Archive for the 'Music' Category

Now This Is Happening — Lindsay Lohan Photos Trump $100 Oil

$100 Oil! C’mon…say it with me! “$100 OIL!!!” The crude (not refined) stuff ended above $100 per barrel yesterday for the first time ever. $100.10 to be exact. It’s up about 4% so far this year. Looks like Trump put that call into OPEC! “Get those prices down…and I mean now!” (6:01). Stockpile speculation on crude oil for March delivery dropped to $99.11 per barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $99.30 at 1:50 p.m. in Singapore.

Not Jake Shimabukuro

Eat your heart out, Don Ho (R.I.P.). Jake Shimabukuro is better than you at the ukulele. Be sure to check out his recent performance on Conan O’Brien. It’s like Monte Montgomery at chipmunk speed. Pretty cool!

Lindsay Lohan’s mom, Dina, is ok with “LL”s nude photo shoot. The photos in New York Magazine are photographer Bert Stein’s recreation of his legendary 1962 nude shoot with Marilyn Monroe titled “The Last Sitting”. What a relief! I was waiting for Mrs. Lohan’s blessing before I checked those out. And by “those”, I mean her photos. If you’re at work, you might want to wait until you get home to see “those”.

Shaquille O’Neal will return to the hardwood tonight against his old crew, the Lakers. Shaq wasted no time talking Shmaq…calling out everyone from Kobe (of course) to Phil Jackson to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Shaq questioned Kareem’s lack of conversation and attention with regard to his place in the Lakers organization. Hey, Shaq. Hakim (see Game of Death) owns Kazaam.

Popularity: 25% [?]

UGK Rapper Pimp C Found Dead

Earlier today, I received the news that rapper Pimp C was found dead at the Mondrian Hotel, located in Hollywood after L.A. County Fire responded to a 911 call. They arrived to his sixth floor hotel room to find him dead in bed.

R.I.P. Pimp C — 1973 - 2007

Pimp C, whose real name was Chad Butler, was also a friend. I had the opportunity to develop and maintain The Unofficial UGK Website since 1996. And despite the name, it was considered by UGK fans (and for many years by the group) as the official site. My brother and I attended countless shows with Pimp C & Bun B…otherwise known as the Underground Kingz…and we enjoyed each one like the first. My most recent UGK show was at the SXSW show in Austin, TX on March 15 of this year. This picture (right) of me and C was taken after the show.

While the mainstream music listener knew UGK by their collaboration with Jay-Z on Big Pimpin’, UGK’s truest fans regarded many of their songs as instant classics. In fact, the first song I ever heard by UGK in 1995 was It’s Supposed To Bubble…and I was hooked from then on. While UGK had many fans before me, I quickly made it a point to become a UGK “historian”.

Eventually, I decided to create an account on GeoCities in order to catalog everything I learned about the group. One day, I received a phone call from an unknown number on my cell phone. It was from Pimp C…calling to tell me he’d seen my site, liked the job I did, and wanted to help me make the site “official”. Before Wikipedia, before MySpace…CountryRapTunes (as we called the site) had the story straight from the artist, and it’s still there to this day. Pimp & Bun are without a doubt legends in the “rap game”. While they didn’t achieve the success that most would expect, they paved the way for rappers in the South to break into the mainstream.

My deepest and heart-felt condolences go out to Chad’s family, including Mama Wes…and to Bun B.

The latest report on TMZ.com indicates that Pimp C may have died from natural causes. I’ll report any and all updates on CountryRapTunes.org. If you’re a UGK fan, add your thoughts by clicking here.

Popularity: 8% [?]

ArtistsHouse Music Provides Industry Support & Guidance

In today’s age of viral marketing, musicians all over have taken advantage of online networking venues such as MySpace and YouTube as a means of music marketing. But these aren’t the only resources for aspiring musicians to take advantage of. Artistshousemusic.org is a non-profit organization funded by the Herb Alpert Foundation that is charged with being an expert resource for musicians, students, industry professionals, and people interested in getting into the music business. Part of its guidance includes information on copyrights, grants, and music education associations. The organization provides access to a wealth of practical resources on professional development and research in music education as well as information on teaching music with the tools of technology.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Pour 5: Live Music In San Antonio! Tonight!

Take Your Music Events and Promotions From Idea To Reality.

Well, not yet. But soon. Part of the planning for a solid grand opening of Retox Bar is the musical talent. While Austin is known for its great live music…original live music…San Antonio bars seem to thrive when enlisting the services of a lively cover band. Many have a faithful following, which will obviously help bring people to your establishment.

The concern comes after your doors are open. How are we going to set ourselves apart from the rest of the neighborhood bars that feature cover bands? Well, we’ve certainly got some ideas. Weekends will likely continue to feature cover bands. Competing with other bars for prime acts will be a challenge. After Retox Bar up and running, we will have a better idea of which nights need a boost. Its safe to say that Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest followed by Thursday. So, the key will be to establish another night as a special night at your bar. Some do it with cheap drink specials, or open mic night…or some combination.

A few years ago, a local bar featured dodgeball in its parking lot. They had the backing of one of the radio stations. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 7% [?]

Can Someone Tell Me What On Earth Chocolate Rain Is? Tay Zonday Can.

I know I’ve already posted my video for the week, but I’m cruisin’ around YouTube last night, and I come across this guy named Tay Zonday who sings covers as well as some original stuff. Apparently his videos are gaining more popularity than Chuck Storm videos. He’s got this frightening baritone voice that sounds like he’s reaching beyond the diaphragm…resulting in ruptured alveoli. To top it off, he’s 25…and he looks 15. Hey, Tay. In the words of the late Tupac Shakur, “Got nuthin’ but love for ya. Do ya thang, boi”.

All we need now is to see a Weird Al parody, although some have already beat him to the punch…like this guy.

Check out Tay’s YouTube and MySpace pages.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Stompale Spurs! Rob G Reppin My Block Remix

It seems every year, someone remixes a popular rap song to include the Spurs and their quest for the championship. Well, although the Spurs collective effort tonight resulted in a Western Conference Finals Championship, they still have to face either a tough Detroit Pistons team or a young and eager Cleveland Cavaliers team to get its 4th ring in 8 years. Anyway, this year’s song is Reppin’ My Block by Rob G…and the remix is actually done by the original artist instead of some guy in his makeshift garage studio.

Reppin My Block — Spurs remix by Rob G. (Right click, Save Target As to download)

Popularity: 9% [?]

Fingerstyle Guitarists Offer A Unique Style And Unforgettable Performances

Fingerstyle guitarists are separated by their technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings with the fingertips as opposed to using a pick. According to acousticfingerstyle.com, it is commonly played on steel string acoustic guitars with 6 or 12 strings and includes chords, arpeggios and other elements such as artificial harmonics, hammering on and pulling off with the fretting hand, using the body of the guitar percussively, and many other techniques. Here are a few fingerstyle guitarists I’ve recently discovered.

Andy McKee
Andy McKee is regarded as one of the most up and coming fingerstyle guitarists. Andy hails from Topeka, Kansas and according to the bio on his website, Andy hopes that “listening to my music is an emotional experience”. Well, it’s certainly beautiful. His unorthodox fingerstyle reminds me of early Monte Montgomery (when he was a one-man show), about whom I posed the question Is Monte Montgomery The Best Guitar Player Ever? Anyway, see Andy’s skills for yourself.

Official Website: andymckee.com

Tommy Emmanuel
Tommy Emmanuel is another fingerstyle guitarist from Austrailia. Although he’s had a long and successful career there, he’s relatively unknown in the United States. He exhibits alot of classical style with a hint of bluegrass at times, especially when he turns on the showmanship. This virtuoso’s main influence is Chet Atkins, as you can tell in this video, with whom he recorded in 1996 on the CD, “The Day the Finger Pickers Took Over the World”, which was nominated for a Grammy award. You can see Tommy in Ft. Worth on June 19, 2007 at Bass Performance Hall and September 13-15, 2007 at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas.

Video: Since We Met

Official site: tommyemmanuel.com

Andres Segovia
Andres Segovia is regarded by many as the “father of the modern classical guitar movement” according to classicalguitar.net. Whether or not that’s the case, I have always been amazed by the skill and accuracy of classical guitarists. I don’t think Segovia was regarded as a flamenco guitar player, but I’ve always thought of him as that (you guitar purists feel free to correct me). I just find it even more amazing how flamenco guitarists play while simultaneously incorporating finger tapping. Anyway, Segovia discovered early on that piano exercises were beneficial in strengthening the fingers for the guitar. You can see Senior Segovia in action.

Helpful site: Andres Segovia: Wikipedia

Paco de Lucia
Paco de Lucia is considered by most to be a major figure in the New Flamenco Movement with his avant-garde assimilation of other musical styles such as jazz and blues. In a word…well, two…he’s awesome!

Official site: pacodelucia.org

Popularity: 4% [?]

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• Milk Was A Bad Choice
• CrackBerry.com
• Stock Trading 101
• For The Love Of Sports
• Project Spurs
• Busted Coverage
• WallStreetFighter

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