Dem Convention Music, Day 2: Tuesday Night Grab-Bag

The music for Tuesday night was kind of a grab-bag — a bit of a let down from Monday night’s funk-fest, if you ask me. There were many fills that I didn’t recognize, and most of the ones I did know didn’t really seem thematically related to the speaker they introduced (or to the one [...]

The Denver School of Funk!

You never know when an opportunity for music education will present itself. This is both delightful and vexing to yours truly, because it means that 1) there’s never a shortage of grist for the music-nerdy mill, but 2) there’s so much to know, I’m afraid that any day now, the hard drive in my brain [...]

Remembrances

Greetings, fellow Music Nerds!
Please forgive me for my prolonged absence. This summer has really flown by, and it was mainly taken up with the huge task of relocating McVirgo Manor. (I think it’s time for McDoc and I both to admit that we need to start attending some meetings. )
I decided to finally come [...]

This Blog Needs More Washboard!

I decided that since I so brazenly hijacked the ax[1] of the washboard player in Chubby Carrier’s band — his name is Earl Sally, by the way — the least I could do is make an effort to learn a little more about the instrument.
First off, its proper Cajun-French name is the frottoir, or, in [...]

Miss Music Nerd’s Zydeco Debut!

Hé, toi!
As I hinted at briefly in my last post, I got a chance to do some impromptu music-making while I was in Austin, Texas this past weekend at the Netroots Nation convention. I hadn’t expected to perform until Sunday morning, when I was to play for the Multifaith Worship Service. But when life provides [...]

Austin Touch-Blogging!

Howdy, y’all! MMN is currently in Austin, TX, where, yes, it is hot! I’m here attending Netroots Nation, a conference for political bloggers. Of course, I’m a music blogger, but I’m politically engaged as well, and there’s lots of cool stuff going on here… not the least of which is the chance to meet in [...]

“Such a really good version”!

Yesterday on NPR’s Fresh Air, I heard an interview with singer and composer Theo Bleckmann, a German native who moved to New York in 1989 and has been, according to his bio, “a steady force in the New York downtown music scene for over 15 years.”
Now, don’t worry if you don’t know what “downtown music [...]

Hearing With New Ears?

Cross-posted at the Detroit Symphony Blog.
Sometimes before I go to an orchestra concert, I think to myself, “I should listen to a recording of the pieces on the program before I go, so that I can better appreciate the music when I’m hearing it live.” But actually I tend to reject the idea, though, because [...]

A Lucky Day for Detroit!

Cross-posted at the Detroit Symphony Blog, because I am so famous and in demand!
If you’re superstitious, you probably already have your lucky rabbit’s foot or some such charm or talisman at the ready, tomorrow being Friday the 13th and all. I would say that tomorrow is a very lucky day for Detroit, though. [...]

Your Questions Answered, vol. 2!

Ian from Australia wrote in asking about a popular song based on a melody from an organ concerto by Camille Saint-Saëns. He had heard the pop song before he heard the classical work it was based on, and was trying to find out who recorded the song.
I’m happy to report that Miss Music Nerd’s Musical [...]