July 15, 2023

 Yes, I've been MIA for two weeks(ish). I'm old and tired.

(Plus, I don't know how many times I have to mention this, but this is free content, so... there ya go.)

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Our last round of SNK was out-freaking-standing. I was worried when I got there, but the crowd filled out quite nicely- and we had some absolutely outstanding singers (plus birthday girl woman, and wonderful all-around person Amber). 

One of our singers, Emma Rose Holmes, is a student a KSU and an aspiring professional singer (Jon C, sitting at the table with her, also mentioned he had a gig this weekend, but didn't say where). Anyway, Wendy C (who also sang some tunes for us) shared this with us- one of Emma Rose's songs.

Emma Rose also has a Facebook page here that you can follow if you're inclined. Personally, I hope all three of them will come back and sing with us again. Well, I hope you all (well, the majority of you, anyway) come back and sing with us again.

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Don't get me wrong- I think actors ("name" actors, anyway) are ridiculously overpaid, but the studios must be out of their fucking minds with what I've seen from them as "offers" to the WGA and SAG. 

To think they want to be able to not pay a fair share of royalties to the writers for streaming "views" and they want to be able to digitally scan a background actor's face/body, then use the scan to recreate the actor's likeness in any way they like. In perpetuity. Without the actor's consent. I mean, it's one thing for Lucasfilm to have used an AI Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story- because Cushing's family (and Fisher herself) gave them permission to. It's quite another to do that sort of thing without the actor's consent.

And the royalties thing? Give me a break. The writers deserve their fair share. And for someone like Disney boss Bob Iger to call the SAG demands "unrealistic" is, well, ludicrous. The guy makes north of $27 million a year. I'm sure a few less zeroes isn't going to break him.

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We'll be back for more Saturday Night Karaoke goodness madness at the Iron Horse Tavern this coming weekend, July 22nd. And it's National Cowboy Day, so slap on your cowboy hat, boots, chaps, and mosey on over. Lassos, too (especially if you're Lynda Carter or Gal Gadot). 

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One thing not in SAG's favor is having Fran Drescher as their mouthpiece. It's hard to separate how absolutely grating her voice is from the logic of her position as president of the Guild.

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Reservoir Media, Inc. has purchased the rights to Greg Kihn's catalog in a deal that includes publishing, recording, and distribution rights his Beserkley Records era catalog- spanning 23 albums between 1976 and 2017 and including his most famous songs- Jeopardy and The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em).

Kihn  said he was "very excited to be partnering with Reservoir on this acquisition. David (Hoffman) and the team are ‘Kihndrid’ spirits and passionate supporters of me and my catalog, and I know they will take the greatest care of my musical legacy." Terms of the deal weren't reported, nor was the purchase price (but I'm guessing the figure definitely played a part in his excitement).

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Ohio-based Walk the Moon has announced they're taking an indefinite hiatus when their current tour ends.

Frontman Nicholas Petricca said the time had come for the band "to take a good long break from touring and making records together. When we do reconvene, that will be a glorious day. And the truth is, we don’t know when that’s gonna be." He added that the group was "filled with love, gratitude, appreciation, and some heartache" with the announcement.

"It is an enormous act of love to carefully lift something like this from the center of our lives and place it gently to the side, out of focus, and let it rest for a moment. It’s a choice we made powerfully to follow our truth, to make space for new creations, for family, to serve our well-being and, in the long run, even serve the well-being of our community… to hopefully come back one day stronger than before."

Petricca also announced the band will livestream the final date of their tour and be releasing some new music- including his new solo project.

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Count the Eagles' Joe Walsh as someone who isn't intimidated by the threat of AI- at least not yet. In an interview with the Associated Press, Walsh said the tech was nothing but "computers, it has nothing to do with music... It can’t destroy a hotel room, it can’t throw a TV off the fifth floor into the pool and get it right in the middle," as he famously did- along with John Belushi- at The Gold Coast Hotel in Chicago, causing over $23,000 in damages. He added that when "AI knows how to destroy a hotel room, I’ll pay attention to it."

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Upcoming birthdays:

July 15: Linda Ronstadt (77); Artimus Pyle of Lynyrd Skynyrd (75); Trevor Horn (74); David Pack of Ambrosia (71); Marky Ramone of The Ramones (71); Alicia Bridges (70); Forest Whitaker (62); Brigitte Nielsen (60); Adam Savage (56): Eddie Griffin (55); and Diane Kruger (47)

July 16: Rubén Blades (75); Stewart Copeland of The Police (71); Phoebe Cates (60): and Barry Sanders (55)

July 17: Donald Sutherland (88); Gale Garnett (81); Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath (74); Lucie Arnaz (72); David Hasselhoff (71); Regina Belle (60); Heather Langenkamp (59); Craig Morgan (58); Alex Winter (58); Elizabeth Cook (51); and Luke Bryan (47)
July 18: James Brolin (83); Martha Reeves of Martha & The Vandellas (82); Ricky Skaggs (69); Elizabeth McGovern (62); Vin Diesel (56); Daron Malakian of System of a Down (48); Kristen Bell (43); and Ryan Cabrera (41)

July 19: Vicki Carr (82); Alan Gorrie of Average White Band (77); Bernie Leadon of The Eagles (76); Sir Brian May of Queen (76); Anthony Edwards (61); and Benedict Cumberbatch (47)

July 20: Cormac McCarthy (90); T. G. Sheppard (79); Kim Carnes (78); John Lodge of the Moody Blues (78); Carlos Santana (76); Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister (69); Jem Finer of The Pogues (68); Paul Cook of Sex Pistols (67); Mick MacNeil of Simple Minds (65); Radney Foster (64); Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy Warhols (56); Sandra Oh (52); Vitamin C (51); Omar Epps (50); and John Francis Daley (38)

July 21: Taco (68); Jon Lovitz (66); Jim Martin of Faith No More (62); Emerson Hart of Tonic (54); Michael Fitzpatrick of Fitz & The Tantrums (53); Charlotte Gainsbourg (52); David Dastmalchian (48); Josh Hartnett (45); Damien “Jr. Gong” Marley (45); Paloma Faith (42); and Juno Temple (34)

July 22: Chuck Jackson (86); Terence Stamp (75); George Clinton (82); Bobby Sherman (80); Rick Davies of Supertramp (79); Danny Glover (77); Albert Brooks (75); Don Henley (75); Brian Howe of Bad Company (70); Willem Dafoe (68); Rick Pointer of Marillion (67); John Leguizamo (63); Keith Sweat (62); Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls (60); David Spade (59); Rufus Wainwright (50); Franka Potente (49); and Selena Gomez (31)