Smokey  just put out his own independent record. And it was a whole lot more work than he bargained for!

He doesn’t believe there are any new artists… if someone makes a record when they’re 15 years old, they’ve been doing it since they were 5. Nobody gets started in music on Tuesday and then is recording on Friday.

Just to prove his point, Smokey told us he started writing songs when he was 5 years old, and at 16 he had a note book of over 100 songs.

Smokey’s advice to artists:  Thicken your skin.

Showbiz is a life where you see the success stories. But, in reality, show business is a life of hard knocks.  You have to have thick skin because there are a lot of doors closed in your face, and there are a lot of ups and downs.

Smokey says, “Still today… I’ve been doing this for 50 years and there are still ups and down.  … There are peaks and valleys… and I let the valley be a lesson… and I’m not going to let it discourage me.  I can’t think of anything I would rather have done with my life.

Secondly, he says he would encourage you not to take yourself so seriously.

Smokey says, “If you think you can sing, I’m gonna take you to my church… and there are going to be 20 people there who can blow you and me away.  And they can’t get a break!”

I’m trying to imagine one person who can blow Smokey away… Yikes!

So, he reminds us, when you get some notoriety and think, “The world can’t live without me…” – don’t kid yourself!

If fame is your goal, and you make it, then count your blessings. If you get a break, use it, and count your blessings.

Keep your feet on the ground, and keep a thick skin.

Thanks for the advise, Smoke!

And just in case you’d like to see the entire Smokey Robinson interview for yourself, here it is!

Right now we’re listening to Fighting With Wire, a metal band from Northern Ireland.  As those of you who follow me on Savvant Music know, I’m a big fan of Northern Ireland Rock. They’re in the states recording their 2nd album, so playing lots of new songs.

Posted by Anny right from Latitude 30 with some amazing Rocking British Metal Rock pounding in the background! We’ll post some video soon!

Nicole Atkins with Future Clouds and Radar

Last Sunday night in Austin, we all piled into a taxi and headed off to the Austin City Limits Studio for a terrific party thrown by PBS.

The PBS party was held in the KLRU Austin building where the world famous Austin City Limits stage is located. Being near this stage where so many amazing performances have been seen and heard was in and of itself a breathtaking event, but watching the two terrific young bands playing on that stage Sunday night made it a night to remember.

Future Clouds and Radar

Then we were treated to an awesome rock show by a great British trio, Band of Skulls.  Despite the somewhat morbid name of this fantastic group, lead singer Russell Marsden delivers wonderfully sweet, smooth and clear vocals backed by his own ripping guitar riffs.  Tall, lean and serious, Emma Richardson plays a solid bass line and complementary vocals.

Russell Marsden of Band of Skulls

Band of Skulls at the Austin City Limits Studios

Quincy Jones keynote at SXSW 09

He probably doesn’t know it, because there were always 200-2000 other people there as well , but WE knew it and it was AWESOME. It was like spending the day in the presence of giants and their ghosts and their shadows as Mr. Jones walked us through the amazing history of music in his lifetime, so much of which bears his unmistakeably great music mark.

After the extended keynote, Bob and I went to a panel celebrating the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue album. And guess who showed up and was asked to join the panel… Mr. Quincy Jones.  And so continued our wonderful day with Mr. Jones. If time allows, I’ll post more at a later time detailing more of the amazing conversations with Quincy Jones and the Kind of Blue panel, but for now…

As wonderful and amazing as Mr. Jones conversations were, what he brought to us musically was even more amazing and fantastic.

Get ready for it, because Quincy Jones has a new protégé, Alfredo Rodriguez – a pianist so intense, so beautiful and so emotive you never, ever want the music to stop. Just two months ago Rodriguez, a tender 23 years old, defected from Cuba where he was not allowed to tour internationally.

Alfredo Rodriguez at the Elephant Room in Austin

Rodriguez played after Mr. Jones’ keynote address Thursday afternoon, and again later that night at a SXSW showcase in the Elephant Room, displaying his amazing improvisational skills and beautiful artistic soul. Part of Rodriguez’ genius is his ability to be so playful and simple interspersed with moments of exquisite emotional intensity.  He takes a melody and weaves it in and out of harmony and discord while maintaining the pure integrity of the melody and the feel of the song.

Part and parcel with the music are the expressive faces and body language that Rodriguez deploys to communicate even further the emotion of the music without need for spoken word.  Much of this you can hear in the music and see in the videos, but to really feel the full impact of Rodriguez’ music you must see him perform live.  If you ever get the chance to see him live, do not miss it! It’s an experience of a lifetime.  If you don’t believe me, just ask Quincy Jones.

Alfredo Rodriguez and "patron" Quincy Jones

After Rodriguez’ performance at the Elephant Room, Mr. Jones gave us a a few more words from his heart, saying about Rodriguez “this young man makes me even happier than I already am to be alive” and finally adding “This is what music is about.”

Like Mr. Jones, Rodriguez projects a sense of humility and gratitude for his talent, which makes him feel all the more genuine and authentic – truly deserving of his wonderful musical gift.

I’ll post links to purchase Rodriguez’ music as it becomes available.  Meanwhile, here are a few links where you might find new information on this newly emergent artist:

• Alfredo Rodriguez’ official (I think) web site:   
  www.alfredomusic.com
• Alfredo Rodriguez’ facebook page:
  www.facebook.com/pages/Alfredo-Rodriguez/71659295609
• Alfredo Rodriguez on MySpace:
  www.myspace.com/alfredorodriguezmusic
• Follow Alfredo Rodriguez on Twitter:
  twitter.com/alfredomusic
• Alfredo Rodriguez on YouTube (QuincyJonesProd channel) :
  http://www.youtube.com/user/QuincyJonesProds

While Alfredo Rodriguez obviously will soon be very well known (that is to say, he’s not exactly “under the radar”), I was so touched by his music and his talent that I wanted to share him with you right away, now, so you don’t miss any opportunity to hear him play.   I’ve included some of the best videos I found on YouTube below.  Enjoy! But don’t miss a chance to see him live!

My Favorite:

But this one was awesome too:

Last, but not least, here is a video of Alfredo Rodriguez playing the Elephant Room at SXSW – Bob and I were sitting about 7 feet behind Mr. Jones, next to the loud but well meaning drunk you’ll hear hollering in the video. I’m afraid the video doesn’t really do it justice.  This encore had me in tears.

See the Quincy Jones Production Channel (QuincyJonesProd) on YouTube.com for more.

Other photos:

Quincy Jones Keynote at SXSW 09

A standing ovation from The Elephant Room

Alfredo Rodriguez at the Elephant Room

Someday this photo will be the coolest thing on the block! Oh, wait! Already IS!

THEM TERRIBLES lead guitarist Marcus Vaughn Affeldt

CFO Bob Carnahan and I arrived here in Austin last Friday to catch SXSW interactive, so even though yesterday was “Day one” of SXSW music, we’ve been in Austin for five days already!

The best band we’ve stumbled into so far is “MTV Breakout” (I didn’t know MTV still played music) band “THEM TERRIBLES” who were playing at Speakeasy Monday night. Check out photos of these tasty looking lads (did I write that out loud?) in our blog library. We found these guys because we begged a tour of their Gibson Tour bus Anny wanted to see the guitars and the bus driver urged us to see them. Good choice!

Marcus Vaughn Affeldt of THEM TERRIBLES

Probably their best known song, “Dreamers” [find it on ] , is a lovely ballad with lead singer Matt Green behind the keyboard. With an energetic and exciting stage show, great crowd building transitions, lyrical melodies and smoky good looks, this band gave us a great time.  I’d love to see them again.

These young men from Santa Barbara are made up of Matt Green on vocals, Marcus Vaughn Affeldt on guitar, Jimmy Marvitch on bass and Joey Benenati on drums. You can also find them on facebook or buy their songs on iTunes.

SXSW ‘09 Panel Explains – How NPR became the place to discover new music

As a example 0f the opposite tactic, I covered a panel on “How NPR became the place to discover new music” on Tuesday as part of SXSW ‘09 “Platinum Track” for our local Fort Collins community radio station, krfc.

With large corporations soaking up the last of the smaller, independent radio stations (or putting them out of business) the panel tells us that many seekers of new and inspired music are turning more and more to public radio as curators of great new original music.

Bob Boilen, host of All Songs Considered, and Anya Grundmann, NPR Music Executive Producer, shared their excitement about recent and upcoming music projects. One such project, which premiered with the launch of NPR’s music site (http://npr.org/music) was “Project Song” where artists were videoed in their efforts to write, produce and record a song in just a couple of days. Challenges such as this give artists a unique situation where they can exercise their creativity in new ways, said Boilen.

The Decemberists

Certainly NPR’s music site (http://npr.org/music), which features over 45,000 artists pages, is a vast list of music to be discovered. Panel members say that 50-65% of the music they discover comes from public submissions (such as agents, publicists, and artists) and the remainder comes from friends recommendations.  Having reviewed some of  NPR music’s band recommendations, I would say that if you’re into the quirky “All Things Considered” type of folksy, music, you’ll love the NPR recommendations.  If you love rock and roll, metal, pop, jazz or most other types of music, you may want to look further.

When asked whether or not NPR should consider narrowing their focus, rather than trying to be of general appeal, Boilen said that inclusive, rather than exclusive was more what NPR was about. Grundmann added, “Narrow is not necessarily where we want to be.” She also indicated that NPR was planning to beef up their jazz content to a more meaningful level.  Looking at the bands that the panel and NPR in general recommended (Weird Weeds, The Decemberists, The Heartless Bastards), I would suggest that NPR does have a narrow focus quirky, folky bands with unusual instrumentation (pots and pans for percussion, guitars played cross legged on the floor with a bow and so on).

The audience requested (and got) the following recommendations for great music to check out at SXSW ‘09: Grizzly Bear, Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned, The Blind Pilots, The Weird Weeds, and The Decemberists. You can see more of their SXSW ‘09 recommendations on their “All Songs Considered” page.

The Avett Brothers

Other panelist joining in the conversation were Carrie Brownstein, NPR’s Monitor Mix blogger and former Sleater-Kinney bandmate and Jody Evan, Program Director at KUT radio, and NPR affiliate in Austin. The panel was moderated by Fast Company magazine Senior Writer Anya Kamenetz.

I did enjoy the band, The Avett Brothers, at the NPR sponsored concert at Stubbs. This band not
only had a much more exciting and engaging stage show, but also included a cello, which is the lead instrument in one of our favorite up and coming new bands, Post Paradise out of Fort Collins, Colorado. We’ll be writing up a review of Post Paradise very soon (promise).