I'm Back- Thanks To Kelly Clarkson For Motivating Me!

Kelly Clarkson reminded me last night why I love music and motivated me to start up my blog again.

Putting on one of the best shows I've seen in a long time, Clarkson exhibited her love of music too- pop, rock, electronic, blues and country. Throughout the night she talked about her love for various genres of music, which she showcased through various duet partners and song choices. American Idol friend Tamyra Gray joined Clarkson for a soulful rendition of "When You Believe", the Whitney Houston/Mariah Carey duet. Michelle Branch appeared shortly after on The Wreckers country hit "Leave The Pieces." Early in the set Clarkson threw in a Florence + The Machine cover, saying at the end she "hopes to expose her fans to new music"- who does that?

The night was filled with special guests, the next bigger than the last. I thought the roof was going to blow off the Nokia Theater when Clarkson introduced Blake Shelton to sing Jason Alden's part on "Don't You Wanna Stay." Shelton's welcome was just a warm up for the thunderous response that occurred when Clarkson invited her idol, country legend Reba McEntire onstage. During the encore they belted out Clarkson's hit "Because of You", which they previously recorded for McEntire's 2007 Duets album.

When Clarkson wasn't joined onstage by one of her famous friends, she was rolling through her numerous hits, showcasing those vocal chops that made her America's first Idol. For nearly two hours she entertained us with her down-to-earth personality and sense of humor. She talked about the songs and how they came about, much like a country artist- oh, that's right, she's managed by Narvel Blackstock, Reba McEntire's husband.

In the end I could tell Clarkson really enjoys what she does and is very appreciative of her career. Few artists could incorporate so many genres of music into one show and hold the interest of the audience like Clarkson did. She could move between laser lights and big pop hits to humanitarian video and ballads because she believes in and loves everything she does up there and that's contagious.

Who Would You Invite?

I found myself dreaming the other night (probably due to all the live music I've seen recently) about the musicians I'd invite to my ultimate campfire soiree. There were so many names that rolled around in my head and when I woke up, I thought the idea would make for an interesting blog entry.

I decided to narrow the names down to twelve living artists, six men and six women.

1. Sheryl Crow
2. Bonnie Raitt
3. Ann Wilson
4. Martina McBride
5. Grace Slick
6. Pink

7. Bono
8. James Taylor
9. Kid Rock
10. Keith Urban
11. Justin Timberlake
12. Kenny Chesney

What would your campfire soiree look like?

Four Concerts In Nine Days

Summer and live music go hand in hand like apple pie and ice cream or baseball and beer. For someone who's seen over 200 live shows, the idea of live music never gets old for me. I always get chills when the audience sings the lyrics back to the artist or when lighters (now cell phones) light up the night sky. The next nine days will be heaven for me because it's four concerts in a span of 216 hours!

The journey starts tomorrow night at one of my favorite venues, the Hollywood Bowl. Tucked up on the hill close to the 101 Freeway, the Bowl feels miles away from the chaos of Los Angeles. On Saturday the legendary venue will host country darling Dolly Parton. Not sure what to expect, but I know it will be FUN!

Next stop the Canyon Club and country new comers Thompson Square on Thursday July 28. Known for their hit "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not," friends have had nothing but good things to say about this husband and wife duo. It's rare that I don't know an artist's material before I see them live, but I'm always looking for new music and hope my friends did not steer me wrong.

The third stop, finds me in Irvine at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on Saturday July 30 for the most anticipated of the four shows- Sheryl Crow & Kid Rock!!!! I first saw Sheryl as a freshman in college and probably 20+ times since, she's my fav hands down. I've also seen Kid Rock twice (at country festivals) and he puts on a hell of a show. Everyone knows there hit duet "Picture" and  there new song "Collide" is good too. I'm thinking one set of her, one set of him and then one set together, doing covers of classic rock and country hits ( witnessing Sheryl belting out "Feel Like Making Love" at sound check is still one of my favorite musical moments of all time).

"Collide"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoFHIhAW4W0

"Picture"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKFx0MMqb48

Last, but not least is Melissa Etheridge on Sunday July 30 at the OC Fair. Now the fair in and of itself would be enough reason for the hour plus drive, but add to it one of America's top singer-songwriters and it's a no brainer. I've only seen her once, at the Tower Theater in Philly 11 years ago when I was worked for WRDX(I'm always a taker on freebies). WOW, what a performer and storyteller. I've always said I'd see her again at some point because she was THAT good. The albums following Yes I Am never lived up to the commerical success of the 1993 juggernaut, but her work since has been just as good, if not better.

So Dolly, Thompson Square, Sheryl/Rock & Melissa here I come!

Riding Shotgun For Today's Adventures- ADELE

Just picked up Adele's EP from the iTunes Festival in London- WOW. Not like I should be surprised, love her and she does an amazing cover of "I Can't Make You Love Me" and gets the crowd going with "Rolling in the Deep."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvoe9efyfzo

When Did R.E.M. Fall Off My Radar?

On September 30, 1995 I was at Hersheypark Stadium singing along to alternative rock pioneers R.E.M. and their opening act Radiohead. Now, almost 16 years later it's hard to believe that the creators of Out Of Time, Automatic For The People, and Monster had fallen off my musical radar. It must have been a gradual fade, but thanks to the May issue of Interview Magazine and their piece on Michael Stipe, R.E.M. are once again on my mind.

R.E.M. never stopped making music and after 30 years it's no small accomplishment to still be on a major label and still be making music. On March 8, 2011 they released their 15th full-length album, Collapse Into Now, which debuted at #5 on Billboard 200.

The fascinating thing about the Stipe interview for me was his take on what an album means in 2011 and how the band is making a film for every song from Collapse Into Now. Stipe 51, understands the power of YouTube and the 21st-century audience.

For the films, R.E.M. has enlisted 11 directors, including the man of the hour James Franco to tell R.E.M.'s stories through film. Many may say that's nothing more than a music video, but we'll have to see because for me R.E.M. video's like "Everybody Hurts" felt more like an art film than a music video.

TBC......

Carrie Underwood Makes Acting Debut

Country superstar Carrie Underwood became the latest singer turned actor in this weekend's Soul Surfer. Underwood plays youth leader Sarah Hill in the inspirational true story about Bethany Hamilton, a 13-year-old surfer who looses her arm in a shark attack.

The role was a safe choice for Underwood's big screen debut. Her character is sweet and wholesome, much how society perceives Underwood and Carrie didn't have to test her acting chops head to head with veteran co-stars Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid.

The good news for Underwood is that the acting all the way around in Soul Surfer was mediocre, so her rushed lines and uncomfortable mannerisms didn't seem to stick out too much. I'm sure Underwood helped draw some people to theaters this weekend (Soul Surfer finished fourth at the box office), but like most singers who try to transition to acting Underwood should stick to the music because for every Tim McGraw (The Blind Side) there are twenty Taylor Swift's (Valentine's Day).

Grey's Anatomy: The Musical Event, Falls Short

I'm a huge Grey's Anatomy fan and when I heard they were doing a musical event I was psyched. I imagined an episode where dramatic events filled our screen and perfectly placed songs provided the dialog. Obvious thought right, this was the show that used music (The Fray, Bryn Christopher, Metric, Adele) better than any other production on TV. Boy was I wrong.

When I finished watching last night the only two words that came to mind were corny and disappointed. I was laughing as Dr. Hunt, Dr. Torres and crew sang their way "dramatically" through the show. I appreciate shows taking chances, but Grey's isn't Glee. In the latest Entertainment Weekly creator-executive producer Shonda Rhimes described herself as a "musical-theater geek," which is fine, but she should have kept that part of her life out of my favorite show. It's so disappointing because the storyline of the episode (Callie's accident) was so great and it got ruined by the song and dance. We couldn't even enjoy Addison Montgomery's return to Seattle Grace because the singing was so distracting. I hope they never do another episode like that again and I know when I buy Season Seven on DVD I will defiantly skip over that episode. Too bad because season seven was quickly becoming one of my favorite season's of all time.

Unique Museum To Open Valentines Day

On February 14, 2011 the world will gain it's first opportunity to wonder around an Eight-Track tape museum. The vision of collector Bucks Burnett, the Dallas Texas museum will house over 2,000 Eight-Track cartridges.

Popular from the mid-1960s until the early 80s, Eight-Track tapes actually provided a higher quality sound than the cassette tape (the Eight-Track killer) because they ran at twice the speed. However, the Eight-Track format kept a cult following with some bands still releasing limited number of tapes. Cheap Trick offered their 2009 album The Latest on Eight-Track.

If you ever find yourself in Dallas you may want to swing by. As far as I know, it's the only music format that has it's own museum. Not even vinyl has it's own sanctuary!

http://www.eighttrackmuseum.org/

Deana Carter's Working On New Material

If you were listening to country radio back in 1996, there's a good chance you heard the smash single "Strawberry Wine" every hour on the hour. Few artists have been blessed with such a strong debut single which helped propel Deana Carter's debut album Did I Shave My Legs For This? (still one of my all-time favorite album titles) to 5X Multi-Platinum status.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up06CryWQpE ("Strawberry Wine" video)

Although Nashville, TN native Carter has had little commercial success since the 90's, she's been making solid music. Both her album's I'm Just A Girl and The Story Of My Life have spawned more songs on my iPod than Shave and I'm happy to say that there looks to be new Deana Carter music on the horizon.

Recently partnering with Warner Brothers Nashville/Chappel Music, Carter was at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles Saturday night trying out new material she's been writing and working on for over a year. Her sweet voice and warm energy was a perfect fit for the cafe and the new material was classic Carter- honest, emotional and fun. She brought Tyler Hilton on stage to play keys on a song they co-wrote shortly after her father's passing last summer (Fred Carter, Jr was a famed session player) and she made it through like a pro even though it was her first time performing the song live.

If you are hearing about Deana for the first time, check her out. Some of my favorite tracks are deeper cuts like "Atlanta & Birmingham," "Ruby Brown," and "Before We Ever Heard Goodbye" (about one Desperate Housewives hunk- many years ago). Enjoy!

GARTH STILL HAS IT!

When hotel mogul Steve Wynn loured country legend Garth Brooks out of retirement last year, I knew at some point I'd end up in Vegas to check out the show. Well this past Saturday night became that "some point."

Heading into Saturday I really didn't know what to expect. I had seen Garth's high octane show twelve years ago in a hockey arena alongside 20,000 other screaming fans, but I knew the Encore Theater was small and would lend itself to a more intimate performance. I had heard it was just Garth and his acoustic guitar, but wasn't 100 percent sure. I hadn't heard if his wife, country star Trisha Yearwood was making appearances at the gigs. All I knew is that I was willing to pay a pretty hefty ticket price to see who I tell people is the best entertainer I've ever seen live.

So it makes me very happy to report that Garth still has it- the voice, the charisma, the love of performing. The show was intimate (helped by our fourth row seats) with only Garth and his belly hiding guitar. The cool surprise (spoiler alert) is that Brooks didn't just perform his own songs, but rather took us on a journey of the music that shaped his life and how those songs and those artists shaped his music. Over the course of two hours, Brooks in his ball cap, plain black shirt and loose fitting jeans worked his way through several decades playing the songs of Haggard, Jones, Seger, Croce, Joel, McLean and many others while sharing humerus stories of his family and life in the music industry. Of course Brooks didn't just play covers, he had plenty of time to work in Garth classics like "Friends In Low Places," "That Summer," and "Shameless."

The whole night was a treat, but there were a couple highlights in my opinion. The first was when Garth opened it up for requests from the audience and this guy stood up three rows directly in front of me and asked to hear "The Dance" for his brother. So Garth sits down on the stage, about ten feet from me and plays my favorite Garth Brooks song ever. It felt like it was only me and the few people I could see in front and to the sides- it was simply AMAZING. The other highlight came when he brought out his talented wife Trisha Yearwood to duet on "In Another's Eyes." The love and passion between them was so intense that I don't think anyone breathed during their performance.

When the show wrapped up at one o'clock in the morning, it was defiantly a different Garth experience than I had had twelve years ago, but equally as good. How often do you get to see a legend in a small theater talk about his songs, play his songs as well as classic hits of others - NEVER.

So to Mr Wynn, thank you for bringing Garth out of retirement and if you are looking for an excuse to go to Vegas, Garth spends 15 weekends a year there!

CREATORS OF STOMP BRING PANDEMONIUM

PANDEMONIUM: wild uproar or unrestrained disorder; tumult or chaos.

The production of Pandemonium saw its west coast debut last night at UCLA's Royce Hall and it defiantly lived up to the definition of uproar and chaos. Utilizing everyday objects like vacuum cleaners, umbrellas, and radiator hoses, the 25-member cast created rhythm with impeccable timing.

Broken into two parts, Pandemonium runs for approximately one hour forty minutes which includes an intermission and encore. Within each part there are several different productions including titles Dead Clown, OilDrums, Woodcutter and Waterphonics.

I've never seen anything like Pandemonium and it does amaze me how they came up with some of the ideas for instrumentation, but glad the tickets were free. In the end it's just a bunch of noise- kind of what I would anticipate a jam session on LA's Skid Row to sound like.

GWYNETH PALTROW IS COUNTRY STRONG

We knew Gwyneth Paltrow could sing thanks to 2000's DUETS and now she's gone country in her latest movie role. Paltrow plays a fallen country star in COUNTRY STRONG, which also stars Leighton Meester and country heartthrob Tim McGraw. Slated for a December 22 release COUNTRY STRONG displays Paltrow's vocal chops. For a sneak peak, check out Paltrow on the movie's title track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN4tTY7SOvc

LIVE FROM DARYL'S HOUSE

Live From Daryl's House (LFDH) is a monthly web show featuring Daryl Hall (half of the number-one selling duo in music history Hall & Oates) performing with some of music's most famous names. The award winning show is a music lovers dream- talented musicians in a simple room surrounded by a plethora of amazing instruments. The direction and outcome of the show varies and you often find the musicians improvising and adding new twists to popular tunes.

In the latest LFDH, the Philadelphia native pairs with Pat Monahan and Jimmy Stafford of the band Train. The seven-song set features "Hey, Soul Sister," "Say It Isn't So," and the Temptations' cover "Papa Was A Rolling Stone."

Past episodes have featured Rob Thomas, K.T. Tunstall, Smokey Robinson and Plain White T's. You can watch previous episodes by clicking on the past shows tab on LFDH's website.

http://www.livefromdarylshouse.com/

Enjoy!

LISTEN TO KATY PERRY'S NEW ALBUM BEFORE IT HITS iTunes AND STORES

Katy Perry gave us two catchy summer songs in "California Gurls" and "Teenage Dream," but I'm ready for new KP material. The new album will be out Tuesday, but Perry will premiere Teenage Dream (the clean/edited version) tomorrow at 9PM PST on her Facebook page. All you have to do is select "Like" Katy Perry's fan page to participate.

Enjoy:

http://www.facebook.com/katyperry

WILL JANIS JOPLIN'S LIFE EVER HIT THE BIG SCREEN?

Last week it was announced that actress Amy Adams ('Julie & Juliet') had signed on to star as Janis Joplin in director Fernando Meirelles' ('City of God') biopic of the legendary singer. The script, owned by Fox Searchlight, is tentatively called 'Get It While You Can,' which had Hollywood a buzz a few years ago with rumors of pairing director Catherine Hardwicke with Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon.

Adams is just the latest in a line of stars who have been attached to a Janis project over the years. In 1999 Lili Taylor was set to play Joplin, but nothing came of that. Then the horrendous news in 2003 that Renee Zellweger was going to bless us all with her "singing talent" in 'Piece of My Heart.' Thankfully that didn't happen and by 2004 things were looking up as fireball musician P!nk inherited Taylor's spot in 'The Gospel According to Janis.' Unfortunetly, not even with P!nk (who I've seen sing the hell out of Joplin's material) could the movie get made. Although I did hear that there were creative differences between the musician and the producer which eventually resulted in P!nk dropping out and being replaced by Zooey Deschanel in 2006. Add Reese Witherspoon into the mix along the way and you can see why I wonder if Janis Joplin's life will ever be brought to the big screen.

I guess there is some hope, as it took almost as long for 'The Runaways' to get made, but once Kristen Stewart signed on, the indie biopic started production and hit theaters earlier this year. Ironically there is a 'Twilight' connection to the Joplin project as well- 'Get It While You Can' is slated to be produced by Temple Hill Entertainment, the same producers behind the 'Twilight' saga and lord knows they should have enough money now to get the Janis Joplin biopic into production, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.