US Astronaut SALLY RIDE dies at 61

From azcentral.com - Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, has died of cancer at age 61, her organization has announced. On June 18, 1983, Ride was 32 when she launched aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. Ride, a physicist, helped develop the shuttle's robotic arm. She was one of 8,000 people who responded to a newspaper advertisement seeking NASA applicants. She joined the space agency in 1978 and left in 1987.

DISCovery of the Week: FRASER DALEY

Fraser Daley play a song written by Ken Whiteley and Mike Daley entitled "Carrying On". When Jeff Healey heard that his band mates Alec Fraser and Mike Daley were forming an acoustic blues duo, he was heard to say "Ah! My big brother and my little brother." Four years later, Fraser Daley's full-length CD has elicited rave reviews from the Maple Blues Newsletter, Penguin Eggs and the UK magazine Maverick. They have been featured on Roots Music Canada and made acclaimed live appearances at blues and folk festivals around Ontario. Their second full-length CD, set for release in January 2012, will feature more of their infectious country blues originals, including a song co-written with Canadian roots music legend Ken Whiteley.

Bassist/vocalist Alec Fraser ('big brother') was born in Glasgow and emigrated to Canada at 11 years old. He soon fell in with the blues-rock scene around Toronto, touring extensively with Morgan Davis, Danny Brooks, David Wilcox and Jeff Healey. Along the way, he has produced Juno-winning recordings for Jack DeKeyser, Morgan Davis and Julian Fauth. In the past year alone, he has produced records for Al Lerman (Fathead), John Mays (also from Fathead), Harrison Kennedy and Danny Marks.

Guitarist/vocalist Mike Daley ('little brother') fell in love with the blues as a teenager in suburban Burlington, Ontario. He voraciously learned from records and eventually made a serious study of music, studying jazz guitar and earning a Ph.D in musicology from York University. Meanwhile, Mike was keeping a busy playing schedule, working with Rita Chiarelli, Suzie Vinnick and Jeff Healey while also releasing solo work. He relocated from Hamilton to Toronto in 2003, and began working with Alec Fraser in 2007.

Fraser Daley's music combines the freshness and vitality of authentic country blues with close vocal harmony "sounding so sweet these two could be siblings"(Eric Thom, Maverick). This duo also sounds uncannily like a full group when Alec employs the "brushbass" technique, playing a small drum mounted on his standup bass simultaneously with his bass lines. Their repertoire combines old-time blues like Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Bad Luck Blues" with original songs in the country blues style like "Blues All Around Me" and "The Relentless Gambler."

With their fresh take on the country blues, Fraser Daley is winning fans across the country. Radio airplay has been strong, with cuts from their debut CD remaining in rotation on several blues shows and the CBC Galaxie network. 2012 promises to be a landmark year for this popular duo, with a second CD in the works and a growing slate of live appearances. Jeff Healey would be proud.

FRASER DALEY WEBSITE

The TREWS live-stream on Gigity.TV tonight!!

The Trews are live-streaming their Chicago performance tonight at 10:00 pm Central time (11:00 pm Eastern, 9:00 pm pacific).

Gigity.TV - The Trews | RAW Natural Born Artists Showcase

RAW:natural born artists is an independent arts organization, for artists, by artists. Our mission is to provide independent artists of all creative genres, with the tools, resources and exposure needed to inspire and cultivate creativity.

32 Years Ago Today, Toronto Punks Had to Play

I was reminded by Joseph "Joe College" Trainor that Toronto's 'Rock Against Radiation' festival at City Hall happened on this day 32 years ago. It's where I had my punk rock cherry broken. DOA, The Forgotten Rebels, The Diodes, The Demics, Stark Naked & The Fleshtones and eco-organizer Joseph Trainor with his act Joe College & The Rulers. Here's an excerpt about it from the upcoming book 'Life's a Canadian ROCK: Part 1 - Rock and Roll Swindled'.

Photographer Bob Egan revisits iconic album covers

Photographer Bob Egan has revisited the New York settings for some of pop music's most iconic album cover photos by Dylan, Neil Young, Steely Dan, Simon & Garfunkel and West Side Story. Read more

RIP Deep Purple's Jon Lord / Funk Brothers' Bob Babbitt

Legendary Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord has passed away. Read Official website

Bassist Bob Babbitt, who was part of the Motown session team The Funk Brothers, has also passed. Read more

Springsteen & McCartney booted from Hyde Park stage

Yesterday (July 14), Paul McCartney joined Bruce Springsteen onstage as The Boss brought the second night of Hard Rock Calling in London to a close. The rock legends joined forces for 'I Saw Her Standing There' and 'Twist And Shout', the final songs in Springsteen's three-hour-plus set. However, festival organizers made a controversial decision to pull the plug on the encore while the pair were still addressing the crowd. E-Street Band member Little Steven took to Twitter to complain about London's police.

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A Bad Promo Photo Could Kill Your Career

...The public visage of my image and that of my music projects was toiled over, debated and deliberately calculated. Not all of it worked, but all of it was done with the aid of like minded people who had similar goals of putting our best face foreword.

I’d like to believe every act feels the same way but either out of lack of experience, knowledge or just not giving a shit I still see bucket loads of poorly written biographies (fuck, people, invest in Microsoft WORD and get someone to do a spell check and grammar check for you) , posters that look like they were laid out by someone that just discovered Corel Draw 2.1 and the worst offending promo tool of them all – hysterically bad and embarrassing artist promo photos. Now that social media has become a microscope of poor choices and bad decisions it would behoove musicians to give more than a passing thought about photographs that will be floating around the internet – FOREVER.

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World Wonders Project - A Virtual Tour of the World

Google has taken their Street View technology and applied it to some of the most important tourist destinations and historic sites in the world. It's in its infancy but you can get a 360 degree view of Pompeii and Pisa in Italy or Liverpool, UK or Shark Bay Australia plus dozens more on five continents. The site is adding more photo tours monthly. Check it out here

Music Business Supply and (Lack of) Demand

Jaimie Vernon's latest rant from this week's 'Don't Believe A Word I Say' BLOG: As the line between art and commerce continues being eroded by divested corporate interests in the form of major record labels (BMG, EMI, SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER) that control that art, word came last week that digital media manufacturing giants CINRAM have filed for bankruptcy. To the layman the immediate reaction is “Who?”. To those in the music industry this announcement is more ominous portents of an inevitable music apocalypse. Read more

Veteran actor ERNEST BORGNINE dies at 95

Ernest Borgnine, the beefy screen star known for blustery, often villainous roles, but who won the 'Best Actor Oscar' for playing against type as a lovesick butcher in "Marty" in 1955, died Sunday. He was 95. Read more here

Help MISS EMILY BROWN get a new Autoharp

Miss Emily Brown is a Canadian musician originally from the Iroqouis, ON area. She recently had a VERY expensive Autoharp stolen and is about $200 away from having the funds to purchase the new Luthiered Autoharp she is having custom built. She's not looking for charity. Just listen to her new album, "Wire Wood Wind", and if you like it order one or any of her earlier CD releases. The proceeds will go directly toward this instrument which is vital to her distinctive sound. Click here to go to Emily's discography.

DISCovery of the Week: HANNAH RUICK

Canadian producer Tim Feehan is at it again. He has just finished writing and producing this new track by Hannah Ruick called "Love In Reverse". Ruick is the next in six generations of singers in her family. She is the daughter of Toto's Joseph Williams. Something catchy and breezy for a warm summer day.

Wil Wheaton at POLARIS Richmond Hill this weekend

Sci-fi, fantasy and mixed genre fans are invited to attend Polaris — the largest fan convention of its kind in the Greater Toronto Area this weekend. Currently in its 26th year and formerly called Toronto Trek, Polaris is Friday evening through Sunday at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North Hotel at Leslie Street and Hwy. 7.

Wil Wheaton - star of Stephen King's 'Stand By Me', 'Star Trek: Next Generation', 'Big Bang Theory', and 'Eureka' - is among the celebrity guests who will be speaking, signing autographs and posing for photos with fans. Others include Miracle Laurie ("Dollhouse"), Neil Grayston ("Eureka", "Warehouse 13"), Tony Amendola ("Stargate SG-1", "Dexter", "Continuum") and "Star Trek" character actors J.G. Hertzler and Robert O'Reilly.

Check out full details on additional activities, times and prices at the Polaris website here.

Matlock/Mayberry's ANDY GRIFFITH dies at 86

Andy Griffith, the American actor known for the 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show and legal drama Matlock has died, according to a friend. Griffith was 86. Read more.

Andy Griffith sings the theme to 'The Andy Griffith Show'. Yes, the song had lyrics!