Frank Zappa was renown for his quality band members and even more for his legendary audition process. The Drum Channel has a 7 part video series which brings together Zappa's drummers from his previous bands (Ralph Humphrey. Chester Thompson, Terry Bozzio, Chad Wackerman and Ruth Underwood) to discuss the behind-the-scenes process of these auditions(Pt1, Pt2, Pt3, Pt4, Pt5, Pt6, Pt7). It also culminates in a drummer jam. [more inside]
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Mar 29, 2009 - 30 comments

Amazing Archaeological Discovery! Hair-metal fans said to be stunned.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Feb 5, 2009 - 44 comments

Hiram Bullock, original guitarist for Paul Shaffer's "Worlds Most Dangerous Band" died on July 25th. He was a fixture in the early days of David Letterman's show. The cause of death was not disclosed but Bullock had been undergoing treatment for cancer and was known to have had drug problems. Bullock was 52. [more inside]
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Jul 29, 2008 - 24 comments

Lets play the Album Cover Game! [Flash]
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Jun 17, 2008 - 27 comments

A fantastic photoset capturing the life and times of country western artists Carl Butler and Pearl. There are a few people you may recognize as well.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Mar 3, 2008 - 8 comments

Song Chart Meme. A series of charts breaking down popular music.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Feb 29, 2008 - 18 comments

Half-human album covers. Also known as "sleevefaces."
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Dec 26, 2007 - 33 comments

Know your musical Jews!
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Dec 10, 2007 - 49 comments

Think the Osmond Brothers didn't rock? Think again. "In spite of their squeaky clean image, the Osmonds had a soulful, sometimes raucous sound which was a precursor of the power pop of later years." Color my preconceived notions shattered.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Nov 12, 2007 - 89 comments

4 Brothers Beats. This is a tribute to all the original music that built hip-hop – the best beats in soul, funk & jazz collected by four brothers. An amazing collection of out-of-print releases from the 70s and 80s.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Sep 20, 2007 - 18 comments

The Wacky World of beating up guitars to add value."Normally, even one of the resulting scratches or dings on a brand-new instrument would make a guitar enthusiast cringe. But in the hands of Mr. Eldred, they are the first steps in the process of creating a "relic" guitar -- a brand new instrument that has been deliberately aged to simulate decades' worth of rock-and-roll wear and tear."
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Aug 28, 2007 - 48 comments

The on-stage rantings of various famous musicians.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Aug 17, 2007 - 68 comments

Frank Zappa - The Gigantic Spoken Word Project. Numerous volumes of a very large collection of Frank Zappa spoken word releases. They consist of radio interviews and journalist reporter type personal interviews. During the radio interviews sometimes music was played as background or added before the broadcast in between questions and answers. Sometimes FZ acts as D.J., plays records from his collection and talks to the radio audience. But the main focus of this series is FZ interviews which to me is as interesting as his music. (Just a quick warning; the download mechanism is a tad annoying)
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Jul 5, 2007 - 6 comments

John Petrucci of Dream Theater is pretty much amazing. His gear can control the heat of the sun. Additionally, Yngwie is your new God.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on May 12, 2007 - 48 comments

Oh, but it's much more than just guitars. How about a John Lennon set list from 1974? Maybe Bon Scott's tour jacket is more your thing. Me? I want the Mr. Big tour cases because they're in mint/hardly used condition.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Apr 3, 2007 - 12 comments

Massive gallery of concert photos. Some bands, you may not have heard of; others, well there's a few of those too.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Oct 1, 2006 - 8 comments

What does the Digilog Dynamicator (DD-301), the 3P-III Palindrometer and the AP-302 Algorhythmic Prosecutor have in common? They're all products of Funk Logic; a company that designs filler panels for studio/live sound racks (or to quote them: "rack filler panels with stuff all over em'"). Notable: Their "Ideas That Never Made It" section.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Sep 29, 2006 - 24 comments

Video of guitarist who plays slide with a spoon held in his mouth.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on May 3, 2006 - 11 comments

The Six String Sonics are about reinventing the guitar. The conventional guitar has many limitations. For example, it binds the player to chords that one can hold with one hand, or melodies that can easily be reached with one hand. As a result, guitar compositions have come to sound very similar to each other. We created Six String Sonics to rid the guitar of these limitations, and make room for more possibilities in composition. A video of their debut perfomance. [embedded MOV file]
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Feb 3, 2006 - 43 comments

NAMM 06 oddities. Guitars as works of art. Also found on that page: the Mikey guitar which functions as a frettted or fretless instrument with the flick of a switch.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Jan 29, 2006 - 6 comments

Shoes of local and national rock n' rollers. It all started one day when we were sitting around talking about how much we love each other, how much we love rock n roll, and how much we love shoes, when Amy exclaimed "That's IT!!! We need to make a web site that combines our love of rock n roll and shoes.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Oct 6, 2005 - 14 comments

Deep inside the poetic stylings of John Bon Jovi. To begin, I'd like to look at the opening verses of "Bed of Roses". You may think you understand the meaning behind this poem - that John Bon Jovi likes a lady, and is upset about it. This is just a sign of the brilliant, interweaving complexity of Bon Jovi. You can love the poem at that level, and many have, but let's go... inside.[Coral Link - In case the other doesn't work]
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Feb 23, 2005 - 23 comments

Drummer Wanted: Must have reliable gear, play in the pocket and have good chops. Humans need not apply.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Jan 9, 2005 - 25 comments

First time I've heard a harmonica AND beatbox used together. Although not a fan of the harmonica, I found this to be suprisingly cool.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Oct 27, 2003 - 17 comments

So you think you know the blues? Well then take the quiz. This is a 42 question quiz that is a nice mix of easy and not so easy questions. Sample: Which performer called his or her band "The Honeydrippers"(plural)? a. Jimmy Reed b. Joe Liggins c. Charles Brown d. Big Mama Thornton Email addy is requested to process the quiz and results are tabulated immediately.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Jul 29, 2002 - 11 comments

Garageband is out of business. Damn. For any aspiring musicians/bands (myself included), this was a really nice service. Upload your original MP3, get reviews from other bands, etc.. Another dot com flameout? Whaddaya think?
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Feb 15, 2002 - 3 comments