Simon Barrett

It was without doubt a classic Trumpian week. Sam Nunberg got the week started, he was magnificent in his stupidity. The annoucement of Tarrifs on steel and aluminum have gone down like a lead balloon with everyone with an IQ bigger that their hat size.

Part western balladeer, part borderland chronicler, songwriter GEORGE ST. CLAIR is a master of conjuring feelings and images of lives past and present. Growing up on the high plains of Texas put George in touch with the vastness of the American West, and his songs evoke the dry deserts, rolling grasslands, and high mountains of his West Texas homeland. Living for the past several years in the UK has given him a renewed perspective on the land where he grew up, and these reflections take shape on his new album BALLADS OF CAPTIVITY AND FREEDOM. Although George is based in Europe, the album was recorded at Bird and Egg Studios in Richmond, CA, mixed by Ben Bernstein at Petting Zoo Studios in Oakland, and will release in stores and online worldwide March 2, 2018. I am looking forward to this interview. How many Country singers can you name that live in the UK and have a PhD in Anthropology?

Mass shooting by deranged man, Check Dems want gun control, Check Reps have no comment, Check NRA silent, Check Russia investigation, Trump claims proof of no collusion, Check New sex scandal involving Trump and a Playboy Playmate, Check Melania opts to skip chopper ride to Air Force One, preferring some  alone time in the limo Check  

Emotional support hamster Olympics and atom bombs Who has security clearances in the west wing? Aparrently 40 do not! That includes Jarred Kuschner. Elon Musk his rocket and Star Man Cape Town Day Zero

Following three acclaimed CDs with his group Burnt Belief, Jon Durant has returned with his first solo album since 2011's “Dance of the Shadow Planets.” Unlike his previous solo albums, however, “Parting Is” is a completely solo guitar album.    A deeply emotional and personal record, “Parting Is” takes the idea of a solo guitar album and transforms it into a stunning sonic landscape of texture and color. Many of the sounds on the album bear no relationship with traditional guitar, but there are no synthesizers employed at all. Everything is played by Jon Durant on guitars (with Durant also playing fretless bass on four pieces). 

Trump has a unique quality, it you mention him the oxygene has a tendency to get sucked our of the room.

Tautologic will release Re:Psychle, a CD of songs inspired by real-life Chicagoans. Beginning in early 2018, Re:Psychle will be available through the band's own label - Turtle Down Music (http://www.turtledown.com) - and at Tautologic's live performances. The album will also be available as a download from Bandcamp, CDBaby, iTunes, and Amazon.   Based in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Tautologic bandleader Ethan Sellers is an alumni of the University of Chicago. Written within blocks of the University and the Obama mansion, Sellers' songs for Re:Psychle document people he has met around the Chicago area.   Addiction and mental illness color many of their stories, and the lyrics open up windows on a host of topics - veterans' issues, tension between religious belief and a secular society, addiction, conspiracy theories, materialism, mental health, celebrity culture, and the need for re-connection with nature.  

Pianist and composer Deborah Offenhauser began taking piano lessons when she was five years old, though she had been playing for some time before then—begging her brothers to teach her everything they knew. After a visiting piano teacher mistook her piano playing for her older brother’s, she was promptly signed up for lessons and a lifelong love of music was born. She studied piano formally until she was fourteen, memorizing classical pieces for festivals and contests, and learning theory, scales, and chord progressions along the way. Her father ensured that she wouldn’t be too immersed in classicism, and she credits him for her exposure to more contemporary musical numbers . When Deborah’s piano teacher relocated, her formal lessons ended but her love for music continued unabated. While her older brothers had long left their childhood piano lessons in the past, she not only continued playing piano, but the classical organ, mandolin, 5-string banjo, guitar, and violin as well. She worked as an accompanis

Jazz-fusion composer and drummer Bob Holz will be releasing his third album “VISIONS: Coast to Coast Connection,” featuring  bass legend Stanley Clarke on February 23, 2018! “This collaboration with the jazz star and Return to Forever bassist/composer, Stanley Clarke involved the recording of new compositions I wrote taken from my roots in jazz, classical, blues and rock music,” says Holz. Joining Holz and Clarke is former Mahavishnu Orchestra bassist Ralphe Armstrong who currently plays in Holz's touring band, Bob Holz and A Vision Forward featuring Jamie Glaser and Ralphe Armstrong. “My compositions have plenty of room for interplay between both bass players,” adds Holz. Bob Holz is presently managed by Roy Holland Productions and is signed to MVD Entertainment Group. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWDKDTfM59Q

It has been a busy week in Trimpland. The release of Michael Wolff's book Fire  and Fury, has derailed whatever plans the Whitehouse had and instead has it in full damage control.

Peace in the middle east? Roy Moore in the Senate? Government shutdown? Tax heaven, but for who?

Dave Kerzner, co-founder of the progressive rock group Sound of Contact, has released his second solo album “Static” with a physical CD version available in mid-October. “Static”. The album is the follow up to his highly acclaimed debut album “New World”. Joining him are special guests Steve Hackett (Genesis), Durga McBroom (Pink Floyd), Nick D’Virgilio (Big Big Train), Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree) and more in addition to his core group consisting of guitarists Fernando Perdomo and Randy McStine, fellow SOC band mate Matt Dorsey and drummer Derek Cintron.   “Static” is a “progressive rock opera” about the clutter and chaos in modern everyday life. It boldly navigates through subjects ranging from noise in our heads of ego, jealousy, technological distractions, substance abuse and narcissism to profiling the hypocritical and corrupt characters in politics, media and society today.   

Jeff Sessions – The man that can’t remember his birthday?. Well that’s how it seems. Roy Moore – Words fail me. Non of the options look good for the GOP and 2018. Al Franken – Should he resign That dang tax bill – Good thing or bad thing. Tax cuts for business permanent but expire for individuals. Is the repeal of the Obamacare individual mandate going to be the poison pill Dems start impeachment proceedings – But would a president Pence be any better? Asia tour a success – Trump managed to not start WWIII. Today is International Toilet Day - Why was Piglet staring down the toilet? He was looking for Pooh. Today, November 19th is Toilet Day. Urine for a treat. So what should we all do to celebrate? Spend a penny. Go to the jax, the john, the loo, the crapper, the lav, the WC. Use the facilities, the bathroom, the restroom, the washroom, the little girls’/boys’ room (if we’re going to be more decorous and euphemistic, using the name of the room so no one has to contemplate bodily functions). Take a pee,

The musical mind of native Chicagoan Scott Fischer has been described as a colorfully symphonic amusement park. Whether it's a song-length concept piece, a full album, a rock opera or something else entirely, big bright melodies and ambitious composition always take center stage. As a contributor to Zappacast (the official Frank Zappa podcast), a performer in The Rod Stewart Experience with the legendary Carmine Appice and now on his seventh album, it's no wonder this latest release is titled “Open 28 Hours”: Whatever you're expecting from Fischer's Flicker, you're going to end up with more.   “Open 28 Hours” revisits the humor and camp of Fischer's previous musical bodies of work, and also maintains a musically mature songwriting style and Fischer's signature elastic vocals. Part prog, part power pop, part funk, part piano magic, part 80's extravagance and all at once endlessly intriguing, “Open 28 Hours” plays like a diverse mixtape from another planet. Diversity is not only this band's strong suit, but i

Tokyo Rosenthal has just released a wonderful book Our Last Seder. It is a great read. I will be sitting down with the author to ask him about the book, and I am sure there will be some musc involved.

Here are my program notes Roy Moore – Should he stay or go? Trump and Putin – Does Trump believe him or not? Tuesday blowout – A prelude to the midterms? Tax plan – will it pass? Obamacare – where is the repeal and replace? Puerto Rico – are they getting as much help as FL and TX Texas church mass killing – NRA keeping very quiet, why?

Just 37 percent of Americans approve of his job performance in the latest ABC News/Washington Poll poll. His net approval rating of negative 22 percentage points is the lowest for any president at nine months in office in polling dating to 1946; except for Gerald Ford, no other president had a net negative at this point in his presidency. Moreover, 65 percent of Americans say Trump has accomplished either “not much” or “little to nothing” as president, up from 56 percent after his first 100 days. For a president who constantly says he is accomplishing things at unprecedented pace, only 35 percent of respondents agreed that he is keeping his major campaign promises.

MICHAEL TRACY combines straightforward American Rock and Roll with poignant lyrical themes, reminiscent of Rock Singer/Songwriter idols like Tom Petty, Bob Seger, John Mellencamp, and Bruce Springsteen. He has released four studio albums, and together with his band has shared the stage with Bon Jovi (garnering him a featured article in Billboard Magazine), Poison, George Thorogood, Styx, Foreigner, Don Felder, Jefferson Starship, Dokken, and Zach Myers (Shinedown). MICHAEL TRACY will release his new album STILL GOT SOUL in stores and online November 17, 2017. This latest effort is his most ambitious yet, representing an artist who has clearly found his voice and a "lane" to call his own. His previous label experiences not being a perfect fit, MICHAEL TRACY was inspired to start his own independent label, TW Music Group, to support his new release, and set out to find the right producer that could capture the sound and style he had spent years cultivating, but had yet to realize on a record. In late 2015 Mich

Trump and his elves spent the week causing distraction and confusion. In fact anything to avoid the friday evening annoucement that Mueller has sealed indictments that will likely be announced on Monday.

It has been another stellar week in the 'train wreck' euphamistically called the Presidency. He has pledged almost $500,000 to help his aides legal expenses with the Russia probe. The deaths in Niger has become a PR disaster for all involved.The stopping of subsidies to insurance companies will result in higher premiums and deductables.