Josiah Leming was the last contestant to be cut from the most recent season of American Idol. Leming recently released a digital EP of five songs which can be found on his MySpace page, and he hopes to release a complete album in January despite the efforts of American Idol to block the effort. AI says that the contract signed by contestants forbids them from recording with a label other than Sony/BMG. Leming’s memorable story of being homeless and living in his car made the final cut a surprise. According to MTV, he is only one of four contestants to get a record deal this year.

SALISBURY, MD—Nerdy Mr. Kirby from the National Institute for Children’s Entertainment (N.I.C.E.) doesn’t believe in the magic of music—but that’s all bound to change when Dr. Jeffrey Schoyen waves his baton while conducting this year’s Salisbury Symphony Orchestra Youth Concert.

The magic happens 3 p.m. Saturday, October 25, in Holloway Hall Auditorium at Salisbury University, where the SSO presents “The Haunted Orchestra.” Children are encouraged to come in costume.

Kirby, AKA visual comedian Dan Kamin, literally loses his shirt (and pants) to widely recognizable classical works including Wagner’s “The Ride of the Valkyries,” Rimsey-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” and Anderson’s “The Syncopated Clock.” And rest assured, strings are attached (to Kirby himself) as the SSO performs Gounod’s “Funeral March of a Marionette” (AKA the theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents).

Though Kamin’s name may not sound immediately familiar to audiences, millions have seen his work. From teaching Johnny Depp how to roll a coin around his fingers for the Pirates of the Caribbean movies to putting Robert Downey Jr. through a crash course in physical comedy for his acclaimed title role in Chaplin, Kamin has educated some of the world’s most acclaimed actors. Read more…

SALISBURY, MD—Internationally renowned Czech pianist Radoslav Kvapil performs at 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 22, in the Great Hall of Salisbury University’s Holloway Hall as part of the Patricia Wroten Piano Concert Series.

Considered one of the finest pianists of Czech repertoire, Kvapil has brought his interpretation of music from his native land to concert halls in 47 countries and 26 U.S. states. He has performed at Royal Albert Hall in London, the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts in South Korea and the Henry Crown Symphony Hall in Jerusalem. Read more…

Maybe you saw Brooks & Dunn or Carrie Underwood at the Delaware State Fair and you have a song stuck in your head. Does Cat Country have you singing along to the radio? There is always that one part of the song that you just da da da don’t know the words to. If you need a little help with those Country Music Lyrics, then check out CountryMusicPerformers.com for the right words. CMP has a homepage for all of your favorite Country Music artists where you can find song lyrics, biographies and music videos. If country is your pick, the CountryMusicPerformers.com is your site.

It looks like one of the next trends in web tools will be applications that bring the web to you rather than making you go out and search for sites that match your needs or interests. One tool that I started playing with recently was StumbleUpon, which links users to sites that have been stumbled by surfers with similar interests. SU reminds me of the Next button on WordPress with some degree of logic involved in determining your next destination.

I ran across another site today that promises to serve up all the latest news on your pop culture interests from music to TV to movies. PopBandit.com creates pop pages for each band or actor or TV show that you might be interested in. The pop page includes photos along with a feed of the latest news, product releases and videos. PopBandit also features a social networking aspect that allows you to see other visitors who are fans along with other popular pages.

I decided to see if PopBandit had a pop page for the Arctic Monkeys, since I was listening to them on the MP3 player today. Even though they might not be a mainstream band, sure enough there was a pop page for them with links to the latest news and videos about the band.

There is a new song playing on the radio with Tom Petty on vocals, but it is not his usual band backing him up. Petty is currently playing with members of his early 70’s band, Mudcrutch, which never made it past there first single, but led to Petty’s eventual success.

PopBandit also has pages for new movies like Get Smart, and the site will even send you an alert when the Weeds Season 3 DVD comes out. Check out PopBandit and find what you’re in to.

The Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival still has a few events left in its two week schedule including a free show at the Academy Art Museum on June 11th. Venues around the Easton area will host small ensembles playing exceptional selections of chamber music from well known composers such as Mozart and Beethoven, as well as contemporary composers including Andre Previn and Peter Child.

If your summer vacation takes you to the Jersey Shore this year, then be sure to check out the Radio Disney Summer Concert Series held in Wildwood, NJ. The concert series will be just one of many Things to do in New Jersey this summer. Some of the hottest Radio Disney artists will be on stage during the month of July at Morey’s Piers in Wildwood, NJ. These free concerts will take place on Magic Mondays.

On July 7th, A Cursive Memory will perform on the Radio Disney stage next to the Giant Ferris Wheel on Morey’s Mariner’s Landing pier. Show times are scheduled for 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM.

Appearing on July 14th will be Jordan Pruitt, whose performance will include her hit song Jump to the Rhthym along with her debut single Outside Looking In.

Another Disney recording artist will take the stage on July 21st. Drew Seeley, who has appeared on CDs including The Cheetah Girls 2 and Jump In!, also played the role of Troy in High School Musical: The Concert. Seeley co-wrote the High School Musical hit Get’cha Head in the Game.

The Radio Disney Summer Concert Series finale featuring Raven-Symone is scheduled for Saturday, July 26th, at the Wildwoods Convention Center Oceanfront Arena. Raven-Symone is the star of the hit show That’s So Raven and the recent Disney film College Road Trip. The finale concert will also feature Mitchell Musso from the “Hannah Montana Show”.

Even without the Radio Disney concerts, Morey’s Piers is a great place to include in a New Jersey Vacation. Ticket holders for the July 26th concert can receive discounts on all-day waterpark tickets for either Raging Waters or Ocean Oasis, as well as a discount on an amusement pier wristband valid for all three of Morey’s Piers. Morey’s Piers should definitely be one of your destinations during a stay at one of the many Jersey Shore hotels.

August 1, 1981

According to their web site, the primary purpose of the Delaware Friends of Folk is…

to support folk music and folk musicians on the Delmarva peninsula and the Mid-Atlantic area of the United States.

The Friends are a nonprofit organization that has monthly meetings in Dover, DE, in their effort to promote regional and national musicians and events occurring in the Mid-Atlantic area. The group’s next local event will be on July 21 at the Coffeehouse at Wesley Chapel where thay will sponsor the Delmarva Folk Hero Open Mic Contest at 7:30pm. The DFF web site has created a nice listing of regional events for local music lovers. The group’s signature event will be the Delmarva Folk Festival on October 5th and 6th.

The title of this post comes from the heyday of progressive rock when such a name would seem normal on the cover of a rock album. By-Tor and the Snow Dog was the name of a song on the Rush album Fly by Night, which was one of the first albums that I heard from this band. Rush has been the mainstay of my music collection for 26 years now, and I am listening to their latest release, Snakes and Arrows, as I write this post. This band has survived an amazing 32 years in their current form with the support of a loyal base of fans. The new Snakes & Arrows peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 after its release with very little support from radio play. The new tracks show influence from various stages of their career, which is probably a result of the broad reach of songs on the play list from the recent 30th anniversary tour. Some harder licks may be a result of Rush’s visit to the past on the cover album Feedback, which honored the influence of 60’s greats on these timeless musicians. The trio of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart, represent some of the hardest working, most talented, and highly respected musicians in the rock world. Neil Peart is widely considered the best rock drummer of all time. His precision and creativity are unparalleled. Peart’s greatest contribution to Rush may be his lyrics, which took on a mythical proportion in the early years and have retained their intellect in the days of modern rock. If I were stranded on a desert island, there is no doubt about the music I would choose. I don’t even have to listen to it. Just knowing it is there makes the world more tolerable.

High definition programming on television brings some quality entertainment to the screen that just wouldn’t be the same in analog. MPT HD currently has a program titled Keeping Score: Copland and Stravinsky In Concert in its rotation. One of the highlights of the San Francisco Symphony concert footage is a performance of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring which provides some recognizable melodies that are a familiar part of many orchestral perfomances. Appalachian Spring was originally composed as a ballet score for a thirteen piece ensemble, which is how the piece is presented in the MPT broadcast. The quality of the production brings the viewer into the pit with the musicians as they perform music which won the composer a Pulitzer Prize in 1945. Copland is widely viewed as one of the most influential American composers, and the HD broadcast of this performance confirms Copland’s expertise.

If it is the current #2 on
the Billboard Pop charts,
then this is what they are hearing.
The only way to end it is to stop buying it.

Shop Boyz
Party Like a Rockstar

i’m on a money makin mission
but i party like a rockstar
flyin’ down 20 lookin’ good in my hot car
you know them hoes be at my show
worried bout where my chain go
i uh rubba in ma pants
but these hoes won’t let my thang go

i uwa like i uwa
cuz you know them hoes be tryin us
hoe don’t you know i f*** wit fine dimonds
that look like Pa-me-la
they fine and they hot bra
when i’m in the spot bra……
I PARTY LIKE UH ROCKSTAAARRR!!!!!!

The Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival consists of several concerts on the upper shore during June and July. There are also four free performances during the festival. The last free concert on July 29 at the Avalon Theatre in Easton, will be in conjuction with the Plein Air Competition and Arts Festival.