The summer music festival season took flight this weekend with Wanee in Florida, Sweetwater 420 in Atlanta, Georgia and the inaugural High Water in Charleston, South Carolina, among others. Over the years, music festivals have gone main  stream and became big business. Any similarity to the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival is purely coincidental. Continue reading →

Source: DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC, the story behind the song and the blog

I named my blog based on the rock and roll anthem by the Lovin’ Spoonful. However, knowing the song’s meaning and its’ words appear to be a generational thing. So, for the benefit of my younger readers and the older ones who don’t want to admit not really knowing the song, let’s explore DYBIM.

The Lovin’ Spoonful was a NYC based folk rock band from 1965 to 1968. During that time, the band had seven Top Ten hits competing with the Beatles, Stones and other emerging bands from America and England. The quartet, John Sebastian, Val Yanofsky, Steve Boone and Joe Butler, gave us hits in many different styles of music.  Case in point is “Do You Believe In Magic”,

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Comedian Dave Chappelle began his first tour in more than 10 years in Charleston, SC, on February 1 and 2. He sold out four shows in two nights in record time for the Charleston Music Hall. Normally, I would post a picture of the artist in this slot but cell phones were banned at all of his performances. I will explain all of that later in this review.

First, I must say that I loved his sketch comedy when he had his TV show. His willingness to poke fun at himself and all manner of people made for must see TV. Continue reading →

We all grew up listening to “Cover “bands in bars and at parties. Give a young guy a guitar and watch as they learn to play music that was popular in the day. Give a girl a microphone and listen to the songs of the artists who became her influences. After all, this was how many musicians got their start. Most never got past playing those cover tunes. But others discovered their talent for songwriting as the result of the musicians they listen to on the radio and record.

Fast forward to the present and plainly see that playing the songs of others have become the sincerest form of flattery in the Rock community. If you want to know who a musician’s influences are/were, look no further than their song list and the tunes others have written and made popular.  Continue reading →

You don’t have to like his music to want to read further. Zappa was a fantastic musician but an acquired taste. This is not about his music, but how a dysfunctional family’s infighting threatens Zappa’s legacy. Continue reading →

It was with true sadness that I  read about the death of Leon Russell this past Sunday, November 13. I was very fortunate to catch live him twice in the last 6 years.  While I intend to pay homage to a great musician with an amazing career,I would also like to stress how important  it is to attend shows of a living legend when they come to your town. They may never get another chance to come back again. Continue reading →

Jimmy Buffet, Zac Brown, Bruce Springsteen and the Mavericks… what do they share? These bands create a party atmosphere at their shows where the concert goer just can’t sit still in their seats! The audience embraces each song with contagious energy.  These performances are just plain FUN!! Continue reading →

Recently, I had the good fortune to see performances by legends and unknowns that
showed me that the future is behind us. Several weeks ago, I saw a solo piano player named Holly Bowling perform 90 minutes of amazing solo piano Continue reading →

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I have a theory that I conjured up by myself. You see, I haven’t read about it or heard it on the radio, but I have an idea why the concert tickets you buy today are costing a hellavu lot more than they have in the past. And I have three ways for you to fight back and help change these circumstances.

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