid points. It is expected of celebrities now to open up their lives to these public portals. But at some point you’re going to end…
“To be great you need to be odd.” That’s a quote from the latest Motley Fool book “Million Dollar Portfolio”. It has to do with the idea that as an investor you need to go against the grain on public sentiment when buying and selling stocks. The herd mentality never leads to profit. What the…
Some people have all the balls they need. Here’s a picture of confidence. I pulled up to a stoplight and on the opposite corner was one of those guys swinging a sign. Now, first of all, he’s swinging a sign for Savers, which is a thrift store. I don’t mean “vintage” clothing. There’s no $100…
As an independent performing artist, I’m always on the lookout for good business books. The days of being a rock star with a zillion handlers to take care of the day-to-day tasks are long gone in this business. Artists are very involved in their own businesses now. The E-Myth Revisited is not an artist-centered book. …
Chris Valenti and I (as They Dysfunctional Romantics) did our first military base gigs this past weekend. Nothing dangerous or life threatening… We did the Presidio in Monterey, CA and Fort Hunter Liggett near Jolon, CA. Everyone was nice enough to not look too strangely at the long haired kid walking around base. But nobody…
