UPDATE: SOCO MUSIC EXPERIENCE – TEMPE, AZ – CANCELLED

August 12, 2008, LOUISVILLE, KY – Southern Comfort has announced that the SoCo Music Experience scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 18, 2008 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium has been cancelled due to an unexpected escalation in production costs. At this time, there are no plans to reschedule the event this year.

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Southern Comfort has announced that it is partnering with several music and lifestyle sites to bring the SoCo Music Experience to the web in the form of custom episodic content. Music fans will get a taste of the music festival experience from the fans perspective mixed with live performances and interviews with the artists in clips produced by Pitchfork.tv, Heavy.com, My Damn Channel, Complex.com and Death + Taxes.

Check out Heavy.com’s first webisode, “Anticipation”.

“The SoCo Music Experience is in its fourth year and we felt it was time to take a fresher approach as a spirits brand by extending the event to millions of music fans digitally but in a different way,” said Campbell Brown, Vice President, Director Southern Comfort Americas. “We’re packaging the overall festival experience with interviews from both fans and performers and delivering the content in SoCo’s brand voice.”

The SoCo Music Experience festival tour is going to six markets with each event showcasing five national performers with five top local acts on two stages all for the low price of free*. An outdoor venue is transformed into the complete festival experience – food and beverage vendors, poster and t-shirt shop, the local record shop, merch tent, cornhole games, photobooths and the SoCo & Lime Dome, among other areas. The festivals are open to be people 21 and over.

Digital Partnerships

Pitchfork.tv – Episodes will feature behind the scenes footage, band and fan interviews and live performances. Viewers will get to learn how the performers came together as a group, as well as how groups of friends experience music together.

Heavy.com – Episodes will feature behind-the-scenes footage, band and fan interviews and live performances. Each four-minute episode will explore themes associated with SoCo’s brand positioning and the artists that embody them. The Heavy.com partnership has already launched with episodes including “Anticipation,” “Energy,” “Magnetism” and “Character” featuring the SoCo Music Experience in Atlanta.

My Damn Channel – Twelve weeks of episodes of “My Damn Channel Music Nights” will feature music bars and clubs in New York and Los Angeles and on the SoCo Music Experience festival tour this summer. Starting in July, original content will be produced for a customized, co-branded channel presented by Grace Helbig, host of My Damn Channel’s “Daily Grace.”

Complex.com – The fashion/lifestyle site is building a comprehensive guide to select SoCo Music Experience festivals, including an original “Best of” Web Series about the event and host cities, emerging artist bios and live recordings.

Death + Taxes – The music magazine will be creating custom content for their site featuring behind the scenes footage, band and fan interviews and live performances.

“These sites provide us the opportunity to bring a Southern Comfort experience produced in a way their viewers are accustomed to watching video on their sites,” said Brown. “It’s a partnership in the truest sense of the word.”

In addition to these partnerships, festival pre-roll videos will appear on Hulu.com, Billboard, UGO.com, Crave Online, PasteMagazine.com, Virb.com and numerous other music-focused sites.

“Not only have we increased our investment around talent and the experience, we are making a strong digital play for Southern Comfort increasing our spend in this area to 25% of the total media budget versus 5% the previous year,” said Brown. “Our overall digital spend is up 300% versus last year, which give us a real opportunity to engage our target consumers with a meaningful SoCo experience.”

Having already been to Atlanta and Denver, the event hits four more cities this summer. This year’s performers have included Against Me!, Gnarls Barkley, Ghostland Observatory and Blonde Redhead, while The Roots, French DJ duo Justice, The Black Keys, MGMT are among those scheduled to play upcoming festival dates.

The SoCo Music Experience festival tour will hit the following cities this summer:

August 23, 2008 – San Diego, Ace Parking Lot, Petco Park
Featuring Common, The Black Keys, Kinky, Saul Williams, Grand Ole Party
*Note: a donation of $5 for the San Diego Music Foundation is requested

September 6, 2008 – Madison, Willow Island at Alliant Energy Center
Featuring The Roots, The Black Keys, GZA, Benevento Russo Duo, Ha Ha Tonka

September 13, 2008 – Saratoga/Albany, New Venue TBA
Featuring Justice, MGMT, Lotus, The Whigs and other acts TBA

CANCELLEDOctober 18, 2008 – Phoenix/Tempe, Phoenix Municipal Stadium
Talent TBACANCELLED

In its fourth year, past acts at the SoCo Music Experience have included Flaming Lips, Cold War Kids, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Spank Rock, The Roots, Architecture in Helsinki, GIRL TALK, Sick Puppies, Cypress Hill, Z-Trip, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Rose Hill Drive, Galactic, Delta Spirit, among others.

With the SoCo Music Experience, Southern Comfort continues to back great live music experiences in 2008, including the Voodoo Experience, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Lollapalooza, Forecastle Festival and countless other live music events.

For more information and continued updates about the SoCo Music Experience, please visit (restrictions may apply):

Southern Comfort Music Experience

imeem and Universal Music Enterprises have announced that deluxe editions of U2’s first three albums, ‘Boy’ (1980), ‘October’ (1981) and ‘War’ (1983) will be available for free streaming on imeem starting July 15, 2008 one week prior to the albums’ releases on July 22, 2008.

Following the release of the re-mastered edition of ‘The Joshua Tree’ last year, Edge has overseen a similar re-mastering of the first three albums, all of which have been re-mastered from the original audio tapes.

The deluxe versions of the albums include a wealth of b-sides, live tracks and rarities.

Fans can listen to these deluxe versions of U2’s albums in their entirety on the U2 imeem profile (http://imeem.com/u2music).

Fans can easily share these albums with friends or embed them on their blogs, websites, and profiles on other social networking services, including MySpace and Facebook, using imeem’s embeddable music playlist widgets. These deluxe editions will also be available for pre-order on imeem.

U2 is the latest artist to premiere music on imeem, the third largest social network in the U.S. This year, artists including Radiohead, Scarlett Johansson, New Order, The Rolling Stones, Avril Lavigne and Ray J have debuted new music and videos on imeem.

imeem lets users create their own music, video and photo playlists, mixing and matching songs and media from their favorite artists and newly discovered bands. Users can upload their own music and videos to their personal imeem profiles, or choose from millions of songs and videos available in imeem’s wide-ranging library. Fans can also use imeem’s embeddable audio and video widgets to easily share playlists they create or find on imeem with friends across the Web.

Track listing on ‘Boy’:

1. I Will Follow
2. Twilight
3. An Cat Dubh
4. Into The Heart
5.Out Of Control
6. Stories For Boys
7. The Ocean
8. A Day Without Me
9. Another Time, Another Place
10. The Electric Co.
11. Shadows And Tall Trees

Bonus Tracks for Boy:

1.I Will Follow (Previously Unreleased Mix)
2. 11 O’Clock Tick Tock
3. Touch
4. Speed Of Life (Previously Unreleased Track)
5. Saturday Night (Previously Unreleased Track)
6.Things To Make And Do
7. Out Of Control
8. Boy-Girl
9. Stories For Boys
10. Another Day
11. Twilight
12. Boy-Girl (Live at The Marquee, London)
13. 11 O’Clock Tick Tock (Live at The Marquee, London – Previously Unreleased Version)
14. Cartoon World (Live at The National Stadium, Dublin – Previously Unreleased Track)

Track listing for October:

1. Gloria
2. I Fall Down
3. I Threw A Brick Through A Window
4. Rejoice
5. Fire
6. Tomorrow
7. October
8. With A Shout
9. Stranger In A Strange Land
10. Scarlet
11. Is That All

Bonus Tracks for October:

1. Gloria (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London)
2. I Fall Down (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London)
3. I Threw A Brick Through A Window (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London)
4. Fire (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London)
5. October (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London)
6. With A Shout (Richard Skinner BBC Session)
7. Scarlet (Richard Skinner BBC Session)
8. I Threw A Brick Through A Window (Richard Skinner BBC Session)
9. A Celebration
10. J. Swallo
11. Trash, Trampoline And The Party Girl
12. I Will Follow (Live at Paradise Theatre, Boston)
13. The Ocean (Live at Paradise Theatre, Boston)
14. The Cry/Electric Co. (Live at Paradise Theatre, Boston)
15. 11 O’Clock Tick Tock (Live at Paradise Theatre, Boston)
16. I Will Follow (Live From Hattem, Netherlands)
17. Tomorrow (Bono & Adam Clayton, Common Ground Remix

Track listing for War:

1. Sunday Bloody Sunday
2. Seconds
3. New Year’s Day
4. Like A Song
5. Drowning Man
6. The Refugee
7. Two Hearts Beat As One
8. Red Light
9. Surrender
10. “40″

Bonus Tracks for War:

1. Endless Deep
2. Angels Too Tied To The Ground (Previously Unreleased Track)
3. New Year’s Day (7″ single edit)
4. New Year’s Day (USA Remix)
5. New Year’s Day (Ferry Corsten Extended Vocal Mix)
6. New Year’s Day (Ferry Corsten Vocal Radio Mix)
7. Two Hearts Beat As One (Long Mix)
8. Two Hearts Beat As One (USA Remix)
9. Two Hearts Beat As One (Club Version)
10. Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete The Chop)

U2 on amazon.com

U2 on amazon.co.uk

imeem

U2 Official Website

I Am Three are a two piece musical act from Manchester UK. The two members, Hughes (acoustic guitar/vocals) and Irving (double bass/vocals) cut their musical teeth over several years in bands and solo projects, and this year took a set of original songs and began to play them at impromptu sets in cafes, record shops, art galleries and restaurants. Mixing music normally heard in dark, greasy live music venues and a relaxed daylight setting.

The combination of two song writers and their opposing interests create a genre defying mix of identifiable styles such as grunge, alt-folk, blues & hip-hop.

In October 2008 I Am Three are planning a small European tour – which in reality means they are cramming a guitar and a double bass into the back of a family car and driving 3500 miles round the UK, Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

The dates of this tour are being organized but any invitations or suggestions of suitable venues, support slots, radio spots etc would be greatly appreciated.

June UK shows include:

15/6/08 – WFM Radio session
19/6/08 – Jabez Clegg, Manchester

More dates, music & video of I Am Three can be found at:

I Am Three Myspace

Following up on last month’s wildly successful Everclear show, the Miller Lite Great Taste Music Series returns with Virginia’s Pat McGee Band at Bill’s Bar on Lansdowne Street in Boston, Tuesday, April 29th at 8 p.m.

The concert is the fourth of a 12-date monthly music series hosted by Miller Brewing Company and Event-Based Social Network Going.com.

Formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1996 by frontman Pat McGee on the heels of his solo release From the Wood, the Pat McGee Band began touring almost immediately, spending much of the next four years on the road with Fleetwood Mac, James Taylor, Ziggy Marley, Counting Crows and the Wallflowers, as well as playing dates on the H.O.R.D.E. tour. The Pat McGee band sold over 100,000 copies of their self-released albums and paved the way for their Giant Records debut Shine, which was produced by Jerry Harrison and released in the spring of 2000.

April 29, 2008
Doors Open at 8:00 p.m.
21+; valid ID required

Bill’s Bar
5.5 Lansdowne Street
Boston, MA
617.421.9678

Tickets: FREE with RSVP: Pat McGee Band at Going.com – www.going.com/PatMcGeeBand

Pat McGee Band Official Website

Out of the bedroom and onto the stage, Red Bull Bedroom Jam is proud to be creating the Camden Crawl’s only venue for 2008 that will also be open to under 18’s on the 18th and 19th April 2008. Expect to see some of the UK’s most talented young bands from both the Red Bull Bedroom Jam network and the Camden Crawl’s esteemed roster.

Red Bull Bedroom Jam is a site that allows young bands and musicians, who would otherwise struggle to get an outlet for their music due to venue age restrictions, to upload their videos and have the opportunity to have one of their gigs live streamed across the Internet, helping them gather that all important fan base.

This month, April 2008, Red Bull Bedroom Jam have an opening for a slot on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage at the Camden Crawl and are looking for talented musicians to upload their jam videos to the Bedroom Jam site, one of which will be cherry picked and chosen by the Red Bull judges to play on stage at the event.

The Bedroom Jam site is also a place to discover new talent, so users can submit their votes on which bands they rate are the best.

Latest: Camden Crawl weekend tickets have now sold out but for those under 18, Red Bull will be running a special guest list for access to the Red Bull Bedroom Jam venue.

Details on how to apply for the guest list plus all the above can be found on the official site:

Red Bull Bedroom Jam

Mark Oliver Everett from the Eels has written a letter to Her Majesty The Queen, inviting her to one of his gigs – I mean – shows (somehow ‘gig’ seems inappropriate under these circumstances) at the Royal Festival Hall.

In the letter he mentions that the times the Eels have played at “your” Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Royal Albert Hall, he didn’t think she was there, and that now he wants to change that.

I’m not sure…seems like a long shot, but you never know. Maybe the Queen will find out that E’s father was the famous Hugh Everett III, who was known for his controversial theory of quantum mechanics that predicts the existence of Parallel Universes. You never know, she might be into all that. I wonder if she would like the Eels?

Here’s the letter that E sent to the Queen:

Her Majesty The Queen
Buckingham Palace
London SW1A 1AA

January 31st 2008

Your Majesty,

My name is Mark Oliver Everett. My friends call me “E.” I am the singer in an American rock band called EELS. We will be playing a show at your Royal Festival Hall on the evening of February 25th and I would like to extend an invitation for you to attend our performance. We have played the Festival Hall several times and I’ve noticed that your royal box is usually empty. I’d like to change that. We have also played your Queen Elizabeth and Royal Albert Halls. I don’t think you were at those shows either.

I recently saw the movie “The Queen” and while I know that wasn’t actually you in the film, it made me think that I would like you as a person. I’d like you to be one of the people who call me “E.” If you’re free February 25th, please come down to the show. It’s sold out, but I would be happy to put you on the guest list. I also have a new book, Things The Grandchildren Should Know, and two new compact disc and DVD collections, Meet The EELS and Useless Trinkets. I think you’d enjoy them and I’d be happy to give you complimentary copies of each, which I will even sign for you after the show.

If you’re busy, I understand. But if you can free up your calendar, we’d love to see you there. Thank you for your time, Your Majesty.

Sincerely,

Mark Oliver Everett
aka E

For more information about the Eels, go to Eels Official Website

Evans is in the midst of some serious health challenges and all proceeds collected from the event will be donated to a Health Relief Fund in his name. Admission to the event is $12 and will feature performances by Ruby & the Red Hots, Jesse Davis, Barbara Jamerson, Mark Lessman, Reggie Smith, Janice Edwards, Jermoe Dawson, Darryl Williams, Glen Fisher, and many more of Carl’s friends.

“This event is not only a way to show support to Carl, but also a celebration of his incredible journey as an artist,” said Shauna Aguirre, Talent Buyer and Restaurant Manager at Humphreys. “Carl has been an important part of Humphreys for many years and we want to show him our support in this difficult time.”

One of contemporary instrumental music’s most popular mainstays since the dawn of what radio termed Smooth Jazz in the late 1980’s, Fattburger’s melodic and funky, blues and Latin spiced rhythm and jazz sound has helped both create and define the genre giving the band international fame. While many trends and new artists have come and gone in the last decade, Fattburger endures on the strength of what Evans calls “remaining true to ourselves, focusing on feeling rather than the latest sound.”

Humphreys is renowned for its live music every night of the week, unparalleled waterfront views and its top-notch cuisine. Executive Chef Paul Murphy has reinvented the menu at Humphreys giving the restaurant a New Attitude to compliment the chic refreshed look. The new menu features modern global cuisine with influences from around the world, including Asian, North African, American and more embellished by his classical French training.

For more information about the Carl Evans Jr. benefit or details on Humphreys in San Diego, please visit:

Humphrey’s Official Website or call (619) 224-3577

“I’m down with what Moshpit Tragedy is doing 100%,” stated Mike Williams (EYEHATEGOD and ARSON ANTHEM vocalist). “Younger, newer underground bands need to be heard and noticed in these modern digital days without signing their lives away to some bloodsucking record label right outta the gate. It’s a very honorable and DIY way to get things done.”

OZZY OSBOURNE bassist Rob ‘Blasko’ Nicholson (whose favorite bands on the label includes THE SKUDS, HULLUUS and FILTHPACT) even goes so far as to say “This model could very well be the future of all indie labels.” Co-founder Rayny Forster agrees, “RADIOHEAD and NIN have done a similar thing, so we just took that and tried to improve upon it.”

Staying true to their motto ‘Burning down the record industry’ in an increasingly digital age means taking advantage of falling CD sales and disillusionment with big-name record labels.

In a recent interview in Metal Edge, MOTORHEAD mainman Lemmy Kilmister says “It’s killing itself, isn’t it? I mean, they (record companies) are too dumb to realise. They just kept on overcharging and kept on f@!*ing people over, and now the chickens are coming home, you know? I think they’re all gonna be out of business in 10 years.”

Soon announcements will be made regarding some major bands who are already known and loved by many, who have chosen to join them in this campaign against paying too much for music.

For more info visit:

Moshpit Tragedy Records

I’ve been checking out Tjoon.com, a new site where you can jam with other musicians by using a webcam to record and create short, split screen videos.

Some of the videos are pretty funny. There are quite a few people recording themselves onto 4 split screens. Some are singing with themselves, others talking.

One of the more creative videos is of a guy playing trumpet with himself.

The Tjoon Weblog is good at spotting some of the talent on the site, where I’m sure potential “Tjoon webcam stars” are getting inspiration for their ideas.

I wonder, though, for musicians looking for other musicians to play with, if someone has laid down a guitar part and then another person adds bass – what do you do if someone comes along and adds a piano part or drums etc. and ruins the song?! On the other hand, this is a great way to collaborate, meet other musicians and form virtual bands.

You can keep up to date with the latest Tjoon additions by subscribing to their RSS feed, or just logging on to the website and going to the “Fresh Jams” section.

Here’s some more info. about Tjoon:

Tjoon.com is all about having online jam sessions and creating split screen videos. This new initiative is aimed at musicians, bands and other creative people, who like to record spontaneous songs with the rest of the world.

It works like this: someone records drums as a track with his or her webcam. After this: somebody else sees it and records guitar. That track appears next to the first track, up to 4 tracks can be recorded. In this way not only songs can be created online, but complete bands can be formed or just “one man bands”.

In other words creative entertaining videos: a video contains 4 tracks, that means 4 times more to watch than a normal video.

To record the videos, only a webcam is needed. No software has to be installed and it’s completely free. Tjoon was created by musicians and has been “live” for about 3 months. In this short period, hundreds of Tjoons have been recorded and lots of musicians have registered.

Tjoon was created by: Jaap van der Meer, Nico Langeveld, Rinde van Lon, Gido Tervooren, Gert-Jan van der Wel and Jeroen Bekkers.

For more information or to record your own Tjoon, go to:

Tjoon Official Website

By: Jenny May – BandWeblogs.com

Uber.com, in conjunction with A&R Worldwide’s MUSEXPO, Atlantic Records, Peer Music Publishing, Rebel Group/ADA Distribution and The Agency Group, announced the launch of the online music talent search, You Bring The Talent contest.

The winning musician/band will receive:

-An EP deal with Atlantic Records
-A music publishing deal with Peer Music
-A Booking Deal with The Agency Group
-Distribution through ADA from The Rebel Group
-A Showcase at The House of Blues in Hollywood, CA

HOW TO ENTER:

1) Sign up on Uber.com and make sure to check the Musician box on the form (this will allow you to add your music to your page.)

2) Gussy up your page with photos, music, your bio and make it all fancy-like, which is super easy on Uber.

3) Head over to the You Bring the Talent page on Uber and grab the embed code for your Voting Module, so you can pop it on your Uber page, or anywhere else you want people to vote for you.

WHAT TO KNOW:

1) The contest is open until March 31st, 2008 so there’s plenty of time to sign up and get people to vote for you.

2) Your fans can vote ONCE EVERY 24 HOURS. That’s right – all of your friends and fans can vote for you once every day, so let people know at your shows and on your website (where you can definitely put up your Voting Module.)

3) Think about this – If you’ve got 1000 MySpace friends and half of them vote for you three times a week, that’s 15,000 votes. Not too shabby.

4) You can check out the official rules here.

For more information, please visit:

You Bring the Talent Contest on Uber

Uber Official Website

ActionAid’s Bollocks to Poverty On Tour invites promoters, musicians, and other artists to put on events around the UK to highlight issues of global poverty and inequality.

So far it’s been a massive success – with club nights, comedy shows and high profile gigs right across the country – including the critically acclaimed Chalk in London and the now-famous Bollocks to Poverty Tent at the Reading festival.

Broccoli Music, the live promotions company responsible for electrifying band nights, Indiesexual and XFM Music: Response Live is supporting Bollocks to Poverty On Tour and creating a regular Bollocks to Poverty On Tour live music night in London. Bollocks to Poverty on Tour @ The Borderline in London will pull in some of the UK’s best bands, unsigned talent and special guest DJs to encourage young Londoners to get involved in the tour. All the profits from the night will go to ActionAid.

Bollocks to Poverty On Tour @ The Borderline kicked off on the 25th September with a fantastic line-up of unsigned bands – The Skallywags, Levelload, Chauffeur Driven Aviator and Joana and the Wolf – who performed to a packed out venue. Watch all the action from the night on the gallery section of our website.

Scores of the UK’s finest up-and-coming bands are clamoring to get on the bill…the next gig will involve The Krak, Parka, The Toy Guns and LR Rockets who will perform at Bollocks to Poverty On Tour at the Borderline Tuesday 5th February, 2008 with guest DJ set by The Plain Wrapper Babies…with your help we can make this one of the most exciting, exclusive and talked about live music nights in London.

By getting involved at a Bollocks to Poverty On Tour event you’ll be encouraging hundreds of individuals to get involved and take action against the causes of poverty. You’ll also help raise money for ActionAid at the same time.

For more information on the next gig Tuesday 5th February, 2008 go to:

Broccoli Music Official Website

ActionAid

From the creators of The Indie Bible comes The Indie Venue Bible – a comprehensive directory that features 26,000 live music venues and 2000 booking agents in the US and Canada.

The Indie Venue Bible lists the obvious venues that you can find in any venue directory. What sets it apart from the others is the lesser known venues that you won’t find listed anywhere else.

You’ll find thousands of coffee shops, restaurants, house concerts, theaters, clubs, halls, churches and book stores – any place you can land a gig! There are also thousands of wonderful venues listed in smaller towns that have been ignored by mainstream venue directories. For example, we have listings for over 300 cities and towns in New York State alone.

To make your life easier, we went a step further and painstakingly researched which genres of music each of these venues feature.

For more information, please visit:

The Indie Venue Bible Official Website

Recently we interviewed Ben Romans (The Click Five), Cassie Petrey and Jade Driver from The One Love. They’ve been keeping busy blogging at The One Love website, where a community of bloggers have come together in support of their chosen charities. All profits collected from traffic to each blog page, from banner ads, are donated to the bloggers’ charity of choice. Ben, Cassie and Jade have also been traveling and putting on events for The One Love, including a recent songwriters show in London.

The One Love interview with BandWeblogs.com
By: Jenny May and Dave Tommo

BandWeblogs.com: What is The One Love?

Ben Romans: The One Love is a place to blog about your passion with music and the things that surround it, while supporting the charity of the blogger’s choice.

Who is behind The One Love?

Ben: It all started with Cassie Petrey, Jade Driver, and myself…and Cassie and Jade are the web whizzes…but really it’s the awesome bloggers who share their thoughts with us.

How did Ben, Cassie and Jade meet?

Ben: Waaaaaay back when, my band was starting to tour. Cassie and Jade were both helping promote and get things rocking.

Cassie: I was working for the Warner Music Group at the time, and The Click Five signed to Atlantic (which is part of WMG) while I was with the company. Jade and I then came across The Click Five and decided they were our new favorite band, and wanted to help promote the band in every way possible.

What gave you the inspiration to embark on The One Love mission?

Ben: I think that artists sometimes aren’t allowed to talk about why they really do music, so we figured why not start a community, even better, a charitable community.

Jade: Let’s just say I missed one show to see another, not my choice, and it was the best decision anyone else has ever made for me. I think my inspiration for The One Love began the day I first saw Ben’s band, The Click Five, in concert and realized that this music was some of the best pop music I had ever heard and I made it my mission to tell the world it existed and to make sure it got the respect it deserved. Cassie was in that boat too.

Years later Cassie, Ben and I were discussing this topic and thus the idea began. We went through over a year of throwing back and forth ideas, designs and names for the site. We put a lot of work and heart into making this site the best it could be and are still in the growing process, making changes constantly. We hope that the site can help people channel their energy to help others through the inspiration of people that they can relate with and look up to.

How did the current bloggers on The One Love website get involved and how can other people join in?

Ben: Friends, friends through friends…so forth and so on.

Cassie: Right now, the best way to join in is by visiting the site and reading what all the bloggers have to say. Just by doing that, people are raising money for the various organizations that the site supports. However, we will eventually open up the site to anyone who wants to blog for charity.

How are the bloggers helping The One Love mission?

Cassie: Just by sharing their thoughts and promoting the site to their already existing fan base, they are raising awareness and funds for an organization that they support. We wanted to create a place where people could give back without donating money out of their pocket, and that’s exactly what we’re doing!

Ben: The great thing about a community is…if a fan checks out an artist, they may discover another artist on the site who they enjoy, and it spreads like wildfire. The bloggers have the opportunity to promote what they do, and their charity if they wish. Bloggers will also have the opportunity to participate in events down the road if things keep rocking.

Other than being a blogger, how else can people get involved in The One Love?

Ben: Support the artists, and their charities. Come check out events…we have some coming up…and just keep checking out the site for info!

The One Love was recently in England. How did you spread the word about the mission while you were there?

Ben: We did a special songwriter’s show with myself and James Bourne for The One Love. Stop The Traffik is also based in London, and we met to discuss how we could help each other out.

Cassie: I think this trip was more about laying down the groundwork for The One Love in the UK, rather than trying to get the word out to everyone possible. We really wanted to expose the site to key tastemakers…if that makes any sense. Our Stop The Traffik meeting was really inspiring, and made us realize how much we could do to help. We also have some new potential bloggers, which is always good!

Do you have any good stories that you would like to share about your experiences in London?

Ben: We had an absolute blast, especially with the songwriter show…many friends in the same room…good times. When you’re in a whirlwind, it’s hard to narrow it down to just one story.

Jade: I will say that this was not my favorite trip to England. Every travel delay/problem that could have happened, did happen. But, it was well worth the journey and we came back with some memories we won’t often forget. I believe my favorite moment was when leaving a McFly concert in Bournemouth; I looked at Cassie and told her we needed to leave when the last song began since we were parked on the 12th floor of a parking deck and we had a few hours drive ahead of us. Our sleep schedule was whack and any time I could save was time for me to sleep.

So, right before the last song the lights are up on the audience and Cassie begins to leave. I grabbed her arm and told her not to because she would be called out. She shrugged me off and continued up the stairs with our friend Cathy. I began to sneak out too when I heard, “Hey you, what are you doing!?” I jumped back in my seat and looked up at Cassie. She glared at me with the “why aren’t you following me” look and I pointed to the stage and said, “They are yelling at you!” Her face quickly turned red under her white hat and Tom yells at her “Why are you leaving? Everybody can see you! Danny follows with, “Hey you! Hey, girl in the white hat. It’s okay if you have diarrhea and have to leave. We understand.” Classic.

Cassie: Yes, I enjoyed Bournemouth as well. We also had a 4am encounter with Old Greg, which was quite exciting.

So, Cassie – we read in your blog that you had some transport issues while in England. What’s your opinion of the British transport system?

Cassie: I absolutely LOVE the British transport system. Getting on a train and being able to go pretty much anywhere in the country is just absolutely amazing. I wish that option existed in the US. There’s some trains that even had wireless internet…and that is AWESOME. The tube is really great too…I like it a lot better than the subway system in New York. We tried out driving while we were there this time, which wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be. A little tricky since it was on the opposite side of the road, but we managed. My only complaints are the small roads and lack of street signs. Other than that, we were good to go.

Do you plan on taking The One Love mission to other countries?

Cassie: Yes, of course. Singapore, Malaysia, and many other Asian countries are some of The One Love’s top trafficking countries, and we would love to get out there eventually.

Where has been the most welcoming place that you’ve visited so far?

Jade: Definitely Nottingham, where The One Love was born.

Cassie: Yes. I will forever be a fan of Nottingham. We met some absolutely amazing people there.

How did the songwriting showcase come about and who was involved with the one in London? What happens during a showcase?

Jade: In Nashville you find a lot of songwriters. Cassie and I currently live and run our business out of Nashville, TN. Ben lived here once also after college. We are all pretty familiar with the Nashville music scene and let me tell you, it’s not all country music. There are many, many songwriters in Nashville who constantly play small venues to showcase, or try out, their new material. These songwriters are not necessarily music artists, they mainly write songs for other artists. Songwriting is what they do. In some cases, they can be both. Many times you come across a trio of rough looking not so great singers who take turns playing a “round,” where each person plays one song at a time and it goes around as many times as the venue will allow it. They are there to play their songs, not perform them.

Many times people dismiss pop music as having no depth or meaning and think that all songs are generated by a marketing department and based on a not so real occurrence. In some cases this can be true. However, the talented songwriters who happen to be labeled as pop stars often miss out on the respect they should be given for their music. Being friends with people like Ben, his band mates, Tyler Hilton etc., we realize that their songs are true, meaningful and more complex than you may think. We wanted to show that these “pop stars” have more to offer than just a pretty face and wanted to showcase songs that they had written in a setting where they wouldn’t be judged by the way they were marketed as artists. We mimicked the Nashville model since it helped us with our ultimate goal of showcasing talent and not image.

The show was amazing. Being a huge fan of Brit pop myself, I was floored when James Bourne showed up to play along with Ben. I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Bourne play a similar type of show in New York a few weeks prior and this surprise was more than enough to make me tear up a bit. James played some songs from his former band, Busted, and a song from his current band Son of Dork. He also played some McFly songs, a band that he writes with often. Ben played a few TC5 songs and a few of his own including a beautiful song called “Whiskey Street.” The highlight of the show came during The Click Five’s song “Jenny,” when James sang along and the audience joined in too. Often during rounds the musicians harmonize and play along with each other spontaneously.

You can watch video clips of the show here: The One Love on YouTube.

Do you plan on doing more? If so, where?

Jade: Yes! Our 2nd show will be held in New York City on January 21, 2008 at The Bitter End. Ben, Luke White, Eric Espiritu, Nate Campany and a few SPECIAL guests including some of these guys’ friends – if you get my drift – and others will be making special appearances. Other bloggers, of the non-performing breed, will be in attendance as well. Tickets will be $7 and all proceeds will be donated to charities supported by The One Love bloggers.

With Ben being a member of The Click Five, has the band been involved with The One Love? Do they have any plans to be involved in the future?

Jade: Several of the guys have expressed interest in being involved in different ways. Kyle recently wrote a guest blog under Ben’s blog and Joey is working with us to create an exclusive TOL tee-shirt through his new clothing line LTL, which gives a portion of its proceeds to the LTL Life Fund supported charities – http://www.ltlbackspace.com. There’s also talk of theoneburrito.org but that’s still kind of top secret.

How did The Click Five enjoy supporting Mcfly on tour and were there any memorable moments?

Jade: Ben didn’t get this far in the interview before I took over, but I was there during most of the tour and I’d like to say that my favorite moment was when Ben was wearing a braid in the back of his very stylish mullet and the camera man zoomed in, flashing that thing on the two HUGE screens above the stage! Okay, but even better than that, was that I got to spend two of the best weeks of my life seeing two extraordinarily amazing bands back to back each evening. This was what I called a little piece of heaven. I’ve never felt chill bumps like I did during those shows! I wonder if I’ll ever get that moment back?

Cassie: Braiding Ben’s hair, and then the fans ripping the braids out was definitely one of my favorite things about the tour. I also enjoyed the part of the show where giant beach balls were thrown into the audience every night. The Click Five really enjoyed supporting McFly, and we did as well.

What is the most exciting thing to do in Nashville?

Jade: The most exciting thing to do in Nashville is to hang out with Cassie and Jade of course. No, not really. We are pretty boring when we are at home. It is exciting however that there is live music to see every night! If you want to see a band you love or just some really good musicians or songwriters, there is always something going on. If you prefer to be on the other side of the mic, may I suggest Ms. Kelli’s karaoke in Printer’s Alley. They have about every song on Earth and it’s never too crowded so you can get in at least 4-5 good performances during an evening. As far as shows go, my personal fave venue is RCKTWN, but I’m sure Cassie has a different opinion. I prefer going down the road a bit to Franklin, TN for shopping in small boutiques…and if it’s food that you crave, may I suggest my fave restaurant Jackson’s. After eating the best paninis in town, please take time to indulge in the cookie egg rolls at least once in your life. Fellow blogger Nate Campany can attest to their amazingness!

Do you have more plans for The One Love website? If so, can you tell us what they are?

Jade: During the next six months the site will be changing a lot as we are working on a slow build and in it for the long haul. We will be adding the ability for people to comment on blogs, more bloggers and in the future we hope to make the site accessible for anybody to sign up to blog and support charities of their choice.

What is your message to the people of the world?

Jade: Love life. Love music. Love each other.

For more information and to read The One Love Blogs, go to:

Ben Romans’ Blog
Cassie Petrey’s Blog
Jade Driver’s Blog
The One Love Official Website

With the music compilation ‘Pachyderm…So LARGE…We Ran Out Of Room’, Pachyderm Recording Studio in Minnesota celebrates its first year under new ownership of Matthew M. Mueller of Madison WI who also owns The Cardinal Bar in Madison.

White Light Riot, Down Lo, Gypsy Foot, Kari Marie, The New Congress, Don Smithmier, Snake Beard Jackson, Shades a Gray, Alicia Wiley, Chris Koza, Meredith Fierke, Kenny Lucas and Ben all recorded their contribution to the ‘Pachyderm…So LARGE…We Ran Out Of Room’ CD at the world famous recording studio.

An experience only found in the big woods of Minnesota, Pachyderm Recording Studio is under new ownership. With an all star client list that includes the likes of Nirvana, LIVE, They Might be Giants, Brian Setzer, Indiginous, Soul Asylum and many others, entertainment entrepreneur Matthew Mueller has his sights set high.

“It is more than inspiring to think about the past and what this Rock and Roll Retreat has endured“. Mueller explains. “This is more than the realization of a teen age dream, it is the opportunity to carry forward a torch that has been long lit and has burned bright for the Minneapolis music scene”.

Matt Mueller purchased the property and studio in December of 2006 with the hopes of bringing a dormant legend back to life. Pachyderm Studios and all involved, including the return of Brent Sigmeth, have their sights set on greatness and bringing this hidden gem in Minnesota’ s music history back to it’s former glory.

Throughout the years Pachyderm and its scenic surroundings have withstood the test of hard rockin’ great adventures had by so many within our industry. Pachyderm Recording Studio is a residential recording studio located in rural Cannon Falls, Minnesota 35 miles southeast of the Twin Cities, is one of the most famous recording studios in Minnesota.

A secluded location on a 50 acre private park in old-growth woods with a trout stream, along with vintage recording equipment including Studer tape machines, tube microphones and a Neve 8068 console (the same board that was used in Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studio recorded AC/DC’s ‘Back In Black’, and the board John Lennon sat at the night he died.) have lured many well-known artists to the site.

The $3.5 million-dollar facility offers lodging in a palatial 6,000 square foot house that boasts an indoor pool and sauna. The house was designed by Herb Bloomberg, a top student of Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1963 by a local malt magnate. Internationally renowned for the uniquely warm and full sonic characteristics of its performance rooms, the 2,500 square foot studio was designed by Bret Theney of Westlake Audio and built in 1988.

Since opening its doors in fall 1989, Pachyderm has become, outside of Prince’s Paisley Park Studio, the most storied recording venue in Minnesota. Dozens of notable albums have been crafted there, from nationally famous acts such as Superchunk and Kelly Willis to local heroes like Trip Shakespeare and the Honeydogs. The recording of Nirvana’s ‘In Utero’ – the band’s much anticipated follow-up to ‘Nevermind’ and Kurt Cobain’s final album – simply cemented the studio’s permanent place in pop-culture lore.

No one can honestly recall the first significant recording session to take place at Pachyderm. But it was either Soul Asylum’s ‘And the Horse They Rode in On’ or the Gear Daddies’ ‘Billy’s Live Bait’. Either way, it’s clear the studio was in demand the minute it opened its doors. In recent years, however, the number of semis loaded down with amps and guitars pulling into Pachyderm has diminished considerably. In fact, the last high-profile project to be recorded there was Mudvayne’s ‘The End of All Things to Come’, in the summer of 2002.

Like many recording studios, Pachyderm has struggled to book clients as the economics of the industry have soured. With CD sales plummeting, and the advent of technology that allows entire albums to be recorded and mixed in a bedroom or basement, few labels are willing to shell out big money to rent a recording studio for weeks at a time. The company’s fortunes had also dwindled owing to circumstances unique to Pachyderm, and Brent Sigmeth, Pachyderm’s beloved in-house engineer for a decade, walked away due to issues encountered by Pachyderm’s previous owner.

Watch Pachyderm Recording Studio video tour:

Old Growth Forest

The Pachyderm Preservation Project (ProjectPachyderm.org) is an undertaking of a collection of artists and community members to help Pachyderm Studio purchase 28 acres of land immediately adjacent to its current 6 acres. The land is currently up for sale with the intent of clearing it for residential building. Throughout the area are gorgeous waterfalls, woods, and and old growth. It is the desire of Pachyderm and the community that surrounds it to preserve the land and use it, in its natural beauty, as a unique sanctuary of healing, art and community in the Midwest.

For more information:

Conal Garrity – conal@pachydermstudio.com
Pachyderm Recording Studio
7840 Co 17 Blvd
Cannon Falls MN 55009-4048
507-263-5276 -v | 612-597-4759 -c | 507-263-2002 -f

Pachyderm video tour link

Pachyderm Recording Studio Official Website

C-Sharp Productions, an independent music production company in Minnesota, has announced a new discount program to kick off 2008. The company is cutting its recording and production rates in half for the first half of the new year.

“In 2007 we moved our operation to Minneapolis. Now as we head into 2008 we want to take it to the next level,” C-Sharp Productions President Chad Shank says. “By dropping our rates for the first half of the year we can thank our existing clients and give an incentive for new acts to join us.”

Shank said that the usual hourly rate is $50 per hour. The rate from January 1 to July 1, 2008 will be $25 per hour. If artists are looking for complete tracks produced for pop, R&B, dance or hip-hop projects the rate will drop to $250 per song from the usual $500 per song.

“2008 is going to be a great year. One of my resolutions is to help as many artists record the best sounding projects,” Shank adds.

C-Sharp Productions is a production company that was started in 1996 in Mitchell, SD. Since then music produced by C-Sharp Productions has been featured on national and international TV and radio. Songs have been used by major networks like USA Network, MTV, CMT, and NBC. In 2007 the company relocated to Minneapolis, MN.

C-Sharp specializes in pop, R&B, dance and hip-hop production. Some record labels the company has produced for include: Indulge U Records, Night Shield Entertainment, Thousand Angels Productions, ChartBlaster Music, Grand Avenue Records and others.

More information on C-Sharp Productions:

Contact: Chad Shank
763-545-1969
chad@sharpmusic.com

C-Sharp Productions Official Website