Articles by Ryan Madora - Page 14

Spend an afternoon searching through the stacks of a record store and you may stumble upon a few iconic album covers; the colorful eclecticism of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the eerie prism of Dark Side of The Moon, or the adrenaline enhanced act of destruction on London Calling. A Fender was, in fact, harmed in the making of...

I’d like to take a moment to reminisce. It’s the summer before freshmen year of high school and time to join the ranks of “pep” band. My school was more of an academic institution than an athletic one and while we certainly had plenty of competitive aptitude, the science club and debate teams took home the gold. Nevertheless, football season...

There comes a time in every fans life when they get wind of their favorite artist coming to town. You hear an advertisement on the radio or stumble upon a billboard and decide that the show isn’t something you want to experience, but something you have to. I spent a good portion of middle school listening to Beck, singing along...

Walking through the NAMM show is like transporting yourself to the largest Guitar Center in the universe on Black Friday. The instruments on the walls don’t quietly beckon to you — they are in a constant state of demonstration. The showroom floor seems to extend for miles, making you feel disoriented in a sea of bright colors, shiny metals, whatta-tat-tats...

“Come Dancing”, “Play With Me”, “Led Boots”… these were some of the funkiest songs I had ever heard! It was 2005 and a bass player friend had just turned me on to Jeff Beck’s Wired. The groovy keyboard parts, punchy bass lines, and space-age sounds of Beck hooked me like a fish. It was a magical time; strolling down the...

I love pasta. Spaghetti, Bucatini, Ziti, Rigatoni. There are dozens of different types, each originating from different regions of Italy or morphing after be adopted by other cultures and taken across seas. Some are made to look like pumpkins or little ears, some are long cuts, some are bite size, some contain filling, and some are made with different flavors....

Time and time again, I must pay homage to the movie that sparked the flame of my musical obsession… the one that introduced me to a style with more passion and groove than I had ever experienced, with an eclectic history and diverse idioms, and with more influence than any other American genre: Blues Brothers… 2000. While some may say...

It’s the year 2015. Hours are spent each day scrolling though videos on Facebook, clicking links to YouTube, or listening to preset Pandora, Spotify, and Amazon stations. We experience music on television commercials or reality TV shows, with hashtags and at symbols telling us where to go if we happen to like the song that is fed to us. It...

There’s nothing like setting foot in a new city. You open the door to an unchartered group of restaurants, find yourself meeting tons of new people, and most importantly, get the opportunity to discover a new music scene. Once you check off the touristy spots, it’s time to talk to some locals… it’s the fastest way to find the best...

It’s finally jacket weather. The leaves are falling, the sun is setting earlier every day, and the pumpkin spice latte has returned. Halloween is just around the corner, which means that my friends will search for the creepiest haunted houses and hayrides, only to force me to join them on an adventure that will make me extremely uncomfortable. I have...

“Um, hey guys… excuse me… guys?!… Can you turn it down a little?” I glance behind me at the drummer and our eyes meet with the same surprised expression. He can’t be serious, right? We’re not playing rock and roll here… the drummer has yet to play with sticks instead of brushes, the keyboard player is running through a small...

I’m always surprised when I discover bass players who manage to go under the radar despite a diverse and truly impressive resume. They are the players who can’t be stopped… they’ve had all kinds of gigs, taken on the role of writer and producer, and even have a few solo projects to their name. We always love reading about the...