Not much has changed...

Well I am now officially "40". Not much has changed but I did realize I am now moved up in an age bracket for on line polls and surveys. Few more years until the early bird specials??!

Your band..as part of the Life is Good Fest??!

Do you want to perform on the same stage as Jason Mraz, Ben Harper and Ziggy Marley in front of a crowd of more than 15,000 people? Life is good has teamed up with Sonicbids to select two local bands to perform at the 2010 Life is good Festival at Blue Hills.

On September 11 and 12 at Prowse Farm in Canton, MA, Life is good and Superfly Presents will bring together more than 20 world-class performers for a one-of-a-kind festival designed to spread good vibes through music while raising more than $1 million for kids who are facing life-threatening challenges. Confirmed performers include Ben Harper and Relentless7, Jason Mraz, Ziggy Marley, Guster, Ozomatli, Corrine Bailey Rae, Dr Dog, OK Go, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals and many more.

Sonicbids is a web-based company that helps bands from around the world discover and book gigs. Life is good is working with Sonicbids to round out the line-up for the festival by selecting two local bands who look to spread optimism through their music. To submit a band for consideration, go here. The $10.00 submission fee will be completely donated to The Life is good Kids Foundation. Applications will be accepted through August 5, 2010.

The 2010 Life is good Festival at Blue Hills is a multi-faceted event that combines world-class headliners, popular developing bands and the top children’s artists working today. In addition to the artists highlighted, the festival will feature a wide range of entertainment options including games, interactive art activities and a nationally-known circus company.

Top children’s artists The Laurie Berkner Band, Dan Zanes and Friends and They Might Be Giants will join in the fun on the “Good Kids” Stage and will be joined by San Francisco’s kids-rock performers The Sippy Cups and a unique “Circus To Go!” performance by Big Apple Circus. The complete line-up and additional festival information can be found here.

Tickets for the 2010 Life is good Festival at Blue Hills are available at www.lifeisgood.com. Adult single-day tickets are $50, and $90 two-day tickets are also available. Tickets for children ages 6-12 are available for $10 in a limited supply and children 5 and under are free.

Through its nationally-known festivals, Life is good has raised over $3 million for children in need since 2003. All public donations, including individual fundraising prior to the event, will be directed to the foundation. The Life is good Kids Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit committed to helping children overcome life-threatening challenges such as violence, poverty and serious illness. Its Playmakers initiative provides training, resources and support to the adults dedicated to caring for these children so that all involved lead healthier, more joyful lives.


For more information on The Life is good Company, the Life is good Kids Foundation, and the Life is good Festival, please visit www.lifeisgood.com/festivals

Good luck to your band and if you get picked let us know!

New Music from Like Bells!

One of the bands I really enjoy these days are "Like Bells" {myspace]. The Orberlin Ohio based bands second album "Palma" is out now.

If you poke around the band site you can find links to some mp3's to sample. Suggested are:

Follow the Birds - A plaintive falsetto vocal melody floats above a shifting and unsettled foundation. After a quiet interlude the song settles into an airy tribal groove that surges back to the original theme, reframed against a simple 3/4 meter.

Sea Salt - Violin and bass melodies weave in and out of a rolling guitar line, while humming processed textures develop and grow until the song erupts into a triumphant explosion of distortion and vocals. Instrumental evocations of tropical air and the pulse of ocean waves provide the backdrop for lyrics that tell of travel, love, and repetition.

Chamomile - A ballad-like meditation that unfolds slowly, driven by cello and electronic drums until reaching acacophonous close.

The label site for the band here.

Jump on it folks, you will dig!

Just stuff...

Just time for one of those random all over the place posts...no links..cuz I am lazy and I don't think the 1 reader per month I get here is that new to the Internet to find a way to search for anything I might even mention.

Stuff around here has been okay..hope you are the same. I am fast approaching 40 years old and I am sort of struggling with that. I am not even really sure why. Its just a number some will say. I am pretty healthy, have a great wife, great kids and a safe home. Work is work. I'd rather not rustle down that path. Not sure what it is..just don't really want to be 40. Sorta have those moments of what have I missed in life, where should I be or what have you. I think it is all relative because good comes with the bad..over all its good.

2010 has been okay music wise. I still think the current era of music is the best. Sure I look back at 80's music, 90's music fondly etc...and I even look at last year or two years ago. I'd have to say that barring long standing bands I've always liked my favorite "new" bands are all under 10 years old. Some even less, which is exciting to think that more is yet to come. Speaking of music my other blog (Forgotten Disc Friday) got its third cease and desist order last week. That is frustrating, but at least they didn't smoke my post totally. They put it back in a draft status and allowed me to make edits (which is just removing the mp3's) I don't post em for long that is for sure. Its a way to get people to come, bookmark and read up, at least I hope. Oh well, System of Down, Paul Young and Depeche Mode all gave me gruff for posting song samples. I know it is "their music" so its all good my intent is not to rip these artists off. Stop by my house, or look at my credit card statement, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that buys more physical cds than me.

Stuff has been semi quiet on the live show front. Saw Phish a week or so ago and never wrote a review which surprises even me. It was fun, caught up with an old friend and we had lots of laughs. Going to the Flaming Lips tonight and then I cool off until the fall. There are always things I'd go to, but we shall see. I guess part of me is slowing down. There are so few bands that I *need* to see and with the hassles of traffic and other people at shows it is sorta a crap shoot to go. Some of my friends have totally given up (or go to one show a year) but I can't do that...just yet anyway.

I think I want an iPad. Part of me wants to wait for the next version, you know..so its cooler and faster etc. I also need a new car so I have to be smart on that front. Do I really *need* one, no, but if someone hands me one I'd use it.

Been pretty good about cutting down on TV this summer. My wife and I completed the Brotherhood Series (it was on Showtime and was real good) and we decided to give Mad Men a try next. Figure we can sit for 1hr every other night and chip away. We are two episodes in now to season 1. I am not blown away, but I realize it is early as well. It has potential.

Got on the bike last weekend for the first time in a bit as well. It was a grand time. I ended up riding about 15 miles and did about 1/2 of it off road as well which was really fun. It has been so dry around here (and hot) that it was more dusty than muddy but it made me long to get back out there. If we can break this insane heat wave we have going on I just might be tempted. I don't like waiting a few days between rides, because that becomes weeks with me (or months).

That is about it...just felt like putting keyboard to screen (not unlike pen to paper I guess)

All along....the way

Hope you might check out Forgotten Disc Friday.

This week a record most people are going to say "Who?" on...but if you like big guitars this is for you.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July weekend!

-March