A Good Month for Radio

I've had some great guests on my radio show recently - in the last few weeks I've interviewed TGZ guitarists Dan Toler (Allman Brothers, Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts & Great Southern) and Ed Zinner (Southern Legend); Australian guitarist/singer Geoff Achison; soul singer Al Strozier (Sam Cooke, The Houserockers); and Jeff Carlisi (founding member of .38 Special, founder of Camp Jam music education camps). Whew! More good stuff to come, too. You can download these shows and listen to them on your computer or MP3 player:
http://www.radiosandysprings.com/MusicScene/index.html

Jeff took the extra step of having a follow-up lunch with me two days after the interview, and we had a really enjoyable rapid-fire discussion of all sorts of music industry topics including downloading, crooked management, the family stresses of road life, copyright law issues (keep an eye here for more on "reclaiming" your copyrights), Creative Commons' novel new alternative copyright protections, and Jeff's induction into the Krystal Hall Of Fame (he's even on the side of the Krystal box now!) We hope to start recording our own little podcasts where a few veteran musicians (no more than 4) gather around a table and a few drinks and tell our road stories. Sorta like what I do on the radio, but without commercials or any fear of what the sponsors might say if we speak freely. There are a LOT of great stories that need to be collected, this will be good. One idea that brought a grin - calling the series "Chats With Jack" because we'll be gathered around a bottle of Jack Daniels. Hmm, maybe we could have a sponsor after all...

My thanks to ALL the great guests I've had on my show since it began on Jan. 31, 2006.

Not Quite, thank you

I just saw a video that's really got me tickled. Pull up your support hose, here we go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqfFrCUrEbY
I don't think I'm quite ready for this group, but when I am I bet they're ready for me.

It's All About Geoff

Several coincidences over the last couple weeks have led me to feel like I'm in some wierd version of "Seven Degrees of Geoff Achison". Which is cool, I really admire his music (he has been labeled as Australia's finest blues guitarist, and I don't doubt it), but dang it's creepy how the world seems to suddenly revolve around this one guy!

First, I get a broadcast email from Nancy Lewis-Pegel that Geoff is coming to town. Better than that, he's actually moving here! Great, I'm a fan (see previous review), so I write back that I'm glad he's coming, and by the way, I have a radio show, would he mind stopping by? She makes the arrangements, and he'll be on my show Tuesday April 10th. (go here to listen to that show live, or here to hear it archived after it airs)

Then this week, I went to Baltimore to visit my sister in the hospital. (Get well Leigh! Luv ya!) During her physical therapy, I got to know the very nice folks in the PT gym (shouts to Lauren, Milan, Melissa, & Paula!) and while showing them how to access the thousands of legal, free concerts on the Internet Archive, there's Geoff again with several great sets, his set with Donna Hopkins recorded at Eddie's Attic listed as a Staff Pick. Hey Geoff, you now have repetitive airplay by your new fans in Johns Hopkins.

Later that same day, I was contacted by Andy Shaughnessy at Gophertunes.com, asking me if I'd be interested in writing live music reviews for their website. Andy thinks that my actually being a musician, trained in theory, might give a different slant to my reviews. Sure, when I have time, sounds like fun. When I checked my email tonight during the trip back to Atlanta, my first assignment is to review - take a wild guess - Geoff's set at Fuzzy's this Saturday! (looking around for Rod Serling...)

Anyway, I strongly suggest you get to know Geoff's music at the links above, and if you read his calendar you'll see he's too in-demand to play in Atlanta very often, so you better catch him while you can this weekend at Fuzzy's.

And to you, Geoff, welcome to your new home. Australia has our condolences.

UPDATE: Went there, saw that. Geoff rocked! Keep an eye on Gophertunes.com for my review of the show.