Welcome to Roadtrip Central! This is a continuing chronicle of my journey around the country, as I meet with Pandora listeners and musicians to learn about what you want to see happen with music in this digital age. I hope you enjoy reading about my past stops - from a three person meet-up in a Biloxi diner to a packed get-together in a huge MIT lecture hall.
I hope you'll take a minute to share your favorite bands, clubs, lodging and eateries in your city. If you don't see your state on the blog, just post to 'Other States' and I'll make a note to try and visit! I look forward to meeting and hearing from you!
Cheers...
Tim (Founder)
Our coverage of South By Southwest
Pandora's Great Venues videos roll on! This time, we cover Austin's answer to March Madness... South By Southwest. Here is the first part of our three-episode SxSW series, in which we meet a set of bands on their way to the Lone Star State:
For part two, featuring exclusive live footage, head over to the Pandora Video Series homepage. Did you hit SxSW this year? If so, what were your favorite shows? We'd love to compare notes.
Our Pandora Backstage area features more information on the four bands in this episode: Minipop, elephone, Mud and Lovelikefire.
Austin Get-together Monday, February 25th, 2008!
We are having a Pandora meet-up at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. Hope to see you there--excited to meet our Austin listeners!
If you would like to attend, please RSVP by sending an email to Angie at tour@pandora.com with AUSTIN in the subject line.
When: Monday, February 25th, 2008 @ 7 PM
Where: The Alamo Drafthouse, 1120 South Lamar Street, Austin (map)
Cheers,
Tim
SAVE THE DATE! Austin Get-Together February 25th, 2008
Details to be announced soon!
When: Monday, February 25th, 2008
Where: TBD
Cheers,
Tim
September 21, 2006 Dallas Meetup...
Nice to come back to Dallas. 90 degrees at 10pm... wow.
Thanks to everyone who came to Mark Cuban's Magnolia Theatre downtown. Great spot for a meetup. Learned among other things, that much of college radio is programmed automatically. Stunned me.
Hope we had a small enough size for her...!
Next stop Los Angeles...
Update: On September 21, 2006, I'll be meeting listeners at the Magnolia Theatre in Dallas (3699 McKinney Ave), beginning at 7pm. Join us and send an RSVP to tour@pandora.com with 'Dallas' in the subject line!
I'll be back in Texas in the middle of September for the National Association of Broadcasters conference being held in Dallas, and would love to use my time there to host a listener meetup for local Pandora users. Last time I was in the area, the people were very welcoming - met some great folks in San Antonio, Houston, and Austin to name a few. If you have any ideas about venues that you think would be great for a town hall meeting, please suggest it below in the comments section!
We love reading and responding to your feedback on the blog - the comments have been a treasure trove of great insights and guidance as we plan our visits. If you have a particular idea you want to discuss, or just want to get more involved, we're eager for help - just drop us an email at tour@pandora.com. Please include your location in the subject line of your message too. No idea is too big or small!
Houston day 2
Continued a very enjoyable stay in Houston. Morning with John Lomax (great nephew of the music historian Alan Lomax), a long time Houston music journalist. His father managed Steve Earl and Townes van Zandt - John was Earl's youngest roadie (12 yrs old). As with so many folks who've been around music, John was full of interesting anectodes and history. Explained how Zydeco was largely supported by the churches - clubs wouldn't have it because people came to dance, not drink. Most Zydeco bands tour regional parishes, where their shows are actively promoted by the priests, and often include a potluck. Arhoolie, a label in Berkeley is the principal label for these acts.
Continue reading "Houston day 2"
Houston Day 1
Began my tutorial in Chopped&Screwed today at the side of Eric 'BigLove' - long time Houston rapper, composer, producer and entrepreneur. Eric spent many years alongside DJScrew at the inception of what has become the next big evolution of rap/hiphop. It's a totally infectious style of music, mashups of the latest rap & hiphop records, or classic R&B sounds, slowed to half speed and mixed with samples, grooves and original parts. It's hypnotic. I was treated to a realtime screw session in his northside studio with Stink, BigLove's up and coming protege); including a freestyle duet with Big Tee (the file will make it's way to this post soon enough) thanks for the shout out you guys). I have to say, I've always been blown away by folks who could freestyle. I highly recommend that anyone who hasn't done so, go check out a freestyle rap show, genius poets at work. Plain and simple.
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Denton, TX
For those who don't know about Denton, its time to find out. It's a small town about 30 minutes north of Dallas and is home to the nation's largest, and most distinguished music program - the University of North Texas. Their '1-O'clock' jazz band is world renowned, and truly the gold standard for undergraduate jazz performance.
Dallas, Part 2
Dallas part 2
Started the afternoon hanging out with Chelsea and Tony - diehard music fans from Crystal Clear - a Dallas distributor. They focus on the local Texas sound - gave me a box full of stuff to check out. Interesting to know that virtually none of the musicians they gave me are making a living at it. Let's hope we can start building the musician's middle class.
Continue reading "Dallas, Part 2"
Dallas, Part 1
Wow. This was a day of love and good karma. Texas has an extraordinary music scene, period.
First, the morning.
Guided by our local guardian angel, Kim Young to whom I will be forever grateful, I spent the morning at Booker T. Washington high school. Probably the nation's most productive music magnet school, whose alums include Erykah Badhu, Norah Jones, and countless others.
Continue reading "Dallas, Part 1"
Meetup in Denton, TX
Meetup is set for this week, Wednesday evening (3/22/2006) at 7:00pm
The Flying Tomato
1226 W Hickory Street, Denton
(940) 383 1111
Come by for some food, drink, music talk and maybe a flying tomato or two...
Tim
Austin, Day 3
Coming up for air.
Spent a great evening over Texas ribs (and a string of awesome bluegrass bands) with Stuart Sullivan, owner of Wire Studios, and a veteran recording engineer. Grew up in rural Indiana, eventually gravitating to the music mecca of Austin, via Bloomington and a degree in audio recording at IU. It was a period of revolution in recording - multi-tracking arrived which completely transformed the art of making records, and suddenly elevated the role of the producer and audio engineer who's talents could now be harnessed - instead of just placing mics for a one-take live recording. Lots of experimentation (often aided by assorted substances) as artists pushed the new medium. John Lennon sang hanging upside down from a rope, spinning around to emulate the sound of a rotating leslie amp... crazy and great.
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sxsw digest 3 = roundup
so sxsw is over and I'm back home, sitting in the living room. I'm too tired to nap - go figure. my bags and guitar are still in texas most likely, and I'm too tired to even be properly angry about that. I know I have to post some pictures and summary show notes before the memories fade too much. it was a great long weekend...
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rare birds and such
well, the booth's all packed up and in the hands of (hopefully) capable shipping companies, and I'm in the austin airport waiting for my plane, drinking some tea, and feeling very tired but good. I'm thinking about this email I got yesterday:
Continue reading "rare birds and such"
sxsw digest no 1
it's been quite excellent here in austin so far. every hour at the pandora booth is surprisingly fun and also kind of intense. I don't usually talk this much. it's sort of like a high school reunion, but it's better because I don't know these people (and let's be honest, it's easier to go to a reunion where no one knew each other back in high school). I'm hoarse. jolly ranchers do not help for this.
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San Antonio
Quite a day in San Antonio. Turns out it's a mecca for heavy rock. Frequent destination.
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Pandora at SXSW
Kevin Seal, one of the music analysts from the Music Genome Project, just sent in this update from the SXSW conference:
Music Analyst Seal here. Long-time listener, first-time caller. I'm here in Austin all week to shake hands, kiss babies, and hear live music. I love my job. For me, these are the five most revelatory music moments so far at this year's SxSW:
Continue reading "Pandora at SXSW"
sxsw digest no 2...
so I was at the keynote interview yesterday with young and jonathan demme, which was ok, but I have to make a confession: I have major issues with the big boomer dinosaurs of song. I guess it's mainly because I think they never accepted the teaching responsibility that naturally belongs to leading artists. teaching is a necessity for artists who work in less financially remunerative forms, and I say that's a good thing. it's good for the artists and the students/future artists, and it's good for the art. it creates a scene, community, etc (however insular and backstabbing it might be).
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Austin, TX Day 1
My first visit to Austin, TX, got off with a great start. Had a great lunch with Michael Point at Threadgills, one of the town's longest standing restaurant and music joints. It was founded by Kenneth Threadgill, the first man to put Janis Joplin on stage (playing fiddle in a folk band).
Continue reading "Austin, TX Day 1"
Meetup in San Antonio on Wednesday
Heading to San Antonio on Wednesday morning, March 15th, 2006.
If you'd like to meet me for some hearty Tex-Mex food at the Taco Garage, please do.
I'll be the guy in the Pandora hat ordering carnitas at around 7:30 p.m. From there I'll head to Salud! There is an open mic there hosted by Eric Geyer which I have heard good things about.
Hope to see you there. Tim
Meetup in Austin on Tuesday
When: Tuesday, March 14th, 2006 6:30pm
Where: Spider House Coffee Bar, 2908 Fruth Street (512) 480 9562
Come by for some food, drink and musical conversation. Have a CD? Bring it along.
Hope to see you there. Tim
