Shameless Plug Time...

Huh?  What?

Huh? What?

Many questions arise from this picture: How much did that...

Many questions arise from this picture:

1. How much did that hurt?
2. Did he at least get to keep the ball or did it bounce into the upper deck?
3. Was it his team that hit the ball or the opponents?
4. How good is this photographer? Damn!

Show #077: Glass Halo

Despite what you may have been reading on our Twitter page, through automated announcements programmed a month ago, Indy In-Tune is off it's Summer hiatus and gearing up to bring you some great music and interviews through the rest of the year. The first thing I did when deciding it was time to get back in the swing of things was to go through the stack of correspondence I had accumulated over the past several months. One of the bands that was high on my "short list" was this week's featured act, Glass Halo. I first became aware of Glass Halo last year when they played to a packed house and ended up winning the Battle of Birdy's. I had been in contact with bassist Dave Grodzki via Twitter and drummer Jason Kuykendall via Facebook trying to put this all together, but finally it was Stacy Basner of Finer who got the meeting nailed down at the historic Melody Inn, where Finer was hosting an evening of great rock and roll with several local and regional acts.

Glass Halo is a perfect example of how dogged determination and a little business savvy will take you a long way in this business -- of course it doesn't hurt to have some great music and talented players in your band, which they most certainly have as well. With two EP's, a full-length CD, and a live CD in their catalog, soon to be complimented by a brand new single in the next few weeks, these guys have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to consistently put together snappy, in your face, rock songs with memorable riffs, catchy lyrics, and enough energy to keep you hooked and wanting to hear more. Add to this a killer live show that has made waves both locally and regionally, and you've got the secret formula that has proven to win over fans and earn the respect of venue owners and fellow musicians alike. Trust me, if you haven't gone out to see these guys play, you're definitely missing a great time.

Links referenced in the show:

• Glass Halo can be found here: Web Site | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
• Their latest CD, The World Through Different Eyes, is available for purchase on their website and iTunes.
• Drummer Jason Kuykendall appeared on Indy In-Tune Episode #010, nearly four years ago, with his previous band, Great Scott.
• They citeBandalism: The Rock Group Survival Guide by Julian Ridgway as being very influential in helping them manage the direction of the band.
• The CD was recorded at Russian Recorded Studios by Mike Bridavsky.
• You can catch clips of them recording their latest single, Stalker Girlfriend, on their YouTube channel.
• They acknowledge and endorse the inventory at Chateau Thomas Winery as being very inspirational in the creative process.
• Come to think of it, they also like PBR.
• This the first of three shows recorded at the historic Melody Inn: Next week, Stacy Basner takes over the big chair and interviews The Post Script for us. She will be back on Show #080 with her own band, Finer, to complete the trilogy of shows recorded that night.
• You can catch Glass Halo on Septeber 9 at Birdy's for the Shady 80's Show to benefit Riley Childrens' Hospital.
• Glass Halo's music has also appeared multiple times on the Mothpod, one of my favorite podcasts from fellow Indiana podcaster, Zack Daggy. I meant to play the promo we have for him, but realized it is somewhat outdated, plugging older shows, and leaving out his latest projects such as the Midnight Spookshow and his horror series, the Dark Worlds Trilogy.

Photo

Show #076: Camby Road

Did it really take four and a half years for me to feature a country band on Indy In-Tune? Well, yeah, possibly, but not for lack of trying. I do recall co-sponsoring a country battle of the bands at 8 Seconds Saloon, which got pretty much no response, at least from the bands that perform original country music, and I have featured some borderline country bands, as well as some bluegrass on the show before. Then, of course, there's the ill-fated interview with a certain country artist here in town that, though I love the guy dearly, I couldn't actually use, because (and this is an absolutely true story -- I have several witnesses) I led with, "How did you get into music?" and two hours and forty-five minutes later, he finished answering just that first question. I still have the complete interview, and have promised to use it to pen his biography (or biopic) should he ever become famous, but there's no way I can get that edited down to a 35-minute interview and do him justice.

Cassidy, on the other hand, I have known off and on for nearly 20 years outside of the music scene, only recently having become aware of what she and her new band, Camby Road, were doing with her often-talked-about recording project. Of course, it still took over two years to get from, "I'd love to have you on the show sometime," to sitting down and putting a mic in front of her. As I said during the interview, it's something of a shock when you realize that karaoke-singing chick who was sucking down Margaritas at your birthday party the other day is actually a damned good singer with a killer backup band and fully-produced CD of original music to boot. To put icing on that cake, she's also got a great story and tells it well: from small-town Indiana dreamer, to recording in Nashville, back to small-town Indiana, and now on the eve of returning to Nashville for the first time as a headliner. Just goes to show you that there's always something new to uncover in this crazy scene if you look around your surroundings a little bit. As I've gone on record several times saying that, while I appreciate any good music, country is not exactly my first choice when deciding what local artist I'm going to go see on a particular night, so for those of you out there who are country music fans, I would greatly appreciate you spreading the word about Indy In-Tune to artists that you think would benefit from being featured on the show, and as always, point me to any local country groups that you think I might enjoy.

Links referenced in the show:

• Cassidy/Camby Road can be found here: Myspace | Facebook | Reverb Nation
• Cassidy's new CD, Livin' is Good, is currently available by contacting her through any of her web sites, but will soon be out through the usual suspects. We will have links here when it is available.
• Our opening track, "Daddy Writes the Words," was written by Paul McDonald and Duane Ellis, re-recorded by Camby Road at the Pop Machine and produced by Mark Johnson.
• The other tracks you hear in this episode were recorded at Chelsea Recording Studio in Nashville, TN. Additional instrumentation on the CD was performed by Nashville session musician, Spike Jones.
• Their upcoming trip to Nashville is made possible through the sponsorship and generous donation of an RV by Greenwood RV Rentals. Look for a link to the video documentary of the trip, coming soon.
• We could neither confirm nor refute the story about Evanescence being discovered through CDBaby, so we left the story in. If you can shed light on the legend, please let us know, we're losing sleep over it.

Hacker humor.  Where was this when I was trying to explain SQL...

Hacker humor. Where was this when I was trying to explain SQL injection attacks a couple weeks ago?

So which one's Bell and which one's Biv again?  Oh...

So which one's Bell and which one's Biv again? Oh yeah, Bell is the one wearing white gloves and jorts with tube socks. See? I"m learning!

Show #075: Podcast Battle 2010 Winners' Circle

I promise this will be the last time we plug the 2010 Podcast Battle of the Bands -- mostly because it's time to start thinking about the 2011 Battle. However, when you get a one-time billing of the first and second place winners, at our favorite local music venue, for a nice round Show number like #075, and the opportunity to squeeze one more podcast in before going on paternity leave, you have to jump at it. This impromptu show is pretty much without a set format and contains all the general chaos you would expect from having two complete bands (plus a special guest) on at the same time during a quite noticeable sound check that required various people to drop in and out during the course of the show. And, as if that weren't enough, we get brand-spanking new tracks from both of these these top local acts to sink our ears into. So you can tell at least I had a good time, though from an editing standpoint, I probably won't be trying this again any time soon.

There isn't much that can be said about these bands that I haven't said already. Whoa!Tiger continues to be a fan-friendly machine with the release of their new EP, and the "Al Paurazas Experience Featuring Jenn Cristy" is quickly breaking into bigger and better things, having spent most of the summer touring up and down the east coast and northern part of the midwest, followed by the release of a new single that is a bit of a departure song, but still really good music. Whenever we get together with either of these groups, it's always a good time, and putting them both together for an informal chat over a couple of beers and half a dozen microphones made for a very special evening the likes of which we're not likely to see again for some time.

Links referenced in the show:

• As a visual aid, you can view photos of this episode being recorded on our photo album.
• Whoa!tiger can be found here: MySpace | FaceBook. They first appeared on Show #035.
• Jenn Cristy can be found here: Web Site | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | Reverb Nation. She also appeared as a guest on Show #012, Show #031, and Show #062, as well as being a guest host on numerous other shows. Consult the search feature on Indy In-Tune for her complete appearance list.
• This show represents an impromptu double-billing of the winner and runner up of the Blue Square Sound/Indy In-Tune 2010 Podcast Battle of the Bands.
• Whoa!Tiger's newest EP, Long Road to Reason, is now available via their MySpace page or at their shows.
• It was recorded at Blue Square Sound and produced/engineered by Joanne Phillips.
• Jenn Cristy's new single, Nevermind, is a download-only release available at most of the usual suspects (iTunes | Rhapsody | Napster)
• The promotional poster we mentioned in the show, designed by Dan Janke, can be seen here.
• You can see videos of Jenn's X103 appearance on her Youtube Channel.
• As an added bonus, with permission, we've included the sound check of Whoa!Tiger doing "Sweet Jenny" with w/Jenn Cristy on backup vocals. This is just the sound check inadvertently recorded when the podcasting gear was left on (the sound check actually occurs in the middle of the show). As such, it's not the greatest quality for a live recording, however you can see a video of the actual, live performance from later that night on YouTube.

You must all suffer as I suffer!  Let it's soft, gentle,...

You must all suffer as I suffer! Let it's soft, gentle, 8-bit polyphony wash over you as you sleep, do dishes, enjoy a glass of wine and a smoke, make out with your significant other ...

Huh?  Wha?

Huh? Wha?