“I have known Chuck for many years. He’s still one of the finest guitarists on the planet. Glad he is back on the scene”.

-Jimmy Bruno, Internationally Renowned Jazz Guitarist

For the past 8 months I’ve had the pleasure of working with one of the world’s greatest teachers and composers of the jazz guitar, Chuck Anderson. We’ve really come a long way over this period of time and chuck is using his blog and social media to spread the word and teach the word about his unique teaching methods. He’s even given me inspiration to finally get off my butt and pick up the guitar for once and for all, and I look forward to our future Skype lessons! Here’s a little background info on Chuck and links to his works, where you can see some of the work we have done together.

Chuck Anderson is one of the busiest and most successful private teachers of jazz guitar in the world. Teaching, researching and consulting, he has built an educational practice of international proportions. Students from four states travel weekly to his teaching studio to find what they have never been able to find from any other teacher.

Chuck is a relentless researcher and has developed some of the most revolutionary concepts to help students develop their talent and find their own direction. Many of these concepts have been developed into books and Videos available in his Institute of Guitar.

His track record of creating successful students is impressive. Some of them are Michael Sembello, a mega successful songwriter and guitarist with phenomenal credentials. Mike went directly from his studies with Chuck to working with Stevie Wonder at the age of 19. After seven years with Stevie, Michael created, sang, arranged and played on the chart topping “Maniac” from the film “Flashdance”. His credits are too numerous to list here but you can visit his website at MichaelSembello.com to get a sense of what he has accomplished.

Chuck regularly updates his jazz guitar blog with a ton of motivational content, from discussing why the guitar is so popular to learning the fundamentals of guitar, Chuck continues to teach and educate his audience all of his knowledge and experience about the subject.

Chuck currently writes for the national magazines Just Jazz Guitar and Jazz Inside. He has also joined the staff of Jazz Masters at Mike’s Master Classes. His column “The Art and Science of Jazz” appears monthly at AllAboutJazz.com, the world’s largest jazz website. He maintains a busy schedule performing, teaching, composing and lecturing in the US and abroad.

Sign up to Chuck’s email list to get a free chapter of his e-book as well as a free mp3!

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A new report published this week claims that Apple’s iTunes has grown even more to take a nice 28% of total music sales in the United States, with Amazon and Walmart tying for second place; digital sales now make up 40% of the market. Record labels are pissed, as their empire of over-priced CD product continues to dwindle.

The conversation of the impact of digital sales always involves the labels, who for years lined their pockets with more money then they knew what to do with (instead of investing in alternative business models outside of CD sales). However, little discussion has been made of the local record stores, who are responsible for pushing the same product out, in addition to being the tastemakers to their community. How can a record store survive when the main product they profit from continues its slide into obscurity?

That question was answered last year, when Think Indie, the storefront of CIMS (Coalition of Independent Stores) launched its digital retailer to compete with heavy hitters like iTunes and Amazon. As part of the launch, 48 independent record stores were invited to be a part of this new community, devoted to empowering these stores the ability to share in the profits by offering digital downloads to their customers.

I had the pleasure of talking with Tony Davis of Think Indie, who had this to say about the service:

“The basic idea behind Think Indie Digital was to get indie record stores the ability to sell downloads. A majority of the stores already sell online physical goods. We needed a online store that could sell, deliver, and maintain a digital catalog.That includes getting delivery of tracks from all the major aggregators, indie labels (all genres), and the major labels. We looked at solutions for a full year before finding our partner. We hired a company called Tekked who handles Dance tracks digital, Domino Records Digital, Turntable Labs digital, and Other Music Digital.

Their solution is tailored to how record store people would promote and store music. We already had a national site that allowed consumers to find a local record store. We added a new arm where you could buy digital tracks in the name of our some partner stores. The digital site is at digital.thinkindie.com.

At this point we have 48 partner stores, and are are working on adding more soon. Each store has a digital home page, and is a “golden affiliate” to Think Indie. This means they get paid for every sale they send into the site and also retain the customer. That way customers can support their local record store even when they are shopping for downloads. We try and focus on the same products that local indie record stores would focus on. New and developing artists, deep catalog, indie artists with less focus on commercial titles. In the future, we want to start empowering stores for individual partners. That way some stores could run their own digital and physical stores in a manner that works for their customer base directly.”

Back in January, SonicScoop.com ran an interview with Tony where he discusses the project in more detail.

The main incentive for these independent stores is becoming a “Golden Affiliate” – stores get percentage of profits from digital sales for the lifetime of customer. This means as each store builds its online customer base, and the more these customers purchase from the digital store, the more an indie shop can supplement their income through digital sales. The store gets to continue acting as a gateway for new music without losing their customers to iTunes or other digital retailers.

Many could argue that these stores could theoretically become affiliates of both iTunes, Amazon, or any other retailer. Think Indie affiliates enjoy a starting percentage of 8% of sales from the digital store, compared with 5% of iTunes, a substantial difference. The percentage continues to grow (up to %12) the more sales that are generated, and again, because the “golden affiliates” get profits for the lifetime of the customer upon signup, the more of a chance they can hit higher percentages the more their user base purchases make.

Customers of the Think Indie digital store get DRM Free 320 kb mps MP3 files; incentives to use the store include free downloads and exclusive tracks and albums only available at the digital store, including some well known acts like My Morning Jacket and The Gaslight Anthem.

The beauty behind the Think Indie digital storefront is the ability for the staff (and the network of affiliates) to act as “tastemakers” in the digital music landscape; as the web has opened up the world to so much new music, people still need those in-the-know to expose us to new tunes, with many of the Think Indie artists hand picked by the staff; affiliates also get some influence as to who gets featured, giving the opportunity for local and regional acts to not only secure distribution, but get some attention paid to them as well.

The National

High Violet

Download M3U »

Powered by ThinkIndie

Utilizing embeddable playlists, banners, and RSS feeds, indie retailers can integrate a ton of content into their websites, much like Rainbow Books and Music, serving the college town of Newark, DE, has done. What used to be a small website promoting the store is now a full-on online music destination, where visitors can stream the shop’s hand-picked playlist of Think Indie releases, grab free downloads, and more. Rainbow hopes that as the digital market continues to grow, more and more will turn to their local music shop to check out what’s new, and Think Indie has given them them the opportunity to play in the sandbox with everyone else.

If you would like to support your own local record shop, stay tuned to Think Indie, as the store will be adding new retailers and continuing to grow as a service over the next few months. Think Indie – Save America!

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Gritty Hard-Hitting Rock N’ Roll is what Diablo Royale is all about. With their sophomore release, GREEDY DOGS, the New York City based five-piece band further hones their sound into something original and “in-your-face”.

When guitarist Eric Choy and drummer Mike Sankari met guitarist Gerard (G-Man) Steixner, the seeds of what would become DR were planted. The three hunkered down in their basement rehearsal studio appropriately named “The Sweatshop” to write songs and find other musicians. As Choy recalls, “We wrote and auditioned twice a week every week for two hours every rehearsal…we must have seen over 100 people.” So after countless auditions over the course of nine months, the trio finally met vocalist Adrian Barrios and Diablo Royale was formed.

In a short time, the band cut their teeth in the local NYC circuit, and managed to put together a ten song self-titled demo. Over the course of the next year, Diablo Royale would go on to play the Northeast as far out as Ohio while building a strong fan base back home in New York. “Before long we were seeing Diablo Royale stickers on cars and I was being stopped on subway trains by complete strangers,” says G-Man.

Playing to packed houses at such venues as Sullivan Hall, Crash Mansion, Arlene’s Grocery and most recently Blender Theater, their live performances are known for being powerfully energetic and brazenly unapologetic. They have been featured twice in Revolver Magazine and Pop-Times Magazine, played on Sirius Octane Satellite radio, was #7 on RXP 101.9 FM’s “Top 9 of ’09″ countdown and won the Fliptup Best Fil-Am band of the year.

The title of the album was inspired by the current economic climate we find ourselves in. As friends of the band were losing their jobs and the news headlines got more and more depressing, Diablo Royale went back to that same basement studio and wrote the tracks that would become their latest release GREEDY DOGS. Barrios explains, “A lot of the inspiration for this album came from all of the bullshit going on. Big companies getting their asses kissed while the little guy is hung out to dry. That’s why I made the artwork the way I did, the people that are acting like they are looking out for us, just aren’t.”

That being said, this isn’t a political album, rather, the idea was simply to remain genuine to what was going on in the heads of the bandmembers, both lyrically and instrumentally.  “We wanted to write focused songs, and keep the lyrics matching what was going on underneath” says  guitarist Eric Choy. This shines through in “Serpent” which is a darker, slower song with lyrics hinting at the sort of thoughts that people tend to keep to themselves.  That being said, Diablo Royale’s lyrics are pretty straightforward.   Choy explains, “This band is all about the music and giving fans something they can get off listening to it, not something deep and intellectual you need to take hours to understand.”

Choy continues, “The strength of this band is its live show, so when recording and producing ‘Greedy Dogs’ we did everything we could to make it feel like the band is in the room with you when you listen to it.”

With their new release, Diablo Royale is looking to the road to continue making the transition from local to national act, spreading their word, and rocking the masses.

Download the title track “Greed Dogs” for FREE

You can also listen to the album in it’s entirety below, or name-your-price for “Greedy Dogs” directly from Diablo Royale via Bandcamp!

The band is planning  a full length release in early 2011, either with a label or without, but wants to get this EP into the hands of fans ASAP because in this day and age, why should anyone have to wait?

Connect with Diablo Royale on YouTube, Facebook & Twitter, or visit diabloroyale.net for show dates and more info.

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It’s May, which means we spend a little more time talking about Pearl Jam than we usually do. This year seems to be a bit more pivotal than previous years, since the band is currently on the road, and this October will mark their 20th anniversary.

So, let’s kick things off with, perhaps, their trademark track “Alive”.

The origins of “Alive” can be traced to 1990 when Stone Gossard recorded a series of demos, while still in Mother Love Bone.

One of the instrumental tracks was “Dollar Short,” which would become “Alive”. After the demise of Mother Love Bone, Gossard, Jeff Ament and their new guitarist Mike McCready, circulated a demo of five tracks in the hopes of finding a singer and drummer.

The demo found it’s way from Seattle to San Diego and into the hands of one Eddie Vedder.

Vedder wrote and recorded the lyrics to three of the tracks, “Alive,” “Once,” and “Footsteps”. These three songs would become famously known as the “Mamasan Trilogy”.

The band liked what they heard from Vedder, so they invited him up to Seattle. With a singer now in place, the group dubbed themselves Mookie Blaylock and began recording demos, with “Alive” obviously being one of them.

The band was forced to change their name, because the basketball player they named themselves after was none too happy about the shout out. So, Pearl Jam was born.

“Alive” was demoed again during the recording of their debut album Ten, and the rest, as they say is history.

Not only was “Alive” one of the singles off Ten, it was also performed during the band’s first performance at the Off Ramp Cafe in Seattle on October 20, 1990.

Since then, the song has been performed some 540 times, with only “Even Flow” being the song played more.

Besides being a song that defined Pearl Jam, it became one of the anthems of a generation. Fans go nuts when the opening riffs begin. McCready always lays down a sweet solo. And, since the band has had numerous drummers, the percussion has had some slight modifications throughout the years. And, it’s also awesome to witness how the song went from curse to celebration.

So, here’s “Alive” throughout the years.

November 9, 1991 Rockville, MD (in-store performance)

June 8, 1992 Pinkpop Festival: Landgraaf, Netherlands

August 1, 1993 Winnipeg, Canada

April 11, 1994 Boston, MA (intense shows during the last couple of dates of this tour due to the death of Kurt Cobain)

June 19, 1995 Morrison, CO

November 24, 1996 Dramatico Cascais, Portugal

September 11, 1998 New York, NY

June 9, 2000 Rock am Ring: Koln, Germany (If you can, I strongly suggest that you track down the performance from November 6, 2000 in Seattle)

July 18 or 19, 2003 Mexico City, Mexico

Brazil, 2005 (not sure on exact date, but the crowd is insane for the band’s first tour in South America)

August 28, 2006 Reading Festival, UK (band’s first European tour in six years)

August 6, 2007 Lollapalooza: Chicago, IL

June 14, 2008 Bonnaroo: Manchester, TN

October 31, 2009 Philadelphia, PA (last show ever at the Spectrum)

May 1, 2010 Jazz Fest: New Orleans, LA

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Smash City Gauntlet’s new EP, There Goes The Neighborhood, keeps the carbon footprint off the globe with environmentally friendly hip-hop. This Earth Day, Smash City Gauntlet wants you to think about hip-hop and the environment.

There Goes The Neighborhood, features 5 pollution free hip-hop cuts produced by Optiks (Blitz the Ambassador), Abbott and Sneaka Freak.

“With so much noise pollution in hip-hop we wanted to put something out that gave back to the environment and made people excited to listen to hip-hop as loud as they can in their headphones,”

- Digital Manager Greg Rollett.

There Goes The Neighborhood is a free download with the option to become a “Smash Citizen,” which includes cataloged material from group members Kap Kallous (Grind Time South President), JBiz and Redd Simpkins, as well as the video and unreleased track for “The Devils Lettuce,” discounts on merchandise and other exclusives.

The one key ingredient is that everything is digital – no plastic discs, no paper and no printing. This combined with the musical talents of the group is the combination for a perfect release on Earth Day, April 22nd 2010, giving go green a double meaning. Download “There Goes The Neighborhood” and check out “The Devils Lettuce” music video

About Smash City

Consisting of Redd Simpkins (Seattle, WA), JBiz (Elizabeth, NJ), and Kap Kallous (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), diversity is definitely not something that Smash City Gauntlet lacks. Displaying an effortless blend of styles from the East, West, and South, this unlikely trinity has obviously found their niche in creating stand-out anthems while maintaining a certain level of honest artistry that connects with individual listeners. Having opened for reputable acts such as Wu-Tang Clan, Rakim, and Kardinal Official; the Smash City Gauntlet in your face live show and colorful presence on tracks is sure to be a staple in an industry that has a critical shortage of quality hip hop groups.

Post from: Evolvor Media

Here’s a wake up call to musicians – you’re not going to make a lot off selling just your music online – you gotta have a real business model. Thanks to Information is Beautiful for putting together the research.

Post from: Evolvor Media

Cherry Suede operates differently than most bands. They distribute their music for free. They play shows at fans’ houses. They mentor other artists. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when they entered a contest that could get them an opening slot at a Bon Jovi show, they would find an innovative method to help them win.

Bon Jovi’s SuperBAND Tonight contest gives local bands a chance to open a Bon Jovi show for their hometown crowd. The contest is set up as a series of battles pitting four songs at a time against each other. Fans rank the four songs from best to worst, and then move on to another battle. The band with the most popular song wins the opening slot for the show in their city.

Cherry Suede is hoping their song “When I’m Gone” will get them the gig at a Bon Jovi show in Toronto, Ontario this July, and they’re approaching the competition like they do their tours – with the help and support of music lovers and their core of supporters, the Cherry Suede Brigade.

“I think the first impulse for a band is to put a note up on your Facebook page saying, ‘Vote for our song!’” says Randy Young, guitarist/vocalist for Cherry Suede. “But that’s not enough. We’ve got a lot of fans, but so do other bands. We needed to find a way for our fans to vote and then get more people to vote – people who might not have heard us before.”

Their solution is originally simple: hold another contest. People can enter to win an autographed guitar on the Cherry Suede site. Once they’ve entered, they have the option of posting a link about the Cherry Suede contest on their Facebook or Twitter page. Posting a link on their page automatically gives them an additional entry in the contest, and then they’re redirected to the Bon Jovi SuperBAND site where they can vote for “When I’m Gone.”

By spreading the word about Cherry Suede, users get another chance of winning something for themselves. And if Cherry Suede wins the Bon Jovi contest, they’ll play the guitar on stage, take a video of it on stage, and autograph it before presenting it to the lucky winner.

“We’ve been fans of Bon Jovi since their first album came out,” says Randy Scott, vocalist and guitarist for Cherry Suede. “Opening for them would be a dream gig, and we’re confident that our fans are going to make that happen.”

For more information about Cherry Suede, please visit http://www.cherrysuede.com.

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Multi-faceted hip-hop artist, rapper, at times a singer depending on the hook, all-around descriptive, well-spoken, and delivers the heat in unique style with vocal clarity. Having overcome many obstacles and striving for self-betterment each year, Koom the Ripper brings substance and style to hip hop.

He is concerned with doing justice to the song; not concerned with feeding a starving ego. Diverse subject matter is the foundation for each focused song, featuring head-nodding instrumentals, and fresh delivery on the “American Muscle” record.

Raised in Los Angeles, CA, the artist’s earliest experiences are of being marginalized and oppressed by other kids who spoke loudly, asserted themselves, and marched over him in getting their way. He would stay quiet and let other people force him into playing games he didn’t like, spending time at sleepovers with kids whose characters he despised, and being ridiculed for being fat by people he did not like. As an honest boy, he could not fake his disdain for these acts, so he kept quiet, fearing the ramifications of his burning anger. He sincerely thought “They must really need me to be this person in their lives.”

The quiet, good-hearted boy was labeled “shy,” but he held his tongue because he feared how powerful his mounting anger would be if unleashed on the oppressive personalities who blocked him from developing and being himself. His favorite song on this record is “Don’t Say That Sh*t to Me,” which reflects this upbringing and subsequent experiences with domineering personalities who step on good people. This song aims to speak for individuals who relate to the plight of a good person being hindered by others who capitalize on his character.

Koom the Ripper identifies as Asian American. He studied political science at UCLA, and as of 2010 is a graduate student at USC inspired by social justice and diversity issues. In one of his classes, he did a presentation on Asian American Identity Development, which gave him new “lenses” through which he saw his own experience and that of others who identify as Asian American. In one inspired night, the song “I’m Asian”, featuring vicious, invigorating vocal delivery over menacing drums and guitar riffs, was born.

Koom the Ripper serves candor and fresh perspective with phenomenal flow, content, and rhythms: A product of self-critical efforts to polish his lyrics and delivery, often editing multiple drafts before presenting them to the studio. Koom earned his reputation by spitting fiery freestyles in cyphers, house parties, and on stage with his friends from Slant. On this release, he writes every song with thought, purpose, and reflection on his experiences as a young man pursuing an atypical passion: music from the soul of a man who could do few things better than “speak on it.” Koom the Ripper has performed in Los Angeles most notably at The Joint and On the Rox, striking the souls of hip hop heads and listeners dying for the lively, thought-provoking, emotion-fueled, and at times humorous approach to the circumstances we share, yet seldom reflect upon in music.

Download the Album Sampler Free from Bandcamp!

Inspirations Behind “American Muscle”

“Cheap” is inspired by a female friend who called Koom cheap, inaccurately citing his stinginess with gas. Truth is he was being frugal with his sparse time, choosing not to hang out. Irritated at his character being defamed, Koom considered setting the record straight, opting to celebrate being labeled “Cheap”. After signing a lease on a cheap room by USC, Koom brimmed with satisfaction, penning the song. When Brad heard the raw hook, he improvised the entire guitar melody in one take, and a gem was born.

After dealing with moody male supervisors, loose cannon personalities, and irritable split shifts w/o benefits, Koom was fed up. But he refused to lash out at the boss who bitched him out for no good reason, because Koom valued the paper route over his treatment. Don’t say that sh** to me speaks for the angry, to give voice and power to the cool, hard-working fellows who take too much undeserved shit from others. Koom consulted parts of the New Testament to inspire the first verse.

One day outside LA Fitness, Koom saw a silver 300C on gleaming rims, and a phrase came to his mind in a country-boy accent, “Some good ol’ fashioned American Muscle”. He pulled out his cheap cell phone and recorded it, improvising a guitar riff with his voice. Brad brought the guitar melody to life, and Koom threw extra sauce on his delivery. American muscle evokes the love for muscle cars and good things American.

Blue skies reflects Koom’s improved mindstate, after making life-changing decisions to stop the bullshit dead-end jobs and get a master’s degree in something he’s passionate about. This decision empowered Koom to fulfill his dream of making a full, written record. His dreams were beginning to unfold, and “Blue Skies” is a self-reflection at how things improve when he took action for his future rather than indefinitely putting himself down for past mistakes.

“Curious” was born from the hook, which Koom came up with while hanging out with his then-7 year old brother, Akshay. Never a smooth-talker, Koom’s lyrics empathize with the deserving, yet lonely women who have trouble meeting good men. The melody and flow create an enjoyable, light-hearted, ear-candy tune with jive rhythm.

Koom recorded “Girl got you by the balls” in 2006, after being flaked on by a friend one time too many. Koom sang an angry blues hook in his room, which perfectly captured the sentiment and context of the flake incidents. He recorded it over Gary and Capone’s beat (his brother Amit’s team), wrote the first verse about his friend, and also penned his dad’s and Koom’s own experiences with the women in their lives at the time.

“I’m Asian”, a powerful track speaks volumes for the unspoken truths of people who are not welcome, just trying to be themselves. It was inspired one day in class, when a professor complimented a half-Asian girl and her Caucasian friend for having good style. The half-Asian girl refuted the compliment, saying, “But, I’m Asian,” looking down in self-pity. Koom’s lyrics are inspired by this moment and Asian American Identity Development.

Inspired and influenced by his dynamic friends, Koom could not stand watching them spiral downward. Koom believed that a good friend should speak up, to help friends see things from an outside point of view. He wrote “Didn’t know any better” to reflect on the experiences of two peers and himself as young men who lived beneath their capabilities, because they didn’t know any better.

“Dollaz” was inspired by Koom’s interactions with Akshay, his 7 year old brother, while watching a Michael Jackson video. A stack of dollars popped on the screen, and Akshay remarked, “I want the dollars.”…Koom followed in rhythm, “Whattya gon’ do with it? Whattya gon’ buy with it…” He memorized the hook, and wrote optimistic lyrics of what having dollars contributes to a young man’s life.

“Lilly Ass Hoes” is a concept inspired by Deanna Lau, Koom’s girlfriend. The term refers to people who are afraid to press the envelope in music. “Lilly” means cowardly, and “hoes” refers to play-it-safe types in this song. Koom spits fire blended with furious scratches from doc bLAdez. A banger!

“Do you mind if I smoke” was intended to address Koom’s struggles with smoking cessation. However, the melody and chorus are so upbeat and defiant of social norms against smokers that Koom took a different angle, celebrating being a smoker rather than hiding the fact. This is a standout track with memorable groove.

“Booty in the bag” and I’m bout to bag the booty, written as a play on words, where “bag” is used both as a noun and verb. As an English scholar, Koom found it clever, though no one else concurred. The song was originally recorded in 2006 over Gary and Capone’s production, but re-done with dance-club appeal in 2010. The flow is robotic and free of futile emotion, remnant of a man oozing swagger and machismo in the club.

Koomtheripper.com

Koom on Facebook

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Quiet Entertainer is a one-man project from Greg Freeman. He's an producer & DJ who creates ambient electronica music while blending it with hip-hop. His music has been explained by his fans as a combination of DJ Shadow, Boards of Canada, & Blue Man Group. Q.E.'s signature release is his Machismo EP, featuring both his sonic, ethereal production and Nashville area rappers to complement the tracks.

Q.E. makes you dance & trip out

Quiet Entertainer has steadily been doing shows and building a reputation for giving an amazing live performance every time. For booking, you can email greg@quietentertainer.com

Video

A fan video capturing Quiet Entertainer performing live.

Music

Post from: Evolvor Media

I’ve has the pleasure of working with a number of artists over the past year or so, whether it’s having a conversation over beers, teaching them through Label 2.0, or actually working for them. Below is a list of the latter, artists who have hired me to create a killer web presence. While a lot goes in to their development, I’ll let my work speak for itself.

Oakland, CA’s MC Azeem

John Gillette & Megastar Records

Brent James Rock

Learn Jazz Guitar with Chuck Anderson

Fudge Rock Band Devi

Vancouver Pop Rockers Fear Zero

LA Hip Hop Act Koom the Ripper

Indie Rock Villains Like You

If you think you’d like to have Evolvor assist you in creating your own killer web presence, feel free to give us a shout so we can discuss further. Or, learn how to do it yourself by joining Label 2.0.

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