Stormcellar Band Home Page

Howdy folks. We're back from a jaunt in the country and there's stuff to share, but first.

Vale Colin Sydee, long time local music supporter and a 'cellar feller.

We dedicated our show to Colin on saturday night.

as much as anyones name is etched in even the impermanence of Marble, 

we take a moment to remember a regular bloke

who liked his music

and shared his life with us because of it

Godspeed Colin.

Now I'm pretty sure that we have to have Truth In Advertising here, I have proof of several hookups, a couple of marriages and a birth as a result of a Stormcellar gig. 

Yeah out there, right now, is a kid called Swamp Monster.

I've had great fun with this meme. I've realised it could be a poster for a Strippers Revue, or Pole Dancers.

However, it remains true. Good vibes will get your Personal Satisfaction Level up and if you dance with the missus when the vibe gets her going, well, anything might happen. Might not even be your missus. We don't judge here in the stormcellar.

Come out and get down. Friday. Old Bank. Dubbo. 

Howdy Folks. Mr Wizard has been bringing me more songs. YET MORE SONGS.

I need hardly point out to you, Dear Reader, that having just released an album, with another unreleased and trapped in Kansas, another brand new single released the other day, another in the can awaiting mastering and the stuff banking up for AJ's project later this year, we are not short of music right now.

Still, Mr Wizard wants LYRICS NOW Dammit! Make with the Yuks kid.

However, since reading the work of Rick Lyons and corresponding with him about Words, I am keen to work harder. My Lyrics output has Slowed Right Down as I embark on the Universal Search for Truth/Wankerdom (thank you TISM).

I get postcards from Rick with better writing than I can easily muster.

We've had an internal dialogue about the value of words for years now.

But now I'm looking at all the work we do and...well...bugger.

To his credit, some years back Mr Wizard moved from 'they're the grunts between my nice clever chords' to 'is this song saying anything'

Profound shift eh? Cool.

To win the argument with Mr Wizard I used the Old Trick of quoting lines out of context. For example:

'kids out driving Saturday afternoon just pass me by, I'm just savouring familiar sights'

or 'sitting at the limit of an endless ocean'

and saying 'where does this poetry come from?'.

AHA! It's a trap! They're lyrics from profoundly good Australian song writers (Flame Trees/Stephen Prestich/Don Walker and Great Southern Land/Iva Davies).

Australia has some formidable poets both in and out of music, and for many people, Music may be the most regular interaction with Poetry that we have. Just ask any Aussie about Paul Kelly.

Sometimes you know you'll never catch your heroes but you want to run as fast. For my part, I think language has its own melody and that the choice of words, as Mark Twain once said, is the difference between Lightning and Lightning bug.

That means I have to work harder, and with Mr Wizards output level, faster :-).

Not sure about Better tho.

Imma go read some good writers and see how they say things well. Hmm.

Hiya,

I’ve been Bowie-binging of late. No need to wonder why. I was as shocked as the next person. It’s a shame that this is what it took for me to delve deeper into his work, but however it started it’s been a rewarding journey. One song that struck me was “Be My Wife” – both the song and the clip. There’s such a sense of desolation in both. I also love the lyric – each line seems like a separate statement – “I’ve lived all over the world / I’ve left every place” there’s something about it that just grabs me. And the look on his face as he sings the words – I see a despondence. Of course then there is the guitar work in it. So good. Enjoy …

(Note: that’s David playing lead guitar)

One of his great knacks was finding great collaborators – here are a few:

Mick Ronson

Let’s start at Ziggy era … but I’ll also share some interview footage with Mick – so gentlemanly, softly spoken … then he rips out various riffs that we all know

Life on Mars – I’ve picked this one because of the gloriously melodic, slinky solo

Moving away from the guitar stuff for a second, this is a live in a TV studio of the same song, no guitar, but worth it just to hear an older him sing the song and tell the story behind it’s creation:

Starman – I’ve picked this one purely because of the camaraderie when David puts his arm around Mick in the chorus. Hey – not all great songs need a solo!

… and here’s the interview footage with Mick … just casually demonstrating how to play some of those great songs.

Brian Eno & Robert Fripp on ‘Heroes’

I've long been into the work of Brian Eno as well as his collaborations with Robert Fripp (checkout No Pussyfooting and Evening Star - both albums are endlessly rewarding). The creativity in this song becomes even more apparent when you watch the making of.

 Making of with Tony Visconti – this is great:

Nile Rodgers & Stevie Ray Vaughan - Let’s Dance

I’m going with the album version – more SRV getting his best Albert King on! So brimming with life!

And here’s a clip of Nile Rodgers telling the story of how the song developed – watch how he deomonstrates the transformation of the song from it’s original shape to the one we all know – I find this stuff fascinating.

And for a special treat, here’s David reuniting with Mick Ronson at the tribute to Freddy Mercury concert – playing ‘Heroes’ which he was not on the original recording, but the way he hits it from top to bottom is just killer:

Cheers,

Rosie

Rosie and Mr Wizard will be joining our great mate Ross Fear on the Australian Spectrum show on Tuesday night

http://alive905.com.au/ross-fear-australian-spectrum-show/

Ross has been a big supporter of Local Artists for yonks. Listen in as they spin some tracks and yak.