"they saw him standing there"... so they cheered him on...

So many great things happened at Road Recovery's benefit at Arlene's Grocery, but one of my favorites was Jeremy Sklarsky's heavy metal karaoke version of the Beatles " I Saw Her Standing There". The audio is horrific, but the first minute or so of crowd encouragement is priceless:)
More to come...

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir - 'Lux Aurumque'

Here is a fascinating and innovative video that pushes the envelope of what can be done with creative inspiration and technological collaboration;

PRODUCED AND MANAGED BY: Scott Haines COMPOSED AND CONDUCTED BY: Eric Whitacre



Representing 12 Countries:
Austria
Argentina
Canada
Germany
Ireland
New Zealand
The Philippines
Singapore
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
United States of America

Master Class Series: Road Recovery and Eric Clapton at Madison Square Garden!

It was a magical night at Madison Square Garden on Feb 20th, 2010 when Eric Clapton invited the Road Recovery participants to a backstage Master Class prior to his sold out show with Jeff Beck. Mr. Clapton spoke from the heart and revealed that life as a celebrity has all the same twists and turns (tho perhaps somewhat more trappings) and access to ways and means of coping as everyone. His thoughts and insights will remain with each of us forever.

Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck ripping it up on stage. Jeff Beck did a piece called 'Corpus Christi Carol' made famous by our long missed brother Jeff Buckley that was supurb!

Eric Clapton and Road Recovery

Eric Clapton, quite literally, reaching out to everyone in the room

Another Todd Alsup and MajorWho NACA Showcase!

Another MajorWho and Todd Alsup NACA success! Todd was selected for a showcase at the Mid-Atlantic Festival, a smaller NACA conference for schools in the region that didn't attend the main conference in the fall.

This is another great opportunity for Todd to perform for hundreds of student talent buyers and bookers from college campuses across the region. Todd already has a full calendar of college dates in the spring and we'll be looking to build on that success at the MAT Festival and continue to book more college dates throughout the Spring and Fall of 2010.

Here's a great shot of Todd hanging with Matt Pinfield backstage at the John Varvatos Road Recovery event from last week. Photo by Tracy Ketcher.

On gospel, Abba and the death of the record: an audience with Brian Eno

There's a great interview with Brian Eno this week by Paul Morley for The Observer. Here is one of my favorite excerpts concerning his work with U2 and Coldplay. Follow the link to read the whole interview.

On working with U2 and Coldplay at the same time:

"It was fine. A few jokes. I felt like a philanderer who was with another woman and might make a slip and call her by the wrong name in bed. I had one computer that had all of the Coldplay stuff and all the U2 stuff. I had to very carefully label each folder because I was paranoid that I might end up with the same basic track for each group and I wouldn't notice until it was too late. There was a chance the same track might have appeared on both albums."

Read the whole interview here.

Here's a great shot from the Road Recovery John Varvatos Benefit

I still have a hard time believing that these three guys closed the evening singing "I'm An A$$hole" on stage...

Road Recovery Benefit @ Varvatos Store (CBGB) a great success!

What a night! MajorWho was thrilled to help support Road Recovery's benefit concert last week at John Varvatos' store in NYC. His store is located in the old CBGB's and gets used occasionally as a performance space. So many of the performers and Road Recovery staff walked in with nostalgia in their eyes, remembering back as many as 30 years since their first gigs they played and attended at CBGB's.

Emceed by longtime Road Recovery supporter Matt Pinfield and his radio partner Leslie Fram, the show opened with performances by Road Recovery Performance Workshops, followed by the Road Recovery Staff band including: Knox Chandler on bass, Adam Roth on guitar, Mark Boquist on drums, Owen Comansky on guitar, Tom Dudley bv's- and Road Recovery house band Crazy James. It is such a thrill to see the kids perform the songs for a packed house that we've produced and recorded with them in the studio. The staff band was joined by MajorWho artist Todd Alsup, who sat in on keys and sang a fantastic version of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground."

Road Recovery Participants Meet With Peter Frampton Before The Show

Following the opening bands, the first of the two headliners performed. Denis Leary and The Enablers (featuring Road Recovery staff Adam Roth and Owen Comaskey) did their hybrid comedy-rock routine, including some of Denis' more well known songs such as "The Rehab Song," "F*** You," and his most famous, "A**hole."

Then came the headliner - the legendary Peter Frampton. Peter played a mostly acoustic set, but was joined by a keyboard player and bassist. The crowd loved hearing his classics - "Show Me The Way," "Baby I Love Your Way," and "Do You Feel Like We Do." He broke out the Framptone guitar/vocoder sound to raucous applause. For his encore, Frampton did his rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and then invited the Enablers on stage for a reprise of "A**hole."

The show was packed, John Varvatos was a gracious host, and was a terrific night for Road Recovery. All of the artists voiced their overwhelming support for Road Recovery, who both raised money and awareness for their cause. Congrats to Gene Bowen, Jack Bookbinder, and the entire Road Recovery family for such a successful event. We look forward to many more amazing Road Recovery events and collaborations in the new year.

John Varvatos with MajorWho Artist Todd Alsup

Distant Partners, Distant Portraits

Brooklyn composer Randall Woolf gives some insight to the Brooklyn Philharmonic January 24, 2010 concert "Distant Partners, Distant Portraits" at the Brooklyn Museum.

Moby @ MajorWho with Road Recovery

Road Recovery's Performance Workshop program and house band Crazy James, who meet, rehearse, and record in our studio every Monday , are being visited by a special guest this evening. Moby is a DJ, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer who has sold millions of records and had his music in hundreds of commercials and movies. He is also a philanthropist and and activist, serving on the boards of several non-profit organizations. He is just one of the many renowned artists and music industry professionals who have stepped up to act as mentors to the participants in Road Recovery's programs.

amanda palmer - "gaga, palmer, madonna", a kitchen-ukulele-blogsong

I love Amanda Palmer and the way she's engaging her fans with the use of Twitter, YouTube and other web tools. Amanda is fiercely independent and carving out quite the niche. There are many artists out there taking advantage of social media to engage their audiences, but I think Amanda stands out in her vision and creative inspiration.

David Sanborn - I Believe It's Your Sh*t, Marvin

A little while back I was invited by Dave Sanborn to sit in on the recording sessions for his upcoming album on Decca. The clip opens with a brief shot of Dave Novik, label president, laughing as the camera pans to Phil Ramone, the producer.

Phil and Dave swap stories about some of the most legendary personalities in music; Frank Sinatra, Billy May, Marvin Hamlisch, etc. This is followed by a sweet Joey DeFrancesco organ solo. AWESOMENESS.

CONTAINS PROFANITY: NSFW

Todd Alsup + MajorWho @ NACA

We're here in Lancaster, PA - home of the Amish, Shoo-fly pies, and the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) Mid-Atlantic Conference. We're presenting MajorWho artist Todd Alsup at our booth, meeting student talent buyers from colleges around the region.

Todd's got a showcase tomorrow afternoon, which is a distinction most of the exhibitors would die for - it's a chance to perform for the entire convention and reach all the delegates in a single shot. Last year after his showcase in Hartford, our booth was mobbed with talent buyers.

Here's a quick pic of Todd talking to students at our booth.


Last year's showcase translated into a slew of great college gigs for Todd and we're already off to a great start this year.