The music of Rush influences and inspires, at least that’s what it’s done for me over the past 25 years. Now, the question is, is the music that powerful, or am I just too easy to inspire? Both I guess. When something really hits me I tend to pay attention to it, like a smack in the face. It’s tough to ignore something that’s truly eye-opening. I pay attention to things that...

The DJ industry is very competitive. There are many DJs who are making huge amounts of money and then there are other DJs who are struggling to find any gigs at all. If there are some DJs who are thriving with their business and you are not, there is something you can do to change that completely around where you become booked with as many gigs as you can handle. To do this, you have to understand...

The violin is a bowed stringed instrument and is the highest pitched member of the violin family. It sits along side its cousins the other members of the violin family – the viola, cello, and double bass. The bow of the violin is a narrow, slightly incurved stick of Pernambuco about 75 cm long, with a band of horsehair stretched from end to end of the bowstick. The violin has four strings tuned...

Boy, I really detest how some people do websites. Bands are some of the worst. Seems like any band that wants to look “professional” feels they must create a website using pop-ups and flash. Why? Cuz that’s what the Majors do? I tried to go to a friend’s website today to find his email address. He’s in a band. “Click here if you have a pop-up stopper.” Now...

I was listening to NPR the other day when they did a report on tipping in the restaurant industry. One they had a list of tips on how wait staff can increase their tips. That got me brainstorming and surfing the net for other ideas to boost tips. That combined with lots of performances at Renaissance Festivals helped me to develop my own list of ways musicians can improve their tips. 1. Introduce yourself...

To most people, owning the “genuine article” is the only thing that will suffice. As a guitar player, and one who appreciates classic “vintage” instruments, I can fully understand this point of view. I can’t think of a single guitarist who wouldn’t absolutely adore playing a real 50’s Les Paul or Stratocaster. However, becoming the proud owner of a true vintage...

Almost everyone has heard about the massive crack down on Internet music piracy that has been occurring over the past few years. Napster was taken down (although it has now returned as a pay service), other file sharing programs now require users to pay for a license and the RIAA and other similar organizations are doing their best to hunt down copyright offenders and put an end to their crime sprees....