» Courtney Love

Dec
19thTres! American Authors, Hunter Valentine, and Clementine & The Galaxy

Today marks my final “A-Sides” of the year, and I have to just thank you all for reading the columns and watching the sessions. This series has been so inspiring for me, and so very rewarding. I’m just an honest guy just trying to provide a forum for artists to shine as themselves rather than caricatures of themselves. Thanks to all the amazing people who shared their craft with me, fielding offbeat questions and performing their tunes for an audience of me and my HD camera, which I unconsciously always set to Blair Witchmode. Thanks also to the music publicists I’ve worked with who give their all to get their artists traction. In any event, have a very happy holiday season and new year everybody, and A-Sides will raise the bar in 2013 – I promise you. Stay safe. Peace and love, Jon Over the past five year-plus years, the New York Mets have given their fans very little to “believe” in. Sure, they’ve taken steps in the right direction – trading R.A. Dickey for killer prospects earlier this week will help – but it’s going to be years before the not-so-Amazins’ reach their potential and become a real postseason threat. While the team can’t give you something to believe in, one band from Brooklyn can.
Apr
4thFoxy Shazam “Likes It”; Hey Rim Jeon Plays It

It seems the music industry — charts and award shows anyway — are too focused these days on Adele, her majesty’s clones, auto-tuned hip hoppers and tween artists that appeal to the Twilight generation. Frankly, it all kind of sucks. I mean Adele is unquestionably amazing, but what ever happened to good old fashioned rock and roll? That’s the question Cincinnati rockers answer with their fourth album The Church of Rock and Roll. Rock is very much alive, and this band — who have been opening for acclaimed artists for years — from Hole to The Strokes to The Darkness — are more than ready to have as many parishioners as humanly possible. The band (Eric Sean Nally, Loren Daniel Turner,Daisy Caplan, Schuyler Vaughn White, Aaron McVeigh and Alex Nauth) stopped by to perform their new single “I Like It” followed by a brief chat at the Music Conservatory of Westchester for an A-Sides music session. Enjoy the music (and their hats) below: Foxy Shazam “I Like It” [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f6w_dty5b0&w=460&h=315] Foxy Shazam Interview: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHxzxattIXU&w=460&h=315] Hey Rim Jeon World-renowned pianist, composer and educator Hey Rim Jeon has little in common with Foxy Shazam. The pairing of the Korea native with that quirky band for this week’s A-Sides is a wonderful non sequitur, but that’s the point. My series showcases artists making their art — no matter what kind of art or artist it is. Anyway, both Foxy and Jeon thrive in their respective genres so it’s not completely off base. [...]