Category Archives: Music

In Defense of Justin Bieber

So I wake up on this sunny Sunday, nursing a slight sunburn from the birthday party for my one year old great-grandniece her grandmother held in her backyard yesterday, to see the Twitter world is all atwitter over something Justin Bieber said. Seems the young Canadian lad and pop music teen idol visited the Anne Frank House yesterday, spending an hour or so there, then wrote in the guestbook how inspirational she was and that he hoped she would have been a “belieber.” For the uninitiated, “belieber” is the nickname Bieber’s great in number and even greater in fervor fan base of tween and teenage girls proudly wear.

From the right, the reaction has been a torrent of how abhorrent Bieber’s note was, or at least should be, to one and all. How dare he trivialize Anne Frank in this manner; what a maroon if not in fact dumber and more ego drenched than the lead singer of Maroon 5, etc etc etc and all the usual things you see on Twitchy when people grow outraged over the latest outrageous outrage.

Actually, the only people behaving outrageously are those professing outrage and/or leveling their snark attacks at Bieber over his comment. Shall we review?

Has it occurred to anyone that Bieber might have been expressing a wish that in a better world the toughest situation Anne Frank would have felt compelled to write about in her diary was choosing between the Justin Bieber and One Dimension of her day? That perhaps he meant no disrespect, nor was tripping over his own ego, by expressing a wish that Frank could have had a normal teenage life, not to mention life period, and that instead of his writing a note in the guestbook she’d be writing a check at the local record store to buy one of her granddaughters a Justin Bieber CD? That the face of the Holocaust could have instead been presently making a face at the silly antics of teenage girls going nuts over whoever’s picture is on this month’s Tiger Beat?

Some more facts, if you please. Bieber has 32.5 million Twitter followers. Thirty-two and a half million. Given the well-chronicled disaster that is public education, what are the odds that more than a handful of these kids have so much as heard of Anne Frank? If this non-incident gets copies of The Diary of Anne Frank in their hands, if this sparks interest in who she is and why their dreamboat visited her house, how can this be a bad thing?

Are we so accustomed to slamming celebrities every which way for everything and every slight that we are no longer capable of discerning when the issue is reasl or imagined? C’mon, people. Pick your battles.

No wonder we keep losing the cultural as well as the political war.

Methodical Elements Assembly

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The multi-pronged promotion of Cephas Hour, and far more importantly the artists whose music I play on said show, continues. From Examiner.com:

East Bay alternative rock legends Veil of Ashes, whose new record Eternal Teenage Angst was released earlier this week, will be the feature artist during an upcoming episode of Cephas Hour on BlackLight Radio. The show will air Sunday March 24th at 11 AM and 11 PM Eastern time.

Along with tracks from the new record Eternal Teenage Angst, the show will feature songs from Veil of Ashes’ other releases along with quotes from band members and reminisces by the show’s host, who covered the band as a music journalist during its active days playing clubs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in the time period of the late 1980s through early to mid-1990s. While the band made no effort to disguise its members beliefs, its observational lyrics format analyzing social and relationship issues along with its edgy, hard-driving music won it a wide following as it shared the stage with artists and bands such as Chris Isaak, the Call, Psychedelic Furs, Social Distortion and 4 Non-Blondes.

BlackLight Radio, on which Cephas Hour exclusively airs, is an Internet station presently celebrating its eighth year online. Since 2010 it has featured an all-80s music format. About the format station owner Gene Savage notes, “It’s the music I grew up with, a format I know well, and it’s also an excellent advertising demo (35-44 year olds).”

Savage, whose reasons for starting the station include “hopefully showing the mega-corporations who currently control radio how it’s done,” waxes enthusiastic about Cephas Hour in general and the upcoming special in particular. He comments, “It’s a fantastic addition to our programming which really helps complete the story of the music of the 80s and helps us fulfill our commitment to play ‘all of the 80s, all of the time.’ Not only does it introduce ‘new’ 80s music to many listeners, it also provides religious programming on Sunday mornings – a common practice for many top 40 stations in the 80s. Additionally, Cephas Hour is completely unique programming, unduplicated on any other station. It is a programming element that sets us apart from the other 80s stations.”

Savage adds the show has personal meaning for him as well as professional ties. “It is a great feeling for me personally. My roots are in Christian rock, and I’ve been disappointed to leave behind the music that was there for me when my faith was new. (Show host) Jerry (Wilson)’s programming is a great mix of forgotten favorites along with new-to-me songs that challenge my faith and move me forward spiritually. It’s rare to find a program that makes me tap my feet and make me think, but Jerry’s does!”

NOTE: The author of this article is the host of Cephas Hour.

Also, while a complete overhaul of the show’s website is in the works I’ve made a few modifications to the present one. A couple of banners, one for the new Veil of Ashes record and one for Frontline Records have been added, and I’ve tidied up the archive listing so it’s more compact.

The elements creation and methodical assembly continue.

And Now, What I’d Rather Write About

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It ain’t Ali Akbar, folks. From my Examiner column yesterday:

Legendary East Bay alternative rock band Veil of Ashes, which shared the stage with musical luminaries such as Chris Isaak, the Call, Psychedelic Furs, Social Distortion a 4 Non-Blondes during its active years of the late 1980s through mid-1990s, has released its first new album in twenty years. Eternal Teenage Angst, available through the band’s Bandcamp page, includes one new song in addition to a collection of demos and live tracks spanning much of the band’s career.

The new track, “Reach,” is a cover version of the Brian Healy/Dead Artist Syndrome tune from his 1990 debut alum Prints of Darkness. Veil of Ashes often backed Healy in concert during his San Francisco Bay Area appearances. The song was recorded by the band’s best-known lineup of lead vocal and guitar Sean Doty, bassist Brian Kirsch, drummer Phil Meads and guitarist/keyboardist Lance Harris.

New to the listener will be three songs recorded during what turned out to be Veil of Ashes’ last studio session before disbanding in the mid-1990s: “Angel Falls,” “Demon Box” and “Seraphim Twist,” the latter featuring a rare lead vocal by Kirsch who used the stage name Sterling during his tenure with the band. The album continues with demos of known tracks recorded at different times with different lineups, with arrangements ranging from somewhat to noticeably different than the eventual studio release. The overall tenor, as befitting demo session dynamics, is more raw than the studio versions. A few live tracks close out the record.

What is most noticeable about Eternal Teenage Angst is how it showcases Veil of Ashes as both a powerhouse rock‘n’roll ensemble and how well its music has aged. The demos are in several cases superior to the studio version, better capturing the band’s driving style without forsaking melody, while the energy and style mesh well with today’s alternative rock flavorings. Far from being a nostalgia trip, the album has several tracks that would fit into most any alternative rock radio station’s playlist without the listeners suspecting they were hearing twenty to twenty-five year old music.

It has often been noted that fans of today’s Christian alternative rock artists such as Switchfoot have no idea from whence the genre came. Although not as well known as a Steve Taylor or the Choir, Veil of Ashes were a vital part of Christian alternative rock’s formation in that they not only produced quality music on a level equal to secular acts, they routinely played secular venues on their own merits. Eternal Teenage Angst is not a comprehensive career-spanning Veil of Ashes anthology. But for those who want to know how artistically accomplished classic Christian alternative rock was, it is a superb introduction.

Radio, Radio

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It’s oft been noted here and elsewhere that we need to do far more than preach not political correctness but rather correct politics. We also need to actively influence culture. Be it the arts, sports, media, what have you: we need to be involved, not hiding behind castle walls passing notes out through arrowslits but actively out there; open, honest and uncompromising while simultaneously presenting top-notch work.

The Internet has been a tremendous tool in this. We have the option of streaming our own audio and/or making our own videos. Also, while there is still far too much emphasis on inside joke material there are at least a few attempts being made to reach out beyond the echo chamber cathedral’s parishioner list and engage people where they are. I have my own modest effort; others have theirs. All of these depend on the Internet remaining unfettered by restrictions on what material can and cannot be presented. This unfortunately brings into play the synchronized beauty and horror of the Internet: fortunately, everyone can get on it; unfortunately, so can anyone. The best you can do is either ignore the drek and its purveyors, or have great fun at their expense (language warning, but it’s such a terrific video it’s given a pass):

I mention this to set up the following. On the surface it may seem unrelated to anything; industry shop talk useful solely to industry people. However, this is not the case. The ripples of what may well come to pass will directly affect each of us.

Gene Savage, mastermind of BlackLight Radio where Cephas Hour resides, recently linked to a most interesting blog post from a broadcast radio professional in which he noted that at least two major automotive manufacturers are planning on shortly doing away with AM/FM radios in their cars. Why? Not enough people listen to them to warrant making them available. Satellite radio, yes; although financially Sirius/XM is barely hanging on well enough to keeping the doors open. An input jack for your iPod or other MP3 player, sure. Internet radio? Most definitely, as this incorporates both Internet-only stations such as BlackLight and the streaming services such as iHeart Radio, TuneIn Radio and others most every traditional radio station now employs to make its broadcast available everywhere. But standard over the airwaves radio? Gone.

This raises more than a few questions, assuming it comes to pass. Will the auto manufacturers charge a fee for Internet radio access? Will it be satellite-based or dependent on local cell service? Given the latter’s inherently fragile and ofttimes spotty nature, in case of emergency will there be a fallback system? If scanning through stations now is a distraction, what will it be like when a driver can access most every traditional and online station in the world? One can safely assume there will be voice command to narrow down the search by category and genre; hopefully when the search term used is “music that changes the culture” my show will be among those listed. But I digress.

Given that most every cell network out there is stretched beyond capacity, one can only imagine how overloaded they would be should thousands or tens of thousands of cars in a single area suddenly access them for streaming media. To avoid this, it goes to reason that some kind of satellite service will be made available. Satellite internet is already with us, but as run by current providers it is extremely high priced with severely limited data plans. A plan and platform similar to what satellite radio presently employs is the most likely scenario, run by either an existing business or one set up on behalf of, if not by, the auto manufacturers. It also stands to reason that the auto manufacturers would work with existing streaming channels such as the aforementioned iHeart or TunedIn to avoid unnecessary work recreating what already exists.

While on the surface this has no great impact on society, presuming access to local channels remains intact and free of charge or at the least inexpensive, it does bring up a deeper point. What if the presumption is incorrect? If radio becomes a primarily or exclusively Internet-based service, and access in a car is through a provider, will it truly remain free?

What concerns me is the potential cableization, to coin a word, of radio, both traditional and online. An example of cableization is how Comcast XFINITY has no problem letting subscribers watch ESPN directly on mobile devices using ESPN’s app. When it comes to FOX News, which offers the same service through its app? No dice, despite many other providers making it available. While many factors go into such deals, although it usually boils down to three primary factors all of which are commonly referred to as “money,” it is a signpost pointing the way to what can happen when service providers base decisions on neither economic reasons or public demand, but rather personal (i.e. political) preferences.

In the streaming app world this is already in place. Case in point: on our occasional jaunts through Southern California Mrs. Dude and I habitually listen to KNX in Los Angeles for its regular traffic updates. Let’s say we were dependent on an online service to pick up the broadcast. Let’s also say our car radio has only one streaming service as its source. Using the currently available stations list, should the app be TuneIn or Radio.com no problem. iHeart? Well, ain’t life a bust and have a great time cruising down I-5 as it’s doubtless speed limit all the way. No KNX for you! It is a quite manageable step from there to “well, let’s dump these stations because no one listens to them. Oh, wait – they’re all conservative talk? Coincidence. Pull the plug.” You also face the prospect of high rollers (i.e. traditional stations owned by corporations with capital) putting the friendly squeeze on providers to leave out independent voices, such as BlackLight.

Another concern is how, if at all, artists will be paid for their efforts when stations play their music. This gets messy and insider-ish in a hurry, so I’ll skip the details. Suffice it to say that when it comes to who is owed what and how it is paid out it is a mess, with different rules for traditional and streaming stations. Regardless of who plays what, artists usually wind up holding the short end of the stick. After they have been beaten over the head with it. I’m not seeing this improving as the line between traditional and online radio grows ever more blurred.

Much of the above is speculation, and certainly alternate courses may be taken. That said, there is the strong possibility some, most or all of the above will take place during the next few years. If true, it will become that much more difficult to mount a successful outreach. And that is no static.

Banquet At The World’s End

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John Donne was quite correct when he noted that no man is an island, although in addition to his dour framing of this truism there is also a positive interpretation. There are no truly solo artists in life. Each of us benefits from the works of others, who hopefully in turn benefit from our works. This is the Christian way; each of us fulfilling our part by carrying out our mission as all of us are joined together into one body of believers by Christ.

I note this to both set a background for my assorted electronic ink scribbles this time through and properly thank a couple of people without whom Cephas Hour would not exist. There are many people to thank, but these two deserve special praise. First, there is Gene Savage who owns and runs BlackLight Radio. Gene is kind enough to turn his baby over to me for a couple of hours each week, in the course of doing so stepping away from the station’s 1980s hits format as I play the music to close to my, and it should be noted his, heart. Also, there is Adel Meisenheimer who has taken on the herculean effort of making the massive catalog of Frontline Records, on which many of the artists I play were associated, available in proper form after years of first slapdash chopped-up re-release abuse and then neglect. Not content to stop there, Adel has also brought back music from artists across multiple labels, working out all the logistics and legalities that go into such an effort. She and Gene deserve massive accolades for doing the work to make beautiful things happen. Me? I’ve got it easy. All I have to do is once a week pick sixty minutes worth of awesome music from a bountiful supply. Piece of cake. They’re doing the work. They’re doing something.

What does it mean to do something?

It means there is an effort; an outreach beyond trotting out the same ol’ same ol’ for an existing fan base. Doing something isn’t performing for an already enraptured audience. It’s not the home team putting on a show during batting practice. It’s when, to quote one of the artists in my book, you’re shooting arrows over the horizon. Ofttimes unrewarding, at least in the immediate. You don’t know who you’re reaching or so much as if you are reaching anyone. But you do the work anyway, because it has been pressed on your heart that this is what you must do regardless of whether it is known to be paying off. Or, for that matter, whether it pays period.

Compare this with the looming silliness of a convention, allegedly designed to promote a singular political philosophy, that is actively barring people of like mind from participating due to that epidural condition commonly known as a near if not utterly terminal case of thin skin.  Or sub-gatherings at such a convention getting together to throw a party that boast loud and long of their numerous sponsors, yet leaving gentle and good people doing the very work supposedly supported by the aforementioned sub-gathering dependent on the charity of others to attend. Classy.

It’s easy and highly tempting to dismiss works that on the surface seem like futile efforts as failures. Others grab awards and headlines, while the apparently despite their dogged determination unsuccessful receive for their reward at best polite indifference and usually open scorn. Not quite the wished-for support if you are on the receiving end. Yet, those looked down upon press on regardless, for they know what they must do. Namely, that which they have been called to do.

Which is nothing less than planting the seeds of cultural revolution.

There is much talk these days within conservative new media of the need to have a bigger impact on a world seemingly consumed with a passion for unknowing self-destruction on many fronts: political, economic, societal. It is nice talk. Pretty words. Unfortunately it is also, as that noted societal commentator Johnny Rotten noted a few decades ago, pretty vacant. Why is this?

Simply put, it is the unwillingness to reach beyond the comfort zone and do something — anything — beyond what is already known to earn accolades, and if played properly cash rewards, from a self-satiated circle proclaiming it wants to change the world yet in deed refusing to perform anything apart from what feeds the other circle member’s individual and collective ego, expecting the same in return. We say we want to change the culture. Great. An endless recycling and promotion by, in and of the same organizations, the same shows, the same guests, the same conventions that didn’t stop the societal/cultural downward spiral before, and aren’t stopping it now, is somehow going to suddenly not only stem the tide but reverse its course? Really now. We are familiar with the repetitive action definition of insanity, correct? Perhaps it is time we stopped indulging ourselves in the aforementioned insanity by getting off of our happy selves and doing something other than preach to the chorale at the Echo Chamber Cathedral, in the course of this “action” firmly believing pinning notes on its bulletin board constitutes genuine and effective outreach.

It is not the high flyers within a bubble that soar. It is the people who, to repeat an earlier word picture, are shooting arrows over the horizon. They are the ones doing the work, not the mutual admiration society. Only when and only if those who honestly believe doing nothing but talking to those already on their side catch the vision and embrace those who strive to reaching others where they are will there be actual progress. Until then, they remain the self-nominated beautiful people sending excuses while those they look down on accept the invitation to the only party that truly matters. Namely, the banquet at the world’s end.

Everywhere I Go

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It’s an odd world in which we live these days, one in which actions speak volumes while volumes are being spoken that collectively, to paraphrase Shakespeare, are a tale spoken by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Fans of Cephas Hour are rejoicing that the Call, with the late and deeply lamented Michael Been’s son Robert Levon Been taking his place, are playing a handful of shows next month. Not quite the worldwide headlines that accompany every time Jason Bonham fills in for his late father at a Led Zeppelin show, but significant nonetheless. The younger Been is a talented artist; his powerhouse rock combo Black Rebel Motorcycle Club has a strong and steady following. With BRMC’s new record coming out in a couple of weeks it is doubtful Been’s collaboration with his father’s bandmates will be extended much past the two presently scheduled dates; his band starts its tour promoting its new record the following week. Still, for those of us fortunate enough to be able to attend one of the two shows, it will be a welcome respite from today’s dreary music scene.

As mentioned before there is a family vibe among fans of classic Christian alt rock. We cherish the music, the artists and each other as together we celebrate not just what was, but what is and what will be. When you know the present moment is not all there is and you know the past is a signpost pointing toward a shared future of life and love in which all the suffering of this life will be washed away, you see things differently. The trivial fades before the triumph of the cross and the empty grave.

It’s not that nothing else matters. An awareness of Christ clarifies world vision. It adds impetus toward taking action and speaking out on issues of the day, mindful of how they impact lives far beyond the surface. Even as faith permeates all aspects of a believer’s life, Jesus is present in all aspects of life period, be it as creator, healer, savior or admonisher that we should never abuse His creation through sin. And all are His creation, despite the efforts of many to behave in a manner anything but reflective of this truth.

One of the, if not the, most offensive of all offenses against Christ is when an individual portrays himself or herself as His humble servant when his or her actions state loudly this is not the case. The person who lambastes others for their misdeeds while either deliberately downplaying (translation: lying about) their own or denying them altogether, declaring he or she to be a purveyor of good while doing harm to the very cause and/or people allegedly being supported, must be called out and called to account. Life is both short and precious. There is no time for the trivial pursuing vainglorious nonsense.

In this light, recent activities by assorted and in some cases sordid-behaving conservative new media members warrant mention. I would much rather talk about the things of Christ. However, these people claim to both know Him and uplift Him even as their actions dishonor Him. To state this is not judging others. It is a matter of declaring the truth. Which, as I recall, was what Jesus did regardless of who took it in what fashion. Jesus is an extraordinarily equal opportunity individual. He smacks everyone, every single one of us, across the face with the truth.

A couple of days ago it came to light that Joshua Trevino, who’s done assorted writing for and performed various job services for conservative publications and politicians, was part of a contingent that over a recent three year period received close to $400,000 from the Malaysian government. In return, Trevino wrote, as well as placed from others, posts plus columns and articles in several publications promoting said government’s policies, especially its campaign against one Anwar Ibrahim (proper name Anwar). Anwar is a flawed individual to say the least, feet firmly planted on both sides of the fence over issues such as Israel versus Palestine. Generally, however, he is viewed as a pro-liberty, anti-corruption politician. He also supports to a degree gay rights, thus ensuring he is most unlikely to receive a speaking invitation to CPAC anytime soon. But I digress.

Trevino and his current employer Chuck Devore, for whom Trevino served as communications manager during his failed campaign to win the California GOP nomination to face Barbara Boxer for her Senate seat in 2010, have both dismissed the matter as no big deal and common practice stuff. This assertion unravels when considering that Trevino failed to make mention of this deal until now and had in the past vehemently denied its existence. I’m no legal expert, but I believe this falls into the category commonly referred to as “lying.”

Okay, so we’ve established Trevino is dishonest money-grubbing scum. No other description for a paid shill insisting he or she isn’t one comes to mind. However, the reaction by others to Trevino’s now-disclosed activities would be laughable if they were not deeply lamentable as they go off on him for his actions while in their next breath talking up events such as CPAC and BlogBash.

Circle back to earlier and the discussion about the Christian classic alt rock family. It has been preached loud and long that conservative new media is a family, or at least ought to be; an army of Davids speaking truth to power and fighting against the liberal mainstream media. Brothers and sisters in arms, one and all. Sounds great, does it not?

As also mentioned earlier, sound and fury.

One has to but glance at the upcoming CPAC charade to see there is not only zero unity in conservative new media, it is increasingly intent on clawing itself to death. You have the nonsense of BlogBash, an event run by Ali Akbar with financial support from front organizations run by individuals who have received financial aid from Akbar’s allegedly non-profit fundraising efforts. This is more commonly known as kickbacks. Meanwhile, in a world allegedly home to the conservative new media family you have a party, thrown by an organization (National Bloggers Club) that has completely abandoned its original stated objective to create an umbrella under which individual bloggers could be better equipped for acceptance as legitimate media for news events, billing itself as the most exclusive event at CPAC. Actually, given its rejection of GOProud and Pamela Geller CPAC itself is the most exclusive event at CPAC. But again I digress.

The hypocrisy grows in light of the aforementioned exclusions, which have generated tremendous heat but precious little action in terms of people refusing to support CPAC and/or its organizer the American Conservative Union, better known as ACU. The party goes on unabated, with many paying lip service to the notion they are going to CPAC regardless of the ACU as a means of building networks and the like. Really? That is steer manure in a seeping sack. They are going to see and be seen, perhaps playing the role of heroic rebel telling people off even as they reinforce their position within a phantom kingdom’s hierarchy.

There is a belief among these people that they are individually and collectively creating a new media empire. The reality is they have constructed an echo chamber, sealed off from those who so little as wish to become participants within its walls let alone the outside world, in which they scramble for a higher place at the banquet table, alternating between boot-licking and face-punching each other in an effort to get ahead. All the while, they remain unshakable in their delusion, labeled as belief, they are changing the world despite the inconvenient truth of the world neither knowing nor caring they exist. But don’t let that stop the party or handing out awards to each other. Their patron saint is Little Jack Horner.

The question begs asking as to who is truly effective in communicating the conservative message. Answer? Those with an audience outside the echo chamber. Translation: those who catch the most flak from wannabes. For example, taking potshots at Rush Limbaugh has become fashionable among the impatient young insistent they deserve the audience he has built even as he continues to outdraw them all combined. Indeed, we see many instances of organizations and individuals known and unknown, usually the latter, demanding those who are better known (at whatever level this might be) give them full and immediate access to their audience, followed by public temper tantrums when this is not instantly granted. I know I have at times played this “victim” card. There is neither honor nor correctness in having done so, and it is hardly to my credit this has taken place. All I can do is resolve to not do it again, instead of doing things the proper way. Others can, and will, do as they wish.

Who is genuinely creating a media force to counteract what we currently endure? Breitbart was on the path of doing so, but tragically died before his vision could be implemented. The only person moving the needle toward genuine media integration right now is Glenn Beck. I chuckled when I read how FreedomWorks is working with Glenn Beck’s media organization the Blaze to run the next BlogCon, scheduled for this May in Dallas. It takes no gift of prophecy to state that between now and then you will see a host of conservative bloggers who have previously kept Beck at arms length, if not openly derided him, having a sudden epiphany about how he is in fact the great and good leader we should all follow and uplift. This after months, going on years, of having either completely ignored Beck or ripped on him over accusations of routinely using the works of others without crediting the original source and the fact he and Breitbart were at loggerheads over same. So much for the #IAmBreitbart battle cry.

It all winds back to family and faith. Does family segregate itself from one another in order to declare who actually belongs, in the process of doing so puffing itself up over non-existent accomplishments? Does faith lead one such as Trevino, who has proclaimed loud and long his Catholicism-rooted devotion to God, to surreptitiously accept payment for promoting a foreign government that is no friend of freedom? Do we continue to kid ourselves that how we conduct ourselves is unimportant as long as we’re doing what we believe is vital work when in fact we evangelize no one but each other? Are these the ways of family and faith? Are these the ways of Christ? Is this the path of peace?

No.

There is a better way.

It is summarized in one word: honesty. Honesty about who and what we are, told to ourselves as well as each other. Honesty when we mess up. Honesty when we need to humble ourselves before those we have wronged. Honesty about our beliefs, whatever they may be. As to the latter, to those whose who insist separation of faith and politics is a must in order to gain an audience, or at the very least making little if any mention of faith when discussing politics so as to not overly antagonize and exclude potential listeners might I point out that being open about what they believe never crimped U2′s record sales. Or, for that matter, made the Call pariahs.

Everywhere I go I see God’s handiwork. It is regrettable when people in word and especially deed exclude and dishonor Him from so much that truly matters, in the process minimizing their potential impact to nothing.

Mandolin Wind

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A few months ago, I bought a mandolin. Hardly one of the prized Lloyd Loar ones from the 1920s which on the rare occasion one comes up for sale fetch an easy six figures, but at least it is the same style.

I’ve played guitar and bass since the 1970s, but I’m not altogether certain when the mandolin first became of interest other than it being one of far more recent vintage. I’ve listened to them for decades (ouch) being played for on assorted 1970s eclectic rock records when it was time for an acoustic track, this being an era when shifting from style to style with each successive song was far more popular than today. There was Jethro Tull:

Led Zeppelin:

Of course Rory Gallagher:

Moving ahead to the 1980s, there were the Hooters:

And across the years doubtless there have been others that don’t readily come to mind. (Hey, it was probably forty years ago. Give me a break.)

The mandolin is primarily associated with bluegrass, although it predates said musical genre by a few centuries. Most recently, the most eclectic Nickle Creek had a mandolin prominently featured:

And REM occasionally pulled one out, but they don’t count. For much of anything. But I digress.

My mandolin had a rather inauspicious beginning: I bought it without realizing the bridge was broken. You’d have thought the salesperson would have noticed, but no. Either that or he did and declined to say anything. Anyway, after a fair amount of muttering I bought a new bridge, sanded it down to match the mandolin top’s curvature, and away I went. Right up until I decided the action was too high — last time I believe any of the websites insisting it was — and broke out my nut files to lower the action at the root source of the problem. Got one pair of strings to where the aforementioned websites said it should be, tuned up… and realized the strings were now fretting out on the first fret because they were way too low. More muttering, much of it centered around quite colorful Anglo-Saxon descriptive adjectives. Not wishing to purchase a new nut, after briefly considering turning the instrument into kindling I went with the old standby home/emergency repair technique of putting a couple drops of super glue in the string groove. Not the most favored approach among repair purists, but it worked. And yes, I did wait more than long enough for the glue to harden before putting the strings back on lest they become permanently affixed.

For a cheap… er, inexpensive mandolin mine doesn’t sound too bad. Certainly there are way better ones out there, and I have oft longed for a higher quality instrument even as my current instrument doubtless longs for a higher quality musician with whom to work. Perhaps someday. For now, my mandolin and I put up with each other on those occasions I take it out of the case and either pluck a few notes, strum a few chords, or both.

There’s a certain healing quality in most acoustic instruments when they’re played, well, acoustically. Slammed out chords on a steel-string guitar don’t exactly soothe the soul. But when an instrument such as a mandolin is played with honest intensity, be it in the gentlest of ballads or full-bore rock’n'roll, there is a connection between artist and audience that cannot be matched.

I enjoy playing my mandolin, picking out little songs and adapting others to the instrument’s possibilities and challenges. In that odd connection between artist and implement for creating art that sounds like the ultimate in self-indulgence and ego trip, yet in fact is anything but, the music speaks to me, calming me down and bringing a smile. Granted, most of my music time is spent on electric guitar playing blues and bluesy rock even though I started out as strictly a folkie. But the mandolin wind blows warm pleasantness, and for this I am quite thankful.

PS: You knew I had to include this clip:

tragically_hip_dawn_eden

Of the Tragically Hip and Dawn Eden

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My knowledge of Dawn Eden, newly ensconced at Patheos, consists of having read a few of her blog posts and assorted interviews. I know the thumbnail sketch of her life: former rock journalist (and by her own admission a bit of a slut) who after Christ entered her life gave up sex and rock’n'roll in favor of pursuing Catholic academic pursuits and preaching the virtues of being virtuous, particularly in the chastity realm. I’m pretty sure Pope Benedict XVI has her on speed dial for any and all theological questions, she’s so deep into pursuing knowledge. But I digress.

Given that Eden (actually it’s Goldstein, but she uses her middle name as her last) last wrote about rock in 2000 or thereabouts, it’s possible she might be familiar with Canadian guitar rock band the Tragically Hip which made its recorded debut in 1987. The Hip, as the band’s fans refer to the quintet, is a long-running institution in its native land, routinely topping the charts and selling out (what else?) hockey arenas from coast to coast, while in the United States it is a solid cult favorite.

I rather doubt Eden rushed out to buy the CD of, or download, Now For Plan A, the Tragically Hip’s latest album which hit the streets last week. I have no idea what kind of music she listens to these days; whether she avoids rock because of past connections, if it doesn’t bother her, if she simply doesn’t care for the music anymore or whatever it may be. On the surface there’s no discernible connection between her traditional Catholicism and band leader Gord Downie’s often inscrutable stream of consciousness lyrics that offer fragments and disconnected threads, almost defying the listener to discern what is being said. Yet whether intentionally or coincidentally, in his latest musings Downie amplifies part of Eden’s thoughts on relationships. To wit:

Baby, when’d you get so Zen?
When I used to know you when
When you thought all my dreams sucked
I was just happy you gave a f—

What, you were expecting moon/June/spoon? This is Gord Downie, folks. That aside, the chorus is the money quote:

And we don’t want to do it
We want to be it

In a few words, intentionally or no Downie succinctly outlines a huge part of the fundamental behind Eden’s arguments on behalf of abstinence outside of marriage.

Do we give our bodies to each other for the sake of momentary pleasure that fades the moment we’re done? Or do we give ourselves to Christ the Bridegroom, letting His intense love for His bride the church, a love so great He gave His life for us, shine through us even as a man and woman’s love for each other shines through them as they pledge themselves solely to each other?

Do we celebrate sex’s holy and pure nature as not only the means of creating the next generation, but as a symbol of His love by giving ourselves fully and completely to our sole soulmate? Or do we debase it by turning it into a carnival game with empty orgasms and conquests as our prize?

Which do we choose? Do we choose to do it? Or do we choose to be it?

(It’s worth noting the lyric also brings up the issue of why conservatives and Christians routinely fail to support fellow conservatives and Christians, such as Mark Scudder, in the arts. It’d be far preferable, and I say this as a huge Tragically Hip fan, to have artists on our side we can point to for this illustrations without everyone in unison replying “who?”)

A lyric further along in the song warrants mention:

And all our friends gave us a week
And we’re still happening as we speak

How often do couples who refrain from sex before marriage get ridiculed by those who don’t? I suspect, based on what I read and hear, quite often. Yet they are far more often than not the couple that lasts.

To be it, no merely do it. That’s a goal worth aiming towards.

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Talking Shop With Mark Scudder

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As I outlined in a trio of posts last week (here here and here), and one (here) a few weeks prior, Mark Scudder is a rarity: a talented, unashamedly conservative musician. His music is anything but jingoistic tea party fodder; his lyrics make you think and he refuses to limit himself to nothing but political talk. His observations on relationships and the human condition are alternately heartwarming and heart-wrenching. Scudder is a thinking person’s artist, and even those who disagree with him politically will find a great deal with which they can identify in his songs.

Musically, Scudder lets his songs naturally run their course without attempting to force them into the constraints of a three minute single. While you can hear influences by latter day Pink Floyd and other progressive rock touches, Scudder’s music is unpretentious and beautifully melodic. It is anthems without bombast; luxurious washes of acoustic and electric guitars that manage the rare feat of echoing cathedral tonality while remaining intimate. This is really, really good stuff.

Scudder’s terrific new album The Solution is The Problem, available as a download from iTunes, Amazon and as a download & CD from his website is a marvel of home recording expertise, boasting both superb sound and layered textures galore. I asked him to talk shop, and he was more than happy to oblige.

What guitar(s) do you have and use? What do you like/dislike about them? Is there a dream guitar, or are there dream guitars, for you?

My acoustic guitars are 2008 Ibanez PF5ECE’s. They retail for $300 but I got the second one for $180-something because my local Guitar Center had an overstock on them. I like the way they sound, and the pickup (Ibanez SST by Fishman) sounds good to me. I can’t afford Martins or Taylors, and actually there’s quite a history around here of music stores selling $2,500 Martins to middle-aged women who only play once a week in a church praise band… people who could get away with a $300 Ibanez easier than I could.

Two things primarily affect my choice of guitars: feel and price. If I could sell more than 19 copies of a record, price wouldn’t be an issue. Feel is crucial. I have two identical acoustic guitars and one feels slightly better than the other (which is to be expected of mass-manufactured instruments). Luckily, one also seems to sound better in the “Occupied” tuning (C-G-C-G-G-C) than the other, so it works out – the more comfortable one is my #1, in standard tuning and used for most things, the less-comfortable (but not uncomfortable) one sounds better in the lower tuning, so I use it for that.

My only electric guitar at this point is a Laguna LE322. I literally paid $200 for it new. I was looking for something in a sub-$500 range; I used to play an Ibanez RG470, but I hate Floyd Rose trems. I spent more time tuning the 470 than playing it. I was looking for a different trem system, and it was down to either a PRS or a Laguna, the latter having locking tuners and a Wilkinson trem. (I actually love Schecter guitars, but they have Floyds.) The sub-$500 PRSs didn’t feel good to me, but the Laguna felt great and actually sounded great. The Wilkinson trem takes a fair amount of abuse and it doesn’t come out of tune much. It’s got an HSS pickup configuration, 22 frets, and a coil tap. If I was good with wiring diagrams (and the extra complexity of a coil tap system) I would’ve already put a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker (I swear it’s around here somewhere) in the bridge position.

I also used a friend’s Fender Showmaster to double up guitar parts with a different sound. The Showmaster is a not-so-well-known Fender product, it’s a superstrat with no pickguard and upgraded features. This one had two Seymour Duncan humbuckers, factory installed, and sounded good, but had a bit too much of a metallic edge for me compared to the Laguna for this project. Still love the guitar and I borrow it frequently. My buddy found it at a pawn shop for $250.

I used two basses for the album. One was a borrowed Espanola acoustic bass. At the time I recorded bass, I literally had no money coming in (my wife and I were both hurting for work up here) and couldn’t even change the old, rusty strings that were on it because my friend who owns it doesn’t really even play it anymore. Thankfully, this gave it a warm, rounded sound with very little high-end that ended up working in a lot of places. I was especially going for a sort of upright bass sound on “I Will Love You If You Let Me,” for example, and it was perfect because the strings were so dead! I plugged it direct in and put two microphones on it, and all the mics picked up were these non-musical clicks and slap sounds when I’d hit a string. It actually gave it quite the upright bass sound! It’s all over the gentler moments on the album, mostly the DI signal. In songs like “You’d Never Tell Me,” it’s on all the quiet parts, and I played my electric for the big middle eight.

My electric bass is a ’93 Ibanez Soundgear series SR506. It’s a six-string with active pickups and I can get a lot of different sounds out of it. It was owned by a bassist friend of mine (who paid full price for it), and I acquired it in 2002, I think, when he upgraded and I built a computer for him. We traded. it’s one of my favorite instruments. The newer Soundgears do feel better – I had a friend in South Carolina with a newer five-string that was one of the nicest, smoothest basses I’ve ever played – but this thing is like an old pair of sneakers now, an old friend. I played it with and without a pick – “Free” is very obviously picked, for instance, and “Moving to Silence.” Most everything else is fingered.

Dream guitars – I have heard of some high-end Taylors that have condenser microphones mounted in the sound hole. That’s awesome and would certainly help with the ever-changing setup of home studios. As much as I hate Floyd Roses, I would kind of like to own one of the Alex Lifeson signature Les Pauls with the Floyd Rose trem. Schecter makes great guitars at a good price point. Other than that, I have never really had the money to think critically about what my dream upgrade would be. I’d have to play everything I considered and only take home the ones that felt right.

What did you use equipment-wise — amps, effects — for the electric guitar parts on the album? What sounds were you aiming for?

Every electric guitar sound on this album is software modeling. I was never good at miking things, and I can’t play out up here enough to justify owning nice amps. Most of the electric guitar sounds are Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig 4. Most of the are based on a model of Eddie Van Halen’s “brown sound” amp, which was a Marshall Plexi connected to a variac to make it sag a bit. I started using this sound as a “quiet distortion” lead when I play Christmas shows with my pianist friend Elizabeth Crew, and fooling around with it one day, I realized it scaled, and sounded great loud with more gain. The setup I used for Solution had a model of the old green Ibanez Tube Screamer distortion pedal in front of it.

I like distortion sounds to sound like your speakers are the amp speakers. So there’s a lot of close-mic, not a lot of room mic sound on my guitar sounds. I double or triple them up. A lot of the big places on the record are three rhythm guitar tracks: Two mono, panned hard left and hard right, and one with a chorus (slow and wide) up the middle. All the same preset, but just panned differently and with the chorus switched on or off. The natural little differences in the performances make the panned tracks sound super-wide – one of those “more than the sum of its parts” tricks. I’m a delay fetishist. Any lead or arpeggio usually has delay on it. I love it. One of those things I got from Alex Lifeson, who as the sole guitarist in Rush had to sometimes sound like three or four at once. Actually I got my love of chorus from him too.

To me, there’s few things prettier than screaming guitar feedback, fed into delay and then reverb, so that it’s off in the distance, mixed into a track and playing tones that support the chord structure in some way. I grew up on a hill overlooking a town in a valley. When a car or truck would go screaming over a piece of the highway down there that makes that high pitched whining sound, it would reverberate through the valley and would become very soft and musical. I think that’s where I get that.

I need both atmospheric sounds and huge sounds for the stuff that I do. For quieter sounds I prefer a single-coil sound with chorus, delay and reverb, and the big sounds have to be absolutely huge, in-your-face. I like the dual-rectifier Mesa type sounds, but in the past I’ve had trouble controlling them, making them sound right. So I went to this Marshall Plexi sound for this record and I’m glad I did, it was very controllable and very big.

Did you record the album at home or in a studio? What kind of equipment did you use? Any special techniques to get certain sounds?

This entire album was recorded in my home studio. The most expensive microphone I own is a Shure SM57. I think a long time ago I just accepted that I was going to have to prove myself first, before I had the money to buy into a good sound. The cost of living is very low up here. So for instance, you only have to make $30,000/year up here to survive, whereas in New York City or Chicago you have to make $150,000/year to survive. But guitars, microphones, and studio gear is the same price everywhere, partly because of the internet. So while the cost of living is higher in some places, it’s still sometimes easier for someone in a big city to drop $700 on a microphone where I might only be able to drop $100.

So I’ve tried all the time I’ve been making music to be aware of how I could make it sound “better” as cheaply as possible. A lot of long lonely nights playing back a part over and over again and making minuscule EQ adjustments. There are a lot of great plugins these days with great EQ and sound-shaping tools, and I’ll use them if they help. Because there is a certain expectation that a certain type or genre of music sound a certain way. And I personally can enjoy the sound or production of something as much or more than the song itself! A piece of music knocks it out of the park for me if it has both great production and an enjoyable or rewarding song behind it (see my comments re: Devin Townsend). And things just sound “right” if they sound a certain way. Snares have to snap, cymbals have to splash, distortion guitars need to be close-miked, bass has to have low end and bite, etc. So there is a sonic template that works and part of the suspension of disbelief is getting as close as you can to that template, and only deviate if it sounds awesome to do so.

One album that breaks that rule, that I should mention in case somebody thinks I’m just making place-and-bake cookies, is Dream Theater’s first album When Dream And Day Unite. It was recorded for $600 in a basement studio and it is very muddy. But it has something most metal albums don’t have, or didn’t have at that time – it was warm. And it was thick. We got to a point for awhile there with metal where the entire midrange was just scooped out like it didn’t matter. And that affects low-mids too, the warmth. When Dream And Day Unite is one of the best badly-recorded records I’ve ever heard, because it is so thick, so warm, that it almost has an ambiance to it, its own environment.

The whole album was recorded into a PreSonus Firepod, which is a 10-in/10-out Firewire audio interface, and recorded in Logic Pro on an entry-level early 2011 MacBook Pro (Core i7 2.0 GHz, 8GB of RAM, and a 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive). Acoustic guitars were miked with an Shure SM57 at the sound hole, a Marshall Electronics MXL991 pencil condenser at the 12th fret, and a pair of Marshall MXL990 large-diaphragm condensers in an XY stereo pattern about three feet up and two feet back from the guitar. The pickup was also recorded. I took those five inputs and mixed them into a stereo two-mix for each guitar and used Logic’s Direction Mixer plugin to rotate the sound field so that I could get two or sometimes three acoustic guitar parts in the two-channel space. I think the 57 and 991 were panned maybe 30% left and right, and the 990s were panned hard left and right because they’re already in a stereo configuration in the room. I set the mics up against the bookcase you can see in the background of most of the session videos and live streams, and faced the bookcase while recording the acoustics. I figured it was the biggest thing I had at my disposal that I could make into a rough, uneven surface (with books and what-not) to minimize reflections.

Drums, piano, orchestra, synths were all software sampler-based and performed with MIDI-like note data from inside Logic. A lot of these sequences were meticulously poured over, on and off for months. It’s easy to lay down a basic drum beat, for instance, by pointing and clicking on a piano roll, but it takes a lot of work to make them sound human. I used to play drums and I think that helps. If I had any option in the world I’d buy one of those $8,000 Roland V-Session kits, which can output MIDI, and drive my drum samplers with my live performance. But I have to sell a few more than 19 copies of Solution before that happens .

I’m sure some people will think it’s cheating, but I used Match EQ in a few places. This is a neat technology that can calculate amplitude over a frequency range from a source sound and figure out how to make a target sound have that same EQ curve. And this isn’t like a 10-band equalizer on a stereo from the ’80s; this is, like 8,000 bands, as much as the computer can split up the spectrum. I don’t know if it’s 100% ethical to say “this song of mine reminds me of such-and-such a song from such-and-such a band,” and analyze that song and apply the EQ to mine, but it’s a compromise I have to make because there are so many people out there who, if it doesn’t sound like it was recorded at The Hit Factory and mastered by Bob Ludwig, forget it. I think I only did this for two songs; in some cases I used Match EQ to get me to a mix of a previous version of one of my own songs to get me in the ballpark for the new version. Very powerful tool, but it’s not a rubber stamp – it doesn’t work as often as it works. And you have to pick the right source material.

I also used it when I had to pull a word or two from a vocal track I recorded a few years ago. There are moments that are accidentally perfect, due to emotion and entropy and luck. I found when I tried to recreate those moments it sounded like I was doing an impression of myself doing it right. So, to be able to tell the Match EQ plugin, “make this recording from 2007 sound like the vocal I recorded today,” was absolutely awesome. Manually matching two vocals like that is a one-way ticket to a mental hospital.

I think as conservatives we are, ironically, at odds with the philosophy of business sometimes. Most albums are recorded by a team of people who all have different specialties. In that case, in a way, it does “take a village,” or to use a more recent example, “somebody else” helped “make that happen.” I didn’t have those people available to me. So, the occasional (or more than occasional) technical shortcut, I don’t think, should detract from the final product. I had to do the work of a team of specialists with much better equipment than I can afford, to break into a market that won’t give me a chance unless everything is beyond perfect. I’ve made peace with the fact that I’ll never be able to satisfy every last purist when it comes to this stuff.

I explain it like this: I have this idea in my head. It’s a completed arrangement, it’s huge and heavy and heavenly. I can either work at Taco Bell for 42 years (in this economy, that’s all that’s left) until I’ve saved enough money to have a team at a “studio” do it for me, or I can try to get it into tangible form by any means necessary. It helps my sanity to do the latter, but there will always be people who think I didn’t do it the right way and/or cheated. But I think almost like a foley guy – I need to make something that sounds like X. Okay, let’s go. As long as I’m not stealing intellectual properly, the ends justify the means. The final product is what matters to me.

So I guess my ultimate tech tip is, go for it. You have no idea how many of the big guys do this stuff. If they didn’t, the technology wouldn’t exist for the rest of us.

Sonically, what are you most proud of on the new album?

The thing I’m absolutely most proud of is that all the acoustic guitar tracks sound like they were all recorded at the same time and in the same location! DIY recording in a home studio, especially while you’re writing, is a catch-as-catch-can sort of thing. Songs that are still being structured or thought out might miss out on a recording session and have to be done later. That has led to years of demos (some of which you can hear on the Deluxe Edition of Solution) that have vastly different-sounding recordings of vocals and acoustic guitars. When I started working on Solution, I made it a point to sit down and record all the acoustic guitars first, because that was the thing that had the most microphones involved and had the most potential to change between setups if I didn’t force myself to do nothing but record all the acoustic guitars at once and be done with it.

After that I’m proud of the overall sound of the album. I tried to play it on every pair of speakers I could find, play it in every car I could get into, on every pair of headphones I could find. If you mix on just one set of speakers – I don’t care if they’re $5,000 studio monitors – you are going to unconsciously mix to those specific speakers. You’re going to optimize the mix in ways you’re not even aware of for those speakers. When you get it in the car, or on the earbuds, it’ll sound wrong. One of the toughest things I have had to learn was to be patient enough to test out the mixes every last place you can. I even drove to my parents’ house a few times and played it in their car, just to have another data point. My iTunes is cluttered with album names like “The Solution is the Problem (Beta 5).” I think I got to Beta 9 before I had the version you hear when you buy the album.

Finally, I’m glad these 11 songs have a home. I’m glad they’re done. I’m glad I got as close as I did to making tangible versions of the complex arrangements I was hearing in my head. I’m glad that when someone asks me my least favorite question in the whole wide world – “What kind of music do you play?” – I can just plop my iPhone down and hit “play.” That has been a long time coming.

nickelback

Yes, It’s Nickelback; Just Shut Up And Listen To The Words

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From long days in the field
Mother’s hands are serving meals
In a cafe on Main Street
With mouths to feed
Just trying to keep clothing on our backs
And all I hear about
Is how it’s so bad, it’s so bad

It’s too bad it’s too bad
Too late, so wrong, so long
It’s too bad we had no time to rewind
Let’s walk, let’s talk
Let’s talk

You left without saying goodbye
Although I’m sure you tried
You’d call the house from time to time
To make sure we’re alive
But you weren’t there
Right when I needed you the most
And now I dream about it
And how it’s so bad, it’s so bad

It’s too bad it’s too bad
Too late, so wrong, so long
It’s too bad we had no time to rewind
Let’s walk, let’s talk
It’s so bad
It’s too bad it’s too bad
It’s too late, so wrong, so long
It’s too bad we had no time to rewind
Let’s walk, let’s talk
(Let’s talk)

Father’s hands are lined with guilt
For tearing us apart
Guess it turned out in the end
Just look at where we are
We made it out
We still got clothing on our backs
And now I scream about it
And how it’s so bad, it’s so bad, it’s so bad, it’s so bad

It’s too bad it’s too bad
Too late, so wrong, so long
It’s too bad we had no time to rewind
Let’s walk, let’s talk
It’s so bad
It’s too bad it’s too bad
It’s too late, so wrong, so long
It’s too bad we had no time to rewind
Let’s walk, let’s talk

No time
Let’s walk
Let’s talk

From underneath the trees, we watch the sky
Confusing stars for satellites
I never dreamed that you’d be mine
But here we are, we’re here tonight

Singing Amen, I, I’m alive
Singing Amen, I, I’m alive

[Chorus:]
If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we’d see the day when nobody died

And I’m singing

Amen I, Amen I, I’m alive
Amen I, Amen I, Amen I, I’m alive

And in the air the fireflies
Our only light in paradise
We’ll show the world they were wrong
And teach them all to sing along

Singing Amen, I, I’m alive
Singing Amen, I, I’m alive
(I’m alive)

[Chorus x2]

And as we lie beneath the stars
We realize how small we are
If they could love like you and me
Imagine what the world could be

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we’d see the day when nobody died
When nobody died…

[Chorus]

We’d see the day, we’d see the day
When nobody died
We’d see the day, we’d see the day
When nobody died
We’d see the day when nobody died