Musical ramblings from the manager
We last visited Joe Bonamassa-land after the release of his 2016 album Blues of Desperation (FTV: Joe’s Blues 5-4-2016). At that time, we found Bonamassa riding the crest of a wave of creativity that saw him releasing multiple live CD/DVD packages of his own work (Live at Royale Albert Hall and Live at Radio City […]
“And that’s the way it is.” For some reason this phrase used to irk my brother Ron. Any time he heard this phrase, he would snarl, “No, that’s the way you SAY it is.” I am still not sure why this riled Ron up, but coming from Walter Cronkite at the end of his […]
Raisanen, I have run two carnivals so now it is your turn.” So said my Junior High Student Council co-advisor and field trip taking buddy Bruce Johanson back in October of 1980. I am not totally sure what makes Finlanders sign up for the long haul on every project that they get involved with, but […]
Now the title of this FTV is pretty generic. It could apply to just about any endeavour, but with my background as a Geography/Earth Science teacher, it won’t surprise you that I am talking about science. Perhaps it is just a force of habit, but one of the first books I read after retirement set […]
Bruce Iglauer isn’t exactly a household name. If one isn’t a blues music fan, Alligator Records probably won’t ring many bells either. During the past couple of years, there has been a profound transition in the music business and Alligator Records is, by Iglauer’s estimation, lucky to still be hanging around at all, let […]
In September of 2018, RadioWorld magazine featured an article by John Schneider as part of a series they call Roots of Radio. The full title of Schneider’s article was The Rabble-Rousers of Early Radio Broadcasting, subtitled Take a look at some of radio’s less-remembered provocateurs. Schneider’s article focused on the formative years of radio (1920s […]
One does not find themselves in a traffic jam in Ontonagon County very often, but there were two that occured on Day 2 of the 14th Annual Porcupine Mountain Music Festival. I got caught up in the first one trying to cross the Ontonagon River bridge on the way to the festival. The line up […]
The 14th Annual Porcupine Mountain Music Festival took place in late August of 2018, making this the 13th year that I have volunteered at the festival. In the early days, a typical four hour shift involved a little emcee work and manning the sound board at a couple of workshops. By the fourth year, emceeing […]
Here are three things I would not have normally associated with drummer Kenney Jones: the banjo, polo, or his donning an apron as a greengrocer. The trick here is knowing exactly how these things fit into what would become a far reaching career playing the drums for some iconic bands stretching from the 1960s to […]
My poor mother must have had worried what exactly we were up to. The Twig decided to learn Hoyt Axton’s song The Pusher off the eponymous first album by Steppenwolf. With us practicing in the basement at our normal volume (loud), there is no possible way she could have missed Mike singing the chorus. […]