We Welcome An Indie Music Summer in Northampton, MA!

As the summer solstice approaches, get out your maxi dresses, Birkenstocks, and call up the long haired leaping gnomes, for a groovy indie summer in the beautiful Pioneer Valley! We call it the Happy Valley, and one of the reasons is because great bands come here, year after year. The Iron Horse Music Group always hosts a wealth of fresh tunes. This season, IHEG is giving a wide range of indie bands their fine debut, and offering veteran bands an intimate setting to connect with their fans. Happening right at your backyard garden party or screen door this summer, take a look and listen and hail the night before the longest day!

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The REPLACEMENTS confirm three show dates for 2013

"I'll write you a letter tomorrow, tonight I can't hold a pen ..."

The Replacments have confirmed three show dates in the US and Toronto for 2013. The Star Tribune, Consequence of Sound and Pitchfork have all run articles on this news. The RIOT FEST series of concerts has them listed in their line-up.

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Happy Birthday Stevie Nicks!

 

May 26th, 2013.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVIE NICKS!

Rock on Goldust Woman!

Looking through my old ticket stubs and recalling the shows that I've seen. I was lucky enough to catch STEVIE NICKS with PETER FRAMPTON in 1986 at the Orange County Fair in Middletown, NY.  Back then, cameras and video were rare to bring to shows unless you were a bootlegger, which I never was. Thankfully, years later, shared footage is available. Take a look at the excitement that Stevie created while supporting Frampton on tour. And watch at the end how she is SO gracious and involved with her fans. She STILL is!

I saw her again in 1989 at Jones Beach. She is one of those artists who is so close to my heart and soul, that I've never written an article about her. Despite the full Fleetwood Mac collection and Stevie Nicks solo records, placing ethereal music and lyrics in my head for the past several decades, finding words to talk about the Welsh Witch Music muse is difficult. All that I can say is she was part of my own coming of age in understanding music can be an expression of what is unspoken. I learned from Stevie Nicks that music is not only something you listen to, but a way of life. Her songs describe a type of connection that very few understand. She sings of the grey areas between love and loss, spirit and wind, being and thought. If you're a Stevie Nicks fan, you will know what I am talking about.

And to those that I love
Like a ghost through a fog
Like a charmed hour and a haunted song
And the angel of my dreams
Angel of my dreams

~From "Angel," Tusk, Fleetwood Mac 1980 B-Side to "Sisters of The Moon" (single), 1979 (album).

One of my favorite videos of Stevie Nicks includes Lindsey Buckingham, recording the song, "Angel". Notice the connection, the tension, that is still between this dynamic couple in rock. Their chemistry on stage and in songwriting remains unmatched in this and any other lifetime.

As of this writing, Stevie Nicks is touring with Fleetwood Mac and promoting several previously unreleased songs with the band.

Here are her latest press releases:

New Fleetwood Mac Songs Released
Fleetwood Mac has released 4 new songs on a downloadable set titled Extended Play. The set includes Lindsey's "Sad Angel" and Stevie's "Without You" which are being played on the tour, plus two other songs, "It takes Time" and "Miss Fantasy". The songs are available on iTunes and Amazon. The songs can be downloaded individually or as a set. Click HERE to go to iTunes and preview or purchase the songs on Extended Play.

She is also involved in a recent movie:

"Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams" Download Available The "In Your Dreams" film documentary is available for digital download exclusively at iTunes on May 14th. The film is being released after a recent successful theatrical run where it received rave reviews by the fans across the US and Canada. You can purchase it on the iTunes order page.

nicksfix075

Visit Stevie's website at http://rockalittle.com/

And the summer became the fall
I was not ready for the winter
It makes no difference at all
'Cause I wear boots all summer long

~from "Nightbird," The Wild Heart, Stevie Nicks (1983).

 

 

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Ray Manzarek Keyboardist for The Doors Dies at 74

Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist and founding member of The Doors has died at 74 years old. He passed away Monday at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family. (Monday, May 20, 2013, 12:31 PM PT). Many sources reported that he struggled with bile duct cancer.

Manzarek was from Chicago and founded The Doors after meeting Jim Morrison in Venice Beach, California. Morrison was a poet then, and the creativity between his lyrics and Manzarek's keys were unmatched. The Doors, with their hip, psychedelic, rock groove, changed the landscape of recorded music and live shows for the rest of rock and progressive music history. Concerts were controversially like parties and sit-ins, where fans often had communal experiences with the words and music.   

The Doors sold more than 100-million albums worldwide, and received 19 Gold, 14 Platinum and five multi-Platinum albums in the U.S. alone. "L.A.Woman," "Break On Through to the Other Side," "The End," "Hello, I Love You," and "Light My Fire" were just a few of their most popular songs. 

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Give Fans The Credit!

Dear Readers:

Here is an idea that fans and studio musicians have been talking about for a long time. It is finally coming! GIVE FANS THE CREDIT is a petition that encourages producers and digital outlets to list ALL musicians and artists involved in EACH recording.

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Out On The Tiles

OZZY at the Izod Center Dec. 3, 2010

Review: Ozzy Osbourne
Location: Izod Center, East Rutherford, NJ
Date: 12/3/10

Ozzy’s Birthday Show 2010

Ozzy is officially now 62. The man who helped bring to fame the heaviest and gloomiest rock and roll band of the seventies, Black Sabbath, the first anti-peace and love child to rise to immense stardom, Mr. Ozzy Osbourne is now legal retirement age in many countries. The great thing is: Ozzy won’t retire. In fact, he recently started an eighteen month round the world tour, longer than anyone else out there even near his age. Just goes to show, Ozzy is the ultimate godfather of heavy metal. The ultimate Prince of Darkness, the ultimate showman.

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Maine Music News

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