Market Research - Data That Matters

On 24 July 2008, Last.fm showed the following figures:

Uncle Tupelo

• Listeners: 76,728
• Plays: 1,105,499

Son Volt

• Listeners: 46,355
• Plays: 648,940

Wilco

• Listeners: 492,169
• Plays: 17,326,297

Jayhawks

• Listeners: 52,068
• Plays: 792,006

Whiskeytown

• Listeners: 59,864
• Plays: 1,297,201

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Jay Farrar

• Listeners: 18,467
• Plays: 148,837

Jeff Tweedy

• Listeners: 34,192
• Plays: 527,717

Ryan Adams

• Listeners: 329,524
• Plays: 12,038,710

Billy Bragg & Wilco

• Listeners: 90,978
• Plays: 1,334,270

Some Concerts I've Experienced

Most of these at various venues in ATLANTA (GA), CHATTANOOGA (TN), or at CALHOUN (GA)'s own little "Concerts in the Country" venue. Notice the list starts country (when I was only allowed to attend concerts with my mom & stepdad), but gets much better...

The Righteous Brothers & Kenny Rogers. Alabama. Sawyer Brown (numerous times). Ray Stevens. John Snyder. Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers. The Beach Boys at Fulton County Stadium (after a Braves game). Chicago at Six Flags.

James Brown, TLC, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, & Dick Clark at a pre-Olympics celebration.

Rush & Mr. Big at the Omni (the night Paul Gilbert got a drill caught in his hair during a typical 80s guitar wank, and they had to cut it out backstage).

The Black Crowes on the last night they opened for ZZ Top, before the latter kicked them off the tour (supposedly for using foul language -- what?! that's what rock n roll is for! -- but more likely because Chris Robinson made mention to the audience about ticket prices being too high).

Lollapalooza II: Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ministry (with cameo by Kirk Hammet), Lush, Ice Cube, Porno for Pyros, House of Pain, Stone Temple Pilots, etc.

Lollapalooza III: Alice in Chains, Fishbone, Primus, Arrested Development, Dinosaur Jr., Rage Against the Machine, Luscious Jackson, Tool, etc.

Lollapalooza IV: Beastie Boys, George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars, L7, The Breeders, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Black Crowes, etc.

Spin Doctors/Soul Asylum/Screaming Trees & Bad Company/Damn Yankees – Lakewood Amphitheatre. Lenny Kravitz & Blind Melon at Chastain Park. Prince at the Fox. Jayhawks & Dramarama at the Roxy for $2.49.

Bob Dylan.

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. J.J. Cale. Morphine. All in Little Five Points (Atlanta). The Band – numerous places, among them Market Street Performance Hall. Government Mule at the Sandbar. Drivin n Cryin at the Sandbar. Widespread Panic at the National Guard Armoury. Phish in Nashville with guest appearance by Bela Fleck.


Go west, young man... Most of the following in/around PORTLAND (OR)...

Wilco/John Hiatt/Los Lobos in Pioneer Square (Wilco numerous other times/places). Southern Culture on the Skids. White Stripes at Berbati's. Jayhawks at Music Millenium. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Neil Young, solo & acoustic at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Kelly Joe Phelps at the Aladdin with Tom Waits' bass player & Morphine's drummer.

Tom Waits in Eugene. Willie Nelson at Clark County Fair. Chris Isaac at Portland Zoo. Jeff Tweedy solo – Aladdin Theatre & Crystal Ballroom.


And then, halfway around the globe -- PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC...

Kackala at Roxy NOD, Marian Varga at Vagon, Hudba Praha and Morcheeba at Lucerna, Jaroslav Hutka at a tiny cafe/pub, Brad Huff all over town, many many times... Niceland (Misha, my former flatmate for six months), Psi Vojaci, and Plastic People of the Universe at Bohnice...


And now I've got a baby, so no concerts for a while. :-)

Free WILCO

As you may well know, WILCO has been one of my favorite bands since I picked up their first album AM from a discount bin in the early 90s. Now you too can experience their music for very little cost: only a few moments of your time. CLICK HERE for a free downloadable EP album made available on the WILCOworld website.

Prague in 3 Minutes

I wish I could say I had something to do with this short film of Prague still-shots, or the superb choice of my favorite band Wilco for the sound, but alas I only found it on YouTube, so I take credit only in presenting it to you:

Seldomfence - Possibly My 'Post of the Season'

I wonder why CDs from one of my old bands, Seldomfence, are selling for so much on amazon when we could barely sell them for half that much at our shows?


Some online reviews I found through google mention:

"[Seldomfence]...would be excellent listening for a road trip across the midwest in autumn" (Portland Mercury, 25 Oct 2000)

and

"...the type of music that might be created from a group of friends cooped up inside on a cold winter night after having a few whiskeys (or maybe just a Portland microbrew) to warm up" (Swizzlestick, 1 May 2001)

but there's certainly nothing that warrants a $20+ price tag - that's ridiculous.

New Jeff Tweedy Film Trailer

Jeff Tweedy, the mastermind behind the bands Wilco and Loose Fur, as well as contributor to such musical projects as Golden Smog and Uncle Tupelo, is one of my favorite living songwriters (along with Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and JJ Cale). Here's a trailer for a new film about a solo tour in the Pacific NW that I had the pleasure of seeing with my friend Brennan Ehret at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon:



Buy the DVD:
Jeff Tweedy - Sunken Treasure - Live in the Pacific Northwest