New England Music Scrapbook Newsletter
Alan Lewis, Editor

Our Corner of the Rock 'n' Roll Life

March 7, 2009
Issue 2009:317
.

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We've got Thrills, chills, Dirty Water
: : : What more do you need?
When the big beat hits ya
Comin' from your transistor
: : : Like the T at full speed
When the big beat hits ya...

"Boston Lullaby," Dudick/Naihersey.
: : : Copyright c. 1980 by Camaraderie Music, BMI.
: : : All rights reserved. Used with permission.

:

:

BRATTLEBORO, VT, March 7 - It has been a busy, busy week here in the land of
Thrills and chills, with correspondence galore coming in and going out. There
is less time remaining than anyone would want, but we will make do, as best we
can, with the time we have. Not only is this "Spring Forward" weekend,
clock-setting-wise - hence, we lose a valuable hour of weekend - but I am also
partway into spring cleaning, believe it or not, and must divert some serious
time to this little experiment in scrubbing.

[LAST MINUTE NOTE: - Some level of Yahoo service outage is scheduled for this
coming Friday and Saturday. Until we are told more, we do not know whether this
will prevent putting together a circa-Saturday, March 14 issue. Time will tell.
- Ed.]
.


READ WHAT INTERESTS YOU, scroll right past whatever doesn't.
.


YAHOO NEWS HEADLINE
Sunday and Monday

Talk-radio pioneer Paul Harvey dies at 90

Did you, like me, grow up on Paul Harvey? We of the old Lewis household used to
listen to him at least as far back as the 1960s.

Page 3

Paul Harvey was a real character, and few have been as successful at turning
personal eccentricities into priceless assets. The man was perfectly amazing.

Radio news accounts of Harvey's death made reference to his ABC broadcasts,
though it seems to me when I was a kid he was carried by something more along
the lines of the Mutual Radio Network, which I believe brought us the great
comedy team of Mike Nichols and Elaine May.

Paul Harvey will be missed by radio listeners all across the United States.

RIP

Good DAY!
.


CD RELEASES THIS WEEK
As Listed by Newbury Comics and Excerpted by Us

IT IS WORTH REPEATING . . that it is a useful and quite wonderful service of
Newbury Comics to put out these weekly lists of record releases. Newbury Comics
could live long and prosper without compiling and mailing a list of recordings
issued each week. But staff there do it anyway, and we all benefit from it. -
Ed.

CD New Releases Available Tuesday, March 3rd

CASE, NEKO-Middle Cyclone-$7.99
EARLE, JUSTIN TOWNES-Midnight At The Movies-$9.99

FLECK, BELA-Throw Down Your Heart-$9.99
<> "My personal interest in Bela Fleck is primarily rooted in Victor Wooten, the
bassist for his band, the 'Flecktones.' The current Bela Fleck release is tied
in to a documentary which has received critical acclaim. This is, effectively,
a soundtrack to the documentary, which follows Bela tracing the roots of the
Banjo in Africa. The audio samples I've heard are fairly interesting and may be
more appealing to someone specifically interested in the Banjo." SOURCE:
Stephen Lewis, E-Mail Message, March 3, 2009.

GRANDMASTER FLASH-Bridge-$11.88
MILLER, BUDDY & JULIE-Written In Chalk-$16.99
PRODIGY-Invaders Must Die (CD/DVD)-$12.88

RUSH-Retrospective III: 89-2008 (CD/DVD)-$19.99
RUSH-Retrospective III: 89-2008-$12.88
<> As many of our readers may already know, a Bostonian of note, Donna Halper,
was instrumental in bringing out Rush for the enjoyment of rockers everywhere.
We received the following commentary about Rush recordings from a member of Clan
Lewis: "Rush's Retrospective 3 probably has more for fans of the act, especially
the version that contains the bonus DVD. For non-fans, most of the stuff you'd
want on a collection would probably come from one of their other collections,
such as 'Spirit of the Radio.' That's not to say that there's nothing good on
the record, but that it lacks the accessibility a good collection tends to.
Rush isn't as well known for its recent works, and that's what this taps."
SOURCE: Stephen Lewis, E-Mail Message, March 3, 2009. -- This, though, it seems
to me, could work to the advantage of music fans who would be interested in
getting a little different perspective on Rush. - Ed.

THIN LIZZY-Still Dangerous: Live At Tower Theater-$9.99
<> "Thin Lizzy's 'Still Dangerous' looks to be a hot album for fans or those
just looking to get into the band, knowing only a couple of hits. A three pack
was released for Rock Band, demonstrating the mix, and all the tracks are fairly
impressive." SOURCE: Stephen Lewis, E-Mail Message, March 3, 2009.

U2-No Line On The Horizon (CD/DVD Boxset)-$69.99
U2-No Line On The Horizon (Digi-Pak)-$25.99
U2-No Line On The Horizon-$9.99
U2-No Line (Limited/Magazine)-$39.99
<> U2 newly-remastered reissues may have been listed elsewhere in the Newbury
Comics message. If possible, I'll give it a look later.

VARIOUS ARTISTS-JIGS AND REELS-Dance Music Of Ireland-$9.99
VARIOUS ARTISTS-LOCAL CUSTOMS-Downriver Revival-$22.99
VARIOUS ARTISTS-SEASON OF MISTS-Collection Of Celtic Mood-$9.99
VARIOUS ARTISTS-THERE WAS A LADY-Voice Of Celtic Women-$9.99
<>
Featured DVD New Release Available Tuesday, March 3rd
Phish "The Clifford Ball" $64.99 7-DVD set
<> Consumer spending being at a great deal less than an all-time high, this
extensive release must say a lot about the band's record label's confidence in
Phish's commercial appeal.

SOURCE: Newbury Comics, "March 3 Newbury Comics: U2 Sale, Neko Case for Just
$7.99 and More," March 3, 2009.

SOURCE: Stephen Lewis, E-Mail Message, March 3, 2009.

:: justin townes earle, buddy miller, buddy and julie miller ::
.


YAHOO NEWS HEADLINE
Friday Afternoon

Jobless rate bolts to 8.1 pct., 651,000 jobs lost (AP)

<> Use of the word, "bolts," makes this headline seem practically shocking. And
clearly "651,000 jobs lost" is an abstract of a lot of Americans getting really
bad news. But on CBS radio news in the Thursday-Friday overnight, a report of
650,000 lost jobs was, according to experts who were interviewed, the best that
could be expected Friday morning. There was real fear that the total number of
jobs lost might come in at over 700,000. As relief goes, this is modest. But
we should all be aware that the news could have been worse, and some "experts"
thought it was going to be worse.

The following headline ran in Yahoo News' top stories at the same time:

White House asks state officials to talk stimulus (AP)

Great idea. The stimulus package enacted by Congress is just not all that
fundamentally different from a proposal a bipartisan majority of state governors
proposed close to a year ago. State governors, Republicans and Democrats, seem
to have done as good a job as anyone at seeing what lay ahead for the economy.
So encouraging words from them about what can get the economy back on track
ought to be welcome.
.


PRESS RELEASES THIS WEEK

<> Guitar Hero and Rock Band News. Not a press release; but I am posting this
here while extremely short of time, and this is the fastest way to do it.

<> Warner Music Group/ MTV/ Rock Band 2. Again, not a press release; but...

= = =
= = =

SARAH LEE GUTHRIE AND JOHNNY IRION
March 12, 2009
At the Jalopy Theatre
Brooklyn, New York

: : : March 12th Brooklyn, NY ~ Jalopy Theatre
: : : 315 Columbia Street
: : : (718) 395.3214

http://www.jalop.biz

"We have had an amazing last month on the road. The highlights were playing
with Pete Seeger and Tao Rodriguez at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival (shown in
picture) and We have to say the International Folk Alliance Conference in
Memphis, TN was a blast! In both places we met and reunited with so much great
talent. We love the Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Old Crow Medicine Show, Sweet
Talk Radio, The Stonehoneys and Jeanne Jolly, Dan Navarro, and so many others!
We can't wait till festival season comes around to be even more inspired!
Anyhow ... Looking forward, we have a whole lot going on."

SOURCE: Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, "Sarah Lee and Johnny From the
Road," March 3, 2009.

IS IT JUST ME, . . or does Sarah Lee and Johnny sound like puppets?

= = =
= = =

LYDIA WARREN BAND
At Firefly's
Marlboro, Massachusetts
Saturday, March 14, 2009

<> "Next Saturday, March 14 the guys and I will be playing at our favorite
place: Firefly's in Marlboro, Massachusetts. Call now to get some seats
reserved. We will have a few preliminary copies of 'Turn It Up' in hand."

SOURCE: Info At LydiaWarren Dot Com, "Next Weekend: Firefly's," March 6, 2009.

= = =
= = =

MYANNA
At Scullers Jazz Club
Boston, Massachusetts
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

FOR SOME STRANGE REASON . . every news e-mail we receive from The Love Dogs asks
us to supply the band with The Love Dogs' own keyboardist's new e-mail address.
Why ask us?! We wonder whether the Head Dog may have chased a few too many
catnip cats.

Meanwhile, from Love Dogs HQ comes word of a show featuring another of the
band's members.

<> "Our terrific saxophonist Myanna has a show of her own coming up you might
wanna see:

: : : Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
: : : at SCULLERS JAZZ CLUB

"One show at 8:00pm

"With special guest - saxophonist Cercie Miller!

"And Myanna's all star band:

: : : Ken Clark: organ
: : : Dave Limina: piano
: : : Mike Mele: guitar
: : : Dave Buda: Bass
: : : Mike Casano: drums

Scullers Jazz Club
In the Doubletree Hotel
400 Soldiers Field Rd.
Boston, MA
617-562-4111
http://www.scullersjazz.com/

"For more info. or to join Myanna's mailing list:

|>| http://www.myanna.com/

SOURCE: DontReply At TheLoveDogs Dot Com [Sounds inviting. - Ed.], "Myanna at
Scullers," March 6, 2009.

DON'T LET THEM OFF STAGE . . until Myanna and Cercie Miller have done James
Brown's "Cold Sweat" (which can otherwise be heard on the "Bo-Town Does Mo-Town"
various artists CD). - Ed.

= = =
= = =

LAURA SIERSEMA
At All Souls Church Mid-Week Music
March 25, 2009

OH, IT HAS BEEN A LONG, LONG TIME . . since we have seen the name, Laura
Siersema. This may be explained in part, below, by reference to her new
recording, "Talon of the Blackwater." Bostonians, Greenfield-onians, and
Massachusetts people at large, take note. This should be pretty good.

Now all we need is a reminder of how to pronounce "Siersema."

Here are details of what certainly looks to be a CD-release show in the great
American city, Greenfield, Massachusetts. I have kin who were born in
Greenfield.

: : : All Souls Church Mid-Week Music
: : : March 25th 12:15PM
: : : 399 Main Street
: : : Greenfield, Massachusetts
: : : 413-773-5018

: : : performing music from her new CD, "Talon of the Blackwater"
: : : with Greg Snedeker, cello

SOURCE: Laura Siersema, "March 25th All Souls Mid-Week Music," March 4, 2009.

= = =
= = =

SARAH BORGES AND THE BROKEN SINGLES
The Single (Unbroken)

<> "The first single, called 'Do It For Free,' from the upcoming Sarah Borges
and the Broken Singles release, 'The Stars Are Out,' is now available for
download, and it's a perfect soundtrack for your almost-spring weekend.

"The 'Do It For Free' EP is in the Indie Spotlight on iTunes this week, and it
features the single plus TWO non-album tracks, 'Friend of a Friend' and 'Someone
Else,' and it's only $1.99.

"The record does not come out until March 24th, so this is your chance for a
preview."

SOURCE: Sarah Borges, "Download the New Single From Sarah Borges and the Broken
Singles To Start Your Weekend Off Right," March 5, 2009.

= = =
= = =
.


:

:

BRIEF ITEMS :
: : : : :
.


DAVID JOHNSTON
At Chris Rival's Middleville Studio

<> We first learned of David Johnston from Steve Morse, then of the Boston
Globe. We have since found that there is a lot to like about this guy and his
stellar David Johnston Band. There could be even more to like in the near
future. Johnston and company have stepped into Chris Rival's Middleville
Studio, with a new acoustic recording as the goal.

Meanwhile, Johnston's new strOnghOld is the same as his old strOnghOld, the
beloved former Tir na nOg. (This nightspOt's new name is not coming to mind, and
I do not have it written down anyplace that is currently handy. Sorry.)

SOURCE: David Johnston, "GMail," March 2, 2009.
.


WMFO RADIO
Going Digital

<> JoEllen, in an exchange of e-mails early this week, let us know that Boston
radio station WMFO is going digital. Actually, JE said WMFO is going digital!

There is a difference.

(!)

New equipment is expected to roll in by spring break, and then station folk will
start to digitize the music.

No more low-tech nonsense for WMFO. (!)
.


ROCK BAND: THE BEATLES
: : Or Is it
THE BEATLES: ROCK BAND

WHILE MY GUITAR HERO GENTLY WEEPS?

<> Whichever it is, a slight start has been made on a Web page or site for what,
until we are corrected, we will call "Rock Band: The Beatles."

http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/

One can leave one's e-mail address there to be notified when pre-ordering
starts.
.


PHISH
Once Again Taking the Bait

Phish dusts off deep cuts in return to stage
AP - Sat Mar 7, 12:41 AM ET

HAMPTON, Va. - The Phish has landed.

<> "PHISH is phinished," wrote Renee Graham of the Boston Globe. Guitarist TREY
ANASTASIO seemed to want to leave no opportunity for die-hard fans to think this
is just a break in the action. Graham added, "[I]n his message [on the Phish
Web site], Anastasio wrote, 'For the sake of clarity, I should say that this is
not like the hiatus, which was our last attempt to revitalize ourselves. We're
done.'"

SOURCE: New England Music Scrapbook Newsletter, Issue 67, May 29, 2004.

NEXT TIME WE GO LOOKING . . for someone to forecast the future, we are going to
bypass Trey Anastasio. It is great, though, that Phish is back. - Ed.
.


YAHOO NEWS HEADLINE
Friday Evening

<> Rapper Lady Sovereign pieces together 'Jigsaw' Reuters - Fri Mar 6, 7:51 PM
ET

NEW YORK (Billboard) - In the fall of 2006, the U.K. rapper Lady Sovereign was
riding high. She'd signed with Def Jam, secured an opening slot on Gwen
Stefani's tour and had a hit with "Love Me or Hate Me."

WE GET A SIMPLY PHENOMENAL . . amount of publicity about Lady Sovereign. - Ed.
.


YAHOO NEWS HEADLINE
Evidently Wednesday

<> All U.S. Virgin Megastores to close Yahoo! Music - Wed Mar 4, 7:00 AM ET

The remaining six Virgin Megastores in the U.S. are set to close, it has been
announced.
.


YAHOO NEWS HEADLINE
Friday-Saturday Overnight

<> Supermodel loses everything to Madoff

MEMO TO YAHOO NEWS CHIEF: Whoever wrote this headline needs LOTS closer
supervision.
.


YAHOO NEWS HEADLINE
Friday Afternoon

Eight-year study: Optimists live longer than pessimists

<> Have I ever mentioned that I expect the recession will be over by April and a
glorious day of peace, love, prosperity, and Red Sox World Series championships
is certain to come?

See you in 2109!

Ed.
.


end BRIEF ITEMS

:

:


.
GUITAR HERO AND ROCK BAND NEWS

I AM SEVERELY OUT OF TIME . . so I am posting this almost in entirety and as is.

<> Once again, Queen breaks my heart. It's been announced that they will
release a track pack for Guitar Hero: World Tour this month. The pack consists
of: Fat Bottom Girls, We Are the Champions, and C-Lebrity, a song from the
new Queen+Paul Rodgers record.

My only relief is that this doesn't strike me as an exciting group of Queen
songs. I'd otherwise feel obligated to invest in another music game.

Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits has the following tracks confirmed, and apparently
as masters. Keep in mind most of the songs from the first two games were in
fact covers.

"Them Bones" by Alice in Chains
"Killer Queen" by Queen
"Nothin' But A Good Time" by Poison
"Killing in the Name" by Rage Against The Machine
"I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister
"Through the Fire and Flames" by Dragonforce.

Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Texas Flood" dropped this week for Rock Band and Rock Band
2.

The Beatles: Rock Band will be released as a stand alone title or as a bundle.
Individual instruments modeled after the band's own will also be available,
though at a slightly steeper price than the normal controllers. The guitars
have a MSRP of $99.99 US, while the Wireless Stratocaster runs at a MSRP of
$69.99. however, as the instruments are cross-compatible, you are not
required to buy them. Also, for those of us who find the Strat to be a boring,
this might be the chance to get something different.

SOURCE: Stephen Lewis, "Some Guitar Hero/ Rock Band News," March 5, 2009.
.


WARNER MUSIC GROUP/ MTV/ ROCK BAND 2

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3if1b7ae560fd416a709577\
1f8526bf429

MTV Games, Warner: No 'Rock Band' Boycott Of WMG Artists
March 02, 2009 - Digital and Mobile

By Antony Bruno, Denver

MTV Games is not boycotting Warner Music Group artists from the "Rock Band"
franchise, despite what an article in the current Wired magazine claims,
according to sources from both camps.

Rather, the impasse is best described as a stalemate. WMG CEO and chairman Edgar
Bronfman Jr. said last August during the company's quarterly earnings call that
it would start demanding higher licensing rates from music-based videogames.

According to multiple sources involved, WMG has not struck any new content deals
for the "Rock Band" platform since.

MTV requested several new licenses in that time, under the same deal terms as
before, but WMG responded with counteroffers that MTV would not agree to. So MTV
has stopped requesting new licenses until both parties can resolve the licensing
dispute.

"Rock Band" releases new music that can be downloaded to the game every week.
Rival "Guitar Hero" does so far more infrequently. Since the beginning of this
year, several WMG artists—such as Belly, The Grateful Dead, and The Pretenders,
among others—have been added to the weekly download offers. And more are in the
pipeline, including the entirety of Jane's Addiction's "Nothing's Shocking"
sometime in the next month.

But these releases are all a result of licensing deals struck prior to
Bronfman's statements last summer. If no deal is reached soon, "Rock Band" will
run out of new WMG content to sell in its weekly updates early this summer.
What's more, even once the stalemate ends it could still take as long as four to
five months before new WMG content is reinserted into the weekly pipeline, given
the time it takes to program music into the game as well as the need to give
priority to deals made earlier.

By all accounts, WMG is ready to wait it out. It recently pulled its content
from YouTube over a similar licensing disagreement, and previously removed music
from Last.fm and Nokia's mobile music store.

But it faces a more difficult challenge with videogames like "Rock Band" and
"Guitar Hero." Unlike digital retailers--which really need content from all four
majors to offer a compelling product--these games only offer a segment of
available music to its users. And both are also able to offer cover versions of
songs for which they can't get master recording rights. Black Sabbath's
"Paranoid," for instance, is one of the top 10 best-selling songs available on
the Rock Band downloadable content platform… as a cover.

Until now, the back-and-forth between the videogame makers and WMG was limited
to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick—publisher of "Guitar Hero"—and Bronfman. MTV has
been far more diplomatic in its response, but is rather letting its
actions—refusing WMG's new licensing terms—speak louder than its words
.


:

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NEMSnews

New England Music Scrapbook
Brattleboro, Vermont

E-MAIL us via:
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<> If you have friends who would be interested in any of the items in this
issue, please forward this newsletter to them. Thanks! We believe this is one
of the main ways we pick up readers.
.


<> As a rule, we do not post SHOW LISTINGS. The reason is quite simple. Though
our name is the NEW ENGLAND Music Scrapbook, probably an easy majority of our
readers are based outside the six New England states. The great majority of
show listings would be of no interest at all to the great majority of our
readers.

We make exceptions when show listings are part of an item of more general
interest. CD-release events are great examples. For us, the main point of an
item of this sort is that an act has a new record. The show being announced is
of secondary interest to us - if that - as far as the contents of our newsletter
goes.

In the very few, truly exceptional instances where we post show listings...
.

... Shows can be canceled, sold out, or even moved to another date or location.
We recommend checking the Web, calling ahead or otherwise confirming details.
.


To SUBSCRIBE to this newsletter:
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(Please do NOT click the Reply button.)

NEWSLETTER's Yahoo Groups Home Page:
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General CONTACT Information:
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Issue 2009:317

Published no less often than monthly.
We're guessing eventually we'll settle
into an every-other-week schedule.

Copyright © 2009 by the New England Music Scrapbook. All rights reserved.

: : :