Category: Music

Notes from the road

I've tried to glean a deeper look at the crisis in Needles, Calif., over the possible loss of its only grocery store, Bashas'. The grocer chain filed bankruptcy a few months ago, and it is set to close 10 stores in response, including Needles'. This recent story in the Mohave Daily News provides additional information … Continue reading Notes from the road

“Route 66” musical hits the road

Springer Theatricals is taking its "Route 66" musical on the road this winter and spring, including two towns on the Mother Road next month. Here's the play's premise, according to BroadwayWorld.com: In this musical comedy, a gang of rowdy Chicago service station attendants (played by Brian C. Gray, Dylan R. Hauck, Reid Robinson and Casey … Continue reading “Route 66” musical hits the road

Here’s your sign

A few months ago, we tracked down who had painted hundreds, perhaps thousands of distinctive signs along the Route 66 corridor from the western Texas Panhandle to eastern New Mexico. It was Rudolph Gonzales, who has crafted his work along the Mother Road since the mid-1950s and is one of the last to do so … Continue reading Here’s your sign

Building a better video

Eric Paul Johnson, aka LoonNewsLoon on YouTube, said he didn't like the videos that came with the song "Route 66." So he created his own, using the version by the Nat "King" Cole Trio and lots of sharp editing.

“Welcome to the Future”

This terrific song by Brad Paisley, as I recently found, is also a very good tune for a road trip. And it's a doggone good celebration of American progress and optimism. This tune got me thinking about how ironic it is that modern technology has greatly helped spread the word about an old and even … Continue reading “Welcome to the Future”

The phantom musician

This is the restored Mighty Wurlitzer organ that you can hear when you tour the historic Coleman Theatre Beautiful in Miami, Okla. The medley of songs from "The Phantom of the Opera" musical comes from an electronic player-recording of a local musician when she performed it. The last part of this video is taken in … Continue reading The phantom musician

Hopping with the Time Jumpers

For years, a number of studio musicians in Nashville have been meeting every Monday night at the Station Inn, a nightclub that's been a haven for traditional country music and bluegrass for years. The musicians called themselves The Time Jumpers. As for what came next, I'll let Great American Country explain ... Started as a … Continue reading Hopping with the Time Jumpers

From one toke to one take

Jim Motavalli, a columnist for The Daily Green alternative-energy magazine, tells about the fascinating background of Tom Shipley. Shipley works as a video producer at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. According to the article, among Shipley's favorite work is documenting students' efforts at building vehicles for the North American Solar Car … Continue reading From one toke to one take

Bootleg Stones

Here's a live-in-concert, bootleg recording in 1977 of the Rolling Stones performing "Route 66." Mick Jagger's slight change in a lyric might offend a few Oklahoma City residents (and make a few Tulsans snicker). The recording came from El Mocambo Club in Toronto, Canada. The gig became rather infamous, and not for the music, as … Continue reading Bootleg Stones