Dead Like

The hard look at the recording industry that one sees in Steve Knopper's Appetite for Self Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age, published earlier this year by Free Press, continues with Greg Kot's Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music (Scribner, 2009). Readers will find commentary on the major labels but also predictions on the future activities of bands and the use of music to sell concert tickets rather than recordings. Kot quotes Wilco's Jeff Tweedy: "In some weird way everything will be like the Grateful Dead."

Masters of Percussion

Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, who has collaborated many times with Mickey Hart, has given a very personal interview to Arminta Wallace published in the Irish Times (see http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2009/0615/1224248842569.html)
He talks about the global musical journey that he has taken from Mumbai to California. It's a journey that continues through performances with the Masters of Percussion, bringing Indian percussion to a wider world. He says, "worthwhile musical collaboration is always marked by this exchange of energy."

Home Before Daylight

We're still breathlessly awaiting the acting credits to appear for the upcoming film Home Before Daylight: My Life on the Road With the Grateful Dead. Adapted from Steve Parish's 2003 biography, the film's announced production team should prove stellar with Parish and Michael Grais as producers, direction by Allan Arkush, and music coordination by Bob Weir. Grais, who is also writing the screenplay, previously produced the Jerry Lee Lewis music bio Great Balls of Fire. Parish's book co-written with journalist Joe Layden (St. Martin's Press, 2003) got terrific reviews for its intimate first person narrative about music and friendship.

David Nelson Band

Moe's Alley here in Santa Cruz again hosts a great band. The David Nelson Band plays tonight at 9:00 pm. Go to www.moesalley.com for more details. Nelson (who we all know from his musical collaborations with Jerry and New Riders of the Purple Sage), will be joined by Barry Sless, Mookie Siegel, Pete Sears and John Molo.

American Artifact

Filmmaker and TV producer Merle Becker will release her new documentary American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art this month. Chronicling the history and the rise of the art form, this film includes interviews with artists including, Mouse, Victor Moscoso, Tara McPherson, Frank Kozik, and with other collectors and musicians. Becker, the founder of the independent film company Freakfilms, Inc. will premiere her new work in California, but it's being shown all over the country and will come out on DVD in August. For more info see: www.americanartifactmovie.com/

Rock Art

Loads of exhibits this summer are documenting the extraordinary influence of the American rock poster. Here's info on some of them:
The Denver Art Museum hosts an exhibit "Psychedelic Experience: Rock Posters from the San Francisco Bay Area, 1966-71" with 300 posters by artists who were inspired "by the sensory overload of the dance hall environment."

The annual Rock Art By the Bay event, sponsored by the Rock Poster Society, happens this year on Saturday June 20th at Fort Mason in San Francisco. A large line up of artists is scheduled to appear including Stanley Mouse. They'll be signing, discussing, and selling their work. See www.fortmason.org/features/2008/06/feature08.shtml

Rock the Streets. The Rise of American Rock Poster Art: Ron Donovan and Chuck Sperry of The Firehouse Kustom Rockart Company will be exhibited through August 4th at Ogilvy (111 Sutter St. in San Francisco.)

Fillmore again

Earlier (see our blog entry of Sept. 24th,2008), we noted that the documentary Fillmore: The Last Days was soon to come out on DVD. Rhino has just released it and it has immediately gotten a nice write up by Mike Hale in the NY Times, see "Bill Graham, Unleashed" May 29th.