New York Music

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Yup, the final touches are done on Eclectic Collaborations and it’s been sent off to be pressed, copied, printed and whatever else that is needed to produce the finished CD. This album has been a lot of fun putting together as there are so many different genres that is captured that I never really dived into before. This is all a result of playing and connecting with the two other collaborators on this project. First and foremost, Kimo who is an old friend guitarist since my childhood day’s that is a straight forward rocker liken to The Rolling Stones and Tom Petty. You’ll hear some of these influences in a few songs on the album like , Pocket Full of Change and Losing you. Kimo played on many of songs on the album adding guitar riffs, vocals and some random hooting and hollowing. Joezworld on the other hand is a more slick and polished musician that you will hear on Fortune & Fame. “Z” was in my band Vinyl Flesh so if you follow my blog/website you can hear his influences from back in the days of the VInyl Flesh band. Z also is an accomplished graphic artist in his own right, and he supplied me with the cover and background art for the album.

You need to check out his stuff on Pinterest at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/224405993912322601/

Next up – a sneak pick of the album cover and artwork design

 

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Putting together the final touches to my next project, “Eclectic Collaborations”. Working on the cover art design and final content media on the CD package. I started working on this project right after the release of the “Test Drive RAW” CD. It’s been in the works for approximately 7 months. I have 14 songs on the CD with collaborative efforts from Kimo (guitar, vocals, harmonica, and percussion) and Joezworld (2 songs in which “Z” played all instruments and I added lyrics and vocals). Joezworld also contributed the art work for the front and back cover and the background art. Very excited to finish the project and release by the end of February. Will also have a few video’s to coincide with the release.

Can’t wait!

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Happy New Year – It’s going to be EXCITING!  

Yes!  – It will be an exciting 2018! Why, you may ask? 

Well, I have been working feverishly on a new project since the release of the first CD, “TEST DRIVE RAW”. I have been working with a few musician friends – Kimo and JoeZworld. Kimo is in my neighborhood so it’s easy for him and I to get together and jam and write. Mr “Z” on the other hand is down in Florida, so we are trading off on idea’s and sending files back and fourth to be worked on. All in all we are looking to release another CD sometime in the first 6 months of 2018. The name of the album will be, “Eclectic Collaborations”. Looking at 14 brand new songs with a bonus track for a total of 15. Will be working on the finishing touches after the 1st of the year and the CD cover art design. Can’t wait to share as there are some really good music that we put together that i’m sure you will enjoy listening too. Hopefully, I can also complete a few video’s to go along with the release.

So stay tuned in, it’s going to be an exciting 2018! 

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My Father’s Place, Roslyn (Long Island) New York

This was one of our local clubs that shuttered in 1987 – My Band the Lampshades played there, if i remember correctly in 1984 among many other bands I worked with and played with. There was also a club right across the street called the Little Club that we also played at in which was a very small place thus the name, ‘”The Little Club”.

I am always a little dubious about trying to reincarnate an iconic club, for some reason it never can capture the way it was before and most of the time it’s more about the people that were there at that time and space then the place itself. I really hope it works out for them as we need new progressive venues that cater to indie bands and music to be showcased. God knows there isn’t many of them around.

I copied the article below

My Father’s Place, the legendary club that brought the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley, the Ramones and U2 (The Lampshades -LOL)to Roslyn until it closed in 1987, will rock once again next spring. Michael “Eppy” Epstein, who founded the club on Bryant Avenue in 1971, confirmed Monday that he had signed an agreement to reopen the club in The Roslyn Hotel. “I want to do stuff that no one else is doing,” Epstein said. “I want to give people a live music experience unlike anything else on Long Island.” My Father’s Place at The Roslyn Hotel will feature both a supper club with a capacity of 200 for established national acts and an upscale restaurant with a capacity for 60 that will have a small stage for up-and-coming artists. Once renovations are completed, Epstein said he expects to present more than 150 shows a year in the space. And he plans to call on acts who played at the original My Father’s Place early in their careers — from Sting to Billy Crystal — to see if they want to come back to do something special at My Father’s Place at The Roslyn Hotel. Epstein also hopes that fans of the old club will return. “It’s a continuation of the business,” Epstein said. “If you were 18 when you went to My Father’s Place, you’re 50-something or 60-something now and you want a place with a nice tablecloth, a nice chair and an intimate concert performance.” Epstein said the new venue will be a joint venture with The Roslyn Hotel’s new owners and outside investors.

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The New Digs for “My Fathers Place” 

I hope they can capture the magic once again that was, “MY FATHER’S PLACE”

GOOD LUCK!

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My partner (Bill Veldran) and I worked with many bands over the years when we owned and ran Centour Sound. One year we produced over 350 shows by either having systems out, in which we had 3 complete PA systems or was managing a club or on tour with a band. That year Bill was touring Europe with Motorhead, I was doing weekends producing the shows and bands at the Mudd Club and all 3 PA systems where out with bands like Jelly, Insex, Tom Robinson among others that I can’t even or don’t want to remember. All of that in between playing with the Lampshades band – Talk about living, breathing and eating Rock N Roll, WE DID IT.

Literally it went something like this – getting up at 12 or 1 pm – working on the equipment, repairs etc. – on the phone booking systems with bands – loading up the vans with equipment –  leaving by 6 or 7 pm – setting up and doing a sound check –  eating a quick slice of pizza – mixing the bands to 2 or 3 am – breaking down the equipment – loading the vans – driving home and unloading the vans as the sun rises – catching  a few hours sleep and starting all over again.

Our crew, that we sent out daily and especially on the weekends on shows were Chris Connolly, Gerry Palumbo and whom ever else we could grab to set up and mix a band. A complete PA system consisted of a full 3 way speaker system (Bass, Mid and High end), monitors, an amplifier stack with crossovers, microphones mainly the work horses of Mic’s SM57’s and 58’s, a mic snake, mixing console, mic stands and cable’s, a Roland space echo and EQ’s and a lot of humping of equipment around all over the dam place. We particular got into a genre of reggae bands from Brooklyn that we were getting a lot of work from–one band that stands out was Burning Spear among other local reggae bands in the area. This part of the business was so interesting as we did do some many different types of bands and  music. In future blogs I will break down some of the shows Centour sound produced in detail – some fun facts and great stories.