BackStage: Los Angeles

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New Releases

Now Playing: "Love Me Two Times"
by James Lee Stanley & Cliff Eberhardt 
from the "All Wood & Doors" CD.

NEW !
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James Lee Stanley & Cliff Eberhardt - All Wood & Doors

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MONTHLY NEWSLETTER E-MAIL LIST BELOW
for exclusive behind-the-scenes news, photos, info on private events, CD-Release Parties, Recording Tips, and exclusive offers & discounts.
Your personal information will not be shared or sold.

SIGN THE MONKEES ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME PETITION HERE !

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New Photos !

John McEuen's most recent Southern California show
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John McEuen, Past-Guest, with Sandy Jacobson at The Coffee Gallery Backstage.
Matt performed with John McEuen that night.
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Past-Guest, Matt Cartsonis with Sandy Jacobson at The Coffee Gallery Backstage.
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At The Roxy for Brian Ray's CD-Release Concert / Party for "This Way Up!"
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Sandy Jacobson (our Producer) at Brian Ray's CD-Release Party/Concert for his CD "This Way Up!"
David is currently working on HIS next release !
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Sandy Jacobson ran into another past-guest, David Philps at Brian Ray's CD-Release / Concert Party.
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Brian Ray performing tracks from his latest CD "This Way Up!" at his CD-Release Concert/Party.
"The Dreamcatchers" Wrap Party / Tour.
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Sandy Jacobson, on The Great Wall of China.
"The Dreamcatchers" Wrap Party / Tour.
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Sandy Jacobson on The Great Wall of China.
"The Dreamcatchers" Wrap Party / Tour.
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Sandy Jacobson on the grounds of The Summer Palace in Beijing.

We would like to acknowledge alphabetically, some of the
Southern California venues that present world-class acoustic music
in an intimate setting:
click on their image to visit their website.
(If we have erroneously omitted anyone, please let us know !)
 

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Boulevard Music - Culver City
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Bodie House Concerts - Oak Park / Agoura / Thousand Oaks
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The Coffee Gallery Backstage - Alta Dena
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The Fret House - Covina
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The Hotel Cafe - Hollywood
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Kulak's Woodshed - North Hollywood
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McCabe's Guitar Shop - Santa Monica
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Russ & Julie's House Concerts - Oak Park / Agoura

Click Here to watch the Russ & Julie interview on BackStage:Los Angeles

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Zoey's Cafe - Ventura's Premier Dining & Concert Venue.

Last updated:
November 27th, 2011.

John Batdorf - Be Part of His Next CD !

"I just had the privilege of previewing John Batdorf's newest CD that's in the works...and John just keeps getting better !  This is a finely produced CD, with many of the tracks containing the same soul as the early Batdorf & Rodney songs like "One Day"...while continuing to be fresh and new.  John explores some new topics, in his usual genuine, articulate, and well-crafted style. 
A "must-have" CD !"
-Sandy Jacobson, March 31, 2001-
Sandy Jacobson is the Creator & Producer of
BackStage:Los Angeles
"L.A.'s REAL Music Interview T.V. Show!"

 
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NOW AVAILABLE ! 
The long-awaited CD...

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Click on the CD Cover to order !
are joined on this CD by the guest talents of:

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James Lee Stanley's NEW CD "Backstage at The Resurrection"

Click Here to preview "Going Back To Memphis"

REVIEW of
James Lee Stanley's new solo CD
"BackStage at The Resurrection"
by Frank Kocher
San Diego Troubadour Music paper:
reprinted with permission
 
 “Eclectic” is a word that gets used a lot in music reviews these days. For an artist like James Lee Stanley, there just isn’t a way to avoid the label. He is a veteran performer whose songs range from California-sound country rock to soul/funk, with stops on the way for jazzy pop and gospel-shaded blues. A frequent San Diego visitor who has been releasing discs since the early seventies, Stanley hits all of the bases on his latest, Backstage at the Resurrection.
    The beautifully recorded disc, features 12 Stanley originals, and there isn’t a filler cut anywhere. The memorable, catchy songs have melody hooks that listeners will be humming afterward, delivered in style changeups that showcase Stanley’s singing and writing talents. A rock-solid singer, his lyrics (on his website, with a nice blurb about each tune) are social observations and calls to make things better, without being preachy or angry.  
    Tight, three-part harmonies are a key part of the sound on “Backhand Man,” recalling Crosby, Stills, and Nash; the vocals are razor-sharp. It takes an old pro like Stanley to nail them this well, and the whole song is three-part. The beat on “I Can’t Cry Anymore” has more of a funk feel, but the harmonies on the chorus are still there, as he sings that he is “all out of tears.” Stanley weaves a dark spell on “Coming Out of Hiding,” a standout track that draws from the laid-back R&B of such groups as War. In the eighties, this one was a hit for Stanley’s sister Pamela, and it sounds ready for radio again. In the same groove, “Let’s Get Out of Here” is another winner, pop-jazz with Latin shading, and Stanley’s vocal is rich and soulful.
    “Going Back to Memphis” is a bluesy, good time shuffle about returning to roots, and “Feather River Nocturne” follows, an interesting guitar instrumental that offers a glimpse of Stanley making his Martin sing.
    The quiet mood of “Don’t Wait Too Long” brings back memories of “Helplessly Hoping” and other good, soft folk-rock harmony pieces from CSN’s salad days. True to form, Stanley shifts gears again, and “What Would You Do” is pure pop, another instantly memorable riff with a simple but positive message about working together, “Would there be change or would things be the same/ Have we already done all we can?” 
    The title tune is a driving rocker, one of those political/surreal passion plays with characters (St George, Ruth, Luke, Judas Priest) representing metaphors for the Bush/Cheney cabal. The inspiration is clearly “Highway 61 Revisited” and this is an update for 2011, with “St George” and his Patriot Act, his buddy Judas, and his kool aid Easter eggs ready to lead the lemmings off the cliff. Yep, it’s another highlight.
    James Lee Stanley proves on Backstage at the Resurrection that sometimes there is no substitute for experience when it comes to good music. A proven roots artist for decades, he makes diverse, impressive music that succeeds on its own terms.

Just released...! 
Click on CD to go to the artist's website for ordering information.

 

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John Batdorf - "One Last Wish"

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David Philp - "The Dressing Gown Sessions"

NEW !
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James Lee Stanley & Cliff Eberhardt - All Wood & Doors
Post-Beatle Era Fab Four Music
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Nick Sherwin (Original Arrangements) - Suburban Skies
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Cliff Eberhardt's new CD "500 Miles."

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James Lee Stanley's NEW CD "Backstage at The Resurrection"

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Christopher Tin's 2x Grammy-Winningn CD "Calling All Dawns."
Grammy Winner for Best Hawaiian Music Album.
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Tia Carrere - Huana Ke Aloha
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Ainjel Emme's NEW CD - "Everyone Is Beautiful"
Stephanie Bettman & Luke Halpin
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It All Comes Back To Love CD
Brian is guitarist for Paul McCartney's band.
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Brian Ray's second solo CD "This Way Up!"
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Arlene Kole's "One Day" CD
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Nathan McEuen's most recent CD - "Scrapbook Sessions."
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John Batdorf's most recent CD "Old Man Dreamin' "

Discography of our Past Guests
and/or Associates:
click on the artist's CD to visit their website and order the CD's.

 

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John Batdorf - "One Last Wish"

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David Philp - "The Dressing Gown Sessions"

NEW !
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James Lee Stanley & Cliff Eberhardt - All Wood & Doors
Post-Beatle Era Fab Four Music
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Nick Sherwin (Original Arrangements) - Suburban Skies
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James Lee Stanley's NEW CD "Backstage at The Resurrection"
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Cliff Eberhardt's new CD "500 Miles."
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Ainjel Emme's NEW CD - "Everyone Is Beautiful"
Stephanie Bettman & Luke Halpin
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It All Comes Back To Love CD
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Nathan McEuen's most recent CD - "Scrapbook Sessions."
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Tol Puddle Martyrs - "A Celebrated Man" CD
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Oak & Gorski - Love Destroyer

The Quarrymen is the band where Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison first met.

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The Quarrymen - "Songs We Remember" CD
Stephanie Bettman
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Get Close To Me CD
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John Batdorf's most recent CD "Old Man Dreamin' "
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Arlene Kole's "One Day" CD
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Christopher Tin's 2x Grammy-Winningn CD "Calling All Dawns."
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Grammy Winner for Best Hawaiian Music Album.
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Tia Carrere - Huana Ke Aloha
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2x Grammy Winner, Laurence Juber - "PCH" CD

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Peter Tork & James Lee Stanley - Live at The Coffee Gallery Backstage
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Michael McLean - 25th Anniversary Boxed Set
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Bob Cheevers - Tall Texas Tales
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Ellis Paul - The Day After Everything Changed
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Evan Marshall - Mr. Solo Mandolin
A Parents Choice Award Winner
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Ellis Paul - Dragonfly Races
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Joel Rafael - Thirteen Stories High
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Nathan McEuen - Festival
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Oak & Gorski - Good Advice, Bad Advice
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Amber Rubarth - Uninished Art
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Matt Cartsonis - Live at Boulevard Music
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Nathan McEuen - The Grand Design
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Robert Morgan Fisher - "Build Myself A Greenhouse" CD.
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Matt Pless - Alarm Clock Time Bomb
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Chelsea Williams - Decoration Aisle
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Florence Hartigan's "Live at The Hopetoun Alpha" CD.
John Batdorf & Michael McLean
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Batdorf & McLean - Don't You Know
John Batdorf & Michael McLean
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Batdorf & McLean - "The Early Years" CD
One of the best CD's for Ballet Class/Rehearsal.
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John Parkinson - The Ballet Album
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John Parkinson - Late Nite
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Evan Marshall - Billy Tell & Vanilla Schubert
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Bill Batstone - To Every Generation
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Matt Pless - Requiems for Wishing Wells
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Kenny Schick - Under
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Amber Rubarth - Something New
Brian Ray is Guitarist for Paul McCartney's band.
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Brian Ray - Mondo Magnetto
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We Five - Folk Rock Revival
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Tol-Poddle Martyrs - Psych-Out U.S.A.!
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The Automatics - Britannia
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Fertitta & McClintock - After All This Time
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Keith England - Standards New & Used
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Scott Gates & Pacific Ocean Bluegrass - Festival Kids
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Severin Browne - This Twisted Road
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Peter Tork & Shoe Suede Blues - Cambria Hotel
From the Batdorf & Rodney Reunion Tour.
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Batdorf & Rodney - Still Burnin'
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Ted & Pablo - Transcontinental Music Express
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Ainjel Emme - Heartache is Boring

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James Lee Stanley & John Batdorf - All Wood & Stones

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Chelsea Williams - Chelsea Williams
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Papa Doo Run Run - On The Beach (Live!)
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John Batdorf - Home Again
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John McEuen - Round Trip
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James Lee Stanley - The Eternal Contradiction
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Holiday CD's

   
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Evan Marshall - A Mandolin for Christmas
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The Automatics - The Last Noel
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The Little River Band - We Call it Christmas
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John Parkinson - Christmas Night
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Tom Paxton, Pamela Stanley, Peter Tork, & James Lee Stanley.

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New Rock-related
Book Releases...

Steve Goodman wrote "The City of New Orleans."
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"Steve Goodman: Facing The Music" by Clay Eals
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Grandparents Rock! - The Grandparenting Guide for The Rock & Roll Generation.
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Orange County Children's Book Fair

Meet & Greet
Pat Burns,
author of
"Grandparents Rock!"
at the 2008
Orange County
Children's Book Fair
on October 5th, 2008.
For more information,
click on the image to the left.

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Click Here to Attend !

Click on CD-Release Poster, to attend !

Award winning songwriter, singer and musician Brian Ray, best known as the ultimate sideman guitarist and bassist for Paul McCartney, takes a step out front in the spotlight and releases his second solo album "This Way Up".

Tracks on the album include the single "I Found You", written by Brian Ray and Oliver Leiber (son of Jerry Leiber of Leiber & Stoller). The song features a guitar marching band with approximately 40 guitars "having a guitar tantrum", along with a big marching drum beat. Notably the song also features some of Ray’s rock star pals: Scott Shriner (of Weezer), drums and bass by Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher (of Elvis Costello’s band) and Adam MacDougal (of The Black Crows) on wild Wurlitzer piano.

The second single "Happy Ending" is a modern rock, post sexual revolution, where the hell are we now? kind of song. "It’s about a guy trolling the internet, hooking up, finding ‘her’, then discovering that HE wants more than just a casual fling, while SHE smiles and slips out the door."

"This Way Up" was recorded and mixed by Joe Zook (Weezer, OneRepublic, Pink, Leona Lewis) and produced by Brian Ray.

Track Listing

1. Happy Ending

2. Saturday In The Sun

3. I Found You

4. Hello Lonely

5. Let's Fall Apart

6. This Way Up

7. Rearview

8. Camouflage

9. Very Happy Song

10. Hey Miranda

11. Under The Sun

Release Date: 9th August 2010

CD available from:

brianray.com (worldwide, with bonus material)

Amazon.com

cdBaby.com

Digital available from:

brianray.com (worldwide, with bonus material)

iTunes US

Amazon MP3 US

and other major digital retailers

Brian Ray's
NEW CD
"This Way Up!" is
NOW available...
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Brian Ray

Purchase "This Way Up!"

Listen to "I Found You"

   

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Nathan McEuen's most recent CD - "Scrapbook Sessions."

NEW RELEASE by NATHAN McEUEN

"Scrapbook Sessions"

On Friday night, June 18, 2010 I attended the CD-Release Party for Nathan McEuen’s new (and third) CD “Scrapbook Sessions.”  Technically and artistically, Nathan maintains his consistent level of quality in his new recordings and in his live performances,  and kicks it up a notch with each new release.  Nathan’s earlier CD’s “Grand Design” and “Festival” are both “quintessential Nathan McEuen”…yet provide the listener with different experiences.   Nathan’s new CD is yet another new sensory delight. 

 

“Scrapbook Sessions” has Nathan’s thumbprint…but with this release, he has achieved a new level of maturity and depth to his already seasoned style.  As with his former releases, it’s hard for me to find a “favorite” track…I like them all.  But, in the first pass, I like “Lately” (a collaboration with Chelsea Williams),  “All That Really Matters”, and “Banjormous” (an original banjo tune by Nathan, that came from growing up hearing his dad John McEuen,  play and perform the banjo…and on this track his dad plays second banjo.)

 

The audience loved the new songs, and responded enthusiastically!

You can preview and purchase “Scrapbook Sessions” at www.nathanmceuen.com

 

A complete listing of his concerts can also be found on his site at www.nathanmceuen.com

 

Sandy Jacobson, Creator & Producer

BackStage:Los Angeles

 
JOHN BATDORF'S LATEST RELEASE ! 
"Old Man Dreamin' "
You can preview four of the songs in video form, posted on his website, listed below: http://www.johnbatdorfmusic.com/video.html
The Four (4) videos are
WILL I LOVE YOU FOREVER
WHAT D'YA GOT?
AIN'T NO WAY
THAT DON'T SEEM RIGHT TO ME

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Tol Puddle Martyrs - "A Celebrated Man" CD

New Release: A Celebrated Man
by the Tol-Puddle Martyrs
 
A sample track from "A Celebrated Man" will be posted soon...a preview from the Tol-Puddle Martyrs last CD may be previewed at:

New Music Releases...

Visit the Tol-Puddle Martyrs site !

This Article Reprint is used with permission from:

blitz - the rock and roll magazine for thinking people   

Michael McDowell
Editor/Publisher
Since 1975 - The Rock And Roll Magazine For Thinking People

 

FROM BLITZ MAGAZINE'S WEB SITE:

 

BITS AND PIECES - NEWS ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS

By Michael McDowell

 

A CELEBRATED MAN:

PETER RECHTER DISCUSSES

THE TOL-PUDDLE MARTYRS’

LATEST RELEASE

 

New releases from first generation garage band pioneers are certainly a cause for celebration. In the case of Melbourne, Victoria’s Tol-Puddle Martyrs, there has been more reason for jubilation in the present decade than there was in 1967, when the band’s original line up (Peter Rechter - keyboards, Kevin Clancy - lead guitar, Russell Hogan - rhythm guitar, Kieran Keogh - bass, Len Gaskell - drums) recorded one of garage rock’s definitive classics, Time Will Come.

 

The Tol-Puddle Martyrs’ original line up disbanded in 1969. Keyboardsman Peter Rechter eventually went on to acclaim as front man of the Secrets, whose Feel Pretty Good remains one of the touchstones of the early 1980s New Wave movement. Rechter’s Secrets persevered until 2002, when the band learned that the Cleveland, Ohio-based Secrets, the vocal group that recorded the classic The Boy Next Door for Phillips in 1963, was still very much active and performed regularly.

 

However, interest in the Tol-Puddle Martyrs had remained strong amongst musicologists and record collectors during the band’s protracted sabbatical. As such, it didn’t take a great deal of convincing to persuade Rechter that the time was right for the Tol-Puddle Martyrs to resurface.

 

Ironically, the band’s legacy rested primarily upon two singles, the aforementioned Time Will Come and Love Your Life, as well as the earlier Claudette Jones single that Rechter had recorded with his previous band, Peter And The Silhouettes. But since entering the second phase of their career, the Tol-Puddle Martyrs have not only been far more prolific in their output, the benefit of four decades of accumulated experience has given them a finesse and greater sense of urgency in their material.

 

Buoyed by the acclaim afforded their 2007 Psych-Out USA album on the Secret Deals label (which finished at a respectable number five in the Blitz Awards that year), the current incarnation of the band (Peter Rechter - keyboards/lead vocals, Graham McCoy - lead guitar, Michael Harold - bass, Ian Langford - drums) has followed suit with A Celebrated Man. This current collection finds Rechter’s vision as sharp as ever, with twelve originals that enhance the band’s legacy admirably.

 

A part of Rechter’s mission statement is fueled by his determination to keep an academic perspective in his work. To that effect, he remains an ardent student of history and culture. He most recently expanded his repertoire in that respect in October by exploring the nation of Japan.

 

 “Words can’t explain how wonderful the people and country were”, said Rechter.

 “It is truly an amazing place.”

 

 Musically, Rechter maintains a very broad perspective, counting such diverse artists as Burt Bacharach, the Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, the Easybeats, Elvis Costello, Cream, the Lovin’ Spoonful, Georgie Fame, the Loved Ones and Johann Sebastian Bach amongst his primary influences. The music of the British Invasion likewise remains a key inspiration.

 

 “I guess there will always be touches of the British sounds of the Sixties in my music”, Rechter concurred.  “That's the time and genre that's the closest to me, even though my tastes in music are very eclectic. I love to write uplifting and sometimes strong melodies and riffs in for songs. I like to tell a story, make a statement and express my feelings wherever I feel and think it appropriate.

 

“I like quirky changes and progressions that will surprise, but I also enjoy the predictable. The lyrics to a song are always very important to me. But they don't always have to have a deep meaning behind them. I like to think that my melodies, chord progressions, overall feel and words always compliment each other. That is what I always strive for.”

 

One track that exemplifies that ethic is Better Man. The track has a basic Hollies feel to it, and in turn celebrates British psychedelia of the Finders Keepers/Creation variety, with a touch of the horn arrangement from the Beatles’ Penny Lane thrown in for good measure. The results seem to suggest entertaining a hypothetical scenario, as if the Tol-Puddle Martyrs had been based in England instead of Victoria.

 

But for Rechter, the inspiration wasn’t that complex.

 

“Better Man is a personal song about how I try to understand others in the hope of bettering myself as a person, while hoping that the words will influence the attitude of those who do take a listen” he explained.

 

Nonetheless, the betterment of the individual seems to be a recurring theme in this collection, as evidenced by A Celebrated Man.

 “A Celebrated Man is about my son Ben, who is truly like the person in the song”, said Rechter.

“He loves going to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch his football team, drives his sister's car and travels to work each morning into the city on the tram. It was a song that just flowed out of me from the beginning to the end.

 

“I wanted it to be a celebration of how I feel about him. Hence the Baroque fanfare on the Bach piccolo trumpet, which was played by an old university days friend, from my time at the conservatorium of music.”

 

 As such, it could be inferred that the aforementioned references to Penny Lane also reflect a sustained inspiration, as demonstrated succinctly in Fast Lane.

 

“Fast Lane is about our experience of London life”, said Rechter.

 

 “(My wife and I) spent two weeks in London in 2007. The line, ‘sometimes you just feel so lonely, nothing ever stops and no one knows me’, was about us walking along Oxford Street, where I had never in my life seen so many people in the one area. I remember saying to my wife that no one here knows us, we're alone! So again, it's a very personal song.

 

 “Our daughter was living in London at the time. She helped show us the ropes of getting around using the Oyster Card, which is the ticketing system for public transport in London. We had a lovely time of it! Went to Liverpool, did everything Beatles. Visited Windsor Castle, but Her Majesty wasn't at home at the time! England is a wonderful place to visit. It and the people inspired me to write the song.”

 

Interestingly enough, Rechter seems determined to present multiple perspectives on the issue. His Anybody Else emphasizes the Kinks-like disenfranchisement of I'm Not Like Everybody Else, albeit with the more aggressive execution indigenous to the Chocolate Watchband's cover of that song. Yet despite the self-depreciating observations within ("I'm just a lost soul trying to see what my journey will be"), Rechter espouses optimism by stating, "So I'll make my way to a brand new day, and I'll find my cause one worth living for."

 

 "Anybody Else again is in some ways a personal song”, he said.

 

 “(It) grew out of being constantly harassed by phone calls from people I don't know, trying to convince me to take part in this, support that. Of course when it comes to writing, one has the license to expand and enhance, but what I was trying to say is that I will make up my own mind in these areas.”

 

To be certain, Rechter has made up his mind to reiterate the impact of the Kinks on the Tol-Puddle Martyrs’ work. With its New Vaudeville Band/Rudy Vallee-like vocal execution (an engaging motif that was also executed to perfection in the Kinks’ Sunny Afternoon), Where Do We Start? reflects an ongoing cultural

dichotomy between the aesthetic innovations made by their cross generational solidarity and the so-called technical advances of the information age, which by definition has emphasized the here and now with little regard to the accomplishments of pioneers such as these. The line, "We're all choking and we're mad about it!" seems to suggest as much, although it likewise infers a more timely component of societal malaise.

 

 “Where Do We Start is me paying homage to the composer who has possibly been the greatest influence on my work, Raymond Douglas Davies” Rechter readily agreed.

 

“I have never stopped enjoying the songs of Ray Davies. Although well known and respected in many places, he is still very underrated when it comes to ranking.

 

“Ray often stands up for the little person, writes about everyday wonders and was one of the first to make his concerns known about the environment in Apeman and Village Green. ‘We’re still choking and we're mad about it’ is reference to the song, Apeman and yes I'm mad about the way governments always find a reason why we need to continue filling the air with filth.

 

“I would love to be able to get this song to Ray, just to say thank you for his contribution, which in my mind is simply amazing.”

  

Technological advances seem to have equal footing with environmental concerns in Rechter’s mission statement. For that matter, issues of universal interest likewise fuel his creative muse, as evidenced by The News.

 

A cursory review suggests that The News is a lament about the rapid advances of technology superseding the capabilities of the average individual to assimilate the resultant information accordingly. References to guitarist George Harrison's passing in 2001 suggest that Harrison and his erstwhile bandmates were a more feasible conduit of such developments in that the "news" they brought resulted in a sustained cultural impact, rather than the sound byte approach that characterizes the Fast Lane of the present day rapid technological advancements.

 

“I'm an avid watcher/reader of the news”, said Rechter.

 

“I like to know what's going on around me. At times I'm amazed by how technology has allowed us to reach, hear, see etcetera immediately.

 

“Man walking on the moon, even though it was 1969, was truly amazing. Here in Australia, we watched as it happened, as many of the pictures that were beamed around the world came from our observatories and still amazes me today.

 

“When George passed away, I truly didn't know where to turn. It cut deeply enough for me to want to let people know how I felt at the time. To me, George Harrison was the sensitive composer. His music is full of love and hope. When I listen to it, it has a similar effect on me as Bach, Mozart and Chopin.”

 

With so many weighty issues vying for space within this remarkable work, it was inevitable that at least one track would have to serve as a means to vent. To that effect, Fast Lane seems to suggest cultural friction in the sense that the melody itself indicates a longing to default to a relatively carefree, dance-oriented motif with traces of the Isley Brothers' Twist And Shout, while lyrically the piece seems to parallel a Face To Face-era Kinks lament bordering on social commentary. Pocket Paradise seems to underscore this theory. A possible impasse between duty and desire?

 

“Pocket Paradise is just me saying that when we find something, or someway of quality that truly works for the betterment of people, don't interfere and change it”, said Rechter.

 

“Leave it alone. Or enhance it to include everyone, not just the privileged few.”

 

Truly those privileged few include amongst their number those who have been blessed with the opportunity to experience the Tol-Puddle Martyrs’ music over the past four decades. And A Celebrated Man is more than enough reason to continue the celebration.

 

A message from Brian Ray,
guitarist for Paul McCartney's band...
Brian Ray Newsletter
download Tears of a Clown now
Hello my dear friends, far and wide

It has been a little while since I poked my head out to say hello but I've had a nice rest from all the touring we did with Paul in 2010. What a year!! We played in N America, S America, UK, Ireland, Mexico, Puerto Rico, The White House, Canada and did the Apollo in NYC and London and SNL as well. And I'm sure I forgotten to name a few places we played. Whew! So much fun...

So, I have a few cool things to announce.. I'm releasing a free track to you all!! It was an iTunes exclusive some time ago but never released in the UK or EU.. It's my version of Smokey Robinson's classic smash, "The Tears Of A Clown" .. hope you dig it! It features my live band, Black Unicorn: Matt Laug on Drums, Peter Thorn on guitar, John Button on Bass and me on guits, vocal, backing vocals. It was recorded and co-produced with Oliver Leiber at his studio in the Hollywood Hills.

download Tears of a Clown now
Also, I'm working on a video for "Under The Sun" from my album "This Way Up" and we will have a date for that soon as well. Stay tuned for much more news, rock and fun.

Big love to you all!

Brian

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Christopher Tin's 2x Grammy-Winningn CD "Calling All Dawns."

CONGRATULATIONS TO
CHRISTOPHER TIN
2X GRAMMY-WINNER 2011 !
 
OFFICIAL GRAMMY WINNER :
53rd Annual Grammy Awards
CHRISTOPHER TIN :
"CALLING ALL DAWNS"
- Best Classical Crossover Album
- Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists
To listen and purchase: www.christophertin.com
 

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Grammy Winner for Best Hawaiian Music Album.
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Tia Carrere - Huana Ke Aloha

CONGRATULATIONS TO
Tia Carrere
GRAMMY-WINNER 2011 !
 
OFFICIAL GRAMMY WINNER :
53rd Annual Grammy Awards
TIA CARRERE :
"HUANA KE ALOHA"
- BEST HAWAIIAN MUSIC ALBUM
To listen and purchase: www.tiacarrere.com/music/
 

Most recent releases...

Tune in to John McEuen's Acoustic Traveller Show on XM Satellite Radio
The Village, ch. 15 (all times eastern) first Tuesday of the month at noon,
then the following Friday at midnight, Sat. at 6 p.m.and Monday at 6 a.m.

Chelsea Williams
"Chelsea Williams"
March 2007
 
John Parkinson                                   
"LateNite"                                                                                     February 10, 2007
 
John McEuen
"Round Trip-Live in L.A."
February 9, 2007

Peter Tork & Shoe Suede Blues
"Cambria Hotel"
January 23, 2007

John Batdorf
"Home Again"
January 14, 2007

James Lee Stanley
"Eternal Contradiction"
January 13, 2007
 
James Lee Stanley & John Batdorf
"All Wood & Stones"
 

Some of our favorite tracks:
 

John Parkinson's   "LateNite"                     

Currently featured on this site, is "A Felicidade," one of John's personal favorite tracks!  He's currently working on a ballet class CD...something that he has been asked to do from many people in the ballet world...and we are looking forward to that one as much as we're enjoying the current CD!

John McEuen's                  "Round Trip"--                                                       A fresh new version of the song "Kiss" originally done by Prince.  John McEuen and his two sons, Nathan and Jonathon McEuen have given the song an entire new edge.  We're also playing one of the producer's all time favorites,       "Mr. Bojangles."

Peter Tork & Shoe Suede Blues "Cambria Hotel"--

"I Know Love" remains on the site...but we've added a new track, "Good Looker" to the site.

John Batdorf's                           "Home Again"--

We've been playing "Home Again" and have fallen in love with "Me and You" and "One Night Stands"...so we're featuring them on the site.  Listen closely to the lyrics of "One Night Stands"--it's not what you think it will be about.

James Lee Stanley's            "Eternal Contradiction"--

"Let The Tree Fall" remains a favorite among anyone who listens to the CD...but for variety, we've added "This Fleeting Moment", a beautifully crafted and touching song, (and one of the producer's favorites) to the site.  We're also playing two tracks from the "All Wood & Stones" CD, done by James Lee Stanley and John Batdorf.  It was difficult to select "two" we wanted to preview...as we love them all...but for the moment we're previewing "Paint It Black" and "Satisfaction."

Chelsea Williams                "Chelsea Williams"

Chelsea also has many great songs, and it was really hard to decide which to preview first...but the decision came down to "I'm Rubber, You're Glue" and "Undecided."


"L.A.'s REAL Music Interview Show!"