- Lance Brown is an artist, actor, musician and song writer who has lived by his wits and creativity since 1977. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Denver and studied music composition, theory and performance for 3 semesters at the University of Maine under Roswell Rudd, jazz trombonist of Berkley School of Music fame. His songwriting education came from 4 years in the US Navy, 4 years as a social worker in a state institution for the mentally challenged and the various life experiences he has gleaned from traveling as a working actor and musician for the last 22 years. His mainstay has been a one-person show called "Will Rogers Now" which he has toured nationwide for the last 22 years. During all this time he has been a prolific songwriter penning pieces ranging from the patently absurd to the deeply philosophical. On the absurd end he and collaborator Steve Wellman created the satirical "Somewhat Fractured History of the World Show" which was billed as a history of the world from the Big Bang to the present in silly songs and stupid music. Lance performed that show nationwide for 10 years. Lance's satirical songs have found their way onto the "Dr. Demento Show" out of Los Angeles ("Buzzards in Love" "Soap on a Rope") and many local radio stations WBEZ, WFMT and WNUR ("The Dan Ryan Blues). He also performs around Chicago with his Lance Brown Group playing his own form of bluesy jazz and jazzy blues.
YouTube is a place I've chosen to share my little stories through the songs I write. Many of the songs you'll find here are merely fictional, however most of them have a good message or two that may be useful in daily perceptions of life.
Many of the songs I share though truly do portray a pretty accurate landscape of my life. You'll find songs from my early days growing up in southern, California to the years when we spent summers picking strawberries in northern Michigan - our first year in Michigan was brutal, in the winter of 69 living out of a trailer on the side of streets and alleyways in the heart of Detroit. We were looking for a place to park our 38 foot Kencraft trailer that would be our home for the next 5 years in a little town called Holly, that was about 20 miles south of Flint.
My songs will take you to the days I was serving in the United States Air Force, to my days working at the Edwards AFB Flight Test Center.
My early years spent working as an aircraft mechanic swiftly took me up the ladder in management and provided a pretty decent living for my family.
I met my wife Kanchana "Noy" one sunny afternoon in 1982 while she was working as a cook at the terminal snack bar that was walking distance from the flightline where I was turning wrenches on C-141 Starlifter Aircrafts. Our eyes met, we shared some small talk, went on a few dates after that and now here we are still together after 28 years, and you know what? we're still having a real good time, laughing and sharing our every waking moment with our friends, family and animals...Fluffy the cat, Bowie the big white dog, Spike the little bad ass min-pin and all our wonderful friends outside.
So here we are, fortunate to be living the humble life that we are and now I have a place to share my little stories again. I'm still writing songs and have become even more inspired after meeting some very good people on youtube. If you've come to visit and are seeking a friendly place to visit where good things can be shared, then please subscribe and invite me to your channel, I love sharing good words whenever I can. Thank you for visiting our little place and we look forward to having you come back. Much peace and love,...Mark and Noy
My Five Simple Maxims for Living:
1. Try to free your heart from hatred. 2. Try to free yourself from worries. 3. Live simply. 4. Give more. 5. Expect less.
"After all this is done, all that really matters Is how well we've treated each other"
"never laugh at another persons dreams, for it may very well be the only hope they have left"
Epyllion was an alternative rock band heralding from Ottawa, Canada.
Eric St-Cyr, Hitsman and Ryan Cahill first formed the band in early 2008, after their 9 member progressive rock group 'The Conservatory For The Regression of Sound' fell apart. Chris Zimmerman on drums was soon added, and Eric's brother Jay St-Cyr joined in on keyboards, guitars, and whatever else he could muster. "We don't make music with the plans on touring stadiums, we're very realistic" explains front man Eric St-Cyr. "We enjoy our music too much to be able to think even past playing it for the joy of playing it. It is, however, fun to see other people enjoy it as much as we do".
The songs on their first studio album 'Chance Encouters' summarizes the bands influences from over the past 50 years and puts them into context. Eric St-Cyr "Hopefully everybody else gets as much out of the album as we do - it would be an honour for us to be relatable to complete strangers".
The album 'Chance Encounters', while not their first release, was their first proper studio album, and was released in 2012.
Is there anybody out there that still enjoys the pleasure of listening to good music?! We believe so, and that is why we layer our music with waves of pleasant sounds and relaxing vibrations. Our music is a way for us to make peace in the World and within ourselves. So come on in, sit down with a good cup of tea and leave your worldly troubles behind. Welcome back to the World of tranquility and gentle rhythms. Welcome to our place.
The 1970's heralded an era of newfound discovery and pride in Newfoundland culture and identity. The Folklore department at M.U.N. was thriving, people stopped being ashamed of the way they spoke, and rebelled against the newfie joke. We were in sync with a roots movement all over the world, as people began to look inward to their own people for inspiration.
Noel Dinn, who had defied all odds and led his 60's rock band, Lukey's Boat, from Newfoundland to Montreal, on to London England, now began to assemble a group of musicians to carry on his vision of greatness, a band that would mingle his incredible powerful rock drumming with the music of the people. This group became Figgy Duff.
But our source of uniqueness and strength was also our obstacle. There was no music industry on this windswept island in the North Atlantic in the 60's and 70's. The energy, courage and determination it took to blaze the Celtic trail across Canada and abroad in the 1970's is utterly astonishing.
In the very early years we traveled what seemed like every square inch of Newfoundland, seeking songs and music from people. We played community halls, clubs, festivals, kitchens, full houses, empty houses, to audiences indifferent, hostile, enraptured. In St. John's we were eyed with suspicion by the folklore set who were re-discovering their uncle's oil skins and boots and cape-anns battened down. We favored velvet and lace, and were vegetarians who smelled strongly of garlic and had a taste of poetry and copious amounts of fine wine. I remember a maze of diner parties with songs, music, laughter, and discussions far into the night of Blake & Yeats and Newfoundland nationalism, with Neil, Nelson, Genevieve, John, Patricia, Anita, Mike, Peter & more. Some of the folk purists were downright outraged that their precious folk music was being tampered with by long haired "urban intellectuals" using drums and amps. But in those years we were measured our success by the joy we brought to the people from whom we learned the music - who instinctively understood that you can't cram a delicate and beautiful modal melody into a three-chord country format.
The road became a way of life. We thought nothing then of picking up and hopping aboard the old Chevy van, perched on and between P.A. speakers, and driving to Toronto and beyond, gone for months on end, picking up gigs as we went. We crisscrossed Canada more times than I care to remember, sometimes on organized, well-paid tours, but more often on a wing and a prayer.
In later years we began to turn our attention more to original music. Noel in particular needed more forms of expression - his poetry and original music were crying for a voice. Times got hard - the record industry was unkind to us. The traditional players fell away to pursue their own interests - Dave formed "Rawlin's Cross" and Kelly and Frank "The Plankerdown Band"' and on July 26, 1993, Noel Dinn passed away. But not before he had accomplished more in his 45 years then most do in a lifetime. In the last two years of his life he produced three albums with ex-members and close friends of "The Duff" - the exquisite "Color of Amber", the joyful and spirited "Vive La Rose" and the dark and poignant "Downstream".
Blackberry Wednesday arrived on the music scene in 2007 with a fresh sound that can only be found in Memphis. A blend of pop, rock, and a little Memphis soul that set them apart from other bands. The Band played many Memphis venues such as Hard Rock Cafe, New Daisy Theater, Newby’s, and Minglewood Hall, and also made several appearances on the “Live @ 9” show on WREG Memphis Channel 3.
In early 2012, Blackberry Wednesday released their debut CD “Start Again” and then went on a short tour. Blackberry Wednesday have since disbanded.
In early 2009, like thousands of artists, 3-time Grammy nominee Peter Case found himself ill and without insurance. Following sudden open-heart surgery, Case walked out of the hospital with two things: a renewed vigor for life and music, and a six-figure medical bill he couldn’t pay. Case’s fans and peers immediately rallied to organize a benefit concert to help with his obligations. Recovered physically and emboldened by the generosity of his fans and friends, Peter recorded the raucous and dirty electric blues rock of Wig! in only three days.
"The guitar makes a band," says singer-songwriter-guitarist Peter Case. Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John is Case's direct shot from the frontlines of our times, delivered by one man, a guitar (and a handful of friends).
"It's the sound of freedom, possibility, companionship, adventure, sex, romance, anti-authoritarianism, life against death, positive social action, satire of the powerful, humor through trouble and despair, with no need for boxes of metal beats, or for filling in the blanks with by-rote-rock-arrangements, your-message-here, walls-of-deadening-sound."
Can somebody please get a witness? Leave it to Case to say what we've all been thinking. Ever since he grabbed on to rock's roots as a teenaged street singer, he's used his guitar to tell it as he sees it and reported from the margins and outskirts of society for 30 years.
"I've always wanted to make a true solo record in the tradition of the ones I love, from Jimmie Rodgers' Never No Mo Blues and Robert Johnson's 29 songs to Woody Guthrie's Dust Bowl Ballads and Dylan's first four albums, on through Bert Jansch's and Nick Drake's solo recordings," he says. "Sleepy John Estes's Broke and Hungry has been an inspiration to me ever since I started playing."
It was with that spirit he took to the studio in San Francisco a couple days before the November '06 election with producer Ian Brennan (Ramblin' Jack Elliot's Grammy-nominated I Stand Alone), finished up on a few warm West LA days in early '07 and came up with his most pointed album yet. Case covers the waterfront, from the vast cultural shifts on "The Open Road" and law disorder in "Million Dollars Bail" to the personal and social dilemmas posed by the ne'er do well in "Palookaville" and the homeless woman he wishes well in "Underneath the Stars."
The mystical "Every 24 Hours" features guitar and vocals by folk-rock giant Richard Thompson whom Case has long admired from afar but has become acquainted with over time in the folk wars as a fellow traveling guitar man. "One of the best gigs I ever saw in my life was Richard and Danny Thompson, just the two of them, at McCabe's a few years back. He's one of the greats. I showed the tune to him at the session, and we immediately recorded it, I think on the second take."
Bluesman Carlos Guitarlos, an old friend of Pete's from LA punk days as well as a fellow seasoned street singer joins in on "Underneath the Stars." "I met the subject of this story in a park near our house," says Case. "It's for the ones who quietly made their way to the bottom of U.S. society."
He's accompanied on guitar by Norm Hamlet (leader of Merle Haggard's the Strangers) on "That Soul Twist," and by Chicana singer-songwriter Lysa Flores who adds her voice to "Sombrightmorninblues."
"Ain't Gonna Worry No More" is at once a dream and nightmare of our times; its full version was originally 20 minutes long. "This performance is the first ever captured on tape," reveals Case.
Case says, "Million Dollars Bail" the story of two kinds of justice, goes down well in the bars and taverns he plays throughout the United States. "Maybe the Two Americas thing is driving people to drink," he says.
The album also features two vintage picks: "Just Hangin' On" the first "real song" Case ever wrote, back in 1970 and "Get Away Blues," a traditional tune that Case adapted from the 1920s Robert Wilkins recording.
Case departed his rock'n'soul band the Plimsouls in 1984, just after they hit with the jangle-rock standard "A Million Miles Away," with the intention of retuning to the traditional music he loved. The first from the punk generation to get back to basics and perform roots-oriented music as a solo performer, he was ahead of the oncoming singer-songwriter explosion by miles.
"I felt like I was reinventing the wheel," says Case of the switch, but smart audiences came along for the ride and he'd opened the door through which other rockers would soon follow. His self-titled T-Bone Burnett-produced solo album (featuring contributions from Ry Cooder, David Hidalgo and Jim Keltner) earned yearend honors and a Grammy nod for its songs detailing the failure of the American Dream. Set to a tribal folk percussive blend of blues, country and rock'n'roll, echoes of its theme and sound run through his entire songbook.
From "Poor Old Tom" and "Two Angels" to "Beyond the Blues" and "Blue Distance," Case's songs resonate for artists as diverse as Robert Earl Keen, the Flamin' Groovies and Chris Smither, to Alejandro Escovedo and James McMurtry, all of whom have covered him. Over the last two decades, Case has recorded nine solo albums including the highly acclaimed and influential The Man with the Blue Post-Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar, the dreamscape Torn Again and the rock solid Case classics Full Service No Waiting and Flying Saucer Blues. His own label, Travellin' Light released two beloved collections of stripped down roots music: Peter Case Sings Like Hell and Thank You St. Jude and the 21st Century has seen the psycho-Delhi-blues of Beeline,and 2004's politically motivated tracks, "Wake up Call" and "My Generation's Golden Handcuff Blues," compiled on the best of set, Who's Gonna Go Your Crooked Mile. Grammy nominated again in 2001 as producer of Avalon Blues, a tribute to the music of his country blues hero, Mississippi John Hurt. In 2003 his peers honored him with A Case for Case, a three-disc set of forty-seven singing-songwriters, including Dave Alvin, Victoria Williams, Joe Ely, and Amy Rigby, among others, saluting Case's peerless songcraft. In early 2007, the first installment of his 4 part memoir As Far As You Can Get Without a Passport was published in book form, telling of his life as a San Francisco street singer, busking for beers and living in a junkyard. Case calls it "The anti-Chronicles, referring to Bob Dylan's book. "Dylan went east and made it to the top. I came west and went straight to the bottom."
Eventually working his way up, after countless nights of roadwork, Case has met not only the ghosts of a thousand truck drivers but plenty of real people, from Mississippi to Montana who appreciate a true song when they hear one, folks who treasure the words of a writer who speaks truth and directly to their dashed hopes, deferred dreams and the promise of a some bright morning on the horizon.
"Vinyl records playing in the sunrise or late at night on teenage apartment phonographs, also heard on the sacred Sunday evening 'Folkscene' broadcast," says Case. "That's what this music started as, for me: a key to the highway, an opening of the doors on the world. It's a sound that left my heart room to grow and a connection from today's world to a past that's vanished, but never that far away."
Management: Dan Perloff PO Box 541 Venice, CA 90294 1-310-402-7940 danperloff@me.com
Travis Furlong picked up his first guitar at age 3 and promptly jumped on it. He picked up a new one in his early teens and by the time he quit school he discovered Stevie Ray Vaughan and BB King, not even realizing yet he'd discovered the blues. Over the years, Travis put together various bands, including the popular local Moncton group, the Botsford Blues Band.
Drummer Ron Dupuis had been one of the founding members of 1755, a now legendary band remembered fondly by fans as The Beatles of Acadia. Bass player Paul Boudreau had performed in some 3,500 gigs and countless bands including the regionally well known Aguafuge and Boulevard as well as being an accomplished studio musician. Ron brought in high school chum Roger Cormier (B3, piano) who had been touring the country for about 25 years. Ron and Roger had played together in a band in high school, practically their first band.
Within a year or so of experimenting with different grooves and sounds, the original sax player left and was replaced by the high energy Don Rodgers of Molly Oliver fame. Don not only plays keyboards and sax, he also brings a singing style and feel that he says has been influenced by Billy Joel, Elton John, Burton Cummings and a long list of R&B performers. Finally the current lineup fell into place and the sound started to really gel. Together they fused a blend of classic rock and roll, Acadian, Zydeco, Blues and R&B sounds, creating Glamour Puss.
They were originally known as Glamour Puss Blues Band. The name Glamour Puss came out of a comment Travis made when he saw someone who was less than glamorous in one of those glam Forties flicks and said, "He's no Glamour Puss". Ron agreed and thought it would be a great name for a blues band since blues is known to have more substance than glitter.
Bandleader Ron Dupuis says "We started out with the simple goal of playing covers and older songs we all liked and writing new tunes in our own unique style and tempo. It was a twofold kind of thing, work on our live sound and get ready for our first recording." The resulting self-titled album, produced by Hayward Parrott, took one year and was released in April 1997. Glamour Puss had jumped onto the Canadian music scene with its debut album.
The album's sound was pure and simple and the band played with a zest that has counted as major influences rock and blues greats like Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, George Thorogood, Albert Collins, Chuck Berry, Elmore James, Buckwheat Zydeco, Clifton Chenier, Keith Richards and, of course, BB King.
Today the Glamour Puss sound features a pulsing rhythm section, driven by Ron (drums) and Paul (bass), solid keyboards by Roger (B3, piano) and Don (organ) additionally belting it out on tenor sax and Travis with single string runs, "bent" chords and left hand vibrato influenced by B.B. King, with a little bit of a Texas rockin' edge and all five members trading off lead vocals. Nothing else sounds like Glamour Puss, always straight-from-the-heart.
Glamour Puss has built a solid fan base in their native Atlantic Canada with their blues-injected, zydeco-tinged rock. Energy, originality and just plain fun best describes the party band Glamour Puss has become.
2006 Bluesman's Prayer nominated at the 6th Independent Music Awards, U.S.A
2006 ECMA Nomination for Blues Recording of the Year Bluesman's Prayer
10th Annual Real Blues Awards Announced: 2004 Best Blues Release (Canadian Based Artists) Wire & Wood 2004 Best Blues Release (Canadian Artist) Wire & Wood 2004 Best Blues release (Band) Wire & Wood 2004 Top Blues Manager Bruce Morel
2004 2 ECMA Nominations Best Blues Recording, Group of the Year
2003 Maple Blues Nominations for Wire & Wood: Electric Act of the Year, Bass Player of the Year, Recording of the Year Wire & Wood, Producer of the Year Michael Jerome Browne
2003 Harvest Jazz & Blues Dutch Mason Award recipients
2002 Toronto Blues Society Maple Blues Awards nominations for Entertainer of the Year / Electric Act of the Year
2002 ECMA Blues Artist and Group of the Year Winners for 3rd CD Electric & Alive
2000 6th Annual Real Blues Awards: Best Blues Band, Best Blues Songwriter, Best Blues Song - But they Should, Best Slide Guitarist - Travis Furlong, Blues du Jour #2 on top 10 of the Year
2000 Toronto Blues Society Maple Blues Awards nominations for Recording of the Year and Electric Act of the Year
2000 ECMA Blues Artist / Group of the Year Winners for 2nd CD Blues du Jour
1998 ECMA Blues / Gospel Artist Winners for 1st CD Glamour Puss Blues Band
Alexa Lusader was born October 28th, 1993 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and raised in metro Detroit. Alexa realized her passion for singing at a young age and began performing for her family at the age of two. Growing up listening to country and old time jazzy blues singers such as Patsy Cline and Ella Fitzgerald, it wasn't long before Alexa developed her own unique style of singing termed Bluestree, a sultry mix of country and blues. At the age of 13, Alexa began writing her own music and currently has seven original songs including "Bad Boy", "So Delicious", "Mr. Trouble","I'm Free", "Soldier's Boots", "Best Friend", and "Is This Love".
With the launch of her official website and her continued hard work in writing and performing her music, Alexa's career as an original artist is just beginning. Currently she is working on writing and recording her first CD. As a pioneer in the Bluestree genre, Alexa looks forward to being able to share her music with the world. Visit AlexaLusader.com often to hear Alexa's latest music and news!
The groundbreaking live music multimedia project, X: THC (X: The Human Condition), combines hypnotic, surreal soundscapes with phantasmagorical, emotionally charged visual storytelling to create a unique and inspiring music and film experience.
If you've ever had the experience of feeling alone, alienated or "different"... Hypnotical Entertainment invites you to discover the unique music and film experience of X: THC.
Synthesizing music, film, and an unforgettable live experience, this innovative indie band, X: THC is evolving and redefining how a live show is presented and experienced within the model of the music industry.
X: THC combines chilled, shattered beats, soulful vibe, and edgy indie rock songwriting to create a lush, ambient soundscape. The songs conjure shades of post-punk, new wave, and electronica - yet they weave a seductive, hypnotic sound all their own.
The immersive, live concert performance is accompanied by X: THC's original film, X: The Human Condition, whose wistful and mysterious imagery creates an utterly unique and uplifting experience. Citing Tim Burton, Michel Gondry, Jean Cocteau, and The Brothers Grimm as major influences, X: THC's visual companion to the performance is a surrealistic, psychological trip inside the human subconscious. Post-performance, you will be invited to access hidden pages within the website, to uncover the mysteries and meanings on a deeper level ...
X: THC's music is currently in rotation onboard Continental Airlines, Aircalin Airlines, and on over 100 college radio stations nationwide.
X: THC's Michael Nova is an existential explorer. A powerful performer, composer, filmmaker and producer, Michael has released his multimedia music and film project, X: The Human Condition with a DIY (do it yourself) aesthetic that persevered after over a decade of, at times, seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Michael worked for 12 years, self-funding X: The Human Condition on a shoestring budget, with the help of hundreds of actors, musicians and crew, who volunteered or cut their rates to be a part of the project, because of the message of the music and film. His goal was to do "one good thing"- to create a live music and film project that would inspire people to overcome challenges in life, but he was about to face more challenges than he ever imagined.
With no previous experience in film, Michael directed, and was in the process of co-editing the film, when things took a turn for the worse. Previously in perfect health, he suddenly developed multiple serious ailments.
He lost his vision, and was also diagnosed with kidney disease, and at high risk for heart disease. X: The Human Condition seemed doomed. But though all this, something incredible was happening. The story of X: The Human Condition was now reflecting through to his real life and his real life experience entered into the story. They were coming together in a twisted, and artfully unexpected way.
Through the stress and challenges of producing X: The Human Condition, Michael didn't take the time to notice little things like the gift of sight and normal functioning of the body. Things that he was now forced to see, through severely impaired vision.
His experience became part of X: The Human Condition. It was with this realization that he underwent months of intense rehabilitation, strengthening his resolve to complete this "one good thing". A full recovery was not expected, but it is amazing what you can do when you are passionate about something.
With the goal of inspiring people through the music and film, the behind the scenes story of X: The Human Condition now became an inspiration in itself. The project is a tribute to the strength of the human spirit.
In order to affect concrete change in others' lives, X: THC is donating a portion of proceeds from ticket and album sales of X: The Human Condition to
X: THC's musicians are diverse artists who have produced sound design for HBO, Showtime, ABC, SciFi, USA, and Oxygen networks, performed with, or played on albums by Public Enemy, Popa Chubby, DJ Red Alert, The NY Chamber Opera, and shared stages with Costanza, Mudville, Natalie Walker, BM Linx, J.Viewz, and many more.
X: The Human Condition's production team has produced projects for Shaggy, Todd Terry, India, Louie Vega, The National Football League, The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, and Latin America Superstar Ednita Nazario.
X: The Human Condition 's actors have appeared in productions such as Saturday Night Live, Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, Morgan Spurlock's Phoenix, Guiding Light, Gossip Girl, Moon Over Miami, and the feature films The Good Shepherd, Forgiven and Final Analysis.
PRESS QUOTES
“An amazing album… may build on many of the stepping stones of the past, but is definitely an album and concept that treads towards the future, and new possibilities in ways that many artists have not even started to consider" - SlowdiveMusic Blog
“This is a magical album…Seductive chill-out goodness that easily rivals the like work of Bjork and Massive Attack in terms of impact and diversity...X: THC are probably the kind of band that you’d enjoy so much you would want to keep them to yourself, only you won’t be able to, because you’re so damned excited about the music."- SphereMag, UK
”This is electronica at its best and this is the type of laid back, emotional music that draws you in and keeps you listening...Beautifully executed " –BlogCritics
"The DVD is awesome and fills one with a sense of yearning...wonderful exploration into relationships and searching for a change...I was captivated." -Pop Syndicate
"It is more than just an album it is an audio-visual assault on your senses....a brilliant work of art." -TheScene, AU
" X: THC is simply brilliant when it attempts synthesis of the good vibes of eighties pop with the bleak downtempo moodiness of trip-hop...the ambience that the music creates is as vital as the music itself... " - Daily Vault
“X: The Human Condition is an emotionally cataclysmic event that will resonate in your subconscious... In a world where live action accompanied by video stimulus is the new trend…Michael Nova's avant-garde production remains unparalleled.” - UnratedNYC Magazine
"Deeply and genuinely moving" –Popdose
"The realization of X: The Human Condition is absolutely remarkable...a fascinating experience" -Side-Line Music Magazine
All I want to do is create music so that's what I'm going to do.
When i first played guitar at around 14, I wanted to be Eddie Van Halen. Then I heard Neil Young and wanted to be a folk singer. A couple of years later, I discovered that I loved writing songs.
Songs that are about the people and places that I've encountered throughout my life. Experiences and wishful dreams alike. I'm attending Berklee College of Music right now to see what I've missed out...formally. But what I really want to do is share my music with all of you. ~ Salvadore Manalo,
