Exit Up

I have neglected this blog for far too long. I'll try to keep it more up to date.

Last fall I joined the band Exit Up. A great bunch of guys, I'm having a lot of fun in this band. We're doing quite a bit of original music now (written by band members Paul Sims and Dave Meek) and we do some covers as well - everything from Fee and Third Day to the occasional Lynyrd Skynyrd (every band has to do Sweet Home Alabama) and Tim McGraw.

Check us out on Facebook, at exitupband.com or on reverbnation.com

Favorite Song of All Time

Do you have a favorite song of all time? For me it's easy - Let It Be, by the Beatles. I well remember buying the 45 (remember those?), taking it home, and listening to the song about 25 times in a row.

Though credited to Lennon/McCartney, this song is a solo composition by Paul McCartney. Reportedly, John Lennon somewhat dismissively commented That's Paul. What can you say? Nothing to do with the Beatles. It could've been Wings. I don't know what he's thinking when he writes [sic] 'Let It Be.' With all due respect to the talent of John Lennon, he was wrong about Let It Be. A truly classic song, and one of the finest in the Beatles canon, Let It Be is a perfect pop song.

An interesting side note is the two different versions of George Harrison's guitar solo. The single version is somewhat different from the album version, although the rest of the song is the same.

The song was remixed on the Let It Be...Naked album from several years ago. McCartney, long unhappy about Phil Spector's added production to the album, stripped away Spector's additions to the album. For Let It Be, this includes the removal of some of the additional percussion parts added by Spector. McCartney certainly should do what he wants with the song, and the version on ...Naked is a fine version, but I still prefer the original.

Gospel Music Channel Rocks!

I recently discovered a new channel on DIRECTV - the Gospel Music Channel. From the name I assumed, erroneously, that it was a southern gospel channel (sorry, not really a fan of that style). While there is some southern gospel on the channel, there is a lot of great rock and roll.

Front Row Live is a great concert program - Hawk Nelson and Jars of Clay were both great shows, and there are plenty of other great artists on this hour long program. The other evening I watched a great interview/video/concert program with Fireflight. Faith and Fame, a kind of Behind the Music style show, has shown some great segments on Amy Grant and Toby Mac.

And the best news, it's a music channel that actually plays music! No reality shows here, just great music. If you have DIRECTV check out this channel (338). I don't know if it's on Dish Network or not, but take a look if they're your satellite provider.

And, in really great news, the Dove Awards will be broadcast live on the Gospel Music Channel. It's hard to find a replay of the Dove Awards and I've never seen it live. Definitely looking forward to that show.

Gotta go. Right how there's a great video by Kristyn Leigh - "In Jesus' Name." Look it up on YouTube; it's a very nice song and a good video.

The Rasperries - The Greatest Pop/Rock Band In History

It was the spring of 1976 and my college roommate and I were cruising around in his big old gas-guzzling Chevy listening to the 8-track at ear-bleeding volume. In the tape deck was I'm A Rocker by The Raspberries, arguably the greatest pop/rock band in history.

I loved The Raspberries and never understood why they didn't become huge stars. They certainly enjoyed some success - Go All the Way (their biggest hit), I Wanna Be With You, Let's Pretend, and Overnight Sensation (just about the perfect pop song) were all legitimate hits. Beyond these well-known songs, though, there were a lot of other truly great songs - Tonight, I Saw the Light, Don't Wanna Say Goodbye, Drivin' Around, Hard to Get Over a Heartbreak, Ecstasy, Party's Over, Starting Over, Play On, and All Through the Night are all classics, in my opinion.

As seen in the picture above, the band's tendency to wear matching outfits probably didn't help them any. In the 70's matching outfits were associated with the Bay City Rollers and other bands that had no credibility among rockers or serious music fans. But The Raspberries are a band whose music holds up incredibly well. Take a listen to Tonight and you'll hear production qualities and rocking music that beats most everything on the radio these days. Put on Overnight Sensation and marvel at the huge sound, terrific production, and truly great songwriting and musicianship. The song is so great that John Lennon offered the services of himself and Ringo Starr to do some independent promotion work for the band. Can you get any better seal of approval than that?

If you want to check out their music start with the Capitol Records Collector Series 2CD set. It's got all the hits and most of the album classics (although with so many great songs some, such as Play On and All Through the Night didn't make the cut). Also, you might want to pick up their 2007 reunion set Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip. A magnificently produced set, you can do yourself a favor and seek out the deluxe edition that contains a bonus DVD with the songs I Wanna Be With You, Tonight, Overnight Sensation, Ecstasy, and of course, Go All the Way. Really great stuff.

So here's to one of the greatest - and most underrated - bands of the 70s - The Raspberries. Do yourself a favor and pick up some of their music. I still keep it in heavy rotation, though it's now on my iPod rather than 8 track.

Classic Rock - The Best Music Magazine?

Hats off to our Brit friends for the great Classic Rock magazine. Although newsstands are overrun with music magazines, Classic Rock stands head and shoulders above the rest. Good writing, great pictures, and a free CD or DVD with every issue makes this, in my opinion, the best music magazine on the market.

And, though you might think the title means the magazine is limited only to the classic rock era, there is ample coverage of new bands as well. Each month has a healthy selection of articles on new bands as well as reviews of CDs and DVDs by a wealth of new artists.

The classic rock era - spanning, I would say, from about '67 to '81 - is undoubtedly the golden era of rock and roll. The amount of interest in the music from this time period overwhelms any other period in the history of rock. I mean, who is listening to Flock of Seagulls, Human League, and other crummy 80s bands these days? The 90s still have some viable artists - Pearl Jam and the ever popular Nirvana. The classic rock era - well, there's the Beatles, the Stones, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Pink Floyd, Eagles, Aerosmith, Van Halen, the Police, U2, and the list can go on and on. Seriously, what other era has so many classic artists? None.

Classic Rock is certainly not the only magazine covering this golden era of rock, but it is, quite simply, the best. And I must add, somewhat mournfully as an American, that we have nothing on this side of the pond to compare with Classic Rock. Rolling Stone, you might say? No way. I ditched my subscription to that rag years ago. Too corporate, too predictable, too boring, and some of the dumbest album reviews in the history of music means I seldom even bother to see who is on the cover.

If you like classic rock music - and really, who doesn't - this is the only place to turn for great articles on the artists you love. Oh, but I do have one really big gripe. Classic Rock is, without a doubt, the most poorly proofread periodical on the planet. Seriously, do these guys ever proof this stuff? Each month is so chock full of errors that it gets embarrassing. Great, great magazine guys, but get yourself a decent proofreader.

The Mighty Fender Twin

Few guitar amps are as classic as the Fender Twin. After years of wandering in the digital wilderness I came back to tubes about a year and a half ago with one of the newer Twins - the ProVerb Twin Amp (yes, Amp is officially a part of the name).

Years ago I bought a '67 Vibrolux for $150.00. Around '89 or '90 I foolishly traded it for a Crate digital amp. I know - I was crazy! It is extremely painful to see them going for over $3,000.00 these days!

Anyway, I decided to get out of digital amps and am I ever glad I got one of these beasts. It's 100 watts of pure and glorious tube tone that sounds truly amazing. There are several versions of the Twin on the market, but this is one built for modern times. It has an effects loop (very handy and I use it all the time), a tube-driven reverb and tremolo, a 1/4 power switch (why would we want to turn down?), preamp out, power amp in, and best of all - a gain control on channel two. And man, what a great gain control it is. You won't get super heavy metal distortion of the Slayer variety (who wants to listen to that crap anyway) but you'll get all the wonderful tube crunch you need (and if you do need more, just stick a pedal in the front or in the effects loop). Oh, and it comes with wheels (which you'll need as this thing is a back breaker) and those cool tilt back legs.

I have a couple of recommendations to make this amp even greater. First, change out the power tubes. Mine came with 4 Groove Tube 6L6 tubes. I had it retubed with the Sovtek tubes not long after I got it. Do they make a difference? Well, to my ear I'm not sure, but my understanding is they are very reliable and have a great life span. Second, change out the stock speakers. Though it comes with some great Eminence speakers (and Eminence are the only kind of speakers you should use) I changed mine out for a set of Eminence Redcoat Tonkerlites. The difference was very dramatic. My main guitar is a PRS CE24 that has a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickup in the bridge position. It is one HOT pickup with a huge amount of gain. With the stock speakers the sound was a little harsh but the Tonkerlites are amazing - they roll off the harsh high end and make all my guitars sound beautiful. My Strat and Telecaster keep that great Fender snap but the difference with my PRS is amazing. If you own a Twin, you should get a pair of Tonkerlites. By the way, special thanks to my good friend and bandmate Anthony Lucas, resident speaker guru and electronic genius at Eminence Speaker, and all around good guy who made the recommendation for the speaker change. As usual, he was right (just don't tell him or he'll get a big head about it).

The bottom line is this - the Twin is one of the most iconic amps in rock history, and this version of the amp makes a great amp truly amazing. I wouldn't trade mine for anything.

New Music Blog

Welcome to Keep On Rockin!, my new music blog. I decided it was time to separate some of the subjects of my other blog and create one dedicated to music. I should have my first real post up very soon. In the meantime, Keep On Rockin!