Musician @ MindSay

   On the last cruise, we became friends with a fantastic musician named Tim Starnes. He is from Chattanooga, and is a professional musician who sometimes tours with some pretty famous people, and also does studio work.
Here is our picture with him.


Several weeks after the cruise, we were laid over in Nashville, so we went downtown. We first went to Legends Corner where we saw a guy named Thom Shepard perform. He wrote the David Ball song, "Riding With Private Malone" and the Craig Morgan song, "Redneck Yacht Club". We spotted Mark Wills in the back of the room and got our picture taken with him.


   After an hour or so, we decided to walk down Broadway to see what else was going on. We saw several tour buses parked on the street and when we got to them we saw one of those velvet ropes, like they have in Hollywood, going into one of the venues with a long line of people behind it. We didn't bother getting in line because we figured the odds of us getting in were between 0 and 0. But as we walked on down the sidewalk we heard someone yelling "Eddie, Eddie". I thought, "That would be quite a coincidence if we ran into somebody we know here in Nashville". Then we spotted our new buddy from the cruise, Tim, coming down the sidewalk.
   He asked us if we were here for the showcase. I said "What showcase"? He said "Cody and some other country music stars were having a showcase there". Cody McCarver is the keyboard player for the "Confederate Railroad Band" and he has a couple of country hits himself. Then Tim said, "Come on. I'll get you in". It's a good thing nobody in the line behind the velvet rope had a feather, because they could have knocked us over with it as we walked by them and were escorted inside.
   One of the first country stars that we saw was "Cledus T Judd". He was a co-host for the event.


The other co-host was "Mr Belding" (Dennis Haskins) from "Saved By The Bell".


Here is Cody McCarver performing. That's Jimmy Dormire in the background. He's a great guitar player.


Cody spotted us and came over and told us how much he appreciated us coming "all the way to Nashville to be at his showcase". I didn't know what to say at first, but then I thought, no, I'm not going to lie. I said, "Man, we were just walking down the street and Tim ran us down". He looked a little disappointed and I quickly said, "But we're sure glad to be here", so the awkward moment passed quickly. We saw him in Knoxville a few weeks later and he told his buddies that story and we all got a laugh out of it.
   Several other new country stars performed as well.




This is Amanda Hinkel.


And this is Daryle Singletary, who performed several songs.


About half way through the the night, Danny Shirley, Confederate Railroad's lead singer, came strolling in. He came over to where we were and talked to us a bunch. Then Mark Wills came in and he and Danny stood there beside us, talking up a storm. How cool is that?


I didn't have to move to take this picture. This is where we were all standing. Danny did a radio interview during the time he was there and they gave him some very nice T shirts, which he gave to us before he left. It sure is nice to be liked.

Sorry to post such a long blog but nights like this don't happen very often and I wanted to post quite a bit about it. Here is one more picture of our buddy, Tim, playing fiddle on stage. He also played harmonica and lap steel.

I compiled this list from many sources...let me know if I missed anyone!

Aaliyah
Adult.
Al Green
Alice Cooper
Amboy Dukes
Andrew W.K.
Aretha Franklin
Awesome Dre
AWOL
Bebe Winans
Belleville Three
Berry Gordy
Bill Haley
Bob Seger
Brendan Benson
Brownsville Station
Cactus
Candy Band
Capitols
Cece Winans
Chairmen of the Board
Charm Farm
Cinecyde
Commander Cody
Corrupt
CREEM Magazine (first to coin the terms, "punk rock" & "heavy metal")
Crucifucks
Dayton Family
Degenerates
Della Reese
Del Shannon
Destroy All Monsters
Detroit Cobras
Diana Ross
Dirtbombs
DJ Assault
DJ Godfather
Dogs
D-12
Electric Six
Elvis Hitler
Eminem
Esham
Euro-K
5th Dimension
Figures on a Beach
Flaming Ember
Four Tops
Frijid Pink
Fugitives
Funhouse
Funkadelic
George Clinton
Gladys Knight & the Pips
Glenn Frey (of the Eagles)
Goober & the Peas
Gories
Grand Funk Railroad
Halloween
Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
HellRazor
His Name is Alive
Holland-Dozier-Holland
Howling Diablos
IceMan Ja
Iggy Pop
Insane Clown Posse
Isley Brothers
Jackie Wilson
Jack Scott
Jake the Flake
James Jamerson
Jason Newsted (of Metallica; Voivod; Flotsam & Jetsam)
J Dilla
John Lee Hooker
Junior Walker & the All Stars
Kaos & Mystro
Kid Rock
Knack
Krushin MC's
Little Willie John
Madam X
Madonna
MaGestik LeGend
Mariner
Mary Wells
Marshall Crenshaw
Martha Reeves
Martha & the Vandellas
Marvelettes
MC Breed
MC5
McKinney's Cotton Pickers
Meatmen
Mephiskaphales
Mitch Ryder
Negative Approach
New Concept
19 Wheels
Obie Trice
One Be Lo
Originals
Papa Vegas
Parliament
Patti Smith
Paybacks
Phat Kat
Pleasure Seekers
Popcorn Blizzard
? and the Mysterions
Raconteurs
Radio Birdman
Rare Earth
Rationals
Ray Parker, Jr.
Ready for the World
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Reflections
Rhun Girl Run
Rhythm Corps
Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise
Robert S
Romantics
Royce Da 5'9"
Seduce
Slum Village
Smiley
Smokey Robinson
Sonic's Rendezvous Band
Sonny Bono
Speedball
Spinners
Spite
Sponge
SRC
Static-X
Stationary Set
Stevie Wonder
Stooges
Sufjan Stevens
Suicide Machines
Supremes
Suzie Quatro
Taproot
Ted Nugent
Temptations
Tommy James & the Shondells
Top Authority
Torpedoes
Twiztid
Uncle Kracker
Underdogs
Up
Upholsterers
Verve Pipe
Violent Apathy
Volumes
Von Bondies
Was (Not Was)
White Stripes
Wilson Pickett
Woolies

So, I've been a regular Linux user for a few years now. I've also played around with digital content creation methods for a few years. Let me tell you, there was a time when the two did not mix well. Can you say "Proprietary Codec Hell?" Fortunately, various FOSS foundations have been hard at work on that.

I just loaded up Ubuntu Studio 8.10 to dual-boot with my normal custoized Debian Sid desktop. The desktop distro just wasn't cutting it anymore. I've used a number of the apps included when working with audio, photos, video, and so on, and most of the tools were familiar to me. When I glanced into the audio section, though, all I could say was wow. I've worked on various Windows and OSX based audio mastering systems, and theres nothing like this.

In any case, you may be wondering, "Why should I care if some Linux dudes have good audio mastering tools?" I've been working on a musical project for a few months now, and now I can record and master at near-studio quality. This should speed up the production a bit, and give me all of the creative freedom I need.

In keeping with the FOSS spirit, I'll be releasing my work under a creative commons liscense or something similar, and the tracks will be available for download or streaming from last.fm, my personal site(when I start hosting it again), and any number of other places I decide upon. If a digital release goes well, I'll be offering orders for physical copies via PayPal.

I'll describe the planned four-album set a bit later; it will take an entire post of it's own.

In honor of my son M's natal day last week, I am posting a few photos of some of the pieces he has recently made, both in metal and wood.  He plays the cello, musical saw, banjo, piano, accordion, pipe organ, drums, standup bass, and anything you put in front of him.  He was 32.   And oh yes, his newest addiction is gardening and he currently has around 40 or more antique roses and tons of other plants in his yard.  Happy birthday son.  I love you. 

I would like to introduce you all to a wonderful musician, Jan Wickline.  He's a New Yorker, born and bred, & has incredible talent.  I've just recently purchased his CD, & I really have enjoyed it, so I hope that some of you might want to purchase it too and enjoy a beautiful man, with intriguing man.  I'm now going to listen to eack track, and tell you how they make me feel, the things I appreciate about each song.

 

 

 

Track 1...Johnny's Song (2:18)

I love the arrangements of this song, lots of good fiddle music (aka violin)  Mr. Wickline has a great soft voice, and the solos's were very nice to hear...

 

Track 2...Far Too Gone(2:07)

This is a song of hope for our future, a time when we'll all think as one. Again, a cheerful song, with wonderful musical arrangement.

 

Track 3...Mercy (1:55)

I just love this man's lyrics, and they are all his own.  This song, for me, is reminisent of a McCarty song. This is a good CD.

 

Track 4: Wedding Bells (1:32)

Again, lovely, soft arrangment, his singing is so heart felt, you can feel what he feels if you listen closely.  It's a song of hope for his love..I loved it.

 

Track 5: ( Feel Like Getting Mad (4:30)

One of my favorites, to me, this is a song, again, reminding me of the Beatles, who I loved so much, seems to be a song of a man tired of carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. A wonderful song.

 

Track 6: Soul Mates (4:12)

Nice, bluesy, jazzy music, about a woman and how she makes him feel. A very heartfelt song. The instrumentals are great!

 

Track 7: Artist (3:55)

This song begins with sweet harmony.  It's another love song, giving hope to those who may have forgotten true love (we are many). Another favorite.

 

Track 8: Hands of Time (3:22)

This song just delights me, for how many of us haven't wished we could have a "do over" in life, and turn those clocks back?  That's what Jan sings of here, trying to do it all over again, and get it right, or in his words, to "rearrange my life". Delightful song.

 

Track 9: Beyond the Stars (3:15)

A song of the past, and all the wonderful thoughts we had and believed in long ago. A beautiful soft song.

 

Track 10: Darkest Road for Miles (3:58)

Very jazzy and nice!  He's talking about the hard times in all our lives, and yet not a depressing song, but a song of a man who only knows one thing, and will not ever give up.

 

Track 11: Feeling I Get (3:12)

Aww, a soft jazzy love song, this man has the most wonderful voice, soft, and appealing. Although I sometimes hear a Beatles sound, for the most part, I hear Jan, where he's been, how he's felt, and his music melts my heart.

 

Track 12: Hanna Leah (2:31)

A lovely musical, and although I don't know who it's about, for whatever reason, I think of a child (I could be very wrong, lol). It's absolutely lovely1

 

 

 

Folks, this guy has been making music since he was 6, and he's trying so hard to get further than he has gotten (which is not to say he's played with some great artists). Jan can play many instruments, and even create his entire song playing one part at a time. He's truly amazing, and I hope you at least give though to purchasing on of his CD's.

 

Here's his website, should any of you want to know more.

JanWicklineMusic.com

Give it a click, will ya?

 

Muah, much love, Blessed be, Quelly Q