It looks as if our resident shaman Jimmy Page is planning a solo tour for 2013. In addition, he is the cover boy for the December 6 issue of RollingStone Mag where it’s titled “Jimmy Page Looks Back.” The interesting sub title states “Led Zeppelin’s leader looks back on his band’s epic ride and sudden, tragic demise-and the shadow it has cast on life ever since.” Food for thought here is “Once you’ve made a bid for power there is no turning back.” And so it is with his emergence with a solo tour for 2013. Since one of my icons has passed away, it is good to know that Magic Man Jimmy Page is still on his path of shamanistic healing with his hypnotic stylings. More on this article and more info on the tour another day. Still hangin at StarBucks in Noho and found out that you cannot go to this place and expect to get a lid replacement for a travel mug that is over 10 years old…DRAT. The travel mug was a gift from our Punk-ish son Joe of the late “Skinflick” band.
NFTF’s Music Maven has made the leap to the new happening place to be…NoHo Arts District! You heard it friends, this place is heating up and has a myriad of fun things to offer up. Actor Harry Hamlin made a recent appearance on Channel 5′s Morning Show where he was promoting his current play “One November Yankee” which just happens to be next door to local fab place to be “StarBucks”. Anyway, during his plug Hamlin made the pronouncement that NoHo Arts District is “THE” happening place to be. He even went so far as to say that “StarBucks” is on the cool map of NoHo. Thank you Harry Hamlin for plugging my new home. This very good play is further enhanced by the riveting talents of Lorretta Switt, best know as the infamous “Hot Lips” Houlahan of MASH fame. People I know that populate NoHo tell me that there are several famous faces that show up in the district from “The Federal” which is an old bank, to “PitFire Pizza”, “Starbucks” and “Skinny’s Lounge”.
It would be really cool to spot Brad Pitt or his wife hanging here or even the many well known dancers that populate the area. When Music Maven used to take class, it was Perry’s Dance Studio in Hollywood with Bobby Banis. Banis would also teach class at Tramaine’s in Studio City, and now Tramaine’s is now in NoHo! Are you getting the picture yet? Yep, lots of funk and swag here in the NoHo Arts District.
Gotta tell ya tho that there is an interesting breed of “creative” types that stroll around here for all to puzzle over.
The Music Maven’s move went smooth and was very blessed to have found all of our pictures of AIM activist, actor, and recording personality Russell Means. When we heard of his passing it was a crushing blow, but we began to remember our times with Means and the great times we shared. While going through our things we also found our letters from him and his “Where White Men Fear To Tread” book which he so thoughtfully autographed. There are a few Ray Bradbury works that were autographed that cannot be located right now which does sadden us. Russell Means is larger than death and will always be with us as he soars with the Great Mystery. Good Bye Russell Means…RIP
Highway Down will soon be celebrating their record release party at a local winery which is a novel idea if we have ever heard of. This talented band is moving on and getting ready to begin touring.
Keep your heads held high friends and keep on keepin’ on.
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Manifest Destiny” Gap new Shirts logo Did they take Paul Frank design class to insult the Indians community ?
” The number of Indians who died because of what we called Manifest Destiny has always been
a subject of debate among scholars, but I believe that the majority of informed historians and
anthropologists now agree that between seven million and eighteen million indigenous people
were
living in what is today the continental United States when Columbus arrived in the New
World. By 1924 there were fewer than 240,000 left; their ancestors had been victimized by
centuries of disease, starvation and systematic slaughter…
World. By 1924 there were fewer than 240,000 left; their ancestors had been victimized by
centuries of disease, starvation and systematic slaughter…
To my mind the killing of Indians was an even larger crime against humanity than the Holocaust;
not only did it take more lives, but it was a crime committed over centuries that continues in some ways to this day…
But we refuse to think of ourselves as a nation that committed genocide.”
Marlon Brando,
“Songs My Mother Taught Me”, 1994.
NFTF was given the task of helping to convince Gap to not only pull their Manifest Of Destiny t-shirts from their on line store, but also convince them to pull the shirts from the stores. It didn’t take long to do that, and Gap did get in touch with NFTF to state that the offensive t-shirts were being pulled off of the market completely. However, the t-shirts creator Mark McNairy tweeted “Manifest Of Destiny Survival Of the Fittest”. This sickens NFTF.
It sickens us because of the depth of ignorance that this statement flows from. McNairy did apologize on Twitter and said that he was deeply wounded about being called a racist. It may well be true that he did not expect to get the reaction that he did when he made his tweet, but it was no accident. It was an act of complete ignorance of the writ of the Manifest Of Destiny. The Manifest Of Destiny is an ideology and nothing more, and yet it shaped this nation’s acquisition of land from sea to shining sea. It was published in a newspaper and grew from there just like the Monroe Doctrine grew from a speech to a call to arms for American Foreign Business Interests.
Neither of these historic relics was made into a law, but were tacit in the landed gentries’ rule of thumb to anything that gets in it’s way. How many of the informed and college educated remember these two items? President Andrew Jackson embraced the writ of Manifest Of Destiny to the point that he had soldiers kill and skin the buffalo that roamed the plains in order to wipe out the Plains Nations. The very idea of this makes NFTF violently ill and finds it hard to get this image out of our mind. How can the use of the writ of Manifest Of Destiny be a matter of survival of the fittest? When the settlers came armed with weapons such as guns, small pox and liquor what were they supposed to do? The Native People’s had never had to deal with these things and were not equipped to deal with them. They did develop techniques over a period of time, but please do not use that as a way to defend the writ of the Manifest Of Destiny. Just as Christ once said “Before Abraham, I was”, before the settlers the Native Americans were.
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If there ever was any doubt about hard rock songstress Patti Smith being able to carry the mantle that she once held as rock n’ roll trailblazer it was erased tonight at Amoeba Records in Hollywood. Smith teased her adoring audience with tales of revelry and riot, and what was she doing wearing that jayhawk pen from Hunger Games?
Gotta hand it to Smith, she still rocks hard and is still the master craftswoman when it comes to spinning a tale. In a song from “Easter” she does a Babelogue and in the rant she proclaims that she is a Comanche which explains NFTF’s Music Maven wanting to throw down right then and there and proclaim her as Shaman of Rock. Thank you Amoeba for bring bringing this master song crafter to Hollywood.
During the tuning rehearsal her band played a tasty tidbit called “Ghost Dance” from her breakthrough LP “Easter” from 1988 which sparked all of those Shaman of rock sensations coursing through NFTF’s ever willing rockin’ heart. For those that do not understand Native American lore, there was a Ghost Dance movement in the 1800′s which was driven by a Native American tribesman called Wovaca. This movement spread throughout the Native American population and fueled a movement of rebirth hence the theme “we shall live again. The Ghost Dance movement went from a Miwok tribe in Yosemite, CA to the Plains of the Dakotas.
Smith has not lost her touch and flair for storytelling and the crowd will surely testify to her ability to reach out to the older fans as well as new ones that came with parents and significant others, Smith has managed to transcend any generation gap. Smith’s new work is titled “Ganga” and rather then give a blow by blow account of her abilities as a song crafter, go to iTunes or Amoeba Records and purchase her latest offering as you will be glad you did.
After the show at Amoeba Records NFTF walked up to Cat N’ Fiddle to meet with new friend Nataraj Tribino. NFTF met Tribino at a recent NARIP mixer at Skinny’s Lounge in NoHo. Tribino is a very well known record producer and also a musical talent in his own right. Turns out that he has worked with Smith in the 90′s. Tribino has also worked with Maroon 5. Too much to process in one heck of a night. Safe to say that Tribino will be making a splash of his own pretty soon as he strives to expand his musical horizons. Sorry about the photos as Smith didn’t want us to use flash, hopefully a young fan that was there will send us better photos.
NFTF attended the National Association of Record Industry Professionals (NARIP) at Skinny’s Lounge in Noho Arts District and was really quite impressed with the turnout that bespeaks of Tess Taylor’s persuasive talents. For those that do not know who Tess Taylor is, she’s the President of NARIP. Attending mixers is a wonderful reality exit for NFTF and anyone else that cares to grab onto the tail of a comet and soar into a professional world of music. Actually, NFTF prefers this type of mixer to Saturday morning meetings/networking events.
Networking is a must in a business that can seem unfriendly and at best a man eating shark. While at this mixer chatting to professionals, NFTF had came to the realization that it has forged a 20 year relationship with Taylor that began in early 1990 when NFTF was fresh from the Rebuild LA project and was working with the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) Indian Education Program and assorted other associates in the LAUSD. In addition, NFTF was booking bands at it’s nightclub, and consulting up and coming local talent. During this time, NFTF attended a well known music industry meet and greet at UCLA which is where NFTF first met Taylor. At the time Taylor was President of The Los Angeles Music Network and was still working with MCA.
NFTF was so impressed with Taylor that we joined the LAMN on the spot. During this time NFTF had a newsletter rather than the blog that is NFTF today. In one of it’s newsletters was a blurb about the Adopt-A-School Program which caught Taylor’s eye and she asked for more for her LAMN’s newsletter. She published it on the front page.
Never under-estimate the power of a networking card, knowledge and a industry mixer. If you are lucky you will meet people such as Jerry Flattum whose wonderful e-mail is attached to this blog.
This story is not about the history of NARIP nor a testimony to the many professional attributes of Taylor. It is about mixers and the full potential of their value.
Hey Caroline:
Well, you sure turned out to be my anchor at the NARIP/Skinny’s get-together Wed nite…and I deeply thank you for that.
I’ve yet to master the art and science of how to handle oneself in such situations, with conversations endlessly interrupted by hugs and kisses and “Who the hell are you?”
From just a taste of what you told me, clearly you have an amazing history of covering music over the years, stories I am more than eager to here more of.
It is absolutely frightening coming into a city like LA with a pocket full of dreams and not know a single soul. Not only frightening, but foolish. So, there has to be a will-full determination that drives one to overcome fear and foolishness. Sure enough, it’s the love of music.
I don’t like specifying my love of music over the love of writing, but when it comes to selling yourself, you’re forced to say things like, “I write to help generate income to finance my recordings.” Truth is, I love to write period. But it is true, I’ve dedicated my life to music and came to LA to record in prep for licensing.
NARIP helped ground my entrance into LA and obviously provided an opportunity to meet some folks. They’re also helping me find work as a writer/editor while I get my act together.
Don’t ask how, but I ended up in a motel in Venice. I found myself driving thru Beverly Hills on Santa Monica Blvd. I’m so glad it was nite so I didn’t have to see all that wealth…but I could still feel it, ha!
I love performing, but came here with the specific purpose of re-recording my catalog in prep for licensing. I’ve got 2 songs mastered but over 40 songs in pre-production uploaded to my site and numerous other sites. Uploading to ReverbNation, SoundCloud, etc., is really in vain when the recordings are in pre-production. The idea was to provide a showcase for engineers and session players.
Nothing could be more frustrating than knowing how these songs will sound with new arrangements. I’m headed towards a World-Pop/Rock sound Not to mention Peter Gabriel and Sting, I got into yoga a few years back and it was a ride into uncharted musical waters like I never knew before. Jai Uttal is one example. One of my yoga teachers was also a belly dancer. Top off the Arabian sound with Bhangra and Bollywood, and sprinkle in a 20,000 sound library courtesy of Native Instruments and IK Multimedia (what they call, “sampling”), and you’ll get an idea of where I’m headed artistically.
Something like World Pop/Rock…or…Crossover.
I had a Pro Tools-based studio back in Florida but because of a family tragedy I lost everything. It was a sign from the Gods to get my butt to LA. I managed to do some work with session players out of Nashville and the LA area via remote. Two songs got mastered: “My Little Girl” and “Best Place Around.”
An album tentatively titled, Jugglers, is where I explore the full spectrum. I’m not a country artist, but written enough Country/Rock flavored tunes that I headed in the direction of an album called, You Don’t Have To Be Born In Nashville To Like Country.
I say album and not CD because I really wasn’t headed in the direction of a self-produced CD sold direct-to-consumer. Until I sign an artist contract, I’m more interested in producing a series of singles for licensing.
But, reality demands immediate attention so the 1st thing I need to do is find a job and a place to stay. I’ve been diligently hunting for work as a writer/editor, but at this stage, I’ll take any kind of work. I have a column on Technorati called Convergence In Entertainment. Recently published on MusicDish.com and MusicSupervisionCentral.com. I was just accepted into the new MBA in the Music Industry program at Henley Business School in England. I did an interview with the program director, Helen Gammons (links lead to interview). I don’t really want to go back to school, but I’m hoping getting accepted into such a unique program at a top business school will help leverage me in terms of finding work.
I sent an email to Monica Wild, not only to let her know how glad I was to meet her, but with the ulterior motive of perhaps getting invited to one of her networking get-togethers.
Goes without saying I’d love to get together again with you. Meanwhile, I know you’re good at emailing and I look forward to a dialog.
My website is JerryFlattum.com
Jerry Flattum
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Bright and early NFTF hiked it over to Capitol Records to be sure and find a suitable place to watch John Lennon’s birthday festivities at his Hollywood Walk Of Fame star this day. Wrong, misguided or deluded, we are not sure, but NFTF did mistakenly think that something would be there and there wasn’t even a petal. Magazine’s such as RollingStone felt Lennon’s birthday was worthy of a special collectors issue on him and other releases are anticipated, so how come not even Capitol Records felt motivated to honor his birth? NFTF was able to get a bit of dialogue with the keeper of the gate at the entry and he said that no one usually does anything until the day Lennon died. Hmmm, would that be the day music died that Don Mclean sang about?
What’s the fixation to MOURN a person’s death with celebrations and flowers at his star? Is everyone so tuned into negative feelings such as mourning the loss of someone that there is more of an acknowledgement on the day Lennon was murdered than when he was born? Had Lennon not been born there would not be the body of work to pay homage to him on a daily basis. Had Lennon not been born there would be no death to mourn in such a public manner. When a celebrity passes, it’s proper and fitting to fete the celebrity’s star with flowers, wreaths and pages of poetry. But, how about their birthday?
NFTF finds it galling that Capitol Records has chosen to ignore this day while instead their hallowed entry has a butt load of Beatle memorabilia that could have been put on display for this memorable consumer friendly day. Capitol Records could have made this a very profitable moment in time. Instead they chose to play ignorant, NFTF attempted to talk to them, deaf and dumb. With all the stuff they have, how about opening a mini museum? Or, better yet a museum to all of their talent after all they are historic landmark #18. How do they suppose they got to be like that. Just the architecture alone could not have solely done it.
NFTF’s advice for today is if you want to celebrate John Lennon’s birthday then go to Facebook and look at all of the postings from his fans, fan pages, Julian Lennon, and all other interested parties. Facebook is where the internet is surpassing Capitol Records and leaving the record company in the internet’s dust. NFTF is musing that perhaps this mentality is why the music business is floundering. They cannot get out of the box and color outside of the lines and use what they have to it’s fullest extent.
