August 5, 2008

If you’re a music fan and have never been to the Newport Folk Festival, you are truly missing out. You can’t ask for a more picturesque setting to enjoy music from a wide range of genres. Yes, that’s right, the “folk” part of the festival’s title doesn’t exactly ring true. This past weekend in Newport we were treated to outstanding performances from folkies, rockers, hipsters, jammers and the King of the Parrotheads. The only downside was a fierce hour long storm.

The two days of action at Newport’s Fort Adams, a coastal fortification that was opened in 1799, couldn’t have been more different from each other. While the Phishheads reigned supreme on Saturday the parrotheads took over on Sunday. Yet, I was more impressed with the smaller acts that I found at the Waterside Stage and the Harbor Stage than those rockin’ the Main Stage.

My adventure started around Noon on Saturday when I arrived on site to catch the end of the Young @ Heart Chorus’ set, which featured members ranging in age from 72 to 88 singing a number of rock tunes including I Wanna Be Sedated and the Talking Heads’ Heaven. The choir isn’t just a gimmick, these senior citizens offered outstanding arrangements delivered with style and gusto.

READ ON for more of the first part of Scotty’s Newport Folk review…

“The more you live, the more you’ll find, a reason to rewind,” improvised vocals from Umphrey’s McGee’s Brendan Bayliss on a “Jimmy Stewart” inside of Nemo.

Umphrey’s McGee has found the time to rewind, and re-listen, as they released a compilation album of their own brand of non-linear improvisations culled from 2007, Jimmy Stewart 2007. The band released the album in a limited press of 2000 copies, as well as on iTunes. Along with the album, the band has released 10 of their own favorite full shows from 2007 exclusively on iTunes, entitled CompendiUM.

Guitarists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger, along with archivist Jon McLennand explained the history behind Umphrey’s own version of non-linear improvisation they call “Jimmy Stewart.”

A “Jimmy Stewart” is a set amount time each night that is dedicated strictly to improvisation, Bayliss said. The band sets aside a specific portion of each show for their own brand of improv. They also use “Stewarts” as an improvisational exercise for songwriting while on the road. In addition, it serves to seamlessly give fans, as well as the band, something different every night.

READ ON for the full story behind Umphrey McGee’s “Jimmy Stewart 2007″…

If you’ve ever seen Ween live then you can surely understand how much energy, talent and strength drummer Claude Coleman adds to that band. Sadly, it seems that Claude is

Natalie Portman is slowly becoming the Winona Ryder of the aughts. The diminutive actress has been romantically linked to the likes of Moby, Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine and