The funniest thing I read today. Hopefully it's real.

I am a vocalist (tenor) with 20 years of experience. I prefer to sing melodic metal/opera metal. I will not scream or growl. I am currently holding auditions for a group/musicians to back me up. Honestly, I’ve heard the original music in this town and it’s not good. I’m going to make it big. I don’t have a rehearsal space, so I will come to yours and audition you there. I don't have any eqipment, but once you hear me, it won't matter. Please, no one with fewer than 10 years of experience. I don’t have time to wipe people’s noses. The club owners in this town will be begging me to play their crappy clubs. I am the front man, so my musicians will just play in the background and try not to screw anything up. I’m the man. Are you?

Hermans 4-24-09 - Artist reviews

THE NORTHERN WAY ( FORMERLY SET FORTH - Great live performance especially considering they were opening. AT least 125 in the house when the started so that was a very good thing. One of the guys was celebrating his 21st b-day so you can imagine the post-debauchery that happened in their camp! The band was extremely tight and showed great musicianship and connectivity with each other and the audience. Most of their songs are mid tempo, yet it fits into a mold that the band is going for. Sounds like: Jason Mraz, Jamiroquai, Coldplay

(photo by Stu Kennedy)

THE LEGENDARY BEEP BEEPS - For not playing out that much, Frankie A. and crew put on a upper level performance. Frankie likes to tie dead roses onto his mic stand - not too sure what it means yet. For a 3 piece, the sound was full, thanks to some lush guitar chord banging by Frankie and his Vox. Definetly want to catch these guys again - my only knock - Hey Frankie, talk louder between songs! Your voice is deep and too soft spoken and we really couldn't hear what the hell you were saying. Sounds like: The Church, U2, Love and Rockets

(photo by Stu Kennedy)

STRANGE CONDITION - After going thru some line-up changes, I think they got it right with 4. Shaun Nelson (ex Plastic Parachute) brings a presence and harmonies to the band that were desperately missing. Of course anyone that has seen them knows that Cody and Jas do a great job on drums and guitar respectively. Ryan Malloy has the confident pipes and presence. The mix was pretty good - could have used more guitar. SC has a couple great gems in the new song category: The hook laden NEVER FADE and CONSEQUENCE. They did some old school SC too as well as a cool cover of U2's WITH OR WITHOUT YOU. Sound like: 3 Doors Down, The Kinks, Finger Eleven

(photo by Tommy Nahulu)

RANDOM FRIEND GENERATOR - A super group of sorts - Chris Thomas from Spools of Dark Thread, Chris Reidy from a ton of bands, Pat Searcy - also from a ton of bands and Dr. Rich Ross, who suprise - plays in a ton of bands too. Tons of talent abound, which is obvious from the start. Thomas does a good job on adding a thicker sound with his guitar playing. Its definetly a bit more mainstream than anything I have heard from Thomas, who doesn't mind the change. Its still rock, with a bit more alternative and Indie mixed in and much less metal and Screamo. You can tell the band is still looking for an image though. The character of the band has not taken shape yet, and it is ok since they need to get the collective stage legs together as a unit. Look for this band to continue to polish its live presence to match the quality of the recorded material.

Sounds Like: Go see a show and find out!

(photo by Tommy Nahulu)

FREE Show Friday, Herman's Hideaway,

Colorado Music Buzz and Herman's Hideaway showcases Great local Music from Northern Colorado and Metro Denver! The Night started out with the band Northern Way, who is formerly known as set forth!.... Bringing forth a positive energy to get the evening started off right!....

Next Up: The Legendary Beep Beeps were up to show the crowd that roses smell amazing to Rock stars as well!.... Bringing together a ensemble of Rock/Ghettotech to lure the audible senses!....

As The Evening continues, "Strange Condition" takes the stage. by this time the crowd has been primed and ready for the rest of the night. They start off with one of their well known tunes... "consequence".... Strong vocals and Crunchy guitar gets people moving in unison!







As most boring folks in Denver are getting ready for bed ... Denver locals "Random Friend Generator" takes the stage and make sure that nobody in Herman's is sleeping at their seat!... the song "Toxic".... Heavy rock combined with bright lights, fog machines, and a sick solo kick the evening into overdrive!

Desert Rocks 2009 - Press Release

Welcome to the 5th Annual Desert Rocks Music Festival taking place Memorial Day Weekend, May 22-24, 2009, 15 miles outside of Moab, Utah. The festival site is tucked away among the majestic red rock desert at the base of the La Salle Mountains. The festival is secluded away from civilization in a breathtaking mystical desert realm providing patrons with the ultimate experience in freedom of being. The energy of the festival pinnacles as the positive vibes of kind spirits from far and wide coalesce with the sweet sounds of some of the most talented musicians in the country. Surrounding the festival are hundreds of beautiful desert trails to explore through hiking or mountain biking. Sunrise spiritual refreshment yoga, tai chi, and acoustic workshops will be taught each morning. The peaceful community vibe is created by a variety of down to earth food, beer, and merchandise venders and the campgrounds feature plenty of shady juniper trees.

The Desert Rocks Online Discount Ticket Sale ends May 19th.Tickets available at http://www.desertrocks.org/.

Is myspace moments from burial?

Please feel free to weigh in on a friendly “discussion” one of my favorite colleagues and I are having re facebook vs. myspace in re the local music scene …

james: myspace is out. over. fini. facebook is it. myspace will be gone faster than newspapers. facebook is a Colorado wildfire in the age of global warming. myspace is not last week. it is last year. five years ago. on and on.

jeanie: myspace is still hot for musicians and related folks (record companies, recording studios, music-focused publications, clubs -- on and on). they treat it like a cost-effective webpage at the very minimum. you cannot be in band and not be on myspace, even if you have a high-end website of your own. facebook is for people. myspace is for bands and the YA crowd -- and mums tracking the YA crowd!)

(Note that james freely admits that it is his wife signing in to facebook everyday, not james.)

james: if a musician is not on facebook but is on myspace, then it is like the musician is at the dog track and ALL the fans are over at NASCAR. they will not survive without fans. they are missing out on where everybody is.

jeanie: you cannot purchase tracks on facebook -- do they even have playlists? and, bottom line, any fan anywhere can look at a band and listen to them. with facebook, you have to be able to sign in. You get all the cream without any effort on myspace. you can see almost everything. at least the very important stuff such as where they are playing. listen to their music. their videos, etc.

Here are just some of the comments I have gathered – these from folks who work in PR / community relations:

Kristin: Well I have to say that when John, my 15-year old who LOVED MySpace a few months ago, told me he doesn’t go on there much anymore because none of his friends are there – well, that was a big sign that MySpace is on the way out. He seems to be on the edge of what’s going on with this stuff, and now he’s on Facebook all the time (and reconnecting with his old pals from L.A.!) So I love you Jeanie, but I think I’m siding with James on this one.

Katie: I somewhat agree with both James and Jeanie. MySpace won’t be around much longer – but it in the meantime, only bands are using it right now. I do think FaceBook and Twitter are going to be the very hot trend over the next two years at least. But then again, check out everything else that’s out there – it’s overwhelming! http://www.flickr.com/photos/briansolis/2735401175/ If I had to take sides, I’m leaning with James.

Elizabeth: Social websites? I don’t use ‘em! But does LinkedIn count?

Aspen: I think there’s a widget to put music tracks on FaceBook?? But anyway, I think we’re watching the slow death of MySpace – their flame is flickering.

Say the word and James is KING at my day job for the rest of the year!

Last-Minute Opera Subs

A story in today's "Denver Post" by Kyle MacMillan, the paper's fine arts critic, describes how Opera Colorado has had to scramble in replacing a principal singer for Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte," which opens tomorrow night at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. They were lucky to find such a talented replacement on short notice, something that is harder to do these days considering budget cuts and other financial constraints.

Few companies can afford to have "covers" (understudies) standing by and must therefore rely upon the vast network of singers already in the pipeline. OC was fortunate to be offering a fairly mainstream opera, which aided their search for someone who already knew the part. It's one thing to rush to a faraway city at the last minute, step into character, and meld reassuringly with the cast, conductor and orchestra. It's quite another challenge to do all that AND learn a role you have never sung before.

Along these lines, perhaps the craziest story in recent memory involves Michael Maniaci, the Ohio-born male soprano who mainly sings in operas by Handel and other baroque composers. For the 2006-07 season, the opera house in Venice, Italy, had decided to revive "Il Criociato in Egitto" by Giacomo Meyerbeer, which had had its premiere there in 1824. This would be the first staged performance of the opera in well over a hundred years, after a mere handful of concert-only performances during the 20th century. Called in at nearly the last minute to sing the role of Armando (originally written for a castrato, but almost always sung by a mezzo-soprano after about 1840), Maniaci learned the very complex role in two weeks and performed it well enough to make the resulting DVD of the performance a hot seller. He learned 350 pages of music in six days, sequestered in a Venetian townhouse with only a piano and an accompanist, and spent the remaining eight days rehearsing on stage. Now THAT's pressure.

A review of Opera Colorado's "Cosi fan tutte" will appear in the May issue of CMB!

Mayhem this year? Whos goin....

Yea I know Groovey is - CMB will be there too...

Special T-shirts for the Hermans show this Friday - Err tonight!

We are going to have very special commerative Shirts available tonight at the show! There is only 40 of them so first to get em, gets em!!

See you tonight at the show!

Set Forth changes its name to The Northern Way

So I got off the phone with Steve from The Northern Way this morning to get the scoop and found out it was as much legal and logistics as it was moving forward. We both agreed if you have to change your name cuz you are getting bigger, thats a good thing...

They will be performing tonight at the FREE show at Hermans (big thx to Colorado Audio Group, Oskar Blues, Sailor Jerry Rum and 5280 Ink for sponsoring and getting our bands paid)

Look for a review and pics up tomorrow!

Yea, its Free kiddies - now you have no excuses!

Gription on Ch 2 this morning...

Did a great job for being up frickin early! Sully, you are a great lead guy even at 7a! Now if you can get Natalie T to dance up there, then the Deuce is on to something...

Long overdue and ready to fire away....

Yes CMB is officially blogging now - look for your favorite CMB writers and freelancers to submit the latest news, reviews, and pics -

Fav pic of the day: The Epilogues by CMB photog Stu Kennedy