Steve Morse will hold a guitar workshop at the Underground club in Köln on July 26th. The event is sponsored by Engl, who will be presenting their new E656 Steve Morse Signature amp. Entrance is free, but interested parties are advised to make reservations by contacting info@beyers-music.de or calling +49-(0)2327-3939 or +49-(0)221-2827540.

Underground: Vogelsanger Str. 200, 50825 Köln (Ehrenfeld).
Doors open at 15:00, clinic starts at 16:00.

We’ve discussed previously the state of music business and where it’s going. Music is not alone in this state of transition. Every form of art is.

In preface to his recent novel Little Brother, Cory Doctorow writes:

If I could loan out my physical books without giving up possession of them, I would. The fact that I can do so with digital files is not a bug, it’s a feature, and a damned fine one. It’s embarrassing to see all these writers and musicians and artists bemoaning the fact that art just got this wicked new feature: the ability to be shared without losing access to it in the first place. It’s like watching restaurant owners crying down their shirts about the new free lunch machine that’s feeding the world’s starving people because it’ll force them to reconsider their business-models. Yes, that’s gonna be tricky, but let’s not lose sight of the main attraction: free lunches!

Free lunches, yoohoow! Who doesn’t like free free lunches? (Yes, I know there’s no such thing…)

But what about all these people who create the movies, musicians who write and perform the music, writers who write the books, you ask? How are they going to make a living?

Well, Cory Doctorow is one of those folks who puts his money where his mouth is. He is an accomplished writer himself. You can probably find his books at your local bookstore (look in the sci-fi section). He also puts all his books online under a Creative Commons license that allows unlimited copying, sharing and derivative work for non-commercial purposes. So you can download them from his website instead of buying in the dead tree form, if you prefer so.

Here’s his rationale:

Giving away ebooks gives me artistic, moral and commercial satisfaction. The commercial question is the one that comes up most often: how can you give away free ebooks and still make money?

For me — for pretty much every writer — the big problem isn’t piracy, it’s obscurity (thanks to Tim O’Reilly for this great aphorism). Of all the people who failed to buy this book today, the majority did so because they never heard of it, not because someone gave them a free copy. Mega-hit best-sellers in science fiction sell half a million copies — in a world where 175,000 attend the San Diego Comic Con alone, you’ve got to figure that most of the people who “like science fiction” (and related geeky stuff like comics, games, Linux, and so on) just don’t really buy books. I’m more interested in getting more of that wider audience into the tent than making sure that everyone who’s in the tent bought a ticket to be there.

By the way, giving away books for free didn’t prevent Little Brother from getting on the New York Times’ best selling list.

How’s the novel itself? In one phrase: it’s 1984 in the 21st century. It’s not without it’s flaws — I think it’s too didactic in places and I don’t always agree with the author’s politics. And the happy end is rather deus ex machina-ish.

But after all it’s intended for teenagers and it does raise some very important questions:

The 17 year olds I know understand to a nicety just how dangerous a computer can be. The authoritarian nightmare of the 1960s has come home for them. The seductive little boxes on their desks and in their pockets watch their every move, corral them in, systematically depriving them of those new freedoms I had enjoyed and made such good use of in my young adulthood.

What’s more, kids are clearly being used as guinea-pigs for a new kind of technological state that all of us are on our way to, a world where taking a picture is either piracy (in a movie theater or museum or even a Starbucks), or terrorism (in a public place), but where we could be photographed, tracked and logged hundreds of times a day by every tin-pot dictator, cop, bureaucrat and shop-keeper. A world where any measure, including torture, could be justified just by waving your hands and shouting “Terrorism! 9/11! Terrorism!” until all dissent fell silent.

We don’t have to go down that road.

If you think he’s a tinfoil hat wearing paranoid guy, I can assure you he’s not. (Nick carefully adjusts his own tinfoil hat). All the technology he describes in the book is either already being used or a mere few years away. It’s just a matter of time before the events described in the book become technically possible. The plot is set in 2010, to give you an idea.

If you know a teenager with a gypsy heart and are scratching your head for a present, you can do a lot worse than giving this book. And some adults should read it too. Especially those, who are enchanted with the seductive little boxes. Or simply don’t understand the consequences of using them.

You can get the book for free or buy it.

This concludes my todays soapbox rant. Be free. Be paranoid. Don’t trust anybody over 25. Even Svante. 😉

Mel Galley of Whitesnake and Trapeze fame passed away on July 1, at his home in Heath Hayes, UK. He had suffered from cancer and in February had announced that doctors determined his condition as terminal:

Rather than sit around feeling sorry for myself I intend to make the most of the time I have left with my family and friends. I am blessed with a fantastic wife and two sons who I am very proud of. For now I am just aiming to make my 60th birthday in March.

I have enjoyed a great life, travelled the world having some amazing experiences, met all sorts of people and played with some of the best musicians there are.

In one of his last messages on Myspace Mel wrote on May 10:

Hi to everyone and thanks so much for your continued kind words and wishes. They are truly appreciated by my wife and I. I want you to know that i am no longer going out to the pub – now the pub is coming to me. I have friends visit me at home each day, I have drugs in me 24/7, and I have a plentiful supply of Gin & Tonic by my bedside. I even have my own ice machine! In fact it’s just like my Whitesnake days.

Thanks to Nigel Young and Express & Star for the info.

Whitesnake will guest on the nationally syndicated radio show “Rockline”, hosted by Bob Coburn, on Wednesday, September 3 at 11:30 p.m. EST/8:30 p.m. PST. Fans can talk live with Whitesnake by calling 800-344-ROCK (7625). To find a station near you or to listen to the show live via the Internet, go to http://www.rocklineradio.com/.

Thanks to Mike Garrtett for the info.

It looks like there’s a new band in the purple family. It’s called Purple Rainbows and the lineup is Joe Lynn Turner — vocals, Bobby Rondinelli — drums, Tony Carey — keyboards and Craig Goldy — guitar (no word yeat as of who’ll take bass duties, but I hear that Glenn Hughes might be available).

<opinion>
Now, anybody who’ve followed JLT recently knows that he’ll take any job. Tony Carey hasn’t been heard in years in the hard rock context. And Craig Goldey did a damn good job on Rainbow numbers with Dio. (One time I saw them, he even pulled a white strat for a Stargazer, and he did a very faithful rendition to boot.)

On the balance of things, it could be half interesting.
</opinion>

The band is currently looking to book concerts in 2009.

Thanks to Blabbermouth.com for the info.

We have more confirmed tour dates for this Fall autumn: Deep Purple will continue touring well throughout September, October and November. They will start this leg with an open air in the midst of the oil fields of Siberia, then visit Israel (where they haven’t played since 1991), then off to the bullrings, beaches and biker fests of Spain. In October the band will be off to the east again, this time for a massive tour of Russia and Ukraine, of which only two dates have been confirmed so far: Moscow and St.Petersburg, but little birdie tells me there’s more to come. From Russia they are straight to Germany (all German dates have been confirmed), and finish with a gig in Switzerland on November 18.

As mentioned earlier, Roger Glover has been involved with the Linda McCartney Center on this song. We’ve been informed that there will be a limited edition CD available from www.deep-purple-net at a cost of £5.99 inclusive of UK postage. Orders for the CD will be taken up until July 31st 2008. Both formats will include a B side of 2 songs: Chosen Words and Elated by the band Domminney. Please email lmccmusic@live.co.uk for further details, or visit http://www.deep-purple.net/related-news/roger-glover.htm

Thanks to Lesley Worrall for the update.

Steve Morse used the break in the busy touring schedule to work on the new Steve Morse Band album:

We have 10 songs, ranging from a classical guitar/bass piece to a Bluegrass instrumental, and of course, many tracks reminiscent of the style on ‘Southern Steel’.

He has also completed a solo album in collaboration with Sarah Spencer (Dave LaRue on bass and Van Romaine on drums provided the rhythm section). The album is called Angelfire and will be released in the fall this year on Radiant Records.

Sarah has the kind of smooth, beautiful voice that makes for a welcome contrast to the harsh realities of life, but she can really sing anything. I simply chose to write the type of music that I would like to hear her sing, and it still blows me away with how good she sounds.

Read more on stevemorse.com.

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson for the info.

Big Ian continues his insightful observations of the daft world that surrounds us:
Continue Reading »

Here is you big chance to wine and dine with Jon Lord. The Scotsman reports:

SPACES are still available at a gala dinner to celebrate investments in Edinburgh’s six colleges.

The annual Edinburgh and Lothians Colleges Group dinner is being held on June 19 at Prestonfield Hotel and is set to be attended by Deep Purple legend Jon Lord. Anyone interested in attending should e-mail Joan Serafini at joan@equatorevents.com.

We have no idea if Jon will perform and/or give a talk at the dinner, so don’t blame us for any falsely raised hopes. 😉

Jon will take part in the Scottish performance of Concerto next year which is also aimed in support of education.