Saturday, August 31, 2013

Convincing The Skeptics...

Alibi, Kit, Katie and Piccolo return to Ceres Central, hopeful they can finally convince Alibi's skeptical Aunt Anita – the former Prime Representative of the Solar Alliance – The Eldred are alive and had been working with Dimitri Masakov to kidnap and experiment on human beings. Plus, Alibi and Katie get to know each other a little better... Find out what happens as The Adventures of Alibi Jones continue on Glow-in-the-Dark Radio – Free Audio Science Fiction!



A great jumping-on point – this episode of the Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Science Fiction podcast features a chapter with some exposition and background on our characters and their situations – lots to enjoy and digest. Listen in as Mike Luoma reads Chapter Thirteen of his science fiction adventure novel Alibi Jones!

Links:

Author Interview with Mike Luoma:  https://www.smashwords.com/interview/mikeluoma

Alibi Jones – paperback: http://www.lulu.com/shop/mike-luoma/alibi-jones/paperback/product-15119626.html
Hardcover: http://www.lulu.com/shop/mike-luoma/alibi-jones/hardcover/product-16186477.html
eBook: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/4034
Free @ Podiobooks: http://podiobooks.com/title/alibi-jones/
Free @ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/alibi-jones/id336328492?mt=2
Audible: http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B003I8M0W2&qid=1369530051&sr=1-1

Home(s): http://glowinthedarkradio.com   http://alibijones.com  http://mikeluoma.com https://www.facebook.com/glowinthedarkradio  https://www.facebook.com/mikeluoma

We're part of the Comic Related Podcasting Network – Find Us Each Week at http://comicrelated.com!

Saturday, August 24, 2013

The Return of the Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Podcast!

The Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Science Fiction podcast is back with a vengeance after a three-week break with over a half hours' worth of audio entertainment – and Chapter Twelve of Mike Luoma's adventure novel Alibi Jones!

Alibi returns to the side of his old teacher, Miss Kay, who'd been kidnapped by criminal and now apparent mad scientist Dimitri Masakov. Masakov removed the top of her skull and performed bizarre medical experiments on her – Alibi doesn't know if he can help her anymore, but he'll try. Then they’ll all try to get away from the old Eldred outpost before the Tek'Tah show up again... Mike Luoma narrates, as The Adventures of Alibi Jones continue on Glow-in-the-Dark Radio – Free Audio Science Fiction!


Links:
The Point – Vermont's Independent Radio Network: http://pointfm.com

Alibi Jones – paperback: http://www.lulu.com/shop/mike-luoma/alibi-jones/paperback/product-15119626.html
Hardcover: http://www.lulu.com/shop/mike-luoma/alibi-jones/hardcover/product-16186477.html
eBook: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/4034
Free @ Podiobooks: http://podiobooks.com/title/alibi-jones/
Free @ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/alibi-jones/id336328492?mt=2
Audible: http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B003I8M0W2&qid=1369530051&sr=1-1

Home(s): http://glowinthedarkradio.com   http://alibijones.com  http://mikeluoma.com https://www.facebook.com/glowinthedarkradio  https://www.facebook.com/mikeluoma

We're part of the Comic Related Podcasting Network – Find Us Each Week at http://comicrelated.com!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

An Amazing Friday...

My recap of my trip out to Boulder continues...You wouldn't think each day could get better, but each did - Had the best time on Friday!
Arthur Lee Land was the first performer at 10 am before the morning panel. He's one of those one-man-band types, with many loops and a variety of instruments - seemed like the guy could play everything! He'd have stood out more if the next band hadn't been exceptional...
I'd met Steven McMorran of the band Satellite when his record company brought him by the station earlier this summer to play us a couple of songs from their upcoming album.We had lunch together, had a great talk about the creative process. And with just he and his acoustic, the couple songs he played sounded pretty good. Flash forward to Friday when Satellite were the first band on after lunch - those songs came to epic life with a full band and Steven singing his heart and soul out on stage. Wow! Such passion along with expert songwriting combined to create something special. After hearing them live, Zeb and I decided we had to play them - their tune "Say The Words" went into rotation yesterday!
The Secret Sisters came on next - a radical shifting of musical gears! They were discovered by Jack White a couple years ago and have a sort of retro-southern, old-timey gospel feel to their music. They're still working on their next album, but played a bunch of the new songs for us. Their quirky, down-homey charm was, well... charming. But kind of low key after the nearly over-the-top delivery of Satellite - kinda like seeing a Salvation Army band after U2...
We headed back inside for another panel and band. I've seen the next group a couple of times now - and they don't disappoint. With three siblings singing together out of the four singers in the band, Delta Rae have killer built-in harmonies. They performed before the afternoon panel and so only had time for three songs, but they filled the conference room with their passion and certainly won over whatever part of the radio crowd there they hadn't yet. Then it was out to another afternoon Cocktail Party and performances by Marie Miller and Gooding. Have to confess - was in chat mode through most of this one, didn't really get to appreciate the artists' sets.
Went to a dinner with The Lone Bellow and Satellite that evening. Nice to see The Lone Bellow again - we had fun looking back on their performance at Sugarbush at one of The Point's apres ski parties. It was also nice to be able to congratulate Steven on Satellite's performance earlier! After dinner it was back up to The Fox Theater and the outdoor stage for the final night of shows on The Hill in Boulder. Grace and Tony were playing a nice acoustic set when I arrived, but I didn't stick around too long - Saints of Valory were about to go on inside the Fox! As the guy who broke the band at radio, wanted to be there for their breakout performance. Plus, I wanted to see what they'd decided on for a setlist after their discussions the night before. Godfrey got his way - they did "Rain Fall" - a tune that always gets the Burlington crowds going. They also covered Lorde - "Royals" - an odd choice, but... OK. Sounded good! It seemed like they won over the crowd as the performance went on - "Rain Fall" really connected! Great set from the guys.
When they finished, I headed quickly back outside and heard The Lone Bellow launch into "You Never Need Nobody" to start their set before I'd even gotten to their stage. We were the first station in the country to play them, as well, so it was a back-to-back breaking band experience ;) Zack from The Lone Bellow kind of lost his voice by the end of the set, but it was still a potent performance - they are so good! And, again, so cool to see a band I believe in winning over new radio converts.
When they finished it was back into the theater for the final two sets. City and Colour impressed - Dallas Green has put together a talented touring band to back him up on the road. The Airborne Toxic Event didn't do as much for me live. Strangely enough, they played the 2nd cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire" I'd heard that day - and Satellite's earlier version had been a a cool rearrangement, whereas Airborne's sounded a bit like a dirge.
Made it back to the hotel after their set for the last "Late Night Lounge" and a set by former member of Crooked Still, Aoife O'Donovan. She was good - I was losing steam, but she kept me entertained and awake. I met her after, turned out she was from Massachusetts, a few towns over from where I grew up. Kind of neat! After the set change Lucy Schwartz came on - I'd liked her last album, would have liked to hear her new material, but... I was done. Had to sleep!
Saturday morning brought our last event, The Triple A Awards Brunch. Truth & Salvage Co. played a spirited opening set, a bit heavy on the Nashville twang for my taste, though I did enjoy their cover of Joe South's "Games People Play." And it was nice to finally see Over the Rhine perform, although it struck me that The Civil Wars have kind of stolen their thunder - didn't seem quite fair. But life isn't fair. After all, I was nominated for Music Director of the Year again and didn't win. And Zeb got the nom for Program Director and didn't win. BUT then again... when they announced the winner of Station of the Year (Markets 50+) - we won! WNCS took the award! Zeb and I got to get up, make brief "speeches"... What a great finish to an amazing stretch of days in Boulder! After that, it was off to the airport and many hours of traveling to finally get home in Vermont just after midnight Saturday.
Quite a trip!

Monday, August 12, 2013

Thursday @ The FMQB Triple A Conference

Fun posting about the Triple A Conference - helps me remember the experience better!
After my marathon Wednesday, Thursday was a little more civilized. Missed a breakfast with Brett Dennen, unfortunately - didn't see the email telling me about it until it was too late. Alas. Tora Fisher was the first performer of the day, opening the morning panel. Lunch then brought us 2/3rds of the Dixie Chicks - Courtyard Hounds - in a solid set, and fiery redheaded singer Dominique Pruitt, who scored a sentimental point with me when she introduced the song she's pushing at radio as one her dad wrote years ago when he was wooing her mom - "To Win Your Love." Awww.
The afternoon brought us performances by Blake Morgan before the pm panel, followed by party tunes from Andrew Ripp and a solo set by James Bay at the afternoon Cocktail Party. After cocktails came a big dinner at Brasserie Ten Ten hosted by M:M Music, an annual tradition. Met promoter and manager Chuck Morris, had a great chat with him. Many artists attended as well. I sat across from Dominique Pruitt, who turned out to be delightful company... "delightful" just seems like the right word for her ;)
The guys from Saints of Valory showed up at the dinner - always great to see them! They were pumped up for their big performance on Friday night at The Fox - their first chance to play in front of a whole bunch of radio folks. They got to talking about what tunes they wanted to include in their set - definitely fun to be in on their plans for the next night! For now, though, it was schmoozing time - after a bit everyone was in full on mingle-mode as the artists in the room drifted from group to group meeting radio folk - it was a good time!
After the dinner it was back up to The Fox Theater and the outdoor stage. Due to dinner conversations I missed the set inside by Shannon Labrie, arriving as HAERTS were starting their set on the outdoor stage. HAERTS had a rhythmic sound with haunting keyboards and compelling vocals that drew me into their set - really enjoyed it - not having known what to expect it was nice to find they were so captivating. Back inside The Fox the Irish band Little Green Cars came on next. Vocalist Faye O'Rourke had great presence - the crowd were making comparisons to Chrissy Hynde and P.J. Harvey. She has great potential if their set on Thursday night was any indication. Weighty, dramatic... mesmerizing stuff live.
Busted out of the Fox and heard Frank Turner starting up on the outdoor stage before I got there. Met Frank last Friday when he'd played Higher Ground. Loved that show! Was psyched for another set from him and his band. Was very surprised when I turned the corner and found the crowd in front of the outdoor stage had in exploded in numbers since I'd seen HAERTS - big crowd! Turner did a great set - had the audience in the palm of his hand. It was a bit brief - those outdoor sets only went for about a half-hour.
The Head and the Heart were up next inside, playing new tunes from their upcoming album Let's Be Still and favorites from their first release. Heard some of their set - the new stuff sounds "bigger" - tighter, too - but also got pulled into the front room to say hello to Frank, in from his set outside. Once you hit that room, it can be hard to get back into the main hall - people want to buy you drinks, chat you up, introduce you to more people...
Then Phoenix came on. Seemed like everyone was drawn into the main hall for their set. They've become serious showmen, a solid live act. Intense, mostly strobing white stage lighting pulsed with the music, including a bank of strobes across the front of the stage flashing out which got to be a bit much at times. Happened to bump into one of the right people and got to head up to the VIP balcony for some of the set. There's something really cool about watching a room full of concert-goers bouncing in rhythm with the band from above...
Made it to the "Late Night Lounge" after the Phoenix set ended. During his set, Diego Garcia at times seemed a sort of Latin Bryan Ferry, but his material wasn't really connecting with me. Might have been getting too tired. When Valerie June came on next I just didn't "get" her - Zeb thought she was great. Maybe there isa limit to how much you can absorb in one day, don't know. After two songs, I threw in the musical towel and headed for bed. There was another day full of music ahead!

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Wednesday Continued...

It really did.

Wednesday went on and on and on... and I loved it. Well, the first part of the day not so much, but getting up at 4 am for plane travel is a necessary evil if you live in Vermont and you're gonna attend a cool radio and music conference in Boulder, Colorado. No matter. By 5p Mountain Time, I'd seen Brett Dennen do a short acoustic set, caught manager Michael McDonald's keynote (see my earlier post for details...), and was under a tent watching Houndmouth play. Not bad! The first night there I decided not to imbibe - events were scheduled past 1am. Didn't think alcohol would be my friend in trying to stay awake.

The FMQB Triple A Conference's first night at the Fox Theater & outdoor stage began early with Tom Odell inside at 7:30. He was better than my expectations, even vocally reminded me at times of Johnny Flynn, another Brit like Odell who's part of the British New Folk/Mumford scene whose stuff I dig. Odell hammers on the piano as he sings, puts a lot of passion into his performance. A pleasant surprise to start the night. Outside, Kopecky Family Band also surprised in an awesome way - they're extremely tight with almost a Stop Making Sense era Talking Heads feel - but lighter, less self-serious. Haven't explored their album much yet, but I will now, after hearing the material live. And they did a killer cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk"!

The Wild Feathers had already started their set in the theater as I wandered back inside. I wasn't impressed to hear a ripped off Jimmy Page riff in the first full song I caught - it kind of musically pissed me off, if that makes sense. They're a very tight band with precise harmonies, but too much polish for my taste. Felt like it didn't have much soul. The rest of the crowd seemed to like them a whole lot more than I did, so I may be missing something.

Didn't want to miss Jamie N Commons set coming up next outside, so I headed back to the outdoor stage a tad early. I'd heard good things, and Commons lived up to them. He's good - like what he does electrifying the blues. He reminded me a little of Chris Duarte, only with less volume and more finesse. He's a good looking kid, too - the women in the crowd seemed to really enjoy his performance. Might be that British accent...

In a fantastic move, Ozomotli was up at the outdoor stage waiting for Commons set to end. As soon as he said "thank you," Ozo announced themselves with a booming drumroll that made folks jump a mile high. Which at that elevation is just, you know, an inch or something. Ozomotli often starts their shows at the back of the theater, processing musically down the aisle to the stage. In this case, they led the crowd back down the street, into the theater - it was brilliant! And their set was as well. They're a fantastic live band, great energy, and did not disappoint. Since I was in hour seventeen of my day, they were just what I needed to catch a second wind.

Almost lost it during the set change afterwards, though. No more outdoor sets - just had to wait. Felt my eyelids getting heavy, but I was determined to see Neko Case! Her set was okay, but as it went on I got too tired to enjoy it fully. Even sounded like her guitarist became increasingly out of tune, but my ears may have been as tired as the rest of me.

Left The Fox around midnight, hopping the shuttle back to the hotel. Each night of the conference there's a "Late Night Lounge" at the hotel starting at 12:30am. Though I wanted to see John Butler and The Wheeler Brothers, there was no way I was making it. Headed to my room instead after being up for about 22 hours straight to finally crash. It all would start again at 10 the next morning...

(more to come...)

Back From Boulder...

Was out in Boulder, Colorado the last few days for the FMQB Triple A Radio convention - had an amazing time as ever! For those who don't know, FMQB is a news and charts website, plus they put out a magazine and a few years ago they took over organizing this yearly conference and our yearly format awards. They cover record companies and the radio stations around the country that program music similar to The Point, where I'm the Music Director and midday host. There aren't a whole lot of us that take risks with new music for grown-ups, but there are enough commercial - and many more non-commercial "Triple A" - Adult Album Alternative - stations to keep the format viable. Thank god - I'm in my dream job in radio, right now.

Triple A runs on a passion for music. These last four days were about how to create great radio - do what we do better - and about hearing a ton of great music! Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights were jam-packed with bands at The Fox Theater & outdoors just up the street. And Thursday and Friday during the day we had panels at the beautiful hotel that hosts the conference, the St. Julien. Each panel featured a musical guest to start. The panels were broken up by lunches with bands playing, and after the afternoon panels there were cocktails with bands on stage as well. As I said, a TON of music!

Wednesday was a little crazy - up before 5am to catch my flight, then up for about 22 hours straight after! 

Excitement hit before I even got there. Or, rather, a kid in a Mustang did. The shuttle to the hotel was rear-ended when we were almost there - next to the building! So we left the drivers to deal with it and went the last little bit on foot. As one of the other passengers said - we hadn't even gotten there and already had a story to tell!

Arrived with just enough time to check in, toss my bags in my room, register and head into the conference keynote. Brett Dennen opened the festivities, playing us a handful of songs from his upcoming new album, "Smoke And Mirrors"! The keynote itself was an interview with manager Michael McDonald, who began his career working with Dave Matthews, later co-founded ATO records, and now manages a bunch of amazing musicians. Norm Winer from WXRT in Chicago asked the questions. Then it was on to the opening reception...

(more to come...)

Saturday, August 03, 2013

Time Out!

An announcement... just wanted to let you know I'm taking a couple of weeks off of the podcast. August is a jam-packed month, and as a result I'm not going to be able to bring you a new podcast episode over the next three weeks. Taking a little break to do some travelling for work and take care of some other things.

There will be a new episode of the Glow-in-the-Dark Radio podcast on August 24th!

In the meanwhile, please consider giving a listen to some previous installments you may have missed...