RomBox.com

West Chester, PA — Note: The Note is a music venue. The Note is giving bands a great place to perform in the most difficult of economic times. Not only that, they also offer an “all ages” concert experience. More often than not when an up-and-coming band goes on the road, they can only find stages in front of “over 21″ crowds. The Note allows youth a chance to see artists they usually don’t get an opportunity to view live.

Courage Pills
The opening act, Courage Pills, is a local band that is growing in skill and popularity. The five-piece band is able to muster up a solid punk rock sound that evolves into an almost progressive groove. The lead guitarist pulls off some mean solos, as well as, fusing with keyboards to create a full sound.

Cage The Elephant at the Note, West Chester, PA

Cage The Elephant
Cage The Elephant aptly describes the live performance of the band (kind-of like a bull in a china shop.) Their roots are in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Throughout most of their songs, you get that swampy blues and rockabilly inspiration. Surprisingly, their fan base isn’t home grown. For the past year, they have been at the forefront of a British invasion. After signing with EMI and releasing an album, they’ve returned to the states for a tour.

Brothers, Matt and Brad Shultz, handle lead vocals and guitar. Both Matt and Brad perform in a frenzied state that is reminiscent of a snake handling, tongue speaking religious revelation.

The band plays as a cohesive unit. When queried about songwriting, copyrights and publishing, Matt said, “We all work together on the songs and share the credits.” For many years, artists had to give up their publishing rights and ability to create outside of their recording contracts. Matt went on to say, “We’ve kept complete control over our music and can do whatever we want.”

Lead guitarist, Lincoln Parish, actually looks more like Matt’s brother than Brad. Lincoln has the ability to add a lot of the retro embellishments. Whether it’s a bluesy slide or a James Brown funk, he sucks you in with a catchy hook.

Coming out from behind the long hair covering his face, bassist Daniel Tichenor says he is shy. Perhaps, but he is actually quite personable. After admitting to stealing his setlist from the stage during the performance, he said, “That’s O.K. We’re pretty tight with the music and know where we are going.”

All members admitted that getting signed to a record deal and receiving a substantial radio airplay has not resulted in instant fame and fortune. “That doesn’t matter. It’s about the music,” said Matt.

And, so is the state of the music business — no plush hotel suite with penthouse windows for throwing TVs out. They had to hurry on their way. After sleeping on the tour bus, they had an eight AM radio interview. Not even able to remember what city their dawn interview was taking place in, they did know there was no rest for the wicked. Asked if he was going to have to play live on the radio, Brad’s face took on the yawning, sleepy, closed eye look as he started playing air guitar.

Following the morning appointment, they had to get back on the bus and head for their evening show in Washington, D.C. “I still ain’t got no money,” said Daniel.

Setlist

• Dr. Dr. Dr.
• Tiny Little Robots
• Lotus
• Monkey Song
• Back Against The Wall
• Back Stabbing Betty
• In One Ear
• Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked
• Aberdeen
• Japanese Buffalo
• Judas
• James Brown
• Free Love
• Sabor Tooth Tiger

Artist Statement
 
All of these photographs are unique, one of a kind silver prints. The process begins with a finished photograph (all darkroom manipulations, burning, dodging etc. complete). Next, they are moved through many solutions. In the end, they achieve tonalities that are expressive of my emotional response to the subjects I am compelled to photograph.

Ocean water is at the core of this process. What occurs is an exchange of halides that takes place after stripping open the silver via bleach and then introducing different salts occurring in ocean water. The process chemically alters the silver of that photograph. The first ocean water that I used was from Long Port, NJ. As a child, this was the ocean where I first swam, and for me, an obvious starting point. Since then, I’ve used water from Point Lobos, Bandon, OR, the California coast above Morrow Bay and from the ocean off of Venice CA.
 
Fortunate to attend the final Owens Valley Photography Workshop in the fall of 1990 and participating in various workshops throughout the years, what has become clear to me was that the photographs I was most moved by were executed with a pallet truly personal to the photographer.

Over the years I’ve been on a journey in search of my own pallet. This journey is ongoing. As materials change I, continue to change as well. Insights provided to me while engaged in this process give me a greater understanding, not only for the photographic, but also of relationships and reactions occurring daily throughout my life.     
 
Edmund Simmons

Alchemist Photographic Art Show
Website

Lollapalooza 2009: August 7-9, 2009 Aug. at Chicago’s Grant Park.: Tickets On Sale Now

Passes are $205

LINE UP
* Depeche Mode
* Tool
* The Killers
* Jane’s Addiction
* Beastie Boys
* Kings of Leon

* Lou Reed
* Ben Harper and Relentless7
* Thievery Corporation
* Snoop Dogg
* Rise Against
* Andrew Bird
* TV on the Radio

* Vampire Weekend
* The Decemberists
* Neko Case
* STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9)
* Animal Collective
* Band of Horses
* Of Montreal

* Arctic Monkeys
* Coheed and Cambria
* Ben Folds
* Fleet Foxes
* Silversun Pickups
* Kaiser Chiefs
* Crystal Castles
* Bon Iver
* Santigold
* Atmosphere
* Dan Auerbach
* Cold War Kids
* Deerhunter
* Lykke Li
* Robert Earl Keen
* Peter Bjorn and John
* Heartless Bastards
* Gomez
* Glasvegas
* Federico Aubele
* Dan Deacon
* Passion Pit
* Zap Mama
* The Raveonettes
* The Gaslight Anthem

* The Airborne Toxic Event
* White Lies
* Ra Ra Riot
* No Age
* Asher Roth
* Los Campesinos!
* Bat For Lashes
* Chairlift
* Gang Gang Dance
* The Virgins
* Amazing Baby
* Portugal. The Man
* The Knux
* Ida Maria
* Delta Spirit
* Friendly Fires
* Manchester Orchestra
* Constantines
* Ezra Furman & The Harpoons
* Hockey
* Miike Snow
* Alberta Cross
* Hey Champ
* Sam Roberts Band
* The Henry Clay People
* Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam
* Cage the Elephant
* Living Things
* The Low Anthem
* Blind Pilot
* Langhorne Slim
* Other Lives
* The Builders and The Butchers
* Eric Church
* Joe Pug
* Kevin Devine
* The Greencards
* Carney
* Thenewno2

Fall Out Boy with Metro Station, Cobra Starship, All Time Low and Hey Monday will play a Radio 104.5 and Q102 concert at Festival Pier Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia on May 1, 2009.

Cobra Starship is best known for the catchy hit “Bring It On” from the cult film “Snakes on a Plane.” They have released two albums, “When The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets” and “Viva La Cobra!”

Fall Out Boy mix pop-punk and emo to create an original sound that has had a great influence on modern rock and roll. Bassist, Pete Wentz, leads the band. They have released several albums including the chart topping “Infinity On High” featuring the number one single “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race.”

LOS ANGELES — One of the most influential music producers and engineers, Phil Spector, was found guilty of second-degree murder. In his first trial, the jurors could not reach a verdict. The second trial ended with a guilty verdict and now Phil faces 18 years to life when he is sentenced in May.

Phil is the originator of the “Wall of Sound”. The Wall of Sound is a recording method in which the artist is stands in front of a huge stack of speakers. In the 1960’s he pioneered the “girl group” sound. Throughout his career he worked with acts, such as, The Ronettes, The Crystals, Darlene Love, The Righteous Brothers, John Lennon, Ike and Tina Turner, George Harrison, The Ramones and The Beatles. His hit songs included “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”, “Unchained Melody”, “Imagine” and “Let It Be”.

Instead of frowning on technology and the Internet, Epic Records has decided to embrace it with a new format for albums. The latest trial is with the band The Fray. Sony, owner of Epic, has launched a new iTunes “pass” for $17.00. The pass allows the user to gain access to songs, videos, pictures and backstage bonuses. Earlier this year, Depeche Mode launched it’s iTunes pass.

However, the idea is probably too little, too late, for the music industry. Independent artists have been doing similar marketing plans for years… not only that, they often give it away for free. Even well recognized names like The Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails have been posting free MP3 downloads, fan pictures from concerts, videos and blogs.

Maybe it’s time the record labels started being innovators?

By Sara Moore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – Music is considered by many to be a universal language, and for some military veterans, it is the only language that allows them to describe their experiences in combat and their struggles afterward.

Military musicians normally would struggle to have their voices heard in the cutthroat music industry, but a fellow veteran has given them a chance to get their music released and in the hands of fans worldwide.

Army Capt. Sean Gilfillan, a reservist who served four years on active duty and a tour in Iraq, started To the Fallen Records in 2006. The record label, which takes its name from a tattoo Gilfillan bears to commemorate fellow servicemembers who died in combat, signs only musicians who are military members or veterans.

Gilfillan said he was inspired to start To the Fallen by the many musicians he met during his time on active duty, and the powerful message their songs had. After he left active duty, he met his wife, and seeing how interested she was in the music made him realize it might appeal to a larger audience, he said.

“It’s so emotional,” he said. “It’s so personal, and we don’t see this stuff on TV or on the radio. Unfortunately, we only hear about the attacks and how many people are killed and when bad things happen.”

The couple started the record label to bring music from servicemembers to the civilian world and to bridge the gap of understanding about military life and combat.

“If civilians hear military music, they might understand. They’re never going to be in those shoes, but they can at least empathize and understand what three tours really does to someone, to someone’s family,” Gilfillan said. “Not only that, but war … what happens during war, during patrols, and what it takes to actually psyche yourself up to go out to war, and the struggles when you come home with [post-traumatic stress disorder], with relationships, and how every normal everyday struggle is made more difficult by you being away for so long.”

Since its inception, the record label has grown into a platform to showcase all military musicians, even those not talking about combat. But the bottom line, Gilfillan said, has always been quality music.

“If the music isn’t good, if the quality isn’t there, then we won’t feature you,” he said. “It has to be radio quality.”

In its first year, the record label saw almost instant success, being featured in Rolling Stone magazine and the New York Times and releasing its first three CDs, which were compilations of hip hop, country and rock music. Today, the label has a database of about 2,000 artists and 200 producers it works with, Gilfillan said. It also maintains a database of recording studios that offer discounts to military members.

Establishing a credible record label is very important to Gilfillan, he said, because he wants to give the military musicians a chance to establish a fan base, which is key to any musician’s success. He said he follows the military’s philosophy that no one person is more important than the organization.

“To the Fallen will always exist,” he said. “The artists might change, I might change, but the label will always exist. So, hopefully the name builds enough prestige where any artist being linked to the name will get a leg up.”

To the Fallen sells its music online at its Web site and that of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, and physically, at Green Beans Coffee, which has stores in Iraq and Afghanistan. The label is working on several new projects, including a reality TV show based on military musicians.

Another new project Gilfillan and his wife are working on is in creating a nonprofit group that will use musical therapy to help rehabilitate wounded veterans. The group is in early development, but the vision is a place where wounded veterans can learn about the entire musical process, including recording and production, and use it as therapy, Gilfillan said.

“We would kind of just recruit and train our own military musicians and give them a trade and, in return, we would do musical therapy for anyone who needs it,” he said. “I really believe in musical therapy as a viable way to recuperate.”

To the Fallen already donates part of its profits to charities that benefit wounded troops, and once the nonprofit organization is established, money would go into that also, Gilfillan said. But more important than the money, he said, is giving military musicians an opportunity to get their music out there and letting the world hear the quality of music servicemembers create.

“These are not hokey artists,” he said. “This is real music.”