Alone, Now I'm Free. If I Start To Cry, I'll Start Again

Hey Mom... are you watching over me? Give Dad a kiss! It's been a busy summer which partially explains why I haven't posted a new show for so long. This episode jams in a lot of great music and information. Enjoy... and tell a friend. Tell a friend its about the music!

Show #6: Listen To The Show!

Featured Podcast: Scott Millsop, Minor 7th Podcast
Minor 7th Podcast, featuring the best of non-professional acoustic guitar music

Podshow Music Network Featured Artist: Adam Schmitt, Alone (Now I'm Free)

Podshow Music Network Featured Artist: Edie Carey, If I Start To Cry

Guitars Gadgets: Guitars In The News
M-Audio Fasttrack USB Guitar/Mic Interface

Dean JTJ Playmate 1/2 Size Acoustic Guitar

Torture Me: Breakdown, Jack Johnson

Podshow Music Network Featured Artist: Barb Carbon, Start Again

Bonus Track: Edwin Derricutt, Symmetry
Here's the email from Edwin I talk about in the show:

------------Copy of Email------------------
Hey Alex,

I am back from the most recent tour and have more or less recovered sleep wise and just wanted to keep you up to date with things... and recruit a little help if I may...

Highlights from the tour down south included headlining friday night at the annual SAMSTOCK festival in Mosgiel, a packed Dunedin town hall and some great friends made at Christchurch's More FM radio station after a 'live to air' in studio performance.

Since the 'live to air' gig More FM (92.1) in CHCH have been playing the soon to be nationally released single 'Symmetry' on request which of course I am stoked about. Where ever it is you live (*in NZ)... you can help by texting a request in. Start your text with "CHCH ", leave a SPACE and then send your message to "559" this goes straight into the studio. Or just email them on chch@morefm.co.nz. Please, please, please...

The video for Symmetry finished filming last week and is due for release in NZ in mid November at which point I shall graciously ask for your help again in voting. Yay for you!

Till next time, come find me at www.myspace.com/edwinderricutt

cheers, edwin
---------------End of Email----------------------

Closing Comments/Sign-off

I've come out of the rain after fixing my brain... This is how it goes.

I knew Mom's burst of health was only temporary. It seemed that the healthier she got, the more depressed she got. I believe her mind told her being healthy meant being away from my Dad that much longer. Most of us have a decent present, have thoughts of a better future, and a past that we are better for having lived. Mom's present was illness, her future was more illness, but her past with my Dad was awesome. He was an amazing man. Josie was an amazing Mom. I miss you both.

No Enhanced MP4 version this time. It takes too long to do, and I have almost NO ONE at all downloading it.

Regular MP3 version: Listen To The Show!

Featured Podcast: Barefoot Sessions with Gail Bixler
Gail Bixler and friends hanging out in her living room; amazing guitar, vocals and a fresh, unrehearsed feel. Take off your shoes and socks and enjoy.

Podshow Music Network Featured Artist #1
Andy Guthrie, Come Out Of The Rain

Podshow Music Network Featured Artist #2
Brad Sucks, Fixing My Brain

Podshow Music Network Featured Artist #3
Adam Wyle, This is How It Goes

Torture Me: Nights In White Satin, Justin Hayward

GuitarSite.com: Guitar News Weekly: www.Guitarsite.com

iCoustic Guitar: http://www.icoustic.com

eBay: 2100 Songs in CD/Zip Format: Visit the Auction

The Craft and Business of Songwriting, John Braheny

Closing Comments/Sign-off

Your Temporary Home Improvement Is a Panacea, but I'll be Right Behind you Josephine

Mom's out of the hospital, has already been through one live-in health aide... but she has finally settled down. She really likes the woman living with her now. As a matter of fact, Mom's doing so well, that she has actually walked for the first time in two years... WITHOUT A WALKER! That's right, with just her cane, Mom is able to get around. Partly due to the proper meds, a proper diet... and finally someone to talk to on a daily basis, she gets better every day.

But it is temporary, and it is only a panacea until the inevitable comes... and when it does, I'll be right behind you Josephine.

Sorry, no torture this week. We're leaving for Turks and Caicos at 4:30am tomorrow, so I'm putting together a quick one here. Hope you enjoy.

Your Temporary Home Improvement is a Panacea, but I'll be Right Behind You Josephine.

Regular MP3 version: Listen to the show!

Enhanced MP4 version: Listen to the enhanced show!


Featured Podcast: Rough Mix by Brian Kelley
http://kempruffner.podomatic.com/
Brian Kelley walks us through song making

Podshow Music Network Featured Artist
Josh Woodward, Home Improvement
http://www.joshwoodward.com/

Advertisement/Promo
http://www.podcastpromos.com
http://podtrippin.blogspot.com/
http://www.podcasternews.com/

Podshow Music Network Featured Artist
http://www.myspace.com/bill
bill, Panacea

Podshow Music Network Featured Artist
Josh Woodward, I'll Be Right Behind You Josephine
http://www.joshwoodward.com/

Special Treat
Alex Band, Hold On To You
http://www.alexmaxband.com/

Closing Comments/Sign-off

Josephine, sometimes you are as Cold as Ice giving me a Sleepless Lullaby

Josephine, sometimes you are as Cold as Ice giving me a Sleepless Lullaby

For those of you paying attention, the title of my posts are made up from the titles of the songs I play. But the title also mirrors my life as well. My Mom, Josephine, is a widow, is very sick, but stubborn as hell. She insists on living by herself 30 min away from me. My brother and sister not only live further away than I do, but they make little effort to help out. So, lately I have had many sleepless nights bringing her back and forth from the hospital, spending entire days in the emergency room, begging her to move closer to a place she can be taken care of... while all along being subjected to some of the best Italian guilt and screaming a 75 yr old woman could deliver. My music helps me deal with this torture. Enjoy

Regular MP3 version: Listen to the show!

Enhanced MP4 version: Listen to the enhanced show!

Featured Podcast Song #1: U-Turn Cafe by C.C. Chapman

Ernie Van Veen, singer/songwriter: Sleepless Lullaby

Podshow Music Network Featured Artist
Edwin Derricutt, Cold As Ice


Featured Podcast Song #2: U-Turn Cafe by C.C. Chapman

Darren Gaffre, singer/songwriter: Josephine

Guitars In The News
Acoustic Guitar Magazine
a. Play Guitar Magazine - A magazine for beginners
b. Wildflower, Sheryl Crow
c. Always On Your Side - Sheryl Crow and Sting

Cool Music Toys -gadgets for ipod, computer loving musicians
a. iRocker by Talking Panda - A must have resource for any guitar player... right on your iPod!
b. Gpal by GarageBand.com - A really cool way to get automatic, FREE, independant artist music delivered right to your MP3 player

Torture Me - Listen In As My Guitar Gently Weeps, and you do too.
a. Neil Diamond - Song Sung Blue - Sit back and enjoy one of your favorite songs being tortured by me!
b. The Beatles - When I'm Sixty Four - An example of reading tablature by someone who is clueless to reading tablature and a rendition of the song that will have you kicking your dog!

Closing Comments/Sign-off

All this Friction from a New York Moon... man It's Tough!

All this Friction from a New York Moon... man It's Tough!

Regular MP3 feed: Show #2 - Listen To The Show

Enhanced MP4 feed: Show #2 - Listen To The Show

Featured Podcast Song #1: Six String Island by Amy Tuttle
Steve Chizmadia, singer/songwriter: New York Moon


Podshow Music Network Featured Artist
Edwin Derricutt, Friction

Featured Podcast Song #2: Six String Island by Amy Tuttle
Little Toby Walker, singer/songwriter: It's Tough

Guitars In The News
Guitarsite.com-Home of Guitar News Weekly & The 2000 Guitar Database
a. Guitar Lessons-Relax and Slow Down
b. Jack Johnson Tops With Kids' Tunes

Cool Music Toys -gadgets for ipod, computer loving musicians
a. Monster iStudio Link
b. Sony - Super Duper Music Looper

Torture Me - Listen In As My Guitar Gently Weeps, and you do too.
a. The Complete Idiots Guide to Playing Guitar
b. Follow Through by Gavin DeGraw

Closing Comments/Sign-off

The Premiere Show - Alex's Six String Torture Podcast

I'm Untied To A World of Pits and Cherries so I do The Dance like a cricket.

MP3 feed:
Regular MP3 Version! Show #001: Listen To The Show

It is finally here... as promised! The first show is "in the can" as they say. I actually had this posted for a few days, but had to make some server side corrections to my account so the file wouldn't get corrupted. Turns out learning to podcast is nearly as difficult as learning the guitar... and yes, I have been tortured for the last few days! UGgggggghhhh.

iLife '06 finally arrived last week and it is worth the wait. The new GarageBand made production of the podcast amazingly simple and even allowed me to create an enhanced podcast with pictures, chapters, etc. I sound like a dope, especially when I play the guitar, but I have included enough fantastic podsafe music and excerpts from some of my favorite Acoustic Guitar podcasts to make up for the torture.

M4A feed:
Enhanced Version with Chapters! Show #001: Listen To The Show


Featured Podcast
Acoustic Cafe by Dave Dircks
Artists: Cathy Kreger and James O'Malley

Featured Podsafe Music
Podsafe Music Network: Baseless performing Untied (the unplugged version)

Shownotes Wiki
There is so much more on this show. You can visit my wiki to get the complete shownotes along with links to all the music and products mentioned on the show.

Enjoy! Thanks for listening.

The Podcast is coming.... THE PODCAST IS COMING!!!!

I've been working hard (at my real job) and working late (at my passion) to get the podcast and my new web site up and running. One of the things that have held me up is the promise of a new software package for my new PowerBook. iLife '06 integrates a iWeb (a web page creation tool) with GarageBand (a podcast creation tool) to create a seemless way to "BE" on the blogosphere, podesphere and internet all with the stroke of a key (or 300).

I originally order it on the 12th of Jan. The first delivery date of the 23rd came and went. So did the 27th. I was very pissed and made a not-so-pleasant call to Apple. Ok... so I'm expecting the usual "Gatesy" response of "So sorry... but tough shit". What do I get instead???? A very Appley response of "We're sorry... and we'll overnight (at our cost) the software". Now that is cool!

In any event, I immediately loaded the software and took a crack at creating a web presense for Six String Torture. It sucks and it is not complete, but it is a start.

I hope to be recording the first episode by the end of the week and posting it to iTunes. Please feel free to send me links of Acoustic Guitar related sites, products, music, news. Also, I love to be Tortured, so don't hesitate to heap on whatever criticisms you have of the whole thing.

Thanks for listening, reading. Enjoy. Alex.

So, you want to be a musician?

Ironically, I've never thought of myself as the creative type, but have always been considered extremely creative. It is all a matter of perspective I guess... but not really. I am a creative thinker when it comes to finding solutions to difficult problems. I'm a logical person and think much like a computer does; "If THIS than THAT, else THE OTHER THING". Although that is creative, it is only half along the continuum of creativity in my opinion.

What I've come to learn as I get more into music theory and learning how to read, and play music is that the term "artist" is truly the utmost degree of being creative. It is at the end of a continuum with brain dead being at the lowest end. To be able to visualize the auditory arrangement of sounds that creative a mood that emotionaly impacts another human is the ultimate in creative expression. I have a profound respect for musicians as I go through the motion of making believe that I can someday make music.

I hope you'll listen to my upcoming podcast (the low end of the continuum). I also hope you take the time to visit the Podsafe Music Network and listen to some of the greatest creative musical minds in the world. The purity of the music there is astounding, and the quality is better than most commercialized recordings that you can hear on your normal FM dial.

Here's a link to musical paradise. Podsafe Music Network

So, you still want to be a musician?

A Message on Advertising Effectiveness to Adam Curry

Enjoy my first GarageBand song while listening to a message to Adam Curry of the Daily Source Code.

Advertising Effectiveness and my Podcast

Santa Was Good To ME!

So as not to torture everyone with my guitar playing that has to live with me (the wife, the kids, the dog, etc.), Santa decided to bring me an awesome gift this past Christmas! I'm going to be getting real guitar lessons from a professional musician.

Starting sometime next month (ok... I gotta get my shiite together first) I will be starting weekly lessons at Musicians Workshop in Manalapan, NJ. Don, the instructor is apparently one of the top guitar teachers in the country, and a very cool dude as well. I will be recording most of my sessions with Don and playing portions of it on my upcoming podcast, Six String Torture.

Stay tuned for ear numbing fun!

Alex.

They call me a Switcher!?!?

Ok... I took the next step to becoming a musician. It's no secret to performers, that a lot of the real guts of the mixing, loops, etc, are done on computers (laptops primarily) during performances. Take a close look the next time you are at a club watching a local band. Chances are you will see a laptop somewhere around controlling the show. It's running programs like LogicPro, GarageBand, MegaSeg.... and I'm sure countless others.

One problem though... These programs are all Apple software!

I'm a long time MS-DOS/Windows PC user and the thought of using a Mac has never really occurred to me... Until I heard Adam Curry talk about his PowerBook G4 on The Daily Source Code podcast. That started me thinking. I want to do a podcast of all the best acoustic guitar music out there. I want to be able to make great music and record it on my own... So... Why not get a Mac?!?!

And that is exactly what I did two weeks ago. I'm still transferring data from my old laptop, but the transition has not only been painless, it has been delightful. My favorite app so far is GarageBand. I have created a few songs and have even recorded directly into the laptop from the amp connection in Rosie (my guitar). I hope to have a few songs posted shortly, and an announcement of when the Sixstring Torture Podcast will be available.

More on GarageBand to follow!