- Stewart Duncan Tells His Wife To Take A Hike – Up Mt. Kilimanjaro
- Calgary Country Singer Pours Out the Truth About American Beer
- Forget the iTunes LP, Apps Are the New Album
- Domestic DJs and DIY Discos
- Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out, 40th Anniversary Edition
- Doors Final NYC Shows Set For Release On Rhino
- Canadian Jazz Pianist Headlines Florida’s Newest Jazz Bar
- Huh? Anvil On The Tonight Show schlepping with Conan
STEWART DUNCAN WRITES: Next month, my wife Debbie will be traveling to 
Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. She is doing this to raise funds and awareness for MS. Like the height of the mountain itself, her fundraising goal is lofty, $10,000. Over 70% of the money raised will go directly in to MS research or to helping victims of this debilitating disease. None of the funds raised go towards her travel fees, she is paying for that herself. She still needs to raise approximately $1,300 to reach her fundraising goal.
Full tax receipts will be issued for any donation of $20 or more.
This is a huge undertaking.
Ever since I’ve known Debbie she has always dreamed of climbing Kilimanjaro. She is so close to her goal. To all of you that have donated, thanks. If you have not and are in a position to donate please do. If you are not, please pass the link provided to some one who can. To make a donation or to find out more about her climb, please go to Fundraising For MS or Google Debbie Bunze and click on to the first search result. Thank you, Stewart
THE TRUTH ABOUT AMERICAN BEER - By Ron Coldham, The Tyee: Kent McAlister needs to buy a gun and then shoot it in public. Or maybe he can just assault a hotel concierge with the lobby courtesy phone. A DUI might also work, particularly if he gets caught in a school zone during recess. Or there’s always the option of a good, old-fashioned sex scandal, perhaps involving a couple of lightly drugged co-eds. That kind of thing usually piques people’s interest.
The bottom line is whatever Kent McAlister is doing to get noticed these days, it’s not working. These are different times, and simply touring your ass off back-and-forth across the nation while recording three albums of country rock genius isn’t enough to turn heads anymore. The insatiable masses require a little dirt in their collective eye to make them blink.
But it appears McAlister won’t travel such a sullied path. As his third release with the Iron Choir, How I’ll Remain, gets set to hit the streets next week, Canada’s unsung troubadour of twang is just going to keep on pluckin’, as it were. There will be no chance of gimmick-laden promotions, gratuitous headlines or salacious scandals to help generate some much-deserved interest for the Calgary born-and-bred singer-songwriter’s latest collection of ’spaghetti western meets Leonard Cohen’ brilliance. McAlister foolishly chooses to let his abundant talent, unmatched stage presence and enduring work ethic do his talking for him.
Where does this guy think he is? 1973?
Before we paint him as the poster boy of artistic purity however, it should be noted that McAlister has made one slightly unorthodox (though still exceedingly understated) attempt to bring to the attention of the Kenny Chesney-distracted, Keith Urban-absorbed masses that which they should have noticed the first time around: the re-release of a fantastic single called “Memory Replacer”. The title track off of his outstanding 2005 debut, the hook-filled “Memory Replacer” offers the metaphor of a hurtful lover as American beer. Listen to this and other songs by linking here
APPS THE NEW LP – ReadWriteWeb: The “iTunes LP” is just one of the many new 
iTunes features revealed yesterday during Apple’s announcement at their “It’s Only Rock and Roll”-themed event. But the iTunes LP, unlike the other new features which get to exist as simple and fun enhancements in iTunes 9, has a heavy burden on its shoulders. It’s supposed to revitalize the music industry by encouraging consumers to once again purchase entire albums as opposed to single tracks.
With this new digital album format, the idea is to replicate the experience of buying an album, complete with lyrics, liner notes, album art, photos, and more, giving music buyers extra content to peruse while enjoying their new music. The only problem is that this so-called “interactive” format isn’t all that interactive. And what’s more, innovative artists are already discovering how to monetize their music while engaging fans in new ways that have nothing to do with a re-imagined LP. Instead, the “interactive format” of the future isn’t the album, it’s the app.
DIY DJ – The Telegraph: Hermit-like home DJs aren’t the only ones swapping 
traditional decks for digital. Since launching weekly club night YoYo in 2002, Seb Chew, of Universal Music, has seen the DJ’s tools switch from vinyl to CDs and now to laptop applications made especially for DJing. “It’s a good thing, because it encourages lots of different styles,” he says. “Now DJs have 50million times more ability to go wherever they want musically.”
It all makes for a more diverse soundtrack to your night out, and indicates that the idea of the one-genre DJ has had its day. All this musicsharing software also means that you get to hear the latest sounds sooner. You don’t always have to wait for exclusive radio plays to hear new releases. Some tunes are now being fast-tracked from recording studio to DJ booth.
But then radio, too, is changing, thanks to the democratic nature of the web. Now anyone who wants to can set up their own online radio show from the comfort of their own home.
Setting up an internet radio station is as easy as downloading from iTunes. Though, in
order to make sure that you are broadcasting legally, you need to follow the rules set
out by the Performing Rights Society.
GET YER YA-YAS OUT – Mog News: This November 26 & 27 will mark the 40th anniversary of the recording of the Rolling Stones gigs at NYC’s Madison Square Garden that resulted in the release of Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!, the release regarded as the band’s definitive live album. To celebrate, ABKCO Records will release
Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! The Rolling Stones In Concert – 40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set (11/3) and a Super Deluxe Box Set (11/17).
The Deluxe Box Set includes three audio CDs and a remastered disc of the original Ya-Ya’s repertoire as well as a disc of five previously unreleased Stones tracks recorded at the same MSG shows. The third CD encompasses unreleased performances by the shows’ openers: B.B. King and Ike & Tina Turner, five songs from the former and seven songs from the latter. The Box Set will also includes a 56-page Collectors Edition book featuring photos and an essay by Ethan Russell, the acclaimed photographer who accompanied the Stones on the ’69 tour, as well as the original Rolling Stone Magazine review by Lester Bangs and a series of recollections from a cross-section of fans who attended the concerts - and a replica of the original Stones ’69 tour poster by David Byrd. There will be a code in a limited number of Box Sets enabling fans to download “I’m Free” for Guitar Hero 5.
Included as well is a bonus DVD by legendary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles, also entitled Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! The film includes full-length performances of the five previously unreleased Stones songs — “Prodigal Son, “ “You Gotta Move,” “Under My Thumb,” “I’m Free” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Beyond the song performances – presented in 5.1 surround sound — the film includes a sequence with Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Jack the Donkey during the cover shoot for the Ya-Ya’s album and backstage tête-à-têtes between Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Taylor. During “Satisfaction” Janis Joplin is seen doing an impromptu boogaloo at the side of the stage. There is also a sequence shot at Olympic Studios in London during a mixing session plus a heliport summit meeting with the Grateful Dead.
The Super Deluxe edition of Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert includes all of the content of the Deluxe edition with the addition of three vinyl LPs, one of which has etched images featuring the cover art and the Rolling Stones’ signatures. The accompanying Collectors Edition Book and poster in the Super Deluxe edition have also been expanded to 12 x 12. For a complete track listing, link to MOG here
STEVE HOLT: Canadian jazz pianist and composer Steve Holt is confirmed to perform three nights in Fort Lauderdale next month, at Blue Jean Blues – Fort Lauderdale’s new jazz and blues club. Holt was a child prodigy who started to play piano at the age of four. He began his professional career playing clubs in Montreal and later studied music at McGill U, graduating with distinction as McGill’s first-ever Bachelor of Music majoring in jazz performance. It was also during this period that he travelled regularly to New York to study with pianist Kenny Barron. Holt was nominated for a Juno award in 1983 for his debut album, The Lion’s Eyes, and subsequently built an international reputation as one of Canada’s premier Jazz pianists, having worked with the likes of Archie Shepp, Larry Coryell, Eddie Henderson, Pat Labarbera, James Moody, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Michel Urbaniak, and others.
In 2002, Holt won an Honourable Mention at the USA Songwriting Competition, the largest songwriting competition in the world, for his Latin song “Soon”. He currently has 6 albums and 3 singles to his credit.
DOORS LIVE: A six-disc collection continaing The Doors final performances at New York’s Felt Forum in 1970 are available through Rhino Records, as well a single disc sampler becomes available next week. Rhino also has a 180-gram vinyl collection of the same, available as a boxed set and sold individually. The performances were recorded, mixed and mastered by the band’s longtime engineer, Bruce Botnick.
CONAN MEETS ANVIL: Anvil – whose rock-doc “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” has to be one of the most feel-good, comeback stories of recent times, will make its 
late-night performance debut on The Tonight Show Starring Conan O’Brien on Tuesday, October 6. The
Tonight Show performance is in support of the release of the band’s new album, This is
Thirteen, which hits lands in stores next Tuesday, September 15, and the Anvil! The Story of Anvil DVD set follows on October 6.
“I am so nervous about doing the show,” said Lips. “This is big, the biggest thing we have ever done on TV. I almost cried when my mom said she might not be able to stay up that late to watch it, so we’re going to tape it for her. We cant wait to meet Conan, and I think Robb is pretty excited to meet Max Weinberg.”
VH1 Classic Records, who is releasing This is Thirteen, has just posted an exclusive premiere of the album which can be accessed here. Those who log on before Sept. 16 will be able to stream the album in its entirety. For Fans in Toronto can catch the band live at Sunrise Records, 336 Yonge Street, on Sept. 22, 2009 between 6pm and 8pm for a special performance and autograph signing.
Later that evening the band will be presenting “Album of The Year” at the annual XM Satellite Radio “Verge Music Awards” at the Mod Club in Toronto.
BROADCASTING: The BBC may show the 2012 Olympics in 3D, according to a senior executive at the corporation. Roger Mosey, the director of the BBC’s 2012 Olympics operation, said the BBC was looking at using new technology to cover the sporting event.
“We could, and I believe should, capture some of the games in 3D,” he told the IBC technology conference in Amsterdam. – The Telegraph
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