You might remember a few issues ago, I was talking about the greatest movie soundtracks of all time, and yes I still think that The Blues Brothers and Almost Famous are up there as the best, because well, they were my childhood and nothing can take that away from me. If for some reason you have up until this point, heeded my advice and not checked them out, what are you thinking? Classic fun times ahead for you my good friend.
In Australia we are often referred to as the lucky country and nine times out of 10 that is because the majority of the year is filled with sun, surf and sand with some of the best landmarks around from the Sydney Opera House to Ayers Rock, the Great Barrier Reef to Bondi Beach – there’s always something that is bringing people to Australia.
If you are a regular Night Vibe column reader, you will remember a few months ago I alerted you to the extensive rise of ticket costs around Australia. From Rod Laver to the Corner, tickets are getting more and more expensive as the economy fluctuates. Now my beef this week isn’t with the ticket prices themselves, it is with people going to concerts and pulling out their phones to film sections of the performance.
So it’s January 2015 and it’s a very exciting time of year: with the New Year means new music. But with that said, how do you make an informed decision about where to go and what to look out for in terms of new music? Well, I am going to be making it easy for you by giving you a list of the top five albums that I am looking forward to in 2015. From just a quick Google, it’s easy to see what we can expect.
Packing up my suitcase in my hotel room in San Francisco was a little bit of a sad affair. Mostly because it meant that the end of the best four weeks of my life was getting closer. What a week it had been in Frisco, eating at what had been voted as the best barbeque place in California to heading out to Golden Gate Park for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, it was a lifetime of memories and not the last time that I would be visiting.
For as long as I have been interested in playing music, I’ve always dreamt of visiting San Francisco. Up until three months ago, I thought it would definitely be at least three years until I got there. So that said, when I landed in the airport, I was walking around like I was in a dream. From the fresh and organic breeze coming off San Francisco Bay, I must admit I’d been away from the sea for three weeks and it was driving me a little crazy.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve visited some of the biggest music cities in the US. Before I start to tell you of my adventures, it should be noted for the record that everything is bigger in Texas. From the hospitality industry to gigs, I highly recommend that if you’re headed to the US to listen to and experience the scene, Austin is on your agenda.
If you are a regular reader of The Night Vibe column, you will remember that last fortnight I talked about how much of a struggle it is to make it in the Australian music scene and one of the most interesting things I discovered was that James Tidwell from Violent Soho had to apply for a job at McDonald’s because the band wasn’t turning over enough of a regular income. I then went on to discuss as a band or a local musician where the best place is to make a start in the scene and get noticed.
In a recent article by Darren Levin on the FasterLouder music website, the harsh reality of being a musician and making ends meet was discussed. One of the interesting factors to this piece was when Violent Soho’s guitarist James Tidswell admitted that at one of the highest points of the band’s career, being nominated for an ARIA for their 2010 debut album and touring America, he had to apply for a job at McDonald’s just to keep the wolf from the door.
If you have been paying close attention to the music festival scene over the last month or so, you may have seen that there is a common thread running through the acts. This can be closely linked to the resurgence of the Americana music genre over the last year or so. For the uninitiated, Americana music is the combination of folk, country, blues and rock and roll music.