Bloggerhythms

Queen's Brian May is the World's premier rock 'n roll astrophysicist and it's a sure bet he'll always hold that distinction. In a band with a lead singer as flamboyant as Freddie Mercury it's also a good bet May will always take a back seat to the late, flamboyant star. However, one should never discount his contributions to the quartet. May's lead guitar work was integral to their success and he also was a composer of note. Among his credits are "We Will Rock You," Fat Bottomed Girls," and "'39." May has always had a huge interest in astrophysics and he finally earned his PhD in the field after putting his degree on hold a long time ago to devote his attention full time to Queen. His thesis, "A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud" was finally completed in 2008. If you understand what that means you're a lot smarter than me. In 1975 May combined his two primary interests to compose a song fo...

All during the nineties new rock bands were sprouting up like dandelions in early Spring and Fastball, an Austin, TX trio influenced more by power-pop than the raging grunge scene, was among them. Unusually, all of the group's original members are still in the lineup more than a generation after they organized. Guitarist/vocalist Miles Zuniga and bassist/vocalist Tony Scalzo are still teamed up with drummer Joe Shuffield. Zuniga and Scalzo are the primary songwriters. All The Pain Money Can Buy , the band's second album hit pay dirt as they wrote concise, modern, pop-rock with a 70s aesthetic that could make you smile even while it possessed enough of a 90s edge to avoid being labeled as throwbacks. A song doesn't get stuck in your head any easier than Scalzo's "The Way." Radio loved it, and the medium propelled it to #4 on the American Mainstream Top 40 chart and #1 in Canada. Zuniga's "Fire Escape," their second single off the album, didn...

I first became a Shelby Lynne fan when I heard her great turn of the century CD, I Am Shelby Lynne . It was the one where she took control of her own career so she could make music her way. It also began her transition away from being a pure country singer and into a singer-songwriter where her country roots were liberally interspersed with R&B, delta blues, and even some rock and roll. That album remains her classic and catapulted her career into a very special realm. Lynne's followup, 2001's Love, Shelby, was a step backward but happily, she redeemed herself two years later with Indentity Crisis, and Suit Yourself in 2005. Suit Yourself is much looser than most of Lynne's previous work. It often feels like we're sitting in on recording session rehearsals because snippets of conversations and false starts are left uncut on a few of the tracks. Some of the songs were demos she recorded at home and brought into the studio to finish. The rest are full band arr...