Saturday, December 27, 2008

Now, here's an idea that seems both right and wrong at the same time. I saw this on the Chicago Music Store website, so may as well give them props. (The link didn't bring me anywhere on their site, so I don't have details. They do feature different guitars, including a strat model and pianos.


I hope the "back" is a nice brazilian rosewood. :)
Chris

Saturday, December 13, 2008

New to Me Music

I am always checking out new music. I like all kinds, but trend toward the Americana/Roots/Bluegrass stuff as well as all kinds of Jazz. "As long as it's good" I always say, and I get to be the judge of that - like art, you know it when you hear it and I try not to dismiss other people's tastes. I could spend hours on youtube or amazon/itunes listening to stuff just to hear it. I do draw the line at most current pop (Britney, Miley, and the like) and rap music - that's not my "thang". I will listen to it to be informed before I decide I don't want to go any further.

Anyway, I present to you a list of some folks that I just "discovered" for myself and that I like. I have been on a Celtic jag lately, not related to the Boston b-ball team, but there are some others in here not in that realm.

Alison Brown - awesome banjo player (I know, an oxymoron) and singer.
Flynn Cohen - great Celtic guitar player from around MA. Similar playing as John Doyle, who we saw at the Lowell Folk Festival a couple of years ago with Liz Carroll.
Los Lonely Boys - well, not that new to me, but I had never really listened to a full album before. There was an interesting bio on PBS on them that got me interested again.
Son House - "father of the delta blues"
Mississippi John Hurt - really a re-discovery for me as I used to listen to this stuff all the time.
Keb Mo - sounds kind of like the young Taj Mahal to me.
Abigail Washburn - another woman who plays the banjo. She has some interesting Appalachian/Chinese songs goin' on 'cuz she used to live in there.
Tim O'Brien - another great Celtic, Bluegrass player. He also has a written taping policy - interesting; might as well put it out there instead of ignoring it.
Thievery Corporation - trance dance mood music - scare people away at work, although I think the Celtic might do that too.
Chris Thile (also Punch Brothers and late of Nickel Creek) really nice update to traditional bluegrass. He was just on Prairie Home Companion last night (Dec 13) with Edgar Meyer and yesterday I watched some videos of the 2 of them online that was awesome!

That's it for now.

Chris