David Blair and Treelines

This weekend we had some awesome shows at the cafe. Friday was packed out, spilling on to the street, and Treelines put on a great show. Treelines are a talented group for sure and the audience got a great show. And Treelines were the first to play on our brand new website.

For more of them check out www.treelinesmusic.com.

On Saturday we had David Blair with Paisley Jura in their first show together. A collage of styles made for a very interesting show. Check out this cool music for David Blair's song "Hurt So Hard."

He also has some cool video blogs at www.youtube.com/davidblairmusic

David Blair is a great example of an artist who taken advantage of the web 2.0 world. He's got tones of videos on youtube with him covering all kinds of artists and playing his own songs. A great marketing campaign for sure. David Blair's been touring his but off for the last two months and is just about to finish up his tour.

Check out David Blair's concert with Paisley Jura on our website.

till next time,

Mr. Producer

NEW STREAMINGCAFE.NET

It's a very exciting week at the streaming cafe. We have just launched a completely new website. It's simply beautiful. It's a whole new streaming cafe.

The new streamingcafe.net features a sleek new style like youtube meets apple.com. And with great bands and artists coming in the next few weeks the streaming cafe is ready to bring music to the world.

We've done a whole reworking from bottom to top. If that's not enough we have some big shows coming up. This weekend Australian folk singer Loren and local singer/songwriter Ange Alero.

Mr. Producer

Indie Music - Brock Geiger

The Beatles, among other things, gave us the perfect pop song: 2 and a half minutes of repetitive catchy guitar driven rock and roll. As partly a reaction to popular culture indie music often strays from this formulae. So, to understand the music of recent cafe performer Brock Geiger we need to look at the importance of indie music as a reaction, a protest but also a by-product of pop music.

Any who caught the show will be quick to notice Geiger's lack of repetition, a standard way of making songs "catchy" as well as his extended 6-8 minute songs. It is important to note that my definition of indie music is such that the musicians have subscribed to the ideals of the counter-culture movement and not simply published their own record.

Geiger crafted his songs in such a way that there was an obvious "tipping of the hat" to the tradition of pop songs while also a step beyond into the oblivion of indie music. There was a sense of journey and meaning to his set, but also of reverence for the ground he was stepping on (that being pop music).

These ideas will undoubtably come up in the next fews weeks at the cafe as we have a wide array of indie bands and singers.

You can check out Brock Geiger on our website in the PREVIOUS SHOWS section as well as on our YOUTUBE channel (www.youtube.com/streamingcafe)

till next time,

Mr. Producer

Poor Little Rich Girl

Young bands have a certain edge. As if they are playing things for the first time, which may be the case. Poor Little Rich Girl, a Vernon based indie rock band played at the cafe this Saturday. Like many young bands they get by on energy and creativity. What struck me was the detailed guitar effect and strong chilly pepper esque rhythm section. And although they claimed not to know “The Cure” strong 80’s prog rock influence.

Poor Little Rich Girl may be a new band but they’ve played enough shows together to have some tight well knit songs. With their enigmatic lead singer they might also have the look to catch national and even international attention.

What’s exciting about young bands is getting to hear and see the process. The songs and sounds often aren’t as polished and this opens an audience’s ear to the sounds of striving, the sounds of practice, not of perfection. That said, part of the pull towards indie music is a pull towards imperfection on purpose.

Overall, it was a great evening at the streaming cafe.

Check out some of this show at www.streamingcafe.net

and more of Poor Little Rich Girl at www.myspace.com/poorlittlerichgirlband

Mr. Producer

Justin Hewitt The Art of Performing

Last week at the cafe we had a wonderful Victoria, BC based singer/ songwriter named Justin Hewitt (www.justinhewitt.com) perform. His show was great to watch and kept my attention (which is hard to do as a solo performer). Seeing an experienced performer is completely different than stumbling upon a open mic sort of performer; they capture your imagination quickly and demand a kind of attention from their audience. Hewitt's songs were well crafted but what drew me in to this show was his stories and his intensity as a performer. I watched this show not in the cafe, but in the V.A.N (the Video Audio Neurocentre of the cafe, which is actually a van) on a five inch screen, a undoubtably hard interface for a performer to penetrate.

My point, probably an obvious one, is that experience is a necessity as a performer. Not experience as a singer and guitar player (although that is important) but experience playing music in front of an audience. The ability to take an audience on a journey with you even when they aren't necessarily familiar with your music. Justin Hewitt did that.

Check out some of the show at www.streamingcafe.net,

Mr. Producer