October 16, 2011

All my life I have been an avid music fan, I have been buying music from the age of 11 and continue to this day. Lately when I make the weekly trip to my local music store I see first hand the damage free downloading and ill informed record companies has done to the industry. Album sections dwindled down to greatest hits albums or not even available. Major label artists jumping ship due to lack of interest and promotion. Luckily there are a few smaller labels willing to take the chance on veteran talent as well as talented new artists. Still to this day if you wanted to photocopy a photograph or photographed artwork you still get rightfully hassled because of copyright controls. Music seems to not have the same value. Like  great pieces of art that have endured and have been cherished for centuries, music should share the same fate. Music is medium that is fully interactive with all your senses. In live music the audience experience can dramatically inspire the musicians performance to new heights and in some cases taking the music in a totally new musical direction. A myriad of emotions that a single three minute piece of music can convey. I know my views are very old school and I still embrace the physical format of music. I love portability but my love of holding the product in my hands and reading through the liner notes and enjoying artwork have not changed. I hope it never goes away but you never know these days! If you really enjoy something and it moves you and means something, buy it! The artist will thank you. Without you there is no art.

Gary

June 25, 2011

A few months ago Paul Simon's latest album was released. In my opinion it is one of his best.  So Beautiful Or So What  has all the the elements of of previous Simon works that we are familiar with, tuneful melodies, wonderful guitar playing, ethnic influence, and that sweet voice.  Much of the narrative in this album deals with the afterlife and getting older. He just seems wiser and comfortable in his own skin. I have yet to tire of it! Good albums linger, stick with you, move you. This is one of those. It has Grammy all over it. 

Gary

June 25, 2011

It has been some time since my last blog, I hope to remedy this by a flurry of posts over the coming weeks. A few things have happened over the past few months that  have made our start out of the gate this year a little bit slower. Last month I noticed that our e-mail traffic was a little slow due to a error in a password that prevented us from receiving incoming mails. Sadly some future opportunities slipped through the cracks. Thankfully we are in working order again. Thanks for your patience. Technology can be troublesome sometimes.  We are now on Facebook for those who prefer to stay in touch there. I am still at at a loss for what sort of content to post there. My wife has just bought me a HD video camera that I hope to get some footage of the the band to share. Until next time........

Gary

Februrary 25, 2011

I can not say enough about how the choir performed last night. They exceeded our expectations!  This was the most challenging show to date for the band, and the choir really took things up a notch. There was quite a few "goosebump" moments. Songs such as Days, White Room, I Can For Miles, and You Can't Always Get What You Want.
The band would like to thank David Reed for steering the ship and sharing his many talents with us. You are a fantastic teacher and a great person. A pleasure to work with. We would love to do it again. Hmmmmm............

Cheers,
Gary

February 24, 2011

Welcome to my new blog spot for Big Black Smoke. I thought that this might clean up the look of the news page. From time to time I like to talk about music, gear, gigs, and what the band has been up to. I am hoping to add shortly some video and some new audio to the website. Recently we have been hiding in my basement rehearsing for the Centennial Choir show. We have worked up 8 new numbers for the show as well as 3 numbers with slightly different arrangements. They are shaping up nicely and we are really excited about the fleshed out arrangements with the choir. I had the good fortune of sitting in on a rehearsal today, and I must say how impressive it was. Some songs were rehearsed in previous sessions, but the new material was equally as good in it's stripped down state. It always amazes me how young people can learn so quickly. They improved with every take. To my amazement the students really dug the music. We can't wait for the full rehearsal with 30 voices behind us, It will be a really cool experience. Until next time........

Cheers,
Gary