Wow.  The Steam Powered Studio website just clocked a big jump in visits.  I mean like 300%.

If you're here for the first time, won't you leave a comment and let me know what brought you?  Thanks!

Today is Diva day at Rosa Rosa.  I'll be recording the live show starting this afternoon around 3:00.


Stop on by and help the cause!

Dr. Doug stopped over on Tuesday and we recorded basic tracks for a new song.

The Morning Zeitgeist- Or In and Around the Web.

That's funny.  I don't think anyone has used the word zeitgeist since Bush II became president- it was just too depressing to think about.

I was listening to the beeb this morning while exorcising.  A good 20 minute program comparing soap operas to Greek tragedy.  Or at least, asking if there was a reason to compare the two.  Too bad I can't understand half of what they say...

But it beats the All Tiger, All the Time news.  Anyhow, this led into a link on my ipod to some "underground" art movement out in Cali, which led to a link to a particular image I've been trying to find off and on for years (Appetite for Destruction), which led me to remember a more comfortable image that used to appear every morning on local TV.

This was a card, a drawing of a rooster to the left, a sunrise to the right, and maybe a cup of coffee (or a barn?) in the middle.  This may have been captioned "Community Bulletin Board" or may have not.  It seems to me that it was some sort of thing where an announcer would read off events of the coming day.  Or maybe not.

What I do remember is that this music would play.  It's well-known but I can't find out what it is at the moment.  It had a tick-tock sound behind it, and a simple rising melody that resolved after 4 measures.  Then it would repeat.  As a child I would watch this motionless image of the rooster and the sunrise and listen to the music over and over (for a while.  Not sure how long it lasted, but I was probably there with it the whole time)

Is it any wonder that I am now drawn to Appetite for Destruction?

How did they get that nice distorted sound in the fade-in at the end of Long, Long, Long by the Beatles?

It seems that there was an empty wine bottle on the Leslie speaker cabinet that started vibrating on a particular low note.

April first.  A day for fools.

I like the firsts of the months because I can see precisely what songs and pages people are accessing on the old website.  Maybe there's some way I could have snapshots like this during the month, without resetting the tabulation, but I don't know how to do that.

Anyway, in the first few hours of the month I get to see that someone has downloaded Toro's Watered Down, (the .ogg version!) and my Driving Rain and that people are sampling many samples from the public catalogue. 
The majority of the visitors are from Russia right now, with China and the US about tied for second place.  The Ukraine leads by a wide margin on bandwidth.

Mr. Paul Thomas' song is getting a lot of hits.  Because it's on the main page, and will be available in the archives, I predict that it will get a lot of downloads from Russia and the Ukraine.  Maybe he will inspire someone over there to take up the pedal steel guitar?

Choosing vinyl to transfer to the computer  is interesting.  I've got a couple hundred albums I guess, many of which I don't care to listen to much anymore- either not very good to begin with, or played to death.

The first record I transferred- Overnight Sensation by Zappa.  Even played to death it sounds good.

Next up was The Basement Tapes,  Blonde on Blonde, and Highway 61.

Last night I began transferring All Things Must Pass, mainly for the great songs that never get played anywhere- like Beware of Darkness.

I transferred Blues for Allah, but half-way through I wondered why.  Now, Mars Hotel was definitely worthwhile.  I think that the first Garcia album is going to be a winner, and Taj Mahal's N'tural Blues.

Well, that so-called jingle-stick had its debute last night.  Check the Steam Powered homepage for an example of the thing being played- it sounds real good!

Of course it helps that Bev is one of the top 5 jingle-stickers in the country.

If anyone has photos from this event, please send them my way!

Hit me with that rhythm stick, now hit me...

Glossy

I like the design of the cover of this booklet, an advertisement touting the charms of our town.  I was stumped for a while about the colander, but then I got the restaurant connection.  Duh!

  Mainly, I like it because it looks like a Little Golden Book.  It's a hook.

Mainly I'm posting about it because it actually was useful for something- it included an ad for something called the Launch Music Conference which will be held here in April.  Any time there will be 178 bands performing in your town over the course of 2.5 days you ought to know about it.  And be prepared to duck!

No, I'm just kidding- it looks like a lot of fun.  I scanned the performer listing.  I see the Sketties are playing, opening the late show at the Chameleon on Saturday, which will be a blast for them.  My fave band name, even beating out Up Pops the Devil, is Boregasm.

I can still get a booth for the main hall- any 999 other folks who want to contribute a dollar each, I'll volunteer to go as "Everyone Else Who Couldn't Make It Themselves" or something.

I spent yesterday afternoon taking pictures of a recording session with Blind Joe Death The Humblers at a place called Abbeyville Road Studio.  Here's a shot of Danny enjoying the ambience.

 

Scary robots!

Tonight, there is a Peyote Jam recording that I will be posting...

WTF?

I just updated the main site- I'm really liking the new look.  It closely reflects the inner state of my "mind"...

I screwed up and forgot to reply to an email, which led me to think I had a session in the studio last night which I didn't have.  Because, you know, people don't read my "mind"...  Sorry Tom.

Here's some geeky goodness-  a study on the social influence on people's choices of favorite songs.

It seems that there's a certain go with the flow thing going on.

Here's a good tidbit- "Although, on average, quality is positively related to success, songs of any given quality can experience a wide range of outcomes.  In general, the best songs never do very badly, and the worst songs never do extremely well, but almost any other result is possible."

Last night there was a drip in the studio.  Well, yes, I was in there, but there was the sound of a drip in there- no good for a place that is a: full of water pipes and b: full of electronics/guitars.

Turns out that the furnace has a pipe coming out the side that is leaking.  Slowly.

It's why we have buckets...

Tonight I'm listening to the playback of Pitchfork's top 100 songs of 2009.  You can hit play at 100 and it automatically plays the list.  First one I recommend?  Number 87, "Fangela" by Here We Go Magic.  Really nice, Radio Head sort of stuff.

March, a month with its "r" in the right place.

Well, here's a place to post comments.

Anybody.

Anybody at all...

Beuller?

It was fun playing last night with Dr Doug and Suicide Dave.  This morning I remembered a guy who makes an accordion with a gimmick that lets you bend the notes, like a blues harp.  I wonder if he's still makin' 'em?

Oh, yeah.

Just getting my passwords in order this morning. Now I'm logged on from an undisclosed location.

In the process I've checked my email at Google. John, Doug, Dave- there's a reason I haven't responded to any of your emails. It's because I never check this account. But I promise, I will be doing so in future.

So, gig tomorrow night? Any parking at the bar, or shall I bus it in? I can bring a bass.

 

Here's a Google streetview of Bird In Hand PA.  How lucky is that?

Is this thing on?

I could post the daily stuff you like so much here. And you could comment here.

And I could save the regular site for the links to music and features and whatnot.