Dream Secret... This is our new band name. [See my previous post for explanation] We have relinquished 'The Rumble Strips' name to our brothers in the UK. Logically speaking this was our best option. So... check out Dream Secret on our IAC page. We have a new song up that we know you will enjoy! Spread the word for the Dream Secret has been revealed....

What's in a Name? A major quandry has arisen. There is another band using the same name as my band 'The Rumble Strips.' This really is problematic & of great concern to us. We can go 2 routes: 1) Keep the name as is & say screw that other band... or....2) Change the name completely. This to avoid confusion & conflict. We do have a very good alternate name! So changing our band name is not the end of the world. However the problem is - we did very well with the 3 songs - we put out on IAC. We broke the top 500 and stayed there for a fairly long time. We also received mostly good, positive feedback from listeners. Not bad for a couple of 'pikers' from New Jersey that nobody had never even heard of! So what worries us is the 'name-transition' phase. 2,000 plus listeners heard our songs under 'The Rumble Strips' name. As a new independent band - that is huge for us. Not to mention the fact that we never would/could have reached all these listeners without the internet. So... we have to transition smoothly & not lose our cherished little group of listeners! We will also 'unveil' our new band name shortly. In the mean-time please check out our new song 'I Don't Need No Holy Man' on IAC. http://iacmusic.com/artist.aspx?id=30181

Happiness is a Warm Guitar..... that's me on the right.

The Art of Guitar Solos... ahhh yes... the elusive, slippery guitar solo! I'm working hard on Dream Secret's [songs] guitar parts. There are times where I find myself in a quandry about my guitar solos. Solos need to flow naturally without force or too much thought prior. Occasionally however solos need to be 'worked out.' These become mini-compositions within the composition. I also often approach my bass-lines in this same manner. I've always been of the school that strives for unity in music. By 'unity' I mean where the sum is greater than it's parts. When a musician reaches a certain technical-level-it's very easy to abuse this power. Being able to play fast solos can actually be counter-productive at times. Quite honestly it's boring to hear a guitarist paly the same tired & fast licks & scale-based lead guitar. [I'd much rather hear B.B. King or Dave Gilmour play sparse solos that make you cry] So it is crucial for me to create solos that 'speak' to the listener. Often times 3 or 4 note clusters can be much more effective & emotive than a 'plethora' of random tones. In other words I try to play for the song. Why all this stuff about guitar solos? I'm all happy 'cause I totally nailed some good solos on our new song! We will be releasing our new song 'I Don't Need No Holy Man' this week on IAC. This is from our upcoming album 'Ghetto of Eden' which is a conceptual piece of music. I wouldn't call it a rock opera. More like a 'thematic' album with central themes, reprises & a message. We're very ambitious to do this. If all goes as planned we will have a CD, a new 'live' band & a bunch of gigs to look forward to. We're working on an 'outline' of Ghetto of Eden's theme & message. I'll be posting that soon also.

We've also got a MySpace page which we'll be revamping. There are also several other options -that we are considering. Internet-based music platforms are the future so we are looking into additional resources besides IAC & MySpace. This is an exciting time- as well as a very uncertain time- musically speaking. We're up for the challenges up ahead...

Still Alive, Still Here.... Thanks to all who have wished me well during my malady recently! For awhile I thought no one cared about my Blog. This turns out to be a misconception on my part. Many people have told me that they do read my Blog-posts. They just do not comment always. Some are not bloggers at all & have found me through Google searches or word of mouth. People also have mentioned that they sometimes feel a bit intimidated by my subject-matter. I'll let you in on a little secret. I also am intimidated by my subject-matter! Sometimes I scare myself silly with what I have written-to the point of feeling like deleting things. Yet- I leave most of it up & out there for all to see. One thing I have learned in life is that I cannot run from myself. I've tried only to fall apart. So my 'glue' is facing reality head-on. I'm tired of running....