The Alta Song

Pure money right here! 

The Wailers, Live in 1973

Check this out - early wailers in HQ sound. thanks to Taco for the heads up on this.

Phil n' Friends in Denver, Feb16-18

Wow - Scofield, Haynes and Greene with Joe Russo!?! Might have to make the trip.

Widespread Panic Wood Tour and why Aspen Blows

Widespread Panic has announced a short series of acoustic "Wood" shows to cap their 25th anniversary celebration that has been rolling all year. Folllowing some dates out East, plans are for a three night run at the Fillmore in Denver for us commoners, followed by an exclusive run in Aspen, CO, at the Belly Up Tavern, with tickets for each evening starting at $350.

While an all acoustic set sounds cool, I can't help but think of the winter run they did through Colorado back in '96, when they would play one set acoustic and one plugged in. Some of my favorite tapes are from these dates, and I am sure that tickets were not in the $350 range at that time.

Ahh, Aspen. I hope shit like this is not a trend, or at least one that does not extend beyond the circle of non-relaity that Aspen is part of.

Ska "ModusHead" to be tapped tonight

From Ska's Facebook page:

"International IPA Day is Thursday. Hows about some Modus and Metal? We have a souped up Modus cask (Modushead) dry-hopped to the gills with Simcoe and Amarillo, and two metal bands, Towrdis and Sagerith. Rock on bitches."

I can't wait. More Hops, bitches!

KOTO DOO-DAH 2011!

All right! Keller Williams on Town Park Stage!

Hoopin!

Keller & the Keels played the first set, then he came back solo. They crushed it! I think they were *REALLY* enjoying being back up here.

Keller n' Larry layin' it down.

Check out the sweet little 12 string. It was mic'd through the port in the upper body. He spanked the thing like a hound all night.

Summertime!

I don't have a setlist or a recording, but I'd love to find both!! Drop me a note if you can help.

Hiking Bear Creek - KOTO Doo-Dah 2011

Took a hike up to Bear Creek Falls prior to the Doo-Dah.

Bear Creek valley looking back towards town.

At the falls.

Way to pose for the camera, puppy.

R.I.P Owsley Stanley

"I always trusted what happened on acid. Everything that happens to you on acid is real. Everything you see is real, everything you experience is real, everything you think about is real. The thing about it is, that a lot of the stuff you see is not stuff you see when you're straight, because when you're straight you're limited. The acid removes the "filters" and lets the noise through. That "noise" is as real a part of the universe as the other part that you do allow to pass through, it just hasn't been important for you. That's a survival issue, we discard a lot of sensory information to make our daily lives simpler. When you open those floodgates and let it all pass, you let in a lot of stuff that's as real, and often more interesting than the stuff you usually let through. The patterns that you see when stoned, for instance, are an artifact of the way the nerves in your eyes are arranged and mapped into the brain. Beautiful noise!

...Psychedelics are a gift of nature that brings tribalism to people; they bring an understanding of the ecology of the planet and the interaction of all living things, because that's one of the first things you become aware of when you take psychedelics--how everything is alive and how everything depends on everything else. You go take a look at every indigenous culture that has a respect for its environment -- unlike the hierarchical approach of the feudalistic structures that the world is now run by -- and you will find that these people use psychedelics of some sort, usually in a regular, ritualized manner.

The music of the Grateful Dead is an important assistant to the revival of tribality. Because it has to do with the way things are. It's not somebody's idea about the way things might be, or the way things could be or should be. It's what it is. It's real music about real things. The whole thing is about a social movement. It's tribalism. Which is the only social structure that is truly human. The structure of the world today runs on feudalism--governments, companies; all those structures are feudalistic, arranged in a hierarchy which at the root of it follows Parkinson's law. That is, once you create a hierarchy or bureaucracy, it has only one purpose, and that is: To Continue. There's nothing else. But that has nothing to do with the tribal entity. The tribal entity exists so as to abide in harmony with its environment. It's something that benefits everyone, not just this one structure." -- Bear.

Vinyl Picks for 2010, Pt II

Missed a couple in the earlier post here.



Hank III's third(?) studio album is solid country. He sticks to his favorite topics on this one, namely gettin' drunk and gettin' high, and it makes for some kicakass country music. Hope he lives to cut some more of these.




A remaster of this level has to be mentioned here. I don;t think there is much to say about Exile that hasn't been said, save for 2010 was the year I really got it for the first time, and now I'm hooked. While it was sweet to pick up a brand new 180gm pressing of this classic album, sonically, I think that the CD I have from the Virgin European pressing a few years back is superior. Looks for it.

Vinyl Picks for 2010

The following are my top picks for vinyl releases in 2010. All kick serious ass in their own right. Possibly to be included, but not yet in my possession, the 9 album re-issue of Bob Dylan's first nine albums in mono (HFS, right!), and Kid Rock's new release, Born Free (I am a sucker for Bob Seger and understand that this one includes NO METAL and NO RAP, so I bet it rocks!)

This release from Petty stands proudly amongst his best. ROCKIN! Great lyrics, great double disc 180gm presentation, Petty isn't missing a beat. If you love rock n' roll... and check out the picture on the cover. These guys know how to rock, and once again they throw down the gauntlet with Mojo.

My original take on this album, before I knew the story behind the recording, or the story behind the handmade axe that Young wields on it, was that "Le Crap" would be a better title. After reading the story, and listening to the mp3 at a good friend's house, the vinyl was put on order. Easily Young's most intimate album, this thing kicks ass with the same power of the soundtrack to the film "Dead Man". Brooding and introspective, recorded only at night by moonlight, Young lay's it down again on Le Noise.

I bought this and Dan Auerbach's solo effort from 2009 together. What a trip. How these guys can keep a 2-piece rock unit interesting is beyond me, but the proof is this the rock on this album.




Cadillac Sky's 2010 release, Produced by Dan Auerbach, is quite a jump from traditional bluegrass, and sounded great up on stage at the 2010 Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Check it out!

Peter Rowan in Durango!!

Panama Red, live and in person at the Durango Performing Arts center on Halloween night. I couldn't believe it. The show was a benefit for the Tara Mandala Buddhist center in Pagosa Springs. Rowan crushed! Two songs I had never heard, and a bunch of classics. Opening the show were local favorites, Wild Mountain, shown here with Red, kicking ass. I had a blast, and multiple times declared it the best Peter Rowan performance I have seen.

Rhtym Devils - Flagstaff, AZ - July 27, 2010

Smokin' hot show at the Orpheum in Flagstaff last Tuedsday night. Pouring rain outside, burning fire on the inside. Check the setlist. Keller, Andy Hess, Davie Knowles (CRUSHED IT), Sikiru Adepoju, Mickey & Bill. Kickass rock! *LOOSE LUCY* ripped.

July 27 - FLAGSTAFF, AZ - Orpheum Theater

SET 1
CUMBERLAND BLUES
UNCLE JOHNS BAND
STRANGE WORLD
SO MANY ROADS
BO DIDDLY
FOUNTAINS OF WOOD
FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN

Set 2
GOOD LOVIN
LOOSE LUCY
THIS ONE HOUR
EASY WIND
COMES THE DAWN
MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON
WRECKING CREW
SEE YOU AGAIN
NOT FADE AWAY

ENCORE
RIPPLE
ALMOST CUT MY HAIR

*post-show drum circle with Mickey, Keller, Sikiru

MISHAWAKA!!! FESTIVAAAAAAALLLl!

Got the Mish fix in early this year with an appearance at the "Waterfront Music Festival" held at everyone's favorite location on the Poudre River this past weekend. Check out this lineup!!!!

Wicked Messenger: An Allstar cast of Adam Aijala (Yonder Mountain String Band), Ben Kaufmann (Yonder Mountain String Band), Bill McKay (Leftover Salmon), Tyler Grant (Emmitt-Nershi Band), & Jay Elliott (Runaway Truck Ramp) perform an electric set of Grateful Dead music!

Adam Aijala & Ben Kaufmann play acoustic Bob Dylan

Head for the Hills (2 sets)

Greensky Bluegrass

Billy Nershi's Blue Planet

Cornmeal

The Drew Emmitt Band

Swing Set featuring Dave Johnston of Yonder Mountain String Band

Pete Kartsounes Band with Guests

Spring Creek Bluegrass Band

White Water Ramble

Mountain Standard Time

The Grant Farm with

Benny Galloway, Tyler Grant, Andy Thorn, and Jordan Ramsey

Springdale Quartet

The overall quality of the bluegrass was phenomenal. I had never seen "Head for the Hills" before, and they Kicked Ass on Friday. A must see for sure - reminiscent of YMSB from a few years back.

Here's Dave w/ Blacdog, early on Friday.

Found this by the side of the road walking up the hill. Guess some dude finally had enough of this one.

Greensky Bluegrass tore the place down. Drew Emmit came out and traded licks on the Mando, instantly upping the bar for bluegrass this summer, and also instantly blowing our minds.

The guys finished the "acoustic set" with an electric "Maggis Farm" that rocked.

Uh-Oh, Umm, I think we're in trouble.... Behold - Shakedown Street, and LOUD!
They played a bunch of numbers with a Eurpoe '72 feel to them, as well as a nice 'Eyes'. Ben was dropping bombs all night long, and the overall sound was FANTASTIC! For the encore, they brought out three fiddle players and ran down a wicked version of "Kashmir".

100% pure awesomeness!

Jerry's Guitars

Found this last week. ~ROCK~ Serious props to the site creator. A great read. Click on "Jerry's Electric Guitar History". Enjoy!

Night Ranger @ The Palladium, Dallas, TX - 3/25/2010

Want to know if late 80's guitar rock is alive and well in America today? Well then, go catch Night Ranger. I went in joking about it, and 2 seconds into the show knew I had been mistaken. These guys kicked serious ass. The fella on the left (Mark Hammond) throws one of the best "Metal face" looks I have ever seen (including the late Randy Rhodes), and Brad Gillis(sp?) on the right just hammers that axe. The set is a 'best of' from a decade of Night Ranger and 5 or 6 years of Damn Yankees. Regardless of the era, the songs were dealt with ferocity. I had a blast. The best part, the vendor rep bought the beers all night AND I scammed a N.R. t-shirt from him as well. Unbelievable. Rock!

Shall we go?

Rosie

spinning a set the stars through which the tattered tales of axis roll about the waxen wind of never set to motion in the unbecoming round about the reason hardly matters nor the wise through which the stars were set in spin

...and sing me a song of my own...

El Tigre

Black muddy river
Roll on forever
I don't care how deep or wide
If you got another side
Roll muddy river
Roll muddy river
Black muddy river roll

Fostex 206E Mk II comes to life!

After two years (two freaking years!!) of talking about this ML TL cabinet design for the Fostex 206E driver, my monster has come to life! The design and correction circuit is heavily based on the plans outlined by Martin J King on his Quarter-Wavelength Website. I have been building speakers based on this guy's designs since Alaska, and the sound on these units is phenomenal. If you have never heard a high quality full-range driver in a proper enclosure, you are missing out; the clarity and definition are unmatched. The bass response tends to be the Achilles heel, but by utilizing some clever properties of, well, physics, the world, and magick (of course), proper bass response is assured, paired with a bourbon-mellow mid-range and crisp clear highs.

I cut the sections from 3/4" birch plywood and laminated them together. The bright sections are from 12 ply segments that I had from an earlier attempt. The rest are 5 ply segments that were in stock at Homie-D's. I thought the racing stripe offset color was pretty cool. The finish is red-mahogany stain covered in matte clear coat poly.

Update 11.21.2011 - The general dimensions of the cabinet and a description can be found here with a detailed set of plans located here.

Vinyl Back in a big way!

The New York Times reported today that sales of vinyl records are the highest in 2009 that they have been since 1991. To wit, "Sales of vinyl albums have been climbing steadily for several years, tromping on the notion that the rebound was just a fad. Through late November, more than 2.1 million vinyl records had been sold in 2009, an increase of more than 35 percent in a year". And Amen to that. The weakly written and confused article seems baffled by this resurgance of the greatest mass-marketable recording media of all time. Simply put, the sound from high quality vinyl on decent equipment is unequaled. Mp3 and iPods are great, but for a true listening experience, dim the lights, pour a glass of red, set the needle on the platter, and loose yourself in the sound.

Rockin Time, pt. 3

Our buddy Dan took this picture of the acoustic set on Sunday. ~*Viva la Rock*~