The Track “Waiting for Magic” is featured on the brand new KINK.FM CD Sampler. I’m very psyched about this track from our Tea and Revenge album and am thankful that our fans rallied to have Dirty Martini included on the CD.

WHERE CAN I GET A COPY?
Pick up a copy of the complimentary CD starting Thursday, July 17, 2008 at Noon Tunes, Bridgeport Village Summer Concert Series and the KINK Friday Early Escape Cruise.

Last weekend I played main stage with Dirty Martini at the NW Pride festival on Portland’s water front park. I arrived at the gig early, checked-in back stage and ended up shooting the breeze with several veteran NW musicians before our set. One theme that kept popping up during these chats was how much the price of gas was affecting touring plans. Several of these artists as well as artists they knew were canceling entire tours because the price at the pump plus the mileage didn’t pencil out.

So the mantra of late has been that since bands no longer make money on CD sales they must tour and sell merch to sustain themselves. Now it appears that even that logic is fatally flawed.

Weezer Hootenanny in Portland, exclusive video from Dave Allen on Vimeo.

Portland’s local alternative radio station, KNRK 94.7, hosted Weezer’s Hootenanny at Oaks Park fairground. The station put out the call for 200 local musicians to turn up and perform with Weezer and be part of a live radio broadcast as well as be included on a limited edition CD that Weezer will compile from their west coast hootenanny jaunt. My Pampelmoose business partner Dave was able to get in early and watch as Weezer worked with all the various musicians as they rehearsed the songs.

I guess it’s been four or five years ago now but once upon a time I played with a very talented singer/songwriter/bass player named Lea Krueger. In fact she was my primary gig for several years as I had joined her band project, On a Llama, then continued to play with her when she signed with RCA records and became a solo artist. Towards the latter part of my tenure my compadres Al Toribio and Mike Walker joined the band which made for one of the most satisfying musical combinations I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. I’ve lost touch with Lea as she has been on an indefinite musical hiatus (at least as far as I know) but someone posted a few video’s from a show at our then regular haunt the White Eagle.

The song is called “My Heart’s a Liar” and judging from the video we’re playing it very early in our set. I always thought the audience “got it” when we played it towards the end of the night because the slow hypnotic groove and the epic chord changes seemed to resonate better when the band and audience had a few drinks in ‘em. That being said I think this version delivers.

While this is definitely more performance art than music Bryne does “play” the building. I’m so glad that things like this happen. There’s no real purpose to this project other than being interesting - which is so cool.

Here’s the email the Pampelmoose office got from the folks at The Filter:

1000 website bugs, 500 cups of tea and many sleepless nights later, The Filter is actually ready for the big unveiling. We had such a huge response to our private beta that we weren’t able to give everybody access to test the site in time, but we’d love you to log on now to see what we’ve been up to. It’s obviously still in beta, so we still want as much feedback as we can get - just go to the Support Forum to let us know what you think.

Don’t mean to keep the morbid theme going but we lost one of THE greats today.

After a major wordpress glitch and a change in host I’m now back in action! Thanks to Ezra Hockman for setting me up!

Story from Billboard below. Each member of the E street band are like movie characters to me. They’re this larger than life gang that travels the world and blow peoples minds - it’s sad to think that a member of that gang is gone. For those who’ve seen him live he’ll probably be most remembered as the accordion guy who got to step up front from time to time. Next to bass player Garry Tallent he’s the guy you see in the earliest band photos from Springsteen’s career. Very sad to here of his passing.

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E Street Band Keyboardist Danny Federici Dies

Danny Federici

April 18, 2008, 8:20 AM ET

Danny Federici, the longtime keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen whose stylish work helped define the E Street Band’s sound on hits from “Hungry Heart” through “The Rising,” died last night (April 17). He was 58.

Federici, who had battled melanoma for three years, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He last performed with Springsteen and the band last month, appearing during portions of a March 20 show in Indianapolis.

“Danny and I worked together for 40 years — he was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much … we grew up together,” Springsteen said in a statement posted on his Web site.

Springsteen concerts scheduled for tonight in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and tomorrow in Orlando were postponed.

Federici was born in Flemington, N.J., a long car ride from the Jersey shore haunts where he first met kindred musical spirit Springsteen in the late 1960s. The pair often jammed at the Upstage Club in Asbury Park, N.J., a now-defunct after-hours club that hosted the best musicians in the state. It was Federici, along with original E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez, who first invited Springsteen to join their band.

By 1969, the self-effacing Federici — often introduced in concert by Springsteen as “Phantom Dan” — was playing with the Boss in a band called Child. Over the years, Federici joined his friend in acclaimed shore bands Steel Mill, Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom and the Bruce Springsteen Band.

Federici became a stalwart in the E Street Band as Springsteen rocketed from the boardwalk to international stardom. Springsteen split from the E Streeters in the late ’80s, but they reunited for a hugely successful tour in 1999.

Federici played accordion on the wistful “4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” from Springsteen’s second album, and his organ solo was a highlight of Springsteen’s first top 10 hit, “Hungry Heart.” His organ coda on the 9/11-inspired Springsteen song “You’re Missing” provided one of the more heart-wrenching moments on “The Rising” in 2002.

In a band with larger-than-life characters such as saxophonist Clarence Clemons and bandana-wrapped guitarist “Little” Steven Van Zandt, Federici was content to play in his familiar position to the side of the stage. But his playing was as vital to Springsteen’s live show as any instrument in the band.

Federici released a pair of solo albums that veered from the E Street sound and into soft jazz. Bandmates Nils Lofgren on guitar and Garry Tallent on bass joined Federici on his 1997 debut, “Flemington.” In 2005, Federici released its follow-up, “Out of a Dream.”

Federici had taken a leave of absence during the band’s tour in November 2007 to pursue treatment for melanoma, and was temporarily replaced by veteran musician Charles Giordano.

At the time, Springsteen described Federici as “one of the pillars of our sound and has played beside me as a great friend for more than 40 years. We all eagerly await his healthy and speedy return.”
Besides his work with Springsteen, Federici played on albums by an impressive roster of other artists: Van Zandt, Joan Armatrading, Graham Parker, Gary U.S. Bonds and Garland Jeffreys.