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News

The RS 100: Agents of Change

About a month ago I was freelancing at Rolling Stone, building and compiling research for The RS 100, or “The 100 People Who Are Changing America.” Reading the mini biographies on each person puts your own life and accomplishments in perspective, making you wonder what more you can do to make a difference.

From Bono to Dave Eggers, President Obama and Taylor Swift, each person has a story to tell. The opening page on RollingStone.com states, “We’ve ranked 100 artists and leaders, policymakers, writers, thinkers, scientists and provocateurs who are fighting every day to show us what is possible — whether it’s engineering a new electrical grid, reinventing the way movies are made or challenging us to let go of our illusions and face the brave new world that stands before us. This list is not necessarily about power in the old-fashioned sense but about the power of ideas, the power of innovation, the power of making people think and making them move.”

Read all about the top 100 here and be inspired.

Categories
Features News

Introducing The Vespa Experiment

Those who are friends with me know about my obsession with Vespas. Imagine my excitement then, when I heard about The Vespa Experiment — three musicians traveling throughout California on Vespas while bringing music and environmental awareness to the forefront. Pretty inspiring.

Here’s the official description from MySpace:

“THE VESPA EXPERIMENT’S primary mission is to send a message to stop global warming by using the power of music. Co-founders Jason Reeves and Brendan James will be joined by their friend and ally, Amber Rubarth, on this purposeful journey. Supported by Greenpeace, the three musicians will ride Vespas up the California Coast, honoring the natural beauty of the West and performing at traditional (club) venues, as well as on mountaintops, beaches and town centers. For two weeks they will engage their fans in thought-provoking ways, through music and honest dialog, while living as simply as possible by camping along the way. In a modern twist, they will film a documentary as they travel, posting daily footage to the web so fans at home can follow along. Fans will be able to communicate with the artists in a communal dialog as they seek to change the world together.”

Their first time doing this type of tour, the musicians need your support. If you’d like to help write to vespaexperiment@gmail.com. They’ll hook you up with promo material, tickets to shows, CD’s and more! Man, I wish I lived in California right about now!


See tour dates below:

4.30 (CARLSBAD, CA) The Museum of Making Music
5.01 (COSTA MESA, CA) Sutra Lounge
5.02 (HERMOSA BEACH, CA) Saint Rocke
5.03 (LOS ANGELES, CA) Roxy
5.05 (VENTURA, CA) The Lodge At Zoey’s
5.07 (SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA) Downtown Brew
5.10 (MONTEREY, CA) Monterey Live
5.12 (SAN FRANCISCO, CA) Cafe Du Nord

Categories
News

Academy of Country Music Awards On Now!

I just realized the Academy of Country Music Awards are on tonight! Tons of appearances by Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood and more! Tune into CBS to watch or follow me on Twitter as I update you on the show. You can also vote for Entertainer of the Year on CBS.com. Who is your choice?

I’ll be heading to Nashville in June for the CMA Music Festival so I’m making a list of what country bands I need to brush up on. Suggestions? Leave them in the comments!

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News

You Sing, I Write Layout Revamp

Last night when I logged into my Blogger account I noticed a layout upgrade that I figured I should do since the blog hasn’t changed too much over the past year. Unfortunately, while reformatting I lost most of my html and template design so I’ve been fixing it up little by little today.

The sidebar was the portion that needed the most work and thankfully I was able to post all the interviews and blog links that were previously displayed. I also added a poll to the sidebar (right after the interviews) that I’d love you to participate in, and even give me ideas for. The first poll question for this week is “Who was your favorite boy band?” Definitely a topic of much debate! (Backstreet Boys are mine in case you’re wondering.) I love reading your comments and I really want this blog to be more interactive, so vote in the poll and leave me suggestions on what types of questions you’d like to see in the future.

As my readers, I really value what you favor on the blog so speak up! I’ve been talking with a bunch of friends about some tweaks I plan on making here and there, but I’d love to know your suggestions as well. Is there way too much text on the sidebar? Do you care about the Twitter updates, or should I just delete that? Send me your feedback so I make sure you keep coming back to You Sing, I Write!

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News

Ray LaMontagne on SNL

I fell in love with Ray LaMontagne‘s song, “You Are The Best Thing” a few months ago right before his album, Gossip In The Grain was released. Since then, the rustic singer-songwriter has been receiving rave reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone and even fellow singer-songwriter John Mayer, who has called LaMontagne, “so pure, it’s arresting.” Mayer continued his praise in a blog post writing, “I think Ray LaMontagne is as brilliant as any artist that has ever lived.” Pretty strong compliment right there.

I’m super excited to see LaMontagne live this Thursday. As a preview to my upcoming concert review, I figured I’d post his recent performance on Saturday Night Live. You can view the videos below, I’d love to know what you think!

Watch LaMontagne as he performs “You Are The Best Thing” on Saturday Night Live.

http://www.hulu.com/embed/FwR3ytxwy-apHPKtQj4z0g

Ray LaMontagne playing “Trouble” on SNL.

http://www.hulu.com/embed/qdxNW6c8ZGwSFqXyUvv-2g

Categories
Festivals News

Follow My SXSW Adventures on MarieClaire.com

I know I’ve been overloading you with content from South By Southwest, so I’ll give you a break this weekend. I’m exactly halfway done transcribing all my interviews, so if you haven’t yet be sure to read my already posted interviews on Jason Reeves, Tyrone Wells and Meiko (click on each artist’s name and it’ll bring you directly to their interview).

In the meantime, you can also catch up on all my recaps on MarieClaire.com here. I still have to type up my interviews with Anya Marina, Dlugokecki and Parachute so be on the lookout for those next week.

And, to download some free SXSW music (yes, it’s legal) from Tyrone Wells, Anberlin, Paper Route and more click here. With all this SXSW coverage it’s almost like you were there with me! Any takers on attending next year?

Categories
Festivals News

Follow My SXSW Experience on MarieClaire.com

In addition to interviewing bands for my site, I’ll be blogging about SXSW for MarieClaire.com. You can check out my first blog post here, or read it below!

On a whim, two weeks ago, I booked a flight to attend the annual South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas. My first trip solo, I’m taking a few risks. For one, I don’t know my roommates for the week (turns out we do have two mutual friends on Facebook so we’re practically real friends, right?). Second little baby hiccup — I don’t have an official badge to get around the festival yet. Just a few minor details . . .

Not your typical outgoing and in-your-face journalist, my friends have been telling me I’m being a bit ballsy since I’m flying all the way to Texas and have no idea how the week will transpire. However, I’m confident that I’ll figure it all out and already have some great interviews planned with up-and-coming musicians showcased at the festival. So be sure to stay tuned in for those.

From a secret (or not so secret anymore) Metallica performance to a possibly haunted bathroom at the Driskill Hotel, I’m hoping to fill you in on the latest happenings at SXSW so you can enjoy them as much as I do while I’m there. I’ll be sure to fill you in on all my musician spottings, shows I catch and exclusive SXSW interviews. You can follow my SXSW adventures on Marie Claire’s Twitter as well. About to board my flight to Austin so next time you hear from me I’ll hopefully have that whole badge situation figured out!

Categories
News

Watch Live All-American Rejects Concert

A few months ago some friends and I found out that infamous Oklahoma rockers the All-American Rejects would be playing a free NYC concert courtesy of Walmart and Axe. To watch the full six-song performance, click on the link here.

The Rejects just announced another leg of their tour supporting most recent album When the World Comes Down. If you like what you saw, be sure to catch them when they’re in town! For more info visit their MySpace.

Categories
Benefit News

CompassionArt Releases Album to Charity

Just over a year ago I interviewed Martin Smith of UK band Delirious? about his most recent project, CompassionArt. The idea was in it’s infancy, as musician friends of his were meeting in the upcoming weeks to write songs which would eventually become the album, CompassionArt, where all the proceeds are donated to charity. While this isn’t the first time musicians have decided to donate a song to charity, it is a first for an album to take this route.

The versatile 15-track album features 19 artists from various musical genres, all united for one goal: creating freedom from poverty. CompassionArt will support four main charitable projects and 12 individual songwriter projects. In addition, a 50-minute DVD documentary is available upon purchase of the album. For more on the project, visit the Web site here.

I have received the album for review, but after reading fellow inReview.net writer Bert’s review, I really could not have written anything better myself. Read Bert’s write-up here.

For more on this great cause, be sure to visit CompassionArt’s Web site or read my interview with Martin Smith here. What do you think? Do you hope more musicians follow this cause? I sure do.

Categories
News Videos

New Death Cab For Cutie Video Released

Below is Death Cab For Cutie‘s new video for “Grapevine Fires,” one of the tracks off their Grammy nominated album, Narrow Stairs. The animated clip, directed by Walter Robot, was initially inspired by frontman Ben Gibbard’s up-close-and-personal encounter with 2007’s California wildfires. A moving video, you can see the toll it took on him below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmpMQA0qfuM]

In addition, the band is set to kick off a spring tour in April with support from Cold War Kids, Matt Costa, and Ra Ra Riot. Check out their MySpace page for more info.