Live Musician Central

Category: Various Ramblings

Matt’s observations and insights into the music experience

  • Introducing Alisha Sabin

    Alisha Sabin Performing Live
    Alisha Sabin

       Hi all of you live musician’s out there on the world wide web. I’m very excited today to introduce a new author on Live Musician Central. Alisha Sabin will be writing a series of articles chronicling her experience playing in a live band. Alisha has been singing in her very first live rock band and it just happens to be my band Bonne Nuit. So be sure to watch Live Musician Central to read about Alisha’s fascinating journey taking her from singing into her hairbrush in front of her bedroom mirror to taking the stage for a live performance with a real rock band.

  • Shopping For Musical Gifts For Kids

       If you’re a musician who just happens to have some kids running around at home I’m sure you’re always looking for music toys to stimulate their musical imagination. It can be tough to find good musical toys for the kids to play with. I know I’ve spent hours searching on various websites looking for the perfect musical gifts for my children only to find a limited selection of low quality musical toys.   (more…)

  • Fender Slow To Ship 2010 American Deluxe Stratocaster

    Fender American Deluxe Ash Strat Wine Transparent
    2010 Fender American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster – Wine Transparent

       I’ve been doing some asking around and have had many reports of people waiting months to get ahold of the new 2010 American Deluxe Stratocaster. There are certain colors available right now but some colors and options are out of stock and have been for months. I ordered a Wine Transparent American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster on April 2, 2010 and it just came in on September 22, 2010. It was almost a 6 month wait. Needless to say, I did not pick it up or pay for it and told the store they can keep it. It’s ridiculous to wait that long for a guitar and I will not play that game. Now that doesn’t mean I won’t get one. I will still be getting my 2010 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster, just not right now. Since Fender forced me to wait for 6 months for a new one, I’ve lost that “must have it now!” attitude and will patiently shop for a used one. It may take me another year to get it, but I’m sure I’ll save some money and in the meantime I’m $1649 richer.    (more…)

  • Drummer Mike Portnoy Leaves Dream Theater

    Mike Portnoy's Purple Drumset
    Mike Will Only Need A Few Of These Drums Now

       Every live band has a life cycle and many ups and downs along the way. Even one of my personal favorite bands, Dream Theater, has to deal with personnel changes. It’s never fun to lose a band member. Especially one so important to the band. I was extremely surprised and bummed out to learn the Mike Portnoy, drummer and founding member of Dream Theater, has quit the band. 

       It’s a sad day for all Dream Theater fans to lose Mike Portnoy from the Dream Theater family. Mike was a founding member of the band and his father contributed the name Dream Theater to the band’s legacy. But as always, having a member leave gives the band a chance to grow. It seems like every time a member has left Dream Theater the band has come back stronger than before. Maybe they will find a drummer that will just make Mike a distant memory. I hope that Dream Theater continues to write, record and perform because the combination of John Myung, John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess is truly fantastic. James Labrie has grown into a very good singer as well. So here’s to the hope the Dream Theater continues on stronger than ever!    (more…)

  • Live Musician Central Second Anniversary

    Live Musician Central
    Live Musician Central

       Hey everyone, it’s been 2 years since Live Musician Central went online. I’ve been posting information to help you improve your live band for two solid years and Live Musician Central has gotten a very good response. We’ve had 86,945 page views and have been averaging around 5,000 visits per month. That’s pretty good traffic for a non-commercial Blog/Website.

       I’ve put up 603 posts including this one and you readers have responded with 445 comments. I thank you for that because the comments you leave let me know that you’re actually reading Live Musician Central. Leave as many comments as often as you want! I’ve also put up 18 pages such as the Fender Cyber-Twin SE preset patch download page and the Live Musician’s Special Offers And Discounts page.   (more…)

  • Why A Live Band Is Better Than A DJ

    Bonne Nuit At Cybergate 4-17-10
    Bonne Nuit Playing Music You Can Dance To

       I’ve been playing in live bands for years now and have seen their popularity swell and recede at various times over the years. I remember when I was going to High School in the 80’s that we rarely had a big dance without a live band. Live band’s were the best and it was always a special occasion when we had one. I ask my kids if they ever have live bands play dances at their school and they don’t.

       When I started playing in clubs there were dozens of them for our band to play at. Over the years and especially recently I’ve seen a lot of clubs switching over to using DJ’s. It seems like a lot of gigs that bands used to get are now going to DJ’s. I personally haven’t played a High School Prom in years because all the schools are using DJ’s in my area.   (more…)

  • Happy Easter From Live Musician Central

    Hope you all have a fantastic and fun Easter today!   (more…)

  • Sunday Funnies – Support Conan O’Brien My Coco

       I admit, when Jay Leno was hosting the Tonight Show I would watch fairly regularly but a lot of the time I’d fall asleep on the couch until Conan O’Brien came on. So I was pretty stoked when Jay retired and Conan moved to the 10:30 spot to host The Tonight Show. I figured I could stay awake easily for Conan’s hijinks and I do. Then all this time slot stupidity started.

       Now don’t get me wrong, I like Jay but he left to try a new time slot and for better or worse, it didn’t work out. So I say Jay, it’s time to retire to Vegas and start really enjoying your car collection. Conan is younger and funnier and he’s earned his shot to host the Tonight Show.   (more…)

  • Top Content On Live Musician Central For 2009

       Well we’ve made it through another year and I hope all you live band musicians out there have had a good one. I know it’s been an interesting year for me. I’ve played some great gigs and I’ve had my share of problems in my live bands this year. All in all I can’t say it was the best year of my career as a live musician but it hasn’t been terrible by any means. Probably the greatest thing I did this year was start a live band project with my three oldest sons. Stay tuned and watch for my sons and I to be playing a gig very soon.

       I figured to celebrate the end of 2009 here on Live Musician Central I would post up a list of the most viewed content over the year. It’s no surprise that my custom programmed Fender Cyber-Twin SE preset patches take the top honors. I’ve been programming my own effect racks for almost 20 years and I used that experience while programming my Fender Cyber-Twin SE amplifier. It stands to reason that every post associated with my Cyber-Twin SE amplifier downloads would be in the top viewed categories as well. So I decided to include the Amplifier Preset Downloads page at the top of the list and fill out the rest of the list with other topics that were the most popular but not related directly to the Cyber-Twin SE preset patches.

       The following list is the top viewed content on Live Musician Central for the year of 2009. I’m glad that so many people have visited and I hope that you’ve all found something useful here on Live Musician Central. Here’s to a fantastic and excellent 2010!

    Top Content On Live Musician Central For 2009

  • Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Video)

    Merry Christmas

    From

    Live Musician Central

       It’s Christmas time again for 2009 and I’d like to wish everyone who’s been reading Live Musician Central a very merry Christmas. To celebrate, I’m posting the video to one of my favorite Christmas songs, titled “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”. This song was released in 1984 and was written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. The song featured many of the top Irish and British musicians of the decade and was released to raise money to help provide relief to those ravaged by the famine in Ethiopia.   (more…)

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