Archive for the ‘Gossip and News’ Category

Betcha didn’t see this coming….Cool!

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Repost from Facebook….

Hey all… Nuno here. I wanted to share some news with you… A
friend and Music Director, Tony Bruno, reached out to me and asked if I
would be interested in playing guitar with Rihanna. Rihanna is a
regular in the Bettencourt-house playlist… And as much as I dig her
as an artist… my first thought was that there isn’t a whole lot of
guitar in her music and therefore probably not the greatest fit for
what I do. But before I had a chance to verbalize that thought… Tony
said, “before you say anything let me play you the direction she wants
to go live.” And when I heard it… I said wow, this rocks… it’s heavy
and funky… and it hit me that this is MY sh*t… this is my style…
how I love to play… I got very excited at the possibility of playing
some of her great songs with a heavier treatment. When I asked Tony
Bruno why?… he told me that Rihanna loves bands like Paramore and
Linkin Park and loves to push it up a notch or two live in the rock
department. Hmmm… let me think? Touring and sharing the stage with a
cool and talented artist like Rihanna… and being able to bring what I
do passionately to the table as a musician and performer…? IM IN!
And having finished the first round of rehearsals… it did not
disappoint. Even better than what I expected because she also has the
most incredible band, and I get the privilege to add to their wall of
sound. It’s gonna be fun. Come see and hear it for yourself!

Nuno

And BTW… No… this is NOT the end of Extreme. We have a live DVD and
CD coming out in early 2010 and we will be writing new material
throughout the year. We had a great run across the globe on Saudades do
Rock….and we’ll be back.

Streaming Live from London, November 16, Rihanna and Nuno will be
performing tracks from her album, Rated R, to a free online audience.
Join in on the largest free music event of the year at http://nowplaying.nokia.com/join-us/
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And there you have it….

Godsmack Gear Auction Part 4

Monday, October 26th, 2009

It’s the second to last day for the Godsmack gear auction in the Daddy’s Junky Music online eBay store! All the auctions close out at 9:00 EST tomorrow night. If you plan on getting in on the action and owning a piece of the band’s history, now is the time. CLICK HERE to go to the auction pages. In this post I’m going to focus on a few of the other items that the band used in the studio. The first of which is the Ashly PQX571 Parametric EQ. ash1912Here’s the deal on this EQ. First of all it’s mono. So for those of you out there who aren’t familiar with the term you could also refer to mono as being a single channel. So to have EQ in stereo with a piece like this, you need two. The back has a single 1/4″ or XLR in and out. The difference between a parametric, and graphic EQ is this. A parametric basically has two knobs per frequency, (sometimes more) that effect the sound. One knob determines the frequency, or frequency range, the other boosts (increases) or cuts (decreases) the amount of that frequency in the signal. A graphic EQ lays everything out in a line so you can make a smiley face out of it. Really the only difference between a graphic and parametric EQ is the fact that the graphic EQ predetermines the frequency that will be cut or boosted. The parametric allows you to select it. Here’s a quick interesting fact for you. I bet most of you who have used an EQ have seen the old smiley face setting. Here’s the thing. Generally a graphic EQ has the lower frequencies on the left, mid-range frequencies in the middle and high frequencies on the right. The reason why most people do a smiley face on the EQ is because they like the sound of a boosted high and low frequency with a cut mid frequency. This is because human ears are most sensitive to mid-range frequencies. This is the range of frequency that most of the populations voice hovers around. People do the smiley face EQ because their ears pick up the mid-range frequency more than the lows and highs and so they do that so it sounds more pleasing to them. This unfortunately can be a bad thing. Especially when you are EQ’ing a signal with a lot of prominent low frequencies, like a bass guitar for example. So for all you bassists out there, if you have a graphic EQ on your bass amp, try experimenting with the mid-range frequencies. I think you’ll be surprised at the impact it will make on your sound for the better.tce1303tce62571

The two processor above are the TC Electronics M-one and D-two. The M-one is a multi-effects processor that focuses on reverb type effects. It has a couple of delays, and a chorus or two, but mostly it’s reverb.  The D-two is a primarily delay type of effect that has a large selection of different types of delay’s with the addition of a few other effects thrown in for good measure. Both of these pieces can have a huge impact on your sound or the sound of the overall mix depending on which way you decide to hook them up. You’ve got options here. Most of the time an effect like this is used on an auxiliary send and return on your mixer. That way you can decide exactly which channels get the effect and which don’t. You might want to put reverb on the lead vocal, but not on the backing vocal for example. By running the effect on an auxiliary send you can determine exactly where you want the effect to go. If you put the main output of the mixer through the effect then it would alter the sound of the entire band, or mix with the effect. Usually you do not want to do this, but there are some situations where it can be useful. I know it get’s boring reading this at the end of blog, but as always, I’m here and happy to answer any questions that anybody might have whether it’s related to the post or not. I’d actually appreciate one of our Daddy’s Junky Music customers sending me an email at bfoley@daddys.com requesting I cover a topic that interests them in particular. I’d be happy to see if I can provide some insight that would help our customers make an educated decision. Give me a call a 800-373-8393 X100 or send me an email if there’s anything I can help with. Until next time…..

Zildjian Day!

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

I hope you drummers made it out to the 3rd Annual Zildjian Day at Daddy’s Boston! HUGE kudos to our resident drum guru Mike Tocker for doing an amazing job with the set up - the store looked like drummer heaven! And if you are a drummer and your were looking for some serious deals on in-stock and prototype cymbals - then you came to the right place! It was packed full of people and killer deals! Craigie Zildjian and drummer Steve Smith even made an appearance - if you weren’t there, see what you missed!

Deals, Deals and MORE Deals!

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Wow - Those of you who attended the Taylor Guitar Road show last night at Daddy’s Boston got some unreal deals! Gorgeous custom one off’s and new Taylor’s at prices that I don’t think you will ever see again! The gorgeous guitars that the Taylor factory reps brought with them were stunning - and some were half off! Check out some of the beauty’s that were there - I hope to make this an annual event! Big thanks to the folks at Taylor for really taking unbelievable care of the Daddy’s customers!

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Don’t forget, tomorrow (9/18) is Zildjian Day at Daddy’s Boston!  Sound Lab Prototypes and specially selected Zildjian models, $5 drum sticks, and we’ll will making some sweet deals! Door prizes and legendary drummer Steve Smith will be doing a ‘meet & greet’ from 3-5 pm! 

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How cool is this, from now through Oct. 31, you can earn Christmas Cash Coupons  to use towards your holiday purchases at Daddy’s!  You can even COMBINE your coupons!  Check out the flyer below for details! 

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And a little something for you metal fans - Daniel Svensson and Peter Iwers from IN FLAMES will be doing a FREE in-store meet and greet for fans at Daddy’s Boston on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 3pm!  Plus, I will have tickets to give away to see In Flames perform that night at the House Of Blues in Boston - that show is just about SOLD OUT - so don’t miss your chance to win tickets!

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Holy ‘SMACK that’s alot of gear!!

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

I got a call last night from our ol’ pal, Godsmack frontman Sully Erna, who was in the midst of preparing to sell the contents of one of Godsmack’s storage units FULL of gear.  And really, when you are looking to sell your gear, who better to call than Daddy’s!  So, Bob Foley and I (Bob works in our online deptartment and has been with Daddy’s for years) hopped in one of the Daddy’s trucks today, headed out to the storage unit and loaded that thing up with TONS of gear!  From bass amps to heads to cymbals to pedals, right down to the road cases and just about everything in between!  As soon as we inventory it (which should be in the next day or so), we’ll let you know what we have and how to get it!

Bob, Sully & Fro

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 Sully Erna and Bob Foley

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A sad day.

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

Rolling Stone Magazine is reporting that guitar legend Les Paul has died of respiratory failure.  RIP.  So sad.  All of us at Daddy’s would like to send out thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of Les Paul

Update:

Guitar legend Les Paul dies at age 94

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Les Paul, the guitarist and inventor who changed the course of music with the electric guitar and multitrack recording and had a string of hits, many with wife Mary Ford, died on Thursday. He was 94.

According to Gibson Guitar, Paul died of complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital. His family and friends were by his side.

He had been hospitalized in February 2006 when he learned he won two Grammys for an album he released after his 90th birthday, “Les Paul & Friends: American Made, World Played.”

“I feel like a condemned building with a new flagpole on it,” he joked.

As an inventor, Paul helped bring about the rise of rock ‘n’ roll and multitrack recording, which enables artists to record different instruments at different times, sing harmony with themselves, and then carefully balance the “tracks” in the finished recording.

With Ford, his wife from 1949 to 1962, he earned 36 gold records and 11 No. 1 pop hits, including “Vaya Con Dios,” “How High the Moon,” “Nola” and “Lover.” Many of their songs used overdubbing techniques that Paul the inventor had helped develop.

“I could take my Mary and make her three, six, nine, 12, as many voices as I wished,” he recalled. “This is quite an asset.” The overdubbing technique was highly influential on later recording artists such as the Carpenters.

The use of electric guitar gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1940s, and then exploded with the advent of rock the 1950s.

“Suddenly, it was recognized that power was a very important part of music,” Paul once said. “To have the dynamics, to have the way of expressing yourself beyond the normal limits of an unamplified instrument, was incredible. Today a guy wouldn’t think of singing a song on a stage without a microphone and a sound system.”

A tinkerer and musician since childhood, he experimented with guitar amplification for years before coming up in 1941 with what he called “The Log,” a four-by-four piece of wood strung with steel strings.

“I went into a nightclub and played it. Of course, everybody had me labeled as a nut.” He later put the wooden wings onto the body to give it a tradition guitar shape.

In 1952, Gibson Guitars began production on the Les Paul guitar.

Pete Townsend of The Who, Steve Howe of Yes, jazz great Al DiMeola and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page all made the Gibson Les Paul their trademark six-string.

Over the years, the Les Paul series has become one of the most widely used guitars in the music industry. In 2005, Christie’s auction house sold a 1955 Gibson Les Paul for $45,600.

Overload

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

So I am having social networking overload!   In keeping with the trends and wanting to get the word out and keep in touch with our customers as best we can, I have spent much of the last week or so taking a crash course (ie. trial by fire) in Twitter, Facebook, Myspace (i think we have had this one nailed for a while) and Youtube

So far, I find Twitter the most confusing (although we are getting there - I have also come to realize that John Mayer needs a Twitter 12 step program - he tweets ALOT!).   While I (Candi) keep everyone up to date via Twitter with upcoming events, by far the coolest thing we have cooking there is when our online guru Bob Foley Tweets about a cool piece of gear that we just got in that day, or how many “new” used pieces have come in since the day before.  For those of you who really dig used gear, you know that although we have over 10,000 pieces of used gear in stock everyday, they are all one off’s and if you don’t get there first - the piece could be gone.  So following us on Twitter to see what Bob is updating is very cool and you’ll get the info before everyone else!

Our Myspace account has always been used to keep all of our “friends” updated on upcoming clinics and events in our stores.  We are however hoping to continue to add more content (you can follow our Tweets on our Myspace as well with the widget we have up there).  It’s by far where we have the most photos of events past - so if you are looking to find pics of your favorite rockers - the Daddy’s Myspace page is where you will find it.

The Daddy’s YouTube account is very new and currently hosts videos of the finalists from our last Battle For Berklee - a guitar competition for High School guitar players.  We will be adding more content as we go such as videos from clinics, and gear reviews from our knowledgeable staff.

My personal favorite has become our Facebook page where I have essentially combined all of the above sites into one.  Whatever Bob Tweets about, I post it on Facebook.  Any event we have going on on our myspace account, will also be posted on our Facebook page.  And currently for video we have the Dennis Chambers clinic at Daddy’s Boston on there.  I like being able to interact with our friends/customers over there - seems a bit more personal.  While I wish it was like Myspace in the sense of being able to ask  people to be our “fan” - but until they give that option, we will continue to let people know that its there and do our best to get you guys to be fans.

So, I must go now and check my Myspace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts - this seriously could be a full time job :)  LOL.  In the mean time, here are the links to the above - we hope to see you over there!

Myspace:  http://www.myspace.com/daddysjunkymusicinc

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Daddys-Junky-Music/46648239639

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/DaddysJunkyMusi 

YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/user/djmstores

More winners!

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Congratulations to the following winners of the Crue Fest 2 tickets!

Tony Drew, MA

Jonathan Parakevas - NH

Mitch Parker - NH

Chris Broadhurst - RI

And a HUGE Congrats to our Bonnie Raitt ticket winner, Paul Murphy of RI who is also the winner of the August Concert Package - meaning they have one a pair of tickets to EVERY show that Daddy’s had tickets for! 

Congrat’s everyone and thank you for your business!

Mike Portnoy ROCKS!

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

It comes as a surprise to no one that Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy draws a crowd, at least no surprise to us here at Daddy’s as we have been working with Mike for 10 years now.  But even we were overwhelmed at the response to his in-stores this time around!  The in-store at Daddy’s Boston drew well over 400 people and his instore at Daddy’s Albany,  NY, which by the way was on a Tuesday at 2:30 in the afternoon, drew out close to 200 people!  (So for all of you employers in Albany that had employees call in sick yesterday,  sorry :)

Mike certainly has some of the most loyal fans I have ever seen, they know everything there is to know about everything Mike Portnoy & Dream Theater, they buy everything there is to buy related to Dream Theater and Mike Portnoy  - its actually pretty special to see.

On behalf of Daddy’s we would like to thank all of you who came out of the woodwork the last couple of days for the meet & greets and look forward to seeing you in the future.  I also want to give a shout out to the staff at both Daddy’s Boston and Daddy’s Albany for doing a great job during these events and of course to Mike Portnoy, we love you, man!

The line at Daddy’s Albany

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 Mike & Fans

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 Daddy’s Albany staff with Mike Portnoy, Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner and Tama rep. Marcel Lessard

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 There I am :)

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Friday, July 24th, 2009
What an unbelievably exciting night at Daddy’s Boston last night for the finals of the “Battle For Berklee” - 11 of the countries best HIGH SCHOOL guitar players battling it out not only for the bragging rights, but a slew of prizes including a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music Summer Guitar Sessions program, a $500 gift card to Daddy’s Junky Music, an Ovation iDea guitar and a Fender Blues Jr. amplifier!  Good Lord!
 
These 11 kids came from all over the place - from as close at MA to as far away as MN, OH, OR and Aruba!  They all came with their mom’s, dad’s, sisters, brothers and friends - it was very cool to see all of these families supporting their loved ones passion for music. 
 
The kids were treated to a tour of Berklee College of Music courtesy of Dana Acker, Berklee’s Summer Programs Administrator, followed by a reception at the school where the kids and their families could do a little mingling with each other and some of the Berklee faculty.
 
They all headed back over to Daddy’s around 5:30 for sound check - which went smoothly if I do say so myself - a big huge thanks to our soundman, Daddy’s Boston’s very own Brad Hogg - you’re the best Brad!  As soundcheck was going on, our judges started to trickle in, and boy did we have some judges for these kids!  From Dixie Dregs keyboardist T Lavitz, to Full Time Berklee Guitar Faculty Julien Kasper to guitar virtuoso Gary Hoey to former Boston guitarist (currently with Ernie & The Automatics), the legendary Barry Goudreau!   And our host for the evening with none other than Daddy himself, Fred Bramante.
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By the time all the judges and “Daddy” rolled in, we were pretty much done with soundcheck and were ready to go!   From blues, to rock to jazz and even a lil’ metal, all the kids did an amazing job - and if they were at all nervous, we couldn’t tell!   Check out some pics of the contestants:
Robert Joyce Berlin, MA Age: 16
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Riley Stockwell Groton, MA Age: 18
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Pj Brutzman Morristown, NJ Age: 16
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Nick Virzi Bayside, NY Age: 18
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Mike Johnson Harwinton, CT Age: 15
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Michael Seraus Noord, Aruba Age: 19
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Luke Enyeart Deephaven, MN Age: 16
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Erik Pierce Dublin, OH Age: 16
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Dan Searl Westford, MA Age: 17
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 Cory Sterling Portland, OR Age: 19
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Chris Juris Boston, MA Age: 18
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The playing portion of the evening was capped off with Gary Hoey performing as Berklee was tallying up the scores!  He was amazing and gave a great pep talk to the kids and parents - lots of fun.
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Well it was time to announce the winners and you could see these guys sitting on the edge of their seats just waiting to hear - it was a pretty exciting moment.  And here they are:
 
Winner: Cory Sterling - Portland, OR
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Pictured with Fred “Daddy” Bramante, Fender Rep. Tony Rerrick,  Berklee’s Dana Acker and his prizes - Guitar Summer Sessions Scholarship, $500 Daddy’s gift card, Fender Blues Jr. Amp and the Ovation iDea guitar!
1st Runner Up: PJ Brutzman - Morristown, NJ
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Pictured with Fred Bramante and Fender Rep Tony Rerrick and his prize - a $250 gift card to Daddy’s
2nd Runner Up: Luke Enyeart - Deephaven, MN
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Pictured with Fred Bramante, Fender Rep Tony Rerrick and his prize - a $100 gift card to Daddy’s!
 
Congratulations to EVERYONE who performed, as the folks at Berklee will tell you, they had a tough time picking the top 11 out of the MANY entries that were received.
 
We also would once again like to thank Dana Acker and Glenn Korzin at Berklee for their help putting this event together.  Our judges, T Lavitz, Julien Kasper, Gary Hoey and Barry Goudreau - THANK YOU guys so much for taking time out of your schedules to help with this great event!  And EVERYONE at Daddy’s Boston (especially Brad and Hirsh) - thanks for letting us take over your store once again! 
 
And for all of you high school players out there, this is an annual event for Daddy’s and Berklee and we anticipate it getting bigger and better every year, so get your chops ready now and we’ll see you in 2010!
 
Candi