Reporters’ Roundtable: What Spotify means to the music industry

Nice overview of the current state of the digital music universe.

http://www.cnet.com/av/video/embed/player.swf

How Much Does It Cost To Make A Hit Song?

I never know what to think when I read something like this NPR piece. Did it really cost Rihanna’s label $1,078,000 to produce “Man Down”? Really??  Were there really forty writers working on her record?? But even if you take half (or a quarter) of the amount of money spent, it’s still a pretty big number for me to get my head around…

Sixteen Different Minds “Dancing Castles” Toronto CD Release Party

Sixteen Different Minds is having a Toronto CD release party for Dancing Castles this Sunday (June 26, 2011 – 8 PM) at the Blue Moon.  We have the fantastic Henry Heillig (bassist and co-founder of Manteca) on this date.  We also have some pretty darn cool t-shirts (and fridge magnets) for sale.  If you’re in the Toronto area, please come on out and say hi!

Thanks and bye for now,

Jamie

Guitars & More

Here’s what I’m listening to on the guitar (& more) front this week…

1. My Song – One Quiet Night – Pat Metheny

2. Manha De Carnaval – The Guitar Trio – Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola & John McLaughlin

3. A Day In the Life (Live) – Performing This Week – Live At Ronnie Scott’s – Jeff Beck

4. Bach: Prelude No.3 – Jazziz – Guitars Volume 2 – Dominic Miller featuring Chris Botti

5. MWD – Here – Ken Sager

6. A Cool New Way – Super Colossal – Joe Satriani

7. Vincent – Fingerstyle Guitar – Chet Atkins

8. Have a Little Faith In Me – The Best of Bill Frisell, Vol. 1 – Folk Songs – Bill Frisell

9. This Way – This Way – Acoustic Alchemy

10. Odeon – Nylon & Steel – Manuel Barrueco

11. Sonar – David Barrett Trio

12. Centerline – Dancing With Shadows – Ken Bonfield & Joe Ebel (With Michael Manring & Ty Burhoe)

13. What a Way to Go – Evocative – David Grier

14. Redemption – Essences – Tonino Baliardo

15. A Morning Song – Across The Bridge – Peter Janson

16. Always With Me, Always With You – The Essential: Joe Satriani – Joe Satriani

Downbeat (August 1988)

A long, long time ago… Just cleaning up my studio and came across a couple of magazines I was in YEARS and YEARS ago. This first one is from the Auditions column in the August 1988 Downbeat. Hard to believe I ever looked that young…

A Drummer’s Dream

Just finished watching A Drummer’s Dream… Wow — what a great documentary!!  It was so nice to see all of these great drummers in such an intimate setting.  Sure wish I had been able to go to a music camp like this when I was a kid…

Long Time, No Post

Yes it’s been a long time since my last post here. A very long time. I’m not happy about that, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes. We all get sidetracked/busy/complacent about things we want to or should do. This blog is a great example of that.

I had started and then stopped a number of blogs in the past for the exact thing I did here — not making the blog an ongoing concern. So bad Jamie. But I’m back now and (hopefully) I’ll be (somewhat) more consistent with my posts. That’s the idea at least.

So… what have I been up to? Well lots and lots of different stuff. I suppose the BIG news is that I formed a band with singer/keyboardist Wendy Irvine and drummer Dave Patel. We’re called Sixteen Different Minds and we’re just finishing up our debut album. The record is called Dancing Castles and stylistically it’s a mix of folk and pop. I could probably throw a few more genres in there, but I’ll let you decide exactly were to place this band. If you’re interesting in taking a listen to the band, check out the Sixteen Different Minds website.

I’ve also continued playing mandolin. I truly LOVE the instrument! I don’t have nearly the facility on the mando that I do on the guitar, but that’s okay… I’m absolutely enjoying the challenge. I’ve mainly been playing classical music on the mando and I’m currently working on Bach’s Prelude from Cello Suite #1. It’s a incredible amount of fun and I’m learning a lot.

I’ve also started thinking about my next solo record. Over the last year or so, I’ve written quite a bit of new music, but I’m not sure where I want to go in terms of a production or style point of view. For me, liking so many different styles and ways of making music is both a good and bad thing. That said, I do have an inkling of a concept of an idea of what might work for my next record. Clearly it’s not clear where I’m going musically speaking and I suppose to some degree this has always been my artistic process. And I suppose I like it that way.

Best wishes,
Jamie