Hey Jude, Bobby McAwesome, Vernadine's

The kid appears to be having a good time. I hope there's no whips and chains after the video stops.

Anyway, friends, siblings, students have all given me a link to this video, so I feel I have to put up it up.












Love Vernadine's in Old Town. Fantastic Soul Food. Will give far more detailed praise later.

Paul Simon

Itunes Biggest Music Retailer in USA

According to the Associated Press today, Apple's Itunes has surpassed Walmart as the number one retailer of music in the United States, as of January, 2008.

This comes from the market research firm NPD who looked in to the matter.



Personally, I am glad Walmart is no longer number one. For those of you who think of "the record" as never going away, this is a wakeup call, because even if it doesn't go away, it's being sold at Walmart.

Indie musicians like myself (and yourself?) need to consider where the industry is going to be in 20 years, even 10 years. Records as complete experiences may be on their way out, but that is just an issue of attention span of the listener, not medium. Concept record in mp3 format? hmm.

Really it's about the listener's willingness to overcome the medium's challenges. For instance, vinyl is supposedly well loved, but it is hard to take care of. Especially if you buy it second hand. With the ipod world happening in full force (just ask my fifth/sixth graders), the real issue is whether your average listener will take the time to overcome the challenges of the medium, namely the disconnect between "records" and what basically can be considered the unofficial single. Every track becomes the unofficial single from a band if the listener wants it on their mp3 device.

I could go on forever on this. Peace.

Ryan Malinich Article in LAView

Find this page online at: http://viewnewspapers.net/moxie/Scene/dryden-drummer-opens-for-.shtml

Dryden drummer opens for CCR

By Jessica Fish
Posted Thursday, April 3, 2008

DRYDEN — Ryan Malinich has played the drums since he was 5 years old. “It was like riding a bike,” he said. The drums just came naturally.

Mike Vasas and the Beasts of Burden, the band Malinich drums for, opened for Creedence Clearwater Revisited on Friday, March 28.

Malinich, a 1991 graduate of Dryden High School, first performed with his uncle’s band, drumming at weddings mostly. After high school, he went to Michigan State University, where he performed with the group Mama Pajama.

After school, Malinich and his friend Brian Richard posted an ad on Craigslist.org looking for a singer/ songwriter, and they found Mike Vasas.

Vasas, Richard, and Malinich, along with keyboardist Eric Bredin, came together to create Mike Vasas and the Beasts of Burden.

The band got a call at the end of February about the Creedence show, and received the confirmation in the middle of March. “It’s an opportunity to meet to members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” said Malinich before the show.

“It was a fantastic experience,” Malinich said after the show. “Being a band from Michigan, the crowd was very supportive.”

“(It was) definitely the most (people) the band has performed to.” The show was on a whole new scale for the band. “The scale of playing a building that large was, at first, nerve-wracking, but once we ran through sound check and got on stage, we got into a comfort zone.”
Creedence Clearwater Revisited, which consists of original CCR members Doug Clifford and Stu Cook along with new members John Tristao, Tal Morris and Steve Gunner, has become a hit band in its own right, releasing the album Recollection, which was certified as a gold record by the RIAA in 2002.

Malinich also had the chance to meet with Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Clifford. “He is very down to earth and it was a pleasure to meet him,” Malinich said.