Live Music Archive

I’ve spent hours and hours practicing my instruments and I’ve spent thousands of dollars on my education. I could come up with 20 Reasons. But I willstart with 5.

1. Classier: The right performer adds a certain amount of class to any event. A pianist playing a Grand Piano in a tuxedo of any event adds romance and dignity. A DJ behind a record player never will be able to create that effect.

When you hire a live band or musician, you are telling your customers and companions, ” I am a class act.”

2. Versatility: deejays are limited by their recorded product and tempos on the recordings.

Musicians will a disc jockey ust to their surroundings. Assuming that the dance floor is packed, a band might keep the song going and won’t be limited to the length of the original recording.

A musician might also differ his tempo to the activities in a room. When I see a romantic couple dancing to Frank Sinatra tune, I will frequently add that spark that I feel for my wife.

Granted, a disc jockey may have a repertoire that is only limited by the amount of compact discs they buy. But a nice performer knows thousands of songs.

I know I’ve probably forgotten more tunes than I learned over the years. You will love watching the performer ‘fake’ their way through a tune they haven’t played in years.

That kind of spontaneity is only possible when you use live music instead of a deejay. Which brings us to Reason #3.

3. People Love To See Other People Screw Up: Let’s face it. Musicians are human beings. all of us make mistakes like everybody else. Why’s American Idol so popular? Because all of us all want to see an individual fail. And succeed! Your companions and customers will love to try and “stump the band” when we are playing at your Sales event or Product Rollout. (Watch their amazement when all of us succeed.) “Music is a Manifestation of Emotion. The feeling must always override the Technique” – Jan Hammer (Keyboards for Mahavishnu Orchestra and Jeff Beck)

4. Intimacy: There is something  surprisingly intimate about seeing a person play an instrument and establish music on the spot. Music is magical. It is al the majority surreal. may a DJ play with emotion? Intimacy? people love to watch my hands as I play the piano. It is as If the music appears out of nowhere. When a performer performs for you, it feels like they are creating just for you — right on the spot. Magical!

5. Interaction: Not only will a great entertainer a DJ ust his show to a live listeners. A live band will interact with each other onstage. A DJ is only one person. Surely a DJ might and will interact with his listeners. But a wonderful musician will interact so much better. also, just imagine the added dimension a live band will bring to your next corporate Event. A live band will interact with your listeners AND the musicians in the band. If you have ever had the pleasure of listening to a group of musicians ‘hang out’ after the gig, you know what I’m saying is true. A DJ has only an listeners for interaction.

Music is truly the universal language. It transcends any barrier — geographic, cultural or economic. Hiring the right Musical Act will boost your ability to reach your customers and clients.

Most individuals who enjoy seeing live music acts take for granted that live entertainment do not come cheap. Music festivals usually have a high price tag, but are generally well worth the cost. If you attend Local/Regional shows at concert halls the ticket price can be twice as much as one would pay for say, dinner and a movie. Even venues that specialize in Local/Regional or Local/Regional acts have cover charges. You would expect large tourist towns like Branson, Missouri to charge a hefty price for name acts and elaborate shows, and they do. Entertainment is something we all expect to pay a price for. Free live music is not a common experience.

One place where you might go see major national acts in concert for a price and also see much free entertainment as well is Nashville Tennessee. Nashville has an advantage over many other music oriented tourist towns. It’s a working music city. Folks go there to make it ample in the music business. The place is full of musicians. Additionally,since there is so much competition in town, many of them are quite wonderful at their craft.

On Broadway street downtown Nashville, you’ll find venue after venue with the sound of live music pouring from their interiors. All you got to do is step in, have a drink or two, find pleasure in the show, and then mosey on down to the next bar. You could do this all day if you want because many of these venues have live acts starting early in the day.

With so much recording being done in town and so a lot of performers making their home there, Nashville is one place where al most anyone you pass on the street might be a musical star of some kind. And,even though Country music is what the town is known for, a lot of other styles are practiced all around town as well. There is a heavy Americana scene as well as Bluegrass venues and even Blues bars.

Nashville is a center of music production, management, and business in general. This offers a lot of potential opportunities for folks to catch great live music. I’llgive an example of something that happened to me that proves that the the majority unexpected things might happen in a city so centered in the music industry.

During the time of a recent Americana Music Conference I was hanging around town for a couple of days. I was checking out as a lot of clubs as I could and had tickets to the awards show on Saturday night. On Friday following noon I was looking for CD’s in a south 8th a Venue record retailer called Grimey’s. I saw a poster on the wall saying that Tony Joe White was going to be there the next following noon. I’d been a ample fan of the Swamp Fox for a lot of years and thought it would be exceptional to get him to sign his latest disc for me. I was there early the next day.

The record store was full of folks as I expected. They had pushed some of the compact disc  bins back a bit to make some room. I was surprised to see a drum kit performance up. There were some amps too. Some guys wandered in and started giving out free beers. Somebody said they were part of his crew. Tony Joe walked in with his guitar, and sat down about ten feet from me and plugged in. He did an hour performance. I was amazed. I’d have been glad to part with a hundred large ones to get a opening  to see the Swamp Blues King. Here he was, close enough to touch, playing for free and he bought me a beer as well. This never happens where I come from.

The whole story has been that Tony Joe had offices in the same building and has been companions with the seller owner. That is just Nashville, folks. That type of thing is possible in a town overflowing with music. might be you won’t have the same type of luck but when you are in Nashville, the possibilities are always there.

Austin, Texas has a vibrant live music scene, and boasts more music Venues per capita than any other city in the United States. Austin’s music scene revolves mainly around the many nightclub Venues on 6th Street, but the pinnacle is arguably the annual music, film and multimedia festival called South By Southwest (South By Southwest).

South By Southwest officially began in 1987, originating as the Austin Battle of the Bands and is centered around the downtown Austin Convention Center. It has become one of the largest music festivals in the USA, with more thousands of performers from all across the globe playing in over seventy Venues across Austin over four days in March. Largely an industry-based event, South By Southwest has garnered a reputation for being the place for new, up-and-coming artists to break into the industry, and particularly British artists looking to break the USA market. Acts who have gained mass notoriety following playing performances at South By Southwest include The White Stripes in 2001, and British emo-punks Gallows who took the festival by storm in 2007.

2007 was South By Southwest’s biggest year yet, and saw more than 2000 performers take over Austin between March 14th and 18th. Highlights included stand-out sessions from The Rapture, Cold War kids and Kings of Leon. David Byrne, formerly of Talking Heads, and The Who’s Pete Townshend were among the event’s conference speakers (Townshend later made a guest appearance, joining The Fratellis onstage and showcasing his trademark windmill guitar moves). British punk legends The Buzzcocks additionally played a raucous session, as did USA punk icons Iggy & The Stooges. There was additionally the emergence of a one-night-only supergroup, as Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave was joined on his solo session by a mass of unannounced special attendees including Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell, MC5’s Wayne Kramer, Primus bass supremo Les Claypool and Slash of Guns ‘n Roses and Velvet Revolver fame.

South By Southwest is the single highest resources -making public gathering for the Austin community, generating more re Venue than even home games by Austin’s hugely popular college football team, the Texas Longhorns

South By Southwest is just one of Austin’s festivals – the city is likewise host to the All Tomorrow’s parties -esque Fun Fun Fun Festival, a two day get together that final year saw concert across three stages from acts such as Cat Power and Diplo as well as  sets from Austin natives Okkervil River, Zykos, I Love You But I have Chosen Darkness and Explosions In The Sky, who headlined.

additionally, the Austin City Limits festival has swift become one of the most popular and well-attended festivals in the entire United States, ranking alongside Coachella and Lollapalooza. The festival brings together over 130 bands across eight stages over three days. The festival works in conjunction with the popular Austin City Limits television show, which showcases Local/Regional Austin acts as well as artists playing the festival.

Live music is a incredibly good option for your wedding. Whether it’s a quartet, a trio with flute or a music band.

Wedding artists could evoke more of the subtle feelings and expressions that are not as quickly detected in recorded music.

If your prefer live music than having a DJ, you must have already been inspired by a performer you heard in a restaurant or a club, a bar or at a companions marriage. If this is the case, marriage performer selection will not be a difficult task for you. Nonetheless if you want to move on to other possibilities, here are pointers on finding a wonderful marriage band.

The Internet. Brides today are selecting wedding artists from the net because of the range of options that it offer s. Pick a good web site that contains lots of information about wedding bands. You could select from their array of artists to suit your wedding theme. A point to recall though is that your guests ‘ ages vary and the band, even if a particular theme is catered, ought to also be able to performance variety. A wedding performer that could performance the Top 40 will be a safe ground to start your selection.

Bands post one the net their music selections. Read through these and find out. A wonderful wedding performer must be able to performance various music genre s. Drop bands, no matter how wonderful they are that performance only one kind of music. They will not be much use in wedding opportunity s. You have to ensure that the performer will performance wedding music that will fill the dance floor up.

Next listen to the bands’ audio samples. Listen carefully and ask yourself if you prefer what you’re hearing. If the performer has a video sample, that will make your selection even easier. Narrow down your selection to the performers that you prefer most.

Talk with the band leader for prices and other arrangements. Don’t forget that wedding artists are again and again booked for several months in advance. Make your selection and booking early.

The size of the wedding performer that you pick should be appropriate with the numbers of guest on your list. A smaller group may be served better by a smaller performer and vice versa.

Once you have talked to the band leader (who should satisfy all your questions in a uncommonly professional manner), ask the band to mail you a sample of their demo recording. This should allow you to evaluate the marriage band even better, in your car, at home with your friends and with your fiancé.

Locate out Assuming that the band will be playing near your area. If it’s a regular public Venue prefer restaurants or venues that would give you an even better evaluation of how the wedding band will perform live. Imagine the band playing at your wedding. might they fill the floor, are the individuals dancing, check the level of their volume (guest must be able to hear each other even when dancing) do they look wonderful on stage. Do you think they’re the band that you’re looking for? Do not be pressured when drawing your selection from your list. Wedding bands might make or break your event.

You can introduce yourself to the band leader during the break so that there is a person in the group that you can be comfortable coordinating the details of the program at your marriage get together.

Remember, book a wedding band early. There’s no substitute for a well-planned wedding.

You might have the best of everything on your important event, but Assuming that the wedding band does not live up to what it’s expected to do, the best wedding gathering might fail.

Austin is known as the Live Music Capital of the World. One of the best parts about having that distinction is that even if you aren’t necessarily into the club scene, you can still hear live music at restaurants throughout the city. Whether you feel prefer hearing Cajun, blues, country, Latin or rock, you canal most always find a amazing meal enhanced by a amazing band playing.

Threadgill’s is legendary not only for their chicken fried steak and cheese grits, but for additionally being the place that gave Janis Joplin her start. With a newly refurbished north location, and their World Headquarters just south of the river, Threadgill’s features the optimum in bluegrass, country, and soul music, as well as hosting a delicious and rejuvenating Gospel Brunch. Steaks, seafood po-boys, and the optimum vegetable side-dish selection in town, this is the quintessential Austin food and music spot. 301 West Riverside Drive, Austin, Texas 78704 // 6416 North Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas 78752

Artz’ Rib House is another gem of a music/food Venue in Austin. As their name suggests, their specialty is smoked ribs, with country style pork, baby backs, or ample beef ribs to select from. They likewise make one of the better burgers in town, provide the Texas BBQ staples of brisket and sausage, and even have an inventive vegetable kabob on the menu. Their musical provide ings are just as tasty, with an emphasis on western swing and a monthly Old Time Fiddlers Jam. Artz is located in the barton hills neighborhood at 2330 South Lamar, Austin, Texas (TX) 78704

Quality Seafood is both a seafood market and a restaurant, serving some of the finest and freshest fish in town. Three days a week they feature music along with food and drink specials. Mondays they oftentimes feature a hot jazz combo, and provide a excellent deal on succulent king crab legs, and on Wednesdays a folky blues duo entertains while the crowd feasts on peel and eat shrimp. A disc jockey holds forth on Thursdays, on occasion with live instrumental accompaniment, and the special rotates – recent Thursday food specials include spicy Texas crawfish and soft shell crab po-boys. 5621 Airport Blvd., Austin, Texas 78751.

Las Palomas serves some of the finest Mexican food in the city, and features one of Austin’s perfect kept musical secrets. When they aren’t on tour with a major Texas country star, you could find the cream of Austin’s crop of select ers joining a gypsy jazz violinist for some jaw-dropping jazz every Wednesday night. Famed for their enchiladas “Tres Marias,” Las Palomas additionally provides ceviche, chicken mole, and other specialties. 3201 Bee Caves Road, Austin, Texas (TX) 78746.

Having survived the ups and downs of Austin’s East Side, the Victory Grill is truly a piece of Austin history, but is just as vibrant today. Built in 1945, the venue has hosted acts including B.B King, Ike and Tina Turner, and Billie Holiday, and today features Austin’s finest blues acts. With a rotating menu of down home cooking, the Victory Grill is a slice of Old Austin.

There is more live music going on in Austin, Texas on any given night than there is in any other city in the world. That is why the city has put a trademark on it’s slogan “Live Music Capital of the World.”

There are hundreds of live music Clubs in the city and its immediate environs.  Many are situated in three main entertainment districts: Sixth Street/Red River, the Warehouse district and South Austin. Sixth Street/Red River is the famous sector in downtown Austin that’s known around the world for it is live music scene and often boisterous crowds that fill Sixth Street on the weekends when it is closed to traffic. The Warehouse district runs west from Congress Ave. along Fourth and Fifth Streets. That’s where Antone’s is located, the Club that United States Today has named the perfect blues club in the country. In South Austin, there are a number of venues on South Congress, South first St. and South Lamar that provide up some of the perfect new and original music in town.

The road to its live music capital status began way back in the 1960’s when a spirit of eclecticism appeared with the hippies and anti-war protesters of that era. Inclusion has been in and exclusion has been out, no pun intended. With the 70’s, this eclectic spirit gave birth to a form of music that has been generally called progressive country. Joe Ely, along with co-Lubbockites Jimmy Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, brought this music down to Austin and hooked up with Marcia Ball and Delbert McClinton and cosmic cowboys like Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Martin Murphy, Rusty Weir and Ray Wiley Hubbard. Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings came back from Nashville during that time to  set tle in Austin where they might take control of the production of their tunes. A wild and convincing musical vortex formed that saw psychedelic rock and roll mix with straight out country and blues at Clubs such as the Armadillo World Headquarters, Threadgill’s, the Soap Creek Saloon and the Broken Spoke. It has been cool to dig the psychedelic sound of the 13th Floor Elevators and the uncompromising country licks of Alvin Crow at the same time.

Then, in 1975, a 30-minute University of Texas music program has been accepted by a number of PBS affiliate stations and Austin City Limits has been launched and has become the longest running program in the history of PBS. It has propelled Austin to the forefront of the music industry’s consciousness in the United States and around the world. That 1st program featured Willie Nelson, but has since put Texas music notables such as Marcia Ball, Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Asleep at the Wheel and a lot of, a lot of others in the national and world spotlight.

In more recent years, the South by Southwest showcase every Spring that brings nearly 1500 performers and musical acts to town to be seen and heard by industry executives and AR types, along with the Austin City Limits Festival in September, have kept the city on the national music map.  In addition,  dozens of other smaller festivals are held each year, as well as a number of nationally serious ones in the surrounding Hill Country such as the Kerrville Folk Festival and the Old performance tlers Reunion in Buda, just south of town.

The Austin music scene has always been a free-wheeling, break-the-mold, think-out-of-the-box type of affair. That early eclecticism lives on in the current scene, although some characteristics of the town’s soundscape seem to have become entrenched. Sixth Street/Red River attracts a young, get together animal type of crowd with it is rock and roll, blues and punk scene. The Warehouse district caters to a bit older and more professional crowd in general. And South Austin retains the feel of Austin in the 70’s with its nouveau hippie coffeehouses and crowds and its like ence for good singer/songwriters. Still, there are always exceptions to those general tendencies just about anywhere you go.

Austin remains a city where musical creativity and talent thrive and defy expectations. That can be experienced close up and personal in any number of live music Clubs on any given night.

In the United Kingdom (UK) for the final 18 years at least, a whole generation has been virtually starved of live artists for a variety of reasons. The coming of PC’s being a standard household utility with their accompanying music production and downloadable music format devices, together with expansive spread video and latterly DVD technology has kept many a youngster indoors for the majority of their leisure time. Coupled with the rising overheads and prohibitive licence fees and conditions imposed on United Kingdom (UK) Clubs such as pubs and restaurants to house live artistes (or even performance recorded music), this has had a devastating effect on professional artists and potential artistes a prefer. The biggest losers are the members of our younger generations – many of whom have never even heard a live artist or band.

It is simple to see why consequently, that during my live shows lately, I am regularly faced with a young individual totally agape watching the live artist at work. They have no doubt become conditioned to accepting music as an impersonally generated medium and find it fascinating to witness the live, hands-on music creativity. Fortunately, this seems to be having an inspirational effect. Having spent most of my career working with theatre orchestras and larger musical combos, I have recently returned to working a lot of solo shows as a cocktail pianist playing a variety of music styles but regularly older standards such as Cole Porter, George Gershwin, etc. The thing is, not only am I now locating I am being booked by the youngster that first saw me several years ago, but they are requesting that I performance the same style of music for their wedding reception or birthday party. It seems that they have got into this sort of music through being made aware of it when I first played for them and they were so intrigued by it.

There is substantially little coverage on United Kingdom radio or television of any music style other than the most recent commercial music. The sad thing is that if younger people do not get the opening  to witness other musical styles because it is not in the mainstream broad casts and because live music is so rare, all of us are not giving them the opening  to decide Assuming that they like it or not. all of us have therefore been creating a generation for a lot of years that’s one-tracked in its musical culture, when all of us should have been giving our youngsters much more choice.

I’ve never been a ample fan of country music but there is a song that Garth Brooks sings called ‘The River’ that has some extraordinarily inspiring lyrics. Here is a portion of what the song states :

You know a dream is prefer a river, ever changing as it flows.

And a dreamer’s just a vessel that must follow where it goes.

Trying to learn from what has behind you and never knowing what has in store

makes each day a constant battle just to stay between the shores.

And I’ll sail my vessel ’til the river runs dry.

like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky.

I’llnever reach my destination if I never try,

So I will sail my vessel ’til the river runs dry.

Too a lot of times we stand aside and let the water slip away.

To what all of us put off ’til tomorrow has now become now.

So don’t you sit upon the shore and say you’re satisfied.

Choose to opening  the rapids and dare to dance the tides.

That final verse is where most individuals miss it. Do you have dreams that you haven’t dared to fulfill? You only have one life to live so make it the best life that you can. Do not let your dreams die or fade away because you were afraid to take a occasion.

What’s it on the inside of you that you want to do but are afraid to do it because it is outside of your comfort zone? Begin to pursue whatever that is and do not avoid until you are doing what you know you were created to do. Live your dreams, live your passions, and live a life that is full and complete.

There is a place where MUSIC lives. A place where music hangs its hat and puts its feet up on the furniture. A place where people don’t just talk about tunes and CDs and lyrics, but live them night and day. That place is Nashville, MUSIC CITY. Nashville is furthermore a place to visit throughout the year with ideal climates for all seasons.

Visit Music City year-round:

Spring is a delightful time in Middle Tennessee as the rolling hills are a lush, vibrant green. Because of the mild climate found, many plants are well suited for the area including tulips, azaleas, irises, magnolias and dogwoods. Days are warm while evenings can be chilly.

Summer is ablaze with many concert festivals in Music City. Several evenings during the week you’ll find live outdoor performances scattered around town. Midday can be exceedingly warm as the humidity tends to be higher in the summer months. Light clothing and sunscreen is recommended for the full season.

Fall is a celebrated time throughout Tennessee. Visitors come from all over to see the annual changing of the leaves in mid-October. Days are warm and pleasant. Evenings require a sweater or light jacket. Since the weather is change able, layered clothing is a wonderful idea to accommodate sunny days and cooler nights.

Winter is a excellent time to visit the city’s many attractions decked out in their holiday finery as Nashville truly shines throughout the winter with millions of twinkling lights. Although the climate is mild, winter temperatures do range from cool to cold. If a snowfall occurs, it’s usually in January or February and is seldom heavy.

An rousing trend is currently occurring in country music radio: country singer names, first and final (sometimes middle), are being simplified. Garth Brooks is Garth. Reba McEntire is Reba. Willie Nelson is just Willie. After a song, radio disc jockeys are reducing the names down to one.

It is possible it’s a time-saving device; it’s easier to say “That was Willie with ‘Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain’.” Some can argue that the simplified name is because of country music’s “simple” fans. While some country music fans can embrace this label, others can find it offensive.

But might be dwindling names is a sign of respect for the artist. The artists with only one name have gained a certain amount of regard in th music business. Toby Keith has become Toby. At times Brooks and Dunn is Kix and Ronnie ( it’s not shorter but more respectful). Then of course the big names: Reba, Garth, Alan (or AJ), Willie, and so on. It gets trickier with names prefer George (George Strait or George Jones?) and Hank (junior or senior?). But even Hank is again and again “Hank Junior” or “Hank Senior.” On the contrary, country singer names of newer artists are al the majority always referred to in full.

However another argument is the sense of comfort country music induces in its listeners. Perhaps deejays try to secure that by referring to the multi-million-dollar stars by their 1st names. They talk about Reba prefer she’s your sister and not a star you will never meet (this is reinforced by the reruns of her television show where she’s the mother next door). Radio has given these country singer names and some, prefer Reba, have embraced them, showing only the 1st name on posters, compact disc s, and even television shows.

And you recall uncle Garth instead of the best -selling performer of all time with enough money to assist his gran kids’s grand kids. This is the same guy who differ d the way musicians negotiated contracts and got paid; this country singer names his price on anything. He became convincing in the industry and bought a extensive house and smashed thousand-dollar guitars on stage. But the radio makes you think you might call him up and talk about fishing two Sundays ago when you were eating fried chicken on the bank and did not get a bite. And don’t forget his superstar wife, Trisha.

All in all, country musician names shortened seems to mean something. It is up to the individual to determine meaning, but disk jockeys had to have shortened them for a reason. Next, you have to wonder when the new country music singers’ names will dwindle down to one. Or may be you miss the Brooks, the McEntires, the Nelsons, the Williams. may be you want the last names back. And what about the singers with three names: Earl Thomas Connely, John Michael Montgomery. Do they lose radio time because they have long names?