tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211848042024-03-13T23:05:49.213-04:00The Greenhaus EffectProductive ProcrastinationMike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.comBlogger251125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-33558142114862374982013-03-21T14:58:00.003-04:002013-03-21T14:58:39.900-04:005 Twitter Size SXSW Thoughts In One Old School Blog Post <br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The view from Willie<span style="font-size: small;"> Ne<span style="font-size: small;">ls<span style="font-size: small;">on's farm </span></span></span></span></i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">B<span style="font-size: small;">et<span style="font-size: small;">ween <span style="font-size: small;">watching bands and namedropping them, here are five tings I learned at SXSW<span style="font-size: small;">...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></i><br /><br />1) RSVPing is the new attending<br /><br />2) It is entirely possible
to<span style="font-size: small;"> relive </span>every SXSW buzz band at a Bowery Presents venue this week<br /><br />3) If
enough time passes, even the most jaded jamband fan who is still pissed that Bob
Weir played with Hanson will find themselves spending<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>their Saturday night
waiting in line to get into a Justin Timerblake<br />show<br /><br />4) If food is the
new music AND SXSW is now all about interactive, than using the transitive
property next year's SXSW should be entirely<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>focused on food porn instagram
pics<br /><br />5) <span style="font-size: small;">P</span>eople who keep SXSW wristbands on for too long are kind of like
people who left their ski tags on their jackets in the '80s, only
less<span style="font-size: small;"></span> sanitary<br />
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Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-2434409340598905272012-04-24T19:37:00.000-04:002012-04-24T19:37:01.617-04:00<i>I haven't posted in this space for quite some time but this seemed just as good as any time....RIP Levon</i><br />
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I was lucky enough to see Levon Helm perform numerous times over the years and even had the opportunity to interview him once at a Ramble. He was a true witness to rock history--one of the few people who was<br /> around went folk went electric and still felt just as relevant when jam went indie--but he still thought of himself as a sideman. I’ll never forget the first time I saw him play in high school<span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span><span class="text_exposed_show"> before I even had my driver’s license: I went to see the Counting Crows play at SPAC, and the Wallflowers opened on their first tour (coincidentally it was also my first time in Saratoga Springs where I’d eventually go to school and truly learn to love rootsy music). At the end of this set, Jakob Dylan brought out Levon Helm to sing and play mandolin on a<br /> Dylan song, which was also something of a rarity for the Wallflowers at that time. This was before Levon has been diagnosed with cancer and certainly before he launched one of the most successful comebacks in<br /> recent rock history so I really didn’t know who he was—he just seemed to come down from the mountain and change the whole feel of the night, which feels like the perfect way to experience him for the first time.<br /> I think that was also the first time my Dad and I really agreed on music. Levon was the last true resident of Woodstock…</span><br />
<br />Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-31143656990353024702011-02-08T14:15:00.013-05:002011-02-08T15:16:11.815-05:00The Theory of Saturn's First Return (AKA How I Spent My Summer Vacation)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/TVGYNp7VdgI/AAAAAAAAAYw/7AISRQcyCLs/s1600/Real%2BEstate%2BRelix.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/TVGYNp7VdgI/AAAAAAAAAYw/7AISRQcyCLs/s320/Real%2BEstate%2BRelix.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571401574394459650" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Real Estate playing my </span><span style="font-style: italic;">29th </span><span style="font-style: italic;">annual belated birthday</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">party. The bonus</span><span> </span><span>Relix</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> product placement in the background means I can use this blog entry as a tax write off. </span><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Wow. It's certainly been a while since I last updated this space. In fact, so much time has passed that some of you probably thought I was mad at you…or had eloped…or was dead in a ditch…or one of the other many of conclusions my loving neurotic family might jump to if I didn’t call home for over two years. Normally this is the time where I would say something to the extent of “not much as changed in the past year except for where I accidentally place my typos,” but in the past 24 months things <span style="font-style: italic;">have</span> actually changed in my little nook of the ‘net—and in the world in general.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">In case you've been living under a rock or in DIY promoter Todd P’s Market Hotel for the past 24 months: Phish reunited, the fans returned, got jaded again, skipped out on some shows, realized that it is more fun to be jaded on the road than at home and seem to be back in full force. In that time Japanese spammers also stole my beloved Greenhaus Effect.com URL and the punks at Go Daddy's customer service department--who are clearly better at sending out spam than speaking Japanese--have been unable to buy it back for me.<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Then, of course, there was that rather strange 48-hour-period where my co-workers and I were fired from Zenbu Media through an air-condition vent, agreed to stay on for free to close a final issue of <span style="font-style: italic;">Relix</span> and helped re-launch the magazine with the help of the best thing to happen to the bowling world since<span style="font-style: italic;"> The Big Lebowski</span>, Pete Shapiro.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">In the past year, I’ve also seen one former musical acquaintance top the Billboard charts, another camp friend emerge as my generation’s Bill Gates and enough friends jump on the wedding bandwagon that I’m officially declaring 2011 the year “having babies is the new getting married.” Plus, there's that whole meeting the love of my life thing (the grammatically correct yin to my perennially incorrect yang) and realizing that, to misquote John Lennon, life is what happens why you're worrying about other things. Heck, I even changed where I part my hair.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">I’m almost tempted to believe the old astrological chart myth of Saturn’s First Return—the theory that one begins a new stage of their life between the ages of 28 and 30—but I should probably stop talking before I start sounding like minute 58 of a 60-minute episode of <span style="font-style: italic;">Behind the Music</span>.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">But I do miss posting things to the internet that I’ll regret in a couple of years, so after a good deal of thinking—and a great deal of procrastination—I've decided to re-activate my long dormant Greenhaus Effect column on Jambands.com (which much like Jambands.com in general falls somewhere between USNET groups and blogs on the internet timeline but somehow managed to survive both digital trends).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">I’m not entirely sure how often I’ll update my new/old column or even what I should call it: The Greenhaus Effect 3.5 (1.0 being my college column, 2.0 being my original Jambands.com column and 3.0 being my blog), Hell Freezes Over: The Greenhaus Effect 2.0 Reunion Tour or even Furthur Greenhaus Effects. But I can promise you one thing hasn’t changed: I'm still note entire sure how to tie my shoes.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i> </i></p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-74599752631225587852009-05-04T12:29:00.002-04:002009-05-04T12:32:25.828-04:00The Name of the Magazine is Relix, Not Re-Lix<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/Sf8YkKhp-yI/AAAAAAAAAXo/WW69VSPCXXg/s1600-h/relix_site.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 290px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/Sf8YkKhp-yI/AAAAAAAAAXo/WW69VSPCXXg/s320/relix_site.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332007493409831714" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><p class="BodyA" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b style=""><u><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:14;" >RELIX MEDIA GROUP ACQUIRES <i style="">RELIX</i> MAGAZINE,<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p> <p class="BodyA" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b style=""><u><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:14;" >RELIX.COM AND JAMBANDS.COM</span></u></b><b style=""><u><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:16;" ><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p> <p class="BodyA"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:8;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="BodyA" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b style=""><span style="font-family:Arial;">HISTORIC MUSIC MAGAZINE TO RELAUNCH WITH JUNE ISSUE; <o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="BodyA" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b style=""><span style="font-family:Arial;">REDESIGNED WEBSITES TO GO ONLINE WITHIN COMING MONTHS<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="BodyA"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:8;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="BodyA"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11;" >May 4, 2009 – New York, NY –</span></b><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11;" > </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11;" >Relix Media Group, LLC announced today that it has acquired <i style="">Relix</i> magazine, Relix.com, and Jambands.com from previous owner Zenbu Media. Relix Media Group is a newly formed team of private investors led by music and film entrepreneur Peter Shapiro and former Zenbu Media employees. Shapiro will become Publisher of the iconic music title and longtime Editor-in-Chief Josh Baron will remain in place and be appointed to the management team. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="BodyA"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11;" >In addition to Shapiro and Baron, Relix Media Group’s executive management team will include Associate Publisher, Senior Vice President, Rachel Seiden; Executive Editor, Senior Vice President of Digital, Dean Budnick; Executive Editor, Vice President of Relix Media Group, Mike Greenhaus; Chief Financial Officer, Dale Hirschman; and Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Cole Boyle. All members of Relix Media Group’s new team are veterans of the magazine. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="BodyA"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11;" >“We look at the change of ownership as chapter three in the <i>Relix</i> story,” says Baron.“ “Ironically, at a difficult time in the magazine industry, <i>Relix</i> is stronger than it has ever been on both the editorial and business sides. We're confident that the new team in place, along with Peter's diverse background as a club owner of The Wetlands and now Brooklyn Bowl, plus his involvement in films like <i>U23D</i>, will help strategically grow the company.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11;" >“Live music isn’t going anywhere,” adds Shapiro. “<i style="">Relix</i>’s core is live music and we will document and embrace that every step of the way.<span style=""> </span>We will use the respected <i style="">Relix</i> brand as an anchor, and expand from there.<span style=""> </span>With this new, yet familiar, team in-place we feel strongly that we have a strong and vibrant magazine on all levels and we're all very excited about the opportunity to build on <i style="">Relix</i>’s venerable 35-year history.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="BodyA"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11;" >"Personally, I am thrilled to continue the forward-thinking leadership that Steve Bernstein brought to the magazine since he became publisher in 2000. We will also, of course, respect the iconic legacy and tradition created by Relix’s founders Les Kippel and Toni Brown over three decades ago. They have all dedicated themselves to Relix and made it what it is today, and I plan on bringing that same passion as publisher."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="BodyA"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11;" >Founded in 1974 as a hand-stapled newsletter for Grateful Dead fans and tape traders, <i style="">Relix</i> magazine has evolved over the last 35-years into the leading source for fans of live music. These days the brand, which also includes, Relix.com and Jambands.com, offers readers rare insight and exclusive coverage on some of the world’s leading artists. Recent features include profiles on The Allman Brothers Band, The Clash, Neil Young, Black Crowes, Mars Volta, Beastie Boys, Miles Davis, Conor Oberst and Ryan Adams and many others. As noted industry critic Bob Lefestz noted earlier this year, <i style="">Relix</i> is “more <i style="">Rolling Stone</i> than <i style="">Rolling Stone</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="BodyA"><i style=""><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11;" >Relix</span></i><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:11;" > will relaunch under the direction of new ownership with the June issue, while the newly branded web properties will go online within the coming months. The magazine, which will hit newsstands on May 19, will profile Phish in their first cover story since announcing reunion plans last year. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="BodyA"><b style=""><span style="font-size:11;"><a href="http://www.relix.com/joinus">Please click here</a> to subscribe </span></b><b style=""><span style="font-size:8;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-73756528219101653042009-02-03T00:19:00.000-05:002009-02-03T00:20:12.440-05:00Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Phish and the Beastie Boys to Play Bonnaroo<p><strong><a name="2-2-30"> <b>As I posted in the mother country (Relix/Jambands.com)<br /></b> </a></strong></p><p> </p><p> <a href="http://www.bonnaroo.com/">Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Phish and the Beastie Boys</a> have been confirmed as headliners for the eighth annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. As previously reported, the four-day event will take place from June 11-14 in Manchester, TN. Other marquee acts scheduled to appear include industrial arena-rockers Nine Inch Nails, Talking Heads visionary David Byrne, indie/alt-country powerhouse Wilco, soul legend Al Green, rap icon Snoop Dogg, seminal country musician Merle Haggard and singer/songwriter Elvis Costello, who will deliver a rare solo set. </p><p> Phish and Bruce Springsteen are both major coups for the festival, which has its roots in the jam and classic-rock scenes. Both artists will make their only U.S. 2008 festival appearances at the four-day event, squashing rumors that Phish will play Rothbury and Outside Lands later this summer. In addition to a full two-set headlining performance, Phish will deliver a special late-night set as guitarist Trey Anastasio did in 2005. </p><p>“Their presence at Bonnaroo holds a great deal of significance -- besides the fact that each of its members has shown the event great support, performing at the festival in various incarnations over the years, Phish’s own festivals were notably one of the major inspirations for Bonnaroo’s creation and operational strategies,” the festival’s organizers said in a statement. “Many of the organizers of those events (large scale, multi-day camping festivals with Phish as the solo performer) were brought on to help birth Bonnaroo in 2002, and continue to play a major role in the festival to this day.” </p><p>Festival producer Ashley Capps, of AC Entertainment, is quick to emphasize the importance the organizers of Phish’s multi-day large-scale events had on Bonnaroo. “They worked with us from the very beginning and many of them remain core to our staff and making Bonnaroo what it is today,” Capps told Relix/Jambands.com. “Phish is going to offer a late-night set as well as more of a headlining situation.” </p><p>Bonnaroo has spent the past few years actively diversifying its lineup, so it is no surprise that this year’s offerings will feature touchstone acts from an incredible mix of genres. Hip-hop influenced soul singer Erykah Badu will make her Bonnaroo debut a year after My Morning Jacket covered her “Tyrone,” while festival staple Ben Harper will return with his new rock band Relentless7. Though this year is the Beastie Boys’ first appearance at Bonnaroo, longtime Beastie Boys DJ Mix Master Mike spun at the second annual Bonnaroo in 2003, and keyboardist Money Mark appeared at the festival this past summer. International DJ Paul Oakenfold will also make his first appearance at the festival. </p><p>“Both Nine Inch Nails and Erykah Badu are acts who we have talked about trying to get for a while,” Capps continues. “They are both fantastic live acts and that is always core to the Bonnaroo aesthetic—looking to artists who deliver fantastic live performances. Erykah will add another dimension and she will fit right in.” Though Capps is hesitant to talk about Nine Inch Nail’s set time, he says the three-dimensional group will have “a very special spot on the festival’s lineup.” </p><p>Other returning favorites include prog-metal titans The Mars Volta, blues-jam stars Gov’t Mule, violin wiz, Andrew Bird, jam favorites moe., indie-pop collective The Decemberists and experimental laptop DJ Girl Talk. Synth-pop buzzband MGMT will also graduate from last year’s Thursday night showcase spot to a proper festival set. In addition, New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint, hard-rock band Coheed and Cambria and Stax keyboardist Booker T. Jones will all take part in the multi-day event. Coheed and Combria have worked their way onto the jamband circuit in recent months thanks to appearances at Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam and a confirmed spot at Mountain Jam, while Jones will be backed by Bonnaroo favorites Drive-By Truckers. </p><p>As in years past, the festival has confirmed a number of indie favorites, including Band of Horses, TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bon Iver, Of Montreal, Animal Collective, Gomez, Neko Case, Jenny Lewis, The Ting Tings, Grizzly Bear, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Crystal Castles, Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3, Okkervil River, St. Vincent, Elvis Perkins In Dearland, Cherryholmes and Yeasayer. </p><p> The festival will also appeal to its core jam and roots-music audience with appearances by Lucinda Williams, Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabate, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Galactic, The Del McCoury Band, David Grisman Quintet, Alejandro Escovedo, Robert Earl Keen, Citizen Cope, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Kaki King, Tift Merritt, Brett Dennen, Todd Snider, Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue and Toubab Krewe. </p><p>“The stars aligned this year,” Capps says. “The breadth and depth of what the festival has to offer is beyond anything we have offered. We are so excited by the variety of bluegrass and acoustic music alongside DJ and electric acts. We also have some fantastic African bands on the lineup.” </p><p>This year’s world music acts include afro-beat heirs Femi Kuti and the Positive Force, Nigerian singer and guitarist King Sunny Adé, Malian singer Vieux Farka Touré and reggae troubadours Midnite. </p><p>Having booked Tool and Metallica in 2007 and 2008, respectively, Bonnaroo will also appeal to fans of harder music by offering performances by Down, Portugal. The Man and People Under the Stairs. Other left-field additions include hip-hop songstress Santogold, soul singer Raphael Saadiq and hip-hop duo The Knux. </p><p> Bonnaroo has helped breed a number of bands over the years, from My Morning Jacket to Kings of Leon, and this spring the festival has also confirmed a handful of up-and-coming bands, including country crossover Zac Brown Band (which played the festival in 2007), synth-rockers Chairlift, local bluegrass group The SteelDrivers, organic rockers The Low Anthem, retro-indie hybrid Delta Spirit, Fat Possum recording artist A.A. Bondy, bluegrass/country/folk fusion The Lovell Sisters and Canadian Americana stars--and Relix favorites--Alberta Cross. </p><p>Given the current state of the economy, the festival is now offering a special payment plan in which tickets will be available for five payments of $50.00 plus applicable fees. In addition, fans will have the option to purchase a Bonnaroo Green Ticket that will help to support the development and implementation of sustainable improvements at the festival for years to come. </p><p>As part of this initial Bonnaroo 2009 artist announcement, festival organizers have teamed up with Ghost Robot to create an innovative video that incorporates a new experimental process called stratostencil animation. <a href="http://www.bonnaroo.com/">The video can be viewed at Bonnaroo.com</a>. </p><p> </p><p> <b>Below is the complete artist lineup:</b> </p><p> Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band </p><p> </p><p> Phish (2 Shows) </p><p> Beastie Boys </p><p> Nine Inch Nails </p><p> David Byrne </p><p> Wilco </p><p> Al Green </p><p> Snoop Dogg </p><p> Elvis Costello Solo </p><p> Erykah Badu </p><p> Paul Oakenfold </p><p> Ben Harper and Relentless7 </p><p> The Mars Volta </p><p> TV on the Radio </p><p> Yeah Yeah Yeahs </p><p> Band of Horses </p><p> </p><p> Gov’t Mule </p><p> Andrew Bird </p><p> Merle Haggard </p><p> MGMT </p><p> moe. </p><p> Girl Talk </p><p> Bon Iver </p><p> Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabate </p><p> Rodrigo y Gabriela </p><p> Galactic </p><p> The Del McCoury Band </p><p> of Montreal </p><p> Allen Toussaint </p><p> Coheed and Cambria </p><p> Booker T & the DBTs </p><p> David Grisman Quintet </p><p> Lucinda Williams </p><p> Animal Collective </p><p> Gomez </p><p> Neko Case </p><p> Down </p><p> Jenny Lewis </p><p> Santogold </p><p> Robert Earl Keen </p><p> Citizen Cope </p><p> Femi Kuti and the Positive Force </p><p> The Ting Tings </p><p> Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 </p><p> Grace Potter and the Nocturnals </p><p> Kaki King </p><p> Grizzly Bear </p><p> King Sunny Adé </p><p> Okkervil River </p><p> St. Vincent </p><p> Zac Brown Band </p><p> Raphael Saadiq </p><p> Ted Leo and the Pharmacists </p><p> Crystal Castles </p><p> Tift Merritt </p><p> Brett Dennen </p><p> Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue </p><p> Toubab Krewe </p><p> People Under the Stairs </p><p> Alejandro Escovedo </p><p> Vieux Farka Touré </p><p> Elvis Perkins In Dearland </p><p> Cherryholmes </p><p> Yeasayer </p><p> Todd Snider </p><p> Chairlift </p><p> Portugal. The Man. </p><p> The SteelDrivers </p><p> Midnite </p><p> The Knux </p><p> The Low Anthem </p><p> Delta Spirit </p><p> A.A. Bondy </p><p> The Lovell Sisters </p><p> Alberta Cross </p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-27620207678508872562009-02-02T00:35:00.003-05:002009-02-02T00:39:01.226-05:00Twitter TyposBeen digging the Twitter this weekend. So far I've learned that Trey saw Neil Young and Wilco at MSG, brunch was popularized in the late 19th century and that people don't seem to mind my typos so much if they are under 140 characters. To see for yourself, <a href="http://twitter.com/greenhauseffect">please click here</a>.Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-50310754072654090082009-01-29T17:07:00.001-05:002009-01-29T18:47:31.295-05:00Auld Lang Syne Encore: Bob Weir, Billy Martin, Marco Benevento, Broken Social Scene, STS9 and More<center><span style="font-style: italic;">Final Relix and Jambands.com Year in Review, reposted on my personal blog for your procrastinating pleasure<br /><br /></span><span class="title"><b>Auld Lang Syne Encore: Bob Weir, Billy Martin, Marco Benevento, Broken Social Scene, STS9 and More</b></span><br /><span class="author"><a href="mailto:mike@relix.com">Mike Greenhaus</a></span><br /><span class="pubdate">2009-01-29</span> </center> <p> <!--CONTENT--> It may only be late-January, but 2008 already feels like a year ago. You can blame it on the fast pace of modern technology or the historical events that took place on Januay 20th or, heck, the fact that my calendar is already jam-packed through August thanks to the simultaneous return of Phish, The Dead and the Allman Brothers Band. But before we close books on 2008 and hit the road to if veggie burrito prices have dropped from 1-for-3, 2-for-5 during the recession, we figured we should check in with one final group of musicians, managers, writers and other industry insiders featured in the pages of Relix and on Jambands.com throughout 2008. What singer made babies and what drummer saw the Black Crowes? Which Candian loved New Zealand and what Brit took to Tokyo? Who is pumped for Phish, who will settle for the McLovins and will Obama finally surpass Jerry Garcia as the most cited musician in the site’s 10-year history. Read on to see for yourself and be sure to check out <a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_12_17.00.phtml" target="s">Set 1</a>, <a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_12_23.10.phtml" target="s">Set 2</a> and <a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2009_01_07.00.phtml" target="s">Set 3</a> to hear what Dave Schools, Mike Gordon, Michael Kang, Marc Brownstein, My Morning Jacket, Brendan Bayliss, Grace Potter, Patterson Hood, Vince Herman, Mark Karan and a slew of other musicians will remember about the past twelve months. </p><p>**********</p><p>BOB WEIR<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.00.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Come on, what do you think?</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Band of Brotherz</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Band of Brotherz rough mixes</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance</i></b><br />RatDog in Washington DC the night after the election. Not because it was us, but because of the night. </p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_08_13.00.phtml" target="b">Please click here for a recent site interview with Bob Weir</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>BILLY MARTIN<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.01.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Election night. Strangely, I took an old high school friend to see his favorite band (The Black Crowes) and I got to see my good friend Luther Dickenson play with them, which was great. After the show, as we were driving out of the parking lot we drove right through the heart of Times Square and hundreds of thousands of people were cheering with the news that Obama was winning. All the monitors were lit up with various news stations regarding the election. My heart was in my throat and it was incredible. I wish I had my camera. I'll never forget that moment.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />The Fuzz</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Probably <i>Music of Indonesia, Vol. 2: Indonesian Popular Music</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />My favorite with MMW? I think the recent Radiolarians 3 performance in Petaluma, California</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_01_23.07.phtml" target="b">Please click here for a recent site interview with Billy Martin</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>VINNIE AMICO (moe.)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.02.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Electing a new president...</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Phish</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Damian Marley, <i>Welcome to Jamrock</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />moe.down 2008, Presidents of the USA</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_08_22.10.phtml" target="m">Please click here for a recent site interview with moe.</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>DAVID MURPHY (STS9)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.03.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Barack Obama winning the presidency...</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Collective Efforts</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Ghostland Observatory</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_07_22.10.phtml" target="m">Please click here for a recent site interview with David Murphy.</a></p><p><br />**********</p><p>RYAN MILLER (GUSTER)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_28.00.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Baby Making.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Prince. This will be his year again. One can dream....</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Harry Nilsson, <i>Nilsson Schmilsson</i> and M. Ward, <i>Post-War</i>.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Dirty Projectors at Williamsburg Music Hall</p><p>**********</p><p>MARCO BENEVENTO<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.04.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Marco Benevento Trio with Fishman. He's a wealth of knowledge and a badass, indeed!</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Surprise Me Mr. Davis</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often</i></b><br />Jim Noir <i>Tower Of Love</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />!!! at Evolve Fest, Nova Scoti</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/CDReviews/content_2008_02_24.09.phtml" target="m">Please click here for a recent site interview with Marco Benevento.</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>JASON COLTON (RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT) </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Discovering Portland, Oregon over six trips there. </p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I just listened to a band called Blind Pilot, out of the aforementioned Portland, Oregon that I liked a lot. At times, they sound like Shins/Iron and Wine/Elliot Smith with Beirut-y horns, but still very unique. Also Other Lives, from Stillwater, OK. Debut album comes out this year and it's gorgeous and sad.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Delta Spirit’s Ode to Sunshine - the soundtrack to all the traveling I did last summer. Amplified and rocking and sublime all at once.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />It would have to be The Dodos at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar here in Charlottesville last March. I had never heard a note before I walked in, and was freaking out the whole show. Powerful especially in an intimate space.</p><p><br />**********</p><p>ANNABEL LUKINS STELLING (JAM CRUISE, LANGERADO)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.05.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />President-Elect Barack Obama walking down the runway in Chicago with his family, hand in hand, America going NUTS, arriving at the podium and stating with pride: “This is your victory.”</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Toubab Krewe. These guys are an under-appreciated group of worldly spiritual musicians. Spawning from places like Africa, playing harp-lutes and other unique instruments, this band has got energy coming out of their energy. Percussion based<br />rock and roll meets mystical rhythm. Check them out!</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Michael Franti’s <i>All Rebel Rockers</i>. I have made a lifelong commitment to Michael and the band to support them. But that doesn't mean that I am going to love everything they do. So I was weary upon my first listen of ARR, mostly because I love his ballads and Reggae isn't my favorite genre. Well, let's just throw all my expectations out the window. The album is a complete rock-reggae throw down. Plus, there ARE ballads, they are just different than his other ones. I can't get it out of my car. The songs are mightily rhythmic, the lyrics are profound. Each tune is catchy and becomes more familiar after each listen. I love <i>All Rebel Rockers</i>, Michael and the boys continue to push themselves toward personal and powerful songs full of spirit and life.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Obviously, this is a tough question for any music lover. So, the editors usually let me get away with two. First up, Broken Social Scene, Sonic Stage - Bonnaroo. Now, I book/manage/emcee this stage and I absolutely cherish my job. So when I approached BSS to play a 2nd gratis performance, they agreed. The beauty of the stage is that bands strip down from their typical set and perform more of an acoustic. Albeit not acoustic, but definitely not a full set up, Broken Social Scene rocked the Sonic Stage like almost no other band has ever in the 5 years I have been running it. It was over the top energy and excitement for 30 minutes straight. And what was almost even more gratifying was the<br />crowd, BSS broke the record for the most fans watching a band at my tiny 15x15 outdoor stage on the grass, over 2000.</p><p>I am much more personally connected to the 2nd one: Primus - Rothbury late night set. I have told the readers that Bela Fleck is my favorite musician. Well, Les Claypool is right behind him. Primus, along with 30-feet high blow up spacemen, lit up the forest in Michigan with force. Every song hit you in the belly, as Les' slap happy bass was<br />loud and at the same time commanded beautiful noise. The show was over 2 hours and I didn't leave my spot, I was close to being in a trance. Their tour manager/sound man is my good buddy, and showed me from the soundboard how unpredictable the band is, throwing riffs and jams toward him without any warning. He laughed out loud at 3am while saying, "they keep me on my toes." These guys still bring the heat with their twisted rock driven progressive freak out music. It's weird, it's out there, and I LOVE it.</p><p>**********</p><p>RICHARD GEHR (VILLAGE VOICE, THE PHISH BOOK) </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The international economic collapse, alas.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Uh, Phish?</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br /><i>Racional</i> and <i>Racional Vol. 2</i> by Brazilian soul star Tim Maia.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Red Hot + Rio 2: The Next Generation of Samba Soul at the Brooklyn<br />Academy of Music, 12/4/08</p><p>**********</p><p>TOMMY “TNT” BRENNECK (THE DAP-KINGS, BUDOS BAND)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.06.gif" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The night Obama won the election.</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Charles Bradley</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Neil Young, <i>Everybody Knows This is Nowhere</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />The Daptone Family Obama fundraiser at Southpaw featuring Naomi Shelton<br />and the Gospel Queens, Menahan Street Band featuring Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and the Budos Band.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Roger Waters-Pepsi Center, Denver</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_12_23.02.phtml" target="t">Please click here for a recent interview with TNT.</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>ERIC KRASNO (SOULIVE, LETTUCE)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.07.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Definitely Obama being elected president. A huge moment in history.</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Nigel Hall and The London Souls</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Popular Machine EP by Van Hunt and <i>The Way I See It</i> by Raphael Saadiq </p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Stevie Wonder at JazzFest in New Orleans!!</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2007_12_20.03.phtml" target="e">Please click here for a recent interview with Eric Krasno</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>SIMON ALLEN (NEW MASTERSOUNDS)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.08.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Our gig at Club Quattro in Tokyo 12/9</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />The Pimps of Joytime</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />The Flight of the Conchords</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Lonnie Smith trio featuring Melvin Sparks and Eric Kalb at Sela Bar, Leeds on my birthday 10/28/08</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/FanSites/content_2008_09_23.00.phtml" target="n">Please click here for a profile of the New Mastersounds’ fan site.</a></p><p>**********</p><p>NATHANIEL D. RATELIFF (BORN IN THE FLOOD/THE WHEEL)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.09.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Getting married to my wonderful wife who has been very supportive. I had the opportunity to travel across America with two of my closest friends.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I hope that this year will be the year that The Wheel / Born In The Flood will be the bands to look out for</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />I know that they're older records but Arcade Fire, <i>The Funeral</i> and Spoon<br /><i>Kill the Moon Light</i>. I love these and listen to them a lot</p><p>**********</p><p>KEVIN MORRIS (MADISON HOUSE/SCI FIDELITY) </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Barack Obama</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Younger Brother</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Drive-By Truckers, <i>Brighter than Creation's Dark</i> and Hold Steady, <i>Stay Positive</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Winwood/Clapton MSG and Pearl Jam at Bonnaroo and Drive-By Truckers and Hold Steady at the Ryman</p><p>**********</p><p>FUTURE ROCK</p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Barack Obama getting elected.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Tobacco (Black Moth Super Rainbow side project)</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Crystal Castles <i>Crystal Castles</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Mickey Kellerman - Booka Shade at Lollapalooza, Chicago IL<br />Felix Moreno - MGMT at Paradiso, Amsterdam, Holland<br />Darren Heitz - Battles at Double Door, Chicago IL</p><p>**********</p><p>CHRIS THEBERGE (GROOVE COLLECTIVE)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.10.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The birth of my second baby boy Misha Alexander</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/dremarciano" target="d">Dre Marciano</a> - an up & coming young MC that I am helping with producer Spanky Nieves. </p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Hmmm ..difficult -- had a lot on rotation --new and old -- definitely lots of Nas, Skynyrd and Fania all-stars</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Performing ceremonial drumming for 10 Traditional Africa Kings at Harvard University [<a href="http://web.mac.com/music.works/Site/Harvard_Ifa_Conference_Media_Gallery.html" target="v">video link here for those interested</a>]</p><p> </p><p>**********</p><p>BRENDAN CANNING (BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.11.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />That I was a lucky little shit who got to play in New Zealand, Singapore, Tai Pei, take a little break on the beaches of Mexico, then hit Turkey, Russia, Finland, finish out the year of my album being released in style with a matching sequence jacket and shorts,<br />choreographed dance routines a la Material Girl.....oh ya, stuck my mug in the Jenn Aniston paparazzi shots before our performance on <i>The Late Show</i>.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Deerhunter</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes Most often? </i></b><br />Nigerian Sounds 1970-6.(on my turntable-Technics 1200)</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Coney Island-Siren Fest. With all the lights of the carnival, it was hard to conceive that an ambulance pulled within fifty meters of the stage because a woman was going into labour.</p><p>**********</p><p>ADAM HAFT (LAS TORTUGAS) </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Most memorable: I will remember Obama giving all of us some inspiration and hope for future</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Led Zeppelin (I can dream, right?)</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes Most often? </i></b><br />Album most often played in my ipod: Raconteurs-<i>Consolers of the Lonely</i>.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />David Byrne at Davies Symphony Hall, SF, CA, doing Eno/Byrne material</p><p>**********</p><p>PETE FRANCIS (THE FLYERS, DISPATCH)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.12.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The election of Barack Obama.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Waldeck</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br /><i>Modern Guilt</i>, Beck</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood</p><p>**********</p><p>ZACH GILL (JACK JOHNSON, ALO)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.13.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Barack Obama 's acceptance speech</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I’m excited to see what the guys from ALO do in 2009.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Both Regina Spektor albums.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />I performed with Jack Johnson in Barcelona, sometime in July, and something special happened. One of those transcendent moments between audience and musician, where everything seemed right in the world, and suddenly I felt like I was in a sacred space and I knew everything would be all right</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_08_22.06.phtml" target="z">Please click here for a recent interview with Zach Gill</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>JASON ISBELL<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.14.jpg" /></p><p><br /><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The Tour of Terror. Early in the year, we had a three-month trip that included a van burglary worth 20 grand, each member of the band catching the flu, and a drummer that bailed and went home halfway in. Then we got to tour the Midwest in February. Nice weather up there.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Jeez, I'm kinda hoping...</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Neutral Milk Hotel's <i>In the Aeroplane Over the Sea</i>. I think that makes three years in a row.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />We played with Centro-Matic and South San Gabriel (same guys, different songs and clothes) in Holland in May, and I can't remember seeing or hearing anything better. </p><p>**********</p><p>TIM WALTHER (ALL GOOD FESTIVAL, WALTHER PRODUCTIONS)</p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The election of Obama for President</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Lotus </p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Michael Franti and Spearhead - <i>All Rebel Rockers</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />David Byrne at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore</p><p>**********</p><p>DAVE MARGULIES (HIGH SIERRA) </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Most memorable moment for me in 2008 is the collective feeling of hope felt worldwide on election night and in particular the events and Obama speech from Grant Park in Chicago. In the same breath on a negative note but equally as memorable is the deep economic recession and job layoffs affecting millions of Americans and the future of our country. Runner up would be the white collar crimes of corporate gangsters such as Bernie Madoff. If you're asking this question in relation to music it was the continued proliferation of festivals and especially the mega-festivals. The more and bigger the festivals get the more I yearn for the cozy, more intimate festival experience, but then again I'm not 19 or even 29, or even 39 anymore...</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />The Avett Brothers.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Ernest Ranglin <i>Below The Bassline</i>. This CD came out in 1996 and has perhaps been my most played CD for every year since...If you're asking about a "new" CD, it would have to be the talented troubadour Nathan Moore's <i>In His Own Worlds</i>.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Stevie Wonder at the New Orleans jazz & Heritage Festival and Wilco at the Jackson Hole Music Festival</p><p>**********</p><p>JEREMY BLACK (APOLLO SUNSHINE)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.15.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Losing my virginity</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Drug Rug</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Ratatat, <i>LP3</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Neon Neon, November 6 at The Tripod in Dublin Ireland</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/CDReviews/content_2008_09_23.02.phtml" target="a">Please click here for a review of Apollo Sunshine’s latest release</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>CHRIS BERRY (PANJEA)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.16.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Laying down tracks in the studio after hearing Obamas acceptance speech.</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Any band that can’t be easily labeled or any band that doesn’t fit into a genre box.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Toumani Diabate</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Singing for a Native American Elder and her daughter at Earthdance. (It was just the three of us just before Panjea’s set).</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_07_22.09.phtml" target="k">Please click here for a interview with Panjea’s Michael Kang</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>KEN HAYS (GATHERING OF THE VIBES)</p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />I would have to say being a part of HeadCount and seeing millions of Americans unite around one common cause...change! Sitting back in my living room watching hundreds of thousands of people celebrate the election results in Chicago's Grant Park was unbelievable & inspiring.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Phish, The Dead (hopeful!) & the McLovins :)</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Wilco – <i>Sky Blue Sky</i>. I never gave them a real listening before, but after seeing them open for Neil at MSG, these guys got it going on!</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />I've gotta say, my favorite set of 2008 took place Sunday at the Vibes with the Sam Bush's band. It was 80 degrees and sunny, and I remember Sam & Co. lifting the Vibe to a higher level. Smiles radiating from the stage, to the crowd, to the cops, and to me. it was one of those Kodak moments I'll never forget.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_07_22.04.phtml" target="k">Please click here for an interview with Ken Hays</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>ANDY HURWITZ (ROPEADOPE)</p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Obama. Everything else is just a footnote (including the Phillies winning the World Series!).</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Grimace Federation. Straight from Philly, they're gonna shake shit up.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />The Wood Brothers - <i>Ways Not to Lose</i>. Not necessarily my favorite album of the year, but definitely the one I listened to the most.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Scotty Hard benefit at the Highline Ballroom.</p><p>**********</p><p>G. LOVE<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.17.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Being a rough year but meeting the love of my life. Headlining Red Rocks and Barack Obama being elected. Having so much bad shit happen because of my injury but also finding the strength and stamina to overcome everything and stay positive. And right now I'm ending on a real musical high as I've just been shedding a lot and feeling so reconnected with my music. After not being able to sing or play the harmonica for months, music is just pouring out. That feels good. So fuck it, it’s been a great year.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I hope its gonna be me.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Hmmmm lately been rocking Finely Quaye, Liquid Swords by GZA and I've been<br />listening to the Roots a lot. Then of course the blues is always on.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Hmm. I think the Raconteurs shows I saw in NYC and Boston this past summer. Also, John Butler Trio is an amazing band and I had the pleasure of seeing them every night this summer. John is one of the best players and most engaging performers I've ever watched.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/CDReviews/content_2008_06_23.03.phtml" target="g">Please click here for a review of G. Love’s latest album</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>SANDY SOHCOT (REX FOUNDATION) </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The presidential election providing a glimmer of hope in the wake of the financial downturn and other disturbing aspects of the sitting administration.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />The Brass Mafia (check them out!)</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br /><i>Shining Star</i> - Jerry Garcia</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Dark Star Orchestra at the Nokia on November 29, 2008</p><p>**********</p><p>REID GENAUER<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.18.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Don't need to scratch my head for too too long on this one - OBAMA!</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Theresa Anderson - the truth is she IS a band unto herself.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Bill Evans - <i>Riverside Profiles</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />The most memorable show I saw in 2008 was Colin Quinn (comedian)- I<br />laughed so hard I felt sick.</p><p>**********</p><p>SCOTT METZGER (AMERICAN BABIES, RANA, BUSTLE IN YOUR HEDGEGROW)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.19.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />For me it's a tie... Obviously Barack Obama being nominated for President is a monumental occurrence. It's a once in a couple of lifetimes type of thing and I am proud of all of us for making it happen. Thank God that dude won. And, almost equally as important, the Phillies winning the World Series for the second time in their franchise history. I was at game 5 (both of them) with my dad when they won it all and it was easily one of the best nights of my life. Goosebumps.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009</i></b><br />McLovins, obviously.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Mostly mixes that friends have made for me. As far as proper albums go, it's another tie...Chet Atkins and Les Paul <i>Chester and Lester</i> and The Boredoms’ <i>Pop Tatari</i>.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Neil Young had been on my list of guys to see for a long, long time, but I had never been able to make it happen. I finally got to see him and his band (with Wilco and Everest) at the Garden on 12-15-08. It was absolutely disgusting. He and his band kicked out the jams for two and half hours straight and showed the crowd no mercy. Add on the fact that Wilco, who is one of my favs (I mean, Nels? C'MON!), were on the bill I'd say it wasn't only my favorite show of '08, but would rank very high in my favorite shows of all time. </p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/CDReviews/content_2008_04_24.09.phtml" target="a">Please click here for a review of American Babies’ debut album</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>BRIDGET PLEINES (GROOVE ON MUSIC) </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Isn't it somewhat a sign of unity that everyone is saying Obama? His acceptance speech moved me to tears and made me feel filled with hope. Check out Ani Difranco's song November 4th, 2008 about that night, it is amazing "A neighborhood was a neighborhood like it hadn't been in years". </p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Cornmeal. I love what they are doing musically and their energy on stage is infectious. Also, The Hen House prowlers - great traditional bluegrass from Chicago. Oh yeah - and The Punch Brothers. They are just too good.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Quite frankly, my answer for all questions on here could be The Punch Brothers, but this one for sure. I can not go a day without listening to The Punch Brothers, <i>Punch</i>. The musicianship from each player in that band is ridiculous and humbling - Chris Thile on mandolin, Noam Pikelny on banjo (he's one to watch for sure), Gabe Witcher on fiddle, Chris Eldridge on guitar, and Greg Garrison on bass - they just blow me away. They are taking bluegrass instruments into another realm, really inventive stuff on that album, you can see so many influences on this album from bluegrass to classical to Radiohead. The 4 piece movement "The Blind Leaving the Blind" continues to blow my mind. </p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />I want to say the Punch Brothers at Dunegrass, but I am beginning to sound like a broken record. There were so many amazing live performances this year, its hard to say. But, Banyan at Summer Camp was unbelievable. There are so many great musicians in that band and their energy is off the charts. And Wisdom doing the live painting just blows me away. This was the only band I closed my office for during the festival so I could check them out and it was SO worth it. Also, Leftover Salmon at Dunegrass. </p><p>**********</p><p>MASON JENNINGS<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.20.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Spending time with my family. Going to Hawaii, Japan, Chile and Europe.<br />Obama getting elected.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />The Carter Family</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />The Carter Family -<i>Wildwood Flower</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />The Bad Plus at the Jazz Cafe in London.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_05_23.02.phtml" target="m">Please click here for a recent site interview with Mason Jennings</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>BRIAN STOLTZ (PBS)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.21.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />I cherish the memory of riding late in the dark on a cold night, pulling into Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico. The February Full Snow Moon had past, but was still bright enough to glisten on the clouds of frozen-over snow. The stars twinkled like diamonds against a deep, violet sky. Driving up the mountain, twisting between high snow banks - through an occasional clearing you could see lights shining in the distance from the cottages and chalets in the adjacent mountains. All of this left me with a feeling very much like being in the Himalayas. Twisting around the last turn we came upon scenery<br />so majestic that I became overwhelmed for a lingering moment. I felt I was transported back in time to an enchanted, ancient village in the Alps, but in some other dimension. We crossed a small, snow-clad bridge with a partially frozen stream trickling half-heartily below. The lights from the shops and Swiss chalets gleamed ahead. I was trying to absorb the entire scene at once and hold on to it. It was like stepping into a child's<br />enchanted fairy-tale storybook. It was so beautiful. I was quickly slapped back into reality as we pulled up to the venue that we were playing that night. Taos is a mystical, magical place - a very spiritual place. I'll hold this<br />memory forever.<br /><br /><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />A group called MyNameIsJohnMichael. This is a band led by John Michael Rouchell, an artist from New Orleans. He is a young guitarist, singer/songwriter and multi-talented instrumentalist with producer skills that precede him. In a moribund town like New Orleans, he is a true renaissance man. On a dare, he set out at the beginning of the year to<br />write, record and release one song a week for the entire year. He's pulled it off and you can hear and download the songs at www.mynameisjohnmichael.com. </p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />The Raconteurs’ <i>Consolers Of The Lonely</i>. This record slaps you in the face and wakes you up - like hearing The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Who and Queen all at the same time. And I have to support homeboy Brendan Benson.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />The Raconteurs at Bonnaroo 6.13.08 - This show slammed. This band is creating a whole new genre for themselves. Maybe they should call it. uh. ROCK 'N ROLL! </p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_09_23.08.phtml" target="b">Please click here for a recent site interview with Brian Stoltz</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>MATT POND (MATT POND PA)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.22.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />I remember swimming with a million jellyfish in the Mediterranean. It's the only memory I wish I could physically retrieve.</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Weird Owl has a record coming on out on Tee Pee Records. They are definitely under-heard.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Lykke Li, <i>Youth Novels</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Monotonix during CMJ. If I'd been inclined, I could've crapped my pants.</p><p><a href="http://relixradio.com/mp3s/CT661-Matt%20Pond.mp3" target="m">Please click here for a Matt Pond PA performance on Cold Turkey</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>MICHAEL FALZARANO (NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.23.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The Election of Barack Obama, and The New Riders of the Purple Sage being kicked out of a KOA campground by the police in Shreveport, Louisiana for disorderly conduct. I don't know if it was The Dim Lights, The Thick Smoke or The Loud, Loud music but we didn't even make it to midnight.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Ryan Montbleau</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Bob Dylan, <i>Modern Times</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />The New Riders at the Mystic Theater with special guests Jack Casady, Mark Karan, Pete Sears, G.E. Smith and Barry Sless</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_12_23.04.phtml" target="m">Please click here for a recenr site interview with Michael Falzarano</a></p><p>**********</p><p><br />BRIAN HASS (JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.24.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />I will remember JFJO's fourth European tour and how intensely magical it was. I will also remember playing in front of Seven Thousand people at the Lincoln Center outdoor bandshell.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Considering JFJO is about to start playing Beethoven's Third and Sixth Symphonies live with arrangements by Reed Mathis, I would say that Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey is the band to watch. What band will I be trying to fly to and see somewhere when I am not on the road? The Brad Mehldau Trio.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Abdullah Ibrahim's <i>African Magic</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />My favorite live performance was the Wayne Shorter Quartet at Newport Jazz Fest.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/ShowReviews/content_2008_05_01.01.phtml" target="j">Please click here for a review of a recent JFJO show</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>LUKE MILLER (LOTUS)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.25.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Obama getting elected and the Phillies winning the World Series.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Hot Chip</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Fleet Foxes - <i>Fleet Foxes</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />As audience member: Fleet Foxes at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia. As performer: Rothbury. </p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_04_25.02.phtml" target="l">Please click here for a recent interview with Lotus</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>JEFF COFFIN (FLECKTONES, DAVE MATTHEWS BAND)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_29.26.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Is it 2008 already?</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Radiohead...to hear what they come up with next.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Dafnis Prieto <i>Taking the Soul for a Walk</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Sitting in Ornette Coleman's loft in NYC listening to him play!</p><p><i>Mike Greenhaus blogs at <a href="http://www.greenhauseffect.com/" target="g">www.greenhauseffect.com</a>.</i> </p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-1253611054181904992009-01-15T01:19:00.005-05:002009-01-15T01:26:47.322-05:00The Cardinals Not Breaking Up, Ryan Adams Still Crazy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SW7WGFQ1GlI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/4xQCIx-5YKY/s1600-h/ryan+adams.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SW7WGFQ1GlI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/4xQCIx-5YKY/s320/ryan+adams.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291402012187236946" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Here is what I know (and posted on Relix/Jambands tonight)</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Only hours after announcing that he plans to break up the Cardinals and step away from the music world entirely, <a href="http://cave.cardinology.com/">Ryan Adams has retracted his latest statements</a>. “Of course everything I said got taken out of context, as always” Adams wrote on his blog this evening. “I did not say I was quitting. I said was taking a step back. So thanks…..thanks again.” </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Adams’ retraction came shortly after numerous online magazines and fan sites linked to the early afternoon blog post. In that long-winded post Adams declared, “Maybe we will play again sometime and maybe I will work my way back into some kind of music situation, but this is the time for me to step back now, to reel it in.” </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> The erratic singer/songwriter pulled down the statement almost immediately after the post hit the blogosphere. At first he replaced his seemingly heartfelt words with a blog about cereal, but eventually posted the abovementioned retraction. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> Adams closed his latest entry with a stab at the media. The image-heavy blast includes a black and white photo of a Dunkin' Donuts advertisement and a billboard declaring "Christ Died for Our Sins," a series of UFO shots and an extended caption that reads “this was in the 70’s and if what i read is right a crap in pants moment- made the headlines- they ( if that is a they in there) kept on cruising- is suspect to DunkinDonuts ( i mean, that would be my hang after that kind of a trip) what ev.”<br /></p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Here is what I speculate (but decided to just share with friends)</span><br /><br />At 11:58 AM Ryan Adams broke up the Cardinals. At 1:15 PM Ryan took a nap, had lunch, reunited the band, put on some Mastadon, grabbed some coffee and scheduled a reunion<br />tour for next fall.<br /><br />Unfortunately, they also put too much milk in his coffee, he cried and he decided to break up the band again. Hopefully he enjoys his milk and cookies tonight and decides to reunite the band next week.Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-21228981581544519592009-01-10T15:27:00.001-05:002009-01-10T15:27:28.678-05:00Auld Lang Syne Set 3: Michael Kang, Patterson Hood, Vince Herman, The National, Mark Karan, The Fab Faux, The Mars Volta and More<center> <span class="title"><b>Auld Lang Syne Set 3: Michael Kang, Patterson Hood, Vince Herman, The National, Mark Karan, The Fab Faux, The Mars Volta and More</b></span><br /><span class="author"><a href="mailto:mike@relix.com">Mike Greenhaus</a></span><br /><span class="pubdate">2009-01-07</span> </center> <p> <!--CONTENT--> The third installment in our annual retrospective is our most eclectic, featuring contributions from the likes of String Cheese Incident mandolin-wiz Michael Kang, Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood, Leftover Salmin co-founder Vince Herman, RatDog guitarist Mark Karan, National vistionary Matt Berninger, Fab Faux Beatles expert Rich Pagano and even Mars Volta prog-drummer Thomas Pridgen. We find out who weathered the rain to see My Morning Jacket’s Bonnaroo set, who scored a surprise main stage spot at the legendary Newport Folk Fest and who opened his ears to world music and rediscovered the rustic sounds of Americana. What’s more, we find out who loves David Byrne’s new collaboration with Brian Eno, who can’t get enough of Railroad Earth’s <i>Amen Corner</i> and who’s just excited to hear some new Phish. </p><p>If that’s not enough, please glance back at <a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_12_17.00.phtml" target="a">Auld Lang Syne Set 1</a> and <a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_12_23.10.phtml" target="s">Set 2</a> to hear from Dave Schools, Mike Gordon, My Morning Jacket, Marc Brownstein, Brendan Bayliss, Chris Frantz, Reed Mathis, Grace Potter, Toubab Krewe and a number of other artists we regularly cover on Jambands.com and in the pages of Relix magazine. We’ll be back next week with one encore edition of Auld Lang Syne as well, so be sure to check back for our fourth and final installment.</p><p>**********</p><p>MICHAEL KANG (STRING CHEESE INCIDENT, PANJEA, OUR FUTURE NOW)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_07.00.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The year that the White House turned into the Black House baby!</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />As far as bands to watch in 2009, I'd have to say Phish........</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />My most listened to album in 2008 was Fallou Dieng, <i>Feuk Djouf</i>, and Mala<br />Rodriguez, <i>Alevosia</i>.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Favorite Live Show....Thievery Corporation, Rothbury 08</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_07_22.09.phtml" target="k">Click here for a recent site interview with Michael Kang</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>PATTERSON HOOD (DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_06.00.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Obama!!!!</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I wish I knew. I have an advance copy of The Dexateens next album <i>Singlewide</i> and it's fantastic. it would be in my top 5 if it were out right now. (Note: I produced their last album but not the next one, but I love the next one much better than the one I was involved in.)</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />I've probably played the last Iron & Wine album (<i>The Shepherd’s Dog</i>) from last year more than anything all year. It's still growing on me. I love the vinyl / mp3 combination that allows one to buy the record and download it for free. I fought hard to have our last album configured that way, but lost.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Alejandro Escovedo at the Continental Club in Austin, TX last September during the ACL Fest Weekend. He played for hours with boundless energy and enthusiasm and hot Hispanic girls go go dancing on the side of the stage. Transcendent.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/ShowReviews/content_2008_02_27.00.phtml" target="c">Click here for a review of a recent Drive-By Truckers performance</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>VINCE HERMAN (LEFTOVER SALMON, GREAT AMERICAN TAXI)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_07.02.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The thing I remember most is waiting for George to be out of office.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />The bands to watch in 2009 are Great American Taxi and Elephant Revival </p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Railroad Earth, <i>Amen Corner</i>.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Favorite live show of 2008 was the Mark Vann foundation show at the Boulder theatre December 6th </p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_11_23.05.phtml" target="c">Click here for a recent site interview with Vince Herman</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>MATT BERNINGER (THE NATIONAL)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_09.00.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />When my homestate, Ohio, turned blue on November 4th.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I'll be watching The Strokes. I predict a reinvention.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />I've had a CD that's actually been physically stuck in my MacBook for six months. It's a band Scott and I were in during college called Nancy. We labeled the disc with stickers that must have peeled up causing the jam. This is not thinly disguised self-promotion. It's really stuck in there. I've tried everything.</p><p>The album I listened to the most is The Walkmen - <i>You & Me</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Hank Williams Jr. performing at the McCain-Palin victory party on Fox News. That was awesome.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_04_25.01.phtml" target="m">Click here for a recent site interview with Matt Berninger</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>JOSH BARON (RELIX MAGAZINE) </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />While there were plenty musical highlights, my most memorable moments are non-musical: Obama winning, my girlfriend's mother passing and me proposing later that day (her mother thankfully knew that that was the day a few weeks in advance).</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Tough call as there are so many great ones on the come up. Can I say a few? Everest should have a good year. The Handsome Furs could be poised to take it to the next level.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Something of a three-way tie: Bon Iver (<i>For Emma, Forever Ago</i>), Ryan Adams<br />(<i>Cardinology</i>) and, though it's not yet released, I really have listened to as much as anything else this year: M.Ward (<i>Hold Time</i>).</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />While I saw some incredible performances from Ryan Adams and Toumani Diabate, my hat goes off to Tom Waits. I flew south for two shows, Birmingham and Atlanta and both were absolutely stellar. Waits is in a league of his own.</p><p>**********</p><p>MARK KARAN (RATDOG)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_06.01.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />OBAMA fer sure...</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Wilco</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Stephen Bruton, <i>From the Five</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Playing with RatDog the night after election night in D.C.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_06_25.10.phtml" target="m">Click here for a recent Jambands.com Readers Interview with Mark Karan</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>RICH PAGANO (FAB FAUX)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_07.04.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Two Fab Faux memories: the audience frenzy that we experienced while performing at The Jammys when Trey Anastasio came out to join us on guitar for “My Guitar Gently Weeps” and then a few months later, selling out Radio City Music Hall for our 10th Anniversary show.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Rich Pagano and the SugarCane Cups (debut CD)</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Blodwyn Pig - <i>Getting To This</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Levon Helm and band live in Stamford, CT</p><p>**********</p><p>ICE CREAM MAN<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_07.05.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />I had a new ice cream truck to drive around the country, Newt, and that made life a lot easier. I was able to hit up a lot more places and didn't have to worry about breaking down before going to a festival or children's hospital. ah.....</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I think Animal Collective will finally take off. Not just in the minds of the critics but their<br />new album, <i>Merriweather Post Pavilion</i>, should finally catch on with a bigger audience. They're helping to lay the groundwork for the future of music.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />I rank my favorite albums of the year by the ones I listened to the most. 2008 was a great year. I wish my iTunes setup was accurate cuz it'd be a lot easier to tell ya but living outta an ice cream truck for six months means I'm listening to a lot of stuff via mp3 players which don't keep track. I'd have to say I've probably listened to Helio Sequence's new album the most in 2008. Saw them at Crystal Ballroom in Portland during Music Fest Northwest which was one of my favorite shows too. I'm a big fan of the new Of Montreal album too.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />It’s funny because I couldn't really even see the band but Sigur Ros at Bonnaroo was my favorite show of the year. I forgot I was such a big fan then started wandering over during their first song. I ended up sitting in front of the bass speakers on the other side of the crowd control barrier and didn't move for a couple hours. 1-3 in the morning, stuff<br />like that only happens at Bonnaroo.</p><p>**********</p><p>J. BAU (HARD HEAD MANAGEMENT) </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Hope, Change, and Happiness.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />(TIE)The Avett Brothers & Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk<br /><br /><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Though not my favorite, over the last 8 months, I found myself being drawn<br />back to <i>Chinese Democracy</i> (first the leak and then the retail) just to see<br />how the hell it could take 14 years to make a record. I still don't have the<br />answer. Right now, I can't stop listening to the new TV On The Radio.<br /><br /><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />My Morning Jacket at Bonnaroo. Hands Down.</p><p>**********</p><p>EVAN WINIKER (STEEL TRAIN)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_07.06.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />It’s tough to say one thing because so much happened, if i had to say two things it would be the recession and the election.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I’ve got a few: Fleet Foxes, Girl Talk and Dr. Dog. They're all semi-big<br />but i think in the next year they are gonna become three of the most<br />important musical acts in America.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Fleet Foxes, self-titled </p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Wilco at Lollapalooza</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Columns/EWiniker/" target="e">Click here to read Evan Winiker’s 2008 film reviews for Jambands.com</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>ROB MARSCHER (MATISYAHU, AGP)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_06.02.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Obama won the presidency and I joined Matisyahu's band.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Matisyahu. We had an instant connection when we first started playing together last spring - improvising and experimenting - and that has grown immensely through this year's touring. I'm looking forward to working on more new material in 2009 and continuing to work on our sound as we hit festivals and cities around the world.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br /><i>Oracular Spectacular</i> by MGMT. "Time To Pretend" and "Kids" got a lot of play in the dressing room before we'd hit the stage. "Evil Urges" by MMJ gets honorable mention.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />The Pemberton festival in British Columbia was very cool. My Morning Jacket, Flaming Lips, Black Mountain, and Tom Petty all sounded great. Playing on the stage surrounded by all those mountains was pretty magical.</p><p>**********</p><p>DAVID GANS (SOLO ARTIST, THE GRATEFUL DEAD HOUR)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_07.08.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The election of Barack Obama.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Boris Garcia</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Railroad Earth, <i>Amen Corner</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Rubber Souldiers at MagnoliaFest 10/25/08</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_12_23.07.phtml" target="c">Click here for a recent site interview with David Gans</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>BOB STIRNER (BORIS GARCIA)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_07.09.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Recording and touring behind Boris Garcia's latest <i>Once More Into The Bliss</i></p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Why Boris Garcia....of course!!!</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br /><i>Amen Corner</i> by Railroad Earth....amazing.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Live / On air, David Gan's / KPFA radio performance with Mark Karan and Peter Rowan sitting in....too much fun!!!</p><p>**********</p><p>DAN SHAW (10,000 LAKES FESTIVAL)</p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The Presidential election. It was encouraging to see so many people involved in the process and seeing so much passion for change. And as a bonus we got to witness a slew of amazing artists play at the rallies. There were some incredibly bizarre and great lineup combinations that will never happen again.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Kinetix, as well as The Hue</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />David Byrne's <i>Everything That Happens Will Happen Today</i> and Shpongle’s <i>Are You Shpongled</i>. The shuffle on my iPod really likes Shpongle a lot.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />I was lucky enough to catch David Byrne at the Playhouse in Cleveland. Really, really great. Catch it if you can.</p><p>**********</p><p>ETHAN SCHWARTZ (LANGERADO) </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The first car rolling through the gates at Big Cypress - It was an 8 years in the making event and when that first car rolled through I got tears in my eyes. It will remain a lasting memory of a week that professionally and personally was one of the toughest of my life, but absolutely worthwhile in every aspect. I'm truly grateful that we were able to put on Langerado at that incredible site, even if it was only for one year.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I'm excited to see what Muse does this year. They are one of the biggest bands in the world but aren't getting the love in the States like they should be. But everyone I have ever talked to who has seen them live has been converted.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br /><i>OK Computer</i> - Radiohead, <i>The 3 EP's</i> - The Beta Band, <i>Sumday</i> - Grandaddy, <i>Absolution</i> - Muse, <i>Party</i> - Nick Swardson, <i>Binaural</i> - Pearl Jam, <i>7-6-98, Prague</i> - Phish, <i>Dear Science</i> - TV on the Radio</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />The Beastie Boys from Langerado. 25,000 people just getting nuts in the middle of the Everglades. Wondering to myself if 25 years ago riding in the school bus listening to <i>License to Ill</i> did I ever imagine I would have been throwing a Beastie Boys show in the swamp. Close runner up - Gogol Bordello at the Culture Room. I've seen a thousand shows at the Culture Room and the energy in there was un-fucking-believable that night.</p><p>**********</p><p>GREG MCLOUGHLIN (BUZZUNIVERSE)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_07.10.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />11 PM when Obama's face appeared on NBC as officially President... I was alone but<br />shared the moments with hundreds of friends on Facebook as we continually updated<br />our statuses with joyful, hopeful messages, and I balled in tears watching the speech in Grant Park, so proud to witness one of the greatest moments in world history.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Natural Breakdown... Just watch... They're playing theaters already and their<br />spiritual message is connecting with a lot of people...</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Leroy Justice – <i>Revolution’s Son</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Self: BuzzUniverse at Gathering of the Vibes... I've attended several vibes' and<br />always dreamed of performing there... It was about 110 degrees on stage in the sun,<br />and we rocked it like it was the last set of our lives.</p><p>Other: Bruce Springsteen at Hersheypark Stadium... I skipped all of the local Bruce<br />shows this year and trekked to Hershey, PA on a Tuesday instead... We all know Bruce<br />eats up the Small Town USA thing, and I knew the show would be special.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/CDReviews/content_2008_10_27.02.phtml" target="c">Click here for a review of BuzzUniverse’s latest CD</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>TOM HAMILTON (AMERICAN BABIES, BROTHERS PAST)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_06.03.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />This past summer American Babies played the Newport Folk Festival. That alone would have been enough to mention. What made that day even more memorable was after our set in the small tent we were informed that the Marley Brothers were not going to make it to the festival on time, and we were asked to play a second set on the Main Stage. It couldn't have gotten any better.</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I think that Dr. Dog is the best band in America right now and I feel that 2009 will be full of great things for and from them.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />She and Him - <i>Volume One</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Cat Power - Newport Folk Festival. Chan Marshall owned the stage. Her undeniable voice, absolutely stunning looks, and commanding stage presence had me mesmerized.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/CDReviews/content_2008_04_24.09.phtml" target="a">Click here for a review of American Babies’ debut CD</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>MARTIN PERNA (ANTIBALAS, TV ON THE RADIO)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_09.01.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Getting married and cooking for 150 people after our caterer ran off with our money!</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Ocote Soul Sounds: (Antibalas meets Grammy-nominated Grupo Fantasma) and their new album <i>Coconut Rock</i> coming out in May or June of 2009</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Budos Band</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Antibalas live at Womad Festival in Gran Canaria, 2008. 12,000 people packing the plaza at midnight watching us for free. It doesn't get better than that!</p><p>**********</p><p>ED ANDERSON (BACKYARD TIRE FIRE)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_07.12.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Recording at Sun Studio, sitting in with Los Lobos, having the band be personal guests of George Wendt on Broadway in NYC to see him star in <i>Hairspray</i> and having him show up at our gig the next night, plus touring with bands like Cracker, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Rev. Horton Heat, etc., etc.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Backyard Fucking Tire Fire</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Alejandro Escovedo - <i>Real Animal</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Opening for Los Lobos on October 25 at the Bloomington Center For the Performing Arts in Bloomington, IL. They were the coolest guys and they had us come up and play with them at the end of their set. A few days later Steve Berlin called and is going to produce our next record in Feb. 09!</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_10_25.07.phtml" target="b">Click here for a recent interview with Backyard Tire Fire</a> </p><p>**********</p><p>SCOTT BERNSTEIN (HIDDEN TRACK)</p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />I'll remember 2008 as the year of too many festivals. It seemed like there was a festival every weekend from March until October and many of the new ones were clunkers. There aren't enough touring bands out there to keep lineups fresh and imaginative, a problem that I only see getting worse in 2009.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I've got three completely different acts that I'm keeping my eye on. </p><p>1.Phish - Their reunion can really go either way. Unrealistic expectations can<br />do them in once again or they can rise to the challenge and reclaim their<br />post as the country's most inventive live act. </p><p>2. McLovins - These kids are way too young to be so good. Even the most jaded of jamfans appreciates their talents. </p><p>3. Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer aka Lonely Island - their debut disc, <i>Incredibad</i>, promises to have you jizzing in your pants with laughter.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />I can still listen to The Raconteurs' <i>Consolers of the Lonely</i> over and over and over again without getting sick of it. A great all killer, no filler album from top to bottom.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Paul Simon - Under African Skies at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Watching Paul and Ladysmith Black Mambazo sing “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” and David Byrne claim ownership of “I Know What I Know” are among the most blissful moments of music I've ever experienced. It made me feel bad that I only paid $50 to see this show. I felt so bad I gave the venue more money. You're looking at a paid supporter of the BAM!</p><p>**********</p><p>STEVE ADAMS (ALO, BIG LIGHT)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_07.13.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Feeling excited about a presidential candidate and seeing him win! Touring with Tea Leaf Green. Making friends with Big Light. Discovering <i>The Better World Shopping Guide</i>. And getting a horoscope that told me this would be the best year of my life.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Jackie Greene, The Mother Hips, Big Light...</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Tea Leaf Green - <i>Raise Up The Tent</i><br />Nicki Bluhm - <i>Toby's Song</i><br />The Lovin' Spoonful - <i>Platinum & Gold Collection</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />My Morning Jacket at Bonnaroo. Great late night set in the pouring rain. Chali 2Na backed by Galactic at Bonnaroo, super great jam session. The Golden Gate Gramble at 12 Galaxies in San Francisco featuring Skinny Singers, Ball Point Birds, Lebo, Big Light and Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers, plus a sweet gramble at the end of the night.</p><p>**********</p><p>DAVE KATZ (EKOOSTIK HOOKAH)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_07.14.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Hookahville XXX</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Way too many to name</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Genesis, <i>Trick of the Tail</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Abagail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet with Bela Fleck</p><p>**********</p><p>WHITLEY<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_07.15.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Getting a great light house in my hometown and growing an awesome vegetable patch.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Seagull, from Melbourne, Australia</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Liam Finn, <i>I'll Be Lightning</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Whitley/ Ben Kweller at Antones, Austin</p><p>**********</p><p>THOMAS PRIDGEN (THE MARS VOLTA)<br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2009_01_09.02.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />I remember our tour because we toured this whole year straight no stop— like slaves. I remember all that because we just came back from South America, Europe, Japan, did the whole states thing again. That was big for me because I feel like I really did get to see everything. Sometimes you feel like you’ve seen stuff, but this year I really saw it all.<br />That and I have a two-year-old boy and I just got him a drum set and I just figured out that he’s left handed. Just watching him play is a highlight. I learned when I was three and he’s hella better than me.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Damn, that is a good question. We just recorded a new record and to me it’s the best. When I first heard <i>Goliath</i>, I didn’t hear it until it almost came out, so I was like damn, this is sick shit! Cause when I was in the studio I was stressin’ out! ‘Cause when I was in the studio I was learning all of John Theodore’s parts which is crazy! Because it was 20 eight-minute songs. I was learning them and I was stressin’ out. By the time I got to record I didn’t know what to expect because I had never recorded with Omar as far as doing a record. It was a lot of pressure. When I first got in the band I never even tripped. Now this one, the new one we just did that isn’t titled yet, I enjoyed it way more because I knew what to expect from Omar, I knew what to expect from everybody. I could sit down and relax and just do what I do. You feel me? So I think the major thing for our band is going to be our next record because for me I think it’s the best record Omar has ever produced as far as his arrangements and I just like the music a lot. Like the last record, was like I’m gonna show you all that we gotta new drummer. Now it’s like we’re gonna show you that we’re still killin’ it. There’s like ballads on it. We sound like we’ve kicked it longer than two years.</p><p><b><i>What songs to do you listen to most on your iPod/iTunes? </i></b><br />Damn, I’ve been listening to a lot of Stewart Copeland. A LOT OF STEWART COPELAND. I have his live Police video, where he has his video camera next to the drums and it’s like his own documentary of the Police tours. He’s just hella dope. I’ve been trying to listen to all the people that all the cats that I listen to listen to. Going back and listening to hella Ginger Baker and shit. My girl is like I’ve heard Cream like a million times. I’m like I know; I’m only listening to it because I’m listening to Ginger Baker. I’ve been listening to a lot of like Afro-beat music, like Fela and a lot of other hip-hop stuff. But my iPod has been down. So I’ve just been listening to what I’ve been able to listen to. That’s crazy. I’m gonna go. That’s going to be crazy. A lotta people who are going to go are going be like damn. I’m sure at first people are going to be like yeah I’m just gonna go, but when they actually see it everyone is like DAMN! Like I was in Mexico when Obama won so everything is so crazy to me.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance of 2008? </i></b><br />That we did? My favorite one, Detour Fest in L.A. because we rarely ever play L.A. and when we do I just like the crowds. I like the rowdy crowds, like the crowds that are rowdy for no reason. That’s how it was, it was cool. So I gotta say the L.A. crowd. Backstage wasn’t all fun, but the show was tight. Dang! I didn’t go to any shows that weren’t our own, honestly. What shows? I like the Battles, you know them? That guy, the drummer from Helmet, he plays in that band. They’re pretty tight. I like seeing them. I haven’t seen much because I just end up seeing the bands we go on tour with. Sometimes I don’t even listen to them because some of these bands after a while— you just get a headache. I’ve been watching a lotta videos though. I’d gotta say probably that Police thing, even though that’s not new. That’s the tightest thing I’ve seen. I like going back. You gotta take it back. </p><p><i>Mike Greenhaus’ New Year’s resolution is to blog more at <a href="http://www.greenhauseffect.com/" target="m">www.greenhauseffect.com</a>. He thanks Randy Ray for his extra eyes on this week’s Auld Lang Syne Set 3</i></p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-25656920324961372162008-12-25T00:26:00.005-05:002008-12-25T01:06:53.328-05:00Holiday Cookie (Dusters)<p><strong><a name="5-8-8"> <span style="font-weight: normal;">It's Christmas (and Chanukah)</span><b><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></b></a></strong><a name="5-8-8"><em></em>and more than any time I can remember the internet feels closed. But since I'm too full to snack and too nocturnal to sleep, I figured I'd waste the last few hours of this here food coma searching through the good ol' Jambands.com news archives. And during my search I happened upon this forgotten story from a few years back.<br /></a></p><p><a name="5-8-8"></a><strong style="font-style: italic;"><a name="5-8-8"><b>Members of The Disco Biscuits, The Ally and Fat Mama to Collaborate</b> </a></strong></p><p style="font-style: italic;"> </p><p><span style="font-style: italic;"> Members of The Disco Biscuits, The Ally and Fat Mama will play three upcoming shows as "The Cookie Dusters." The line-up features guitarist Jon Gutwillig (The Disco Biscuits), bassist Ira Tuton (The Ally), drummer Mike Greenfield (The Ally) and drummer Joe Russo (Fat Mama). The group will perform May 30 at The Trocadero Theater in Philadelphia, PA, May 31 at The Conduit in Trenton, NJ and June 1 at the Pseudo Lounge in New York City. Special guests are expected. </span><br /></p><p><a name="5-8-8">It is funny what a difference a few years makes in the music world. Back then this little gig likely went unnoticed and now any band that features members of the Disco Biscuits, the Duo and Yeasayer (Ira from the Ally's current BrooklynVegan-approved band) could likey mount a small theater tour (or at least pack the Bowery Ballroom). Any adventerous concert promoter want to help me put together a reunion performance for my annual Hungover for the Holidays party? I love bouncing down memory lane...</a></p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-2953880772628811552008-12-24T00:48:00.001-05:002008-12-24T00:50:06.657-05:00Auld Lang Syne Set 2: Mike Gordon, Marc Brownstein, My Morning Jacket, Grace Potter, Toubab Krewe and More<center><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_12_23.10.phtml">Part two of the Year in Review series I put together</a> for Relix and Jambands.com. Now with pretty pictures...</span><br /><span class="title"><b>Auld Lang Syne Set 2: Mike Gordon, Marc Brownstein, My Morning Jacket, Grace Potter, Toubab Krewe and More</b></span><br /><span class="author"><a href="mailto:mike@relix.com">Mike Greenhaus</a></span><br /><span class="pubdate">2008-12-23</span> </center> <p> <!--CONTENT--> The second installment of our annual Year in Review kicks off with three of my personal favorite bassists-Mike Gordon, Marc Brownstein and Two-Tone Tommy-but goes on to poll fifteen additional musicians, managers, promoters and other music industry scenesters 'n luminaries whose work was featured on Jambands.com and in the pages of Relix throughout 2008. Which member of the extended Grateful Dead family loves Wilco and what former New Groove of the Month parted ways with a founding member? Which recent Grammy nominee loves the syth-rock stylings of Gil Mantera's Dream Party and which IMAX film producer is building a bowling ally/venue? Who quotes Marvin the Martian and who gets more shout outs Phish or Barack Obama? Scroll down to see for yourself and, if you haven't already, <a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_12_17.00.phtml" target="s">be sure to glance back at Set 1</a> for similar thoughts from Dave Schools, Brendan Bayliss, Dr. Dog, Reed Mathis, Chris Frantz, Tim Carbone and many, many more (also be sure to tune in next week for Set 3).</p><p> **********</p><p> <b>MIKE GORDON (PHISH)</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_23.00.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Hmm...making an album I love, forming a great new band that I intend to work with for a long time, having a baby, reuniting with Phish, some funny <i>SNLs</i>, getting excited about the smartest and humblest President-elect in decades, tiny little great moments of glory, sadness.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I don't know. You tell me.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />I didn't listen to music this year, except live. But the new Cassandra Wilson album got played twice.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_08_22.11.phtml" target="c">Click here for a recent site interview with Mike Gordon</a> </p><p>**********</p><p> <b>MARC BROWNSTEIN (THE DISCO BISCUITS)</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_23.01.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Obama</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I'll tell you in 12 months</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />That would have to be our forthcoming Biscuits album.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Chris Rock at Bonnaroo</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_06_25.11.phtml" target="m">Click here for a recent site interview with Marc Brownstein</a> </p><p>**********</p><p> <b>TWO-TONE TOMMY (MY MORNING JACKET)</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_18.00.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />President-Elect Barack Obama!!!</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Les Debutantes</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br /><i>Workin' With the Miles Davis Quintet</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Gil Mantera's Party Dream, Bourbon Rocks Patio, SXSW</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_05_23.07.phtml" target="m">Please click here for a recent site interview with My Morning Jacket</a> </p><p>**********</p><p> <b>GRACE POTTER</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_23.02.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />What do you think? I'm pretty sure it has something to do with a new President.</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Hacienda!</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br /><i>Solomon's Seal</i> by The Pentangle (on my parent's turntable)! </p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Ghostland Observatory in Florida. Those green lasers are fucking awesome.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/ShowReviews/content_2008_06_30.01.phtml" target="c">Click here for a review of a recent Grace Potter performance</a> </p><p>**********</p><p> <b>AEVE BALDWIN (ZENBU MEDIA, RELIX)</b> </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Electing Obama.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Steel Train, of course. ;)</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Metallica, <i>Death Magnetic</i>.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Pearl Jam, Bonnaroo Music Festival, June '08</p><p>**********</p><p> <b>JEFF MATTSON (DONNA JEAN & THE TRICKSTERS, ZEN TRICKSTERS)</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_23.03.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />I will remember 2008 for the glorious return of hope, even in these dire times, after eight long, dark years of ever increasing horror at the direction our country was headed.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />The word is Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay has a really smokin’ band!</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />It’s always changing. One album that comes to mind is <i>The Shepherd’s Dog</i> from Iron & Wine. It’s just a lovely, trippy album that grabs me every time I listen to it. Bob Dylan’s three-disc <i>Tell Tale Signs</i> (Deluxe Edition) is just chock full of amazing outtakes, alternate versions and live cuts. Dylan’s discards are better than most folks A material!! I came late to the party for Ornette Coleman’s <i>Sound Grammar</i> CD (2006), but I’m loving that too. Ornette plays with such beauty and power on alto sax, trumpet and violin.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />I think that would have to be last night, seeing Neil Young and Wilco at Madison Square Garden. Wilco just gets better and better every year. This line up that Jeff Tweedy has had for the last bunch of years with Nels Cline on guitar can do anything and they want to do. And Neil Young puts more passion and commitment into any one note in one of his guitar solos than a legion of tweedling lead guitar players. He put tears in my eyes during “Cortez the Killer.” There were no strings left on his guitar (literally) after the feedback and noise climax of The Beatles’” A Day in the Life.” Very inspiring!</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/CDReviews/content_2008_01_25.09.phtml" target="z">Click here for a review of Donna Jean & the Tricksters’ latest CD</a> </p><p>**********</p><p> <b>SAM KININGER (LETTUCE, SAM KININGER BAND, SOULIVE)</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_23.04.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Getting married</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Sam Kininger Band</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Lettuce, <i>RAGE! </i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Lettuce at Fuji Rock</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/CDReviews/content_2008_03_23.02.phtml" target="c">Click here for a review of Lettuce’s most recent CD</a> </p><p>**********</p><p> <b>CHAD STAEHLY (GREAT AMERICAN TAXI)</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_04.00.jpg" /> </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />I will remember the Presidential election and the history we made. Watching Obama's acceptance speech in Grant Park was the most moving thing I've ever been a part of as a citizen of the United States' political process.</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I would toot our own horn on that one. Great American Taxi will be releasing its' sophomore album with Tim Carbone producing it and special guest/member at large Barry Sless playing nasty pedal steel all over it. We'll be excited to tour behind it in 2009.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />I couldn't get Railroad Earth's <i>Amen Corner</i> out of my CD player. The songs are so good and the playing is magnificent. They made the record at a farmhouse!</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />I have to say seeing Del McCoury Band with all their friends on stage at the 1st Annual Delfest was probably my favorite performance of 2008.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_03_22.02.phtml" target="c">Click here for a recent feature on Great American Taxi</a> </p><p>**********</p><p> <b>LUKE QUARANTA (TOUBAB KREWE)</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_23.05.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />I’ll most remember November 4, 2008. We were playing an election at Hootenany in the hills of Malibu, CA put on by our good friend Matt Montee. We were one of four or five bands playing, but everyone was inside huddled around the television watching the election results come in. Every time a state was called for Obama the place exploded. I had never felt or been a part of such excitement for an election before. When they called the election for Obama everyone went absolutely crazy...We were all packed in a log cabin up in the hills completely engaged in the moment of Obama's victory. During his victory speech everytime he finished a powerful line we all went berserk...I was in tears, just could not hold them back, and many around me were crying too. The cops came and shut down the music, but Toubab finished the night by moving all the furniture and rocking out in the living room without a PA...House Party for Obama!!</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Toubab Krewe - maybe I'm biased, but I want everyone to check us this year...it will be crunk!</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Orchestra Baobob - <i>A Night at the Club</i> has been the staple CD in our tour bus this year. We picked it up while we were in Portugal this summer and it has been pumping ever since. The record is a rare late 60's or early 70's recording, and it is truly a great disc. There are African, Cuban and American Soul flavors all represented by the legendary band from Dakar, Senegal. It has gotten many parties poppin' off in the front lounge this year.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />We actually got to see them perform at the world music festival we were attending in Portugal, and it was absolutely sublime. 30-plus years of playing together...they sound better live than in their recordings. It was in a castle overlooking the ocean. A few of us climbed up to the rim of the castle and watched some of the show, and it was a beautiful moment. One of our favorite bands in the world, and they killed it in an amazing setting.</p><p>**********</p><p> <b>DENNIS MCNALLY</b> </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Election night - and unless somebody experienced the birth of their child, I bet this is the answer from 95% plus.</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />The Two Maestros - Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Ustad Zakir Hussain, touring the U.S. March-April.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Anthony Braxton, <i>Duets: Hamburg 1991</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Del McCoury Band, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Golden Gate Park, October 2008.</p><p>**********</p><p> <b>PATRICK JORDAN (RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT)</b> </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />The continued growth, discovery and pure awesomeness of my son and unfortunate passing of my friend LeRoi. RIP</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />It’s in the family but Ben Harper’s new project Relentless7 is everything I’m looking for in a band and a record - it just rocks with well written meaningful songs and a killer new band. I’m also expecting that little band from Vermont to put a lot of smiles on our faces next year.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />The timeless Misfits catalog of course, although my favorite “new” CDs of the year were Mountain Goats’ <i>Heretic Pride</i>, My Morning Jacket’s <i>Evil Urges</i>, Flight of the Concords’ <i>Flight of the Concords</i>, Eli “Paperboy” Reed’s <i>Roll with It</i>, Fleet Foxes’ <i>Fleet Foxes</i> and serious props to Jagjaguawar Records for putting out some of the most consistent music of 2008 with Okkervil River, Bon Iver, Black Mountain and Besard Lakes.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />I seemed to devote a lot of time to being with my artists this year so I don’t want to dwell, but the Philly and Albany shows from Trey’s Northern Exposure tour felt like Return of the Jedi. Gogol Bordello in Richmond, Chicago etc. Always a party! DJ Quarter-Roy’s unannounced iTunes driven 5 hour set on the C3 bus. I learned a lot about people that night. Too much.</p><p>**********</p><p> <b>MARC ALLAN (MOVE MANAGEMENT)</b> </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Hope and change are coming. That's what we've been hearing all year, and I hope that 2009 is the year of results.</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Afternoons - group that has been playing around LA for about a year now and have a majestic arc to their music. Rambling anthems come from the stage pretty consistently when this seven-piece is in control of the stage. Check out "Say Yes" or "Intervention" for proof.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Apollo Sunshine - <i>Shall Noise Upon</i>. From the moment I first received the roughs from the recording through Mastering and beyond, this album has garnered repeated listenings and has given me ample reasons to keep coming back. While I hate the term, this one is a "grower," as new sounds await under every nook and cranny. I am incredibly grateful to be a part of this one.</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Modest Mouse/Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Council Bluffs, IA. Huge bursts of thunder and lightning and tornados in the area caused some delays, but Modest Mouse was not going to cancel this show. They waited out multiple storms and hit the stage during a break in the weather. After the band serenaded the crowd through the storm warnings, the band delivered a fiery performance complete with lighting bolt striking off in the distance at the end of the final song, "The Good Times are Killing Me"</p><p>**********</p><p> <b>PETER SHAPIRO (GREEN APPLE MUSIC FESTIVAL, JAMMYS)</b> </p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Building Brooklyn Bowl<br /><br /><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />I'd like to see Grace Potter break into the mainstream.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />I have a two year old so I listened to Jack Johnson's <i>Curious George</i> soundtrack a lot. </p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />I had a lot of fun at MMJ @ Bonnaroo in the rain at 3 AM. </p><p>**********</p><p> <b>ZAC LASHER (U-MELT)</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_23.06.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />2008 was a pretty rough year with the worst economic climate most of us have seen in our lifetimes and soaring gas prices that made traveling around the country to play music a very difficult business. However, 2008 will always be defined by the riveting presidential campaign and historic election of Barack Obama, a watershed event in American history which I was very happy to be able to witness. Despite the evidence that there is going to be a long tough road ahead I am hopeful that Mr. Obama's leadership will help put this nation back on the right track.</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Within the Jam Scene, at least, i expect that all eyes and ears will be turned towards the second (third?) coming of Phish.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br /><i>Consolers of the Lonely</i> by The Raconteurs has captured a lot of my attention this year, its about as good of a rock 'n' roll album as I've heard in a long time. I've also spent a lot of time listening to <i>Voices</i>, Mike Stern's 2001 release with such luminaries as Richard Bona, Michael Brecker, Dennis Chambers, and Vinnie Colaiuta on your album, how can<br />you go wrong?</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Without question seeing Steve Winwood & Eric Clapton together at Madison Square Garden was the highlight of my concert going year. It was really amazing to see two musicians of such high caliber perform so perfectly and effortlessly together. Their voices blended in beautiful harmony and together with their three-piece rhythm section they absolutely rocked the way only a couple of living legends can. When Winwood took the stage alone behind his B3 for a solo interpretation of "Georgia On My Mind,"<br />he had the sold out crowd of 18,000 utterly silent. He performed the song with a quiet sensitivity and a soul that you rarely see in an arena setting. It was a moment I'll never forget.</p><p>**********</p><p> <b>MATT COSTA</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_12.00.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Barack Obama being elected</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Everest</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Hally Nilsson <i>Pandemonium Shadow Show</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, December 12th , 2008 at The Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois</p><p>**********</p><p> <b>JANIS WALLIN (FAMILY GROOVE COMPANY)</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_23.07.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />2008 was a big year for me professionally. My band, Family Groove Company, released two records (<i>Live in Chicago</i> and <i>Models and Metrics</i>), and I'm very proud of both of them. Aside from my 100 or so shows with FGC, I also had amazing opportunities to perform on stage with musicians like Steve Kimock, Jeff Coffin, Futureman, Michael Kang and, most thrilling for me, Jon Fishman at the recent Bear Creek Festival. </p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Am I allowed to say Family Groove Company? :) I know that sounds biased, but I'm really excited about the new record we've just released, and we've had a fantastic year. On a less self-serving note, I would have to say the Wood Brothers; their music is so honest and genuine, and I can't get over Oliver Wood's voice.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br /><i>RAGE!</i> by Lettuce - This is the kind of nasty funk that makes your face scrunch up as if you had just smelled some sour milk. Erick Coomes plays bass with killer time feel on this record, right in the pocket.</p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />My favorite live show as a performer was FGC's late night set at Summer Camp Festival. I got a little crazy and decided to dress up as a super hero and rap an Eminem song. The energy in that barn was just bursting through the roof, and it was one of the most exciting shows I've ever been a part of (and not just because I got to satisfy my inner rapper). As a spectator, seeing Steely Dan live in concert for the first time at the Chicago Theatre<br />this summer was an amazing experience. </p><p>**********</p><p> <b>DAVID LOTT (LICORICE)</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_23.08.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />Releasing our first EP to a sold out crowd on the main stage at the Knitting Factory, playing "Spain" on two acoustic guitars with LEGEND Larry Coryell, getting stuck in the snow pushing our van uphill, in a blizzard on our way to a gig in Ithaca, AND the election of course...</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />The Care Bears on Fire. I know this is not a "jamband" answer, but you heard it here first!...(and hopefully Rebecca Hart, Silvertone, Licorice and Joshua<br />Kessler (producer, engineer) at Bushwick Studios, Brooklyn, NY!)</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Looks like for the year - the new ones in addition to the “regular<br />Rotation,” could be Radiohead (<i>In Rainbows</i>) overall, Lionel Loueke in a<br />definite CLOSE second, although Elbow’s new one (<i>Seldom Seen Kid</i>) could've<br />been a contender had I spent more time with it sooner...</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />This one is a HUGE tie...I had a crazy year seeing and playing music – so here is the real answer... meeting the Police before sitting front row to see them for the first and last time, MY FIRST JazzFest, John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension in New York, Stevie Wonder (First time), Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood@ MSG, Radiohead outdoors, and Wilco (First Time).....then I would have to go with our recent Blue Note show as well as my sit in with the Lee Boys at Sullivan Hall. And that in a giant mush, was my favorite<br />live performance of 2008...</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_09_23.02.phtml" target="c">Click here for a recent interview with Licorice</a> </p><p>**********</p><p> <b>NAT KEEFE (HOT BUTTERED RUM)</b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_23.09.jpg" /><br /><br /><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008? </i></b><br />For me, this was the year that Zac Matthews left Hot Buttered Rum and Matt Butler started playing more with us. This has been a huge transition on a lot of levels. Matt's drumming has allowed us to go to all sorts of different places, and changes the way I play guitar. He's bringing a lot of what he's learned in Everyone Orchestra to HBR- now we really don't know what's going to happen onstage! I feel the same raw excitement about playing now that I did in high school.</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009? </i></b><br />Poor Man's Whiskey is going to do good things this year. They are big fun! Also, Cindy Woolf is my favorite new songwriter.</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often? </i></b><br />Lots of Merle Haggard. Lots of Graham Parsons. Brett Dennen singing with Femi Kuti is something that needed to happen. That song "Make You Go Crazy" is excellent. I also can't stop listening to Johnny Cash singing "Personal Jesus."</p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008? </i></b><br />After an HBR show in Bozeman we all went and saw an excellent honkytonk<br />band called Ten Foot Tall and 80 Proof. A serious band and a serious hardcore cowboy scene. Also, the Sunday night all-together-now at Yarmony Grass. Bill Nershi did a great job of bringing in all sorts of people and letting them shine and I saw Bassnectar play a few times this year and it blew my mind. Watching him is the experience of absolute mastery, like watching Zakir Hussain play tabla.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_12_15.00.phtml" target="c">Click here for more on Hot Buttered Rum’s lineup changes</a> </p><p><i>Senior Editor Mike Greenhaus stores his articles, podcasts and unopened Chaunukah presents at <a href="http://www.greenhauseffect.com/" target="g">www.greenhauseffect.com</a>. He thanks Randy Ray for his assistance on this article and throughout the year.</i> <!--CONTENT--> </p><p> </p><center><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features">Back to Features</a></center>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-59886532633263040152008-12-18T19:12:00.003-05:002008-12-21T15:24:41.956-05:00Phish Thoughts<i>Earlier today music industry columnist Bob Lefsetz wrote the following about Phish's oft-rumored appearance at Bonnaroo. </i><p>Would the Stones play Coachella?</p><p>Who gives a shit about the Stones. But Phish fans are diehards. Phishheads believe that Phish is God. They trekked to see the band at its own festivals, year after year. Is the band afraid they can't sell a ticket anymore?</p><p>This is no way to come back, playing it safe. Phishheads don't want to hang with Springsteen fans at some clusterfuck in Tennessee. Yes, Bruce is rumored for Bonnaroo too.</p><p>No one's special anymore. No one means anything. A festival is bigger than any act. Which is why the best can go on sale without listing any participants.</p><p>A great band is sui generis. It should never open for anyone. It's not part of the scene, it IS the scene.</p><p>Phish should do arenas. Then its own festival. It's hard not to believe they're doing Bonnaroo because of their manager's involvement.</p><p>You might think this is bullshit. You'll point to the gross. You'll say everyone's happy. I'll say this is the kind of thinking that fucked up our business. It's only about money, not about soul. Phish should only think about its fans. Not its manager's need to sell out a festival that dropped significantly in attendance last year.</p><p>Festivals are the new radio show. Do a few and you can't tour independently, i.e. on your own. You fatten the coffers of the promoter, but you fuck your own career.</p><p>Come on. A good song is not good enough. We're in a business where greatness is important. If you're not willing to split hairs, if you're not willing to argue the details of a band's career, then you're not a rock and roll fan. Fans worry about the minutiae. It's only Live Nation, beholden to Wall Street, that does not care about the man on the street.</p><p>You might say it's about the hang. About going to the show and getting fucked up with your brethren. I'll say it's about the music.</p><p>Maybe a festival is too much about the hang. Which is why Phish should not be playing Bonnaroo. Because it's the music that entranced its fans, the communal hang came after.</p><p>Do you want to mix your Sweet Sixteen with a Bar Mitzvah party? Do you want a vacation where you can bowl, surf and ski? Come on. Have a little self-respect.</p><p>Phish's comeback might fail, but let's see if they can stand on their own two feet.</p><p>Or maybe Phish is the new Jack Johnson. Maybe they're gonna play EVERY festival this summer.</p><p>Utterfuckinghogwash.</p><p><i>The best part of the Lefsetz Letter is seeing where the conversation turns when everyone responds, kind of like the music industry’s answer to Phantasy Tour. Lefsetz also usually sends a "Mail Bag" follow up where he prints response letters from a handful of folks who write in (and by folks I mean everyone from random readers at home to Bonnie Raitt to Al Schnier, who happened to write in earlier this week). I am particularly excited for this next Mail Bag since I'd wager I’m within six degrees of Mike Gordon to most of the people who are passionate enough to spend their Thursday writing Bob a letter about Bonnaroo (it is a small scene after all, isn’t it?). Anyway, without further adieu here is my response: </i></p><p>Phish isn't playing Bonnaroo because they can't pack sheds. The fact that their Hampton comeback shows sold out instantly, scoring a "volcanic" Google ranking (the modern-day Billboard chart?) along the way, is tangible proof that they maintain an arena draw.</p><p>Phish is playing Bonnaroo because it is the most efficient way for them to throw a festival without having to handle all the logistics themselves.One of the major reasons Phish crumbled is that--like the Grateful Dead before them—the cart had started pulling the horse, which is to say their overhead and infrastructure had become unmanageable.</p><p>They tried to scale back by taking a hiatus in 2000, but the same problems followed them when they returned and, in the end, the only way to survive, oddly enough, was to level everything and start from scratch. In 1996, the fact that Phish drew 60,000 fans to a remote location felt like a cultural statement but, in 2009, I'd rather see the band focus on their music than<br />sit in on meetings regarding traffic and parking.</p><p>In many ways, Bonnaroo is the ultimate Phish festival. The inaugural Bonnaroo capitalized on Phish's two-year hiatus and, essentially, used the band's DNA to create an entirely new beast: The festival organizers hired key members of Phish's festival production team, recruited similar<br />vendors, booked the band members' solo projects and, at the risk of accenting my own hippie-rock roots, captured "the vibe" of the Phish experience, a rare place where music managed to outweigh merchandising (at least in the traditional sense).</p><p>It makes sense musically, too. Bonnaroo is a direct outgrowth of the Phish/jamband scene and, in a very elegant way, has grown along with that scene to encompass all sorts of music, from jazz and bluegrass to country and metal and indie to pop and electronica. Like many of the original<br />Bonnaroo fans who still make the trek to Tennessee on a regular basis, there was a point in my life when I pretty much only listened to Phish, but now my iPod is filled with everything from Gillian Welch to Andrew Bird to the National to Cloud Cult to TV on the Radio to Marco Benevento to Dr. Dog and MGMT and, if Arcade Fire were to play a late-night set<br />after Phish, I might even camp (maybe).</p><p>You are right about one thing, though: festivals are the new radio shows…or at least what radio shows used to be: the best place to hear new and different music. I've discovered countless great bands festival hopping, from Jack Johnson (at the first Bonnaroo, not so coincidently) to<br />Metallica, a band I never would have paid to see if they weren't lined up next to The Raconteurs, Chris Rock, My Morning Jacket and the Disco Biscuits.</p><p>Maybe it’s true that the younger fans are going to Bonnaroo because “the festival's name is now bigger than any individual act” — but maybe they will also realize that they like Phish too and, hopefully, everyone else there will remember why they loved them in the first place.</p>-Mike Greenhaus, Relix MagazineMike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-26626346496681043032008-12-17T18:25:00.002-05:002008-12-17T18:26:28.291-05:00Auld Lang Syne Set 1: Dave Schools, Brendan Bayliss, Dr. Dog, Chris Frantz, Reed Mathis, Adam Deitch, Tim Carbone and More<center><span style="font-style: italic;">Perhaps my favorite assignment each year is compiling the Jambands.com/Relix Year in Review. So without further typo here is week one: </span><br /><br /><span class="title"><b>Auld Lang Syne Set 1: Dave Schools, Brendan Bayliss, Dr. Dog, Chris Frantz, Reed Mathis, Adam Deitch, Tim Carbone and More</b></span><br /><span class="author"><a href="mailto:mike@relix.com">Mike Greenhaus</a></span><br /><span class="pubdate">2008-12-17</span> </center> <p> <!--CONTENT--> It's December, the holidays are right around the corner and once again we've asked a slew of out favorite musicians, managers, festival organizers and other tastemakers to boil down the past twelve months of music, pop culture and politics into four easily debatable, pocket-sized answers. What album did Dave Schools love and what festival set did Brendan Bayliss hate? Which member of Talking Heads loves Lykke Li and what's the one thing hippies, hipsters and hipster-swaying hipsters seem to agree on (hint: he's from Chicago, recently packed Grant Park, but doesn't play in Umphrey's McGee or Wilco).</p><p> Be sure to scroll down to see our first batch of answers and tune in throughout the month of December to hear from a number of additional musicians and industry insiders featured on Jambands.com in and in the pages of Relix. Set 1 features thoughts from Dave Schools, Brendan Bayliss, Reed Mathis, Dr. Dog and many, many more.</p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>DAVE SCHOOLS (WIDESPREAD PANIC) </b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_17.00.jpg" /></p><p><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />Sitting in a hotel room in Indianapolis glued to the TV, watching the election results and feeling a little bit of "hope" for the first time in many years as Barack Obama delivered his historic "Yes we can!" speech from Grant Park in Chicago.<br /><br /><b><i> Who's the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Dead Confederate<br /><br /><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />This isn't a plug but rather the god's honest truth: Jimmy Herring's <i>Lifeboat </i></p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Robert Plant & Allison Kraus, Bonnaroo, Sunday afternoon, 2008. </p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_11_23.08.phtml" target="c">Click here for a recent site interview with Dave Schools</a></p><p><br />**********</p><p><b>BRENDAN BAYLISS (UMPHREY’S MCGEE) </b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_17.01.jpg" /><br /><br /><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />Getting Obama'd in Chicago the night he won the election.</p><p><b><i> Who's the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Gov’t Mule. Every time I see them they get better.</p><p><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Split between <i>Chinese Democracy</i> and <i>Evil Urges</i>.</p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Kanye at Bonnaroo. And by favorite, I mean least favorite.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/ShowReviews/content_2008_03_02.04.phtml" target="b">Click here for a review of one of Umphrey's McGee's 2008 performances</a></p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>ADAM DEITCH (LETTUCE, CHAPTER 2, BREAK SCIENCE) </b></p><p><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />I will always remember the conversations I had with my African American friends and musical cohorts after Obama got elected. Talk about uplifting... </p><p><b><i> Who is the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Lettuce\ Chapter 2\Break Science</p><p><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Album of ‘08 was <i>RAGE</i> [Lettuce]...a ‘lil biased.</p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Dumpstaphunk at Bear Creek....so funky, it hurt. The whole stage packed wit mamas...like it was supposed ‘ta be. </p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/CDReviews/content_2008_03_23.02.phtml" target="c">Click here for a review of Lettuce's new CD</a></p><p>**********</p><p><br /><b>KERRY BLACK (SUPERFLY, BONNAROO, OUTSIDE LANDS) </b></p><p><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />The look on my rabbit's face when Obama was elected president.</p><p><b><i> Who is the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Red Cortez</p><p><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Meshuggah - <i>ObZen</i></p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Joanna Newsom with Orchestra at BAM.</p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>ZACH MILLER (DR. DOG) </b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_16.00.jpg" /></p><p><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />We had a lot of good memories from 2008: playing THE (original) Fillmore in San Francisco. Our next stop is Australia, sure to be memorable. We’ve never experienced a summer New Year. I’m sure we’ll remember it.</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Hmm, I’m going to say Delta Spirit in 2009. God knows they’ve really put their time in this year.</p><p><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Most played this past year was Floating Action, née Seth Kauffman, on our very own, very near and dear Park the Van Records. The album is called Research and it rules.</p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Ah, this old question. I guess it depends on syntax: my favorite Dr. Dog performance would probably be our booking agent’s showcase at SXSW; it was the one of the loudest and most responsive crowds I can remember playing to. My favorite performance as an audience member would have to go to Rage Against the Machine at Lollapalooza. I was never much of a fan, they’re a never had a CD but I wouldn’t change the station kinda band for me but they straight up killed it at Lollapalooza and I have to hand it to them for that.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/CDReviews/content_2008_07_22.07.phtml" target="c">Click here for a review of Dr. Dog's most recent album</a></p><p>**********</p><p><br /><b>AARON KAYCE (JAMBASE.COM) </b></p><p><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />2008 will be remembered by the election of Barack Obama. After 8 years of<br />shame we can finally hold our heads high and once again be Proud Americans.</p><p><b><i> Who is the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Dead Confederate </p><p><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Bon Iver, <i>For Emma, Forever Ago </i></p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />My Morning Jacket, 3/11/08, The Parish, Austin, TX</p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>RACHEL SEIDEN (ZENBU MEDIA, RELIX MAGAZINE) </b></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />My parents came to Langerado</p><p><b><i>Who is the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Gene Ween Band</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Ryan Adams, <i>Cardinology</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />My Morning Jacket, Bonnaroo </p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>TIM CARBONE (RAILROAD EARTH) </b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_17.02.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />What I will remember most about 2008 is the feeling of the world shifting into a positive gear at the news of the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. A huge weight came off our collective shoulders.</p><p><b><i> Who's the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />The band to watch in 2009 is Blitzen Trapper. Their latest record, <i>Furr</i>, is fantastic. In fact the song “Furr” should be song of the year.</p><p><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br /><i>Corn Pickin' and Slick Slidin'</i> by James Burton and Ralph Mooney on the Sundazed Label. My good friend Scott Law (one of the greatest guitarists on the planet and a national treasure) gave it to me and I listened to it over and over for a couple of months!</p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Well that'd be a tie. On back to back nights I saw Zappa Plays Zappa at Rothbury and Surprise Me Mr. Davis, late night, High Sierra Music Festival.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_08_22.07.phtml" target="c">Click here for a recent interview with Railroad Earth</a></p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>MATT KASS (THE BRAKES) </b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_17.03.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />The loss of our drummer and friend Josh Sack to Leukemia, the Phillies winning the World Series, and Obama winning the Presidential Election.</p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Annuals </p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Iron and Wine - <i>The Shepherd's Dog</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Radiohead, Susquehanna Bank Center, 8.12.08</p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>HOWIE SCHNEE (CEG, SULLIVAN HALL) </b></p><p><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />Obama giving the country and the World a feeling of hope after 8 dark years<br />of Bush and co. </p><p><b><i> Who's the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />New Mastersounds. Close runners-up: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and Marco<br />Benevento Trio.<br /><br /><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Fleet Foxes, <i>Fleet Foxes</i> and The Bad Plus’ <i>Prog</i>, but it's often hard for me to direct my iPod away from something Jerry's playing on. </p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Toss up between Trey in Brooklyn and Kanye at Bonnaroo.</p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>CRIS JACOBS (THE BRIDGE) </b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_17.04.jpg" /></p><p><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />I'll remember my renewed sense of hope in this country after eight horrendous years of government.<br /><br /><b><i> Who's the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Uh...hmm...I'd have to say...The Bridge?</p><p><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Probably Van Morrison’s <i>Astral Weeks</i>. Never gets old.</p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Levon Helm Band at moe.down. I believed every single note.</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_02_24.03.phtml" target="b">Click here for a recent interview with The Bridge</a></p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>JESSE MILLER (LOTUS) </b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_17.05.jpg" /></p><p><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />Barak Obama being elected President. </p><p><b><i> Who's the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Fleet Foxes. Believe the hype. </p><p><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Black Mountain - <i>In the Future </i></p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Lotus at Rothbury (from on stage), Radiohead in Camden, NJ (from the crowd).</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_04_25.02.phtml" target="c">Click here for a recent interview with Lotus</a></p><p><br /><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>CHRIS GANGI (CORNMEAL) </b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_17.06.jpg" /></p><p><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />Standing in Grant Park in Chicago, IL with 100,000 other hopeful Americans as Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech. There was a quiet affirmation in the eyes of everyone there that change is possible.</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Backyard Tire Fire </p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Brett Dennen, <i>Hope for the Hopeless</i> </p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Blind Melon, Double Door Chicago, IL</p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>ANDY BERNSTEIN (HEADCOUNT, PHARMER’S ALMANAC) </b></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />Registering 100,000 voters.</p><p><b><i> Who's the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Cliffside Push</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Beck - <i>Modern Guilt</i></p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Eddie Vedder solo </p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>FUZZ (CARAVAN OF THIEVES, DEEP BANANA BLACKOUT) </b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_17.07.jpg" /></p><p><b><i>What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />The election</p><p><b><i>Who's the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />HoneyHoney</p><p><b><i>What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Wilco, <i>Sky Blue Sky</i></p><p><b><i>What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Trout Fishing in America, Pawling, NY</p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>JON TOPPER (TOP ARTIST MANAGEMENT: MOE., CORNMEAL) </b></p><p><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />Presidential Election, Food banks running out of food, moe. not playing for almost 5 months, Meeting Bob Costas at Farm Aid. </p><p><b><i>Who’s the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Cornmeal, U-melt, The Bridge, macpodz, Phish, The Heavy Pets</p><p><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br /><i>Rattlin Bones</i> - Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson</p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008 ?</i></b><br />Presidents Of the United States Of America at moe.down. <a href="http://www.iclips.net/content.php?%3C/b%3E%3C/i%3Econtent_id=21468" target="c">Check it out on iClips</a>. </p><p><br />**********</p><p><br /><b>CHRIS FRANTZ (TOM TOM CLUB, TALKING HEADS) </b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_17.08.jpg" /></p><p><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />That's easy. The election of Barack Obama!</p><p><b><i> Who is the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />I'm digging Lykke Li (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?%3C/b%3E%3C/i%3Ev=Y4-3Znrbh6c" target="b">a choice clip from Chris</a>) </p><p><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Senor Coconut. <i>El Baile Aleman</i>, Nacional Records (The songs of <br />Kraftwerk played on marimbas and bongos!)</p><p><b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br /><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/May%202008%20http://www.youtube.com/watch?%3C/b%3E%3C/i%3Ev=FsrN3qxX2Yw" target="y">Yelle at Le Festival de Art Rock, St. Brieuc, France</a> </p><p>**********</p><p><b>REED MATHIS (JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY, TEA LEAF GREEN) </b><br /><img src="http://www.jambands.com/PhotoRepository/image_2008_12_17.09.jpg" /></p><p><b><i> What will you remember most about 2008?</i></b><br />Tea Leaf Green teaching me 1,000 ways to be a better bassist.</p><p><b><i> Who is the band to watch in 2009?</i></b><br />Whoever comes to your town! I'd like to see us all attend as many shows as humanly possible.</p><p><b><i> What album appeared in your CD player or iTunes most often?</i></b><br />Iron & Wine, <i>Shepherds Dog</i><br />Sigur Ros, <i>Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust </i><br />Flaming Lips, <i>At War With Mystics</i></p><p> <b><i> What was your favorite live performance from 2008?</i></b><br />Tea Leaf Green, New Haven, CT, Toad's Place, 11/08<br />JFJO, New York, NY, Blue Note, 10/08<br />Benevento/Mathis/Fishman, Hartford, CT, Real Art Ways, 11/08</p><p><a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2008_02_24.05.phtml" target="r">Click here for a recent interview with Reed Mathis</a></p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-42562818425160414012008-12-03T17:44:00.003-05:002008-12-03T17:54:44.909-05:00Video Game Energy Level<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/STcL-t86eEI/AAAAAAAAAXE/lqdZtD8dWpA/s1600-h/mario3.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 224px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/STcL-t86eEI/AAAAAAAAAXE/lqdZtD8dWpA/s320/mario3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275698660602705986" border="0" /></a><br /> <p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-style: normal;"> Sometimes I feel like I exist in a </span>Super Mario Brothers </em><em><span style="font-style: normal;">game with an energy meter that continually keeps me moving. As the game of life goes on it occasionally gets warn down, but luckily I can build it back by sleeping, eating, drinking and collecting special gold coins (and or drinking chocolate milk). The week before Thanksgiving I managed to push my energy level to about zero, but then binge slept for 36 hours over Thanksgiving break. So my body is kind of feeling like a mammal coming out of hibernation after a long winter. Anyone remember the secret code for unlimited lives on </span>Contra</em><em><span style="font-style: normal;">? I’m heading into holiday party season, the most dangerous time of the year in the life any young socialite wannabe.</span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-style: normal;">On an unrelated note, I</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> last night I went to see Dr. Dog at <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state>’s Webster Hall. I didn’t really think about it until after the show, but I’ve been lucky enough to see that band rise all the way from a four-band bill at the Mercury Lounge up through the Bowery Ballroom, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Jam on the River, Bonnaroo, Mountain Jam and finally a packed, headlining show at Webster. The band's production has grown along with its onstage confidence and, especially last night, the songs from this year's <span style="font-style: italic;">Fate </span>felt custom designed for a big, busy stage. There comes a point in every band's career when they age from playing gigs to putting on a show and it was cool to see that happen before my very eyes last night. Maybe it's worth wearing down my energy meter every once and a while. </span></em><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"></p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-2539005922138649562008-12-02T01:42:00.010-05:002008-12-03T14:19:57.074-05:00Phish Turns 25According to the copy of <i style="">The Phish Companion</i> I keep hidden somewhere under my pillow, today marks the 25<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Phish’s first show. In case you sleep with a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Hipster Handbook</span> under <span style="font-style: italic;">your </span>pillow, the gig took place in the Harris-Millis cafeteria at the University of Vermont and, as legend has it, was cut short so the predominantly ROTC crowd could dance to Michael Jackson records. <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If I’ve learned one thing in my time touring ‘n writing about Phish it’s that no matter what you say someone else will disagree. So instead of writing some long-winded ramble about how Phish is the reason I am the slightly befuddled, neurotic Jew I am today, I figured I’d compile 25 “artifacts” (articles, images, videos, links and mp3s) that somehow relate to Phish. Some are personal, others musical, but I find all of them incredibly interesting. Take them with a grain of salt (or “Sand” if you prefer) and feel free to add your own links in the comments section. I plan on adding new items throughout the day, so like a <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> election during our Reconstruction Period and/or Florida 2000, please check in early and often. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p>1) Long before magazines used them to increase their Google footprint, Phish was just another club band trying to get some national exposure. Relix was actually one of---if not <i style="">the</i>---first national publication to give Phish a print profile and, at one point, Phish's management even asked Relix’s original owners to release <i style="">Lawn Boy. </i>The following clip was written by longtime editor Mick Skidmore for our Too New to Be Known column, a precursor to our current On the Verge section. It originally ran in October 1989, shortly after the release of Phish’s debut album, <em>Junta:</em><o:p></o:p></p> <p><em>It never ceases to amaze me how many great unsigned bands there are out there.</em> <o:p></o:p></p> <p><em> </em><strong><i>Phish</i></strong><em>, a four-piece that hails from <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Burlington</st1:city>, <st1:state st="on">Vermont</st1:state></st1:place> is one such band. It consists of Trey Anastasio on guitar (he also writes most of the music), Page McConnell on keyboards, Jon (Phish) Fishman on drums and trombone, and Mike Gordon on bass.</em> <o:p></o:p></p> <p><em> Phish has a strong base of highly original material that it liberally laces with jazz, rock, funk, calypso, and blues elements, as well as truly bizarre lyrics that would do Frank Zappa proud.</em> <o:p></o:p></p> <p><em> The band has been playing the <st1:place st="on">New England</st1:place> Club and college scene for the past five years to ever-increasing audiences, and on the strength of their self-produced cassette release, Junta, it’s easy to see why.</em> <o:p></o:p></p> <p><em> The tape is superbly recorded and shows the band processes musical flair almost beyond belief. Sure the songs are a little odd, especially the whimsical, “Contact,” a love song to a car, and the poetic “Ester,” but the underlying strength of all the material is the virtuoso musicianship and wry sense of humor that runs through it. Guitarist Anastasio’s playing is of a highly exploratory nature and ranges from jazzy runs through melodic phrases to daring improvisations. Keyboardist McConnell embellishes the sound with some intricate playing, while the rest of the band creates a complex mesh of syncopated and polyrhythmic sounds. This is most notable on the lengthy, mainly instrumental “David Bowie” (the only lyrics are the title and UB40 repeated!), and equally exciting “The Divided Sky” and “You Enjoy Myself.”</em> <o:p></o:p></p> <p><em> According to a spokesperson for the band, the tape only reflects a small part of their complex repertoire of originals. They even have an entire suite that runs an hour and a half! I hope we get a chance to hear more from these extremely talented musicians in the not too distant future. Meanwhile, this tape comes highly recommended. For gig dates and other info, call 802-655-9068. For the tape, send $9 to: Dionysian Productions c/o <st1:address st="on"><st1:street st="on">168 Weaver St.</st1:street> <st1:city st="on">Winooski</st1:city>, <st1:state st="on">VT</st1:state> <st1:postalcode st="on">05404</st1:postalcode></st1:address></em> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">2) Lets jump from the beginning to the (first) end. Even though you may not always agree with him, Jesse has always gone a great job articulating his thoughts on Phish. <a href="http://www.jambands.com/Columns/JJarnow/content_2004_12_31.00.phtml">This column</a> was published the first New Year's Eve after Phish's final performances, as the Vermont Quartet were slowly segueing from rock stars to normal, talented musicians.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">3)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/STVuWvOaX7I/AAAAAAAAAW0/DOYxoUhrZgA/s1600-h/album_Phish-The-White-Tape.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/STVuWvOaX7I/AAAAAAAAAW0/DOYxoUhrZgA/s320/album_Phish-The-White-Tape.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275243875447496626" border="0" /></a></p> I am not exactly sure who designed the trademark Phish logo, but one of its earliest appearances was on The White Tape, Phish's first "album. " According to the liner notes, Trey is responsible for the album's cover, so he very well may have designed the logo himself, which I've always found kind of interesting.<br /><br />4) From chess matches to big ball jams to secret languages, Phish has always been---to a degree---about interaction with its fans. So it makes perfect sense that Andy Gadiel pulled the plug on his Phish page a month before Trey broke up Phish and even more sense that <a href="http://www.gadiel.com/phish/">Gadiel.com/Phish</a> returned with a retro-look right before the announcement of Hampton. Lets hope Andy plans to spend a few days at Madison Square Garden this March as well.<br /><br />5) You can talk about music all you want, but sometimes its better to just listen. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Phish_Volume_2">Here's some info</a> on my favorite installment in the original Live Phish series. In my mind it encapsulates Phish's quirky/fun/exploratory side almost perfectly.<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal">6) I’m not too good at math, but if this is Phish’s 25<sup>th</sup> anniversary than it also means it has been five years since Mike Gordon debuted his 20<sup>th</sup> anniversary montage in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city>. That also means it is has been five years since Phish last played <st1:city st="on">Boston</st1:city>, a city I visited six months ago on the fourth anniversary of Phish’s last <st1:state st="on">New York</st1:state> performance, which was two months before their last <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Vermont</st1:place></st1:state> show. Who says hippies can’t add? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UvjHYYpZ7tw&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UvjHYYpZ7tw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>7) Jeff Holdsworth: The author or "Camel Walk" and "Possum," Blackwood Convention’s original frontman, the guitarist who got away, The Pete Best of the Phish word, the jam-scene’s greatest mystery…No matter how you see him, <a href="http://www.rfsales.com/staff.html">this is how he describes himself</a> in his current staff profile. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>8) You could argue that Phish went from being cult heroes to cultural institutions when Ben & Jerry’s awarded them an ice cream flavor. But, I just like the little chocolates that dwell at the bottom of the container like the catfish in my fish tank <o:p><br /></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/STWJgv2mVSI/AAAAAAAAAW8/UJlro2j3phA/s1600-h/phish-food-guimauve-chocolat.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 208px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/STWJgv2mVSI/AAAAAAAAAW8/UJlro2j3phA/s320/phish-food-guimauve-chocolat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275273734228694306" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p>9) Phish played my <st1:city st="on">alma</st1:city> matter, <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Skidmore</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">College,</st1:placetype></st1:place> only once: October 5, 1990. I tried to track down a copy of the show after I received my early acceptance letter in high school, but some dude ripped me off B + P-style. The summer after I graduated my friend Kenny finally gave me the show on CD for my birthday (I also have a <span style="font-style: italic;">Skidmore News’ i</span>nterview with Mike and “Tray” from that same show hanging in my cubicle at Relx). Here’s the setlist: </p> <p><b>10-5-90, Skidmore Gymnasium, <st1:placename st="on">Skidmore</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">College</st1:placetype>, <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Saratoga</st1:city>, <st1:state st="on">NY</st1:state></st1:place></b><o:p></o:p></p> <p><b>I:</b> I Didn't Know, Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, My Sweet One, The Landlady, Tela, The Oh <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Kee</st1:city> <st1:state st="on">Pa</st1:state></st1:place> Ceremony > Suzy Greenberg, Stash, The Asse Festival, Bouncing Around the Room, Run Like an Antelope<o:p></o:p></p> <p><b>II:</b> Golgi Apparatus, The Curtain > Ya Mar, Alumni Blues, Uncle Pen, <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Split</st1:place></st1:city> Open and Melt, Fee > Possum</p> <p><b>E:</b> Good Times Bad Times<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">According to the tape<i style="">, </i>a few Skidmore kids called the Phish Hotline to request “The Curtain” before the show<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">10) I’ve always thought Mike Gordon could make a great spoken word album. <a href="http://www.phish.com/mikescorner/">Here is an archive</a> of his Mike’s Corner columns.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">11) One of the best things about Phish’s return (besides the music) is that Phishheads are coming out of the woodwork from seemingly every direction. Here is a recent article from <a href="http://gothamist.com/2008/11/21/phish_practicing_in_brooklyn.php">Gothamist</a> that links to one of my recent Jambands.com news stories.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">12) When I first got into Phish this was considered their best show. I often wonder if it would be regarded as highly if it didn’t take place in the wake of Jerry Garcia’s death, but either way<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVBj37f7RMk"> this is a great version of “Maze.”</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>13) In 1994 Phish played a tiny ski mountain virtually in my suburban backyard that we affectionately referred to as Big Bump. According to legend, the show was empty because the Dead were playing nearby (relatively at least, meaning <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Washington</st1:city> <st1:state st="on">DC</st1:state></st1:place>) and the members of Phish got into a little tiff onstage. What resulted was a swirl or “Cavern” and “<st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Wilson</st1:place></st1:city>” I hope Live Phish releases on soundboard someday soon. <a href="http://www.torrentreactor.net/torrents/1125664/Phish-7%2F13%2F1994-Set-II-Big-Birch-Concert-Pavillion-sbd-gt%3B-c1-gt%3B-DAT">Here's a link to the show. </a> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>14) I have absolutely no idea who I am going to marry and it is probably healthier if she doesn’t even like Phish. But, no matter, I want “If I Could” to be my wedding song. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ddzd7FZjqk">Here is a clip of them recording </a><i style=""><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ddzd7FZjqk">Hoist. </a> <o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><br /><o:p></o:p></i>15) Though Phish’s cover of The White Album is the most fun, I’d say their version of Talking Heads’ <i style="">Remain in Light </i>had the biggest impact on the jamband scene as a whole. <a href="http://www.phisharchive.com/articles/2002/newsweek.html">Here is <i style="">Newsweek’s </i>take</a> on Phish’s various Halloween costumes.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">16) I couldn’t think of compiling any sort of comprehensive Phish retrospective without giving at least one nod to my dear friend and podcast co-host Benjy and his “Harry Hood” chant. That’s right my friends, enemies and people I stalked awkwardly on Facebook, <a href="http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2003_02_24.04.phtml">the dude who often crashes on my sofa changed a Phish song forever</a>. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>17) Last night I had a conversation with a friend that eventually drifted back to Phish’s 1997 tour. In certain ways it was the beginning of the end, as the group finally loosened up and started focusing more on big, funky grooves than tight, precise psych-rock nuggets---and, we later learned, started playing like rock stars both on and off the stage. But, 1997 and 1998 still produced some incredible funk jams, especially during “Ghost” and “Moma Dance.”<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1lWi1dGT9UY&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1lWi1dGT9UY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />19) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTmhg_SR4A8&feature=related">Here is a fuzzy clip</a> of Phish playing “Antelope” at a farm in <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Vermont</st1:place></st1:state> in 1987. As far as I know it is the oldest video of the band currently available online </p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTmhg_SR4A8&feature=related"></a> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>20) While it’s hard to know exactly when and where Phish decided to reunite, for me the reunion<span style=""> </span>took place right before Trey and Mike played “Backwards Down the Number Line” at Rothbury. I’m not sure I’ve bounced or smiled so hard since college and <a href="http://greenhauseffect.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html">he’s a live blog</a> to prove it.</p><p class="MsoNormal">21) Phish not only had a legion of dedicated fans, they offered a platform for creative people to turn music into their careers. One such person is Brad Serling who turned his mp3 site nugs.net into a livemusic downloading empire. <a href="http://stash.nugs.net/phish/reviews/phish.html">Here's an old school review he wrote</a> in 1995.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">22) Being relatively young for the Phish scene, I missed a lot of the group's more famous stunts. One gag I did see took place on the roof of an air traffic control tower at the IT festival. Here's a look for yourself:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/49b424UWM-4&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/49b424UWM-4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></p> <p class="MsoNormal">23) Likewise, I was lucky enough to see Phish's latter day bustout show <a name="20030729">in Burgettstown, PA. I did that entire tour with my friends Brill and Jenny, and we always joked that this would be the show we were going to skip. Luckily, we made the long hall and after 40 odd shows I finally heard "Fee," the song that originally got me hooked on Phish. According to legend, they broke out all these rare cuts after getting their first i</a><a name="20030729">Pods. Here's the setlist:<br /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="20030729"></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="20030729">07/29/03</a> - Post Gazette Pavilion at Star Lake - Burgettstown, Pennsylvania <br /><br />Set 1: <span class="setlist">Daniel (Saw the Stone), Camel Walk, Gotta Jibboo, Cool it Down, Scent of a Mule, Fee > Timber (Jerry) > When the Circus Comes, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, <a href="http://www.phish.net/faq/golgi.html">Golgi Apparatus</a></span> <br /><br />Set 2: <span class="setlist">Crosseyed and Painless > Thunderhead, Brother, Harpua > Bittersweet Motel, Harpua, I Fooled Around and Fell in Love* > Hold Your Head Up > Harpua, David Bowie</span> <br /><br />Encore: <span class="setlist">Farmhouse</span> <br /><br /><span class="setlist"> * First time played, w/ Fishman on vocals and vacuum. None of the first nine songs had been played this tour. Daniel had not been performed in the previous 280 shows, Harpua in 167.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">24) I have never seen energy like at Madison Square Garden on 12/31/02. Here is how <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E4D9133FF931A35752C0A9659C8B63"><span style="font-style: italic;">The </span><span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span></a> remembers the night.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">25) Famous last words? Never say never...</p><ol class="datagroup newsstory02"><li class="dataitem" id="story182"> <div class="itemmeta"> <span class="title">AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM TREY</span> <span class="date">05.25.04</span> </div> <div class="itemcontent"> <p>Last Friday night, I got together with Mike, Page and Fish to talk openly about the strong feelings I've been having that Phish has run its course and that we should end it now while it's still on a high note. Once we started talking, it quickly became apparent that the other guys' feelings, while not all the same as mine, were similar in many ways -- most importantly, that we all love and respect Phish and the Phish audience far too much to stand by and allow it to drag on beyond the point of vibrancy and health. We don't want to become caricatures of ourselves, or worse yet, a nostalgia act. By the end of the meeting, we realized that after almost twenty-one years together we were faced with the opportunity to graciously step away in unison, as a group, united in our friendship and our feelings of gratitude.<br /><br />So Coventry will be the final Phish show. We are proud and thrilled that it will be in our home state of Vermont. We're also excited for the June and August shows, our last tour together. For the sake of clarity, I should say that this is not like the hiatus, which was our last attempt to revitalize ourselves. We're done. It's been an amazing and incredible journey. We thank you all for the love and support that you've shown us.<br /><br />-- Trey Anastasio<br /></p></div></li></ol>and one for good luck...<br /><br />26) Here's the appreciation I wrote for Phish when they received the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Jammys<br /><br /><p><strong><a name="5-8-36"> <b>Phish: An Appreciation</b> </a></strong></p><p> </p><p> <br />Though they leave behind an impressive body of over a thousand carefully-annotated performances, a dozen studio albums and a web of carefully preserved digital shrines, <a href="http://www.phish.com/">it is still impossible to separate Phish's music</a> from its cultural impact. </p><p> In many ways, they are both the first post-modern rock band and the internet age's first great success story; the first group to rub the avant-garde against mainstream, MTV culture with festival-size success while still reducing the meaning of life to the carefree, 1990s sentiment of "whatever you do, take care of your shoes." In an era of hard-rock testosterone and New Wave excess, the members of Phish emerged as the perennial everymen: four ordinary people known by their first names for their uncanny musical ability, personifying four tangible elements of post-Aquarius, suburban society. </p><p>While not the first rock band to embrace improvisational music, Phish turned the jam scene on its head with an original cocktail of rock, pop, jazz, bluegrass, reggae, funk and orchestral sounds that owed as much to Talking Heads and Frank Zappa as it did to Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead. In only 21 years, Phish challenged arena rock's rules, claimed cow-funk as their own and re-fused Brian Eno ambience with the indie-rock underground. Their studio work is equally varied: From the breezy statements of <i>Junta</i> and the dreamy concepts of <i>Rift</i> to the mature, rustic emotions of <i>Billy Breathes</i> and the instrumental experimentations of <i>The Siket Disc</i>, Phish played by their own rules, setting the template for the modern festival, harnessing the power of the internet long before the blog and somehow turning a flying hotdog into an everlasting cultural statement. Only a collegiate cycle since their curtain call, Phish's legacy is still being set...and we still have no regrets. </p><p> <i>Mike Greenhaus, from somewhere south of Coventry</i> </p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span class="setlist"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="setlist"><br /></span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-2716500461891806852008-12-01T02:06:00.004-05:002008-12-01T02:11:05.141-05:00Leftover Thanksgiving Memories<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/STONAB7tQiI/AAAAAAAAAWs/SiMG_JMRtKc/s1600-h/stuffing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/STONAB7tQiI/AAAAAAAAAWs/SiMG_JMRtKc/s320/stuffing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274714620239364642" border="0" /></a><br />Thanksgiving has long been my favorite <em><span style="font-style: normal;">non-denominational</span></em>, non-music related holiday. It’s the only weekend of the year when everyone I know retreats to the suburbs for an extended week of nostalgia and pretty much the only time of the year I’m relaxed enough to completely check out of reality. My room at home has no clock, a broken phone and only lets in minimal sunlight, so I managed to pack a weeks worth of sleep into 36 glorious hours. I rarely checked my voicemail, let my BlackBerry messages pile-up and spent most of my free time importing old CDs into itunes (side note: <a href="http://www.godstreetwine.com/">How sick were God Street Wine</a>?). It felt good---healthy---to let life settle for a second. Even the internet felt closed. <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">With the exception of the few months I lived at home after college, I haven’t spent any considerable time at my parent’s house since I was 18, so my room is kind of a memorial to my teenage years: my shelves are filled with outdated music books, yellowed newspaper clippings and soccer trophies I barely remember winning. At one point my mom and dad probably classified most of those ornaments as clutter, but now they seem to trace my growing pains through the fleeting trends and interests I embraced in the ‘80s and ‘90s. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Last time I was home I didn’t bring my computer, so I pulled out my old high school yearbook when I needed a quick distraction from my families' trademark brand of Jewish gossip. In retrospect, I probably spent more time working on the text for that senior yearbook page than I did studying for my math class, which is also probably why I now have both a blog and a GMAT math tutor. Yet, it’s still interesting to see who I felt the need to thank on paper ten years ago next "semester." At the time those words felt so finite, but a decade of memories later I'm proud to say most of those people are still around, even if many of them have aged from friends to family.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">For whatever reason, I also used six quotes to caption the assortment of pictures spread throughout my proto-blog ramble. Like any slightly left-leaning high school dork, I included a few obligatory adolescent references to Phish, <span style="font-style: italic;">Saved by Bell </span>and <i style="">A Clockwork Orange </i>(I was such a rebel) and I may or may not have included a Ben Harper line about “burning one down” (hell, back then he seemed more underground than the Grateful Dead).<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">But I quote I’m proudest of using I probably haven’t thought of since about this time in 1998: “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Like most of you, I first heard that line used in the <i style="">Usual Suspects, </i>but I've since learned that it is actually culled from Charles Baudelaire’s "The Generous Gambler." Either way, it kind of ties together two of the many lessons I’ve learned in the ten years since I slept in my parent’s house on a regular basis: that you should never underestimate anyone (for good or bad) and that you never know who or what you are going to find when you least expect it (ditto).<br /></p> I actually kind of wish I could write my senior page all over again, if only so I could litter another piece of paper with obtuse references to the National ("all we gotta do is be brave and be kind") and Ernie Anastasio ("The Only Rule is It Begins"), but I guess that is why I have my own "senior blog" called the Greenhaus Effect.com. And at least now my emotional growing pains get picked up by Google.Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-62208503373154259642008-11-27T16:20:00.001-05:002008-11-27T16:21:26.096-05:00Happy ThanksgivingHappy Thanksgiving from Me, Arlo and, of course, Alice...<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/b8DtpdXZi0M&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/b8DtpdXZi0M&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-599555950267996502008-11-10T18:08:00.005-05:002008-11-11T00:25:48.151-05:00Phish: The Biography<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SRi_uY3MXNI/AAAAAAAAAQk/0k8F6YuMzx4/s1600-h/phishgp2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 220px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SRi_uY3MXNI/AAAAAAAAAQk/0k8F6YuMzx4/s320/phishgp2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267170567878630610" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span>It is possible I am more excited about this than the actual Phish reunion itself. Then again, I am a jamband writer/dork, and I did once cancel a playdate in kindergarten to watch </span></span></span></span><span><span>Transformers:The Movie</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span> by myself the day it came out on VHS. As I posted on <a href="http://www.relix.com/">Relix </a>and <a href="http://www.jambands.com/">Jambands.com</a>: </span></span></span></span><b><br /></b><p><strong><a name="11-10-31"> </a></strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Over a decade after the release of Richard Gehr’s <i>The Phish Book</i>, author Parke Puterbaugh has nearly completed <i>Phish: The Biography</i>, the first narrative history of Phish. The biography is culled from numerous interviews Puterbaugh conducted with Phish and its organization while serving as the band’s official in-house writer for almost ten years. The noted music and travel writer has also contributed to <i>Rolling Stone</i>, <i>USA Today</i>, <i>Outside</i>, <i>Men's Journal</i> and <i>Stereo Review</i>, among many others. He has also served as a freelance curatorial assistant and writer for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland since its inception. </p><p> The behind the scenes narrative is expected to hit stores in May through The Perseus Books Group, before the band presumably plays its first summer shows since 2004. As of press time, the group’s only confirmed appearances will take place at Hampton, VA’s Hampton Coliseum from March 6-8. </p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-73745083258815131562008-11-09T20:00:00.013-05:002008-11-10T23:38:41.648-05:00Joe and Marco<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SRkLdxPEQrI/AAAAAAAAAQs/Jp0sUI3Dk4U/s1600-h/beneventorussoduo2005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 217px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SRkLdxPEQrI/AAAAAAAAAQs/Jp0sUI3Dk4U/s320/beneventorussoduo2005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267253845247148722" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A random thought before I start my week…</span><br /><br /><br />I had this moment at Marco's show Saturday when I realized that Phish will forever my band and the Disco Biscuits my musical family, but the Duo is truly the soundtrack to my 20s in New York. Not only because I feel like I've seen Joe and/or Marco at least once a week since I moved here, but because their mixture of avant-jazz, rock and jam somehow manges to keep divergent elements of the Tonic, Knitting Factory and Wetlands scenes (respectively) alive in the 21st century. They're the missing link between the New Deal and Galactic, indie-rock and funk, twenty-something freedom and thirty-something responsibility. Plus, the way they structure their songs---the loose themes and instrumental passages, tied together by reoccurring hooks and melodies, which ebb and flow before fading into the night---seem to parallel how I've bounced my way through this strange scene in this strange city at this strange time of my life...<br /><br />Here's someone else's vision of some of my favorite nights...<br /><br />Benevento, Fishman and Mathis <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CbWnN1wdKVE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CbWnN1wdKVE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Benevento, Russo and Barr<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BQ76Wn69-OQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BQ76Wn69-OQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Russo, Hamilton (x2) and Metzger <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eBq-5ZcVZCw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eBq-5ZcVZCw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Russo, Benevento, Lesh, Anastasio and Gordon<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9-uy6iOu9_s&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9-uy6iOu9_s&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-85981792776754117202008-10-30T13:56:00.002-04:002008-10-30T13:57:26.014-04:00Twitter Typos<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>I know I am kind of behind the curve on this one (i.e. Dave Matthews has been doing it for months) but I finally signed onto Twitter yesterday. I’ve also linked my Twitter account to this here blog, so you can follow my micro-mumblings our your right. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Less than 24-hours in, a bunch of my internet-savvy friends have already told me that “they don’t get Twitter” (despite having handles themselves), but I theoretically like the whole Twitter thing. First off, I’m continually fascinated by how RSS feeds have turned our social lives into the <i style="">Truman Show,</i> and Twitter seems like a natural progression from simply updating my Facebook status every time I pick up my dry cleaning. <span style=""> </span>Second, it is a nice exercise in concise writing since I am told I can’t go over 140 characters, let alone words. Finally, I feel like I have my brightest ideas when I’m kind of buzzed at a bar and being able to upload those fuzzy thoughts before they spill out of my brain and into my trademark 7 & 7 will prove once and for all if they still sound intelligent when I’m not intoxicated. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>So I hope you all enjoy, at least until someone figures out how to Twit what I’m thinking directly onto my computer’s screen (think music, girls and chocolate milk, in reverse order). </p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-48027340523819614332008-10-29T11:24:00.001-04:002008-10-29T11:26:52.771-04:00Ryan Adams Delivers Stealth Afternoon Gig<b><span style="font-style: italic;">This was a fun afternoon distraction...</span><br /></b><p><strong><a name="10-28-28"> </a></strong></p> <p> </p> <p> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SQiAq2BnFfI/AAAAAAAAAQM/5MZ3dmiZnj8/s1600-h/ryan_neal_600.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SQiAq2BnFfI/AAAAAAAAAQM/5MZ3dmiZnj8/s320/ryan_neal_600.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262597638127556082" border="0" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.cardinology.com/">Ryan Adams & the Cardinals celebrated</a> the release of their new album <i>Cardinology</i> with a secret show at New York's Café Select this afternoon. After several online hints, Adams confirmed the show on his blog around 3:30 PM, shortly before heading down to the tiny café for a 4:30 PM performance. The Cardinals then huddled in a corner of the intimate café for a stripped down, acoustic performance for approximately 75 fans. As expected, the first part of Adams and the Cardinals' set consisted of material from <i>Cardinology</i>---"Born into a Light," "Evergreen," "Fix It" and "Magick"---but Adams later opened up the floor to requests and offered two cuts from 2005's Grateful Dead-inspired <i>Cold Roses</i>: the rare "If I am a Stranger" and a timid "Cherry Lane." Adams then entertained a few additional requests, before closing with another <i>Cardinology</i> track, "Let Us Down Easy." "It was very hot in there, I liked it," he said. "People were nice and the vibe was nice." On several occasions he also joking apologized to the crowd for ruining their lunch. </p> <a href="http://cave.cardinology.com/">The entire performance was webcast</a> on Adams' daily blog, Foggy. "I think I am neurotic, I spend too much time alone," Adams posted shortly after his gig. "Maybe I'll nap, gonna set an alarm and then do the secret electriMike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-15991885895658678112008-10-19T02:50:00.000-04:002008-10-19T02:51:09.497-04:00It's The End of the World as We Know It...<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/48fad8acd6764fb4/48fad380b65d9260/da58ab6d/-cpid/ebd058c0d763da8c/clipID/773761/video_title/Saturday+Night+Live+-+Gov.+Palin+Cold+Open?storeInPid=true" id="W4727a250e66f972348fad8acd6764fb4" width="384" height="283"><param name="movie" value="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/48fad8acd6764fb4/48fad380b65d9260/da58ab6d/-cpid/ebd058c0d763da8c/clipID/773761/video_title/Saturday+Night+Live+-+Gov.+Palin+Cold+Open?storeInPid=true"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></object><br /><br /><br />But at least Phish is back together!Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-58820268635999693372008-10-15T00:58:00.009-04:002008-10-15T01:52:46.981-04:00The Other Helping Phriendly Book<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SPV5k5xjblI/AAAAAAAAAQE/8ILBA2jIvxw/s1600-h/Full--sniper+trouble.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SPV5k5xjblI/AAAAAAAAAQE/8ILBA2jIvxw/s320/Full--sniper+trouble.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257241814915837522" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal">I’ve been told---by, you know, all my friends in ‘Nam---that you can tell a lot about a man when he looks death in the eye, and I’d say the same thing about my generation’s other great Judgment Day: Today, Tuesday, October 14, the day the winners of the first Phish Ticket Lottery since 2004 were announced. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>In the Jewish faith we are taught that “on Rosh Hashanah it is written, on Yom Kippur it sealed, <span style=""> </span>how many will pass on, how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted. But REPENTANCE, PRAYER and CHARITY avert the severe decree!"</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>And, indeed, less then a week after Yom Kippur---and just over two weeks since Phish returned from the ether---we wait in limbo to see. Who will spend the first weekend of March inside the Mothership? Who will spend that weekend waiting outside in The <st1:place st="on">Lot</st1:place>? And who will pretend they’d rather spend that first weekend of MArch outside in The Lot than in the Mothership after Phish’s parent company Musictoday decides their fate for them> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>For even though all my Phish tour companions have spent the past four years trying to convince me that they are “over Phish,” “done with the jam-scene” and “full-on, skinny jean wearing hipsters” (who happen to have a dog named Reba) in the past few weeks I’ve heard from both people I forgot liked Phish and people I just plain forgot about and, oddly enough, each and every one of them plans to spend the first weekend of March in Hampton, VA (there must be a sale on trucker hats or something).<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal">But, instead waiting for the <span style="font-style: italic;">Doniac Schvice</span> in the mail, looking for tickets on rec.music.phish or--- gasp---calling their pals on the phone, these days my Phish-revivalist friends are discussing their stories in the comment section of their favorite blogs, texting for extras and, mostly, letting their bros and brahs know what’s up via the Millennial Generation’s answer to the Shakedown Street lot: Facebook. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>So I hereby present to you each and every Phish-related Facebook status update that popped up in my feed between the hours of 7 and 11:59 PM on October 14 (or at least those that were still active by the time I started copying and pasting them…a few of you changed your status faster than the final section of “Sparkle”). </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Personally, “Mike Greenhaus is feeling more rejected than when Caroline turned him down at the Mock Prom in 7<sup>th</sup> grade,” but I have faith I will be inside when the lights go down and geeking gears up. If you play in a band, manage an artist or run a post-jam-leaning blog never fear, I’ve removed everyone’s last name to protect the guilty. But feel free to add your own Phish-related status upstate in the comment section. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>In the meantime, who’s got my extra? And what exactly is lot inflation like these days? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p class="MsoNormal">Jennifer please help out the XXXXX phish tix fund (neither of us won the lottery) :( :( :(</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="fstatus">Mark will buy you a new car, pefect shiny and new...</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="status_body"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>Deanne is still waiting... still waiting...</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="status_body">Jen will be joining everyone else online at 10AM on Saturday.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Jordan</st1:country-region></st1:place> hopes that he will be there when the circus comes to town. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Heidi is still waiting....</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Allie feels absolutely blessed to be going to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Hampton</st1:place></st1:city>, and will bust my ass with TM for the next 6 months to help all of her friends get in... (re-releases, people!)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Marc is stoked.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Scott is wondering if Trey will need his trampoline back?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Aaron got phish tickets!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sam is did anyone anywhere win the phish lottery.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Christopher has hotels for trade for Phish Tickets.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Mikey is bummed out he didn't get phish tickets.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Jamie did not get tickets.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">John has an extra ticket for Trey at Roseland for this Thursday - let me know if you are interested & we can work out the details.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Aimee is disappointed but not surprised:/.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Tara who's got my extra?!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Bryna <span style=""> </span>is putting my rejection aside and getting ready to rock out with the scissor sisters!!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Teddy is listening to the Boss: ride the line of balance and hold on by just a thread...</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Deanne is still in suspense.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Bryan</st1:place></st1:city> is on the phishy loser list, but knowing my luck i probably wouldn't have been able to go anyway.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Chris Denied.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Patrick is happy to have water again. If you love something .. break a water main. If it comes back its yours. If it doesn't it never was</p><span id="profile_status"></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Adam got tix!!!!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Brittany</st1:place></st1:state> did not get phish tix grrrr.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dan wishes he could vote for Fishman.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Jen never has phish luck. EVER.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Jaime GOT PHISH TIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Eric is missing the good ol' mail order days of postal money orders and snail mail to <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">lexington</st1:city>, <st1:state st="on">MA</st1:state></st1:place>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Matt GOT MOTHERF*CKING PHISH TICKETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Thanks Dre).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Matthew is thinking that mail order tix are just urban legand, much like the unicorn and the G spot.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Scott is feeling quite rejected.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Erik has been denied by the phish and is OK with it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Carlin is considering finding <st1:address st="on"><st1:street st="on">5391 Three Notched Road</st1:street>, <st1:city st="on">Crozet</st1:city>, <st1:state st="on">VA</st1:state> <st1:postalcode st="on">22932</st1:postalcode></st1:address> and burning it down...</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Sara is Super SAD & Mark is Angry - We did NOT get Phish Lottery!!!!!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Robert wishes he never saw John Miles dressed as a bee, and wishes he had won Phish lottery...</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Greg did not get phish tix either!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Kelly didn't get tix either.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Yoni hasn't gotten rejected yet...</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Shaun is gon' PHISHing march 6!!!!!!!!!<br /><o:p></o:p><br />Drew will be at a ticketmaster outlet near you this saturday morning. rsvp to reserve your coffee, gooballs, and lot dog.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Tanner is ef.<br /><o:p></o:p><br />James ready to do battle Sat AM for tix.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Marc lost in the Phish Hampton lottery. Guess those 50+ shows don't mean a thing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Regan did not get her tickets, and her baby has an ear infection. Double whammy :(.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>John-Ryan also regrets to inform you that your Phish ticket order was a bust.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Adam Didn't Get Phish Tickets...Off To Ticketmaster on Saturday.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Russell was rejected for Phish tickets at <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Hampton</st1:place></st1:city>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Justin love the fact that I forgot to ask for Phish tickets. I've so clearly moved on, yet I refuse to admit it</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Andy "We regret to inform you that you did not get the tickets that you requested through Phish Tickets."</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>_______________________________________________________________ </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Well, that’s it for now, unless you count such choice text messages as “we’ll be in the bldg somehow” and “we were both denied see you sat morning!” or Gmail favorites like “my mom was denied, those bastards” and <span style=""> </span>“praise the lord, but we are still playing like we didn't get any and have to get all of us in.”</p><p class="MsoNormal">As my friend Bill once said, the world was a far lamer place without Phish. See you all Saturday morning! <span style=""> </span></p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-2160284473328859172008-10-03T17:58:00.009-04:002008-10-04T15:52:44.000-04:00The French RuleEven though I’ve always felt that picking my favorite season was kind of like choosing between peanut butter and jelly, fall is unquestionably my favorite time of year. Summer is too hot, winter is too cold and spring just makes me alternately nostalgic for a winter I probably thought was too cold or jittery for a summer I’ll eventually think is too hot. <o:p></o:p><u1:p></u1:p><br /><br />But the fall has a certain freshness: that brisk, pre-winter chill. For as long as I can remember it has been the start of my new fiscal/academic year, not to mention one of only two seasons where religion is more than just a way to justify neuroses for most Jews. <o:p></o:p> After a busy summer of vacations, festivals and <i>Greece-</i>style summer lovin', it is also nice to come back to reality relaxed, rejuvenated and ready to take on the year with renewed vigor (and maybe some John Travolta-style dance moves). I traditionally pick up some new friends each fall as well, some of whom have blossomed into my closest companions, others of whom have inspired some of my favorite crazy girl blog entries (luckily I have a few days until the Day of Atonement to decide who fits into which category).<u1:p></u1:p><br /><br />Yet, something is different this year. Maybe it is because five years after college I'm going through a so-called second adolescence: out in the world, on my own and finally free from the four-year cycles that have pretty much framed by life since first grade (though sometimes I can’t help feeling like a super senior next to the latest crop of Relix freshman...I keep getting older, they stay just as hetty). But, at a time when my life has became an odd mix of baby showers and beer pong tournaments, something seems a little off about my proposed crop of 2008-2009 crazy girls (not that I don't enjoy discussing such hot topics as post-wedding name hyphenation).<br /><br />Since college I’ve dated girls both old enough to be my <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">camp</st1:placetype> <st1:placename st="on">counselo</st1:placename></st1:place>rs and young enough to be my high school mentees and at the end of the day I could at least bond with both groups over that episode of <i style="">Saved by the Bell </i>where Jesse got booked on caffeine pills, but even that reference is fading. Perhaps it is because words like companionship and compromise have started to creep into my social circle’s collective vocabulary or maybe it is because those older girls are slowly aging from mature to MILFs and dating those younger girls have gone from being sweet to sketchy.<br /><br />All of which have led me to the inevitable question: How do you know when a girl you meet is too young to date? <o:p></o:p><br /><br />And, as it turns out, like wine & cheese, Justice and Babar the Elephant, the French have figured out the answer. <o:p></o:p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><u1:p></u1:p>So, I hereby present to you the French Rule of Dating:<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-style: italic;">It is socially acceptable to date someone seven years older than half your age. </span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="">Which basically means that if you’re 18 you can date someone 16 or older, if you are 30 you can date someone 22 and older and, if you are 72-year old John McCain, it would have been a sign of patriotism if your 54-year old wife was born twelve years earlier. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="">In case you are better with numbers that letters, here is the rule of thumb written as an algebra equation: <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><u1:p></u1:p>Let X=any neurotic single New Yorker currently living out their <i>Garden State </i>fantasy <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><u1:p></u1:p>X/2+7 >/= the youngest person you can date.</p>and in case you are better with graphs Wikipedia has provided one of those too:<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SOMKCUNgbJI/AAAAAAAAAP0/je7LolEBZmI/s1600-h/Half_Plus_Seven_Graph_2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SOMKCUNgbJI/AAAAAAAAAP0/je7LolEBZmI/s320/Half_Plus_Seven_Graph_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252052625345506450" border="0" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><br /></p> Which means that at age 27 the youngest girl I can date is 20.5 and, if you flip it around, I guess the oldest girl I can take is 47, which gives me a nice solid range (that's i math term I'm told) of college girls to cougars. Now if only the French could figure our a way to make it fall all year round...Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21184804.post-91288014924717055772008-10-01T09:41:00.002-04:002008-10-01T09:42:59.228-04:00Phish Returns: Hampton Comes Alive In March<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SON-WwxWr8I/AAAAAAAAAP8/loLwzvi6oEo/s1600-h/phish.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5r0jejB0yKM/SON-WwxWr8I/AAAAAAAAAP8/loLwzvi6oEo/s320/phish.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252180519958261698" border="0" /></a><br /><p> </p><p><strong><a name="10-1-27"> </a></strong><a href="http://www.phish.com/videosplash/" target="p">As dramatically announced via video</a>, Phish will reunite for a series of shows this March. The quartet's first full performances since 2004 will take place at <a href="http://phish.com/news/index.php?year=2008" target="h">Hampton, VA's Hampton Coliseum on March 6, 7 and 8, 2009</a>. Earlier this month the band also played a surprise three-song set at the wedding of longtime road manager Brad Sands. The group is expected to announce a handful of additional dates in the near future. </p><p> Hampton Coliseum's intimate size and general admission seating has made the venue a fan and band favorite since the group first headlined the room in 1995. Since that time Phish has filled the Coliseum on eleven additional occasions, most recently on its farewell tour in 2004. </p><p> This is not the first time the group has selected the room for a special event. After returning from hiatus in 2002, three of Phish's first four shows took place at the spaceship shaped arena, and the group booked a last minute Hampton, VA show after announcing its breakup in 2004. Phish's November 20 and 21, 1998 performances in the room were released as the box set <i>Hampton Comes Alive</i>. </p><p> Rumors of a Phish reunion have reached new heights in recent months after the four musicians accepted a lifetime achievement award at New York's Theatre at Madison Square Garden last May. Since that time the players have appeared onstage in a number of different configurations, most recently when Mike Gordon sat in with Page McConnell at South Burlington, VT's Higher Ground this past Saturday. Trey Anastasio has also tested out a number of new possible Phish songs onstage, most notably his co-compositions with longtime lyricist Tom Marshall "Alaska" and "Backwards Down the Number Line." </p><p> Anastasio announced Phish's breakup on May 25, 2004, and the group played its final show on August 15 of that year. At the time of his original announcement, Anastasio said, "Last Friday night, I got together with Mike, Page and Fish to talk openly about the strong feelings I've been having that Phish has run its course and that we should end it now while it's still on a high note. Once we started talking, it quickly became apparent that the other guys' feelings, while not all the same as mine, were similar in many ways -- most importantly, that we all love and respect Phish and the Phish audience far too much to stand by and allow it to drag on beyond the point of vibrancy and health. We don't want to become caricatures of ourselves, or worse yet, a nostalgia act. By the end of the meeting, we realized that after almost twenty-one years together we were faced with the opportunity to graciously step away in unison, as a group, united in our friendship and our feelings of gratitude." </p><p>A limited number of tickets for Phish's upcoming shows will be available through the group's secure online ticketing system. In addition, the group has issued the following statement regarding ticket scalping: </p><p> <i>Phish Tickets has a zero tolerance for scalping and insists that all patrons of our service abide by our policy stated herein. Tickets made available through this site are intended only for fans who are actually planning on attending the shows requested. It is strictly prohibited to resell any tickets obtained through Phish Tickets for more than the purchase price. If you are found to be reselling, trading or brokering tickets that you purchased through our site for profit, Phish Tickets may at its discretion cancel your ticket order and all other pending orders in your name. This cancellation will result in a refund of the total price for the tickets minus a $7.00 per ticket processing fee and any shipping fees that have been incurred with respect to the order. We reserve the right to investigate all orders suspected to be in violation of this policy.</i> </p><p> <i>We urge you not to purchase tickets through brokers or "scalpers." These tickets may be counterfeit in which case you will not only be overcharged but will also likely be denied entry into the show. </i> </p><p> Meanwhile, Anastasio will also kick off a solo tour at New York's Roseland Ballroom on October 16. </p>Mike Greenhaushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02579093774018646975noreply@blogger.com2