Welcome, and thanks for visiting Behind the Blog. Expect to find randomly timed write-ups about music that I like, and weekly recaps of Behind the Beat, a radio that I co-host. Tune in Wednesdays at 8 pm on 92.9 Kick FM.
Today I got my first ever request for a blog post, sort of. My advertising instructor was showing the class a list of crosswalk ads that I had sent him, and they asked if I could post them on my blog, so I did. You're welcome, guys. I'm just going to put a few of my favourites on here and a link to the rest.
Click here to see the rest, and other interesting stuff.
On a side-note, today is my birthday (slightly exciting, though not earth-shattering, we all have 'em) and I've gone on a Twitter quest to get celebrity birthday shout outs, just for fun, see what I can get. My main goal for the day is to get a shout out from Gordon Ramsay. So far I gotten a traditional "Happy Birthday!" from Frankie Muniz and a not-so-traditional "Have some balls on your B day bitch" from Danny DeVito. I'll let you guys know if anything else comes up. To keep with Behind the Blog tradition, here's a video that connects this off-topic post to music somehow. Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds, on my favourite TV show, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, playing the drums. For some reason his line at the end is in Spanish, just roll with it. If you haven't seen It's Always Sunny, you probably should.
UPDATE (4:55 pm, Jan 31)
My celebrity birthday tweet goal has been reached. At 4:52 pm, central time, I received the following message from the one and only Gordon Ramsay.
"Damn happy happy birthday x"
I would like to thank Mr. Ramsay for helping me achieve my goal, and proving that being annoyingly persistent pays off.
UPDATE (5:13 pm, Jan 31)
Comedian Baron Vaughn is the latest to add to my collection of celebrity birthday tweets, with a classic pun, "You panderer! Happy Bidet."
UPDATE (2:21 pm, Feb 1)
This one has a bit of a story to it. I had tweeted Baron Vaughn at the same time as Daily Show writer/comedian Rory Albanese, Rob Riggle and ex-Daily Show-turned-Conan writer Rob Kutner, asking them to find funny ways of saying happy birthday (hence the "panderer" comment from Vaughn). This morning, Albanese sent a tweet to Riggle, Kutner and Vaughn saying "Holy crap! We missed @jediger Birthday! Let's all meet at our secret location and plan something." To which Kutner replied, "Umm, hello? I've been sitting inside this cake in a thing for 48 hours now?" So if you'll excuse me, I have to go cut a comedian out of a cake.
Now, I tend to be pretty open when it comes to different styles of music. Sure there's some that I don't like, but whatever, if someone else likes it, that's fine. It's their opinion, and even though it's wrong, they're entitled to it. (note to angry people: that was a joke, chill) But every now and then some stuff comes along that I just don't get, and sometimes I ask myself "do other people actually like this?" Well, in this new semi-regular segment on Behind the Blog, I am posing a question to my readers. I'll post a video or two of the band in question, and your job is to leave a comment and let me know if you think it's music or not. Sometimes you gotta click on the word comment at the bottom of this post to get to the form. So here we go, the inaugural edition of Is This Music?
I saw a show listing for the Albert with a dude called Merzbow headlining. For some reason I found the name intruiging and looked it up on YouTube. This is what I found...
My verdict: Sorry Merzbow and all your fans, but no. This is not music.
Check back soon for another edition of Is This Music?
This week's theme actually has a bit of a back story, it's not just two dumb burn outs giggling because Paul McCartney wrote a song about pot. A couple weeks ago my advertising class wrote parody ads and presented them in class. There was some really funny stuff, but the one that everyone really liked was Matt's parody of a BlackBerry ad, where the guy is using the phone to deal drugs and beat people who owed him money. The ad that Chadd and I made (yeah, we actually filmed it, you can watch below) has a scene of us sitting around a hookah, which got a few laughs. After class Matt looked at me and said "People like stuff with drugs, I guess." And that got me thinking, "yeah...people DO like stuff with drugs. We should do a drug song show." So we did.
PLAY LIST
Queens of the Stone Age - Feel Good Hit of the Summer
Alice in Chains - No Excuses
Blind Melon - The Pusher
River City Hum - Oceans
The Beatles - Got To Get You Into My Life
Rolling Stones featuring Buddy Guy - Champagne and Reefer
Hilltop Hoods - What a Great Night
Incubus - Deep Inside
Butterfingers - Beats by the Pound
John Butler Trio - Used to Get High
Tune in next Wednesday at 8 pm for "White Out: A Jack White Special".
As promised in the previous post (see below this one for this to make sense), I am going to insult your intelligence by assuming you're all idiots (just kidding, I know you're not...) and ease you into the changes around here. Here is what the regular Wednesday post will look like.
Some people love to hate the 90s. Some people love to love the 90s. Some people hate to love the 90s, but they do. We all have mixed emotions about the 90s, so Al and I decided to showcase that with our "poopy 90s show", as Al so nicely puts it.
PLAY LIST
Aqua - Barbie Girl
Smash Mouth - All Star
Shaggy - It Wasn't Me
Chadd Cawson - Hypnotized
T.L.C. - Waterfalls
Nada Surf - Popular
Naughty by Nature - O.P.P.
Salt 'N' Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex
Gob - For The Moment
Treble Charger - Friend of Mine
Bloodhound Gang - The Bad Touch
Lou Bega - I Got A Girl
Tune in next Wednesday, January 26 for our songs about drugs show.
Heads up, internet people, there's gonna be some changes coming to Jaremy on Music starting this Wednesday. First of all, you will notice a quick and abrupt name change. Out with Jaremy on Music, in with Behind the Blog. In fact, it may already be titled Behind the Blog by the time you read this! I will continue to write about bands that I like at random intervals, but I will also have a regular feature on Wednesdays (see below for details). There may also be some design changes, so watch out!
I've taken the liberty of answering all your questions about this.
Why Behind the Blog?
No, it's not a behind the scenes look at blogs, because that would be boring. In reality, I'm going to merge my blog with my radio show, which is called Behind the Beat. And by merge I mean use my blog to shamelessly promote my radio show (which isn't actually mine, I co-host it with my good friend Alex White, from Funk Stylin').
What is Behind the Beat?
Every Wednesday at 8 pm, Al and I are given an hour to play music, chat, and generally make asses of ourselves on 92.9 Kick FM here in Winnipeg. We typically have some sort of theme each week, and usually split the music duties 50/50. Sometimes we talk about the music, sometimes we talk about random crap, and sometimes we have guests. Every Wednesday night after our show is done, I'll post the video of the show, the play list, and our plan for the next show.
Now, I can already hear you guys out there being all "but I don't have a working radio" or "my radio works, but can't pick up Kick". Never fear, we have you covered. You can watch us online (eye-appealing video and all), both live and our past shows, by clicking here. Or, as I mentioned earlier, I will be posting the video on this here blog website after every show. That means no excuses, you have to watch it. Otherwise we're not friends.
"But Jaremy, I'm afraid of change!"
First off, not really a question, more of a statement, but thanks for your concern.
Secondly, of course you are, you're human! So, for your sake, I'm gonna make up a sample of one of these new posts that are gonna popping up on Wednesday, using last weeks show, so just keep your eyes open, it'll be up later tonight.
And of course, even though this blog is technically an assignment for school, therefore officially "for Kenton", I'm writing this for you, the reader. If you don't like the changes (for whatever nitpicky detail people tend to come up with these days) just let me know, maybe we can work it out.
Who's in the mood for something local? I am, and I assume you are, too. One of the stand out moments in my local show history was the first time I saw River City Hum at Park Theatre, when I was 16. I was there to see a totally different band (The Playing Cards, I think...maybe The Fo!ps) but left with a new a favourite band after the Hum played. Unfortunately for me, they broke up right around my 18th birthday, so I never got to see them in a bar, and was limited to the few all ages shows they did.
I'm not really sure how to describe their sound...it's pretty funky, fairly rock 'n' roll and throws in some of the cool spacey shit, too. They only released two CD's, and there was only 15 tracks between them, and I never even got the first one, Gallery. Lucky for me their website had it available for download, along with 4 b-sides, so I have the tracks. Their singer, Deano (I think that's how it's spelled) had always said he had a copy for me, but I haven't seen him in years, so I doubt I'll ever get that.
The best show I ever saw them do was at Shine Thru Rain in 2006, which is a small festival on a dude's farm in Sandilands Provincial Park. Deano kept telling everyone that they had a big surprise, and it was gonna be awesome, so there was some talk of what it may be, but most people were either too drunk or stoned to really care. But when their set came around midnight, and Deano walked out into the crowd (warning people "you may wanna back the fuck up, man") it piqued some curiosity. Next thing you know fireworks were flying all over the place, while Deano stood by grinning, and the crowd (99% wasted) giggled and clapped.
If you were lucky enough to see River City Hum while they were around, I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did/do. If not, that sucks for you.
I don't have any videos for y'all this time, and for that I truly apologize. I can't even figure out how to embed a song on here, because I'm apparently not as tech-savvy as I thought I was. What I DO know how to do, however, is make it so you can click here, and it will take you to their MySpace page where there is some music available.
New Years is a time of change, and for me that means no longer doing the monthly poll. I got bored of it, sorry if anyone was a huge fan (judging by the numbers, no one was). In it's place, you can find a list of blogs that I read. And on the note of blogs I read, my cousin has recently started up a blog about video games with a friend of his, called Gaming Outsiders. Click here to check it out, and follow them on Twitter (if you have it), @Mr_McAvoy and @skotelniski.
*for those just interested in the music stuff, you can skip this first paragraph*
Well, I guess I have some explaining to do. It's been over a month since my last entry, and I have let many of you internet people down. I have a whole list of excuses, but the honest truth is I just needed a break. I don't want to make this into a bitch-fest, because I'm not a bitch (asshole: yes, bitch: no), but I felt like I not only needed a break, but I deserved one. The first semester of CreComm was a bit of a wake up call for my brain, for a number of reasons. For example, at U of W I had like 10 hours of class a week (optional) and only a handful of assignments (mostly essays) over the entire two years I was there. At Red River I'm in class almost 30 hours a week (not at all optional) and always have some sort of assignment on the go. At U of W school was within school hours, but in CreComm evenings are often eaten up with some sort of school-related activity. Whether it's getting asked to wait in the cold outside Ian Rabb's election headquarters while results came in, phoning 20-something dietitians before getting one to agree to do a quick interview, writing a news release then reading it at least 100 times to catch the dreaded auto-fail (haven't auto-failed yet...but I did get lucky on one, thanks Melanie) or getting smashed at Shannon's and drawing on people's clothing (also not optional) we are always up to something. After a few months of that, I decided that I would write little to nothing during my break, just to refresh. Now don't get me wrong, I love CreComm, it may take up a lot of time, but it's mostly stuff I enjoy doing (except the dietitian thing, that drove me fucking nuts) and we get to do some pretty sweet stuff for some of the assignments. Free Bomber game with my class was great. So was partying in a funeral home. No offense to the new class 2, but old class 2 forever! Okay, I admit it; the real reason I didn't blog for the past month is because I was too upset that Mike Bad isn't in my class anymore. I'm still sorta getting over it...
Enough blabbing about school, it's a music blog, and blog about music I will. Rather than do a profile of a band/musician like I've done in the past, I'm just going to talk about the music I saw/heard on my trip to New Orleans that I just went on. I spent New Years down south this year, which was a great idea, no snow, mild temperature and great food and music.
After getting stuck in Minneapolis for a day (stupid Delta Airlines, but I won't get into that here) we landed in the Big Easy about one hour before the Dr. John show that we had tickets for. We barely made it to the show in time, but we did, and the bar was packed. The show was at Tipitina's, a fairly small bar (dedicated to Professor Longhair) with a second floor with a full bar and wicked view of the stage. Unfortunately for us, all the good spots were gone by the time we got there, but we could still hear just fine, and it wasn't a problem for me, because last time I was in New Orleans I was front and center at a Dr. John show.
One of my favourite parts of New Orleans is the street music. On almost every corner in the French Quarter you'll find someone/a group of someones playing, and most of the time they are AMAZING. Without exaggeration I can say that have seen better bands play on a street corner in New Orleans than I've seen play in bars in Winnipeg. And there's just something about walking down a dark street, and seeing a silhouette of a guy leaning against one of them old-timey lampposts playing a saxophone as the fog rolls in from the Mississippi river. Oh yeah, and no open-container laws, so you have an alcoholic beverage of choice in your hand at all times.
Heading down there, I knew the highlight of the trip would be New Years Eve. After a fancy-assed dinner as Brennan's (birthplace of bananas foster) my brother, uncle and I were heading back to Tipitina's, this time to see one of my favourite bands, Galactic (click here). Ben Ellman walked right past me while we were hanging out outside the bar, and I've been kicking myself for not saying something to him ever since. Even if it's just a couple of quick words, I really like to say hi to musicians that I like and let them know how much I enjoy what they do. Having seen the band twice before, I knew that it was going to be a high energy show, but I never expected it to go until 3 in the morning. And holy shit, what a good show. They did an unreal cover of Can't You Hear Me Knocking by the Rolling Stones, and later on an equally as mind-blowing version of Manic Depression by Jimi Hendrix. I picked up an autographed poster on my way out, can't wait to get it back from the framing place.
There was a huge college football game on the day after we were leaving (Sugar Bowl for anyone who cares), so there was a stage set up near the river and stuff going on for the last two days of our trip. Luckily my parents saw somewhere that Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue were playing there on our last night in town. Also luckily, my brother and I are both big Trombone Shorty fans, so my parents recognized the name. Like Galactic, I had already seen TS&OA twice, and knew that it would be a really good show. We got some handgrenades (very alcoholic and tasty beverages sold exclusively in 5 bars on Bourbon Street) and headed down to the stage. There wasn't many people there, so we got up pretty close. Every time I have seen Shorty he has been better than the last. This time it happened to be his birthday, and he and the band had clearly been partying before the show. I have never seen a group of people have so much fun while doing their job (or anything for that matter). They played a set made up mostly of songs from their newest album, Backatown, which was nominated for a Grammy this year. This show was every bit as entertaining as the Galactic show, and the fact that we just heard about it the day of made it even better.
Since it was an outdoor show, the "backstage" area was just a small fence, and I could see a tour bus off to the right of the stage. This time I didn't waste my opportunity and went over to meet anyone that I could. First came Joey Peebles, one of my all time favourite drummers...and he's only 22. I didn't have a camera with me, so I didn't get a picture with him. Then I stopped to have a quick chat with their guitarist Pete Murano. My brother had shown up with his camera at this point. Took a picture, but I look kinda goofy in it. Upon returning home, I realized that I looked like a goof in every single picture of me take on that trip.
Finally got to talk to Trombone Shorty himself, which was a huge thrill for me. I was surprised to find out he had been to Winnipeg before, playing with Lenny Kravitz when he opened for Aerosmith. This might be the goofiest I've ever looked in a picture. But I was drunk and excited, what do you want?
He was a cool guy, it's always nice to meet someone you look up to and find out they're not a total jackass.
Tradition is tradition, and this post will not be any different. For the enjoyment of my internet friends, a couple of videos from the bands I've been writing about.
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue playing One Night Only (not Suburbia like the title says) on Jimmy Kimmel.
Recorded at the show I was talking about above! Glad I found this, even though it's not great quality. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue playing Suburbia (for real, this time). Is it weird that this video gives me shivers?
Again, not the best quality, but here's a video of Galactic playing Manic Depression.
Galactic with Chali 2na and Laidlaw playing Think Back.
Trombone Shorty plays with Galactic fairly often, and this is one of the craziest things I have even witnessed, so I figured I'd include this brief video.
