What do you do when you’re feeling down? The answer for many people is obvious: put on some headphones and listen to your favorite mood-lifting tunes. Many studies have been published recently that confirm what most people know: music is powerful, and has the ability to treat everything from a down mood to depression. Whether you’re listening to ’80s hits with a pair of cheap ear buds or expensive Klipsch speakers there’s simply no denying the power of music.

Music has been used as a therapy for depression and sadness for thousands of years, finding a place in every culture. Many people have cited music as an important factor in their life while recovering from depression, illness or even a simple bad day. There are even people that respond better to music than medication and traditional therapy! Today music therapy is offered to many people that don’t respond to other forms of help and the benefits are obvious.

The emotional tie that Read the rest of this entry

Excellent Willie Nelson Show I Went To A Few Year Back

I’m feelin a little frisky tonight so I am just going to throw this out there Seth Godin style and see what happens. A quick story and some “hopefully” useful advise.

A few months ago, a few friends and I realized that a lot of time went by between shows (because we’re all parents and semi-slaves now). We realized that it had been a long time since we felt the excitement and the energy you can only get by attending a live music event. We knew that our music loving souls were in need of a recharge and we knew we needed to do something about it. So we did!

We made a pact that every time there is a show within about a 100 mile radius, we were gonna make sure we made sure everyone else knew about it and then take it from there.

It worked. We’ve all been to many shows this year and there are many more in the works. We don’t always get to go together but we have made it a priority and are better off because of it.

Now if you are suffering from a serious case of live music deficiency, here’s a quick tip to improve your live music nutrition.

Look for a show in your area and just make up your mind that, come hell or high water, you’ll be there. Just make the decision. No more, “I’d like to go”…JUST GO.

Take a friend if you can. If not, screw it, go by yourself. You’ll meet some new people and chances are you’ll have something in common and you’ll have a new Facebook pal to share the music love with.

Just when you thought the flute was strictly for use in the symphony and Jethro Tull tunes, someone comes along and adds a little beatbox and a lot of flavor. Check out this video featuring a guy named Nathan “flutebox” Lee. Read the rest of this entry

Guest post: Treadmarkz is my brother-in-law, a Human Beatles Encyclopedia and the author of the weblog Treadmarkz.wordpress.com.

Regarding why the Beatles broke up, for years, I was a member of the “Yoko Is Evil” sect. Then for a while I converted to Paul-is-an-Egomaniac-ism. I took it for granted that the truth lay somewhere within these two camps. Eventually I realized the many other factors: John Lennon’s addiction to heroin; the death of the Beatles manager Brian Epstein; their music and individual talents getting too big to be contained within one album; George Harrison’s waning interest in traditional western pop music. Read the rest of this entry

Guest post: Treadmarkz is a Human Beatles Encyclopedia and author of the weblog Treadmarkz.wordpress.com

Buddy Holly wrote his own songs. Chuck Berry wrote his own songs. Little Richard wrote his own songs. Paul McCartney and John Lennon, being devoted followers of all three, began writing their own songs early, and often. McCartney wrote rough versions of “I’ll Follow the Sun” and “When I’m Sixty-Four” in about 1957. And many of the originals from the Beatles first album were written by John and Paul around that same time. They knew that it set them apart from the other up-and-coming bands.

But rock n’ roll had changed drastically by 1960. Holly was dead, Berry was in jail, Little Richard had become a preacher, and Read the rest of this entry

Get out your thinking caps and see if you would agree with this quote.

“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.” – Albert Einstein

Even though it adds a nice complexity to the question it is too bad we couldn’t scrap the religion part.

Sounds like a great theme for a song or even a concept album.

There, that should give you something to think about for the rest of the day.

I just wanted to give you the latest on the whole SaveNetRadio campaign. I received another letter from Tim Westergren of Pandora. As you will see below, things are looking up.

Hi, it’s Tim again,

I wanted to thank you again for your extraordinary support in the fight to save Internet radio and Pandora. Thanks to the overwhelming number of calls you made, letters you faxed, and emails you sent, the Internet Radio Equality Act is fast gaining momentum in the House of Representatives (74 sponsors and growing). It’s nothing short of remarkable for this to happen in such a brief period of time – almost unprecedented.

Last Friday a Senate version of the bill was introduced by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sam Brownback (R-KS): www.savenetradio.org/071510-wyden.pdf. This is a promising development, but we need your help again. I know we’re asking a lot, but the stakes couldn’t be higher and the fight is not over.

Please call the offices of your Senators and ask them to co-sponsor the Internet Radio Equality Act, S. 1353.

Senator Amy Klobuchar: (202) 224-3244
Senator Norm Coleman: (202) 224-5641

Visit www.savenetradio.org to keep up on our fight to save Internet radio. There are some powerful testimonials there from musicians who have found their audience through Internet radio.

We are deeply moved by your support. Thank you.
-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)

It is very exciting that this is working so well. Make some calls and cross your fingers.

I stumbled across a song from my youth the other day and thought I would share the lyrics with you. It’s a great song to get the positive vibes rolling.

See if you can guess who the artist is and what genre they are associated with. I’ll let you behind the curtain at the bottom but you may be surprised. Read the rest of this entry