Thirty five years ago yesterday, Queen played one of the greatest sets of rock n’ roll ever at Live Aid, and Freddie Mercury personally taught a masterclass on How To Be A Great Front Man. Oh yeah, and Freddie also supposedly had a throat infection at the time, was advised by doctors not to sing, …
Setting aside all of the truly horrible things about a global pandemic (if that’s even truly possible), one of the things I’ll miss most this Summer is concerts. No live music at Thompson Point (Portland, ME) or Prescott Park (Portsmouth, NH) or even a random band on a deck or a park somewhere is a …
It’s not often that you celebrate the ninth or sixth anniversary of something, but since 2020 isn’t playing by any rules to speak of, I figure that gives me a a pass as well. Nine years ago this month, the newly-minted Mama’s Boomshack was called in for a last-minute fill-in to open for Goosepimp Orchestra …
I miss making music with other people. When I decided to step away from my last band, Tumbledown Saints, there was the consolation that it wouldn’t be the end of playing music. At the time, I as playing almost every week at church, so that lessened the sting. As much as I enjoyed playing blues …
It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve posted a Friday Five. I’d get into the reasons, but honestly, all I pretty much have to say is: pandemic. So let’s do something a little different and roll with five music videos that I’ve been digging on this week and spread a little joy today. C’mon… we …
I vividly remember the first time listening to Tower of Power. It was in one of the practice rooms off my high school band room and a friend of mine who was a longtime ToP fan had brought in a cassette of Back To Oakland. What’s funny is that it was a similar experience to …
I came across a video by Kinga Glyk which then led me down a YouTube rabbit hole of bass-centric videos. Not a bad way to spend 9 miles if you ask me, but I found myself thinking “Man, I’m never gonna sound that good” somewhere after my second Marcus Miller video. It’s one of my …
Let’s finish up the week with a little gratitude and joy shall we? I have the privilege of leading the worship team at my church. In a nuts-and-bolts manner of speaking, it means I wrangle the schedule, write charts, lead rehearsals, play bass guitar, and sing. In a broader sense, I make decisions about how …
I’m a firm believer that Luck is actually a combination of opportunity plus preparation – that you can only be “lucky” if you’ve done the requisite preparation when you’ve been presented with an opportunity. I believe that’s true in maybe 90% of our lives, which is why I keep working at the things I love …
Bill McElaney is the type of person that I hope each of you has in their life. That person that you find yourself saying something along the lines of “If it wasn’t _______, I wouldn’t believe it.” On more than one occasion, I heard Bill advise someone to learn to play guitar because it could …