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Homegrown
Happenings
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Edited
by Bryan Rodgers
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Hello from Home Grown Headquarters! We are settling in from the most successful festival season on record. The HGMN Krewe experienced some great events this summer, from the rustic bluegrass-filled Magnoliafest in Florida to the majesty of Buffalo Gap Community Camp in West Virginia for the All Good festival. Thanks and congratulations to all the people who helped make those festivals happen! Look for the HGMN Krewe at even more festivals next season! We'd like to officially announce the new members of the Home Grown Music Network!
- Beanstalk - Tampa FL Congratulations to all new members! Also rejoining the Network after a hiatus are Ominous Seapods and Lake Trout. Welcome back! To find out more about these innovative bands, visit our website, where background info can be found in our store. Also, be on the lookout for our new catalog which is circulating the globe as we speak! Call 1-800-6LEEWAY to recieve a free Kind Music Catalog! Christmas is coming, and that means Home Grown Gift Certificates are available for your gift-giving needs! They are available in any amount and can be purchased by calling 1-800-6LEEWAY. New additions to the Kind Music Catalog: The Big Wu - "Folktales" CD - Irresistable studio magic! The newest release from this Minnesota band proves that their sound is equally alive and full of emotion in the studio as it is live. This disc has been a daily listen at Home Grown Headquarters, thanks to awesome versions of "Oxygen", "Two Person Chair", "Minnesota Moon", and more! $15.00 Ozric Tentacles - "The Hidden Step" CD - Technodelia from the U.K.! Trance-rock grooves with underlying middle eastern themes make for a hypnotic experience, as the Tentacles "mix dub, Indian influences, ambient techno, and all-around synth wierdness in equal measures and to great effect" (Q Magazine). $15.00 John Scofield - "Steady Groovin': The Blue Note Groove Sides" CD - Guitar innovator John Scofield has produced a number of albums with varying styles, but he's always managed to find room for the funk and groove! This CD compiles the best of Sco's groundbreaking pre-"A Go-Go" groove cuts into one horn-splashed, bottom-shaking CD! Features former Scofield band members like Idris Muhammad, Don Alias, Eddie Harris, Randy Brecker, Steve Turre, and more. $17.00 Big in Japan - "The GoodLove Sessions Vol. 1" CD - The sound of Baltimore, personified in the Home Grown Network by Lake Trout, All Mighty Senators, Fat Apple, and Jah Works, now has a new transmitter! This trio (Matt, Mike & James of Lake Trout) oozes thick, delirious urban grooves with powerful beats, spiraling sax, and heavy bass over a bed of samples that will definitely please fans of Lake Trout, The New Deal, and the electronic improvised sound. $13.00 Miracle Orchestra - "Forks, Bends, and Spoons" CD - This explosive, exploratory jazz outfit expands their repertoire further with their third CD! Ferocious funk, fearless improvisation, and tricky compositions snuggle up to create this irresistable brew of pounding, horn-laden goodness. $13.00 Soulfarm - "Live at The Wetlands" CD - The band formerly known as Inasense has crafted a joyous, energetic live CD recorded at their favorite NYC club! On this Phoenix Presents release, Middle Eastern themes mingle with downright radio-friendly melodies, free-flowing grooves, and intricate musicianship that will leave you wanting more and more. $12.00 Medeski, Martin, and Wood - "The Dropper" CD - The most influential modern instrumental trio of the decade has changed the rules again on this studio disc, recorded in the cozy confines of their Brooklyn studio. This disc includes many concert favorites dressed to kill with new sounds and more defined themes, as well as fully improvised segments. Features Marshall Allen (Sun Ra), Marc Ribot, Charlie Burnham, and more. $16.00 Grateful Dead - "Ladies and Gentlemen...." CD - Deadheads, prepare to freak out! This four-disc set highlights the Dead's April 1971 five-night stand at Fillmore East in New York. Includes some rarities like "Ain't it Crazy (The Rub)" and interesting jam combos like "Alligator->Drums->Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad->Cold Rain and Snow". $30.00 Big Sky - "Under the Megawatt Moon" CD - Another live offering from Phoenix Presents! Enjoyed by one of the fastest growing and most dedicated fan bases the South has ever seen, Big Sky is guided by a passion for spreading their dynamic brand of pop rock with a Southern accent. Their music melds memorable melodies and heartfelt hooks with a highly accessible blend of roots and blues influenced rock n' roll. Recorded live in Orlando, FL, June 23-24, 2000. $12.00 The Phoenix Gems Series - Announcing classic, high-quality live CDs from some of the biggest names in rock! Phoenix Media collected the master tapes and sound recording copyrights for these legendary shows! Phoenix Gems now available at HomeGrownMusic.net include live releases from Atlanta Rhythm Section, Molly Hatchet, Spirit, Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes, The Tubes, Omar and The Howlers, and Derringer. Stop by our store, click on the Phoenix Media category, and check out cover art, track lists, and learn more about these essential recordings! $15.00 each Steve Kimock Band - "Live from the West Coast" CD - This guitar master's propensity to gain fans from the moment they hear his music has made ANYTHING with his playing on it a hot item! This disc features Bobby Vega and Alan Hertz (of KVHW, another Kimock project) as well as Pete Sears and Tom Coster. A MUST for fans of KVHW, Zero, and The Other Ones! Recorded live at the Great American Music Hall (San Francisco, CA) and The Crystal Ballroom (Portland, OR). $15.00 Phish - "The Siket Disc" CD - Get a glimpse into what you DON'T hear when Phish visits the studio! Compiled by Page McConnell, this CD features outtakes and improvisations from the 1998 "Story of the Ghost" recording sessions. Previously only available through Phish Dry Goods, it includes some jams that surfaced during Phish's 1999 Summer Tour like "What's The Use" and "My Left Toe". $17.00 Wise Monkey Orchestra - "They Live" CD - More flammable disco-funk psychedelia from this west coast outfit! This new CD was recorded live and features new songs like "Hell Ain't for Me" as well as favorites like "Grass Skirt". Features a guest appearance by sax player Dave Ellis (The Other Ones, Ratdog). $14.00 Merl Saunders - "Struggling Man" CD - Backed by Toronto's jazz-rock group One Step Beyond and their spirited horns, Merl provides more of the bluesy funk that has made him a legend. The CD was recorded live and features a magnificent performance of the Grateful Dead's "Franklin's Tower". $15.00 Various Artists - Music from the Motion Picture "Around the Fire" CD - Now this is a mix CD! There's nary a dull moment through all 14 tracks on this disc, which boasts everything from modern jazz to classic rock. It even has live tracks from String Cheese Incident and The Grateful Dead! Other artists include Vinyl, Living Daylights, The Meters, The Wild Tchoupitoulas, Bob Marley, Freddie Hubbard, Blind Faith, and more! $15.00 The Home Grown Music Network is sponsoring a contest where you could win $200.00 worth of awesome music from the www.HomeGrownMusic.net store! To sign up - visit http://www.EmailFactory.com/contest/default.cfm?pid=111 Odds of winning are determined by the number of entries. Receive extra entries and increase your chances when you sign up your friends! Here's a review of the 10-20-00 Umphrey's McGee show by Home Grown Rep Brad Davis. He's the first of our local reps to see the band, so we were very excited for him! Here's what he had to say, posted to the Home Grown Reps listserv: Hello to all you guys out in HGMN rep land! I want to take this opportunity to talk a little about one of our Homegrown Bands, Umphrey's McGee. I started listening to these guys a couple of months ago when another rep hooked me up with one of their shows (thanks Bonni). I immediately was drawn to their sound and the overall tightness they project. They blend an excellent mix of jazz, blues, reggae, classical and flat-out rock and roll into an incredible musical buffet. I had to fly out to Chicago last week on business. As luck would have it, Umphrey's was playing at the Canopy Club in Champaign Friday night. My friend Chris and I rented a car Friday afternoon and drove down to Champaign to check them out. The kind folks at Homegrown central had hooked me up with a spot on the guest list. We arrived before the opening band, giving me plenty of time to show how bad I suck at foosball. After that debacle, I talked with Vince Iwinski (the band's manager) and he took me backstage to meet everyone. All the guys were super nice and made me feel right at home. We hung out for a bit, then it was showtime. They played one long set with lots of those little arrows us jamfreaks love to see in between songs. They had a nice mix of originals along with a few covers. They tend to cover songs that I never hear like Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". They even threw in a little glam rock medley of Skid Row and Poison. Who else does that!?!??!?! I especially liked the opening of the show, which was: Muff II: The Revenge>Q*Bert>Example 1>Trenchtown Rock. Those four songs alone made me a fan of their live show. This six piece band plays very well as a unit, also allowing time for strong solos by each member. I loved watching Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger trade licks on the guitar. Those two are balanced very nicely along with awesome keyboard ability by Joel Cummins. The rhythm section brings it all together with Pony Stasik on bass, Mike Mirro on drums and Andy Farag on percussion. The sextet seems to function very well as a group as well as individually. Their changes are awesome, with seamless transition. If you guys get the chance to check them out, please do. Hopefully they will be able to tour more across the country in the years to come. As I was leaving the Canopy, Brendan modestly said to me: "Don't base your opinion of us on this one show". Don't worry, I'll base my opinion on the many shows I hope to see Umphrey's McGee play. All in all, it was a good week for this music lover. Four days brought four shows. I checked out Phil and Friends at the Riviera (Warren and Jimmy are on fire!), The Slip at Martyr's (w/very special guest Fareed Haque), Umphrey's, then a welcome back to NC show with Widespread Panic in Charlotte. Won't be able to beat that weekend for a while!
Bryan Rodgers |
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