Ticketmaster/Live Nation

Staying current on the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger Congressional hearing? It looks as if Senator Charles Schumer is urging Ticketmaster to sell TicketsNow, a reselling subsidiary of Ticketmaster. TicketsNow is at the heart of the recent Bruce Springsteen onsale debacle, after online ticket buyers were redirected to its website for significantly marked up tickets after Ticketmaster had alledgedly sold out its general sale offering. Clearly lawmakers are very skeptical of the merger and seek to clarify any malpractices on Ticketmaster's part before progressing any further. In the past 24 hours, several artists have emerged in support of the merger, including Skakira. However, this is not especially surprising considering she recently signed a $70 million contract with Live Nation.

For an update on the potential investigation and a projected impact on the concert industry as a whole should this merger become a reality, check out this sidebar video as a supplement to a recent AP story. It features commentary from Wolf Trap's Box Office Director, Bernie Berry!

Grammys & Oscars - Thoughts?

Now that we've had sufficient time to let it all sink in, what does everyone think about the results of the Grammys and the Oscars?

At first, I was pretty shocked with the choice of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's Raising Sand as album of the year, especially since it was up against Radiohead's In Rainbows, a phenomenal album that made a significant splash in the mainstream community for its major departure from less accessible gloomy, electronic sounding tracks in favor of a more up-tempo, hard driving rock sound. Also it is of note that Radiohead massively impacted the future and current state of the record industry by offering free torrent downloads of In Rainbows on its website.

But after revisiting Raising Sand, I stand behind this selection from the Recording Academy (despite their obvious bias towards Krauss who now has 25.) The album is just so well done in so many ways - most notably in production, song order, and angelic harmonies between Krauss and Plant - the list really goes on and on. If you don't already have it, give it a listen, especially if you're a fan of work produced by T-bone Burnett.

Wolf Trap artists picked up some much deserved Grammys this year!

BeauSoliel avec Michael Doucet (Best Zydeco & Cajun Album;) - Appearing at The Barns at Wolf Trap on Thursday, March 5

Pacifica Quartet (Best Chamber Music Performance;) - Appearing at The Barns at Wolf Trap on Friday, April 3

Ladysmith Black Mambazo (Best Trad. World Music Album;) - Just here on January 26

and, our good friend Tom Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for his enduring contributions to folk music, particularly surrounding the topics of anti-war, and civil rights.

Regarding the Oscar's, I'm embarrassed to admit that Slumdog Millionare is the only movie I saw that was nominated for Best Picture. It did win...so I guess I know how to pick 'em.

-G

My Q&A with Keith Roberts of Young Dubliners

Hello all,

I recently had a chance to engage in a little Q&A with the founder, lead vocalist, and guitarist of the Young Dubliners. His name is Keith Roberts and this is what he had to say...

Q: Can you tell me about one or two of the saints and the sinners that served as inspiration for your latest record?

A: We don't need to look further then the inside of the bus, LOL. I think we all have a little of both in us and we just have to make sure the appropriate one is at the helm at the appropriate time!!

Q: Your tongue in cheek tracks are a blast. One of my favorites is Rosie. Did you write it, and were you able to convince her? Note: This song is about a man trying to convince a woman that marriage isn't necessary despite many years of dating.

A: The idea came from Brendan our bass player. He had the chorus, lyrics and melody and I took it from there, writing the story behind this Irish man who has been "dating" this woman for years but won't pop the question. Don't think he can ever bring himself to "make it official."

Q: The Young Dubliners are three part American and two part Irish. Are you Celtic or American Rock ambassadors?

A: Hopefully if that term applies to us at all it would be both. When we tour in Ireland the Americans in the band are certainly more "ambassador like" then we Irish are. I suppose it flips around when we get back here to the U.S.

Q: The Young Dubliners performed at the Olympics in 2002. Can you describe the feeling of performing in front of 10s of thousands of people drawn from different corners of the world?

A: It was a very cool event. The gig was sort of the "work" part but the hanging out with all the athletes was the highlight. It was a very exciting time all over SLC and we soaked it up. Those guys can party a lot harder then a rock band when their event is over!!!

Q: I often hear the words jam band associated with The Young Dubliners. Do you take issue with that?

A: Not at all, some band members are big fans of certain jam bands but it doesn't really describe us accurately. We have similar instrumentation to those bands but we are big fans of the 4 minute song and we like to play them the way we recorded them. However there are elements of the jam band style in our life shows.

Q: What can fans expect from your upcoming Wolf Trap performance on February 19?

A: We are definitely bringing the "A" game to Wolf Trap. We will have Eric Rigler with us on pipes (Titanic, Braveheart, etc) and lots of songs from the new album. We love that venue so it will be a fun show for us as well.

Become a Wolf Trap Member and Order Tickets for Summer Shows Right Now!

Looking for an opportunity to be philanthropic while also receiving a multitude of exclusive benefits? Look no further than exploring one of the many Wolf Trap membership packages. At this point, I'm sure you've perused our website and seen the 15 unique acts we currently have on sale, but as I mentioned in a previous blog post, our programming director has already lined up an additional 29 performances (several running multiple nights), a number that will only continue to grow in anticipation of box office opening day on March 28. Curious about the lineup booked thus far? Interested in receiving priority ticket handling? Become a Wolf Trap member at the "Curtain Raiser" level by contributing $150 to the organization's non-profit cause, and we'll award you with:

- Priority Ticket handling: Your preseason ticket orders are filled before the Box Office is open to the general public;
- Theater Party Priority: Theater party reservations are filled before Friend level (Friend level is a lower giving level at $65, but does not carry with it priority ticket handling, but rather a pre-sale on March 27);
- Free beverage coupons;
- Invitations to selected dress rehearsals;

AND....

- Access to "My Wolf Trap", a members only portion of wolftrap.org which grants access to exclusive updates, features, artist interviews, event registrations, and tools that will allow you to take full advantage of your Wolf Trap membership.

All membership levels are detailed here, so take a look and see what option fits within your budget. If you're interested in pledging some vastly appreciated funds to Wolf Trap's cause, please call (703) 255-1927, or email Barbara Bearman in our development office at give@wolftrap.org. And please share this post via the green "share" link with everyone you know!

Andrew Bird at 9:30 Club, 2/3/09

Andrew Bird has really risen to new heights from relative obscurity 3-4 years ago. Although he's been in the business for over a decade, it was surrounding the release of 2005's Mysterious Production of Eggs that Bird began to amass a widespread legion of fans, which is no small feat for an emerging pop star who uses the violin as his primary instrument. Aside from the violin, Bird predominantly features the glockenspiel, an absolutely unparalleled whistling ability, gramophone horns, guitar, and a xylophone. It's a very atypical set-up, but just the right type of excessive departure from the mainstream that make indie hipsters swoon in ecstasy. Although he's backed by a three piece band consisting of drums, bass and guitar, the trio essentially serves as a subtle supplement to the massive walls of sound created by Bird looping several instruments (including his voice and his whistle) over one another.

In my opinion, Bird is far better live than on his records. Don't get me wrong, I love many of his albums, especially 2007's Armchair Apocrypha, but the already propulsive tunes take on a new life in a live setting, as you watch him build wild, sweeping orchestrations from the ground up, most of which merely begin with a simple pluck of the guitar or the violin. It's almost a little exhausting watching him, and subsequently imagining his songwriting process, which, for a man of his talents, has to be pretty excruciating at times. There is just so much going on, so much concentration, so many arrangements to keep track of, and above all, so much passion for his craft. If you're curious about Andrew Bird, and want a window into his songwriting process, he often contributes to the Measure for Measure blog, an online journal hosted by the New York Times and collectively inspired by an elite group of working musicians including Roseanne Cash and Susanne Vega.

It also didn't hurt my enjoyment of the show that we watched the performance from the 9:30 club's luxurious V.I.P. area :)

I'll post photos of Bird's performance tomorrow, but in the meantime, take a listen to last night's performance via NPR webcast. Let me know if my description of Bird's sound holds any water.

Post Superbowl Blog Contest

Ok folks! The first blog contest of 2009 is as follows....

For all of my current, loyal readers, I will award you a pair of floor tickets to a Barns show of your choosing if you are the first to do the following:

1) Notify 10 new people of this blog, and instruct them to subscribe via the "Subscribe via email widget" located in the top right hand corner. After they subscribe, Feedblitz will notify me of the new subscriber's email address, allowing me to keep track of the # of new subscribers.

2) After they subscribe, have each of the ten people comment on this entry by leaving A) THEIR OWN EMAIL and B) THE NAME AND EMAIL OF THEIR INITIAL SOURCE (THAT IS YOU.)

Once I match the subscriptions up with the corresponding blog comments, I will announce the winner here, and will subsequently send the winner a personal congratulatory email.

Best of luck! Here's hoping you'll be the one with an email from me in your inbox.

Cheers,

Graham