Category: Music
Another Wednesday, another fun gig with Tom Hood and the Tropical Sons, the house band for open mic night at Bayou Bistro in Tarpon Springs. It was a fun pre-Thanksgiving celebration, and a chance to play some good ol’ classic rock with great local musicians at a very friendly bar with tasty seafood.
I’m thankful for the opportunity to rock out!
Last year, the Tampa Bay Ukulele Getaway (TBUG for short) took place on my birthday. The 2022 edition happens this weekend, and we’re going to be there!
Anitra wanted to go, and I thought it would be a fun birthday activity to try my hand at a stringed instrument, which I’m normally terrible at playing. (My “keytar” period, and later the accordion, stem from being a frustrated attempted guitar player.)
TBUG takes place at the Sirata Resort on St. Pete Beach, right next door to where we got married:
It turned out better than expected. For starters, Anitra won the grand prize at the raffle…
…I found a very reliable local purveyor of high-quality aloha shirts in Emily and Mike Stehle (my old go-to had closed up shop…
…and I also found Tom Hood, who invited me to join him and his band, Tom Hood and the Tropical Sons, on a number of local gigs!
This year, I’m not just an attendee, but part of the lineup of evening performers. I’ll be playing originals and classic rock/blues covers with Tom Hood and the Tropical Sons, as well as helping out with the special ’80s jams — mostly on accordion, but maybe a little ukulele as well.
Best of all, I’ll get to be on stage on Saturday, which happens to be my birthday. For me, that’s a great birthday treat.
Leave it to Linus Akesson, 8-bit music maker extraordinaire and creator of other retrofitted instruments such as the Sixtyforgan and Qwertuoso to create an electronic accordion with two Commodore 64 computers, floppy disks, and duct tape: The Commodordion!
Writing about the Commodordion is like dancing about architecture — the best way to understand it is to watch Linus’ video below:
According to iGroove’s recent study (original German version here, English interpretation here), a musician or band can expect to get paid 0.3¢ to 0.5¢ per Spotify stream, which means that they’d need somewhere between 200 to 333 streams of one of their songs to make a single dollar. Music may be what musicians make, but unless you’ve made it big, it doesn’t pay the bills.
Want to really support your favorite act, especially if they’re small? Go to their shows, see the live, and buy their merchandise. When you see artists live, you not only get a one-of-a-kind experience, but you also support them in the most effective way possible. Most of the money from tickets and merch goes directly to the artists, rather than the “middlemen” — the record labels, distributors, or streaming services.
Last night, I had a dream where Armageddon, a 1979 song by Vancouver-based band Prism — a song I haven’t even thought about in a very long time — featured prominently. If you grew up in Canada in the early 1980s and listened to FM rock station, you’ll recognize the tune as soon as you hear the horns playing the opening march. If you’re not from that place or time, prepare to be rocked:
It’s an over-the-top number, clocking in at a few seconds under 8 minutes, but it doesn’t feel like an 8-minute drag. In fact, if you didn’t pay too close attention to the fact that it’s a song about nuclear annihilation, you might think it was the perfect tune for driving down the highway with volume cranked and the top down — and it is! It’s catchy orchestral classic rock that would fit in perfectly in a set with the Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin, and Queen.
I will admit to once owning this button and proudly wearing it on a denim jacket:
I’ve used Armageddon as an example song to teach people how to play by ear. Even if you’ve never heard the song before, it’s catchy enough that you want to learn it, and just complex enough to give you a little challenge. (In case you’re wondering, the intro, outro, and chorus are in the key of E, and the verses are in B.)
I’m definitely adding this to my “having beers on the front porch” playlist.
So I just found out that this is a thing…
For more, see PlayMusicOnThePorchDay.com.