Embracing Web-based Radio Stations

Recently, I was reading the most current issue of Paste Magazine, my music periodical of choice, and stumbled upon a blurb (underneath a piece with tips from John Fogerty on how to write effective protest songs) about new marketing techniques from record labels to help drive album sales.

I know this probably comes as no surprise to many of you, but there are ways to consume music without purchasing CDs in your local Borders, downloading 99 cent tracks on ITunes, or buying "ringles". Wolf Trap in particular, provides several independent forums through which the entire world can listen to the artists we book without shelling out a single cent. Wolf Trap Radio allows web-surfers to experience full-length, CD-quality tracks highlighting the current performance season at Wolf Trap as well as live recordings from the past and special programming, including interviews with performing artists and Wolf Trap staff.

Additionally, Wolf Trap has developed two comprehensive streaming playlists on Finetune, featuring similar content from our 2007 Filene Center schedule, and 2007-2008 Barns lineup. This is a great tool for you to see who's coming, who's been here, what you want to hear more of, and what to expect in years to come. Obviously, you will never "own" this content, and our playlists will change, but internet radio stations are a great place to start while you are considering a potential purchase. Once you have identified your need, the truly advanced play is probably to focus on more widespread internet radio stations like Pandora, or subscription services like Rhapsody.

Please come by and see Alejandro Escovedo tonight, and Chris Smither tomorrow, both at The Barns!

Graham

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well I'll be enjoying Turkey Day with friends and family over the next few days, so you won't hear from me until Monday. In the meantime, just want to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving and best wishes for a relaxing break from the daily grind.

If you feel the need to get out and motivate after two days of straight eating, sleeping and watching football, make your way over to The Barns for a performance from local heroes The Grandsons on Friday evening at eight. At only $16, it's a bargain for what is sure to be an incredible show.

Also, John Eaton follows on Saturday with an evening of classics from Harold Arlen's catalogue, combined with the official release of John's latest Wolf Trap Recordings CD, Harold Arlen - The Wonderful Wizard of Song. It should be a great evening.

Check in with me next week!

Graham

Video of the Week for Friday 11/16

But first allow me to mention that we have Mr. Livingston Taylor with us for back-to-back nights at The Barns tonight and tomorrow. Similar to his brother James, Livingston exudes a warm charm and eloquence in his music and stage persona that seems so common in the Taylor family. Livingston has had a very successful career, producing such recognizable tunes as “I Will Be in Love with You,” “First Time Love,” and “Get out of Bed.”

You may not know that in addition to his successful recording and performance endeavors, Taylor has used his gift to spur arts education initiatves across all age groups, adapting his song, “Pajama,” into a children’s book with the help of his wife; teaching performing arts at Berklee College of Music; and as the host of This Week’s Music, a nationally broadcast television show. Come check him out TONIGHT and TOMORROW.

Now onto the video of the week...

My video of the week is a video blog entry from a wine connoisseur named Gary Vaynerchuk. This guy is nuts, but it doesn't matter, because he also may be a genius. He operates an online wine store at the url http://www.winelibrary.com/, and has managed to double the traffic to his site and vastly increase his wine sales through a simple video blog that he posts five days a week, Monday-Friday. I saw him speak on a panel at a conference recently and he threw out this statistic. Prior to starting the video blog, he was spending $3 million a year in traditional advertising costs (billboards, print ads, online ads, etc), but stopped all of that on a dime, dropped $5k into creating his video blog, and is now more successful than ever. He has between 40,000 and 60,000 people accessing his video blog each week, which goes to show you the power of new media technologies and how free word of mouth advertising can often be the best method to put your product or message in front of a mass audience.

Here's Gary with a little Thanksgiving wine for you to enjoy during Turkey day.



And just a random friendly reminder to GO GREEN with Wolf Trap. Try to be more cognizant of turning out your lights, enabling the sleep function on your computer, or making the extra effort to recycle a bottle when it may be easier to put it in the trash.

To quote David Schwimmer from the popular NBC show Thirty Rock:

David Schwimmer - "Hey did you leave your computer on all night?"
Tina Fey - "Yeah it just takes a really long time to reboot in the morning."
David Schwimmer - "Oh. You know what else takes a really long time? BUILDING A NEW EARTH!"

There's some food for thought for the weekend.

Graham

Jonatha Brooke Tonight

One of my readers, Maureen, left me a comment yesterday suggesting that I devote some content to folk/pop singer Jonatha Brooke. I couldn't agree more - here goes!

Now I've never seen her live, but I've heard that Brooke has the unique ability to immediately captivate an audience regardless of size, musical preference, or general disposition. And although she's struggled (like many artists of her genre) to hook a massive fan base, she has certainly developed a widespread cult following.

Plus this chick is pretty hip, incredibly attractive, AND she's from Boston!

She seems reluctant to conform to any sort of industry standards or compromise her music for the sake of record sales, which is so refreshingly punk in a world of pop music sellouts. Even her website is full of personalized vignettes about her past, and playful, self-depricating blurbs about her discography and the subsequent recording process, although counter-balanced with a tone of extreme confidence and validation. Her website is awesome by the way, complete with message boards where fans can collectively engage in discussions about all things related to Jonatha Brooke, a photo and video section, and a regularly updated road journal.

Thus far, she has led a successful life as a musician without the help of a major label (shame on you MCA for not seeing the beauty of Ten Cent Wings), with a string of five albums that she has released on her own indie label, Bad Dog Records. Check out this video for the title track off her latest record Careful What You Wish For. It's pretty rockin'. Come see her at the Barns TONIGHT!

Tune in tomorrow for the video of the week, which will feature a video blog entreprenuer named Gary Vaynerchuk. Trust me, it's hilarious.

Talk soon,

Graham

The Boss at the Verizon Center and Summer 2008 Shows on Sale

His Bruceness -

Here's hoping everyone had a great three day weekend, and to those of you who didn't enjoy Veteran's day away from your 9-5, not to worry, Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

Anyone catch either of the Springsteen shows on Sunday/Monday? I myself did not as it's getting harder for me to stomach arena show prices, and I knew I'd get a comprehensive review from Josh Freedom DuLac with the Washington Post, plus some more personalized content from his newly constructed blog which he co-pilots with Post music editor David Malitz. I heard some rumblings of a unsatisfying Sunday show given that The Boss and his E Street Band showcased upwards of 10 new tracks from the new record Magic, which translates into not playing enough material from Nebraska, or Born in the U.S.A. which are typically thought of as records that made this band a staple in the repertoire of classic American rock 'n' roll. I think only one track was played from Nebraska, although the encore looks like a fist pumping, telecaster air guitar shredding romp with "Born to Run," and "Dancin' in the Dark."

Here's the full setlist from Sunday's show at the Verizon Center, which in my eyes, looks excellent. If you were there, post a comment and let me know what you thought of the set and the evening as a whole. I know Bruce is past his days of stretching shows to the four hour mark, but this looked like quite a marathon. You can also check out Josh DuLac's review in the Post by accessing this link.

Radio Nowhere
No Surrender
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason to Believe
Night
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
The Promised Land
I'll Work For Your Love
Tunnel of Love
Working on the Highway
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands

ENCORE

Girls in Their Summer
Growin' Up
Kitty's Back
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
American Land

Summer 2008 On Sale -

The following list of Wolf Trap summer shows will go on sale December 8 at 10am:

• A Prairie Home Companion w/ Garrison Keilor - May 23 + 24
• Riverdance - May 29 - June 1
• Pilobolus - June 17
• H.M.S. Pinafore - June 20
• The Gondoliers - June 21
• Rent - June 27-29
• Paul Taylor Dance Company - July 8
• Les Misérables - August 29 - 31 & September 2 - 7

Granted I have only been with Wolf Trap for roughly five months, but this blend of dance, theater and comedy seemingly blows away offerings from the past few summers, largely due to the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award- winning Rent and the Tony Award-winner for Best Musical, Les Misérables. Also, make sure to catch The Gondoliers which is appearing on our Filene Center stage for the first time in 30 years for ONLY ONE NIGHT.

You can purchase tickets on the 8th beginning at 10am by calling 1 (877) WOLFTRAP, online at http://www.wolftrap.org/, or in person at the Center for Education at Wolf Trap which is located at 1645 Trap Rd, Vienna, VA. 22182.

Check in with me soon for a story about how a guy named Gary Vaynerchuk doubled web traffic to his online wine retail outlet through a simple video blog. He makes me want to be the best blogger I can be! haha.

Graham

Here it is - the first ever Wolf Trap: From the Inside Out "YouTube Video of the Week."

The footage is none other than Moz himself, otherwise known as Morrissey, former frontman of The Smiths turned beloved international solo artist. Our programming director Peter Zimmerman impressively booked Morrissey in his Filene Center debut this past July during which this video was captured.

About a week prior to his Wolf Trap date, Morrissey developed a severe viral infection forcing him to cancel a series of shows at the end of June. The amazing thing about this performance is that he elected to honor his Wolf Trap engagement despite still being very ill. But is was impossible to tell! Fans who attended the show left such comments as, "Brilliantly done," "Great night, great singer," and "Thanks for letting me relive my mini-religious experience".

Morrissey went on to postpone his next few shows, presumably because he put so much energy and emotion into his performance at Wolf Trap. It was a pleasure to have him on our stage, and is a testament to the fact that artists simply love coming to our nation's only national park for the performing arts, even in the face of medically threatening circumstances.

He sounds great here, check it out. Have a fantastic weekend, I'll catch up with you all next week.

Graham

World Renowned Piano Duo on Friday, and Registration for 2008 Classes

This Friday, The Barns presents its second of nine Discovery Series performances with the Tengstrand-Sun Piano Duo. For those in the dark about our Discovery Series offerings, our list of performers for the series is very different from many Barns shows which tends to fall within the folk, pop, jazz, cajun/zydeco or singer/songwriter genre. It is a chance to experience various incarnations of chamber music, ranging from piano duos to string and horn quartets. Traditionally, we will not book solo performances at The Barns, rather groups of musicians who have had a profound influence on the classical genre.

Additionally, Wolf Trap makes it a yearly priority to commission new, original works and to debut them on our Barns or Filene Center stages. As a leading national performing arts organization, it is crucial that we remain committed to these new artistic initiatives. So you never know when the next big opera, musical composition or dance will emerge right here at Wolf Trap.

What to expect on Friday -

Both Tengstrand and Sun take a special interest in presenting the repertoire of transcribed symphonic works in smaller cities where these works would otherwise not be heard, which is the impetus behind Wolf Trap's Discovery Series program. Their latest release includes works by Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Lutoslawski and Milhaud, so the program will likely be heavy on these composers. For a preview of what's to come, check out their website for audio and video clips.

Spring 2008 Classes at Wolf Trap Open to the Public -

Many of you may not know that Wolf Trap also offers master classes, pre-performance previews, instructional classes, and arts workshops - all of which are open to the general public for free or a fee (amazing what we offer in addition to summer rock/pop performances I know)! Registration has just opened for select classes at the Center for Education at Wolf Trap and I have provided the link here where you can learn the specifics of each class, prices and dates, and how you can tailor these educational opportunites around your daily life. Oh you have a baby and can't get away to enjoy a class or event even though you are dying for some time out of the house? Not to worry, Wolf Trap even offers a co-operative class for toddlers and adults called Baby Artsplay. We're awesome, I know.

Make sure you stop by tomorrow for my inaugural Video of the Week. I have also included an RSS feed up to the right, so make sure to add this blog to your news feeder of choice in order to stay on top of each post.

Until then,

Graham

From Beethoven's 9th to Bohemian Rhapsody

Their name says "California", implying a very genre-specific surf music type of sound, but in reality, these three guitar wizards blend more musical styles than your ears might be able to handle. The only member of the California Guitar Trio with roots in the United States is Paul Richards, while Bert Lams hails from Belgium and Hideyo Moriya from Japan. The result? A fusion of avant-garde and progressive musical styles spanning classical, surf, pop, jazz, rock, blues, and world music genres, just to name a few.

The trio has a rabid following, so get yourself a ticket for tomorrow's (11/7) performance, and join the party where you'll hear them re-work classical pieces such as Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9", cover Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", and if you're lucky....Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird"! Below is a Youtube video of the trio with their frighteningly precise cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" with some audience participation. This could be you tomorrow.



I'm going to start having a Youtube video of the week, which will always be posted on Friday. So be on the look out for random collections of music videos, comedy sketches, and other media.

later on,

Graham

Maybe we Should be Thankful she's Never Gotten the Credit she Deserves...

Hopefully you were all able to check out the shows that I recommended for the past week, especially Ms. Bettye LaVette last Wednesday, 10/31. One guy that did make it out was Washington Post music critic Chris Klimek, who made his first stop at The Barns, after reviewing several of our Filene Center productions this past summer. I think it's safe to say that he enjoyed LaVette's set. Check out his review here.

I'd like to observe a quick moment of cyberspace silence (no web surfing for 30 seconds!) for Nickel Creek, the bluegrass trio comprised of mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, and brother/sister Sara and Sean Watkins on the fiddle and guitar respectively. Still ranking as one of the top 5 live performances I have EVER seen at Lollapalooza 2006, the California based phenoms will be taking an indefinite hiatus to pursue solo projects. Normally this decision would not make a whole lot of sense considering that all three of them are under the age of 30 which would indicate their creative peak is yet to come, but they have been playing together since 1989 (Thile and Sara Watkins were 8, Sean was 12) which is a very long time for most bands in this era.

Their last record, Why Should the Fire Die was arguably their best to date and all three agree that they should make their triumphant exit while at the top of their game. I mean, I get this, I do, but it's a bit like the Sopranos in the sense that all the band/cast members are so ridiculously talented, how can they possibly think they cannot surpass this level of production? Regardless, a little of my soul fades away everytime one of my favorite groups disbands, and it's been happening entirely too much lately! Chris Thile appeared at The Barns in the fall of 2006 with Mike Marshall and Darol Anger, which I somehow didn't know about, mostly because I wasn't with Wolf Trap at the time, but hopefully we'll get him back at some point soon. If you weren't able to make it to Nickel Creek's Friday show at the 9:30 club, you can listen to NPR's webcast by accessing this link.

Some great new shows have been added to our Barns season. Don't miss John Jorgenson Quintet (January 10), Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys (January 30), Last Train Home (February 10), and Austin Lounge Lizards (March 20). Tickets on sale this Friday, November 9 at 10 am.

Talk soon,

Graham