Music History Archive

Kid Rock – The Bad Boy of Bad Boys

Kid Rock famed for his in-your-face music and style

Kid Rock started his career with music and lyrics that were bold, to say the least. In fact, radio stations were unable to play his first songs, which led Kid Rock to go out and find his own fame through self-promotion. This didn’t slow the rise of Kid Rock. Within a minimal amount of time, he had gained a mass following that has continued to increase with each passing year.

Kid Rock is a Michigan-born bad boy. He has an over confident persona that gives him a cockiness that can land him in trouble at times. People tend to love him or hate him. There’s no middle ground with Kid Rock, it’s either all or nothing.

Throughout Kid Rock’s musical career he has released eight studio albums, one live album and is featured on a contribution album. He has toured relentlessly and in fact is currently on tour. Just in case you’re in need of the latest Kid Rock tour dates, I will include the actual dates. You can also see his upcoming dates on the official Kid Rock website.

Aside from the pure attitude that exuberates out of Kid Rock it is his multi-faceted musical style that has led to his overwhelming following. He has combined rock-n-roll, country and rap to make a sound as unique as he is. His lyrics have the ability to make you mad or just make you want to get up and party. That is the genius of Kid Rock; the fact that with one song, your emotions and desires can and often will be altered.

Tour Dates

5/12/2012 -8 p.m. Fox Theatre - Detroit, MI

6/1/2012 – 7 p.m. House Of Blues – Boston, MA

6/2/2012 – 9 p.m. Revel Ovation Hall, Atlantic City, NJ

6/14/2012 BamaJam Music Festival - 3 Day Pass

Verizon Wireless BamaJam Festival Grounds

Enterprise, AL Thursday

7/15/2012 -7 p.m. Mystic Lake Amphitheatre, Prior Lake, MN

7/20/2012 -8 p.m. North Dakota State Fair

North Dakota State Fairgrounds, Minot, ND

8/10/2012 Boots and Hearts Music Festival - 3 Day Pass

Mosport International Raceway, Bowmanville, Canada

Backyard Tire Fire Biography

A working Class band with a Unique Sound

The first time I saw Backyard Tire Fire was in Minneapolis at First Ave, they were opening for Clutch and I immediately fell in love. They only played a small set. I remember as they stepped off the stage I wanted more even though I was only there to wait for Clutch to come on. Don’t get me wrong, Clutch rocked it like normal, I just would have been as happy to hear Backyard Tire Fire play long into the night.

Backyard Tire Fire emerged from poverty in Georgia though really made their biggest impact after returning home to Bloomington Illinois where they began to merge into the Bloomington music scene and played in many packed clubs during their early days. They went on to open for numerous top named bands, while still playing their own club shows in between their opening acts. After taking a long needed break they came back and built a name for themselves and now open under their own name. Backyard Tire Fire currently works in small tour schedules often in the Illinois and surrounding areas.

Ed Anderson

Ed Anderson plays guitar, occasionally plays the keyboards and is the lead vocalist. His unique sound is what makes Backyard Tire Fire a success. The video I have included give you a sample of his voice. There are several songs available online that have Backyard Tire Fire on stage, however I chose this video to highlight Ed Anderson by himself.

Matt Anderson

Matt Anderson plays bass and vocals. You can often hear matt’s bass blend into Backyard Tire Fires music. He adds his own sound that harmonizes and even highlights the vocals of Ed Anderson.

Tim Kramp

Tim Kramp is the drummer for Backyard Tire Fire. He provides energy to the band that can be heard throughout every song. I have no doubt that Backyard Tire Fire wouldn’t quite make the same music without Tim.

Scott Tipping

Scott Tipping isn’t part of the Backyard Tire Fire original trio, however he is still a presence within the band and can be seen in many of their shows. Tipping is a guitarist that can be heard in many of their songs. In addition to playing with Backyard Tire Fire, Scott Tipping steps in for other well-known bands and small shows.

Discography

Live at Georgia Theater

Backyard Tire Fire

Bar Room Semantics

Skin and Bones

Vagabonds and Hooligans

Sick of Debt

The Places We Lived

Good to Be

Conclusion

Backyard Tire Fire pulls in a huge audience partly from their unique sound and in part from their lyrics alone. They have a sound that combines Rock n Roll, a little folk with slight cross of blues sprinkled with just a hint of country. Their lyrics stand out and allow people to connect in a life matter, they sing of poverty and struggles, basically the facts of life for mainstream America.

Remembering Houston, the humanitarian

Unfortunately, Whitney Houston has a lot of negative qualities about her life that will inextricably be connected to her legacy but I wanted to take a moment to remember the positive and compassionate things she did during her life.

Houston was an avid humanitarian long before “giving” was just another movie star trend. Her influence and works with Apartheid in South Africa and work to fight homelessness in America are among some of the better parts of her legacy that I hope people will remember over her more publicized and personal struggles.

Whitney Houston Foundation for Children

The non-profit was created in 1989 in order to raise money and awareness about homelessness in America as well as children with cancer and AIDS. It also provides classes for youth wanting to work on improving their self and confidence. Also, there’s not many positive highlights from Whitney’s relationship with Bobby Brown. However, when they were first married in 1992, they asked friends and fans to donate to the foundation instead of giving wedding gifts.

St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital

St. Jude’s has honored Houston for being such a generous and influential benefactor. The research hospital depends solely on charitable donations and grants to produce their research.

Support against the Apartheid in South Africa

As a strong opponent to the Apartheid that raged in South Africa, Houston refused to do business or be a consumer of any company or agency that worked in South Africa. Also, in 1988 (for Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday) she gave a live performance in London as a part of series of events that helped in the effort to free Mandela.

Raising money for the United Negro College Fund

1988 was a busy year for Houston. After her successful role in the movie “The Bodyguard” co-starting Kevin Costner (and more successful single “I will always love you”), Houston raised 125,000 dollars for the United Negro College Fund by playing live at Madison Square Garden.

In a separate occasion Houston raised around 300,000 dollars for the Children’s Defense Fund as a part of an HBO concert titled “Classic Whitney live from Washington DC”.

American Red Cross

In 1991 Houston earned another unique title. Only artist to every snag a top 100 hit from singing the Star Spangled Banner. She ended up donating the royalties she accrued from the song to the American Red Cross.

Georgia declares "Music Day"

Kids in Georgia schools, and possibly a few adults (and of course all musicians) have another “day off” to celebrate in the calendar year. The House and Senate has come together to declare January 24th as the official “Music Day” throughout the state of Georgia.

Georgia Music Partners, along with the legislature, musicians, and educators, have joined forces in order to bring awareness of the impact that music and musicians has on the daily lives of Georgians. A study funded by GMP in 2011 indicated that 3.8 billion dollars aided Georgia’s economic annually due to the 20,000 people employed in the music industry.

Now, GMP, inspired by a similar bill passed in 2007 that grants targeted tax benefits to those in Georgia working in the film industry, has finally seen their hard work pay off. House Bill 11 which implements targeted tax incentives will now be enjoyed by Georgia’s musicians. If the previous resolution granted to people employed in the film industry is any indicator (over the past 5 years, the bill has allowed 2.5 billion dollars from the film industry to pour into Georgia’s state economy) than musicians will be not only bringing music to the ears of Georgians and people across the country, they will also be supporting their local state’s economy.

But why Georgia? Watch the Grammy’s for your answer. Georgia is rife with musicians and every year they’re bringing home the awards that proves their prowess. Although Georgia is the first to pass such a measure, I wouldn’t be surprised if other musically inclined states begin to adopt similar bills. For now, mark the 24th of January on your calendar as the official day of music.

Legacy of The Smiths lives on in America

Although the Brittish punk band The Smiths fell apart in 1987, their legacy and cult continues to live on both in the U.K. and here in America.

As a kid, before The Smiths were even spark in his imagination, Steven Patrick Morrissey was just another out of sorts teens, trying to fit into suburban life in Manchester. Morrissey was an avid writer, creating lines of poetry and writing letters to Brittish Rock press, conveying his opinions about certain bands and disagreeing with their critics.

IN 1982, Morrissey, while flipping through the pages of the Record Mirror, saw an add posted by Johnny Marr in search of a vocalist to put together a band. With Morrissey as lyricist and vocalist and Marr on guitar the two gave birth to The Smiths. Although at first they only played a few gigs and had a couple of local hits, after a year of playing they signed with London’s Rough Trade Records and began to release singles like “What Difference Does it Make?”.

Although their sound couldn’t be easily identifiable as Brittish pop, Morrissey’s confessional lyrics, his unique voice, and Marr’s guitar sounds captivated listeners both in the U.K. and increasingly in America. After incorporating the rhythmic beats of bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce, The Smiths were complete and began to release hits like “William, it was really nothing” and “How soon is now”.

In 1986, the band released what’s considered to be their best album, The Queen is Dead, marking the pique of the group’s career. In 1987, the band was so big they had to sign with EMI in order to meet the demand of the their fans and although this should have signified their presence as a band that “had made it” in the music industry, The Smiths soon fell apart. With Johnny Marr going in all directions, working for several bands and on the brink of breakdown, he quite the band; soon the group was no more. However, although they weren’t producing anymore works, The Smiths’ cult was growing in America.

Record companies, recognizing this demand, repacked The Smiths’ singles and B-side songs and sold them to American fans, prolonging the affair between American listeners and the band. Now, the presence of The Smith’s lyrics and phrases is everywhere, from book titles to posters advertising club events.

Remembering Etta James

Etta James died at 73 Friday morning, leaving behind her a dramatic past of ups and downs in R&B music and her personal life.

Beginning in 2008, R&B singer Etta James battled multiple health issues, ranging from dementia, kidney failure, pneumonia, and finally chronic leukemia. But these were no new challenges to James. She faced ups and downs throughout her life and career as a singer.

Etta James was born in LA to a teenage mother who was a drug addict and left James at the age of 12 to a foster mother. She performed on street corners throughout California and in 1954 was discovered by bandleader Johnny Otis in San Francisco. Throughout the 50s she toured with names like Jerry Lee Lewis and Litter Richard, releasing hits like “Something’s got a hold on me” and of course her most popular tune “At last”. But James, like many of the artists that surrounded her, began to do battle with a heroin addiction. She was in and out of rehab and had numerous run-ins with the law.

In the late 80s, James managed to kick her addiction habit and landed a new savvy business manager who helped bring the diva back into the spotlight. In 1993 James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 1994 she won a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. However by the late 90s she was again fighting a new battle, this time with her weight which hampered her ability to perform.

She managed to move past her issues with weight and continued to perform throughout the 00s but in 2008 her health started to decline, first with dementia and kidney failure. Her family and friends around her complained that James was difficult to communicate and reason with. In the last months of 2011 James’s health declined rapidly and she was diagnosed with chronic leukemia, leading to her death on Friday.

Etta James leaves behind an everlasting legacy as one of the first and most well known female jazz vocalists of the age.

One woman inherits Vermont folk history

When Robin MacArthur’s grandmother died she left her grand daughter quite a unique collection of songs, instruments, and the vary house in which these tunes were created.

Robins grand mother, Margaret was a folk musician in Vermont who produced nine albums before her death. In the 1960s, Margaret drove around Vermont in her Jeep on a mission to collect the folk songs of backwoods Vermont. Using a Wollensak reel-to-reel she journeyed to nursing homes and and hospitals to find the musicians who could sing their stories into her recorder. At the time, Margaret lived in an old farmhouse which had been built in 1803. Her and her husband bought the old rotted out house, fixed it up and made a life in it. Margaret also recorded many of her own original songs in the kitchen; often using only her own voice and a guitar or dulcimer for accompaniment.

After Margaret’s death, Robin and her husband Tyler (also folk musicians) inherited Margaret’s collection of Vermont folk songs, her instruments, along with the old farm house. Now Robin and Tyler have incorporated Margaret’s own songs and instruments and re-invented these tunes in their band Red Heart The Ticker.

Sitting in the same kitchen Robin’s grandmother did in the 60s, Robin and Tyler use Margaret’s Martin guitar, her dulcimers, harps, zithers, and fretless banjo to bring back the songs Margaret once sang.

Robin says that being able to hear her grandmother’s voice resonate through the farm house and being able to play her original songs with her instruments is a beautiful way to keep her grandmother’s memory and spirit alive.

You can can listen to Margaret’s folk songs on Robin’s newly released album Your Name in Secret I Would Write.

2011, a great year for female artists

No matter how you feel about the past year, if you're a woman, you should be proud of your fellow ladies out there making music. 2011 proved to be a strong year for female artists. Lets recap some the best artists and their hits.

Adele

The big hit this year was Adele along with her fabulous album 21. Though Adele had to undergo vocal surgery, this set back didn’t keep her from remaining one of the most sensational female voices on the scene. We’re all hoping she can stay on top and produce another heartfelt and moving album in 2012.

Hits: Someone like you, Rolling in the deep, Set fire to the rain, Rumour has it

Nicki Minaj

Minaj was rated one of the best female rap artist of the year. Don’t be fooled by her barbie style, she’s smart and quite in control of the work she’s putting out. She’s a rising star who promises to continue creating shocking videos and catchy beats throughout 2012.

Hits:Superbass, Fly

Beyonce

Beyonce remains on top of her game. She’s consistent in the quality of music she puts out which can be heard listening to her newest album 4. Although some say the album is not her greatest work, it’s still a risky experiment in new sounds that the singer has not produced before. It’s still a credible and worthy work of the year.

Hits: Countdown, Love on top

J Lo

The biggest comeback this year was probably Jennifer Lopez. It was almost impossible to miss her in 2011. She released her album Love?, was named most beautiful woman of the year by People, secured a judging position on American Idol and battled through another highly publicized split with Marc Anthony.

Hits: On the Floor, Papi

Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde"

The German operatic genius.

Richard Wagner is why we have the large opera singer in blonde braids and a horned hat. Wagner is why we have the term “until the fat lady sings.” The German megalomaniacal composer (1813-1883) is arguably the most famous opera composer of all time, but also made significant contributions to the compositions of symphonies.

Wagner thought of the great composers as men in a chain of musical evolution. Beethoven, the Master, was the last link in this musical evolution—before he himself came along, that is. Wagner said that Beethoven’s famous 9^th Symphony was the next step in the chain after the premieres of his earlier symphonies and it was the first symphony to establish the symphony as an independent musical genre. He said that this final symphony raised Music into the realm of “universal arch.” He said Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony predicted the future—and that future was Wagner himself.

Tristan und Isolde is one of Wagner’s most compelling and enduring operas. In it, Wagner invented the idea of Gesamtukunstwerk, or removing the separation between arias, choruses, etc…--divisions historically customary in opera. Instead, the opera was woven together by themes. The orchestra is the emotional heart of the opera—it comments on the goings on the opera and plays many of the themes to make the opera continue along. In Tristan and Isolde, the orchestra starts the Tristan chord, which could mean potion, love potion, and longing, leitmotiv. It begins in the orchestra and then is sequenced throughout it, with 16^th notes representing Tristan’s rising passion. In this way, the orchestra comments a situation, helps the audience read into the passion the two characters do not yet display on stage, and also acts as something which foreshadows impending trouble.

Wagner says “And so he let the insatiable longing well up one time only, but in a long draw-out progression...” This fits with the prelude in that the prelude begins in a minor, is developed in other keys, but then ends in a minor again. This could represent the beginnings of Tristan doomed love, their attempts to make it work-- “the most powerful effort to discover a breach,” as Wagner said-- but in the end, their inability to be together on this earth. The build-up throughout the end of the prelude of the texture becoming more and more full of instruments, which dies down to only the low strings at the end of the prelude is illustrated by Wagner, “Or is it not night’s wonder-world, out of which, as the saga tells us, an ivy and a vine sprang up in a locked embrace over Tristan’s and Isolde’s grave?” It seems like he saves the simplest, most beautiful, least complicated motive for the end to say how they are finally able to be together in simple love in death.

Seattle's U-Men and the Beginnings of Grunge

Ever wonder who led the way for bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, kicking off Seattle’s infamous grunge scene? Maybe you already know because you were around to experience this evolution, or maybe you don’t care either way but I’m a Seattleite and I think it’s best to be informed about the things that your city has done best and for Seattle, grunge music is one of those things.
The U-Men were a Seattle based group (from the U-District, this isn’t the origin of their name) who got their start in the early 1980s and bridged the gap between post punk and grunge.

They began their unique style in a basement in the U District with Tom Price on Guitar, Charlie Ryan on drums and Robin Buchan on bass. They had little money, only half a guitar set, and were a pretty sorry looking group. However, they were diligent, practicing the same songs over and over again. After a while they got a few small time gigs and accumulated a small audience who paid them in beer rather than money. When vocalist John Bigley joined that group shortly after, he became the enigmatic front man whose on stage performances often left audience members feeling both frightened but wanting more. The band went through its fair share of bassists but when John Tillman landed the position the band completed it’s image and developed its unique style in which it became so well known for.

The U-Men’s sound was influenced by bands like The Cramps, The Birthday Party, and The Sonics, but their behavior was more reminiscent of 1960s punk. They were eccentric and wild on stage. They’re style was loud and volatile, and often inconsistent. One show could be a smooth jam fest while the next show became an exercise in performance art because of constant failing amps and PA systems. During a Bumbershoot performance singer John Bigley set the front of the stage on fire while the band continued to play on.

Turns out that the band, with its chaotic performances, avant-garde sound and Bigley’s growling vocals were the precursor of grunge bands to come.

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