Archive for 'Music'
Guitar Geeks Challenge:”Love That Lasts”
Posted on 19. Jul, 2010 by debra.
Check out Perry Robinson’s clarinet intro and John Hummel’s incredible drumming around 2:20 on Love That Lasts from our Get Free album. John’s gotta be the bastard musical lovechild of Ginger Baker and John Bonham.
OK Guitar Geeks – what tuning am I using on this song? I’ll give you a hint, it’s a favorite of Jimmy Page. This photo of him makes me want to lick his neck.
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Crusher interview – Devi
Posted on 10. Nov, 2009 by debra.
Let’s hear it for those tireless rock fanatics who pour their hearts and souls into letting the world know about new music…and manage to be politically conscious in the process. Christine Natanael, ediatrix-in-chief of Crusher magazine is one of ‘em. Christine and I met awhile back when she took me to see Ministry at Irving Plaza last fall. Our NYC homeboy Tommy Victor from Prong was shredding it on guitar. I danced my face off.
For my interview with Crusher, Christine chose Crusher’s London writer Alissa Ordabai, because Alissa’s also a guitar player and gets all that guitar geek stuff. We got deep into it about female guitarists, the metaphysics of the blues, Camille Paglia and, oh yeah, the Get Free album.
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Get Free – Living the Zen Guitar Life of Phil Sudo
Posted on 27. Sep, 2009 by debra.
Someone recently asked me why I’ve called Devi’s debut album Get Free. Here’s the story. One birthday a friend handed me a slim book titled Zen Guitar. The author’s name was Philip Toshio Sudo.
“That’s funny,” I thought, “I used to know a Phil Sudo.” I turned the book over and read that Sudo was a musician living in Maui with his wife and children. Couldn’t be the same guy. The Phil Sudo I knew was almost certainly still fidgeting miserably at his desk at American Banker newspaper.
That’s where I’d last seen him, back when I was a punk rock guitar player who freelanced for AB to pay for my East Village rathole. I’d traipse in to see the editor, ignoring the reporters snickering at my thrift-store dress and Doc Martens.
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Talking With Vodou Priestess Sallie Glassman for HeadCount
Posted on 24. Sep, 2009 by debra.
I crushed on New Orleans music from the moment I heard Dr. John growling “I was in the right place, but it musta been the wrong time” when I was a little kid, lolling in the sun listening to my yellow ball-shaped radio. Then I heard Lee Dorsey (”ride your pony, get on your pony and ride”) and fell helplessly in love.
When I wrote The Language of the Blues (foreword by Dr. John!) I discovered that the Vodou religion is the pulse of that fonky beat. Some people might’ve hoped for Vodou to have been washed away by Hurricane Katrina, but it’s the strength of the city and it’s coming back. Check out my story for HeadCount on the upcoming Anbo Dlo festival and interview with priestess Sallie Glassman. And groove to the Night Tripper and the Meters.
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9/11 song: “Welcome to the Boneyard”
Posted on 11. Sep, 2009 by debra.
In honor of those who died on 9/11 and those battling 9/11-related illnesses, here’s a free download of the Devi song “Welcome to the Boneyard” and an important video from George Tabb, one of many Ground Zero volunteers and recovery workers with severely compromised health.
The morning of 9/11/2001, I was heading out the door of my Hoboken apartment to meet a friend when I flipped on the radio and heard that a bomb had gone off at the World Trade Center. I came back inside and turned on the TV. I watched in shock as smoke poured out of the north tower, thinking this was some terrible accident…then I saw the second plane ram into the south tower. When the north tower imploded and crumbled into a cloud of dust, I ran outside, jumped onto my bike and rode to the riverfront, with some vague idea of praying for the people who had just been immolated. By the time I got there, I saw not one, but two massive white clouds across the river. The south tower had just fallen, too. A young Indian man standing next to me said “my aunt and uncle work in that tower.”
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September Triple R Girl – Who Me?
Posted on 01. Sep, 2009 by debra.
Psst…wanna see some cheesecake? That’s what my Dad calls any photo of me that is remotely salacious. As in “No more cheesecake, please!”
Don’t tell my Dad but I’m The Rock and Roll Report’s September Triple R Girl. RRR says:Â If you think this is a typical “babe of the month” thing you are sadly mistaken. The Triple R Girl celebrates some amazing women who exemplify rock and roll attitude.
As a former member of my high school debate team, I’m honored to be included. Oh, and check out the fit a male commentator threw on RRR about female musicians…and the verbal beatdown he received. Pretty funny.  [photo by Bob Schaffer]
