New Scam on Musicians

I got an email the other day that was so specifically tailored and semi-believable that I actually responded. Someone (allegedly a priest, currently in England) claimed that they liked my music and wanted to hire me to play an anniversary event at a specific address in Conyers. Very nice, I responded, but since I'm a variety artist, what kind of group did you want, and what size? What did you see of mine that you liked, and I'll play that. The response came back in a totally different writing style from the original letter, using classic teenspeak (all lower case, "u" and "4" as abbreviations for "you" and "for", no real sentence construction, etc.) saying essentially that he didn't remember what he'd heard, on "some talent site". Hmmm, spidey senses tingling. Still wanted a quote.

I sent a quote for a nice party act, four players and a female singer. He responded, in a much more adult writing style this time, that the price was agreeable, and that he'd send me $200 more than I was asking so that I could advance some money to his associate here before his (the "priest") arrival. Whoa, big red flag! Not only not enough money for any caterer or florist that I know of, but I've never heard of the band being involved in money handoffs to others.

So I inquired further about the local phone number and contact name at the venue in question, so I could nail down the load-in times and electrical availability. I declined his generous offer for extra money, and said I'd be happy with just the amount I'd quoted but didn't want to handle his other business for him, that his "associate" should do that. I said that PayPal or certified cashier's check would be just fine, and as soon as my bank was happy with the transfer we could proceed. I never heard from him again.

Since then, I've learned more about this type of scam. A fake check arrives, with orders to redistribute parts of the money to other parties. The bank takes a while to figure out that the check is fake, but the victim has already given out the real money. Beware!

The Top 25 Lies

My well-meaning friends keep sending on all those rubbish hoax emails about a variety of things, from the Invitation torch virus to the Clinton Circle of Death to rants attributed to Andy Rooney, George Carlin and others. One of those stories I got recently was about Australian Santas being ordered to say "Ha ha ha" instead of "Ho ho ho", apparently composed by one of those guys who hates political correctness so much that he actually makes up lies about it. Look, if I wanted to hear crap like this, I'd listen to AM radio. I keep asking my friends to please use Google to check this stuff before remailing it, but noooo...

So, here's the deal. You can stay ahead of the crap curve by reading Snopes.com's Hottest 25 Urban Legends , a daily updated list of the fecal flood you're most likely to be sent. What the heck, make it your browser's start page. If (make that when) someone sends you yet another email about Obama being a radical muslim, or H.Clinton being a baby-eater, you can just direct them to this page for starters, and the specific page pertaining to their spam du jour. Keep yourself even further ahead of the foolish forwarders by reading the very latest reports on the What's New page.

It's like a condom to protect your brain...

My Santa Website is UP!

Last night (this morning, technically) I went to GoDaddy.com and bought the domain name SantaGeorgePrice.com for my new Santa site. I also bought hosting there, and the Website Tonight package, and within a couple hours, had the bare bones of a new website open to the public. Please come check me out at http://www.SantaGeorgePrice.com and let me know what you think. Notice that under Info & Contact, you'll find my calendar of public Santa appearances (private shows aren't listed, of course). I do hope you'll come visit me, bring the young'uns, and let's have some fun.

I have nothing but nice to say about GoDaddy in general, and Dino the support guy in particular. I've owned the domains GeorgePrice.biz and GeorgePriceBand.com via GoDaddy for a couple years now and haven't done anything with them, but my experience last night could change that pretty soon.

Secret Oil-grab Revealed

Here's a little gem from http://www.JimHightower.com revealing a (deliberately) little-known maneuver by our (deservedly) unpopular White House.



PS, some of you may remember me saying in 2003 that Iraq was not "all about oil", any more than it being all about WMDs (which other, more dangerous nations definitely had) or oppressive regime (which other, easier-to-conquer nations also definitely had and have). Of course, the oil and its machinery is of huge interest to Bush's employers (major campaign contributors in the oil and oil equipment industries) and puppetmasters (let's see, who owns a lot of stock in Halliburton?) who apparently still write a lot of our foreign policy, but it's obviously oversimplifying to say the war is "all about oil".

I still believe, and I'm believing it more each day, that Iraq was intended to be a forward base for American military power to keep a thumb on Iran if not invade them directly. That would be an absolutely idiotic and nationally suicidal move that I sincerely pray Dubya will not be persuaded to attempt. But then, it was idiotic and nearly-suicidal to pull troops out of Afghanistan to start a fight in Iraq to begin with, and he doesn't seem to be a fast learner... This could all get much worse, much more easily than getting better.

Santa Transformer

The transformation is complete! As those who've seen me over the last year know, I've been growing hair and beard (at an alarming rate, according to some - maybe because I'm so full of fertilizer) to prepare for a role as Santa Claus. On Nov. 1st I got the final bleach-out, removing the last of my dark hairs. So, diggest thou this poor-quality home snapshot, and imagine how great it really looks (pro photos coming soon). Please mentally add the fat pad and white gloves I forgot to put on.

Now I've got the top-shelf Santa outfit, I've been educated at the intense Santa Claus Academy, I've gotten my shots, and now sport the very best natural hair & beard money can buy. I'm good to go for Christmas, and I'm eager to accept bookings.

Today's Favorite Links

Hi, I know I've been a slacker about updating the blog, but here are a few links to keep you occupied:

How to untangle headphones:
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1080956&fr=yvmtf

Much Cooler Online (check out the stars!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GcVnhNjWV0
Check the related videos too.

NOW you tell us!
http://tinyurl.com/2o7ta9

and of course, my beloved BoingBoing:
http://boingboing.net/
New wonderful stuff every day. Check out also their Gadget and TV sub-sites.

JFK Killers Revealed!

I didn't hear about this in the news, did you? CIA man E. Howard Hunt, one of Nixon's Watergate burglars, lays out in a near-deathbed confession the actual people behind JFK's assassination.

"He was the ultimate keeper of secrets, lurking in the shadows of American history. He toppled banana republics, planned the Bay of Pigs invasion and led the Watergate break-in. Now he would reveal what he'd always kept hidden: who killed JFK."

I highly recommend this story as one of the most amazing pieces of writing I've seen in a long time. Go read it!

The Last Confessions of E. Howard Hunt

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.

Gig Reminder: Fridays at Little Alley

Did I forget to mention here? I have a weekly Friday show, beginning at 7:30PM, at Little Alley in Roswell. This is a sweet little tapas bar and grill, with a good wine list and full bar. I'm there with my trio (Jon Schwenke and Bill Shirk) and you know those guys are good so come check it out.

Little Alley
690 Holcomb Bridge Rd.
at HBR & Grimes Bridge Rd.
behind Wolf Camera
Roswell, GA 30076
770-992-9198

And speaking of trio gigs, I've been doing some jazz sets with Darren Ginn (piano) and Dr. Jackie Pickett (double bass), Wednesdays at Houston's on Peachtree (near Peidmont Hospital). These two push me to my musical limits just to hang with them - come see me suffer, and hear some really impressive music.

Houston's
2166 Peachtree Rd NW
Atlanta, GA 30309
View Map
(404) 351-2442

Moonie Terrorists

By now everyone's heard about how Boston completely wet themselves over a few Lite Brite renditions of a cartoon character. Here's a funny video depicting exactly what they must've been thinking: (click it)
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1741589

I've been naughty

I know, I should've posted updates long ago. I will do better, I promise, and I will backfill the stuff I should've written about since September. Meanwhile, here's what's up:

I'm still doing my radio show on Radio Sandy Springs, and you can still download the previous two weeks' shows.

Monday, Feb. 5th, I was the *Special Guest* (ooo!) on the Music Pro Show, an extremely well-done podcast by Brian Stephens. He wanted the inside story on being a pro, the good bad & ugly, and I obliged. Some bits of music too. You can download the show from his website, http://www.musicproshow.com

Starting Friday, Feb. 16th, I'll be doing a regular Friday night gig as the George Price Trio at Little Alley in Roswell.

More later...

Random thought: The ferocity of a dog's name is often inversely proportional to the ferocity of the dog. (a trembling chihuahua named Shredder, or a 200 lb. pitbull named Fifi...)

Guns Into Guitars

Promoting peace, Colombian crafts guns into guitars
Thu Sep 14, 2006 1:07pm ET
By Patrick Markey

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Polished rosewood and an artist's deft touch are all Colombian craftsman Luis Alberto Paredes needs to turn tools of death into symbols of hope.

One of Colombia's top musical instrument makers, Paredes has branched out from traditional methods to fashion electric guitars from shotguns and AK47 rifles once used by fighters caught up in the country's lingering guerilla conflict.

"This used to hit a target at 800 meters (yards)," Paredes said holding up one of the guitars which still has a Kalashnikov rifle's distinctive, banana-shaped magazine. "Now the target will just depend on the concert stage."

In a workshop above his modest family home in Bogota, Paredes has created the "escopetarras" -- shotgun guitars in Spanish -- since he was approached by local musician Cesar Lopez with the idea about three years ago.

After stripping the soldering and gutting the trigger mechanism, he crafts a polished wooden handle over the barrel and his son installs microphones in the stock. The process takes a week to ten days.

(for full story, see http://tinyurl.com/zrr52 )

Blues in Trinidad, CO

I had an interesting weekend. A grueling, fascinating, sleep-deprived, wonderful weekend. Heaven Davis called Thursday needing me to fly out the next morning to Colorado with her to play the Trinidaddio Blues Fest VIII. There was to be a pre-party Friday night, then Saturday morning I'd rehearse our band (borrowed from Erica Brown of Denver). The band would then hustle out to the festival and play around 2, and we'd go on at 4.

As planned, we rented a car in Denver and got to Trinidad (about 3 hours from Denver, just inside the border from New Mexico) about 5PM. Our limo was to pick us up at 6. (Yes, there really was a limo, they took us back and forth as necessary all weekend) They did, and took us down to the Lucky Monkey, which seemed to be a century-old community hall with maybe 8-foot stamped-tin ceilings, packed with merrymakers. We were given a fistfull of drink coupons and directed to the buffet in back. From there, I saw that the back parking lot had also been roped into a party area, with lots of tables, a couple bars, and speakers fed from the stage inside.

Shortly after we arrived, a one-man-band act (I think he was John-Alex Mason) kicked in, playing a variety of guitars while singing and stomping out rhythms barefooted on a cluster of pedals linked to drums, tambourines, etc. One of his instruments was made from a cigar box, a couple broomsticks forming two parallel necks an inch apart, and two strings on each neck (one of them a bass string), with some odd black circular magnetic pickups about the size of a quarter each. Sounded good! He kept up this very physical act for two hours! Then Bernard Allison (son & student of the late Luther Allison) brought his band on, and things really heated up. I rocked along as long as I could, but it had been a long day, I was still on Atlanta time, and I had to go back to the hotel.

The next morning saw the band arrive on time for rehearsal. We rehearsed for maybe an hour in Heaven's room, and it was apparent we'd have no trouble on stage with this crew. They scurried out to prepare for their show, and we did the same. We didn't arrive in time to catch their (Erica Brown Band's) set, but we did get to hear part of Albuquerque Blues Connection's smokin' set, and they & the crowd showed their appreciation for Erica so she must've been good. Then it was our turn.

Due to my well-earned distrust of airlines, and the well-meaning silliness of the Fatherland Security people, it didn't seem smart to try and bring any equipment. After all, three times in my life I've checked my baggage, and two of those times the airlines lost it. So, arrangements were made for me to have a guitar & amplifier waiting there; I literally arrived with nothing but one guitar pick. The backline crew set me up with a nice maple-neck Strat that seemed identical to my own, except for being cream-white and having .009-gauge strings instead of the .010 I'm used to. The amp was a Fender Deluxe. No effects except a wah pedal that I used for maybe 10 seconds - simple, elegant, effective. I may consider going that route again at some point, rather than the all-digital command center I currently run. It was all rockin' along great.

Then the storm came.

Weather happens quickly at high altitude. While we were onstage, a lightning storm came in. The people didn't mind the rain, they had clear tarps and umbrellas and there wasn't really that much rain, but the lightning was worthy of respect and we had to get offstage a couple songs early. Within 30 minutes it was all gone, and the next band was on time. There were 3 more quickie storms that evening, but they didn't pack so much lightning and didn't interfere with the shows. Elsewhere in the area, Pueblo picked up a whopping 3.5" of rain, and I think there was a tornado somewhere. Remember, this is practically Road Runner country, and somewhere around 5,000 feet high, and to have anything over an inch of rain is really something. Trinidad fortunately got very little of all that.

Anyway, the festival grooved on. The artist's area behind the stage offered us all we could eat and drink, which I and the other artists happily did, as the evening went along. Some of the very best BBQ that I have ever tasted! The final act was Little Charlie & The Nightcats. They put on a really good show, with Charlie Baty showing some serious swing guitar chops worthy of Brian Setzer. While they were wrapping up, Heaven & Erica & I rode back to the hotel with Bernard and his crew to change for the afterparty. Charlie and his harp player Rick Estrin caught up with us there, and we all piled into the limo to ride back to town (about 5 minutes, gotta love a small town) to the old saloon that was hosting the final jam. Charlie got his hands on a borrowed guitar and played a couple cool songs with the band, then I did, along with Heaven and Erica. Finally it was time to fall over again, and I got myself out to the limo to find the rest of the crew had already done just that and I was barely in time to ride back with them. (Wouldn't matter much, the limo would've been right back to wait for me)

Nothing much happened after that - packed my bag and slept a couple hours before we had to drive out at 3AM to catch the morning flight from Denver. Not much sleep for me that weekend, but I loved every second of being awake. I highly recommend the Trinidaddio festival to anyone looking for a good time, the best I've been to.

Evil Genius strikes!

I finally got around to installing a computer game I acquired last year. I shouldn't have waited so long. Evil Genius is a bucket of fun, kinda like The Sims doing an Austin Powers movie. Lots of humor, a great soundtrack, great art, good game design, reliable operation. No wonder it won "Best of E3" and a bunch of other awards. My old vice, MechWarrior 4 (at which I excel, by the way) has been retired for a while.

Incidentally, try putting "Evil Genius" (use the quotes) into Google for a whole lot of interesting stuff.

Blues Camp 2006 a success!

This was a good birthday weekend for me, beginning Friday with the George Benson & Raul Midon concert at Chastain Park (along with my sweetie Barbara, and our friends Rich & Liz). Then I had to get up in the middle of the night Saturday morning (6:30 AM!) to drive up to Blue Ridge, GA for the first annual Blues Camp.

The setting for the "camp" is a beautiful house tucked away in the north GA mountains. The students had gathered Friday night and jammed, watched guitar videos, etc. I got there about 09:30, set up my gear and started classes about 11:30. Late afternoon, I took a break while Ms. Michael Broderick taught the segment on vocal techniques. We learned hard and played hard and ate very well and learned & played some more until about 02:30, then got up the next morning and did some more until mid-afternoon. The students were attentive and dedicated, and all said they got what they were looking for (and a few things they didn't know they needed).

Topics covered: Basic music theory (linear scale, numbering the notes, melodies as numbers, chord construction, chord sequences as numbers), what makes 12-bar blues so special, variations on 12-bars, basic scales, harmonized scales, modes, new chords, going beyond 12-bars (intro to jazz blues), how to read music, and a walk-through of the software, videos and other goodies on the DVDs that I had burned for them. The lectures were well supported by labs (meaning we played a lot of songs).

A few photos are saved at:
http://musicians.meetup.com/266/photos/90441/575352/

All in all, a successful first run for Blues Camp and we hope to do it again soon. Please let me know if you're interested. My thanks to Mike "Cathead" Nunn for organizing this, and to the students for your faith and hard work.

Tuesday Jam going away?

Hello Friends, it's been a while.

First, the bad news: the lovely Wanda has informed me that Tuesday, August 1st will be our last Tuesday Jam at Nik's Place. For whatever reason, not enough people have been coming out and spending on Tuesdays in recent weeks, so she has to try something else. She's bringing in Johnny Knox (the best rockabilly guitarist I know next to Brian Setzer) and I'm not sure if it will be a jam. I don't have a Tuesday gig nailed down for us yet, I'm asking around. Let me know if you have possibilities for us to investigate.

This is not an evil act on Wanda or Nik's part, so be nice to them; it's just a part of the business. They have bills to pay, and need to draw a spending crowd. To a venue owner, a band is only as good as the dollars they bring in. Venue owners rarely care much how good a band is, the bottom line is "how many people will you bring me, and are they spenders?" The real strength of Kiss was the Kiss Army; the Grateful Dead stayed alive so long because they had legions of devoted Deadheads. When you hear musicians say "Keep the blues alive" or "Thank you for supporting live music", remember that we really do need you and your business in order to keep doing what we do. I really do thank all of you who've come out, even just once, for helping to keep music (and musicians) alive. You regulars, who come out often, you totally rock.

So, to recap: ONE LAST HOO-HAA at Nik's Place, Tuesday August 1st
Nik's Place
645 Whitlock Av. (aka Hwy GA-120)
about 1 mile west of Marietta Square
Marietta GA 30064 770-792-6666
web: http://www.niksplace.com/
map: http://tinyurl.com/b3gql

Moving on: Those of you who came out to Tavern On The Bridge last week noticed that my usual partner, Andrew Black, had apparently been to Sweden for a very successful operation. Not really, that was the lovely & talented Marlyn Campbell, and we had a great time. Why didn't I tell you she'd be there? Because Andrew was going away on vacation, and it's a bad policy to spread the word that someone will be away from their home for several days. But he's back now, and last night the three of us turned out some good music. Good enough that we'll be back as a trio next week, and who knows after that. Don't miss out.
Tavern On The Bridge
9775 Medlock Bridge Rd., Suite A.
Duluth, 30097 770-232-1210
Nice room, good food.
S.E. corner of State Bridge Rd. & Medlock Bridge (Hwy 141)
One door south of Stony River.
web: http://www.tavernonthebridge.com
map: http://tinyurl.com/8lp8g

This Friday, my friend Brian Stephens' new band Ocean Street will be throwing a "pre-CD-release-party-party" at a new venue in Roswell called The Saloon. The band will be there at 8PM to meet, greet & hand out swag, then will play at 10PM. Todd Smalley (of Derek Trucks Band) will be on bass. Brian says the response & buzz from their 3-song demo was great, getting a fair amount of airplay on Dave FM and others, and "tons of podcast plays" out to a huge global audience.

Then on Saturday, Gophertunes.com is throwing their first Subscriber Party which will feature a great free show with Barry Richman Band, and opening band Lyric, at The Langford. This is free to their newsletter subscribers, and all that requires is that you go here:
http://www.gophertunes.com/info/index.php?id=7
and sign up for a weekly newsletter. (Or, you can subscribe at the party). They will not overspam you, nor sell or rent you to spammers; they aren't collecting too much info, they don't even want to know your name. Then you get the free beverages, free t-shirt or tank top, and maybe other goodies.
The doors open at 7:30 pm
(Lyric, 8 - 9 pm; The Barry Richman Band, 9:15 pm - 12 am)
See the details on the front page at http://www.gophertunes.com
Langford Sound & Stage
633 Holcomb Bridge Road
in the corner of the Roswell Village Shopping Center
Roswell, GA 30076 770-518-9151
web: http://www.LangfordSoundAndStage.com

PS, this party is free and open to all ages. I encourage my students to attend. Bring the whole family, tell friends. Forward this email.

And finally, here's a list of lost souls from whom I've been getting email bounces. If you know these folks, please help us reconnect.

Bob Augestad	Kate Mullin
Jonathan Mock	Marcus Petruska
Lara Polangco	Paul Garrett
Toby Huffner	J Shelley (or Stelley?)
Gaylon Nelson	Tom Regeski
Seth Watters	Melina Birdsong
Kerry Creasy	Ruthie Smith
Jerry Hendricks	Lance Tilton
Bryan & Kim Hutton	Samantha Hart
Sarah Malkin	Sheila Ledford
Shawn Harris	Tammie King
Rod Kelly	Morris Borenstein
Christopher Afful	Cindi Carbone
Brad Haddad	Debra Fedorchak

Just a suggestion: Get a web-based email account. Jobs change, ISPs change, people move. And some companies really get nasty about what goes through your email; all companies monitor, and when they want to "downsize" you, your email is the first place they look for excuses. You're much better off getting your email through a free web-based system; Yahoo Mail is usually the top award winner among those. (Then, remember NOT to access your private email account while at work!) You can access your email from anywhere in the world that has Internet, from public libraries to Amsterdam coffeehouses. Stability is great; I've had at least a half-dozen ISPs since 1985, but when I got my Rocketmail address (now owned by Yahoo) in 1997, that has been unchanged for nearly a decade. If you have a non-work email address, I strongly suggest you update me so I don't send my emails through your employer.
Yahoo Mail: http://mail.yahoo.com
Google Gmail: http://www.gmail.com

Welcome, Gophertunes.com

Gophertunes, brainchild of guitarist/singer Pete Waddell, has finally popped its furry little head into the world. This website is an online guide to live music in the Atlanta area. It lets you search by zip code, type of music, date, venue or artist. Want to know where I'll be playing? If I have a public show under my own name, it'll be posted there. (Shows where I'm a member of someone else's band are up to them to post, for a variety of reasons) You can also find (if posted) individual artist bios and contact info, or venue info. Gophertunes also writes their own stories, artist interviews and reviews, and they've published one of my instructional articles. Owned & operated by & for musicians, the emphasis is simple: music. You won't have to wade through lots of "community calendar" announcements for dramatic readings, quilting clubs, or other stuff that can be found on existing sites. Gophertunes has great potential and I will try to make the most of it. I strongly suggest you should too.
http://www.gophertunes.com
PS, the furry mascot's name is Mojo.

Moving on: Jesse Smith, 1968 - 2006

My nephew-in-law Jesse has gone away, after a long struggle with Hodgkin's disease. One of the nicest people I ever knew, and one of the giants of the ballroom dance world, Jesse was beloved by everyone who met him. He and his wife Lynda (my niece) were undefeated dance champions, competing and teaching all over the world. Jesse was also featured in an episode of HGTV's "TIPical Mary Ellen". Here's his obituary from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Smith, Jesse E. age 37, of Minneapolis. Professional ballroom dancer and owner of Arthur Murray Dance Studio of Minneapolis/ Edina, MN. Survived by wife, Lynda; children, Dayton and Elyse; mother, Mary Louise Bodinski; father, Jesse Smith; siblings, Therese Larson, Stephen Clausen and Nejla Smith; grandmother, Alice Smith; many loving family members and friends. Jesse was born and raised in Sioux Falls, SD and moved to Minneapolis in 1988 where he began his professional dance career. He began dancing competitively with Lynda in 1990 and went on to achieve four U.S. American Style ballroom titles. After retiring from competition, Jesse continued to achieve excellence in the international dance world and was highly sought after as a teacher, choreographer, coach, judge and performer. He was a member of the Arthur Murray World Dance Board and an area Chairman for Arthur Murray International. Although Jesse's professional accomplishments were many, being a loving and devoted husband and father gave him the most joy. Memorials may be directed to the Jesse Smith Miracle Gift Fund. Interment service 9 AM Monday, July 10 at Lakewood Cemetery Chapel, 36th & Hennepin Ave S. Service will follow at 11 AM at Hope Presbyterian Church, 7132 Portland Ave S., Richfield. Washburn-McReavy Edina Chapel 952-920-3996

The obit doesn't mention his loving in-laws (my brother Gary Price and his wife Joyce, also of Minneapolis) who are also deeply greiving. My heartfelt condolences go out to the whole family, and to his worldwide family of friends, students and fans.