The Porter Method

Butch Walker is back with a 2 disc live album just released today on Valentine’s Day. The album, “Leavin’ the Game On Luckie St.”, was recorded live at The Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA on April 20, 2007. The concert was recorded for a DVD that will be released in March and, this is the album version of the performance.

I was at that show and this album really captures the energy and excitement that was present that night. As always Butch demonstrates during this show what separates mere musicians from real performers. He is able to grab the audience and have them at his mercy and in his complete control throughout the entire show.

The sound on the album is awesome. The Tabernacle itself had pretty poor sound quality up in the balcony where we were sitting, but the mix that was recorded sounds great. Butch is an incredible live performer and always intermixes his song performances with various musical improvisations and crowd interactions. There are some nice instances of “Story time with Butch” in which he talks about some of the songs and their inspirations and background. These are always fun moments in his shows. And of course there are some great crowd sing-a-long moments which is a staple in almost all of his live shows.

This album also marks the beginning of him changing up how he releases his albums. Before he has always worked through a major label, but this release represents him commiting to switch to independent releases. This album is only available for download as mp3’s. Currently you can get it here through Amazon.com for the bargain price of $6.99. That is almost 2 hours of entertainment for only $7. Give it a listen, and pick it up. You will not be disappointed.

This will be a busy year for Butch. He has just released this live album today. Next, he will be releasing a live DVD, followed by a new band project called 1969, and then ending up with a Butch Walker album of new material entitled “Sycamore Meadows” before the end of the year.

Update: For a limited time, you can also download this record for free from Butch’s new provocatively titled site. It is via a strange little flash widget from Musicane.com so YMMV (I could not get it to work with Firefox).

Oh, and one of the best descriptions I’ve seen of a Butch Walker live show is written up here at RockNWorld.com

Recently Casey and I (along with Brian, Vicki, Kasey, and Kenny) headed over to New Orleans to see Better Than Ezra play at the House of Blues. I’ll write up the concert another time, but what I wanted to write about was the opening band that night. The opener was a band out of Houma, Louisiana called Sons of William. They are a 3 piece consisting of Joe Stark on guitar and lead vocals, his brother Dave Stark on drums, and Jen Janet on bass. Their name stems from the two Stark brothers’ father Bill. He was responsibile for their early musical education so the name Sons of William seemed a fitting tribute to him.

Normally opening bands are very hit or miss at shows, but these guys put on a great performance. Their songs have a great rock feel with some infectiously catchy melodies and beats. Joe Stark demonstrated that in addition to singing well, he is a very talented guitar player. Not overly flashy but able to deliver just what a song needs.

Prior to forming Sons of William, Joe released albums and toured as a solo artist and had been offered gigs playing guitar with very talented musicians such as Marc Broussard, Will Hoge, Rock Star INXS and even one of my favorites Butch Walker.

After their set I was able to chat with Joe at the upstairs bar for a bit while he ordered (and paid for, no freebies from HOB for the performers it seems) drinks for himself and the rest of the band. He was a super nice guy and very excited about all the shows they have been playing recently and the things they have scheduled in the future. He mentioned that they will be starting a residency soon at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, MS in the Hard Rock Cafe. A residency is a string of gigs at the casino that are free to the public. I guess it is kind of like being the house band but getting to play your own original stuff.

This past week I ordered and received their album What Hides Inside,

and it did not disappoint. If you like a nice variety of rock and roll then you should really check it out. If I had to sub-genre it I would say Southern Rock, but it is definitely more Will Hoge than Lynyrd Skynyrd. There are rocking guitar driven tracks, some piano driven tracks that are very soulful, 2 and 3 part harmonies, and really great backing vocals from bass player Jen Janet. All in all a great album from this talented group. I will definitely be ordering their EP and self-titled first album to get some more tunes from these guys.

I look forward to catching them in Biloxi at the Hard Rock and here in Mobile next time they pass through. Give them a listen at their myspace page or pick up the album, and let me know what you think.

Updated to add youtube videos:

Performing Independence Day at Monsoon’s in Mobile, AL

Performing Breaking My Back

Performing Easy To Love (youtube won’t allow this one to be embedded)

As any of you that have been to a concert with me recently have seen, I have become something of a hearing protection fanatic. Back in my younger days I would go to rock shows, leave with ringing ears, be fine by the next morning, and think nothing of it. Unfortunately these days I have realized that anytime my ears end up ringing it takes much longer for it to go away.

This was highlighted last April when Casey, Teddy, and I went up to Atlanta to see the Butch Walker show at The Tabernacle. The show was great, around 3 1/2 hours of entertainment from 3 different bands. Butch Walker put on an amazing show (as always), but the sound was way too loud (and not a great mix either for us in the balcony, but I have heard since that this is pretty common at the Tabernacle). After we left, everyone had ringing ears (medically known as tinnitis). The ears of the two kids (Casey and Teddy) were fine by lunchtime the next day. For me, the ringing did not go away until the afternoon of the day after the day after. So 12 hours to recover for the kids, 36 hours for grandpa (me).

In addition to my steady string of concert experiences, I have also been playing with some friends in a loud rock band once a month. With all of these potential assaults on my ears, you can see how I might start getting a bit more concerned with my longterm hearing.

Now when it comes to hearing protection for use at concerts there are usually two options that people turn to. There are the squishy, disposable foam earplugs and the reusable latex earplugs.

The foam earplugs are handy because they are super cheap (purchased in bulk they can be as little as $0.06 per pair) and are disposable. So you use them, toss them, grab another set. The average foam earplug will reduce the volume by 20-30 decibels which is fantastic and fits well with loud rocks shows. The problem with these in regard to music is that they cut much more drastically the higher frequencies than the lower ones. So you could put in your foam earplugs and then no longer be able to hear the singer or the blazing guitar solos.

Reusable earplugs (such as the Etymotic ER-20’s pictured here)

much more faithfully maintain the frequency response by evenly reducing the overall volume (usually around 20 decibels). The downside is that they are more expensive ($12/pair when bought in low quantities, but as low as $6.50/pair in quantities of twenty-five or more), and you must remember not to lose or misplace them. But if you take a look at the frequency response curve you can see they are much more well suited than foam for use when listening to loud music at concerts.

If you attend very many concerts a year or are frequently in a loud setting, I highly recommend picking up the Etymotic ER-20’s. I can vouch first hand that they do a great job and make the concert experience much more enjoyable. They even make a smaller size (the baby blues) for use in smaller ears. Remember, once you have lost hearing it never comes back, so prevention is the only answer.

If you see me out at a show, I will probably have a little baggy filled with foam earplugs (since they are cheap) that I am always glad to share, just ask. But remember it will hinder your concert going experience slightly (because of them cutting out too much of the high frequencies). I would love to keep a stock of the reusable earplugs on hand to give away, but the higher cost prevents this.

It is much more preferable to have earplugs and not need them than to need them and not have them.

Which begs the question, why don’t the music venues provide or make available hearing protection at low or no cost? With the low cost of the foam earplugs, it is inexcusable for a venue to not have a quantity on hand for patrons (and a big sign letting everyone know they are there). Even if they didn’t give them away but sold them for $1/pair at least people would have the option. Now those that want the best of both worlds would really prefer the reusable over the foam earplugs, so whey not have a venue also sell the reusable ones too (only $6.50/pair when bought in large quantities). Maybe sell them for $7/pair. A smaller number of patrons would purchase them, but at least they would have the option. I also wonder if a reason for not having them available is that providing earplugs opens the venue up to potential lawsuits related to the volume of their shows (your honor, why would the venue provide earplugs unless they knew beforehand that the show was being performed at an unsafe volume, etc., etc.).

So how sure am I that the message about hearing protection needs to be screamed from the highest mountain tops? So sure that I try to spread the word to anyone that will listen and so sure that I am gathering information to make a case with my local Mobile, AL music venues and try to convince them to make one or both types of earplugs available free or very cheaply to their patrons.

A group of friends have recently started playing Ultimate Frisbee on Thursday evenings (ok, I know it should just be called Ultimate since Frisbee is a trademark and flying disc is the proper trademarked term, but frisbee is much more recognizable to my audience). If you are not familiar with Ultimate, it is pretty much like football played with a frisbee except that it is non-contact and you have to stop when you catch the disc. Check out these 10 Simple Rules for Ultimate for a more detailed explanation. It is a great sport and also good exercise. I highly recommend checking it out (if you are in Mobile, come join us on Thursdays, otherwise look for a league here: Ultimate Players Association).

So I was reading Brian Battjer’s photoblog site (warning some content NSFW) and ran across this entry about his trip to Japan (man that guy has a wild life). In that entry (Ctrl-F for frisbee) he shows off his illuminated flying disc from FlashFlight. After seeing this I knew I must have one, so I popped over to their online store and ordered up this combo

of their red illuminated disc and their plain white Ultimate disc. A bargain at $27 plus shipping (which was $6 to Mobile).

I received the discs a couple of weeks ago and I must say they are absolutely incredible. The illuminated disc is powered by a watch type battery and light is provided from an LED. The interesting part is that there are fiber optic lines that run to the edge of the disc so that all of the disc’s surface get lit up. It comes in many different colors with the red getting the longest battery life (150 hours!!). At night the light up disc looks like a little flying red UFO when thrown. It is a great fun to throw and very entertaining at outdoor parties. It is also incredibly durable. No matter how many times I said don’t throw the disc in the pool because I’m not sure what will happen, it of course ended up in the pool. 3 or 4 times actually. And guess what….nothing happened. It kept on glowing and did not end up electrocuting anyone in the pool. When I got home that night I removed the battery and let it dry out, and it is still going strong. For you purists, their illuminated disc is 185 grams which is 10 grams heavier than the regulation disc but it flies great. It actually flies better than regulation in the wind due to the increased weight.

The plain white ultimate disc (regulation 175 grams) is also a great disc. We used it at our last game and other than my complete lack of talent in all things frisbee-related it performed flawlessly. It is also extremely durable. Teddy spent an entire afternoon (sorry Teddy ) the other weekend trying to see how many times he could skip it off of the asphalt with errant flicks or nosedive it straight into the pavement from 30,000 feet with flawed hammer throws and other than lots of nicks and scrapes it still flies great.

So, run don’t walk to their site and see if there is room for a FlashFlight disc in your life. You will not be sorry.

Of course the real question is whether my light up disc will make it through airport security next month when I head out to California to see Brian and Rob. After reading tales like this, I wonder.

Tuesday, April 4, 2006, Casey and I had the pleasure of attending the Amizetta Wine Dinner at a local restaurant named the Blu Bistro.

The Blu Bistro (Yahoo! Map) is a local fine dining restaurant owned and operated by Michael and Catherine Blucas. I was introduced to the place by my friend Dwyer who has known Michael for many years.

The wine dinner is something that the restaurant puts on occasionally in which they have a menu custom tailored to the wine selections and have a representative of the vineyard on hand to speak about the wines themselves during the meal.

The winemaker on hand was Spencer Clark owner of Amizetta Vineyards. Spencer (whose vineyard was named after his wife) began making wine in 1979 after deciding to settle down from a successful rock and roll music career. He has a fascinating story about how he came into the industry that you can see on his site. During the meal he told us about each of the wines that we were tasting and also treated us to his singing and guitar playing (nice added plus to having your winemaker be a musician).

The menu on hand was as follows:

Salad
Poached Lobster and Spring Greens with Tomato Caper Relish and Sweet Corn Vinaigrette
Wine: Amizetta Rock’n White 1st Take

Appetizer
Smoked Pork and Caramelized Onion Ravioli with Ancho Chili Mushroom Broth
Wine: Amizetta Rock’n Red 1st Take

Entree
Certified Angus Beef Pure Cut Ribeye with Horseradish Smashed Potatoes
Crispy Shallots and Garlic Wilted Spinach
Green Peppercorn Glace de Viande
Wine: Amizetta Complexity, Napa Valley

Dessert
Chocolate Espresso Mousse
Wine: Amizetta Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Price: $65/person + tax and gratuity

We were lucky enough to share a table with our friends Dwyer and Tammy Duke which made for a very fun evening. The starting salad was absolutely divine with the lobster (which I don’t get to have very often) being wonderfully tender and delectible. The Rock’n White wine was quite good. I do not really like white wines very much but I enjoyed this one thoroughly and hope to experience it again in the future.

The ravioli appetizer had a wonderful flavor and fair amount of spice (due to the ancho chili no doubt). The smell was a bit strong for me (maybe the broth?), but aside from that the flavor was just heavenly. The Rock’n Red wine that went with this course was my favorite of the night. It had an oak (or something woodsie) flavor, which I’ve never liked before, but in this wine I really enjoyed it. It also had a spicy aspect to it which I had never experienced to this degree in a red wine. It really went well with the spice in the ravioli.

The entree of ribeye was pure heaven. I did almost have to restrain Dwyer when Casey and Dwyer’s wife Tammy requested their ribeyes well, well, done, but he was able to keep his inner Bruce Banner in check. Some people like their meat like hockey pucks, but Dwyer and I enjoyed a nice medium rare steak. The meat was tender and full of flavor and I do believe I could have eaten my weight in the horseradish smashed potatoes. But of course I had to save room for dessert. The wine that went with the entree was a blended wine called Amizetta Complexity. It was a very good wine but I was still sold on the Rock’n Red. I would like to try the Complexity again sometime and see how it tastes minus all of the other flavors I had experienced beforehand.

Dessert was a wonderfully creamy chocolate mousse that was as smooth as can be. It was a fantastic way to finish off the meal and went really well with the Amizetta Cabernet Sauvignon (another wine I would like to try on its own in the future). Of course after all of that food and four(ish) glasses of wine I do believe I achieved Nirvana.

After the meal, we had the opportunity to purchase the wines that were presented during dinner, and Casey and I decided to pick up some of the Rock’n Red (and even got Spencer to sign a bottle for us. Thanks Spencer!)

A fantastic dining experience overall. The waitstaff of the Blu Bistro were prompt and courteous. The chef (Michael Blucas) did an amazing job on the menu and preparation (and presentation also, absolutely beautiful dishes). Spencer Clark from Amizetta Vineyards was a super nice guy. He came around to all of the tables and we got to chat for a bit along with a Q&A session he did. I would highly recommend attending the Blu Bistro wine dinners if you have the chance. I believe they happen quarterly and are by reservation only.

The Blu Bistro is also open for lunch Tuesday through Friday and for dinner Tuesday through Saturday and they have their current menus posted on their website BluBistro.com

I would also recommend checking out the Amizetta Vineyard wines at your local wine shop. If they don’t carry them, ask them to order some for you. Spencer also said he was finishing up recording an album in Austin, Texas with his band called the Noble Rot but I couldn’t find any information online about them. Maybe they will go on tour and come to your town.

I just received and watched Butch Walker’s live DVD Live at Budokan and in a word it is awesome. There are two live sets on the disc. The first set is the concert at Budokan in Tokyo, Japan from March 2005.

Live At Budokan - Tokyo, Japan - March 2005

Intro
Radio Tokyo
Uncomfortably Numb
#1 Summer Jam
Last Flight Out
Mixtape
Best Thing You Never Had
Lights Out

Running about 45 minutes, this show is from Butch’s tour with Avril Lavigne. The sound from the show is great and captures the crowd noise very well (which of course makes you feel like you are there). Butch does a bit of conversing with the crowd in Japanese (subtitled of course for us English speakers). In between each song there are small clips of Butch and his band hanging out in Tokyo (including a very funny scene of them all singing in a karaoke bar). Definitely a great set to watch.

The second set is from a concert Butch put on at the Variety Theater in Atlanta, GA from June 7, 2003. Part of this show was recorded and sent out as a bonus live CD entitled This is Me…Justified and Stripped to those that pre-ordered his Letters album from the Sony Music Store.

This Is Me… Justified And Stripped
Intro
Sober
Promise
Race Cars and Goth Rock
Diary of a San Fernando Sexx Star (Slow version)
Mixtape
Don’t Move
Best Thing You Never Had
Cigarette Lighter Love Song
Suburbia
Grant Park
Over Your Head
Every Monday
Freak of the Week
Let Me Go
Take Tomorrow (One Day at a Time)

Butch puts on a fantastic show in this set. The stage is set up like a living room (which he says is so he can feel more like being at home where he writes the songs). He starts off just playing acoustic guitar and is later joined by JT Hall on Bass and Kenny Cresswell on drums. As happens often during Butch Walker shows, Butch takes a turn on the piano and cranks out Cigarette Lighter Love Song and a bit of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

Next comes a fantastic surprise as Butch brings up his former bandmates from the Marvelous 3, Jayce Fincher and Mitch “Slug” McLee, to perform Every Monday and their big hit from the mid nineties Freak of the Week.

Then comes the encores which are the Marvelous 3 song Let Me Go with Butch solo on piano and then Take Tomorrow (One Day at a Time) which he plays unplugged, purely acoustic and from out in the middle of the crowd (which is how he best likes to perform it). All in all, an amazing show that really demonstrates how talented a musician, songwriter, and performer the great Butch Walker is. I highly recommend picking it up. Makes a great stocking stuffer to any music fan that appreciates good rock and roll.

Some of my friends complain that my blog tends to stay too technical and doesn’t really talk much about my personal life. So here is something for them.

For those of you that don’t know me, I am hooked on the music of a musician named Butch Walker. Some of you may remember him from a little band called the Marvelous 3 that had a hit song “Freak of the Week” Windows Media Real Player back in the mid 90’s. I highly recommend checking him and his music out if you get the chance. He has one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen. Since the breakup of the Marvelous 3, he has done two solo albums (Here and Here) and has become a very sought after producer (producing the likes of Avril Lavigne, SR-71, American Hi-Fi, and The Donnas).

Got an e-mail yesterday from ButchWalker.com mentioning that he had just put out an album of cover songs on iTunes. The album is titled Cover Me Badd - Link here for you iTunes folks (a play on words, of course, with the cheesy 90’s band Color Me Badd

The EP contains 6 songs:
Since U Been Gone (Live) - 2:15 - Kelly Clarkson
A Good Year for the Roses - 4:04 - George Jones
Alison (Live) - 3:47 - Elvis Costello
Live and Let Die - 3:14 - The Beatles Wings
Queen Medley (Live) - 8:37 - Queen (of course)
Always Something There to Remind Me (Live) - 4:13 -Naked Eyes

The live tracks (especially the Queen Medley) do a great job showing how Butch is in concert. He likes to joke and have a good time with the audience and most of all get them involved in the show. “Always Something There to Remind Me” was the closing song that Marvelous 3 used to perform and it is an awesome cover. I got a chance to see the Marvelous 3 perform at Atlanta’s Music Midtown (2001 to be exact) right before they broke up for good and when they played this song it was absolutely unbelievable.

Butch may be coming to your town. Here is his current Tour Listing

He will be in Atlanta on November 18 but I don’t think I’m going to be able to make the drive this time. Saw him about a month or two ago up there and it was awesome. Have to see if I can make it up there for it somehow….

Also here is a Pollstar.com article on Butch - Butch Walker Has Been Here Before

Happy listening.