Making s*** happen

30 06 2010

After a chat with my concerned 96-year old grandfather who religiously reads my blog, I have tried to abstain from using profanities.  However, for this one…there’s no other way to explain myself:  people are talkers or they make shit happen.  Simple as that.

For a long time I was a talker who would allude to all the cool things that I wanted to do without much execution.  I would get excited  by all my ideas.  The people that make shit happen realize that everyone has ideas on top of the fact that they simply can’t do everything that comes to their mind.

And when I would actually lightly try or not try at all, I would immediately make lame excuses or blame other people.  It was a fear of failing, but now I just don’t care.  I’m a smart and capable person who is prepared to take chances and deal with the consequences (if any).  Taking chances and putting yourself out there allows you to move forward in life both professionally and socially speaking.

However, I had never really realized that I had officially switched over until a couple weeks ago when my friend Jon told me, “I have to introduce you to Eileen…you two are the two people I know that just get shit done.”  Coincidentally, I randomly met her the very next day at a Billboard conference, but that’s besides the point.

Don’t become a talker or enter a toxic business relationship with one.  Since I was a talker, I can detect bullshit when I meet people, which is sort of why I started doing my homemade pizza nights, so I could get the real people who make shit happen together.  These pizza nights eventually lead to the creation of the Backyard Brunch Sessions, which is a huge chance I took both with my time and my money.  So far, I’d like to think that’s been a beautiful experiment that, if executed expertly in its first season, it will lead to a creative and monetary success.

So now the question is:  what sort of person are you?


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Categories : Backyard Brunch Sessions, Career Advice, Life

Sonicbids Contest is OVER and my top 10 are…

22 06 2010

In no particular order…

  1. Lisa Jaeggi – Citizen Cope meets Thao
  2. Rory Sullivan – Pat McGee from Delaware (but less archaic 90′s hippie college rock sounding)
  3. Ayurveda – their Sonicbids tag line says it the best: “The space between Radiohead and Tool”
  4. Tom Vollman – what can I say, I just love his smoky voice
  5. My My My – coed hipster version of Elvis Costello synth nerd rock
  6. Joshua Meltzer – less depressing version of Elliot Smith (so maybe nothing like Elliot after all)
  7. Davin McCoy – White boy soul with a southern twist
  8. Coppertonic – jazzy soul music from Philly (hometown pride!)
  9. Kagero – Japanese gypsy rock
  10. Big Slyde – bluegrassy Appalachian music

I’m curious what people think, so please comment and let me know if any of these artists particularly  peak your interest.  I will announce the winner on July 1.

ALSO ALSO ALSO ALSO, I gotta give a huge shout out to Dan from nyctaper for coming out last Saturday to tape Nicole Atkin’s performance in my backyard.  It was truly an amazing afternoon.  If you download Nicole’s set and enjoy it, support her by attending her gig at City Winery on August 7.  Full recap to come later this week.


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Categories : Backyard Brunch Sessions, Live Music

5 More Days for Sonicbids Submissions

16 06 2010

Hey folks!  Thanks to all the bands who have submitted music so far.  This has truly been incredible seeing all the music coming my way and exciting to share the “best of” with all my music friends.  Just when I think I know new bands, dozens of new bands come my way.  However, I haven’t made up my mind yet, so if you’re even slightly interested in submitted, please do (submit here).  If selected, it’ll be the best $5 you ever spent and you won’t regret it one bit….the connections are invaluable and the video content we will create on your behalf are well worth the costs.

I would like to thank my buddy Benjy from Sonicbids for helping me put this together…he’s the man!!!  Lastly, I’d like to announce that Sonicbids has bought out ArtistData (congrats Brenden!!!).


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Categories : Backyard Brunch Sessions

Marco Benevento’s new album is his best yet

15 06 2010

I always knew that Marco Benevento (of The Duo and Garage A Trois) was special ever since I first saw him perform 7 years ago.  He’s not really a jamband guy, but he’s not really a straight ahead jazz guy either.  Marco really has his own voice and a respect him for that.  So what kind of music does he play???  I call it instrumental avant-pop; in other words, experimental pop songs that you can sing along too even though there are no lyrics.  You read my review of his 2008 CMJ solo performance here.

Marco’s new album, Between the Needles and Nightfall (order here) is easily his best record yet (2 studio, 1 live).  As much as I loved his covers of My Morning Jacket and Beck (note:  please listen to both as an intro to his style), I knew more authentic original music would be on deck.

For the purposes of this post, I will focus on one song:  Between the Needles.   You can follow along to my critique via soundcloud embed below this paragraph.  And if you’re curious to hear what this sounds like live, check it out here.

Marco begins the song with on solo piano.  After about 10 seconds, Reed Mathis (bass, from Tea Leaf Green, Steve Kimock Band, and Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey) and Andrew Barr (drums, from The Slip, Surprise Me Mr. Davis, and Sonya Kitchell).

Reed’s bass line on starting at the 24-second mark is easily the most beautiful line I’ve heard in a long time.  It helps fill in and guide Marco’s piano melody.  The song builds for the next minute or so.

This segment of the song is probably my favorite.  It’s full, but loose at the same time because this trio knows exactly when not to play as much as when they should.  All too often music is crowded because musicians think that more sound can only benefit the song, but this song proves those noisemakers wrong.

Overall, the song transitions like a post-rock song building from slow to fast (in and out of the original melody), but at its core is a well crafted pop song played by seasoned jazz musicians.

Support Marco by buying the album or going to see him live (including August 6 at Prospect Park) and appreciate an incredible musician who has found his authentic sound.


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Categories : Album Review, Live Music

SoundCtrl’s 2010 Internet Week Event

14 06 2010

Thursday was a blast.  My full recap is on the SoundCtrl blog.  However, I gotta give a big thanks to my friends Gabe, Vanessa, Hannah, Alex, Justin, Lisa, Jon (who also wrote this awesome guest post), Scott, Natalia, Julian, Michael, and David for coming out.  And another shout out to my neighbors Karri and Brian for making it too…it was quite the surprise.  I truly appreciate the support from all of you!!!

avner and tommy

photo by: Erica Gannett


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Categories : Industry Commentary, Live Music, Music Tech, SoundCtrl

Backyard Brunch Sessions Update (6/7)

7 06 2010

Back from the weekend in the Poconos and feeling refreshed.  I needed it after the Memorial Day Weekend festivities last weekend.

Anyways, the lineup for the Backyard Brunch Sessions is set for the summer (note:  some unannounced surprises will occur for sure) with the exception of the Sonicbids contest, which is still going strong until June 21.  I’m loving the array of folk and acoustic artists who have submitted their EPKs especially Big Slyde, but people still need to realize that almost any genre of music, if you’re creative enough, can be tweaked to this unplugged format.  Don’t think for a second that your music doesn’t fit.  If you can find a way to convey your music authentically in an unplugged manner no matter the style, it’ll get my attention.

More importantly, the incredible video from The Press’ performance a few weeks ago should be up by the end of the week…I PROMISE!!!

Thanks again to all of you who have been supportive of me throughout this experiment.  Big things to come.


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Categories : Backyard Brunch Sessions, Live Music, New Music Find

SoundCtrl Presents Fireside Chat at Internet Week

3 06 2010

soundctrl internet week 2010


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Categories : Industry Commentary


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