« June 2006 | Main | August 2006 »
July 27, 2006
But Is It Really News?
So Lance Bass has decided to “come out of the closet.”
Why is this news?
I feel like I’ve wasted valuable space in my brain by adding this bit of information.
It’s not that I don’t care about Mr. Bass, or that I am shocked and appalled by his revelation, I just can’t understand how this could be considered so important that it winds up in the news.
Of course, being a middle aged and heterosexual man may possibly render me impervious to an emotional crisis upon reading such news.
I have to admit; I now wonder what Lance’s many fans, those young girls who fantasized about being with him, are thinking now.
Actually, now that I ponder it further, most of his erstwhile fans, (and they are now in their 20’s and possibly early 30’s) upon hearing this revelation, probably responded by shrugging their shoulders and saying “So? I get it, he’s gay, and Oprah’s not gay. So what? Why is this news?”
Now if ‘N Sync were to put out a new album that was truly great, that would be news.
Hmmm. Maybe that previous comment was a bit snarky. But hey, it could happen.
Lance Bass
Posted by leon at 02:11 PM | Comments (1)
July 26, 2006
Class in a Meat Locker
Last night I taught an evening piano class at Brevard Community College in Melbourne.
I always greatly enjoy teaching these classes; they take me out of the studio and I get to meet all sorts of wonderful people.
My students are always delightful, since they all want to be there and truly desire to learn a new approach to the piano.
The class last night went well, except for one problem. While the rest of the country is currently baking in the relentless heat, we were all freezing due to a relentless air conditioner. It couldn’t have been more than 55 degrees in the room, as the air was running constantly.
Unfortunately, I had no control over the air temperature, as the air conditioner was controlled by some mysterious force from deep within building.
In addition, since this was a summer class, there wasn’t anyone else in the building, and the maintenance and security staff seemed to have all gone home.
The class, 6 women and one man, soldiered on bravely, as did the teacher, but we were not prepared to be so chilly on a Florida summer evening.
During the breaks, everyone immediately went outside to “thaw out.”
We tired opening the doors to let some of the cold out, but of course, that let the numerous insects in.
Everyone still had a good time, but by the end of the class, you never saw a group of people more anxious to leave.
At least I didn’t get all sweaty as I packed up my PA and keyboard.
Of course, the minute I stepped outside, my glasses immediately fogged up, and I was rendered temporarily blind.
Given what some people are going through as I write this (unprecedented heat waves in both Northern and Southern California, record temperatures in other parts of the nation…) I certainly have nothing to complain about.
As I left the campus at around 10PM, the air conditioning was still merrily blasting away, bringing near arctic conditions to a now empty room.
I was feeling a bit guilty for wasting so much energy.
Posted by leon at 06:07 PM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2006
Snarky, Snarky!
One thing I have resisted in writing the PSG blog is making fun of other people.
I guess I don’t do it much because I was raised with the stern injunction “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
Now in the music business, and in show business in general, there are a lot of “not nice” things said and written all the time.
Of course, there are those whose job it is to criticize. They write the reviews of the movies and music we consume.
I greatly enjoy reading a well-written review. My favorite movie reviewer is Roger Ebert. I’ve been reading his movie reviews since the 70’s, and he’s someone I would love to sit down with some day and converse with about movies.
But there are many folks today who offer their opinions of what is current in pop culture without reaching the erudite level of an Ebert. If they don’t like a particular movie, book or song, instead of trying to analyze the perceived faults of the work, they simply make fun of the actor, author or musician. The prime example of this kind of criticism is the VH1 series “I Love the ‘60’s….’70’s….’80’s…’90’s”…etc.
Instead of offering well-thought out scrutiny of the trends, products and entertainments covered, the various celebrities and “funny people” brought in to comment merely make fun of it all in a rather condescending way.
The term used today for this type of criticism is “Snark.”
Here’s the definition of “Snark” from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"Snark refers to a belittling style of speech or writing. It could loosely be described as irritable or 'snidely derisive'; hence, 'snarkish', 'snarky', 'to snark at somebody'. (The Urban Dictionary refers to it as a contraction of "snide remark".)
"This word has Germanic origins and is etymologically unrelated to the imaginary creature in Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark.
"Snark is also often used in fandom to describe a character's/writer's comment, action, way of acting/ writing style.
Example:
Jane: That comment made by Sydney Bristow was snarky!
Jimmy: Thank god for J.J. Abram's writing genius.
"The adjective 'snarky' derived from snark was used often on the short-lived 2004 Fox series, Wonderfalls".
I’ve never seen “Wonderfalls” and have no intention to. (Since it was short-lived, its not on any more!)
Granted, in the music business there is a lot to “snark” at. I mean, Paris Hilton is now a “recording artist!”
And lo and behold, according to Jody Rosen of Slate Magazine, her debut single, "Stars Are Blind," is not all that bad.
Quoting Ms. Rosen:
"Stars Are Blind" is a sweet, sun-kissed love song with a snappy ska beat, and Hilton (with the aid, undoubtedly, of the Antares Auto-Tune 4 Pitch Correcting Plug-In)puts it over well, cooing lyrics about her "heart and soul" in a reasonable impersonation of a human being with feelings. All in all, it's a surprisingly good start to Hilton's campaign to break into the pop diva game.
OK, I’ve listened to the song. You can hear it too by going to Paris’ site. It will start playing the moment you get there.
So in keeping with my upbringing, here is what I have to say about the new Paris Hilton single:
############################################################
Hope that wasn’t too snarky.
Posted by leon at 02:04 PM | Comments (2)
July 20, 2006
Lake Wales
Last Friday and Saturday Sheryl and I journeyed to Lake Wales to play at the Highlander Bar and Grill. This was at the invitation of the owner, Robert, who had heard about Sheryl from Bryan Rivers, who regularly plays there.
We were scheduled to play both Friday and Saturday night, so we decided to stay in Lake Wales on Friday night at the new Hidden Gardens Bed and Breakfast. The B&B was so new, in fact, that we were their first guests! Since they only had one room finished, we had the while place to ourselves. Eventually, they plan to have four rooms.
Lakes Wales reminded us of Mayberry! Everyone was friendly, and they all seemed to know each other. Robert was the town’s “Andy Taylor.” (There didn’t seem to be a “Barney Fife” or an “Otis”, however.)
Not only did he own the Highlander, but he also had a real estate office, and was getting ready to announce his candidacy for the city council. His wife Susan owns an art gallery in the downtown area, and also works as a flight attendant.
We played from 7 to 11PM each night, and performed a mixture of cover tunes and Sheryl’s originals. It was great fun!
We’ll be going back and doing it again in August. We’ve already booked our room at the Hidden Gardens B&B.
By the way, this is the 100th post to this blog!
I don’t know if this should be commemorated in any way, but it has to be some kind of milestone!
Posted by leon at 01:25 PM | Comments (1)
July 19, 2006
Time Flies
As I write today, the entire country is suffering through a record heat wave. Amazingly enough, Central Florida may be one of the coolest places in the country today. The high for today is “only” 87, with our usual afternoon thunderstorms.
So much has happened in the last few days, that my poor brain is still trying to process it all.
Here’s a quick run-down of the PSG’s life since, oh, let’s say July 10:
Monday, July 10 – Crazy Roy came in to record a new song while he is in town. As usual, he recorded his guitar and vocals tracks all at once, and in a couple of takes. My task is now to “add the band” around what he has done.
Late in the afternoon, Kevin Watson (stage name: Kevin J) came in to record scratch vocals and work on basic tracks for his latest recording project.
That evening, I headed to Christ Community Church for last Monday night choir rehearsal before the summer break.
Tuesday, July 11 – Sheryl and I attended the Connections leads group. This is a new group we have recently joined, so that we can meet other business owners in the Brevard County and Orlando area.
Tuesday evening, we were off to our monthly NSAI meeting. Our meetings are normally on the first Tuesday of the month, but this month we waited a week since our normal meeting day would have been July 4th.
After the meeting we went over to a place in Orlando called “Stardust Video and Coffee” to hear Jewly Hight, a friend of ours from Nashville, perform.
The motto of S.V.A.C. should be “Where the young, impossibly hip, and artsy college students hang out.” Actually, it was a pretty cool place, even if I was one of the oldest people there. Good coffee too, even though I always drink decaf at night.
Jewly did a great job and had a fair sized crowd for a Tuesday night. We brought a few members of the NSAI group with us to hear her.
Wednesday, July 12 – We dragged ourselves out of bed (after getting home at 1AM) for our weekly Chamber of Commerce leads group meeting.
From there we went straight to the Brevard Humane Society to shoot video of the facility and tape an interview with director Theresa Clifton.
Unfortunately, several weeks ago a fire severely damaged the Humane Society’s facility, and so they need to raise funds to facilitate repairs. The video and interview will be posted on the Humane Society’s Website after it is edited.
After our time at the Humane Society, we rushed back to the studio for a recording session with Paula Langguth Ryan. She began work on a new audio book “Giving Thanks – the Art of Tithing.”
Immediately upon the conclusion of that session, I headed for a meeting with Virginia Kealser at Bervard Community College. I have been invited to teach my piano classes at the Cocoa and Titusville campuses this Fall and next Spring. I already teach at the Palm Bay and Melbourne Campuses.
That evening we hosted a BurnLounge mixer, where we explained the BurnLounge concept to a few members of our musical family.
Thursday, July 13 was “Candace Crowe” day at SCM. Candace came over to record some voice over work, I recorded some V.O. for her myself, and I spent the rest of the day editing what we had recorded.
Friday, July 14 – Spent the morning finishing up the editing on Candace’s work and getting the audio files delivered to her. We then had to start packing, as Sheryl and I were scheduled to play in Lake Wales both Friday and Saturday evening.
I’d better save that subject for next time.
Posted by leon at 04:28 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2006
Crazy Week
It’s the start of what looks to be a very busy week. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, its weeks like this that help “keep the doors open.”
Today I will have two high-powered singers in my studio at the same time: Kevin Watson (Kevin J) and Rhonda Mallard (or “Miz Rhonda” as I call her.)
I’m working on their respective CDs at the same time, and they are singing on each other’s projects.
I’ve known Miz Rhonda since 1990, and hers ("Hearts Full of Love") was the first complete album that I arranged and produced, back in 1993. It was, of course, a great learning experience for both of us. Back then, we had to do most of the pre-production here, and then go to a larger studio to record vocals and instrumental overdubs.
Fortunately, with her current project, we are doing everything “in house” (literally!)
I go back and listen to that CD, and think: “Well some of that holds up pretty well (Rhonda wrote some outstanding songs for that project) but the drum programming! The synth sounds!” They’re not bad, just a little dated, and my skills as a drum programmer have definitely improved.
I have always been grateful to her for entrusting me with such a big project when I didn’t have much of a track record at the time.
She has also personally recommended me as an arranger and recording engineer to more people than anyone else in our musical family. We gained several musical family members, folks who have recorded in our studio, as a direct result of her efforts.
One musician she personally brought to me is Kevin Watson.
Kevin is a talented singer in the “America Idol” mold (but thankfully not as florid vocally) and a strong songwriter. He has already recorded a full-length CD project here, “Without You.” This new project of cover songs will feature contemporary versions of some classic hymns, as well as a few modern songs.
Recording sessions are anything but boring when these two get together. Kevin is like a little brother to the ebullient Miz Rhonda, and she teases him unmercifully. But Kevin can give as good as he gets. It’s all in good fun, and no one’s feelings ever get hurt, but I do have to work to keep them on track occasionally.
Even though this is a busy week, there is much I want to write about. I’ll just have to get up a little early!
Posted by leon at 12:36 PM | Comments (0)
July 07, 2006
Everything But Heavy Metal
As I write this, I’m waiting for my 1PM appointment to show up.
I will be meeting with a friend of a member of our musical family. This lady is interested in recording an album featuring her piano playing. While I’ve recorded a couple of solo piano albums myself, this would be the first time I would be recording another solo pianist.
This got me thinking about how many different types of projects I’ve done over the years.
A partial list, in no particular order:
1. Accompaniment tracks for original songs to be performed in churches. (This was back when I first started, and couldn’t even record vocals in my studio yet!)
2. “Work tape demos” for songwriters. (These are “first draft” recordings of new songs, no real arrangement, usually guitar and vocal or piano and vocal only. Just a way of getting the song “up on its feet.”)
3. Instrumental music – in 1991 I recorded and released a CD of Christmas music, all done here in the project studio. (Copies are still available!)
4. “Library Music” – This is background music you might hear on a commercial (if its not a jingle, its library music), or on the Weather Channel during “your local weather.”
5. Classical and contemporary vocal music – One of the most interesting projects I’ve ever done was for a family of talented singers who did classic SATB (soprano, alto, tenor bass) pieces, both classical and contemporary. They were essentially a mini-choir.
6. Live recording – A few years back I taught a seminar on recording for the members of the Orlando NSAI chapter. After the workshop, we held an “open mic” right there in the studio, we made a live recording of it. Some of the members of that class have gone on to become close friends of ours: Spike and Sandy, and Asli and Greg Walker.
7. Voice over work – Back around 2000, I started working with Candace Crowe Design, Inc. recording voiceovers that described various plastic surgery procedures. These would then be played on a “touch screen” computer kiosk, as a way to educate the public. Candace does these for plastic surgeons all over the country, and records all the speaking here.
8. Southern Gospel
9. Gospel Quartet from Switzerland who sang in Schweizerdeutsch (Swiss- German).
10. Contemporary Christian
11. Folk
12. Rock (from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, etc.)
13. Church Choral Music
14. Youth Choir Music
15. Spanish Worship songs
16. Spanish Children’s music
17. Children’s music
18. Children’s audio books
19. Rap
20. R&B
21. Soul
22. MIDI sequences in just about every music style imaginable
23. Standards, swing
24. Jazz
25. Background ambient music for CDs of spoken word meditations.
26. Dance tracks
27. Instructional CDs
28. Audio books
29. Country! Good Lord, I almost left off Country!!!
Well, that’s enough for now, though I may have overlooked a few. It’s hard to remember what I did yesterday, let alone everything I’ve done over the last 16 years.
Posted by leon at 08:21 PM | Comments (1)
July 06, 2006
Sybil Sings!
In my last post I mentioned an artist who was coming in on July 4th to discuss her recording project.
Well, she’s going to do it!
We were privileged to have Sybil Gage here to talk about her next CD project, which we will begin working on in August.
Here’s a bit about Sybil from the Nature’s Haven Web Site:
Sybil Gage certainly has jazz in her blood.
Growing up in New Orleans, the legendary Neville Brothers would play just outside her bedroom window.
"We lived in the Uptown District, and the Neville Brothers would sing in the corner of our street," Gage said.
"There was always music while I was growing up."
After graduating from New York University, Gage was encouraged to pursue her musical dream by the likes of Spike Lee, Eddie Murphy and Gregory Hines.
To her, the beauty of jazz lies in its freedom for expression. "It allows enormous amounts of creativity," she said. "You don't have to stick to a format."
Says Space Coast Live:
"An accomplished Jazz vocalist. She also does an astonishing volume of original material in a number of Genres. She can perform singly on piano with vocals or will bring the needed musical pieces to fill any venue from Festival to Concert to Corporate event. Sybil brings her dynamic and stirring vocals accompanied by her favorite musicians. Sybil is a vocal presence with out contemporary peer. No one delivers a performance as she does. This is old time Jazz Charisma."
So another accomplished artist is coming to our project studio to record.
Some days I have to pinch myself.
Sybil Gage
Posted by leon at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)
July 03, 2006
Goodbye, Wacky Hut
Hope you’re all having a great holiday weekend.
Some folks I know took last Friday off, and also today, thus enabling them to enjoy a five-day weekend.
As for me , I’m doing a little bit of work today, mainly going through files and cleaning out drawers. Definitely not the exciting side of show business, but it’s the kind of stuff we’ve all got do from time to time.
On July 4th, we’ll be meeting with an artist who is seriously thinking about recording her next album at our studio. If she decides to do it, (and we think she will) I’ll tell you who it is!
After our meeting, Sheryl and I will be going to a party with many members of our musical family, at the home of the lady who used to own “The Wacky Hut,” a gift shop / restaurant / night club in Merritt Island, Florida that routinely gave local musicians a chance to come and play their original music for an appreciative audience in a unique outdoor setting.
Unfortunately, the Wacky Hut could not stay in business. Central Florida weather makes running a primarily outdoor venue incredibly difficult at best, and at the worst impossible. You really can’t comfortably do much in the summer, with the almost daily rainstorms, the constant threat of mosquitoes, and the relentless heat and humidity.
Fall, winter and spring can be quite pleasant, but often in the winter is can get too cold.
In the final analysis, there’re just weren’t enough days with “perfect weather”, which you need to have when everyone is sitting outdoors.
The Wacky Hut was, as they say, fun while it lasted, and while Sheryl and I never had the chance to play there together, we did have the opportunity to see many members of our musical family perform there, including Sandz of Time (Spike and Sandy), Asli Walker, and “The Churchman” (a.k.a. Austin Church).
The night Austin Church played, he invited Sheryl up to do a few numbers on her own, so that’s as close as we got to performing together at the Wacky Hut.
We’ll miss the Wacky Hut. Fortunately, we still have places like Nature’s Haven with their "Songwriter Sunday" series, and many other venues around town.
Be careful with those fireworks!
Posted by leon at 05:21 PM | Comments (0)