Musings On Music History: In Which The World Loses A Singular Musical Voice, Gains An Alternative Godfather, and Witnesses A Trek Of Epic Proportions

12.31: Okay, let’s go back in the Way Back Machine. We’re going back to the early ‘80s, a time before the fandangled interweb thingamajiggy, upon which you find yourself this very second, a time when, compared to now, the music business seemed small, almost quaint. It was before the rise of alternative rock, before the…

Hard Rock Rising 2014 Rules

Band entries being accepted on participating Cafe Facebook pages from Jan 6th (10am EST) through Jan 27 (4pm EST). [more]   Hard Rock Rising 2014 Rules – ENGLISH FINAL.pdf (171.64 kb) Hard Rock Rising 2014 Rules – CANADA FINAL.pdf (171.53 kb) Hard Rock Rising 2014 Rules – CZECH FINAL.pdf (260.91 kb) Hard Rock Rising 2014…

Musings On Music History: In Which We Say Goodbye To Way Too Many Extraordinary Musicians

12.02: Gilby Clarke joined Guns N’ Roses on this day in 1991, replacing founding member and original guitarist Izzy Stradlin, who’d left suddenly after a show in Germany, citing Axl’s erratic behavior and Slash, Matt Sorum, and Duff McKagan’s drug use (Izzy’d recently found sobriety) as the main reasons for his departure. Long way of…

Musings On Music History: A Superdupergroup Sings A Song, The Band Takes A Bow, and A Rebel Yells For The First Time

11.25: On this day in 1984, a supergroup of mostly U.K. musicians got together for a monumental 24-hour recording session to benefit famine relief in Ethiopia. The superdupergroup, known as Band Aid, led by founder and organizer Bob Geldof (him who doesn’t like Mondays and him who played the fictional rocker “Pink” in the filmed…