Simon Barrett

It was without doubt a classic Trumpian week. Sam Nunberg got the week started, he was magnificent in his stupidity. The annoucement of Tarrifs on steel and aluminum have gone down like a lead balloon with everyone with an IQ bigger that their hat size.

Part western balladeer, part borderland chronicler, songwriter GEORGE ST. CLAIR is a master of conjuring feelings and images of lives past and present. Growing up on the high plains of Texas put George in touch with the vastness of the American West, and his songs evoke the dry deserts, rolling grasslands, and high mountains of his West Texas homeland. Living for the past several years in the UK has given him a renewed perspective on the land where he grew up, and these reflections take shape on his new album BALLADS OF CAPTIVITY AND FREEDOM. Although George is based in Europe, the album was recorded at Bird and Egg Studios in Richmond, CA, mixed by Ben Bernstein at Petting Zoo Studios in Oakland, and will release in stores and online worldwide March 2, 2018.

I am looking forward to this interview. How many Country singers can you name that live in the UK and have a PhD in Anthropology?

Mass shooting by deranged man, Check

Dems want gun control, Check

Reps have no comment, Check

NRA silent, Check

Russia investigation, Trump claims proof of no collusion, Check

New sex scandal involving Trump and a Playboy Playmate, Check

Melania opts to skip chopper ride to Air Force One, preferring some  alone time in the limo Check

Emotional support hamster

Olympics and atom bombs

Who has security clearances in the west wing? Aparrently 40 do not! That includes Jarred Kuschner.

Elon Musk his rocket and Star Man

Cape Town Day Zero

Following three acclaimed CDs with his group Burnt Belief, Jon Durant has returned with his first solo album since 2011's “Dance of the Shadow Planets.” Unlike his previous solo albums, however, “Parting Is” is a completely solo guitar album. 

 

A deeply emotional and personal record, “Parting Is” takes the idea of a solo guitar album and transforms it into a stunning sonic landscape of texture and color. Many of the sounds on the album bear no relationship with traditional guitar, but there are no synthesizers employed at all. Everything is played by Jon Durant on guitars (with Durant also playing fretless bass on four pieces).

Trump has a unique quality, it you mention him the oxygene has a tendency to get sucked our of the room.

Tautologic will release Re:Psychle, a CD of songs inspired by real-life Chicagoans. Beginning in early 2018, Re:Psychle will be available through the band's own label - Turtle Down Music (http://www.turtledown.com) - and at Tautologic's live performances. The album will also be available as a download from Bandcamp, CDBaby, iTunes, and Amazon.

 

Based in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Tautologic bandleader Ethan Sellers is an alumni of the University of Chicago. Written within blocks of the University and the Obama mansion, Sellers' songs for Re:Psychle document people he has met around the Chicago area.

 

Addiction and mental illness color many of their stories, and the lyrics open up windows on a host of topics - veterans' issues, tension between religious belief and a secular society, addiction, conspiracy theories, materialism, mental health, celebrity culture, and the need for re-connection with nature.

Pianist and composer Deborah Offenhauser began taking piano lessons when she was five years old, though she had been playing for some time before then—begging her brothers to teach her everything they knew. After a visiting piano teacher mistook her piano playing for her older brother’s, she was promptly signed up for lessons and a lifelong love of music was born. She studied piano formally until she was fourteen, memorizing classical pieces for festivals and contests, and learning theory, scales, and chord progressions along the way. Her father ensured that she wouldn’t be too immersed in classicism, and she credits him for her exposure to more contemporary musical numbers

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When Deborah’s piano teacher relocated, her formal lessons ended but her love for music continued unabated. While her older brothers had long left their childhood piano lessons in the past, she not only continued playing piano, but the classical organ, mandolin, 5-string banjo, guitar, and violin as well. She worked as an accompanist throughout high school and college, and after making connections with college faculty, she was asked to lecture at the University of Michigan. Her career as a music teacher had just begun.

Deborah continued to play music during her teaching years, opening for bands from The Moody Blues to The Chordettes, playing at resorts, hotels, and casinos, and recording albums of original piano tunes blended with covers of favorite songs. With patience and perseverance, she was delighted when her efforts led to “Desperate Housewives”, “The Big Bang Theory”, and “Madam Secretary”—all hit television shows—using her songs in their programming. She also became a pianist for a number of touring Broadway shows and has seen her music distributed nationally via Barnes & Noble, and Borders Books & Music book stores.

Her new CD Soundscapes is outstanding

Jazz-fusion composer and drummer Bob Holz will be releasing his third album “VISIONS: Coast to Coast Connection,” featuring  bass legend Stanley Clarke on February 23, 2018! “This collaboration with the jazz star and Return to Forever bassist/composer, Stanley Clarke involved the recording of new compositions I wrote taken from my roots in jazz, classical, blues and rock music,” says Holz. Joining Holz and Clarke is former Mahavishnu Orchestra bassist Ralphe Armstrong who currently plays in Holz's touring band, Bob Holz and A Vision Forward featuring Jamie Glaser and Ralphe Armstrong. “My compositions have plenty of room for interplay between both bass players,” adds Holz. Bob Holz is presently managed by Roy Holland Productions and is signed to MVD Entertainment Group. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWDKDTfM59Q

It has been a busy week in Trimpland. The release of Michael Wolff's book Fire  and Fury, has derailed whatever plans the Whitehouse had and instead has it in full damage control.