Grab Bag Archives

In this episode, not only will you hear great acoustic music and get a great tip on how you can legally rob a bank BUT you will also find out what it is that I am doing with a Horny Goat.

You better listen now before your imagination gets the best of you…

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How To Get More Live Music in Your Life

Willie Says "Get to the Show!"

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.

Well I finally did it, I recorded my very own song and I want to share it with you. Also, since I am the one normally doing all of the reviewing, I thought it would be fun to turn the tables around and give you all a chance to review me – either in the comments below, via my contact form or your blog.

I call the song “Change the World” and you can check it out now by visiting my personal site PlanetCorey.com.

It is just me, my acoustic guitar and my message.

This is something I’ve been meaning to do for quite awhile now and I have to tell you, I’ve been missing out. It is extremely fun to record music and it is hard to describe the feeling of hearing something I started from scratch playing back at you.

I’m addicted and I am a songwriting junky right now. I can’t wait to get back in the studio to record the next one.

Anyway, remember that you can share your review in the comments below, via the contact form, on your own site OR any social networking profile blog you might have (Facebook, MySpace, iMeem, etc). I don’t care what you say – since I am a big boy and can take it – all I ask is that you are honest and constructive.

Hope you like it and I can’t wait to hear what you guys think.

The Melting Pot is back in action and you, my friend, are not going to wanna miss a single note of any tune present in this compilation. The tunes, like me, are mellow yet upbeat and 100% thought provoking.

Grab a beer, glass of wine or mixer and press play now!

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Songs heard on this podcast:

Whitey Morgan and the 78′s – “Crazy”  (download this tune free on eMusic)
Blitzen Trapper – “Black River Killer”
Lubriphonic – “Rain Keep Falling”  (download this tune free on eMusic)
Junkyard – “Simple Man” (download this tune free on eMusic)
Dazy Head Mazy – “Let Me Off Here” (download this tune free on eMusic)
Scotty Dont – “Later on Today”
Also, Bumper music compliments of Jazz Organist Dan Fogel and his tune “Blues After All” on his album “15 West”
Links mentioned in the show:

Say something…

Have a comment, request or review of your own that you would like played or discussed on the show? Shoot me an email or put somehting in the comments below.

Guest post: Because I thought you might enjoy, this article has been hand-picked by Yours Truly and is being re-publishing with permission. The author is Richie Gilbert from www.inspired-songwriting-tips.com. Bon appatite!

If you want to learn how to write a song, do what all successful songwriters should do: Study songwriting. If you want to learn how to write great songs, study great songs!

If you want to be a master songwriter, learn from the masters.

If you’ve been writing songs for a while, you most likely are doing something right. When you write regularly you get a feel for it. You develop an instinct for what is catchy, memorable and engaging.

But you can take it further than that. Read the rest of this entry

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

If you write music, lyric or both and you want to  see where you stand in the sea of songwiriters – and maybe win a little cash – why not enter a songwriting contest. Here are a few contests you could should enter this year.

Last year I entered into the USA Songwriting Competition to see if I could win. Plus, I was just curious to see how these things worked and  maybe even get a little feedback.  

Well I didn’t win anything and I didn’t get any feedback BUT I feel that just going through the motions really helped me to improve my skills, to push myself to learn more about writing and also realize that  I needed to touch up my recording skills. 

So if you write, give it a shot. 

Do you know of any more? Let us know in the comments below.

apple_hole_beatlesGuest 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

I normally don’t review multiple bands from the same record label but when I stopped by the Small Stone Recordings website, I was side tracked for a few hours and ended up burning up about thirty bucks on downloads, so I figured why the hell not. Here’s a word or two about a label and a few of the bands that you should check out.  Read the rest of this entry

I was surfing around the web this morning and I came across a few handy little “how to’s” for those of you looking to rid your music collection of digital rights management (DRM) by converting your iTunes files to mp3.  Check’em out.

Tech-FAQ.com’s “Convert Your iTunes to MP3 and Convert iTunes to MP3 Format (Ask Bob Rankin).

They look simple but maybe a tad bit time consuming. However, it could be a small price to pay if you are worried about losing your tunes or looking to standardize your collection.

I don’t think it will be long before most of the music download services go DRM free but these techniques look like they should get you by until.

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