String Theory Media

Props

Wow. We're floating on air over here following No Depression's brand new review of "Last Train Home Live At IOTA" DVD, our co-production with Red Beet Records. The amazoring Barry Mazor writes that the disc "captures, very well, a typically varied and smart performance...a sterling example of what indie bands and filmmakers can do together...The cameras, like the guitars, steel, horns and keyboards, are in the right place at the right time doing the right thing." Check out more about the DVD at Last Train Home's merch site. We appreciate the kind words more than you know.

Hot Doc Alert: Bela in Africa

Here's a teaser of a film I'm looking forward to, Throw Down Your Heart by Sascha Paladino. He does have an advantage in that he's Bela's brother, but he's a seriously good filmmaker too. If you've never seen his Bela/Edgar Meyer film Obstinato, do yourself a favor.

Air Castle makes the Scene

Thanks to the Nashville Scene for a nice review yesterday of Air Castle of the South. Great timing because coming up next week, on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. I'll be reading and signing at Barnes & Noble Cool Springs in Brentwood. There will be discussion and Q&A, so please come on down.

Casualties

Word went out yesterday that No Depression magazine is going to cease publication after 13 years and more than seventy issues. This is dreadful news that brings home a new kind of specificity and tragedy to the ongoing immolation of the music business. No Depression is a spectacular magazine, graphically and editorially. It has been the singular news outlet about a vital vein of American music that is famously difficult to name but that is saturated with genuine artistry and that actually builds on and enriches our culture. I read No Depression, and I’m proud to say I wrote for it. Grant Alden and Peter Blackstock are some of the most talented and dedicated journalists I’ve ever seen work. The idea that they’re asking themselves ‘Gee, what now?’ at the stage they are in their distinguished careers is infuriating.

Two new radio stories

After some time working on other projects, I got busy with some stories for our fabulous WPLN (are you a member?) which aired my profile of rock-turned-gospel singer Mike Farris yesterday and my piece about classical singer Karen Parks and her remarkable showcase for the work of forgotten African-American composer Harry T. Burleigh today. Both perform in Nashville this weekend, Farris tonight at Mercy Lounge, Parks Saturday night at Turner Hall at Vanderbilt.

Wish I'd Said That Dept.

There's a great batch of letters to the New York Times today about a Bernard Holland article about the horrible crime of classical musicians who dare to get overly emotive called "When Histrionics Undermine the Music and the Pianist." Best line from Tim Chadwick of Santa Monica:

Music is not experienced with just one sense. It is heard and seen and touched, and when it gets real funky, it can be smelled.

Election Day Songs

I'm convinced. Barack Obama should be elected president. Yes, it's still fuzzy what kind of CHANGE he'd bring, but he's smart, accomplished and inspiring in a way I don't think I've seen in my lifetime of caring about politics. I think only he is capable of presenting the warring factions of our many public matters with new paradigms and a new sense of possibility. I'll be proud to vote for him on Super Tuesday.

I was always ambivalent about Hillary Clinton, and I wasn't encouraged when her supporters voted to make her campaign song something by Celine Dion. And now, music is offering some clues as to the heart and soul of Obama's campaign. Many by now have seen will.i.am's "Yes We Can" video, but I was captivated by "Fired Up, Ready To Go, a collaboration out of Seattle. This mini doc is rousing and so very String Theory. Nice job.

Making Fired Up, Ready to Go

Add to My Profile | More Videos

That popularity thing again

Matt Rosoff ponders what makes music catch fire HERE. He says researcher Duncan Watts "strongly disputes the theory, put forth by Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point and beloved by marketers, that a select group of so-called "Influencers" are the main force behind fast-moving trends." This is fascinating stuff. It's the lifeblood of our culture, yet we don't really know much about what happens when quality and popularity merge. Usually they're each out stumbling along on their own, arbitrarily doling out good and bad luck to creators, some of whom get much more, or less, than they deserve.