60th Primetime Emmy® Awards

9/16/08 Today began VERY bright and early (for me). At about 8:30a, I hopped on what passes for a subway system here in L.A., the Metro Red Line, bound for downtown Los Angeles and more specifically, the Nokia Theatre. At 9:30a, us "media types" were ordered to be present for what was dubbed an "Emmys walk-thru." Sunday night I'll be donning my tuxedo (yep, I've got ONE!) to cover the 60th Annual Emmys, but this morning, it was walking through what was the empty shell of what will be the "General Media" tent. And I do mean "tent." This is the first year the Emmys will be held at the Nokia Theatre, so the powers that be decided to build the "General Media" tent…ON THE ROOF OF A PARKING STRUCTURE ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE THEATRE! All of us "media types," which include nobodys like me as well as ALL the people I guess some of you watch every night at 7 or 7:30: Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, Insider something or other, Extra! Hollywood whatever, etc, etc, etc. All of us will be housed in the "General Media" tent the night of the show, where, hopefully, the winners will walk thru to answer dumb questions offered up by the aforementioned "media types." But not me! Nope, you see, I don't watch much TV. It may be more accurate to say that the ONLY TV I watch is news (CNN, MSNBC, FOX), sports, and PBS (Tavis Smiley, Charlie Rose, Frontline, documentaries, etc). It's a safe bet none of those people will be winning Emmys on Sunday night, so I'll just be pressing "record" on my well, recording gear and wishing I was at home watching the Cowboys play the Packers!! ARGHH!!!!

Following the Emmys walk-thru, I got back on the train, got back home to do my "regular work" (writing my daily Pop, Rock and Classic Rock News columns, and, today, preparing for not one, but TWO interviews I did tonight with two great bands, Electric Touch and the Airborne Toxic Event, both of whom played tonight at the Wiltern Theatre, ironically enough, located at the corner of WILshire & WesTERN! Get it, Wiltern Theatre?

I arrived for my 4p conversation with Electric Touch, proceeded to the backstage area and asked for the band's tour manager. By now, you should be getting the hang of what I do when I interview bands at the venue, usually after soundcheck and before the show: I arrive backstage and try and find the tour manager! And as is often the case, a tour bus (usually belonging to the band I'm about to speak with) was parked across the street. I called the tour manager, who promptly asked if I could see where the tour bus was parked (UMM, YEAH, RIGHT ACROSS

THE STREET FROM ME!), I said yes, and walked over. I was invited in by lead singer Shane, whom Aly and I had met and spoken to back in April at the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California, outside Palm Springs. (Quick side note here: Aly is actually going to see this very same show tomorrow night up in San Francisco, and with any luck, get a chance to say hi to Shane and the guys again!) Quickly, Electric Touch consists of 3 guys from Texas and Shane, an Englishman, and has a very cool, very classic rock (think T-Rex, The Beatles, The Kinks, Cheap Trick). As usual, I asked Shane to dissect several songs on the album, including "Who Put the Fire Out," "Love Is In Our Hearts," "Saved" and "Don't Be Afraid."

After my conversation with Electric Touch ended, I jumped out of the tour bus, walked down Wilshire Boulevard and ducked into a tiny Chinese food joint for some "dinner" (ahh, the glamorous life) before walking back to the backstage area to hook up (say it with me now) the tour manager for Airborne Toxic Event, who led me to the downstairs dressing rooms at the Wiltern (a place I'd been many, many times before, including my first time when several years ago I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Pete Townshend of The Who), where I sat and waited for lead singer and main songwriter Mikel Jollett and guitarist Stephen Chen to finish another interview, before the 3 of us went off into a separate room, sat on a couch and began to chat. THIS BAND KICKS ASS!!! Their self-titled CD is packed with great, great songs, the best of

which is "Sometime Around Midnight." And man, that's saying something, because there are plenty more great songs, including "Wishing Well," "Gasoline," "Does This Mean You're Moving On?" and "Innocence." And Mikel and Stephen are really cool guys, super intelligent, really
interesting to talk to and just way cool people. My conversation with them was one of those that could have gone on for hours…in fact, all THREE of us said so. I've said this before, but the VERY BEST compliment anyone can ever give me after a conversation/interview is, "Man, that was great. You had some great questions, not the usual crap we always hear." And that's exactly what Mikel and Stephen said after we were forced to stop because they had to go soundcheck. Definitely be on the lookout for these guys. If you like U2, the Arcade Fire, Echo & the Bunnymen, etc, you'll really love this band. Let me give you three sample lyrics to give you an idea of what I mean:

"Then she emerged from the dark like a ghost in my head."
"The words she said like bullets from a gun."
"Melancholy soundtrack to her smile."

Mikel is no ordinary songwriter, and the Airborne Toxic Event is no ordinary band!

After watching soundcheck, I walked back outside just to check out the crowd coming in to the show and to grab my ticket from will call. I'm telling you, BOTH these bands deliver live as well! Again, I'd seen Electric Touch play at Coachella and then once again at the Key Club in Hollywood, and tonight, they were more polished (in a good way) and yet more raw (in a good way) than ever. A solid young rock band, indeed. And the Airborne Toxic Event was everything I expected them to be. This was my first time seeing them live, but based on the album, I had high expectations, which were met…and then some! I describe their sound as "BIG MUSIC!" For five people onstage, they put out a sound that seems to be generated by twice as many musicians. If you remember a great band called The Waterboys (one of my all-time favorite bands!!), that's who Airborne reminded me of more and more, especially live. BIG MUSIC!! Big, dynamic music!

What a day it's been! What a varied, exciting life I lead. How blessed am I? And I'm so, so happy that my "baby" girl, Aly, gets to see this exact same show tomorrow night up in San Francisco. You have NO idea how happy that makes me!!!!!

Friday I'll be in Anaheim to see Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac. Life is good!

Peace!

West Beach Music Festival

9/15/08: The two days – and one looooooooooong night – up in Santa Barbara could not have been more fun. Mark and I drove up Saturday morning, got there early enough to grab a bite and a beer at the El Torito steps from the beach before the festival gates opened, then walked across the street to pick up our passes for the West Beach Music Festival. The stages, food booths, vendors, VIP area, etc, were all literally on the sand, just north of the pier. The first order of "business" for me was to hook up with Todd Brodginski from MSO PR, who would escort me backstage to the artist's trailers to have a conversation with Big Head Todd & the Monsters lead singer/guitarist Todd Park Mohr. And here's a first for me: in all the years I've been doing interviews – on tour buses, backstage, in hotel rooms, in offices, in alleys, etc, etc – I've never had to literally wake my conversation partner up from a sound sleep to get the conversation started. But that was the case when I walked into BHTM's trailer and Todd was crashed on the couch. The band had just flown in cross-country to do this show and needless to say, they were tired. I felt bad for Todd, but luckily, we're old friends and know each other well, so he apologized to me, while I told him there was nothing to apologize for. After we finished tripping over each other being nice, I began our brief chat by asking Todd his reaction to Sen. Hillary Clinton using his song "Blue Sky" from the new album All the Love You Need
at the Democratic National Convention. Obviously he was proud and humbled by the honor, especially since he was a Clinton supporter and because the band hails from Denver, site of the convention.

After our talk ended, I went back out front for the rest of the day and hung out with Mark in the VIP area, enjoying lots and lots of free Heineken beers and free food. I left the area to stand right up front near the stage when Big Head Todd & the Monsters set began. Later, after the sun went down, I met up with Angie and her friend, Bari, and we watched pop star Natasha Bedingfield's performance from the side of the stage.

Following Natasha's set, several of the MSO PR people, including Angie and her boss, Todd, invited me and Mark backstage again and into BHTM's now abandoned trailer to well, party like a rock star!! And boy, did we!!! While BHTM were well on their way to their next gig in the next town, we took over their fully-stocked trailer and began to well, enjoy ourselves. No sense in cold beer and good food going to waste, we all said!

After closing down the backstage area – literally…they kicked us out so they could clean the trailer – we stopped off in our respective hotel rooms (located directly across the street), freshened up and grabbed cabs to State Street in Santa Barbara, where we topped off the evening with stops in two bars, closing the second with shots of, hell, who knows, I can't remember, before calling it a night. After all, day two of the festival was still ahead of us.

Sunday morning saw Mark waking up at the crack of dawn (well 9ish) and scooting out of the room to stake a spot at the exact same bar we'd closed down just a few short hours ago, only this time, it was for breakfast and FOOTBALL…lots and lots of football…and coffee!!! I met Mark a bit later, after checking out of the hotel. While watching football, I got a call from my sister Patty, who told me she and my brother-in-law Bruce were taking a ride on their Harley's and I suggested they ride up to Santa Barbara, where, with Angie's help, we got them two tickets to Sunday's music festival, which, to be honest, wasn't all that great. The lineup was packed with much younger bands, and I had no interviews lined up. We were obviously tired from the day before, so by about 5p, we were all ready to head back home. With yet another busy week ahead, the thought of my head hitting my pillow early Sunday night was heaven. A 2-hour drive later, I was in heaven.

Coming up this week, interviews with and concerts by two great young bands, Electric Touch and Airborne Toxic Event, and Emmys (Yes, those Emmys, which I'll be covering this Sunday) walk-thru at the Nokia Theatre in downtown L.A., a Lindsey Buckingham concert on Friday, Al Green AND Gladys Knight at the Greek Theatre on Saturday, and yes, those darn Emmy Awards on Sunday. Other than that, just another boring week! ☺

Peace!

MOVIE WEEK

9/12/08: Some weeks are busier than others! This past week has been crazy!!!! It started Monday with my conversation with Amos Lee and his concert in Hollywood. And speaking of "Hollywood," I put on my "Hollywood Boy" hat for the rest of the week: On Tuesday afternoon I saw a screening of Flash of Genius, starring Greg Kinnear, Lauren Graham and Alan Alda. Tuesday night I saw a film called Choke, starring Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston. On Wednesday, my sister Connie and I saw Righteous Kill, starring the dynamic duo of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Yesterday, I was invited to a screening of Nights In Rodanthe, starring Richard Gere and someone I've had a "thing" for for a long time, Diane Lane! That said, I was a VERY happy camper when this morning I had the pleasure – and I do mean pleasure – of interviewing Diane and Richard at my home away from home, the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Diane looked every bit as beautiful as I'd hoped she would. And as luck would have it, when she walked into the room, I happened to be standing near the door, so she smiled (I'm melting here!) and said hello! ☺ Life is good!! I know she's married and all, but I just think she's equal parts beauty and brains. And a woman in every sense of the word! These are the days – and I have many – when my job doesn't suck! Oh, and the movie is good: it gives men and women my age hope that we'll get a second chance at love. And it's not just a "chick flick" because much of it deals with Gere's character and the struggles he's going through, so guys will like it as well.

After having Diane Lane smile and say hello, and a great lunch at the Four Seasons, I could have started my weekend right then and there, but I also had to speak with Greg Kinnear and Lauren Graham later today for Flash of Genius. I've interviewed both before; both are very cool, however the movie did nothing for me.

Time now to get ready to drive up the coast tomorrow for day-one of the West Beach Music Festival in Santa Barbara. My buddy Mark and I will be driving up together and my daughter, Angie, will be there as well. Her company, MSO PR, is handling publicity for the festival and has arranged for me to interview my old friend Todd Park Mohr, lead singer and amazing lead guitar player of Big Head Todd & the Monsters! Two days of music and sun on the beach in Santa Barbara…yep, life is good!

AMOS LEE

9/8/08: Today I had the great pleasure of speaking with, and seeing in concert, a great, great new voice in the world of rock/blues/soul: Amos Lee. Having just said Amos is a "new voice," actually, his voice harkens back to an amazing combination of Curtis Mayfield-meets-Marvin Gaye-meets-Al Green-meets-Teddy Pendergrass-meets-Stevie Wonder-meets well, AMOS LEE! His current album, Last Days at the Lodge, contains an array of great tracks that span romantic soul ("Won't Let Me Go," "Baby I Want You"), to poignant protest ("Jails and Bombs") to good old fashion broken heart ballads ("What's Been Going On").

In person, Amos couldn't be nicer, more soft spoken, more intelligent and more interesting to talk to, which I did in a tiny dressing room in the basement of the Music Box on Hollywood Blvd. Topics we discussed include the album's producer (Don Was), the lightening speed in which the music business is changing, crossing that friends-to-lovers bridge in the album's first hit, "Won't Let Me Go," and dealing with the green monster, jealousy, in songs like "Truth" and "What's Been Going On." His answers were candid, delivered in a very low-key tone. In a nutshell, his offstage – or in the case of our conversation location, BELOW stage – personality matched the quiet confidence he displays onstage. His show was well, mesmerizing. One of the song titles on Amos' album sums up the way he conveys his message to his fans: "Street Corner Preachers." Do yourself a favor: pick up Last Days at the Lodge…TODAY…and pick up a ticket to his next concert. I can almost guarantee you will not be disappointed with both experiences!

Peace!

EDDIE "KNOCK ON WOOD" FLOYD

8/31/08: After a night of drinking, talking about and listening to music at my friend Mark's house, I was back on the train and heading back for day-two of the Long Beach Bluesfest. Today I'd be able to bounce around the grounds more and really enjoy more of the music because I only had one "conversation" scheduled. And man, what a "conversation" it was. But before I tell you about the wonderful gentleman that is Mr. Eddie Floyd, I'll tell you that I saw the Dirty Dozen Brass Band just put on an incredible show! I'd never seen them live before, but man, I can't wait to see them again. If you EVER get a chance, put on your Mardi Gras dancing shoes and check them out…they are soooooo much fun!!
Ok, so about mid-afternoon, Eddie Floyd - the guy who co-wrote and sang the soul classic "Knock On Wood" (covered by so many, including David Bowie), the man who wrote "Raise Your Hand" (covered by none other than Bruce Springsteen), the man who wrote hit after hit after hit for all-time greats such as Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, again, just to name a few – came on stage and just tore it up!!!! Not surprisingly, he sang hit after hit after hit, had the crowd on its feet the whole time, and, at 73-years young, still has the ladies swooning. At one point, he had two girls onstage stage with him, as, as I told him later, was the meat in the middle of a "fanwich!" The brother oozes soul…cool…and class!

After Eddie's set, I was once again escorted backstage to the artist's trailers to meet the man himself! Wearing a snow-white sport coat with black pants and shirt, Eddie was looking the part of a classic soul singer, for sure! I again spoke with Eddie in his trailer and, unlike yesterday when I talked about many blues greats, this time Eddie and I spoke about the biggest names in soul, many of which I've already mentioned above. And let me tell you, Eddie wrote for, sang with or shared stages with them ALL! And he could not be a nicer gentleman. He had all the time in the world for me, and after we wrapped, walked out of the trailer, handed me HIS personal business card and posed for a picture.

After I left the backstage area to enjoy more music…and a VERY cold adult beverage or two…I ran into my friend Amy Jensen from Hawthorne High. I had a feeling I might, knowing what a huge blues fan she is, and sure enough I did. So I joined Amy and her 3 girlfriends on the grass for some great blues and soul music, another beer or two, some crackers and cheese and the beautiful ocean breeze and blue sky! People, life is good!

Oh, speaking of ocean breezes and blue skies, next weekend I'll be in "Surf City,"Huntington Beach, for the wedding of my niece, Jennifer Rake, and her great guy, Tom Hilton. Then the weekend after that, I'll shoot UP the coast to beautiful Santa Barbara, CA for the West Beach Music Festival, starring Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Ziggy Marley, George Clinton & P-Funk, and many, many more. But before that, on Monday, September 8, I am really looking forward to speaking with a great, great contemporary soul man, Amos Lee, and seeing his concert at the Music Box in Hollywood (sound familiar? The Alarm, Joe Bonamassa). Amos' new album is called Last Days at the Lodge and I highly recommend it!

Peace!

29th ANNUAL LONG BEACH BLUES FESTIVAL

Today and tomorrow I'll be attending the 29th annual Long Beach Blues Festival. Sadly, this year I won't have my good Hawthorne High School friends Betty or Betsy joining me. Betty is down in San Diego moving her daughter into the dorms at San Diego State and Betsy was unable to make it our here from her home in Wilmington, NC. Last year, the 3 of us – along with Amy, my other HHS friend – had a great time at the festival.
Well this year I'm, ahh, "working" the LB Bluesfest. In fact, today I had the distinct honor and pleasure of speaking with the legendary John Mayall, known to many as the "Godfather of British Blues." John is partially responsible for furthering the careers of people like Eric Clapton as well as future members of bands such as the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac, just to name two. I also spoke with slide guitar great Roy Rogers, who opened the entire day's festivities today. After Roy's set, I ducked backstage to his trailer to spend a few minutes talking about the blues, blues greats such as B.B. King, John Lee Hooker (Roy produced a couple of John Lee's albums) and Buddy Guy, and radio…good old free-form FM radio. The kind of radio where back in the day deejays played the music they wanted to play and radio fans like Roy and I got turned on to lots and lots of great music. Roy and I could have gone on for hours, but we wrapped after about 20 minutes, one of his band members snapped a quick photo of us, and I began to walk down the row of "artist trailers" where who should I see, standing all alone outside his trailer: JOHN MAYALL! I was not scheduled to speak with John until much later in the day – after his set, but I swear it was one of those things where it would have actually been rude if I'd walked past him without saying hello. So I did! I said hello, introduced myself and told him we'd be chatting later after his show. But, John Mayall, THE John Mayall, said to me, "Well, if you've got a few minutes right now, why don't we sit down and chat." After thanking him once, twice or 15 times, we walked right into his trailer and we began to talk. Again, with a guy like John Mayall, and with ALL of the people he's played with in his career, we could have talked for hours…days…weeks!! He shared great stories about old "Slowhand," about how he simply "rang Eric up" after he'd left The Yardbirds and asked if he'd be interested in joining his band, The Bluesbreakers, which of course Eric did. John talked about playing with all-time greats such as Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King. He spoke about The Rolling Stones, Cream, Jimi Hendrix. I'll NEVER get tired of hearing rock and roll stories like that!! And here I am with John Mayall, sitting in a little trailer, talking about some of the biggest names in the history of the blues and rock and roll. Finally, I told him my own John Mayall story, about the time my sister Patty, brother and I flew into Chicago for a blues, baseball and beer weekend, got to our hotel, Patty called Buddy Guy's Legends blues club and asked who was playing that night. I'll never forget the moment she turned to me, while still on the phone, and simply said, "John Mayall." Of course I shouted back, "JOHN MAYALL? THE John Mayall?" We managed to sneak into the packed club and see the man himself play at Buddy Guy's blues club on the south side of Chicago! Man, we sure took care of the "Blues" part of our weekend in a hurry! What a night! And now, to think this was only day-one of the Long Beach Bluesfest. Tomorrow I'm going to get a chance to meet and speak with another living legend, this time Stax Records soul man Eddie "Knock On Wood" Floyd, a man who wrote some of the biggest hits in the history of soul music. Life is good!

Peace!

THEY GROW UP WAY TOO FAST...

8/20/08: Today I helped moved my "baby" girl, Alyson, into the dorms at San Francisco State University. Shockingly (NOT!), Aly is going to be a Communications major and shockingly (NOT!) wants to eventually get into…RADIO!! People let me tell you that Aly is a music sponge…she loves everything from The Beatles to Anberlin, from Pink Floyd to Jason Mraz! Sound familiar? Yep, just read my previous post and you'll see I have TWO girls who someday will not only be following in their dad's footsteps, but soon, making their own mark in the world of rock and roll, and eventually taking over where I leave off. So you'll be hearing more and more about Aly in future posts as well.

Peace!