After nearly thirty years on the road it's hard enough to know who you are, let alone where you are. And after all, isn't being a big time rock star all about people remembering you, not you remembering them.
Unfortunately, it seems the people of Latin America don't take well to hearing that their countries all look alike. Particularly when, if you are Chile, you've been at state of near-war with Peru, the country for whom you're being mistaken, on and off for a century.
But when Depeche Mode's front man closed his Peruvian concert the other night by shouting "Thank you, Chile!" (see video below) he was in fact following a venerable rock tradition of confusing Peru for some other Latin American country. According to New Music Express, Alanis Morissette closed a 2003 concert with "Thank you, Brazil!" But hey, at least they thanked them.
Now Peru is the one with the llamas...and Chile invented cocaine?
Depeche Mode Can't Tell Those Latin American Countries Apart
Garth Brooks says he will resume music career
Garth Brooks, the best-selling solo musician in U.S. history, said on Thursday he was coming out of retirement and was expected to announce an extended concert run at the Wynn Las Vegas casino and hotel.
"I know this is a young industry, so I'm not sure I'll be welcomed back but, if the fans want me, I still want to pursue my music," Brooks told reporters at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.
A two-time Grammy winner and winner of 11 Country Music Association awards, Brooks' brand of rock-tinged country music topped the charts in the 1990s. He has sold 113 million albums, putting him second to the Beatles in all-time U.S. sales.
Brooks, 47, hired a private plane to transport reporters to an unnamed site where he will announce his immediate plans.
The destination was widely tipped on websites and in newspaper gossip columns to be Las Vegas and Steve Wynn's casino hotel. Brooks was expected to announce a four-month run of two to three shows a week.
Wynn Resorts Ltd said in a statement it would be announcing a new music schedule.
The hotel's Encore Theater has not had a permanent headliner since the death of comedian Danny Gans from a combination of prescription painkillers and a heart condition in May.
Brooks officially retired in 2001, saying he would devote himself to his three daughters at his home in Oswasso, Oklahoma, until his youngest turned 18. She is 13 now.
He said on Thursday that coming out of retirement offered him the freedom to do as he pleased but he did not expect much to change over the next five years. He divorced in 2001 and wed country star Trisha Yearwood.
In 2005, Brooks began performing occasionally, mostly at charity events.
(Writing by Andrew Stern; Editing by John O'Callaghan)
Bob Dylan 'croons' Christmas music, and the reviews are in
With apologies to whoever crafts Michele Bachmann's speeches, but Minnesota's grandest contribution to the arts still is Bob Dylan, and now the troubadour from Hibbing has released his, um, Christmas album. "Christmas in the Heart" arrived Wednesday, and the critics are alternately bewildered and bemused. The blog Brand X quotes Mojo magazine saying, "That Dylan's voice is shot (albeit poignantly so) isn't as glaring when he sings 'If You Ever Go To Houston'; it's when he attempts 'Winter Wonderland.' And throughout Christmas In The Heart Dylan makes Tom Waits sound like Antony Hegarty. Moreover, the mixture of kitsch and reverence is surreal, referencing both his jokey Theme Time Radio Hour persona and the Born-Again Bob's true believer trip, reinforced by graphics that include the Three Wise Men as well as Bettie Page in a scanty Santa get-up."
The PiPress' Ross Raihala offers his take in a front-page review: "With all the subtlety of a neighbor's snowblower at 5 a.m., Minnesota's famed rock 'n' roll poet barrels through 15 yuletide favorites in a manner that's both terrifying and hilarious."
Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson top 2009 American Music Awards noms
Country singer Taylor Swift and the late Michael Jackson lead the nominees for the 2009 American Music Awards, which were announced Tuesday.
Swift garnered six nominations, including artist of the year and favorite pop/rock female artist. Jackson is up for artist of the year and favorite pop/rock male artist. Swift and Jackson will compete against Kings of Leon, Lady Gaga and Eminem for artist of the year.
VIDEO: Taylor Swift talks about her rise to stardom
Eminem received a total of four nominations while Kings of Leon and Lady Gaga each received three nods. Beyoncé, T.I. and the Black Eyed Peas also took home three nominations apiece.
For the first time, fans will pick the four nominees for breakthrough artist from semifinalists Lady Gaga, Kings of Leon, Gloriana, Zac Brown Band, Keri Hilson, Jermiah, Drake and Kid Cudi.
Chris Brown top dog at 2008 American Music Awards
Multiple nominees the Black Eyed Peas, along with Alicia Keys, Jennifer Lopez and American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert, will perform at the Nov. 22 ceremony. -- Kate Stanhope
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Young cellist brings a rock vibe
Cellist Joshua Roman's curly reddish locks bounce as he plays, dressed in a rumpled, untucked oxford shirt and gray pinstripe trousers whose hems flop over low-top Chucks.
Give the man a guitar, and the rock star pose would be complete. In fact, he has been called a "classical rock star."
Sitting backstage at the Singletary Center for the Arts recently after rehearsing Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, Roman, 25, mused about the term rock star.
"Well, they didn't bring my M&M's with no green ones," he jokes. "It depends on what I think that means. ... My impression was that it was more about the spirit of getting out there and making it all about the music. I hope that it's like that. That's what I want. So if that's rock star, that's awesome, because I think being a rock star would be great.
"But I don't dye my hair or show a bunch of tattoos. It's not often that I slide across the stage on my knees with Midge."
Midge is his cello, an 1899 model by Giulio Degani of Venice with intricate inlays on the back and the scroll that Roman shows off.
"I just feel like a cello should have a name," Roman says. He chose the moniker Midge over other contenders including Bella and Brunhilde.
Roman and Midge are not hard to find on the Internet.
One of his claims to fame — and there are several — is that he was the only soloist featured during the YouTube Symphony Orchestra last spring, introduced in a video segment by cello superstar Yo-Yo Ma.
"That was nuts because they didn't let me see the video beforehand," Roman says. "So I'm standing there at the edge of the stage when the video starts, watching with everyone else, and Yo-Yo is saying, 'He's blah-blah-blah and blah-blah-blah,' and I'm like, that's me, and they're all going to stare at me now while I play.
"It was all kind of like that. It was all super-big and super-overwhelming and awesome," he says of the symphony project in which musicians auditioned by uploading to YouTube videos of themselves playing. Winners were flown to New York for a concert April 15 at Carnegie Hall conducted by San Francisco Symphony Orchestra maestro Michael Tilson Thomas.
"It was this massive force of energy, with Google and YouTube putting everything they had behind classical music," Roman says.
Roman has a substantial YouTube presence, quite a bit of it self-generated. He has embarked on a project to play and post all 40 etudes from David Popper's The High School of Cello Playing: 40 Etudes. He films the pieces himself on his laptop. One of the postings is from Lexington.
Roman laughs and says he is not quite on his 40-week track, but notes that as a solo artist, the project isn't just a good way to help further the presence of classical music online. It is also a way to push himself to maintain a practice discipline as he hops around the world.
Maintaining his craft is important to Roman. He didn't reach his star status just through good looks and Internet savvy.
The Oklahoma City native started playing cello when he was 3, and at age 16 he was invited to study at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees by age 21. At 22, he won the principal cellist's chair with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, a post he held for two years until he decided that it was limiting his solo options.
"It was important in a lot of ways," Roman says of the Seattle job. "You have, every week, a new program in the Seattle Symphony. Every week you have another symphony, or something like that, and it's amazing to be plowing through that much music."
He says all that studying gave him invaluable insight into composers and music. The orchestra experience made him appreciate the jobs of the people often playing behind him, such as the Lexington Philharmonic, whose cellists he complimented after Tuesday's rehearsal.
Leaving Seattle meant leaving the security of a regular paycheck, but life hasn't slowed down for the cellist that Musical America magazine named its artist of the month for August.
There was another consequence of Roman's move: "I had to sell my guitar and amp."
The cellist also plays bass and drums, but he sold the bass because of limited space in his new home in New York, where he's now based.
So the classical rock star has no intention of being an actual rock star, but there's little doubt that
LEGO Rock Band dated for November
Warner Bros. has confirmed reports that LEGO Rock Band will be released on 27th November in the UK.
The music game will be available on DS, PS2, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.
Traveller's Tales, developer of LEGO Star Wars et al, has smeared the Rock Band licence with the usual charm and humour, although the tracklist is shorter than normal at 45 songs.
IS Sufi music For Young?
Srinagar hosted a Kashmiri Sufi concert for the youth of the state who do not get a chance to listen to its live versions.
For the genre itself, that feels denied and shrunken without public platforms in this land of constant strife, it was a revival of sorts.
But, this was a special attempt to feed the medical experiment world over that has found certain strains of music like Sufi can cure stress disorders in zones of conflict.
"We had musicians like Saaz Nawaz and Qaalin Baaf. Patients who would come to them during the 80s were cured by their music. We want to revive that music," said professor Muzaffar, the music director.
Seventeen per cent Kashmiris have been found to suffer from conflict-related stress.
"We are trying to convey how we can heal people's hearts and minds with our music," said Qaifer Nizami, a Sufi singer.
What is the state of Southern music?
Levine Museum of the New South hosts an afternoon reading and discussion with Mark Kemp, music journalist and author of “Dixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race and New Beginnings in a New South.” Published in 2004, the book explores the evolution of Southern music with a focus on rock from 1968 and 1992, and draws from Kemp's experiences in the industry and growing up in the South.The event is free. Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. Seventh St.
Kemp, a Grammy-nominated music journalist and former Observer entertainment editor, has served as music editor of Rolling Stone and vice president of music editorial for MTV Networks.
Akshay Kumar not happy with Indian music composers
Akshay Kumar not happy with Indian music composers
Akshay Kumar has been telling producers of most of his films to include international bands apart from the Indian music directors to compose music for his films.
He had convinced producer Mukesh Talreja to get rap artiste Bohemia to compose music for Chandni Chowk to China. He also insisted on including Britain’s popular bhangra band RDB to compose music in two of his forthcoming films - De Dana Dan and Kambakkht Ishq. As a result, Indian music composers like Anu Malik (Kambakkht Ishq) and Pritam (De Dana Dan) are upset with Akshay.
A source said, “There is no denying that RDB and Bohemia give good music but it is unfair to the music directors of the films if any other group is asked to compose music at the eleventh hour. Anu and Pritam’s annoyance is justified. Even Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy were miffed when Bohemia composed music for Chandni Chowk to China, but they let it pass.”
Ratan Jain, producer of De Dana Dan, said, “Akshay can give several ideas but the director has to ultimately decide whether they have to be implemented or not. It’s a good thing that Akshay takes a keen interest in all his projects. He made us listen to the song by RDB but we still haven’t decided whether we will be including it in our film.”
Sajid Nadiadwala, producer of Kambakkht Ishq, admitted that Akshay got RDB to compose music for the film. “Akshay recommended RDB. They are his friends. They had also done the music in Singh is Kinng. We wanted a song with the word ‘Mangalam’ in Kambakkht Ishq. Anu helped us with the way the song starts after which RDB completed it.”
Mukesh Talreja, co-producer of Chandni Chowk to China, too confirmed that Bohemia composed a song in his film because of Akshay. “We were introduced to Bohemia by Akshay,” said Mukesh.
Surprisingly, Anu Malik, known to dislike sharing credits in any film, said, “I have no problem with RDB having done the music Kambakkht Ishq. It’s all about team work and I am happy with the end result.”
Cuban musical star to heat up city in fall
AS the weather cools down in November, a Cuban musical star and his band will heat things up in Winnipeg.
Juan de Marcos and the Afro-Cuban All Stars will bring their sizzling show to the Pantages Playhouse Theatre on Nov. 1. Tickets go on sale Saturday for $39.50 at Ticketmaster and the Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store.
Juan de Marcos Gonzalez is best known for his critical role in the Buena Vista Social Club. The All Stars is a multi-generational big band made up several musicians who appeared in the hit movie and subsequent concert tour. Band members range in age from 13 to 81 and specialize in Latin dance music, including mambo, cha cha, salsa and bolero.