Did you catch Gwyneth Paltrow’s performance at the Country Music Awards a couple of weeks ago (watch it on YouTube)? Paltrow is, of course, an Oscar-winning actress, and with more than forty movies under her belt, is probably intimidated by nothing. But it had to give her pause, appearing before many of the most talented,… Continue reading Using Actors In Place of the Real Thing
Category: Music
Apple to increase iTunes previews to 90 seconds
It’s about time, literally and figuratively. The AppleBlog reports that iTunes song previews (for tracks longer than 2.5 minutes) will be tripled in length, to 90 seconds. I’ve long argued for this change. Thirty seconds simply isn’t long enough to decide if you like a relatively unfamiliar song (or a familiar one in a new… Continue reading Apple to increase iTunes previews to 90 seconds
And…another stroll down memory lane: Wiley Walker & Gene Sullivan
Update [October, 2011]: C.S. Fuqua has published a book entitled “Alabama Musicians: Musical Heritage from the Heart of Dixie.” Why do I tell you this? Because Gene Sullivan was from Alabama, and Mr. Fuqua included a chapter about him in the book. He also included the photo shown below, and provided yours truly with a… Continue reading And…another stroll down memory lane: Wiley Walker & Gene Sullivan
Another stroll down memory lane: Bewley’s Chuck Wagon Gang
Below is another scan from Debbie’s mom’s collection of ’30s and ’40s memorabilia. The Chuck Wagon Gang is still going strong (I wonder what the original group would have thought about the idea of a website?), billing itself as “the oldest recording mixed gospel group still performing with ties to the original founding.” The scan… Continue reading Another stroll down memory lane: Bewley’s Chuck Wagon Gang
Radio Imagination
In my hand, if I pointed it just right You oughta heard what come to me at night On that little transistor, my big sister’s radio. So many DJs from so far away You oughta heard the records they would play, On that little transistor, my big sister’s radio. Tommy Castro‘s song, Big Sister’s Radio… Continue reading Radio Imagination
Light Crust Doughboys
Debbie was going through some of her mom’s memorabilia a couple of weeks ago, and ran across a flyer for “Parker Willson and the Light Crust Doughboys.” I suspect that most people in Texas have at least heard of the LCDs, which, according to Wikipedia (the font of all human knowledge, or at least semi-informed… Continue reading Light Crust Doughboys
Bluegrass Funk/Pop: Heavenly or Hellacious? You decide…
What’s with all these bluegrass musicians doing covers of contemporary songs? First, there was Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby covering Rick James’s classic funk hit, Super Freak: Now, a bluegrass group called The Cleverlys has resurrected the 80s pop classic, Walk Like an Egyptian, originally performed by The Bangles. I have to admit that the… Continue reading Bluegrass Funk/Pop: Heavenly or Hellacious? You decide…
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, Drummers are from a whole other dimension
This guy is a walking advertisement for rotator cuff surgery. But he does seem to enjoy his work.
The Steno Concerto
I think this speaks for itself.
It’s always something
Remember my excitement over this? The new A/V receiver was a welcome addition to our home theater setup, and I was quite happy with it…until we installed a new Sony Blu-ray player and immediately discovered that something was not quite right. Whenever we’d try to watch a DVD, the TV would display a fuzzy pink-tinged… Continue reading It’s always something