Jun 25, 2015

Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor: A prime influence on the Pittsburgh Band Hawkeyes' sound.

copied from triblive.com.............

2 Pittsburgh bands to share stage at Hartwood Acres for free concert


The Bastard Bearded Irishmen are Jimmy “Bastard” Smerecky, left, Dan Stocker, Danny Rectenwald, Ben Jaber, Mike Hall and Paul Dvorchak.

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Wednesday, June 24, 2015, 5:24 p.m.Updated 18 hours ago
Two of Pittsburgh's more popular live bands offer quite different sounds.
While the Bastard Bearded Irishmen band incorporates traditional Irish instruments, with an edge, the Hawkeyes' music might remind you of the Rolling Stones' old “Sticky Fingers” album.
Singer-songwriter Bill Deasy described the popular local groups as “different, yet somehow complimentary.”
Both bands will perform at 7:30 June 28 at Hartwood Acres Park in Hampton. Admission is free.
Pittsburgh Magazine named the Bastard Bearded Irishmen the “best bar band” of 2014. All in their 30s, five of the band's six members first met as students at Keystone Oaks High School in Dormont. They cite The Pogues, a Celtic punk band, among their major influences.
Vocalist Danny Rectenwald of Avalon — who also plays banjo and mandolin — likened the Irishmen's sound to “Irish music on speed.”
“It's a combination of the traditional Irish instruments — mandolin, banjo and accordion — with electric guitar, bass and drums,” said Rectenwald, who has a master's degree in guitar performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
“It's definitely party music,” Rectenwald said. “We want to be the band that people can get lost to and just have a good time.”
Other members of the Bastard Bearded Irishmen are drummer Dan Stocker of Dormont; singer-guitarist-banjo player Jimmy “Bastard” Smerecky of Castle Shannon; violist Paul Dvorchak of Swissvale; singer-bassist Ben Jaber of Dormont; and accordion player Michael Hall of Finleyville, Washington County.
“Our live shows, I think, are definitely one of our strongest points,” Rectenwald said. “There's a lot of dancing.”
At Hartwood, the Bastard Bearded Irishmen expect to perform some of their newest songs, including “Whiskey Ginger” from a forthcoming third CD to follow up “Bastard Bearded Irishmen” and “Rise of the Bastard.”
“It's a song about the drink — whiskey and ginger ale — but also it could be interpreted as whiskey and a ginger, like a person, like a red-headed, fair-skinned person,” Rectenwald said.
Like the Bastard Bearded Irishmen, the Hawkeyes take pride in winning many new fans at their live shows.
“We like to call ourselves the hardest-working band in Pittsburgh,” said Jay Wiley, 35, of Ellwood City, Lawrence County, the band's lead singer and guitarist.
Wiley cited one-time Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor as a prime influence on the Hawkeyes' sound.
“We are guitar driven,” said Wiley, a self-taught guitarist.
His dad, Jeff Wiley, played bass in the touring Christian rock band Rama in the 1980s.
“I didn't pick up a guitar until I was 16,” Jay Wiley said.
A graduate of Penn State University, Wiley decided to make music full time after he tried teaching for one year at Sto Rox Middle School.
“I hated it,” he said.
Other members of the Hawkeyes are drummer Colin Bronnenkant of Etna; bassist Brian Chalmers of Hopewell, Beaver County; and guitarist Michael Grego of New Castle, Lawrence County.
Deborah Deasy is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-772-6369 orddeasy@tribweb.com.


Read more:http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yournorthhills/yournorthhillsmore/8585919-74/bastard-band-irishmen#ixzz3e5RbaNK1 
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Jun 22, 2015

Mick Taylor Fondly Remembers Bobby Keys.......




The Rolling Stones are playing in Nashville tonight.
I hope they'll dedicate the show to Bobby - and spare a thought for his children Amber and Huck.
It's interesting how Bobby and I entered the band at the same time, when we were called in to record 'Live With Me' in May 1969. We were both out of favour with them for a number of years, and even lived and worked together in Miami in the 90s. He was meant to do the postponed dates in Australia/NZ with us for the 14 On Fire tour, but sadly he didn't make it to Adelaide. Unfortunately it would also turn out to be my last time going on the road with the band.
I think this is a wonderful photograph of Bobby Keys. Alan Messer took this in April 2011, backstage at the Mercy Lounge in Nashville.

copied from the facebook page of Mick Taylor
and here is a link to that page:







Watching True Detective Unless It Goes SciFi Blacklist Style........

'True Detective' recap: Bizarre murder threatens to derail land scheme


The torture-murder of a corrupt and kinky city official threatens to derail a lucrative land scheme in “The Western Book of the Dead” (Episode 201), the Season 2 premiere of HBO’s “True Detective.”
This eight-part anthology series, written and created by Nic Pizzolatto, is set in fictional Vinci, a small industrial city south of downtown Los Angeles.
Living and working in this grimy landscape is Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell), a divorced, burned-out detective serving two masters.
Ray draws his salary from a rotten-to-the-core administration headed by Mayor Austin Chessani (Ritchie Coster). And Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn), a career criminal aiming to become a legitimate entrepreneur, controls Ray behind the scenes.
This manipulation includes ordering Ray to pummel newspaper reporter Dan Howser (Stevin Knight) after he writes an expose on exorbitant salaries, extortionary tactics and other dirty dealings at Vinci City Hall.
Frank has risked his ill-gotten wealth on vacant property adjacent to the California Central Rail Corridor, a massive transportation project budgeted at $68 billion. Government grants will support commercial developments along the route, Frank emphasizes at a presentation, “and the feds have guaranteed cost overages.”
In other words, a taxpayer-funded gravy train is speeding toward Vinci.
Frank’s grand ambitions are jeopardized, however, when the mutilated corpse of his business partner -- City Manager Ben Caspere -- is discovered. Ben’s eyes were burned away with acid and he bled out from a severe pelvic wound.
Compounding Frank’s anxiety is the reluctance of a presumed investor, European mobster Osip Agronov (Timothy V. Murphy), to finalize a critical land deal.
“I thought we already had an agreement,” Frank protests, trying to mask his desperation.
“You know you have my complete confidence,” Osip replies. “But our organization has very old rules. Checks and balances. I have to perform my due diligence.”
Ray, meanwhile, is assigned by his superiors -- Police Chief Holloway (Afemo Omilami) and Lt. Kevin Burris (James Frain) -- to investigate but perhaps not solve the city manager case. Despite Ray’s objections, he is partnered with sleazy Det. Teague Dixon (W. Earl Brown).
When they enter Ben’s ransacked home, Ray and Teague realize a computer is missing but see there’s no shortage of erotic art and sex toys.
“I had no idea he was so ... adventurous,” Teague observes.
Because the victim’s body was dumped in Ventura County, Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams), a Sheriff’s Department detective, is put in charge of the probe. And unlike the Vinci Police Department, Ani wants to figure out who killed the city official and why.
Just like most characters on “True Detective,” Ani is beset with personal problems. Besides being a heavy drinker and gambler who’s unable to form long-term relationships, Ani is mad at the world and suffers from a false sense of entitlement. This according to her estranged father (David Morse), a long-haired religious guru.
Ani’s rebellious sister Athena (Leven Rambin) also has issues. Athena kicked her drug habit, apparently, but now she’s involved in the online porn business, performing live sex acts via webcams for paid subscribers.
The final member of the murder investigation team is Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch), an emotionally and physically scarred motorcycle officer with the California Highway Patrol. Paul found Ben’s body at a rest stop.
This lurid homicide case provides a chance for Paul to redeem himself after being accused of accepting sexual favors from a headline-seeking actress, Lacey Lindel (Ashley Hinshaw), in exchange for not issuing her a reckless driving citation.
But Paul would much rather patrol Pacific Coast Highway than collaborate with detectives.
“It suits me,” Paul says of his adrenalin-inducing motorcycle duties. “I am no good on the sidelines.”


copied from the LA Times

Jun 21, 2015

Calling O'Reilly Out on False Facts......

Official photographic portrait of US President...
Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
here is where O'Reilly is  actually wrong....as in incorrect.....

Forever Sean Hannity began his radio show by saying the goal was to "take back America."

Every time I heard  that I thought take back America from who?

He finally quit using that line after President Obama was reelected.

It was  not only a mean statement as the opening and premise of the show  but it was also  stupid.....who voted for President Obama.......

Who makes up  the voting population of our country--we are a beautiful coat of  many colors--now everyone has a place in the political conversation thanks to President Obama.

This is what Fox News can never get.

They are  not only offensive but they are out of touch with reality.

Also, on thurs  night he said he would have a  factual piece on gun control and why the UK system would not work here in the US.  He was going to have the true facts and figures to prove it.

Well, on Friday night he completely skipped over the issue.....why.

Let him have on his show law enforcement from the UK or other countries in Europe and display the  facts and figures...would that work here in different parts of the country....how does it actually work there.

For instance what kind of gun issues do they have in the city of London compared to New York....I  dare O'Reilly to do it and see what facts are actually out there.

Let O'Reilly have Piers Morgan on his show and really get down to the true facts of gun control if  he loves America so much as  he claims.

Instead on Friday night  he  shouted about the 2nd  Amendment and  stated it would never go anywhere and that is all there is.

It was like he had a conversation with Roger Ailles about actually showing gun control and solutions of the problems but at the end of the day Roger said no.

O'Reilly is always claiming no spin and the facts.....let's see if he is  really up  to it on guns.....or is he afraid of the truth?

from Salon.......

Bill O’Reilly attacks friend of deceased pastor for linking Fox News’ rhetoric to Charleston massacre

"I know he was your friend," O'Reilly said, but Pastor Pinckney would have disappointed in your attacking Fox News VIDEO

Bill O'Reilly attacks friend of deceased pastor for linking Fox News' rhetoric to Charleston massacreBill O'Reilly, Todd Rutherford (Fox News)
Thursday night on “The O’Reilly Factor,” host Bill O’Reilly spoke to Charleston lawmaker Todd Rutherford, a friend of Pastor Clementa Pinckney, about comments Rutherford had made earlier on CNN in which he claimed Fox News’ rhetoric is partially responsible for Dylann Roof murdering nine people in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Rutherford told CNN that when Roof “watches things like Fox News, where they talk about things that they call news, but they’re really not [and] use that coded language, they use hate speech, they talk about the president as if he’s not the president” — that primes people like Roof to “walk into a church and treat people like animals, when they’re really human beings.”
O’Reilly took issue with both Rutherford’s characterization of the network. “You said something that bothered me a little bit,” he said. “Are you going to stand by [what you told CNN]?”
“Absolutely,” Rutherford replied. “It’s disturbing to African-Americans to watch stories on Fox News as to whether the president is truly the president, or whether he was really born in this country.”
O’Reilly denied that anyone on Fox News had ever espoused birther beliefs — when, in fact, many Fox News personalities, including Hannity and “Fox & Friends” regular Donald Trump, did so on numerous occasions — and then attacked Rutherford for saying that Roof watched Fox News, because there’s no evidence that he did.
Despite having just played the clip in which Rutherford claimed that Roof watched programming “like Fox News,” O’Reilly insisted that he claimed Roof watched the network itself, and couldn’t be disabused of the argument. “You said, ‘he watches Fox News,’” O’Reilly erroneously repeated.
“You’re equating what Dylann Roof did in that church to our commentary?” he asked. “Are you saying that Fox News justifies brutal crimes against black Americans?”
You said that,” Rutherford replied. “This is exactly what I’m talking about. You are inflaming the rhetoric.”
“I’ve got say,” O’Reilly concluded, “I know you’re a good friend [of Senator Pinckney] and I know you’re upset, but I don’t think he would’ve embraced your kind of rhetoric today.”
Watch the entire interview via Mediaite below.