INDIE NEWS BEAT December 15, 2004 Edition
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Dimebag Darrell Slain In Club Shooting
* Lyricist V3 Adds Transposition and Nashville Number System Support
* Zakk Wylde And 357 Custom Choppers Join Forces
* PlayLouder MSP Hosts "Profit From P2P" Seminar And Announces License Deals
* Eagle Rock Entertainment To Release Miles Electric: A Different Kind Of Blue On DVD
* The Internet: Opportunites, Not Threats, For Developing-Country Musicians
* Inside The Music Business Announces Syndication Of Weekly Radio Show
* Obsesssed Porn Star Attacks Los Angeles Community Folk Music Venue
* INXS Searches For New Lead Singer
* St. Madness Reforms After Hiatus
* Streamcast Confident Supreme Court Will Uphold 9th Circuit Ruling In Favor Of Technology
* Miss Kristin...The Secret Of Your Heart....Emotionally Charged CD Delivers The Goods!
* Grammy Award-Winning Guitarist Celebrates Platinum DVD
* Ravi Joins Greg Bennett And SMC For National Electric Guitar Clinics
Dimebag Darrell Slain In Club Shooting
In a sad day for Metal, Damageplan guitarist, Dimebag Darrell, and singer, Pat Lachman, were shot during a performance in a Columbus, OH nightclub on Wednesday, December 8, 2004.
Witnesses described a gunman leaping onto the stage during Damageplan's performance and shooting at the band and audience. Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed during the band's first song of the evening. Pat Lachman was also shot and injured in the assault. Columbus police say that the gunman was then shot by an officer, however, eyewitnesses convey that the gunman, 25-year-old Nathan Gale, shot himself and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Apparently Dimebag was originally shot in the face by the assailant, who then fired several more rounds into him after his body hit the stage. A bouncer who subdued the shooter was hospitalized as a result of wounds incurred during the confrontation. The death toll stands at 5, with 2 critically wounded. Dimebag is confirmed dead and others reported as dead are Mayhem (drum tech), Kat (guitar tech), and Damageplan's Tour Manager.
Police are looking for a motive in the slayings. There are already several rumors circulating about disgruntled ex-band members and the possibility of a fan displeased with the break-up of Pantera, Darrell's former band. It's further contended that Phil Anselmo, Pantera's lead singer, was in the audience and the assassin may have been a frustrated devotee.
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Damageplan made the following statements:
"With all his greatness and accomplishments on the guitar, DIME will be missed more for his giving personality, charisma, caring for others, love and most of all his HEART!! Twice as big as the state of TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!! DIME gave it all everyday to each and every one of us and our lives have forever been hollowed without him...Thanks to all of you for reaching out to us in this time of our immeasurable loss. REST IN PEACE BROTHER DIME!!!!!!" - Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul, brother of Dimebag Darrell
"Jeffrey "Mayhem" Thompson was not just a true part of the Damageplan family, but part of the whole Dallas music scene. He was friend to all, with a great personality. He bent over backward to help us all with his trademark phrases like "What can I do for you sir?" and "Coming up!" He also stated his willingness to protect us, saying "I'd take a bullet for ya," and unfortunately did in defense of our lives. He truly lived and died for his friends and made the ultimate sacrifice, giving his life to save ours. For this we will never forget. You will be missed big man." - the Damageplan family
Atlantic Records issued the following statement:
"We are shocked and saddened by these horrible and senseless shootings. This is a tragic event for the music community, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, their families, and the surviving members of Damageplan and their crew. Dimebag Darrell was an exceptional musician and an extraordinary person. Along with his brother and bandmate, Vinnie Paul, he was a member of the Elektra/Atlantic family for the past 14 years, and he will be deeply missed. The bravery displayed by Damageplan, their crew, their fans, and the local police will never be forgotten."
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Lyricist V3 Adds Transposition and Nashville Number System Support
Virtual Studio Systems, Inc., creator of Windows-based software for amateur and professional songwriters and home recording artists, announces the latest release of its songwriting software - Lyricist Version 3 - an affordable, easy-to-use songwriting software tool designed for musicians, songwriters, and poets.
The new version features a simplified and enhanced user interface, support for the Nashville Number System, and a Transposition feature that allows you to quickly and easily transpose songs between musical keys and back and forth between Piano and Guitar style chord charts. It even lets you transpose into the Nashville Number System format. The Nashville feature quickly converts your chord charts and arrangements from any standard key into the Nashville Number format making it easy for players to transcribe the song into any key - on the fly.
"Lyricist v3 continues its quest towards providing songwriters all the resources they could want, while keeping them affordable and easy to use," says VSS product manager Eddie Imbriano, "With the addition of our powerful Chord Charting and Transposition features and a list price of $59.95 ($49.95 street price), we feel we have created the most complete and affordable songwriting package available today that is truly worthy of its billing as "the songwriter's best friend."
Combined with an impressive list of features from earlier versions that included a secure centralized archive for cataloging songs, chord charting, rhyming dictionary, thesaurus, and the ability to organize songs into album categories, Lyricist v3's additional new features include arrangement and guitar tablature templates, an assortment of musical notation symbols for enhanced chord charts, and a new and improved import/export zip archive feature.
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Zakk Wylde And 357 Custom Choppers Join Forces
Zakk Wylde and 357 Custom Choppers are joining forces to build a series of 9 custom choppers signed personally by Zakk himself with matching die-cast replicas*. The Nine Custom Choppers are designed to reflect the styles of Mr. Wylde's famous guitar schemes.
The Metal Chopper is #1 in the Zakk Wylde Chopper Series. This is Zakk's personal ride. An undetermined number of this chopper design will be die cast and made available to the public.
The second Chopper is fashioned after Zakk's new Camo Gibson Les Paul, and is a numbered limited edition and is due out just in time for Christmas.
The Bullseye Chopper, created after The Grail, Zakks famous bullseye guitar is #3 in the Zakk Wylde Chopper Series. Only 300 of each chopper design will be die cast and made available to the public. The Bullseye Chopper is a Special Collector's Edition and currently 125 of this die-cast are left.
#4 of this series is Zakk's black & orange Saw Blade Chopper. An undetermined number of this chopper design will be die cast and made available to the public.
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PlayLouder MSP Hosts "Profit From P2P" Seminar And Announces License Deals
The award-winning UK company, PlayLouder MSP, the worldÃs first music ISP, will tonight tackle the critical issue facing the global music industry, illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing, by hosting 'PROFIT FROM P2P'. In what is regarded to be a long overdue debate, PlayLouder MSP aims to approach the subject head on in an open and frank debate with a cross section of the national and international music community.
In October this year, the UK recording industry body, the BPI, commenced legal action against 28 British file-sharers. This followed similar actions taken by the IFPI against file-sharers throughout Europe and the RIAA in the US. This widely anticipated move has been described as the "stick" in a carrot and stick strategy by the recording industry. However, despite this threat of legal action, file-sharing has continued to grow across the world and the carrot of licensed and legal P2P has until now been unavailable to consumers.
PlayLouder MSP today announces licence deals for its ISP service with the Association of Independent Music (AIM), the UK trade body that represents more than 800 independent record labels that together account for some 25% of all sales in the UK; VUT, the German independent label association that represents more than 900 labels; and Vital Digital, the recently formed digital distribution arm of leading independent distributor, Vital, which represents many of the UKÃs leading record labels.
The licenses authorise PlayLouder MSP to make available music through its ISP network for people to download and share freely and legally. In return PlayLouder MSP pays a proportion of all its revenues back to the record companies.
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Eagle Rock Entertainment To Release Miles Electric: A Different Kind Of Blue On DVD
Eagle Rock Entertainment brings to home viewing audiences a documentary about a milestone performance of the legendary jazz icon, Miles Davis, with the DVD release, Miles Electric: A Different Kind Of Blue. Premiered at this year's 42nd New York Film Festival, this special feature documents the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival performance by Davis, which was the culmination of a remarkable journey.
Featured are interviews of musicians who were a part of this amazing transitional moment in American music, including Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Keith Jarrett, in addition to those who were profoundly affected by his innovations - Carlos Santana and Joni Mitchell, among others.
When Davis released Bitches Brew in 1970, he opened up a new angle to jazz. Some critics accused Davis of selling out, while consumers kept his album on the top of the charts. To date, Bitches Brew is one of the best selling jazz albums of all time. Miles Electric: A Different Kind Of Blue examines the next step in the process -- performing live.
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The Internet: Opportunites, Not Threats, For Developing-Country Musicians
Musicians in developing countries have much to gain and little to lose from the digital and Internet technologies that the major international recording and publishing industries view as the core enablers of piracy. But to realize those gains they need more control over the copyrights to their recordings and compositions, UNCTAD argues in the E-commerce and Development Report 2004.
Digital and Internet technologies and music are a near-perfect match. Earlier 20th century technologies brought music to growing audiences and helped boost artistic creativity. Those technologies have long since been superseded, and music has now run away from its guardians  the recording and publishing industries  to cavort with appreciative and distant audiences on the Internet's peer-to-peer (p2p) networks. But do all these exciting new developments really offer any positive creative and financial propositions for musicians?
UNCTAD's report explains that traditional sales of recorded music are often insufficient to cover production costs and leave musicians in financial peril. Artists are also left with little control over their work, having forfeited the rights to their compositions and recordings under standard industry contracts. According to industry sources, only 5-to-10% of all recordings recoup the advances paid to artists and become profitable. Thus, on top of losing their rights, many musicians also accumulate debt.
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Inside The Music Business Announces Syndication Of Weekly Radio Show
Inside the Music Business: the Weekly Radio Show with Eric Kline will be going into syndication this spring through IAR Networks. The announcement made today by Eric Kline, host of the show and President of Inside the Music Business, Inc.
"For the past several months, as the show has been on hiatus, I have been developing strategies to grow the brand  including securing syndication for the radio show," said Kline. "I'm excited about working with IAR Networks to expand the reach of the show, here and abroad."
Inside the Music Business: the Weekly Radio Show with Eric Kline became the first show of its kind when it launched in October, 2003 on one AM station in Miami. It grew to have an Internet audience with listeners across the states and in Canada. The show gives listeners a rare opportunity to get inside the minds of those in the know  all the while breaking down the complex music business.
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Obsesssed Porn Star Attacks Los Angeles Community Folk Music Venue
It's a neighborhood dispute that could only happen in the San Fernando Valley, world capitol of porn. Kulak's Woodshed a quaint, unassuming volunteer-run and donation-supported music venue in the heart of North Hollywood has come under relentless attack by its neighbor, Charles Peyton, AKA Jeff Stryker, one of the biggest names in porn. A lively hearing before the LA Zoning Department took place in Van Nuys last Friday, with over 100 supporters attending with Woodshed owner Paul Kulak. A second hearing that promises to be even more passionate has been scheduled for Friday, December 15 at 11724 Addison in Valley Village, beginning at 7pm sharp
Opened in 1999, Kulak's Woodshed is a volunteer-run, donation-supported music venue whose artistic and community-oriented spirit has received a chorus of praise by the local press. It's been called "a homespun nook reserved for serious songwriters" (LOS ANGELES TIMES); "a charming anomaly on Laurel Canyon Boulevard that seems like a throwback to a far gentler era" (LA DAILY NEWS); and "one of the most celebrated singer-songwriter hangouts in L.A." (LA WEEKLY). The Woodshed features brilliant unknown performers sharing the stage alongside Grammy winners, and multi-million #1 hit songwriters, including Jack Tempchin who wrote "Peaceful Easy Feeling" for the Eagles and Wendy Waldman who wrote "Save the Best for Last" for Vanessa Williams.
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INXS Searches For New Lead Singer
Multi-platinum international Rock band, INXS, has announced the search for their next lead singer. Mark Burnett Productions, creators of "Survivor" and "The Apprentice," have created a new TV reality series on CBS that will give singers and songwriters the opportunity to become the next lead singer of INXS.
INXS are best known for their innovative approach to their music, which has earned them countless awards and over 30 million records sold worldwide. The Australian band hit big during the MTV boom of the early '80s. After nearly two decades as one of the world's top recording artists, their saga ended with the hanging death of front man Michael Hutchence on Nov. 22, 1997.
Mark Burnett Productions will be seeking Men and Women of all styles that are ages 21 and up. Auditioners will be asked to perform up to 3 songs (INXS songs are NOT required). They may perform to a CD track (w/ no vocal) or with 1 musical instrument. Public and private auditions are to be scheduled in select cities across the US, UK and Australia, beginning in late January of 2005.
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St. Madness Reforms After Hiatus, Announces New Members, Album News, Show!
Welcoming Mad Marvin (rhythm guitar), Altar Boy (lead guitar) and Uno Mosh (bass guitar) to the St. Madness carnival, led by the demonic growl of Prophet, and the driving, pounding drums of Dark Soul, St. Madness returns, harder and darker!
St. Madness has a return concert scheduled on Friday, February 4, 2005 at The 'World Famous' Mason Jar in Phoenix, Arizona (USA).
They are currently writing music for their sixth release, "Vampires in the Church," with 10 blistering new tracks ready for the studio and more in development. Recording is scheduled to begin in early March at Mind's Eye Digital Studio.
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Streamcast Confident Supreme Court Will Uphold 9th Circuit Ruling In Favor Of Technology
StreamCast Networks, Inc., will take its case to the Supreme Court in an effort to protect the ability of innovators to create.
"If history is any prediction of the future then the outcome of this case should already be destined for victory. In the past whenever technological innovation has been challenged technology has won," Michael Weiss, CEO of StreamCast Networks, developers of the popular Morpheus peer-to-peer search application, stated. "The issues of this case will finally be put to rest once and for all and the plaintiffs will have run out of court venues to pursue. In the meantime, it's business as usual for us as we will continue to proudly market our product and continue to aggressively push the elastic envelope on peer-to-peer technological innovation."
P2P technology, as developed by StreamCast and other legitimate companies, supports people-to-people communications. It is quickly becoming the front door to a massive global digital public library accessible by all citizens and development efforts at StreamCast to progress the growth of this technology will continue.
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Miss Kristin...The Secret Of Your Heart....Emotionally Charged CD Delivers The Goods!
2 High 2 Die Records is proud to announce the newest release from singer/songwriter Miss Kristin, entitled The Secret of Your Heart. This marks the third release by Miss Kristin and follows on the success of her previous CD "You Can't Hide Love!" Her new release is scheduled to be in stores on January 3, 2005.
The 10 tracks on The Secret of Your Heart comprise a commentary on passion and relationships. With this theme as her palette, Miss Kristin delivers deft compositions that range from the in-your-face "Love You Later", in which she takes control of a relationship on her own terms, to "Let Me Show You My Love", a song of reconciliation and support ("I'll make sunshine out of rain . . . "). Blessed with a vocal versatility that matches the emotional spectrum of her songwriting, Miss Kristin's voice can be likened to a cross between Pat Benatar and Grace Slick, while remaining wholly her own. She also displays her soft side on several tracks, using her affecting vocals to draw the listener into another world.
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Grammy Award-Winning Guitarist Celebrates Platinum DVD, Readies New Solo Album And U.S. Tour
Steve Vai's breathtaking facility on the guitar is acclaimed in the world of rock music and beyond. Recently nominated for yet another Grammy ("Best Rock Instrumental") for 'Whispering a Prayer' on "G3: Rockin' in the Free World" (Epic Records) and with his latest DVD "Live at the Astoria London", which certified platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA, Vai is proving that today's critics and fans alike are hungrier than ever for his music.
In addition to his work on these endeavors, Vai has been keeping busy with such projects as playing guitar on the monumentally successful Halo 2 game launched by Microsoft, performing with Dave Matthews at the Grammy event honoring Carlos Santana and performing at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas.
However, his biggest project of the year is the release of his new solo- effort "Real Illusions: Reflections" which hits the streets February 22, 2005 through Epic Records. Featuring 12 highly- anticipated tracks by Vai, the CD will be accompanied by an independent video contest that will be launched simultaneously in conjunction with film schools worldwide. The contest will invite young filmmakers to interpret one of three Vai songs in video form with finalists receiving prizes that include state- of- the- art computer and film equipment, cash prizes and more.
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Ravi Joins Greg Bennett And SMC For National Electric Guitar Clinics
SMC (Samick Music Corp.), the world's largest guitar and piano manufacturer, announces the collaboration with nationally recognized writer, speaker and guitarist, Ravi, to be the national clinician for Greg Bennett electric guitars. This alliance will be officially introduced to the industry at the NAMM Convention press conference, Anaheim, CA, in January. At the convention, Ravi will meet with dealers, conduct product demos, and showcase clinics on stage in the company's massive booth (the largest on the showroom floor), which will pave the way for ongoing clinics throughout the country in 2005.
"We approached Ravi because we wanted someone who knows guitars, plays guitars, and can intelligently and eloquently speak about guitars," says William Traylor, Vice President of Marketing for SMC. "The combination of his abilities as a professional performer, writer, and speaker make him uniquely qualified."
Greg Bennett, who designed the extensive line of guitars, agrees: "Ravi's obvious talent as a musician and skills as a communicator make him perfectly suited to achieving Samick's marketing goals. More importantly to me, however, is Ravi's deep empathy with traditional music dealers and the challenges they face. Samick, as well as the guitar industry, is fortunate to have Ravi encouraging young players to 'live the dream' with integrity."
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Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2004 - Republished with Permission