Unified Studies - Portland Social Media, Web Design, and Web development

Patti Smith at Powell's

The great Patti Smith made an appearance at Powell's last weekend. She read from her new book of poetry. Below is a video taken with my little Sony Cybershot of her telling a great story about sake, Kung Fu Theater and being a mom, followed by her reading one of my favorite poems "The Writer's Song".

Patti Smith at Powell's

(The MPG is 5.7 Mb)

Jingles

I saw an article somewhere recently that asked "what happened to jingles?

If the punditry are lamenting the demise of "jingles", the Schulte Axiom then decrees that jingles are about to make a huge comeback. Can't wait.

Mr. Lonely: next First Thursday

Mr. Lonely will be playing at the Moto Interactive and Branding studio party next First Thursday.

Sitting in will be Scott Weddle from Amelia, and Ralph Huntley from Klezmocracy.

UPDATE: Well, Mr.Lonely had to fly to LA on short notice, and the musical slack was picked up nobly by Gypsy Jazz.

Medoyeff Vodka provided the libations, everyone had a great time, and here are some photos of the fun.

Gang of Four in Portland

Gang of Four in Portland. May 5th at the Crystal Ballroom.

Tickets

Devotchka at Dantes

A good friend of mine sent an email a few weeks ago telling me about her new favorite band: Devotchka. Her description..." the ghost of Roy Orbison, a little mariachi, a dash of polka and full on eastern bloc slav rock"

Well, they played at Dantes last night, and I dragged some other folks down there to see the band. My friend was right...they were great. Her description was right on as well. The singer had a really haunting voice, the drummer was incredible. A very original brew of influences. Apparently they were just featured on NPR, are getting airplay on KCRW in Santa Monica. Featured on NPR plus airplay on KCRW usually means huge career boost. Pink Martini would agree with that, I bet.

Devotchka's new one

Gang of Four

So Portlander and founding bass player of the Gang of Four, Dave Allen, has headed off to London. The Gang of Four are re-forming. British tour date here. One of the best bands ever.

The rumor I heard is that they are re-recording "Entertainment".

?

Maybe that would be re-mastering? I can't imagine why they would re-record it. It's already perfect, with some of the best guitar playing ever.

Swoon

...and here is the song, Swoon, referenced below. Scott from Amelia on lead guitar.

Amelia - Swoon

My friend Scott Weddle from the band Amelia is coming over today to add some guitar to a new tune of mine called "Swoon". Scott's a great guitar player and songwriter and as the magazine Performing Songwriter says about Scott's band in their June 2004 issue...

(Amelia is)...sultry and sophisticated cabaret pop with just a whisper of twang that flits in and out like a friendly ghost. The music of Amelia is a staggeringly cool exercise in understatement.

Mr. Lonely

My newest musical project is Mr. Lonely. This song, "It's the Singer, Not the Song" is a songwriting demo. I play the instruments and sing, but Mr. Lonely is a band, and hopefully soon we'll have some songs recorded with the full band.