Artist Profile: Aaron Cheney

A songwriter and guitarist of ever increasing depth and scope, Aaron Cheney pens songs that communicate with people in simple, powerful ways. They have won awards, been cut by independent artists and placed in television, and his work as a session guitarist can be heard on radio ID's and jingles across the country on stations such as WSIX Nashville, KJR Seattle, and Chicago's Loop.

He is both a songwriting and guitar instructor and the author of the book Understanding Songwriting.

Check out his website at: www.aaroncheney.com/

You can listen to Aaron's music here.

Check out Aaron Cheney's book on songwriting on his site as well. Many things us "budding" songwriters can learn, and lots for you wily old veterans as well.


MUSIC...DISCOVER IT. SAVOR IT. SUPPORT IT

Artist Profile: The Black Summer Crush

The Black Summer Crush evoke memories of The Who and Led Zeppelin et al. Their music upon first listen seems familiar, but fresh. The kind of music that you just keep thinking to yourself "haven't I heard this before?" It's familiar but not in the way of sounding like everything that is out there in radio land.

See for yourself but don't blame me when their songs get stuck in your head and you can't get them out. Check them out here.

As I'm sure you can tell I really like The Black Summer Crush. The reason why? Not just because of their well written songs. But more because they bring me back to when I first fell in love with music.

If your more of a visual type person check out this video of them playing at a fashion show in Los Angeles.



MUSIC...DISCOVER IT. SAVOR IT. SUPPORT IT.

music

The Gigging Musician Part II "The Song List"

When we last met we had just found our band mates and were trying to add songs to our "set list". A set list may be better known as a song list. It is just that, a list of songs that a band learns in order to play a gig. Keep in mind the "type" of band we will be discussing is what is known as a "cover" band, or a band that only plays other artists songs.

1. Checking out the Billboard List -
There are several ways to go about putting together a song list. You could just go through all the songs that you and your band mates like or enjoy listening to and put those on the song list. This usually is not such a good idea. It would probably be a jumbled list that is all over the place. To be a successful cover band, you need to be concerned with the popular songs or hits. The ones that the crowd can sing along to and will keep them entertained.

2. Club Hopping -
A better way to figure out what songs to add is by first figuring out what type of music you'd like to play - Classic Rock, Country, Pop, 80’s, Modern Alternative. You may want to investigate your favorite local venues and find out what kind of bands they are booking, and what goes over well there. Some venues only book cover bands, some only original bands, and some a mixture of both. A very good idea is to visit these venues, a lot. Go and see as many bands as you can. It will give you a good idea what type of music goes over well in each venue and it will also give you a pretty good idea what songs you should be adding to the list.

3. Getting their Groove Thing on -
How to pick the right songs? For instance, if song X gets everyone up on the dance floor you should probably think about adding song X. Song Y clears the dance floor, or worse sends people running and screaming for the door, then probably not a good idea to add this one. This is really what it is all about when playing in a cover band. You want people enjoying themselves. This means you want them dancing or at least out congregating on the dance floor. You’re not, at this point, a professional touring band that is selling out arenas, so in order to stay booked at the best clubs you've got to keep people happy. To keep the patrons happy you play music that they love to dance to. To keep the club owner/manager happy you keep people dancing and thirsty and buying lots of beverages.

4. PAR-TAY! -
Now the cat is out of the bag. You now know what it takes to be a huge success in the land of cover bands, at least in regards to creating the right song list. Make sure that the people at the club are having fun, dancing, and drinking and you'll have all the bases covered. I can almost guarantee that if you do the above consistently your band will have no problem staying booked.

One other thing, no one likes to be just another fish in the pond. You do want to be different and stand out from all of the other cover bands. When you have similar set lists, you might be considered just a dime a dozen. To make your band stand out, there are many factors that you can do to achieve that and we will be discussing those in further posts.

So lets recap for today:
-Select type of music
-Make a song list. To find songs, go out and see lots of bands, listen to the radio, research popular songs.
-Fill up song list with songs that people enjoy singing and dancing to.
Rock out!!!!

Obviously we've skipped the whole practice 'til your fingers bleed. You should already know and be doing this.

That is it for this installment. Tune in next time when we'll go over
practicing; on your own and with the band.

Until then, get out and SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC, originals or covers. If you’re already in a band, go out on weekends your band isn't playing and support your fellow musicians.



k-zen ohmmmmmmm.....

Artist Profile: Jay Kishor

Sitar and Surbahar Artist, Jay Kishor (pronounced: "Jai Kee-Shore") approaches the meditative and mystical Art of Indian Classical Music more as a Poet than a Musician; treating the ancient Ragas with a lyricism, depth, thoughtfulness and grace.

Though groomed in the traditional "master-disciple" training known in Indian Classical Music from reknown masters like Mrs. Annapurna Devi, Pandit Brij Bhushan Kabra, and Dr. Raj Bhan Singh Thakursaheb, Jay is constantly attempting to expand the definitions of "Raga" and "Sitar" through his collaborations with legendary guitarists such as Stanley Jordan, and the late Michael Hedges.

Jay Kishor is the also founder of touchingGrace, a Sitar based World Music group that combines the ancient and spiritual qualities of Indian Classical Music with the structure of Western Classical, the improvisation and complex rhythm of Jazz, the raw emotion of the Blues, and the energy and verve of Rock.

Check out Jay Kishor's music here.

Hear Jay play with legendary jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan here.

"The RajDhani Quartet" is an Indian Classical Fusion Ensemble, also created by Jay Kishor, that merges the diverse musics of North (Hindustani) and South (Carnatik) India, while incorporating Raga-based tonal harmonies and Western themes.

MUSIC...DISCOVER IT. SAVOR IT. SUPPORT IT.

Artist Profile: The Favorites

The mark of a great song, to me, is one that when the song ends you want to listen to it again. "Hope in the Sky" and "Something That You're Missing" from The Favorites both fall into that category.

Listen to this Houston pop band's songs here.

Their new cd is titled "Bright Nights, Bright Lights" and is due out in May. Keep checking back to make sure you get your copy as soon as it comes out.



MUSIC...DISCOVER IT. SAVOR IT. SUPPORT IT.

The Gigging Musician Part 1: "Finding a Band"

A better title would probably be "The gigging guitarist" because that's what I am, so that will be my viewpoint. Not to slight other musicians, but I can only write about what I know (well kinda, that is still out to jury).

The reason for this post is to give those of you on the "outside" an idea of what goes on behind the scenes, so to speak, of your typical gigging musician.

1. The search is on-
Okay so to start we need to find a band. In my case right now I am only playing in what is called a "covers" band, meaning we only play songs by other artists. No originals, or songs written by us. This is both good and bad. The upside, cover bands tend to make a little more money per gig, and there isn't a whole lot of creative struggle going on, you just pick the songs, learn them, and gig them. The downside is, if the creative juices are flowing you have nowhere to channel it, and your known as a cover band guy. Generally as a cover band, you are looked down upon by all the original band artists (snobs). ;)

In my defense I have played in both types of bands and enjoy both about equally.

2. The replacement guy-
Now back to finding our band. Best case scenario you find a band who just had a musician that plays the same instrument as you leave the band and that band just happens to play the exact type of music you love playing. Even better you already know a majority of the songs on their song list, so you can step right in and start gigging right away.

3. HaHa That is funny, now the real world-
Back to reality, this almost never happens. In my case the band I'm with, did have their guitar player leave the band and they had a lot of dates booked that if they didn't find a guitarist who could learn the material in a very short period of time they were going to have to cancel a lot of shows. So the first part of the above scenario is in place, I found a band with an opening and shows booked.

4. And tonight you will be playing-
Now onto part two of the above scenario, the music. Not that I don't enjoy the music we play, I'd just never heard 85% of it prior to joining the band. That makes it pretty tough. Your trying to familiarize yourself with the song in general while also trying to learn it on guitar. All the while knowing you have a very short period in which to do so. My wife would quiz me on song titles every night. Obviously it all worked out because here I am a year later with the same band.

5. Can’t we all just get along?-
Most of the time what your going to find when your looking to join a band is other musicians just like you. So if you can't find a band that is already started your going to have to start your own. This really isn't a whole lot of fun. You place ads on music bulletin boards via the internet in the area you live. Maybe even on Craig's list if you’re desperate. You head out to all the local clubs and jam nights hoping to "bump" into musicians that are also looking.

You set up auditions with various bands and musicians, where they are not only auditioning you but you them as well. Your not only trying to figure out whether they can play their instrument well enough you also have to figure out if this is a person you can stand to be around for extended periods of time. Oh and you have to figure it out in about thirty minutes or less. No pressure.

6. Picking a song out of a hat-
Now you've found your band mates, hopefully by this point you've figured out what type of material you'll want to play. Sure you had songs that you used to audition but that doesn't necessarily mean that those are the songs you should be playing. Here lies the key to a successful band that gets to play when, where, and however much they want to, and the band who only plays gigs at crappy dive bars that are so bad you don't even want your friends to know your playing there.

Well I think that is a good place to end Part 1. Tune in next time when we'll talk about song selection, and various other things one should know before gigging out for the first time.

Until then go out to one of your local clubs and SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC.

Peace Love Music-

k-zen ohmmmmmm

Artist Profile: Modus

Modus are a stylish Edinburgh based five piece combo. With a tender love for Hammond based jazz/rare groove, foot tapping soul, great pop music and generally all things worthwhile.

"With a head spinning rush of melody, a tidal wave surge of organ and the hippest rhythm section this side of the motor city '66, Modus are likely to burst from hip obscurity to worldly success any day now."

Check them out here.



Also check out Modus on MySpace.

I'm of Scots-Irish heritage and Modus is yet another reason for me to want to visit my "homeland".

MUSIC....DISCOVER IT. SAVOR IT. SUPPORT IT.