shawn avery

By MICHAEL WEINFELD, AP Entertainment Writer Wed Jul 30, 10:07 AM ET WASHINGTON - Now that their feud is up in smoke, Cheech and Chong are high on plans to reunite for their first comedy tour in more than 25 years. told AP Radio that he and Tommy Chong "looked at each other going, `If we're ever going to do something it has to be now because you're not getting any younger and neither am I.'" They tossed around some ideas and figured a comedy tour would be "the most fun" and "the least hassle," the 62-year-old Marin said. Marin and Chong, who broke up amid creative differences, have tried to reunite before, but have always fought too much. Marin laughed and said: "It takes about 3 minutes for that t...

Will We Ever Pay for an Album Again? The Latest Trend to Hit the Music Industry: Artists Giving Away Songs Online OPINION By MICHAEL S. MALONE / ABC News - May 9, 2008 Has the music industry reached a tipping point? Unless you're a fan of industrial grunge, you may not have read this week that the group Nine Inch Nails, which these days is basically musical prodigy Trent Reznor with a whole lot of time in the recording studio, has just released its new album, The Slip, for free off the NIN website. "As a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new Nine Inch Nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com," Reznor wrote on the site to his millions of fans. He has also reportedly said: "This one's on me." Just as interesting, on the same page, Reznor tells the downloaders: "We encourage you to remix it, share it with your friends, post it on your blog, play it on your podcast, give it to strangers, etc....

alison shot photos and video in the front row of the cd release show. this is a clip of hwy, toward the beginning of the set. the audio is raw, but the energy is apparent i think.

alison took some great photos last night at the cd release at bottletree. here's a few from sound check and the show. below are a few links to local press related to this week's release of the ep. mucho thanks to tina, brad, brian, and the bottletree staff, alison, mcshan and ann for their help and support at the show, mary colurso for a great interview experience this week, and our band for putting in a lot of effort in a short time frame. thanks to lucero, the show sold out, and i think we were well received last night. now its on to the next venture... wiseblood feature at npr affiliate wbhm . (free downloads and interview podcast) birmingham city scene feature about the debut ep - by mary colurso wiseblood vol. 1 ep - available on itunes and itunes plus weownthesky.com ( click on photos to enlarge )

1988-2008? as is the usual, this post is primarily for the benefit of my own memory. i don't expect anyone to read anything i say on here... but posting on here has been a big help to me since i started this blog on my 30th birthday. anyway... i've been pondering something for a few months that i may or may not act upon. i think it might be time to step away sometime soon. this summer marks 20 years since i started my first band. i started playing snare in school in 1985. i started playing drums in 1987. my first band's first and only performance... a talent show... was in my hometown in november of 1988. i was barely 14. i've been in the following bands listed below: the first phase was in high school... followed by a period of several years when i did demos and learned how to play various instruments and use production tools. after college, a few years later i played in a band in phoenix, which was where i transitioned from a drummer to a bassist. upon moving to birm...

on david letterman last week. to say i'm proud is an understatement. preston is a great guy, and has always treated me with mucho kindness. they looked and sounded fantastic. they are usually much more energetic and involved with the audience... but this track sounds great on the tv as it were.

i'm libertarian. i have been for a few years now. i'm not saying i'm voting for mccain... but i'm not all that happy about the idea of obamanomics either. common... actually... uncommon sense is what we need right now. the humble blue masses aren't getting it. here's an interesting rant from the right that for the most part, i endorse... and the end of this post, i've reposted an interesting list of identifying qualities to help spot folks blinded by blatant pandering. call them obamanists, obamatrons, bamanites, barackites, whatever... its fantastic to watch. while i do think that obama is articulate and a brilliant politician, a simple 30 min. investigation of his proposed spending policies would be enough make most rational people take pause... is obama likable? completely. is he a bit snobbish? probably. does that matter? or rather... do i need to like my country's chief executive officer personally? not really . bill clinton is a total asshole, and...