 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Blogs - March 2010
March 4th, 2010 -
Fats Domino: A piece of music history.
Look him up.
Hey guys, I'm gonna let you know what's going on with the band and then I'll turn it
over to Butts. First off, SMITH"S OLDE BAR THIS TUESDAY!! Be there to hear an
amazing show in the ATL! Also, we've got a gig in Athens the next Tuesday (Mar.
16th), so yes, the gigs are picking back up now that we're almost done with the
album. That's it for me, take it away Butts:
"It's no secret The Ron Jonsons understand the power of music. Music can
invoke a powerful memory, make us laugh, make us cry, make us think. A good
song goes beyond its chords and its own lyrics and transends words themselves.
Our goal in every song is to do just that- but I digress. Music can transend
everyday life but also strangly be inseperable from it. I, unfortunately, think that
Woodstock.
In case you haven't had a pulse for 40 years, Woodstock was a music festival that
took place in Bethel, New York in 1969. It is not only one of the most famous
concerts of all time, but defined a generation. THAT is the point I want to address
in this blog. It seems that every generation has things it identifies with- things that
instantly seperate that age group from all others. Music, because of its eternal
appeal and longevity, is one of the few things that can withstand the test of time.
For instance...
-People coming-of-age in the 1920's (and if we have any fans that fit this
description- you shall receive gold medals and cookies for awesomeness at our
next show) identify with jazz: 1920-29 being known as "The Jazz Age".
-The 30's-40's was "The Swing Era", with Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Count
Basie ruling the music landscape.
-The 50's saw the birth of rock (hooray!), with Elvis, Chuck Berry and Bill Haley
being prominent.
-Children of the 60's had hippie....stuff. Singer-songwriters, psychadelic rock and
folk rock were the norms. Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and the British Invasion took
the stage.
-The 70's saw disco (God help us) and that's all I'll say about disco. But all was not
lost- progressive rock, funk and punk were all born. Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Rush,
The Ramones and Jackson 5 were all started or reached their height in the 70's-
an impressive list!
-The 80's saw a shift to pop (God help us again), new wave and glam metal. Think
Styx, Michael Jackson, Guns N' Roses and David Bowie.
-The 90's had grunge and alternative rock. Nirvana, R.E.M., Alice In Chains and
birth of hip-hop. This is the decade I grew up in, so I would identify with this music
(even if I am still discovering it).
I say all this to make this point- what music will 2000-2009 be known for?
Nickelback? Linkin Park? Brittany Spears? Backstreet Boys? Usher? This is what
I'm talking about people! Music has become so.....whatever it is......it's lost the
ability to be distinct. If you look back at this list, there's alot of musical evolution
going on......till 2000. Did everyone just stop creating new stuff 11 years ago? Now
there are COUNTLESS factors (inside and outside of the music industry), and even
countless-er (yes, made up that word, deal!) opinions about how/why/IF it
happened. But somewhere along the way, I think music lost it's ability to connect
to those coming-of-age. Now only time will tell if this is true or not, but just
something to think about.
We here at The Ron Jonsons always want to connect to our audience, and we
want to reach the widest audience possible. We want to play songs that speak to
you- but the door swings both ways. The great thing about this band is that we
would love to hear any song ideas you have. You want a song about a flood- done!
Space opera- yours! Song about a love lost/ love found. love unknown- you got it.
The best way for music to connect with you is if you connect with the us. Let's
hear it fans: thought? challenges? ideas?........................."
Ever drumming,
Michael Butts
Fats Domino: A piece of music history.
Look him up.
Hey guys, I'm gonna let you know what's going on with the band and then I'll turn it
over to Butts. First off, SMITH"S OLDE BAR THIS TUESDAY!! Be there to hear an
amazing show in the ATL! Also, we've got a gig in Athens the next Tuesday (Mar.
16th), so yes, the gigs are picking back up now that we're almost done with the
album. That's it for me, take it away Butts:
"It's no secret The Ron Jonsons understand the power of music. Music can
invoke a powerful memory, make us laugh, make us cry, make us think. A good
song goes beyond its chords and its own lyrics and transends words themselves.
Our goal in every song is to do just that- but I digress. Music can transend
everyday life but also strangly be inseperable from it. I, unfortunately, think that
Woodstock.
In case you haven't had a pulse for 40 years, Woodstock was a music festival that
took place in Bethel, New York in 1969. It is not only one of the most famous
concerts of all time, but defined a generation. THAT is the point I want to address
in this blog. It seems that every generation has things it identifies with- things that
instantly seperate that age group from all others. Music, because of its eternal
appeal and longevity, is one of the few things that can withstand the test of time.
For instance...
-People coming-of-age in the 1920's (and if we have any fans that fit this
description- you shall receive gold medals and cookies for awesomeness at our
next show) identify with jazz: 1920-29 being known as "The Jazz Age".
-The 30's-40's was "The Swing Era", with Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Count
Basie ruling the music landscape.
-The 50's saw the birth of rock (hooray!), with Elvis, Chuck Berry and Bill Haley
being prominent.
-Children of the 60's had hippie....stuff. Singer-songwriters, psychadelic rock and
folk rock were the norms. Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and the British Invasion took
the stage.
-The 70's saw disco (God help us) and that's all I'll say about disco. But all was not
lost- progressive rock, funk and punk were all born. Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Rush,
The Ramones and Jackson 5 were all started or reached their height in the 70's-
an impressive list!
-The 80's saw a shift to pop (God help us again), new wave and glam metal. Think
Styx, Michael Jackson, Guns N' Roses and David Bowie.
-The 90's had grunge and alternative rock. Nirvana, R.E.M., Alice In Chains and
birth of hip-hop. This is the decade I grew up in, so I would identify with this music
(even if I am still discovering it).
I say all this to make this point- what music will 2000-2009 be known for?
Nickelback? Linkin Park? Brittany Spears? Backstreet Boys? Usher? This is what
I'm talking about people! Music has become so.....whatever it is......it's lost the
ability to be distinct. If you look back at this list, there's alot of musical evolution
going on......till 2000. Did everyone just stop creating new stuff 11 years ago? Now
there are COUNTLESS factors (inside and outside of the music industry), and even
countless-er (yes, made up that word, deal!) opinions about how/why/IF it
happened. But somewhere along the way, I think music lost it's ability to connect
to those coming-of-age. Now only time will tell if this is true or not, but just
something to think about.
We here at The Ron Jonsons always want to connect to our audience, and we
want to reach the widest audience possible. We want to play songs that speak to
you- but the door swings both ways. The great thing about this band is that we
would love to hear any song ideas you have. You want a song about a flood- done!
Space opera- yours! Song about a love lost/ love found. love unknown- you got it.
The best way for music to connect with you is if you connect with the us. Let's
hear it fans: thought? challenges? ideas?........................."
Ever drumming,
Michael Butts
March 11th, 2010 -
You're next, Ted Turner...
Hello, dearest fans,
This week has been a good one for The Ron Jonsons. Earlier this week, we had
the grand opportunity to play Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta. As we were loading in
our gear through the back door of the second story, I realized that you could turn
around and see the skyline of Atlanta shining over the treetops. That’s when I
knew: The Ron Jonsons have arrived in Atlanta. It was glorious. The stage setup
is really cool and we even had a guy running lights for us. Bomb diggity. We had a
great turnout as well! We actually had the biggest crowd out of all three bands
playing that night. I would like to extend a big thanks to our fans that came to see
our show. You guys are awesome and without you, we would not be the band we
are today! Look for more Atlanta gigs to come up soon!
On a similar note, I’m an Atlantan now. What? I didn’t mention this earlier? That’s
right, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks packing and boxing up stuff so I could
move to Atlanta. And here I am, typing from my new apartment! Now I can actively
search for gigs, put up flyers, and advertise the band in my immediate vicinity. So
as I said, look for more Atlanta gigs to come up soon. Now I just need to find a
good spot to hang my Rush and Pink Floyd posters…
Holla atcha later,
Josh Bailey, The Ron Jonsons
You're next, Ted Turner...
Hello, dearest fans,
This week has been a good one for The Ron Jonsons. Earlier this week, we had
the grand opportunity to play Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta. As we were loading in
our gear through the back door of the second story, I realized that you could turn
around and see the skyline of Atlanta shining over the treetops. That’s when I
knew: The Ron Jonsons have arrived in Atlanta. It was glorious. The stage setup
is really cool and we even had a guy running lights for us. Bomb diggity. We had a
great turnout as well! We actually had the biggest crowd out of all three bands
playing that night. I would like to extend a big thanks to our fans that came to see
our show. You guys are awesome and without you, we would not be the band we
are today! Look for more Atlanta gigs to come up soon!
On a similar note, I’m an Atlantan now. What? I didn’t mention this earlier? That’s
right, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks packing and boxing up stuff so I could
move to Atlanta. And here I am, typing from my new apartment! Now I can actively
search for gigs, put up flyers, and advertise the band in my immediate vicinity. So
as I said, look for more Atlanta gigs to come up soon. Now I just need to find a
good spot to hang my Rush and Pink Floyd posters…
Holla atcha later,
Josh Bailey, The Ron Jonsons
That's saxy...
Salutations, Jonsonizers!
So what’s the scoop this week…let me think…oh yes! We had a lovely gig in
Athens this past Tuesday at Little Kings. Here’s how the day went. Since I’ve
moved to Atlanta, I’ve already discovered the thing I’m going to hate most. I’ll give
you a hint: It involves long stretches of pavement and not moving on it. You
guessed it, traffic! I gave Spence a call and told him I was leaving my place in
Atlanta at 4:30 and I’d be at his place in an hour. Incorrect. Long story short, two
hours later, I made it to Spence’s. Lesson learned.
As I mentioned in the event postings, the doors opened at 7 and we went on at
midnight. So after we checked in Little Kings at 7:15, we had a little time to kill.
What better way to kill a few hours than spend a night on the town!? We had a
great time getting to hang out and do things that didn’t involve preparing for or
performing a show. We each had a delicious pizza at Your Pie (that’s free
advertisement, give us free pizza!) and we spent a little while just roaming the
streets.
A few hours later, we headed back over to Little Kings and hung out with some
friends who came out to watch us rock it hard. The crowd there was awesome.
There weren’t too many people out to come see us at midnight on a Tuesday
(okay, technically Wednesday at this point) but they loved us! They clapped and
applauded and went “Wooo!” at all the right times, so we had a great time. So
thank you, crowd at Little Kings. You’ll hold a special little place in our hearts. Up
next is Dark Horse in Atlanta on April 6th at 11:55. We’ll be getting ready for it…we
hope you will be too!!
Keep on rocking on,
- Josh Bailey, The Ron Jonsons
March 25th, 2010 -
You can tune a guitar,
but you can't tuna fish!
Hello ladies and gents!
I just finished doing some Ron Work for the band. Since I’ve moved to Atlanta, I’ve
felt it my responsibility to get us some gigs over here. Consider me the Atlanta
Branch of The Ron Jonsons. So I’ve spent the last hour or so looking through local
papers and websites to find venues that the Jonsons would fit into. I found some
interesting places that I think we might be able to play.
Here are a few names I found: The Earl, Center Stage (maybe), Eddie’s Attic,
Twain’s Lenny’s Bar, 529, Kavarna, Vinyl, The Loft, and the Peachtree Tavern. By
the way, if any of these super shady, please let me know. Some of their websites
only gave me limited information. Also, to all you Atlanta fans out there, now is the
time to show us some love. We’re new to town.
Speaking of being new to town, I’ve already started the cogs in motion to become
a Georgia Aquarium Volunteer! You might remember my blog involving the
Guitarfish a few months back. Well now I’ll get to do cool stuff there for free! I’m
gonna have to get my bass reworked to look like a fish now. I’ll call it the
Largemouth Bass (get it?). If I haven’t mentioned it before, now is a good time: I
really like marine science. It’s what I went to college for. Of course, that’s right
about the time I started realizing I also wanted to be in a rock band. Maybe I’ll
combine the two and we’ll play the first ever rock concert in Atlantis!! The band
Dethklok was right; fish don’t have good music to listen to.
We also hit the studio again this week and got another song mixed and ready to
go. Mixing is, by far, the most tedious and most boring part of making the album.
But it must be done if we want to do ourselves justice! Stick with us, Ron fans, the
album is indeed nearing completion.
That’s all for me. Go support your local bands! See a show!
- Josh Bailey
You can tune a guitar,
but you can't tuna fish!
Hello ladies and gents!
I just finished doing some Ron Work for the band. Since I’ve moved to Atlanta, I’ve
felt it my responsibility to get us some gigs over here. Consider me the Atlanta
Branch of The Ron Jonsons. So I’ve spent the last hour or so looking through local
papers and websites to find venues that the Jonsons would fit into. I found some
interesting places that I think we might be able to play.
Here are a few names I found: The Earl, Center Stage (maybe), Eddie’s Attic,
Twain’s Lenny’s Bar, 529, Kavarna, Vinyl, The Loft, and the Peachtree Tavern. By
the way, if any of these super shady, please let me know. Some of their websites
only gave me limited information. Also, to all you Atlanta fans out there, now is the
time to show us some love. We’re new to town.
Speaking of being new to town, I’ve already started the cogs in motion to become
a Georgia Aquarium Volunteer! You might remember my blog involving the
Guitarfish a few months back. Well now I’ll get to do cool stuff there for free! I’m
gonna have to get my bass reworked to look like a fish now. I’ll call it the
Largemouth Bass (get it?). If I haven’t mentioned it before, now is a good time: I
really like marine science. It’s what I went to college for. Of course, that’s right
about the time I started realizing I also wanted to be in a rock band. Maybe I’ll
combine the two and we’ll play the first ever rock concert in Atlantis!! The band
Dethklok was right; fish don’t have good music to listen to.
We also hit the studio again this week and got another song mixed and ready to
go. Mixing is, by far, the most tedious and most boring part of making the album.
But it must be done if we want to do ourselves justice! Stick with us, Ron fans, the
album is indeed nearing completion.
That’s all for me. Go support your local bands! See a show!
- Josh Bailey
