Good Old Country With Zesty Rock & Roll
By Jenna Croyle

This week’s featured band has mastered the ability of mixing good old fashion country music with the zest of rock n roll for a perfect blend of musical artistry. Refuge has been a band in the making for more than a decade and are our local legends of Country.
 

Guitar and Vocals along with Dan Baney on Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, and Harmonica.

Refuge is not your ordinary, play on the weekend for beer money band, the members of this band are hardened musicians with decades of professional experience under their collective belts.

Dan Baney is an award winning singer and professional songwriter who has Recorded professionally, both vocally and instrumentally for more than 15 years and has over 24 songs copy written.

Baney has a strong stage presence that engulfs the audience with his powerful voice and compelling personality of a real entertainer.

The band’s drummer, Corey Williams adds a unique and diverse combination of rhythms and beats to the Refuge’s overall sound, lending a hardcore Country and Rock feel to the music.

Bob Williams’ Guitar work for the band is just outstanding, defining the tone and character of the band’s sound. Williams’ bold and expert fingerpicking is truly inspiring and is without doubt, electrifying.

Ryan Eger adds a mix of Precision Bass Guitar and amazing Vocal harmony for a blend of smooth slapping, popping, tapping, and thumping from a passionate, intense, high-energy dynamo of a musician.

Marlay Shollenberger’s Lead Guitar is absolutely phenomenal, with melody lines, instrumental fill passages and guitar solos that simply astonish the listener, and for the band, irreplaceable.

Filling up any room with an amazing pulse throbbing style that is infused by hard pounding originals and Rock’n covers with the sound, intensity and showmanship of national acts, along with the sheer power flowing off the stage makes Refuge more than just another five piece band, they are musical icons of Erie.

For more information on Refuge, their show dates and latest news, please visit their Facebook page.

Sailing the Musical Seas
A conversation with the eclectic Tempe nine-piece Dry River Yacht Club
By Troy Farah

Recently reunited in August, Dry River Yacht Club’s nine members embody the indie creed that “more is more” and band mates are there for more than just back-up vocals. Keeping in spirit with Gogol Bordello or DeVotchKa, the band plays their unique blend of gypsy tunes, a self-described mix of “acoustic symphony indie-rock on a dancin’ pirate’s rusty yacht”—and the nonet dress the part. Now the Tempe-based band are taking their gig more places than ever. Flag Live sat down to speak to Henri Bernard (percussionist,) Kristilyn Woods (bassoon) and Megyn Neff (violinist) about their new EP and the musical atmosphere in Arizona.

Troy Farah: What does the name of your latest EP Family Portraits/Calm Mutiny mean?

Henri Bernard: We had this hit we played in the car on the way home from a show in L.A. We thought of putting everyone’s baby pictures in there; we’ll call the album “Family Portraits.” Our cello player liked “calm mutiny,” maybe because it sounds like community. Family Portraits fits us. We’re a bigger band, but we’re all very tight. And Calm Mutiny comes out in our music, in reference to a mutiny on a pirate ship. And the sense of calm is there.

It seems to me with a name like Dry River Yacht Club, and the fact that you guys are definitely focused on being a very local band, that Arizona is very important to you and I want to know what it means to you.

Henri Bernard: We take a lot of pride from being in this music scene. I think that all of us see the potential in the Phoenix music scene and we take a lot of pride in being one of the main bands that can draw attention here and represent it elsewhere.

You give the city of Phoenix a few labels and few booking agents and I think the city has a lot of powerhouse bands that can go on the road. They don’t have the people to help them as much—that’s the thing that Phoenix lacks. These bands are drawing sometimes three, 400 people here. That’s a big testament to what’s going on musically. What I love is that you’ve gotta play great all the time because there’s so many bands that are so hungry to be so good around here that you’ve got to keep it moving. “What am I doing to keep a following going, what am I doing to keep it stronger, bigger instead of just getting comfortable?”

How do you feel about bands from Phoenix that got big, left and kind of forgot about Phoenix?

Henri Bernard: Like Miniature Tigers or Gin Blossoms? I don’t think they ever abandoned Phoenix. I know Scotty Johnson of the Blossoms still does some open mics, so I don’t think those guys ever really abandoned Phoenix. Their view changed, Mill Avenue changed—where they came up.

I can only imagine when Mill was only music venues, all about music, all about a culture versus Abercrombie and Fitch. I guess that’s culture, but I don’t think it’s conducive to building a thriving arts and music community.

Exactly. It’s very heavily mass produced and it’s not local.

Henri Bernard: But for a band like Miniature Tigers, I remember Charlie Brand when he wasn’t huge. I understand as a musician why you might need to take your band somewhere where you can get the necessary exposure to get functioning professionally.

I think a lot has to do with how you sell your band when you do that. If you still say you’re based out of Arizona or somehow rep that you got started in Phoenix, I think that does a lot of good for the city.

Those are big labels and big opportunity and it’s awesome that bands from our little nest have gotten into those places. I don’t think any of those guys lost their roots, they just had to take a job when they got to go: “This is the offer, this is what we’ve been looking for for 10 years.”

How familiar are you with Flagstaff’s music scene?

Kristilyn Woods: I think Flagstaff’s cool because of the scenery and just the nature of the town brings together a lot of artistic people that stay there for reasons other than a thriving music scene. It’s a cool little bubble of really creative minds.

Henri Bernard: And the shows in Flag are always awesome. The kids come right to the stage, they’re ready for it and they’re always open minded for new bands. Tempe’s awesome and I don’t mean anything negative, but sometimes I think if I had seen that band in Flagstaff, I would have seen more dancing and less stiffness. They just get crazy, rowdy. If you’re trying to have an awesome show I think you want those rowdy folks, clapping and stomping and screaming. It’s amazing energy and makes it so much fun.

Live in Europe 1967: Best of the Bootleg, Vol. 1 - Miles Davis

The Miles Davis quintet of the mid-to-late 1960s occupies a weird place in the trumpeter's canon. Critics (this one included) will tell you that it isn't just the best band Miles ever led, but one of the choicest small groups in jazz history. If you're not a jazz nerd, though, you may not know it existed. This is because the outfit-- rounded out by tenor saxist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams-- doesn't register on Miles' pop-cultural timeline. The group issued a string of brilliant studio LPs during its 1965-68 run, yet there's no Kind of Blue or Bitches Brew among them; by this period, Miles had pushed way beyond the sumptuously chilled-out sound of the former but hadn't arrived at the murky psych-jazz of the latter.

So if the Shorter/Hancock/Carter/Williams band (often called Miles' second great quintet, in deference to his stellar 1950s group) was transitional, a checkpoint between consensus masterpieces, why should you care that there's a new box set featuring previously unreleased live recordings from this time? Given that nearly every microphase of Davis' career has been expanded into box form by this point-- ask an expert before gifting a random one at Christmas-- casual consumers are right to be suspicious. But Live in Europe 1967, which presents five concerts from October and November of that year on three great-sounding CDs and one DVD, is no footnote: This set, Volume 1 in a new Davis Bootleg Series built on the Bob Dylan model, offers a chance to hear one of the greatest bandleaders of the 20th century push his collaborators into a creative frenzy and be pushed back in return.

Aside from Carter, each of these players would become giants of electric jazz (Davis and Hancock transitioned into something like pop stardom), and the period documented on this set represents their farewell to their bebop roots: both an ecstatic celebration and a ballsy deconstruction of how small-group jazz had been played for the previous two decades. Live in Europe 1967 won't soundtrack any romantic dinners or inspire dorm-room acid trips, but it does show off the central thrill of jazz-- spontaneous interplay among dangerously skilled players-- as well as almost any other collection you could name.

That "among" is key. As much as this set testifies to the leader's own vision, the real takeaway is the virtuosity of other musicians, and how Miles' anti-hierarchical aesthetic spurred them toward the riskiest, most engaged performances of their careers. No player on this set reaches more than Tony Williams. A famously precocious drumming prodigy-- he first recorded with Miles in 1963 at age 17-- he was exactly the kind of daredevil Miles was looking for, a player naturally inclined toward pure outrageousness. (By 1967, he'd already explored cutting-edge improvisation on deeply unusual masterworks such as Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch.) Williams is in particularly wired form here on the version of "Footprints" from November 2 in Copenhagen (disc two). During Miles' trumpet solo, the drummer casts himself as Donkey Kong to Davis' Mario, throwing out flaming barrels for the leader to navigate; Williams keeps time on the ride cymbal, but runs a near-constant interference pattern of asymmetrical fills and swelling cymbal flurries. (You can hear the legacy of Williams' pot-stirring percussion style, rarely better documented than on Live in Europe 1967, in players like Deerhoof's Greg Saunier, who loves to slide around a song's central pulse, sending bits of rhythmic shrapnel flying at his bandmates.)

As dazzling as Williams sounds, what really catches the ear is how the entire band provides the improvisational boldness that Miles was after. On the Copenhagen "Footprints", Herbie Hancock plays like a deranged outsider artist. Instead of providing a sturdy foundation underneath Wayne Shorter's saxophone solo, he offers squiggly little phrases, like jumbled fragments from a 20th-century classical score; on the outro, he answers the horn players' theme statement with a mocking paraphrase. Ron Carter, meanwhile, constantly reconfigures the piece's waltzing bassline, jumping between half-time and double-time, and mixing in percussive slaps and low, droney digressions.

These performances represent an upending of the soloist-and-background model of small-group jazz up to this point. Miles' second great quintet wasn't the first to play this way; by 1967, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Cecil Taylor had each exploded the conventions of 1940s and 1950s jazz in their own ways. Yet none of these other artists had figured out how to combine deep, risky interactivity with such sustained coherence. Many of the pieces on Live in Europe 1967 play like cooperative action paintings, with everyone allowed but no one entitled to be the center of attention at any given time, and with the overarching logic of the compositions keeping chaos in check. It's at this stage, just before the quintet's dissolution-- over the next two years, as Miles engaged with electric jazz, Carter would exit, followed by Williams and Hancock-- that the conversation is at its most lively and lucid.

Crucially, though, freedom, as it was interpreted by this band, didn't always equal volume and density. Some of the strongest moments on Live in Europe 1967 are also the calmest. During "Masqualero" from the November 6 Paris concert (disc three), as Miles plays a poignant, slow-building solo, Hancock settles into a haunting, repetitive figure and Williams quiets to a whisper, marking faint tempo on the hi-hat. Later, when Hancock's solo begins, Williams drops out entirely, leaving the pianist and Carter to play a delicate, free-floating duo. During the same set, on "Walkin'"-- a staple of Davis' 50s repertoire-- Williams and Carter guide Shorter into an up-tempo frenzy and then gradually fade to silence. The saxophonist moves into a rare unaccompanied passage, playing an abstracted kind of bebop, full of tumbling phrases and murmuring digressions.

By late 1967, thanks in large part to John Coltrane (who had passed away in July) and mavericks such as Albert Ayler, shrieking, high-density free jazz was in full flower. As you can hear in Live in Europe 1967's many boldly stripped-down moments, Miles and his band were aiming for a different kind of freedom, one where aggression coexisted with near-stillness. Funk was in the mix too: During the October 28 "Masqualero" in Antwerp (disc one), Williams and Carter keep up an infectious Latin pulse behind the soloists, providing a danceable base for Shorter to tear off his heated phrases and also foreshadowing Davis' groove-based experiments, which would begin in earnest on 1969's In a Silent Way.

Miles clearly savored this band's broad dynamic and emotional range, and constructed its sets accordingly. Unlike the quintet's studio recordings, the concerts on Live in Europe 1967 take the form of unbroken medleys. On four out of the five sets here, the tempestuous "Footprints", a Shorter original, segues into the Thelonious Monk favorite "'Round Midnight", which begins each time as a beautifully sparse dialogue between Davis and Hancock. Other transitions keep these long sets feeling brisk. In Antwerp, a lengthy version of Miles' hard-swinging, midtempo "No Blues", gives way to a turbulent three-minute sprint through Hancock's "Riot"; in Paris, "No Blues" snaps into Shorter's moody, Spanish-inflected "Masqualero", a striking shift that immediately reengages the ear. Live in Europe 1967 marks the first time we're hearing this band engage with such a wide range of material; a previous second-great-quintet live box, The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965, featured mainly well-worn jazz standards.

As much microscopic variety as there is in these shows, it's important to note that Live in Europe 1967 documents a single tour with a more or less fixed set list. Davis did vary the repertoire occasionally-- trying out "Walkin'" and the standard "I Fall in Love Too Easily" in Paris-- but buyers interested in a more diverse overview of what this band could do might be better off picking up one of their studio releases (E.S.P., from 1965, and Nefertiti, recorded just a few months before the shows heard here, are both great starting points). Don't let the repetition scare you away, though. All five concerts here have their own rewards and idiosyncrasies; the best path through the box is to treat each segment like the concert it originally was and savor it individually.

The DVD, which documents two shows not featured on the CDs, is a sharp addition. There's a bit of arty treatment-- often two players appear superimposed in the same frame-- but on the whole, these are tasteful black-and-white concert films that put you in the midst of the onstage action. You see the youthful Williams bearing down fiercely on his ride, Shorter entering a closed-eyes trance while playing, and Hancock cocking his ear, tuning in to his bandmates' improvisations with genuine curiosity. And in the middle of it all is Miles: his usual, unflappable self. This is one of our last glimpses of the trumpeter in pre-psychedelic mode; the sequined pants and wraparound shades would arrive by 1969, as Miles flipped for Jimi and Sly and started co-billing with future rock legends at the Fillmore and the Isle of Wight, but here he sports natty suits (the sidemen wore tuxes), embodying the same model of 50s cool that won the trumpeter a mention in a 1960 Esquire list of "Some of the Best-Dressed Men in the United States."

That shift in fashion wasn't just superficial; Miles' music changed drastically in the period following Live in Europe 1967. LPs such as 1969's In a Silent Way and 1970's Bitches Brew are still some of the most compelling jazz-crossover experiments ever attempted. And Miles' sidemen would make equally important contributions to the movement that came to be known as fusion: Shorter with the vibrant Weather Report, Hancock with his funky Mwandishi and Headhunters bands, and Williams with Lifetime, one of the grittiest and heaviest of the early jazz-rock groups.

These impending transitions are part of why Live in Europe 1967 is essential: You get to hear exactly how these virtuosos were behaving just before the big change occurred. They were still operating in an old mode, small-group acoustic jazz, but they were interrogating it relentlessly, seeing how far they could stretch its conventions without ditching them altogether. Before they could break into the larger world of pop, they had to reach jazz nirvana, and that's what they attain on Live in Europe 1967. The aesthetic here is less easily definable than those heard on Kind of Blue and Bitches Brew, but it's no less significant. At its heart, jazz thrives on bold, sensitive interaction in the moment, and Live in Europe 1967 represents the pinnacle of that practice.

Longtime Eric Clapton Band Member Dick Sims Dies

Dick Sims, a keyboardist who played in Eric Clapton's band for almost a decade, died on December 8th after battling cancer. He was 60.

Sims, a native of Tulsa, OK, formed the Tulsa County Band with drummer Jamie Oldaker and bassist Carl Radle. Together, they helped develop the country-rock hybrid that became known as the "Tulsa sound." Introduced to Clapton through Radle, the threesome first backed the guitarist on his 1974 album 461 Ocean Boulevard. Though it was a collaborative effort, Sims told Tulsa People in 2010, "they weren't going to name it 'Eric Clapton and Tulsa County,' because Eric was already a solo act." The band stayed on as Clapton's backers for nine years, recording on several albums, including the classic Slowhand.

Sims, who played on Bob Seger's album Back in '72 with Oldaker, went on to play his customized Hammond B-3 organ with many other acts, including J.J. Cale, Peter Tosh and Vince Gill. After a 10-year hiatus from music, he released his only solo album, Within Arm's Reach, in 2008. Clapton dedicated his December 10th show in Tokyo to his late friend.

GWAR Guitarist Died of Heart Condition

North Dakota's state coroner says the lead guitarist for the heavy metal band GWAR died of a heart condition, but records show that a drug screening detected cocaine and opiates in his system.

Dr. William Massello III, the state medical examiner, said in his report that Cory Smoot died of "coronary artery thrombosis brought about by his pre-existing coronary artery disease." The formation of such blood clots can result in a heart attack.

Smooth, 34, had performed since 2002 under the name Flattus Maximus with the Virginia-based band known for its comically grotesque sci-fi/fantasy-based costumes, stage antics and vulgar lyrics.

He was found dead Nov. 3 on the GWAR tour bus in the North Dakota town of Pembina following a concert the night before in Minneapolis.

The band packed their equipment after finishing the Minneapolis show and left around 2 a.m., sleeping en route to upcoming shows in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta.

Prior to crossing the U.S.-Canadian border, the driver pulled into Pembina to make sure the group's passports were in order. Everyone's passport was found except for Smoot's, so tour manager Eddy Oertell tried to wake him and discovered he was dead, according to reports.

Records show that investigators found on Smoot a $5 bill with a white powder residue, a prescription bottle holding eight Oxycodone-Acetaminophen pills, a lighter and two empty syringes.

GWAR lead singer Dave Brockie, also known as Oderus Urungus, said the band is embarking on the European portion of its tour in January as a four-piece outfit.

"When Cory died, we all wanted to go home and take care of the family and our own grief," Brockie said on the band's website. "But the best way to do that is by playing all the shows we have planned."

Barbara Orbison, Widow of Roy Orbison, Dies in LA

Barbara Orbison, widow of rock 'n' roll pioneer Roy Orbison, died Tuesday on the 23rd anniversary of her husband's death, a family spokeswoman said. She was 60.

Barbara Orbison died from pancreatic cancer at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center surrounded by her sons, said publicist and family spokeswoman Sarah McMullen. Orbison had been hospitalized since May.

Since the 1980s, Barbara Orbison devoted her time to managing her husband's estate and keeping his legacy alive.

With her son, Roy Kelton Orbison Jr., she co-produced a four-CD box set of her husband's 107 recordings. "Roy Orbison: The Soul of Rock and Roll" was released in 2008 and contains all of his hits and 12 previously unreleased tracks.

The package marked the first all-inclusive body of Roy Orbison's work from his earliest recordings to the Traveling Wilburys' debut album, "Mystery Girl," and his last live performance. Roy Orbison died in 1988 at the age of 52, in the midst of a comeback with The Traveling Wilburys.

Actor Patrick Swayze's widow, Lisa Swayze, said her heart out goes out to the Orbison family. "Patrick and I always had a warm connection with them both. Now we have lost this wonderful lady," Lisa Swayze said. Patrick Swayze died in September 2009 of pancreatic cancer.

In 1998, Barbara Orbison issued "Combo Concert" on her label Orbison Records, a collection of previously unreleased live recordings from Holland and France made in 1965, according to Roy Orbison's official website. That same year, Barbara Orbison accepted the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award on her husband's behalf, which honored his contribution to the recording industry.

In January, 2010, Barbara Orbison accepted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on her husband's behalf.

Barbara Orbison's Nashville, Tenn.-based music publishing company, Still Working Music, was recently awarded BMI's 2010 Song of the Year for Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me".

In a tribute to his wife, Roy Orbison wrote: "I've spent my lifetime trying to figure love out. Love ranges from just fascination to something almost spiritual. In the case with my wife, Barbara, it just keeps growing all the time."

Barbara Orbison will be buried next to her husband at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles, McMullen said. A Celebration of Life will be held at an undetermined future date in Nashville.

Barbara Orbison is survived by her sons Wesley Orbison, 46, Roy Kelton Orbison, Jr., 41 and Alexander Orbison, 36.

Big Bad 40 Talks Growing Up Homeless, Getting Into Music & Having A Voice As An Indie
By Niki Gatewood

Tory "40 Glocc" Gassway has an enduring survival instinct. As a child, life snatched his naïveté, first twisting then destroying it. Uprooted from a comfortable life in Texas, he was flung across the country to the cacophony of cultures that is California. Disneyland became a myth. The reality of feuding flags challenged his existence in the Inland Empire. At age 12, the streets became his father and homeless shelters replaced his mother's touch. Music and other creative endeavors provided a calming oasis during a chaotic childhood and adolescence.

After becoming a young father, 40 was determined to use hip-hop as a vehicle toward success. Refusing to allow his children to become have-nots, he uses his voice as an entertainer to secure their future. In this BallerStatus exclusive, 40 Glocc talks gun charges, G-Unit, and his upcoming solo album, New World Agenda -- he declares it is a classic.

BallerStatus.com: What event or circumstances provoked you to fully pursue a music career?

40 Glocc: It was something that I always wanted to do. When I used to be in Texas, I loved music and watching acting, watching movies, and stuff like that. I would imitate people that I heard rapping, or singing music, or acting on movies. When I used to act, my favorite role was playing house. (laughs)

BallerStatus.com: Wow! (laughs)

40 Glocc: Word! When my auntie caught me playing house, she would kick my ass. Coming up like that, that was the best stuff that I remember. I learned how to use it as a tool when I was homeless. I always wanted to be in the studio, but I could never find one. There was this dude that was a singer. He had his own home-made studio. I was like, "Yo, can I come record there one day?" He was like, "Honestly, you ain't got no money." I used to be like, "Damn." I was stressing out.

When I made my first $400 -- I had $5 and then I got a double-up five from this dope-dealer dude. I stacked it to ten bucks, flipped it again, then I had twenty bucks. In the first day, I had almost a hundred bucks, and then I flipped that s*** again. By the third or fourth day, I had 400 bucks. The spot was booming. I had that $400 dollars that I was cherishing. I went back to the dude and I was like, "Yo, can I get into the studio now?" I gave that n**** some money and he recorded me. I made my first song. It was a diss record on a hood I was beefing with. It was hella gang-related.

BallerStatus.com: Do you still have that song?

40 Glocc: I dunno. You know, they hood probably got it, too. As we get older, we're all men now, and we look at each other [differently] now. [At the time], we were real enemies. You shoot my homies and I shoot your homies. When I made the tape, I was 14 or something, I made a gang of copies of the CD and I went and threw them all in they neighborhood.

BallerStatus.com: (laughing) So, you was hella reckless...

40 Glocc: Yeah, I was super reckless. I threw all the CDs out in their neighborhood, and shot it up, and kept it moving.

BallerStatus.com: Shut yo ass up! (laughing)

40 Glocc: Everybody wanted my head after that. But at the same time, they was liking the record, so it was cool, you know? They was like, "Yeah, we're going to f*** that little n**** off!" (laughs) It was real crazy; I've had a real crazy life. That was my first experience with my first song. It was called "Puttin' In Work On A Mixtape Called Beef." It had a long ass title, but it's dope.

BallerStatus.com: As a man and as a musician, how do you view hip-hop?

40 Glocc: My view of hip-hop ... I love it. I got a lot of love for it. I like it; I love it. I think that it's missing a lot of substance. I think ain't nobody talking about nothing. I think everybody is looking at it like its "Alice in Wonderland" right now. The roots of hip-hop used to let you learn about something -- you learned about people's experiences. You got laughter, you got entertainment [and] you got different genres. That is what hip-hop was about to me. I don't feel like it got that no more. Now everybody is rich, everybody got money, [and] nobody is broke. Nobody has ups and downs; it's crazy. Now everybody paints this picture to portray themselves like they've always had it and never been without it. Or, that they all got 80 Maybachs in the garage.

BallerStatus.com: Sh**, I need to be an MC then.

40 Glocc: Right, you know, it's crazy. I just think that a lot of media pushes that sh**.

BallerStatus.com: Come on, don't blame the media when it's y'all that are doing most of it.

40 Glocc: At the same time, I just think that the media helps it. They both go hand-in-hand.

BallerStatus.com: You're right.

40 Glocc: Media is the ones that gets to everybody. Like, we say it, but the media helps spread it. I just feel that sometimes they should speak on that sh** like, "Yo, nobody wants to hear that sh**." Right now, they got you [down the rabbit's hole in] "Alice in Wonderland." Let's get back to the real world. The [global] stock markets are crashing, you know what I mean?

BallerStatus.com: That's a great thing about art: is that it allows people to escape the real world.

40 Glocc: That's dope and that's why I say you should have all genres of it. But when we're flooded with that, then what do we got? Right now it's flooded. I respect all kinds of music; that's with art and all hip-hop. That is what music is supposed to do. But, if everybody is doing the same "art" with the same "pictures" --

BallerStatus.com: So, Hip-Hop has got too monotonous?

40 Glocc: Right, and now when you turn on the TV and turn on the radio, it's payola'd out so much. It's the same person everywhere. You can't hear nothing new no more. It's like whoever got the money, they'll play of all that person's sh**. It's like a million artists out there, how you just gonna cater to one artist? They say he's the most popping artist [when] really he's not; it's the money behind him.

BallerStatus.com: Exactly, what is that budget looking like?

40 Glocc: Right, it all depends on your budget. If you got a multi-millionaire that's going to put a lot of money behind you to get that attention, he's spending that dough and buying attention. I think that that's what's happening now. Payola is taking over the Internet market, too. Before people thought you could blow up off the Internet; that's not true. Now, the majors will step in and pay for their artists to be on the sites. So now, when the indies come and the people who don't have a deal, or no budget, the media Internet outlets say, "No, that'll be 500 bucks." You have to remember that some of these dudes is working with no budget. Now they're just f***ed out the gate because they can't get that exposure. Now really, they can't even spread virally. It's kinda hard when everybody wants money. It's crazy; I think hip-hop has definitely just become about the dollar. That's what it's about though. It's like a gift and a curse.

BallerStatus.com: How do you stay motivated to keep making music if you don't have the budget for your voice to be heard by the masses?

40 Glocc: For years, I was homeless. I was a kid. I was damn near still a baby. I didn't have no mother, no daddy, no nothing. I had to get my own. What motivated me was I would always tell myself that I wasn't going to stay like this. I mean, it was a lot of crying nights and sleeping in the cold. Halloween used to be my favorite holiday. I used to pray for it come around, so I would have candy to eat. My motivation was like "I gotta get out this sh**." I motivate myself to stay consistent and keep going. So, it's not that I look at other people for motivation. I look at myself. I tell myself what I got and what I need to do to get how I want to be. So, that's what keeps me motivated.

BallerStatus.com: As the emerging artist that's striving to introduce yourself to a global audience, how are you working to supersede any labels that have been placed upon yourself? Such as you're only a menace, you're only a gangsta rapper, or that you're only a Crip with a microphone?

40 Glocc: As far as that, musically wise, this is entertainment. If I wasn't in entertainment, then they wouldn't be talking about me; I'm entertaining. They can take [the perspective] from the business-side. At the end of the day, I'm conducting business. You see me at my places of business. You see me with people who's involved with business and do good business. At the end of the day, it's a job. If the consumer, or whoever else wants to label me -- whether it be police, judges, courts, whoever. I pay taxes and I do my business. Evidently it's entertainment, and if they weren't entertained, then they wouldn't be talking about me. It seems like that gets overshadowed and overlooked with me, but I don't know why.
How the hell does that happen when I've always been doing business? I've always been independent and everybody always thought I was contractually signed to G-Unit. They still do. My whole career I've been saying, "I'm not signed to G-Unit." G-Unit is my family; this is G-Unit, all day. You don't have a contract with your grandmother to say that's your grandmother, or your uncle to say that's your uncle, or your cousin, to say that's your cousin. Ain't no contracts, you know that's your family, right? That's what it's all about.

BallerStatus.com: So, you never had a contract with G-Unit?

40 Glocc: No. You have to understand that I have a business; I have a company. I have a corporation. I have a label deal distribution deal. I had a label deal with BMG that I scored for my Jackal album. That was around $300,000. People just got to understand that I do business, you know what I mean? You can give me this bullsh** persona, but at the end of the day, it's business. I'm entertaining than a motherf***er. (laughs)

BallerStatus.com: To date, what's been the biggest thing that you've sacrificed in order to get your music heard?

40 Glocc: I've sacrificed not becoming that 9-5 person. I have sacrificed spending time with my kids, fasho. And, time with my family and the people that I love, because I'm not around them on a day-to-day. So, I look at that as a sacrifice. I gotta look at it as me taking my hard-earned money and reinvesting it back into the business. I look at that as a sacrifice.

BallerStatus.com: What challenges do you encounter with being the artist and being the CEO of your own company (Zoo Life)?

40 Glocc: It's the best of both worlds. I make more money; I see more money. I have control as an artist. Pretty much, I run my whole career. With me being the spearhead of my label, I have my artists like Locie Locc, Zoo Baby, Lil Boo, Camp Bear, you know? Everybody like that, Spine, we're just grinding out. I get to brand them and build my own brand, build my own entity.

BallerStatus.com: As a CEO, how do you feel about the 360 deal? Do you use that on any of your artists?

40 Glocc: No, I don't do that. I don't believe in the 360 deal. That's the new highway robbery. Today, most artists that are signed to majors are under the 360 deal. They look like they have money. That's like pimps and hos. The pimp gets all the money. The hoe just runs back out and tries to collect ten more girls. Where her daddy at, what they got? She ain't really got sh**. As soon as she's used up, the pimp kicks her to the curb and goes and gets some new hoes. That's basically what the [major] labels do to their artists. With the 360 deal, it's worse than pimping and hoeing, because you're giving them access to everything.

BallerStatus.com: Did you sign Ras Kass?

40 Glocc: That's my homeboy. I didn't sign him, we did a joint venture deal to put out product. You know, we're real real tight with each other. So, you know, that is a joint venture deal.

BallerStatus.com: Now that you've defeated your gun charges, will you embrace your moniker 40 Glocc? Or will you continue to use, Big Bad 40?

40 Glocc: I'm Big Bad 4–0

BallerStatus.com: So, 40 Glocc is done?

40 Glocc: 40 Glocc is always -- that's a brand. I mean, that's my name. It stands for 40 acres and a mule. They gave us the ghetto, leaving us oppressed with crooked cops. You know, that's always what I'm going to stand for. But commercial-wise, they can't say that, so it's Big Bad 40. I want that. I'm getting my 40 acres.

BallerStatus.com: Share with me your perspective on touring. Is there a certain etiquette that the supporters should have with the artists? Do you ever get tired of boppers coming up to you trying to f***?

40 Glocc: It comes with the territory. You just got to know when to say no. It doesn't bother me. I respect everybody's feelings and how somebody feels.

BallerStatus.com: [burst out laughing]

40 Glocc: But, I'm not with jumping bones on groupies and all like that. I'm real picky about the types of women that I like and the women that I've been with. You know what I'm saying?

BallerStatus.com: Until the next time that BallerStatus is able to speak with you, what do you want to share with the public? What are some things that we should anticipate?

40 Glocc: My album being a definite classic...

BallerStatus.com: A classic?

40 Glocc: And by me, classic means not just by sales. Sales doesn't mean that your album is a classic. You know, I'm an independent artist. A classic album is when somebody gives you everything and you want to absorb it all. That's a classic album. It's a well-grounded album that's dope with a lot of material on it that you can play from here on out to infinity. You'll look back and me like, "Yo, put that sh** in."

Stax Favorite J. Blackfoot Dead at 65

Stax Records stalwart J. Blackfoot has lost his battle with cancer at the age of 65.

The Memphis-based soul man, who was born John Colbert, died Nov. 30. He started recording for the Stax label after impressing producer and songwriter David Porter at an audition in the late 1960s. Porter and partner Isaac Hayes created the Soul Children around their protégé.

Paying tribute to the singer, Porter says, "When I first heard him, there was naturalness in his phrasing, in his charm, that was unique. He always stayed true to that."

Born in Mississippi, Blackfoot had a tough upbringing on the streets of Memphis, and he was jailed for car theft at 18. Behind bars he met Johnny Bragg, the founder of 1950s vocal group the Prisonaires, who served as the young hoodlum's music mentor.

As a member of the Soul Children with Norman West, Anita Lewis and Shelbra Bennett, Blackfoot recorded 15 chart hits throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. He later went solo and recorded the 1980s hit "Taxi."

He reformed the Soul Children for a 2008 album, and most recently appeared as part of Porter's musical revue. Porter tells The Commercial Appeal, Memphis' main daily newspaper, "He was a person who was at home onstage; he was an entertainer and a true one. He was a tremendous talent; he had a signature all his own. When you would hear him, you would know it was him instantly."

Longtime Bassist for Willie Nelson Dies

Dan "Bee" Spears, who played bass on the road with Willie Nelson for more than 40 years and appeared on many of his classic albums, died late Thursday.

Austin, Texas television station KXAN reports Spears slipped and fell after stepping out of his motor home in Nashville Thursday night, according to his friend Dee Pearce. He was found dead, due to exposure. He was 62.

Spears grew up in a musical family outside San Antonio, Texas. Nelson hired Spears in 1968 when he was only 19 years old after Nelson's previous bassist David Zetter was drafted. "I happened to be there when the guys were talking about finding a replacement," Spears once said. "One of the guys said, 'Hell, let's hire Bee. He doesn't play worth a crap, but we can teach him what to play, and he won't come in with any preconceived bulls**t!'"

Spears played on key Nelson albums including "The Troublemaker," "Shotgun Willie," "Phases and Stages," "The Red Headed Stranger" and "Stardust" and provided a solid backbone to Nelson's offbeat phrasing and guitar acrobatics during live shows. "Willie is all over the place with his vocal phrasing," Spears said. "He'll take you up a creek and dump you in a minute. My main role in the band is to make sure he knows where the 'one' is, so he can come back to it." Spears also toured with country artists including Waylon Jennings and Guy Clark.

A statement on Nelson's website reads: "We are deeply saddened by the death of Family member Dan 'Bee' Spears, long time friend and bassist for Willie Nelson and Family. We are still in shock and gathering details as the day continues. He apparently died of accidental exposure at his property near Nashville, Tenn."

Nelson's next concerts are scheduled for Dec. 30 and Dec. 31 in Austin, Texas.

The Best And Worst Musical Collaborations Of 2011
By Chris Parkin

This year has thrown up some horrifying musical collaborations. Chris Parkin despairs at some of them, and then finds some hope…

This year has seen musicians getting into bed with each other at an alarming rate, displaying the sort of intense musical promiscuity we’ve not seen since the mind-blasted late-60s. The trouble with most of this communal music making is that it has been dire. Dinosaurs trying desperately to inject new impetus into things, proper talents who should know better making bad decisions…

We were reminded just how dire this week by Darren Aronofsky’s brand new video for The View, taken from the grotesque album by Lou Reed and Metallica, aka The Grumpy Farts . It’s as wincingly awful as it is smelly and wrinkled.

But however implausible that collaboration seems, how about this: Insane Clown Posse with Jack White. The once unassailable White Stripes guitarist has had a strange 2011. He ended the famous duo – presumably to pump out more rap-rock stodge with Dead Weather – and then teamed up with face-painted, orange pop-spraying rap wallies ICP, the duo who think ignorance is good, magnets are amazing and whose obsessive fans, the Juggalos, have been listed as a gang organization by the FBI. What was Jack White thinking?

In other jaw-dropping confabs, who didn’t feel sorry for Tricky when he took to the stage with Beyoncé at Glastonbury and looked like a mouse in the headlights? Why did Alex James spear so many happy memories by forming a union with Jeremy Clarkson? Must Thom Yorke continue his side project with Flea? Honestly, just because they’re you’re fellow famouses doesn’t mean it’ll work out. Think, people.

There were better examples of musical cooperation, of course. There had to be. Here’s a handful of 2011’s best, or at least fist-gnawingly rubbish, ones…

Pusha T & Tyler, The Creator – Trouble On My Mind (single)
With so few people interested in his vastly underrated Clipse duo with Malice, Pusha T struck out alone this year, picking a series of guests to join him in a surreal, shadowy world sound-tracked by minimal but dizzying bangers – the perfect setting for young, NSFW hoodlum Tyler, The Creator to do his thing to.

Ford & Lopatin – Channel Pressure (album)
Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin (get an idea what he’s about here ) and collaborator Joel Ford are men with a hard-on for synths and 80s pop. Here they take all this passion for aerated synth-pop and wreath it wonderfully with ambience and touches of austere, spooky techno.

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Thuggin’ (EP)
Freddie Gibbs is the rising rapper with a tuff gangster style whose recent Cold Day in Hell mix-tape broke all sorts of download records. Madlib is a weirder, more conscious-seeming rapper/producer who’s worked with J Dilla, MF Doom and Ghostface Killah. Together they make a fine team.

Joe Goddard & Valentina – Gabriel (single)
In a parallel universe, where everything is as it should be and Flo Rida is an office worker rather than massive pop star, this would have been at Number One for longer than Bryan Adams’ (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. Joe Goddard is a member of Hot Chip and sidekick Valentina is a soul singer on the rise. Together they made sweet, sweet house music with a bucketful of charm.

Nick Cave & The Flaming Lips
We haven’t actually heard anything from this pairing yet but just the idea of it is enough to make us forget about Loutallica. Apparently Wayne Coyne and co are working on an album with the Bad Seeds man, and given both Coyne and Cave’s obsession with death, mortality and sex, it should be a right old (strange) hoot. The Flaming Lips initiated other fine collaborations in 2011 with Neon Indian, Prefuse 73 and Lightning Bolt.

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Requiem For Oblivion is still seeking a guitarist. If you have the madness or know someone who does send them to these animals to feast upon. We must bring Requiem For Oblivion back to life with the blood of a young virgin & bow down at their feet as they hypnotize us with their lyrics.

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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2012 Nominees

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the nominees for its 2012 induction class on Tuesday, Sept. 27. Leading the way this time around are such worthy first-time nominees as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Heart, the Cure and Guns N' Roses. Other artists appearing on the ballot for the first time include Rufus with Chaka Khan, British rockers the Faces (aka the Small Faces) featuring Rod Stewart, '60s R&B group the Spinners, bluesman Freddie King and hip-hop duo Eric B. and Rakim. The ballot also includes several artists who have been previously nominated but never inducted: the Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, War, Donovan, Donna Summer and Laura Nyro.

To vote on who you think should be inducted from this year's class, visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website.

CMA Donates $10M to Country Hall of Fame Expansion

The Country Music Association is giving $10 million to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's $75 million expansion campaign.

The donation is the largest the Hall of Fame has received and will be used in part to help construct the 800-seat CMA Theater.

The expansion will more than double the museum's footprint to 350,000 square feet when construction is complete in 2014. The hall of fame kicked off its campaign in July with nearly $57 million pledged to help expand exhibit, performance, archival and educational spaces.

The CMA previously contributed nearly $5 million to the museum, and underwrites the hall of fame's induction ceremony. The hall of fame was established by the CMA in 1961.

Amy Winehouse's Father Opposes Biopic

Amy Winehouse’s father has vowed to keep his daughter’s life off the big screen.

Today, Mitch Winehouse told Britain’s Daily Mail that he will oppose a tentative biopic about his troubled daughter, one that may involve Amy’s ex-boyfriend, filmmaker Reg Traviss. Winehouse cited his authority as the copyright holder of his daughter’s catalog, insisting, “It would hardly be a biopic without the music, and we’d never allow the songs to be released.”

Last week, Traviss told Britain’s Mirror that a biographical film of the troubled soul diva was “inevitable,” although he said he declined involvement in the project. Mitch Winehouse has his own projects in the pipeline: the taxi driver has signed a deal with HarperCollins to write a memoir, with proceeds benefiting the Amy Winehouse Foundation for victims of substance abuse and disadvantaged children.

Proceeds of Lioness, Winehouse’s posthumous album of previously unreleased material, also went to the foundation.

Mike Myers in Talks for 'Austin Powers' Musical

Mike Myers' movie franchise "Austin Powers" could be getting a musical makeover, according to New York Post's gossip column Page Six.

Myers first debuted the outlandish character in 1997's "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery," and went on to release two sequels. He's currently working on a fourth installment, and, according to Page Six, he's considering creating a stage adaptation of the film for Broadway.

A source tells the publication, "Mike is in talks to turn 'Austin Powers' into a musical stage show. Mike would be heavily involved in writing the show, but he will not star in it, even though he has quite a good singing voice."

Ono Hails Lennon's Legacy on Anniversary of his Death

Yoko Ono has paid tribute to late husband John Lennon on the 31st anniversary of his death, hailing the current wave of global activism as a testament to his legacy. Lennon was gunned down outside his New York home by Mark Chapman on December 8, 1980.

Ono has since worked tirelessly to keep the Beatles legend's memory alive, and she's adamant he would have been proud to witness the "Occupy" protests against capitalism and the uprisings in several countries in the Middle East this year.

She tells USA Today, "John was about making the world a better place. He sang 'Gimme Some Truth,' so when I see all the activism out there today, I feel like we will turn the corner soon." Ono also reveals she still finds it painful to listen to Lennon's music, adding, "I play John's songs all the time, but mainly because (musicians) are asking if they can do this song or that. But I don't listen for pleasure. When I do, it chokes me up to remember when it was written."

Billy Joel Becomes First Pop Musician Honored by Steinway Hall

Billy Joel has become the only non-classical musician to be honored with a portrait at Steinway Hall in New York City. A portrait of Joel – who also happens to be one of only two living musicians featured in the gallery – will hang next to a painting of the late Russian pianist Vladimir Horowitz, one of the songwriter's musical idols.

"I don't know how crazy he'd be about having me that close to him," Joel told the BBC, noting that he met Horowitz once on the street in Manhattan back in the Seventies. "I had long hair and a black leather jacket and I said: 'Maestro!' and he thought I was gonna mug him. He kind of ran away."

Steinway Hall is the headquarters of Steinway & Sons, the makers of some of the world's finest pianos. "When you find a great Steinway, it's a phenomenal piano," says Joel. "There's a quirkiness in individually produced pianos that I appreciate, sort of like handmade guitars."

Music Executive Dies After Random Shooting in Hollywood

John Atterberry, a music executive best known for his work with pop stars such as the Spice Girls and Jessica Simpson, has died after being shot last week by a gunman on a shooting spree through the streets of Hollywood. Atterberry, 40, was shot in the face and upper body in a random attack as he drove his Mercedes-Benz near the intersection of Vine Street and Sunset Boulevard.

Atterberry was the only seriously wounded victim of 26-year-old Tyler Brehm, who police say fired nearly 20 bullets in the air and at cars as he screamed about wanting to die. Minutes after shooting Atterberry, Brehm was shot dead by police after turning his weapon at the officers.

Atterberry was a former vice president at Death Row Records, and he served as both a manager and promoter early in his career. Later on, he opened Mergela Records and Consulting with producer Rodney Jerkins and comedian Chris Tucker, and he founded the Infusion Media Group, where he worked with the Spice Girls and Simpson. Most recently, he worked at an event promotions company called Gridlock Group.