March 3, 2009

You may not have heard of Tim Brantley as of yet, but after this southern singer/songwriter releases his fantastic debut album, Goldtop Heights, on April 21 you’ll wonder where he’s been hiding all these years. Goldtop Heights, contains a collection of hook-heavy rock songs with a dash of pop.

The album’s first single, Damage, has already caught on at a number of radio stations throughout the country thanks to Brantley’s strong vocals and well-crafted lyrics. Tim will perform a number of songs from Goldtop Heights at Joe’s Pub in New York City on March 13 and 14.

We caught up with this Artist To Watch a few weeks ago to talk about the process of creating and self-producing Goldtop Heights…

Scott Bernstein: I’ve really enjoyed the new disc and I’ve found new little nuances each time through.

Tim Brantley: We try to put a little candy for the kids in there.

SB: Can you take us through the timeline of creating Goldtop Heights?

TB: It took a year. It was more of a matter of circumstance than anything. When I started I didn’t have a deal and I sort of was trying to do it on my own. I did three or four of the songs on the record on my own and then I got a little funding behind it and things started moving along faster. The bulk of it was recorded in a six month period.

READ ON for more of our interview with Tim Brantley…

There seems to be a whole lotta construction goin’ on at the Hampton Coliseum right now. Apparently artist Russ Bennett and his team, who was in charge of visual design and site layout at all of the previous Phish festivals, are on the case. Here are some fantastic photos from outside the Coliseum taken by bailedwiththehay and Meaty…

Just what are they building?!?!

Construction by the fountain with a view of the Embassy Suites

READ ON for the rest of the photo gallery…

Are you an aftershow person? I’m usually so beat after seeing Phish that the last thing I want to do is see another concert. Our pal Corky said it best,

Fearless is one of the best, if not the best song written in Open G Tuning.

Waters: “What’s interesting about it, for me, is that it’s interesting musically: (hums riff). Funnily enough, that was a tuning that Syd showed me. It’s a really beautiful open G tuning, for anybody who wants to tune their guitar: G-G-D-G-B-B.”

Source: pink-floyd.org

This Gilmour/Waters composition is on Pink Floyd’s sixth studio album, a 1971 release titled Meddle. Looking back seven days, Bonerama has emerged victorious in last week’s Peaches en Regalia Cover Wars

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READ ON after the jump for video from this week’s contestants and to place your vote for your favorite cover of Pink Floyd’s Fearless…

When I was “coming up”, as the expression goes, as a young DJ and Lighting Designer I had the opportunity to work with a very colorful cast of characters that