Metro Times posts Scott Morgan album review.

Metro times ran an excellent review of Scott Morgan's new album which is due out in record shops next week . You can order it directly from Alive records right now. You can read more about the recording of the album over here.
Stay tuned for info on the upcoming record release party which is taking place on July 9th at the Magic Bag.

Go get the new Scott Morgan Record NOW!

Hey folks. You can go over to this link here and purchase the new album by Scott Morgan coming out on Alive Records.
I think you'll dig it. I played guitar on it. It was fun.
Thanks!

The Last Powertrane live performance.

This may well end up being the last Powertrane performance ever. Scott has decided to move on from the group after nine years, and focus all his energy on his new record and new band.
This performance comes from the 2009 Concert of Colors.

Recording Scott Morgan's new record.

Hey folks,
We finished basic tracks on the new Scott Morgan album last night. I think the recording has turned out fantastic so far. We recorded a mix of originals and some killer soul, R&B covers. The process of recording the songs was very spontaneous and free form. Most the original tunes we made up or learned on the spot. They were mostly based on the vocal melodies and ideas Scott would bring in. When it came to the covers, we would listen to them, pick a key, play through it once or twice to get the arrangement and then put it to tape. Normally with my other bands we practice our asses off for a month, get the songs as tight as we can, and then go record them as fast as we can in order to save money and get in, get out. I've always felt so under the gun in the studio because the budget is always so tight. This time around, we would walk in not knowing exactly what we were going to record each night. I have to say it worried me, until after the first night. I saw right away that the other guys had the skills to just pull the stuff right out of thin air. I was surprised when we got through 4 songs in the first night and it sounded really good. After that I wasn't worried. I just went with it, and it was a lot of fun.

Playing guitar along side Matt, Dave, Jim and Scott has been a joy. Those guys are such pros! They are so laid back about the process that any worries I had about being unfamiliar with the tunes was quickly laid to rest. During the sessions I was constantly impressed by Matthew Smith's guitar playing. Most of the time I would just lay back on the tracks and vibe off of what he was doing, but he also left plenty of room for me to throw some licks in. Our guitars meshed together beautifully. Here is a photo of Matt's awesome guitar.

It's a 1968 Fender Jaguar.


And here is mine. It's a 1965 Epiphone Wilshire.


Matt is also a solid piano player. He put down some great sounding piano parts on a few of the tracks.


Here is a photo of Jim's 24 track machine.


Jim's studio is in downtown Detroit. You would never know it's there unless someone told you. He has a nice living space with the huge studio room in the back. Here is a photo of the stairs leading up to the place and a photo of Jim's motorcycle. These are the first things you see when you walk in.



We did five sessions total. Most of the time we started around 8pm and would finish around midnight. We did a Sunday session that went from noon till 11:30pm.
Doug Coombe came down last night and took band photos. If you haven't checked out his work then you should. He's the go to guy around these parts and for good reason. He's really good at what he does and he's one of the nicest dudes you'll ever meet. I look forward to seeing how the photos turned out. Here is Doug listening to a playback.


Scott Morgan sang his butt off. He'll be going back down tonight to do a few more vocal overdubs and some final touches. There is still the entire job of mixing to complete. I probably won't be going down for that. I'm very confident that Matt and Jim are the ones who know how to handle it best. Tonight Eddie Baranek from the Sights is supposed to come down and add some guitar and vocals to one of the tracks. I can't wait to hear how that turns out.
Here is a photo of Jim and Scott discussing a take.


Here is Scott leaving the studio after a long night of recording.


That is all I've got for now.
Stay tuned for more updates on Scott's album and other band news.
I took all the photos for this post.
Didn't want you folks to think Doug took these. His will be way better.

January Rock 'N' Roll update.

Howdy folks,
Things are moving fast right now. Lots of music writing and recording going on.
Last Friday night Scott Morgan and I went down to Detroit, to Jim Diamond's studio. The band did basic tracks on 4 songs. We were all having a great time. The atmosphere at Ghetto Recorders is very laid back. Jim has some nice little guitar amps to record with. I played through an old univox.

I went for an over driven dirty amp sound, but one that would still allow me to lay back when needed. I didn't use any distortion pedals or effects. I did get to play some fun wahwah on one of the tunes. Overall the session went great. I was in a good mood until I went outside and found the window smashed out on the passenger side of my car. Luckily someone from the bar down the street heard the sound of the glass breaking and chased the thief away, so nothing was stolen. I called my insurance company and made a claim right then. While I was on the phone, Jim cleaned up some of the glass and taped a piece of plastic on the window for me. That was super cool of him. The ride back to Ann Arbor was LOUD! As soon as we hit the freeway and got up to speed, the plastic started to tear off and vibrate extremely loud. So loud in fact that Scott and I had to yell to hear each other speak. I kept telling him to just rip it down because the sound was becoming unbearable, but he refused. It was hilarious. He held the plastic over the window the whole way home. I swear I lost some hearing from the sound of the plastic shrieking. So far its ended up costing me $200 because my insurance company is fucking with me. They are about to lose a costumer. Tonight Scott and I will be returning to Detroit to record another batch of tunes. This time we're taking his car. The plan is to record for the next three days.

The rest of last weekend went better. Blue Snaggletooth had practice on Sunday. We've got two new songs we've been working on for a little while now. One of them, Jess and I wrote over a year ago, but we're just getting it finished off now. I'm still working on the lyrics to both tunes. I've been able to come up with vocal melodies over the last few practices but actual lyrics are tough. We'll be playing both songs tomorrow at the Elbow Room when we play with Ganon and the Octopus. I've heard nothing but good things about these two bands, although I have yet to see either of them play.


On Tuesday, I had Mazinga Rehearsal. We've mostly taken a little break since the Rock 'N' Roll revival show back in December. The goal is to have a new record out this summer. We've got some new tunes we've been working on for a while. Al came in last time with a great set of riffs. I added a riff for the chorus and it was sounding pretty tight. We don't have any shows booked for a while. Our next confirmed show is March 13th. We'll be rocking for the A2 Skate Park during their skate competition. We're really looking forward to that.

That's about all for now. I'll be recording and rocking for the rest of the weekend. I'll try to take some photos and post some more updates next week.

Ann Arbor Rock 'N' Roll Revival, 2009

I've got an awesome show coming up at the Blind Pig on December 18th, The Ann Arbor Rock 'N' Roll Revival for 2009. It's hosted by Stanley the Madhatter and will feature, Deniz Tek (from Radio Birdman), Scott Morgan and the IrRationals, Gorevette and Mazinga. Hiawatha Bailey (from the Cult Heroes) will also be joining Deniz and Scott during their set to perform a few Stooges songs in honor of the late Ron Asheton. DJ Jeremy Wheeler of the Bang Dance party will be spinning records inbetween bands. He also designed the amazing hand drawn limited editon poster which will be avalible for purchase at the show.
It's only $10, doors are at 9:30, Mazinga goes on at 10pm. Advanced tickets can be purchased on the Blind Pig Web site. Don't miss this show. It's going to rule.

Happy Obama day! + a live Destroy All Monsters video!

Bush is out of there! Thank the maker! America actually has a president who can speak in full sentences. The last 8 years under Bush have been a nightmare. Obama's speech was great.

I found this little gem over at the Barman's blog. Here is a video of Destroy All Monsters live at the Heidelberg in Ann Arbor circa 1983 with Scott Morgan on rhythm guitar and Gary Rasmussen on bass. I'm not sure who the drummer is, but I think it's Rob King. Dig it.

R.I.P. Ron Asheton

Ron Asheton (pictured far right) is my guitar hero. His playing style, his story and local Ann Arbor upbringing influence me more then any other guitar player. His band and their songs are part of my personal mix tape that plays in my head as I travel through life. Growing up a Rock 'N' Roll infected teenager in the Ann Arbor area you couldn't avoid the legend of the Stooges. Their legacy effects every rock band from this area even if they don't know it. They set the standard.
I was fortunate enough to have befriended Ron back in 1999. It was wonderful to be able to get to know the person behind the Stooges legend. He was always very gracious and friendly, and he loved to talk about the past Rock 'N' Roll glory days and the Stooges.

I am very honored to have performed with him on several occasions, when he sat in as a special guest with Powertrane. The highlight from that time was a show we did in Brooklyn at the Warsaw where we played to a sold out house in April, 2002.

This was before the Stooges reunited. Ron didn't play out much back then. Originally I hatched a plan in early 2001 to reunite Ron with Deniz Tek (my other guitar hero) and combine them with Scott Morgan and Powertrane, a group I had just taken over bass duties for. Ron And Deniz hadn't performed together since the New Race tour in 1981. My plan worked out perfectly.

We did a short tour and three sold out shows at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, the last one included Mitch Ryder on the bill. A live CD titled Ann Arbor Revival Meeting was released featuring highlights from the first two Blind Pig shows. After the tour Ron took the money he made and bought a ton of fireworks and held an awesome forth of July party. It wasn't a blowout crazy party. It was small. People brought their kids. It was great. He delighted in setting off the fireworks and entertaining the little kids that were there.
Ron started performing out a lot more after doing those shows with Powertrane. He went on tour with the J. Mascis and the Fog and I didn't see him for a while. One day out the blue Ron called me and asked if he could use the Powertrane rehearsal space. He and his brother Scott were going to play some big festival in L.A. with J Mascis, Mike Watt and bunch of other folks and they needed to get ready for it. I told him of course he could. Then he said I could come sit in on bass with them for rehearsal. I was thrilled to say the least. He and Scott were super cool. They even let my friend John Griffin sit in and sing. We did about 40 minutes of Stooges stuff. John and I had our little minds blown. Ron and Scott must have not minded either because they asked us to come back and do it a second time. It was crazy. It was a Stooges fan dream come true. For about an hour or so John and I were in the Stooges. Sort of. Shortly after that the real Stooges got back together in 2003. I saw Ron around then and he was super happy and excited. He was never a stuck up rock star, not once. I was super happy for him and that the Stooges finally got the respect they deserved.
A few years later my wife and I bought a house just down the street around the corner from Ron. We hung out a few times. I saw him outside a lot when I drove past his place. He always waved. In 2007 the Stooges released the Weirdness album and were getting ready to embark on a big tour. While Scott Morgan was hanging out with Ron over Christmas, Ron offered to have Powertrane open for the Stooges at the Fox Theater. Later that year on April 13th we opened their show in Detroit, all thanks to Ron's help.

It was an amazing experience. One I'll always be incredibly thankful for. The last time I talked to Ron was after they played for Madonna. He told me that he had a good time but that it was sort of silly and strange. I saw him one more time after that while coming back from a walk with my wife. He drove by and slowed down and saluted to me. I was supposed to go see him on Christmas Eve, but we were to tired after family stuff. I know Scott saw him. Of course now I wish we would have went. But I guess you never see this sort of thing coming. Ron always seemed like a super mellow person. He liked to relax at home and chill. I hardly ever went over to see him. He never answered his phone and was always in chill mode just off a tour or something. I didn't want to bother him and I hate showing up unannounced. When ever I did stop by, he was always super nice and never turned me away. Ron Asheton is my guitar hero and I'll always be thankful for his friendship and the time I got to spend with him.

A turkey of a long weekend.

I didn't do jack shit over the long turkey weekend. Well that isn't completely true. It seemed as if it was 4:20 for four days straight. I organized and cleaned up around the house. I discovered that I have way to many awesome posters and no where to display them. I also unpacked some old toys n' things that haven't seen the light of day since we moved. I hung some more star ships from the basement rafters in the Man Cave. I played guitar for a while. I bought a cool green Boss phaser pedal and I also hooked up my old DOD Stereo Chorus, pedal. It was fun. I enjoy making tripped out noises with the guitar.
Despite what my doctor told me to do, I ate a lot of really unhealthy food like crazy insane chocolate pie, taco bell, tons of pizza, and grilled steak. I didn't eat any turkey. I didn't hang out with any of my family. Theresa and I stayed home and grilled up steaks for turkey day.

On Friday Theresa went out to see Counter Cosby play at the Screamin' Eagle club. I stayed home and watched some Macross Robotech and Samurai Jack with Jess. Saturday I was going to go downtown and try to sell Mazinga CDs to the local retailers, but I was having way to much fun pretending to be a shut in and decided to say fuck it.

We watched the film "Wanted" last night and boy did it suck. Speaking of watching movies, Scott Morgan has never seen any of the Star Wars films. He was over on Saturday night while New Hope was playing in the back ground on Spike TV, and he took notice of the Death Star trench run scene. Afterward I was finally able to convince him to borrow my old special edition videos. He does have a DVD player but has never bothered to hook it up. Wish I could say it was because he was to busy writing new songs, but that just isn't the case. I hope he enjoys the movies.

Team Bang got together on early Friday night to discuss the plan for the New Years Bling Bang. The Friendly Foes and Kiddo will be the musical guests that will kick off the evening and kick out 2008. Should be a rocking good time. I'm glad we aren't building any crazy set pieces this time. We've actually run out of room in our current 10x10 storage space and we're looking to upgrade to 10x20. I can't believe we've built so much Bang stuff that we're running out of space.
Whoever reads this blog should go to the Bang for New Years eve. You won't find a better party anywhere in Michigan.