S H O U T N o t e » Blues

Weatherground (re-edit)

admin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:41:19 +0000

I wasn’t happy with the sound and video quality captured at Weatherground’s show back in March, so the band let me grab new footage while they played a gig at The Airliner last month. The video below includes those shots and the interview from the original post.

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Weatherground

admin — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 19:23:26 +0000

I was going to make it a lazy evening at home one night last week, but I figured I’d hop online to check out bands playing within walking distance of my apartment. Ten seconds into the first song heard on Weatherground’s MySpace page (a tune titled “Question”), and I knew I was going to see their show instead. Lead singer Jaewon Choe has the kind of voice you can listen to often – early Peter Murphy meets Kurt Cobain is a fair metaphor. He said he’s had people come up to him at shows and say “I didn’t expect an Asian guy to sound like that.” Choe grew up in Pasadena, and he said he usually doesn’t get an answer when he asks, with a smile, what they expected an Asian guy to sound like. While I spoke with him after the band’s set, a number of people stepped up to say how impressed they were with Weatherground’s sound. In addition to a great live show, the band’s current CD is exceptionally well produced. As I’ve heard studio albums of lesser quality, I was stunned to find out the band did it themselves. Below are video clips of Weatherground’s set and a short interview with Jaewon Choe.

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Jeremy Megert

admin — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:19:34 +0000

Originally from Texas, Jeremy Megert is an L.A. Rock/Blues/Jazz musician. His tunes are a catchy amalgamation of the three styles, and unlike other genre bending/blending artists, Megert manages to keep his sound consistent. Megert and his two bandmates kick out a great set and are a highly recommended live show. I was there for a February gig at the Room 5 Lounge. I spoke with Megert briefly after the set, and he comments more directly on the downside of a common practice of club owners known as “pay-to-play.” The video below includes some live footage at the beginning and end. Megert also talks about how he’d improve the indie scene in a short interview.

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Dan Renfro

admin — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:53:26 +0000

Dan Renfro is a musician and songwriter who’s been gigging around L.A. for about two years. His music is folk-blues style, and a track or two on his MySpace page shows off his saxophone skills as well. I spoke with him after a recent set at The Joint. When asked how he’d improve the indie music scene, he mentioned a distaste for a practice known as “pay-to-play,” which is a common complaint I’ve heard from other bands and musicians in L.A. Pay-to-play requires bands to pay a set amount up front in order to play at a given club. A percentage of proceeds from door charges then goes toward allowing the band to recover its money and maybe even make a few bucks profit if enough people show. Formerly from Kansas City, Renfro said bands there rarely have to pay in advance to perform at a club.

While I regrettably wasn’t able to capture any footage of Renfro on stage, he gives another unique answer to how he’d improve the scene in the video below:

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Aaron David Gleason

admin — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:47:09 +0000

Aaron David Gleason played an acoustic set at the Room 5 Lounge in February, and I had the pleasure of watching him perform with guitarist Dean Moore. Gleason is an artist with Adrenaline Music Group, and his recorded material is a blend of electronica, blues, pop, and an occasional backbeat of Latin rhythm. Even in his acoustic sets, Gleason steers the listener on unexpected turns, with minor chord progressions just when you think a song may develop into a bluesy anthem. Recommended is a tune called Mastermind, which can be found on iTunes along with Gleason’s self-titled EP.

There’s two live clips in the video below, one of Gleason and the second featuring Moore, who also sports some decent chops on vocals. Both provided the most eccentric and more comical answers I’ve received from bands so far. Check it out:

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