Entries for October 2021

For literally centuries, the metronome has ruled the world of music with the iron-fisted persistence of time itself; unyielding, constant and when its passing is given the fullest of attention, well…boring. This is not to suggest that strict adherence to tempo is a bad thing, quite to the contrary. Keeping within the confines of a […]

Hello Troubadourians! How do you approach learning a new song? With practically everything now available on YouTube, as either the official version of the song or as an instructional video, we have seemingly unlimited access to learning just about anything we might want to play. We can choose from the recorded version, sometimes a live […]

This month for Halloween, we ask Five Questions of Michael Buchmiller aka Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra’s resident mad scientist Professor B Miller and read brand new Strange Stage Stories from Tamar Berk, Audrey Callahan, Jim Basnight, Christopher Leyva, Troy Cook, Chris Collins, Dave Preston, and more! Five Questions for the Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra The most unique […]

A few months ago, driving down Broadway in El Cajon, Garrett Wear had the vision to bring back the vintage venue that once was the world headquarters for Western Swing: the Bostonia Ballroom, Grand Ole Opry of the Southwest. He shared his idea with producers Christopher Burkhart of Stellar Shows and Rosalea of Wicked Harem […]

Her voice is as a clear as High Sierra creek water. There is an instant recognizability to her singing that feels as familiar as a warm summer wind. Today singer-songwriter, Emmylou Harris is the silver-haired angel of real country music. The character she brings to the American song breathes with the lifeblood and haunted history […]

If, as Marx said, religion is the opiate of the masses, it might be said that pop music is a slightly caffeinated soda beverage along the lines of Coca Cola or Mountain Dew of the masses; it’s not there to cloud the mind but only something sweet that offers a pick-me-up during the day. Your […]

Singer/songwriter Mary Karlzen is back in the spotlight once again with her 2020 CD, Shine. After an initial splash in 1995 with her CD Yelling at Mary on Atlantic Records, followed by two releases in 2000 and 2007 on Y&T and Dualtone labels respectively, the Chicago native took a musical hiatus to spend more time […]