It was not easy for us to catch up with Aaron as he currently plays in variety of bands and his weeks are full of gigs on a variety of stages. He described his background in music and mentioned he first began playing piano at the early age of 5 years old. He nurtured his passion for music by experimenting with a number of instruments such as the guitar, bass, mandolin, drums, and the harmonica. Personally, the harmonica is what caught our attention.

The Chandler Wright Story itself began as a bit of an excuse for experimenting with an original sound on Tuesday nights. Aaron founded the band in 1999 and decided his middle name, Chandler had a better ring to it than The Aaron Wright Story. Aaron recruited Bob Murnahan, John Zuck and his drum instructor Joel Steward to form The Chandler Wright Story. The group released 2 albums “Chapter 1″ in 2001 and “A Tuesday Night On A Thursday” in 2004. They quickly grew a following throughout the Midwest and toured regionally for 7 seven years. The group now gets together a few times a year when lead guitarist, Bob Murnahan is back in town. Aaron is currently working on another album which may or may not be released as a self titled album. Check out www.aaronwrightmusic.com for more information on the group and on the in-the-works solo album.

On a personal somewhat funny note: On our way to meet up with Aaron for the third time we sort of bombarded his brother’s wife with film and audio equipment. He forgot to mention to her that we were stopping by but, I can only imagine what she thought when she looked out her window and saw our over eager camera man hanging out of the sun roof gathering footage.

Mike Reuther
mike.reuther@ourvinyl.com

BB King 83

Beginning his recording career in 1949, at 83 this living legend is anything but slow. Riley B King was born in 1925 and given the nickname the “Beale Street Blues Boy”, which was later shortened to B.B. Since then, he is renowned for defining the blues. Even though diabetes has left him doing his set sitting down, B.B. is still able to take a bow after the energy he pours into his shows.

Buddy Guy 72

Born in 1936, George “Buddy” Guy is a 5 time Grammy Award winning blues guitarist. Not only is Guy a legend in himself, but he has been linked as the key inspiration for other legends including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Age is not something slowing this blues legend down any time soon as he has been recently touring by himself and sharing the stage with younger generation blues phenomenon’s such as Johnny Lang and John Mayer.

Paul McCartney 67

Best know for his role with The Beatles, Paul McCartney has since fronted the legendary band Wings in the 80’s and currently tours under his own name. More than likely to pull out a larger repertoire of Beatles songs at every concert, Sir Paul McCartney will excite fans for years to come.

Eric Clapton 64

Eric “Slowhand” Clapton has already been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times: As a Soloist, and a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Still showing off his legendary guitar “Blackie”, Clapton will be touring the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and Japan in 2009.

Elton John 62

Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, is the second person on this list to be dubbed a knight. He has sold over 200 million albums and has over 50 top 40 hits. In 1994 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Currently, he is putting on an excellent show with your last person on the list.

Billy Joel 60

Creating top 40 hits since the 1970’s, Billy Joel is no outlaw to music these days. Since he first appeared on the charts, Billy Joel has been nominated for 23 Grammy awards. After a brief stint from running from debt collectors, Billy Joel is no longer begging for tips as he is currently touring the world with his close friends and piano man, Elton John.

Patrick Kennedy

patrick.kennedy@ourvinyl.com

Michael Jackson- Thriller from MQC on Vimeo.

I’ve been a pretty devout fan of Copland for about 4 years now, but didn’t get the chance to see them live until after about 2 years. The mistake at these first two shows were the other bands I saw them with (not that they were bad) and more importantly, the crowd. The first two concerts I saw were the same bill, different cities. The line up was Daphne Loves Derby, The Hush Sound, Copeland and Jack’s Mannequin. While I do enjoy all 4 bands to some extent, Jack’s being my least favorite, it did not foster the right sort of atmosphere for a Copeland show. While any good band should be able to perform well in a variety of settings, the crowd at these shows was, well, too young.

I was one of the tallest people there (and I’m not tall), and I felt like all the kids were more suited for some sort summer pop concert. Let me put it this way, when Jack’s covered “My Name is Jonas” by Weezer, 95% of the crowd looked at each other in confusion, as if to say, “What the fuck is this?”. Am I that old? Is Weezer no longer an everyday band name in the vocabulary of these hip youngens? Lame crowd. I even recall some of the crowd yelling for Copeland to leave the stage. It’s not that they were performing poorly, the crowd just had no appreciation for their style.

Luckily, when I saw Copeland in Columbus a month ago, they were headlining, and everyone there was there for Copeland. It was wonderful to be among a group of fans eager to watch such a talented group. It was the sort of fun you have when everyone around you has the same appreciation and you can close your eyes and be taken to Copeland’s own world.

Sure, Copeland isn’t for everyone, but I still believe they are one of the strongest acts around today. For anyone who is a fan of honest and beautiful music, I recommend checking out Copeland. Their most recent album is a true work of art and any one who appreciates music should find something to enjoy while listening to Copeland.

Alex Hoffman

alex.hoffman@ourvinyl.com

Mike Droho himself has seen quite a bit of success as an independent musician and has sold over 11,000 records. While studying at The University of Wisconsin, Mike formed The Profits and put out 2 full length albums. In 2006 Mike released the album The Alleged Euphoric State of Self Actualization which included popular favorites Come for Me, The Groove Song, and My Own Fool. Since his start at the age of 19 Mike has preformed over 1,000 shows across the country and currently is competing in Madison, Wisconsin’s Triple M Challenge. The winner of the challenge will have the opportunity to meet with an A&R Rep from Atlantic Records, have their track played on 105.5 FM and potentially land a record deal.

Click here http://www.1055triplem.com to support Mike.

The Compass Rose’s Anthony Lamarr acts as the group’s drummer by adding vocal fills throughout tracks. Anthony virtually acts as a mobile snare while engaging the audience with his unique personality and style. He explains in our interview that he has been involved with art and music since an early age. Anthony keeps himself busy with other personal ambitions outside the group as well and recently finished writing his first musical titled Ballots. He plans to submit the musical to The New York Fringe Festival and hopes to be one of the 200 productions selected this upcoming year. To find more information about the musical check out ballotsthemusical.com.

The Quartet has recently decided to take a break but both Anthony and Mike are continuing to tour the country. They are already planning a Fall tour and we may see them soon with several new additions to the group. Below is the interview and live recording of the group’s newest song Jesus Louise.

Please feel free to comment and give us suggestions and recommendations for new artists in your cities!

Mike Reuther

mike.reuther@ourvinyl.com

* Depeche Mode
* Tool
* The Killers
* Jane’s Addiction
* Beastie Boys
* Kings of Leon
* Lou Reed
* Ben Harper and Relentless7
* Thievery Corporation
* Snoop Dogg
* Rise Against
* Andrew Bird
* TV on the Radio
* Vampire Weekend
* The Decemberists
* Neko Case
* STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9)
* Animal Collective
* Band of Horses
* Of Montreal
* Arctic Monkeys
* Coheed and Cambria
* Ben Folds
* Fleet Foxes
* Silversun Pickups
* Kaiser Chiefs
* Crystal Castles
* Bon Iver
* Santigold
* Atmosphere
* Dan Auerbach
* Cold War Kids
* Deerhunter
* Lykke Li
* Robert Earl Keen
* Peter Bjorn and John
* Heartless Bastards
* Gomez
* Glasvegas
* Federico Aubele
* Dan Deacon
* Passion Pit
* Zap Mama
* The Raveonettes
* The Gaslight Anthem
* The Airborne Toxic Event
* White Lies
* Ra Ra Riot
* No Age
* Asher Roth
* Los Campesinos!
* Bat For Lashes
* Chairlift
* Gang Gang Dance
* The Virgins
* Amazing Baby
* Portugal. The Man
* The Knux
* Ida Maria
* Delta Spirit
* Friendly Fires
* Manchester Orchestra
* Constantines
* Ezra Furman & The Harpoons
* Hockey
* Miike Snow
* Alberta Cross
* Hey Champ
* Sam Roberts Band
* The Henry Clay People
* Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam
* Cage the Elephant
* Living Things
* The Low Anthem
* Blind Pilot
* Langhorne Slim
* Other Lives
* The Builders and The Butchers
* Eric Church
* Joe Pug
* Kevin Devine
* The Greencards
* Carney
* Thenewno2

For more information, please visit the Official Lollapalooza Website.

1. Jonas Brothers

2. Wicked

3. Jeff Dunham

4. Jersey Boys

5. Billy Elliot

Just heard about these guys today, but they are ultra-creative. Using no instruments and just their voices, these guys play everything from the guitar to the harmonica and all of their percussion. Mixing rap and R&B elements, this New York group is truly unique. Really cool stuff…..definitely give Naturally 7 a listen!

Check them out jamming in a Paris subway:

Check out this crazy guitar solo!!! (sorry for the quality)

I’m not the world’s biggest hip-hop fan, but when someone can combine catchy beats with thoughtful, intelligent lyrics, my ears are open. I’m a little late on his bandwagon, but K’Naan can straight-up spit it. Somalian born, Canadian bred and reggae influenced, K’Naan’s sound is profound. In his own words, he makes “urgent music with a message”, often urging peace and cease-fire in his homeland Somalia. His poetic lyrics are captivating and his anti-ganster message is refreshing in a rap culture where it is “cool” to let everyone know how gangster you are. He dropped his latest album, “Troubadour“, on February 24, 2009, and it features an array of extremely thoughtful, well-mixed jams. Definitely check him out.

Watch his video for “Dreamer”:
Dreamer – K’NAAN