Marketing Magic to a Thumping Beat.

Little Feat have always produced funky, greasy rock that had swagger. But since the death of Lowell George things have not been the same for the Feat. Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett’s guitars are immediately recognizable and Richie Heyward’s drumming is inspiring but it never seemed to be enough. “Join the Band” was a Jimmy Buffett idea to put the Feat together with other artists and let them work their magic. The result is some outstanding versions of classic Little Feat tunes featuring Dave Matthews, Vince Gill, Chris Robinson, Jimmy Buffett and Emmylou Harris. If you miss “Dixie Chicken” and “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” pick up “Join the Band” and relive the Feat’s glory days.

Does anyone remember the Northern Pikes? Would you call them legendary, iconic or even memorable? I would be generous labeling them as a third-tier 80’s rock band. Heck, they didn’t even have big hair. Jay Semko was the lead singer and bassist. More recently, he is “credited” with creating the music for the TV series “Due South”?! Semko has just released a moronic country recording laced with worn clichés, trite ideas and pedestrian lyrics that is supported by a limp country sound that is too pop to be alternative and too cheesy to retro. If this is some global plan to wreck every musical genre in one’s lifetime, Jay Semko is well on his way.

Instrumental music unless it’s jazz or classical rarely finds an audience. There seems to be a musical disconnect without the human voice for many of us. Steve Dawson guitarist and newly minted pedal steel player tries his very best to keep us interested and for short periods he can. Each composition is pleasing and different than the one preceding it, but after 3 or 4 tunes my mind begins to wander and it all becomes background music. “Speaker Damage” and “The Gunslinger Retreats and Lurks Underground” are the most original cuts.

The “Shuffle” on my iPod is the perfect generator of a mixed tape. I am no longer constrained to listening to songs in a specific order or in fact listening to a whole album. Music is sliced diced and mixed. Its blended and reconfigured. Is this a step forward or a step back to the 1950’s when all music was consumed as singles that our parents saved thier weekly allowance to buy and played on their RCA portable record players in their “Happy Day’s” bedrooms? I have a 4th generation, 30 Gig iPod with 5,204 songs on it. When going for a walk I use the “shuffle” feature that takes my library of songs and randomly chooses and plays a selection. But I don’t think it’s random at all. The selected tracks are perfectly matched to my mood and my tastes. Each song flows into the next both thematically and musically. It grabs songs I have just added combining them seamlessly with more familiar tunes and brilliant obscure selections from albums or artists I have not spent enough time with. I find ...

This column is a bit like your mother telling you to wear your gloves, eat your vegetables, and pick up your socks. We know it’s the right thing to do but we put it off and don’t get around to it. Backing up our computers sounds like a fun way to spend a Sunday doesn’t it? My cautionary tale happened a few years back to my trusty Dell tower that I nicknamed “Big Dog”. I was busily writing a marketing plan for a client when suddenly the hard drive started to make funny noises. I saved the work (thankfully) and within minutes the whole drive just gave up. I had no back-ups at all. Over 3 years work was on that drive. I nearly cried. I carefully shut it down and called my trusted repair guy. He listened carefully, calmed me down and arranged to come by later that afternoon. I spent a few hours worrying and pulling my ancient Mac laptop out of mothballs. When the service guy arrived I hovered over his shoulder as he unpacked his kit and opened the cover of Big Dog and laid it on its side. ...

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