The Clive Davis party is one of the most exclusive nights in music….so me being there feels weird all on its own. But nothing….NOTHING…will ever top this year. I was watching Exhumed at The Roxy when I received a text that Whitney Houston had died. Now, I think somewhere in the back of all of [...]
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Pre-GRAMMY Gala / Clive Davis Party @ The Beverly Hilton, 2/11/12
Relapse Records Scion Metal Matinee: Exhumed, Black Tusk, Revocation, TOMBS @ The Roxy, 2/11/12
Even though I was running on fumes reporting on everything rock-related for the GRAMMYs, I made time to ‘keep it real’ by swinging by the Relapse Records Scion metal matinee show. I ran into the venue right as TOMBS took the stage. I immediately recognized the bassist as being from Black Anvil. I love shows [...]
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MusiCares Person of the Year Honoring Sir Paul McCartney @ LA Convention Center, 2/10/12
Being on the red carpet of an event as exclusive as the MusiCares Person of the Year benefit is beyond surreal. When someone you’ve known your whole life but have never seen in person or met before is standing within arm’s length, they don’t seem like real people. So I watched Alison Krauss, Bonnie Raitt, [...]
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GRAMMY Week: Social Media Rock Star Summit @ Conga Room, 2/10/11
This being my third year covering GRAMMY week, one of my favorite events is the Social Media Rock Star Summit. It feels very contemporary, and gives me a hint of optimism for the future of the music industry. This year’s summit would focus on how musicians monetize through social, mobile, and gaming. The panelists included [...]
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GRAMMY Quickie: Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Nominee Dream Theater
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Artist: Dream Theater Nominated track: “On the Backs of Angels” from their 2011 release A Dramatic Turn of Events HardRockChick: What is it about your nominated track that represents you as an artist? Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci: “On The Backs Of Angels” truly represents what Dream Theater is all about. From the very beginning [...]
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GRAMMY Quickie: Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Nominee Sum 41
Artist: Sum 41 Nominated track: “Blood In My Eyes” from their 2011 release Screaming Bloody Murder HardRockChick: What is it about your nominated work that represents you as an artist? Sum 41 bassist Jason “Cone” McCaslin: “Over the course of our career our band has done a wide variety of different styles of music. Playing [...]
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Breakin’ the Law: GRAMMY week- Entertainment Law Initiative featuring keynote speaker Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify @ Beverly Hills Hotel, 2/10/12
I knew this was going to be one of the most action-packed, geeky, and start-studded days of my life…and the energy was pulsing through me as I fought traffic to get to the pink palace known as the Beverly Hills Hotel. Today’s event was a luncheon called the Entertainment Law Initiative. I pulled up to [...]
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GRAMMY Foundation’s Music Preservation Project: “One Night Only”: A Celebration of the Live Music Experience
There’s been one thing that has remained completely consistent on this blog since it started five years ago, and that’s my focus on the live music experience. Since I can remember, I’ve been infatuated with live music, and have made it my life’s mission to be able to say “I was there” to a lot [...]
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GRAMMY Glam: Spinderella & DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown @ MyHouse, 2/7/12
My GRAMMY week was kicked off in style- with a dress up event celebrating beauty and music. I started the evening at a metal show, where I wore my typical uniform of jeans, boots, top, and leather jacket…all in black, of course! Then I made a quick change to arrive at a Hollywood club to [...]
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Pushing & Pulling: Kyng @ The Wiltern, 2/7/12
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My new year’s resolution was to learn to say “no” to things. So far I am failing miserably. No, I’m not talking about drugs…unless you count music as a drug- which I kinda do. I’m talking about overcommitting myself to doing anything that comes across my radar. I have what my friend calls FOMO: Fear [...]
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Ritual: Ghost, Blood Ceremony, Ancient VVisdom @ The Roxy, 2/2/12
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“Tonight we’re summoned for a divine cause” I can distinctly remember the first time I listened to Ghost‘s Opus Eponymous. It was after months of hesitation after hearing about it nonstop that I finally caved in. “Deus Culpa”…okay…”Con Clavi Con Dio”…hmmm, this wasn’t what I expected….”Ritual”…I was hooked. It was that natural feeling that I [...]
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Ain’t Fit To Live Here: Graveyard, Radio Moscow, Eagle Claw @ Mohawk, 1/25/12
Early that morning I was launched out of bed by thunder and lightning shaking everything around me. The flickering luminescence caused by the lightning cracking down was repeatedly followed by the thunder that shook me to my core as I thought a tornado was headed for me. Mother nature is a beast. But luckily she [...]
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Souls of Black: NAMM Jam- Testament, Jackyl @ The Grove Anaheim, 1/20/12
It was to be my second year at NAMM; and this year I was prepared. A room at the Hilton, comfortable shoes, and an expectation to be really overwhelmed made things just seem much easier this year, as I wandered the convention center chatting with various friends and gawking at arrays of shiny instruments. Last [...]
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Lateralus: Tool, Intronaut @ Mandalay Events Center Las Vegas, 1/15/11
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“Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind. Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines.” January is always the strangest month of the year. It’s supposed to be all about new beginnings, where we stop doing this and start doing [...]
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Running In Circles: Russian Circles, The Roller @ Red 7, 12/31/11
I loathe New Year’s. But when in good company of both bands and friends, I discovered that it can be alright. Dinner ran late, and we had to navigate the horrifying crime scene that Sixth Street was quickly becoming. It was swiftly approaching midnight, and I swore that if I was stuck between douchebags and [...]
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Killdozer @ Emo’s Original, 12/30/11
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It’s the day before the last day of the year. It’s when reflection overload causes you to vow to make changes in your life, which generally mean stopping or starting to do something. Unfortunately this year, along with all of those resolutions came the closing of an Austin institution, Emo’s. I’ve been attending shows at [...]
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Recoil: A month off in Asia and Australasia
Well, the two month sabbatical is over. With the exception of writing a couple GRAMMY blogs from Cambodia and New Zealand, I kept off the computer as much as possible. Did I completely escape from thinking about music like I was going to write about it for two months? Hell no! - As I was [...]
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2011′s Most Unforgettable Musical Adventures
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2011: the year of weird. I went to NAMM, had my second year at GRAMMY week, tackled SXSW, and conquered Austin Psych Fest. I talked my way into Ex-Helvete in Oslo, got my nose pierced while visiting Evile in the UK, and got a tattoo from one of the drummers in Combichrist. I saw shows [...]
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Top 10 New Albums I Listened to A Lot in 2011
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There’s one word to describe my 2011: WEIRD. I didn’t really have a home; I spent more nights in hotels rooms and on planes than I can count. 2 months outside the country, 5 in LA, not to mention a lot of domestic travel for music; all of this means that my eyes weren’t on [...]
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