Dark Asteroid Radio Program

Episode 10

dark.asteroid@gmail.com (The Dark Asteroid) — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 00:03:00 -0800

Episode 10 left the docking station late on a cold and rainy night in February, amid threats of sleet and snow, bringing you the finest in pod safe music and entertainment.

Of course, you’re still encouraged to visit the Dark Asteroid Store and see what’s available — what a great time to buy a large mug and fill it with hot chocolate to sip while you’re listening to the latest episode of the Dark Asteroid Radio Program!

Artists and titles from this episode included:

Steve Pierson — (Secrets)
Joe Sibol — (Hot Sexy Girls)
David Henderson — (Make It Go Away)
The Invasion — (Constancy)
Pan — (Ophelia’s Song)

Steve Pierson — Steve Pierson is an LA based blues musician who grew up in Washington D.C. and has his roots in Oklahoma. BLUES HEAD is his debut CD that showcases his many musical influences and interpretations on the blues. Soulful vocals, searing guitars, and gritty acoustic slides all come together on this CD of mostly original music. BLUES HEAD also features Grammy winning Wings guitarist, Laurence Juber; Joe Walsh keyboardist, Michael Murphy; Steve Miller Band bassist, Gerald Johnson; and Taj Mahal drummer, Tony Braunagel. Find out more at http://www.stevepierson.com.

Joe Sibol — We featured Joe in Episode 8; look in that entry for his information.

David Henderson — We also featured David in Episode 8; look in that entry for his information as well.

The Invasion — We could find very little biographical information about this group other than that their home town is Nampa, Idaho and that “Aaron” does lead vocals, guitar, and keyboard. Find them at http://www.garageband.com/artist/theinvasion
and http://www.the-invasion.com.

Pan — Pan date back to 1998, when the early pop careers of Matteo Curcio (b. 14.10.74) and Marinella Mastrosimone (b. 29.06.75) converged.

They started working together with a psychedelic-rock project called Sunscape (releasing “Sunscape – I” for the Italian indie label Mellow Records in 1999), Matteo on the bass and Marinella on backing vocals.

Then Marinella appears as vocalist on a couple of release of Transonia, an electro-house duo (Luca Baldini, the other half of the project, now is an acclaimed international DJ/Producer).

Later on they joined Giöbia, an alternative-rock project (releasing the single “Caught in Analogic Memories” followed by the album “Beyond the Stars”, both for the UK label Silent Revolution).

The pair then started developing their vision in the intimacy of a duo.

The musical roots of Matteo and Marinella are various. While Matteo got caught in electronic music since Kraftwerk and has loved music of The Orb, KLF, Orbital, Daft Punk, Cinematic Orchestra, K&D, Fila Brazillia, Marinella was listening the Italian progressive rock of the ’70 such as Area, PFM, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, and later on the Indian classical music, getting a degree in Indian ethnomusicology, then studying at the Benares Hindustani University.

Their common ground is Jazz music, which they both love (Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Paul Desmond, Billie Holiday among their favorites).

This Micromusic EP has been published thanks to a contest called Creamusica. Pan has been selected from over 2000 bands throughout Italy, and the record is distributed in Italy by the electronics chain store Saturn and Mediaworld.

Pan are currently working on the five next tracks that will make, along with the songs of the Micromusic EP, their debut album.

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The Dark Asteriod

Episode 9

dark.asteroid@gmail.com (The Dark Asteroid) — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 23:08:00 -0800

The first episode of the new year finds the Dark Asteroid repeating his popular TV theme songs quiz, introducing some new artists, and reprising two favorite artists from previous episodes (but with new titles… no repeats here!).

Don’t forget to take a trip to the Dark Asteroid Store and see what’s available — the clock seems to be a popular item, as does the wall calendar.

Artists and titles from this episode included:

Stars of Stage and Screen — (Starlight)
Circe Link — (I Like Knowing You Miss Me)
Robert Wade — (Monkey Cymbals)
Everyday Jones — (Gone In)
Guinness Clarke’s Wine — (Another Time, Another Place)

Stars of Stage and Screen — Stars of Stage and Screen is a New York City-based alt-post-rock-duo. They combine the songwriting and structures of pop, the grooves and synths of electronica, and the noise of Shoegazer. To buy their CD (just $10, remixed and “super duper mastered”), visit http://www.cdbaby.com/starsnyc. Their official website is http://www.starsnyc.net.

Circe Link — We featured Circe in episodes 5 and 6; look in the episode 5 entry for her information.

Robert Wade — Robert Wade has spent his life on the road. He has moved over 16 times and traveled all over the world (currently living north of London). The many experiences of his life, experiences that bring forth depth and insight into the human soul, are found in the thought provoking words on his first professional recording "Thinking Out Loud". On this album, Wade delivers an eclectic mix of songs that will take you through a roller coaster ride of insight. Find more information on his website, http://www.robertwade.net.

Everyday Jones — Everyday Jones has been satisfying crowds in clubs, bars and coffeehouses around the northwest (they are based in Seattle) for a year now. Despite the youth of their relationship as a duo, both members have been making music for years. Lead singer Alissa Jandt is a classically trained vocalist with a decade of conditioning under her belt, while guitarist Jason Green comes from a family of musicians and has been at his instrument since he was fifteen. Find them at http://podsafeaudio.com.

Guinness Clarke’s Wine — We featured this group in episode 2; look in that entry for their information.

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The Dark Asteriod

Episode 8

dark.asteroid@gmail.com (The Dark Asteroid) — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 02:04:00 -0800

The Dark Asteroid’s back on the shortest day of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway) with news about his new store &mdash see the link, second from the top at the right &mdash and a new game to play with his listeners. Download this episode from the link below, or better yet use the link at the top right to subscribe and never miss an episode, and see whether you can guess the mystery TV theme before it’s revealed at the end of the show!

Don’t forget to take a trip to the Dark Asteroid Store and see what’s available!

Artists and titles from this episode included:

Joe Sibol — (Love with Ice)
Samantha Murphy — (Come Back to You)
John Zielman — (Dancing on my Grave)
Jasmine Ash — (Start Over)
David Henderson — (We Gotta Go)

Joe Sibol — Mixing and matching tones with words, smashing melodies together with poetry, Joe Sibol has been writing songs ever since he picked up a four track in college. Raised on the East Coast, in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York, Joe moved out west to join up with fellow songwriters, and played shows up and down the California coast. He crashed on sofas and floors and worked odd jobs as a gardener in order to work on his music and develop his songs. If you live in the Bay Area, keep a look out for Joe. He will be playing solo acoustic shows in the upcoming months. Find out more about the Joe at http://podsafeaudio.com.

Samantha Murphy — Samantha lives in San Diego and says, “I've been singing since I was six years old. I've traveled the world making and performing music. I've opened for some incredible artists like Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.

I have my own Podcast called SMtv ~ A Podcast Dedicated to True, Independent Artists. Now available on iTunes 4.9 or at http://smtv.libsyn.com” Find Samantha online at http://samanthamurphy.com/.

John Zielman — John Zielman performs with a group called The Selves. His web site is http://www.johnzielman.com/

Jasmine Ash — I could find very little about Jasmine other than that she is from the Portland, OR area. Her music can be found at http://podsafemusic.com.

David Henderson — David Henderson is one of Colorado's finest guitarists. He's a guitarist's guitarist combining over 30 years of rock, blues and jazz influences into an extremely dynamic, expressive, and truly emotional style.

David grew up in the Northeast - Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, Boston, and Rhode Island. David began his musical career like many of his generation - watching the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. Guitar quickly became his passion as he cut his teeth absorbing the rock classics of the late 60's, early 70's, and living with Allman Brothers Filmore East LP every day after school. Rock and Jazz fused in the mid 70's (Jeff Beck Blow By Blow) and captured David's imagination as he evolved as a musician. David graduated Berklee College of Music in 1982 and then moved to LA to take a shot at the musician's life. The mid 80's were the wood shedding years, where he played and practiced guitar virtually all day and all night every day. David played and toured with Stevie Woods (Let's Steal The Night) and Gina and Guy Eckstine (daughter and son of the late legendary Jazz singer, Billy Eckstine).

However in 1986, David abruptly left the music business entirely. His love for music was overshadowed by the economics, realities and hypocrisies of the music business. Totally frustrated by this realization, David put down his beloved guitar for 10 years, moved back to the Northeast and focused full-time on the television advertising business and raising a family. In 1990, he went back to school garnering a MBA from Boston University.

In 1995, the world was filled with optimism, creativity and innovation as the Internet revolution blossomed into full swing. As a co-founder and VP of Sales of DoubleClick in New York, David was a leading pioneer of the Internet advertising revolution.

While building DoubleClick, the guitar began creeping back into his life. David pulled the cobwebs off the old guitar and placed it right next to his desk. He would get a chance to play and practice every time Windows 95 would crash and he had to wait for a re-boot - needless to say that was a lot!

In 1998, David moved to Colorado to help build another Internet startup, Matchlogic (later purchased by Excite and then @Home). He formed a band called "Bandwith" with several of his co-workers and began to play live gigs again in Colorado.

In 2000 David left Excite@Home and became CEO of a wireless CRM messaging startup company, SmartPoint Inc. April of that year saw the dot com bubble burst and Venture Capital virtually dry up. SmartPoint would grow from 5 to 35 people then ran smack into the Venture Capital void and dot com depression and was forced sell off it's technology in late of 2001.

Today David is working on a number of startup businesses in the Media and Technology sectors. He also runs a community of Music Artist sites called The Online Discussion network where he builds community leveraging all the latest open source community and publishing tools - PHPBB, Blogs and Podcasts.

On the music front David is writing and recording his own music in his home studio, doing a lot of session work, as well as playing live with a number of bands in the Boulder community - The Henderson Brother's Band, The Old School Blues Band and a new original band coming soon!

You can find him on the web at www.dhenderson.com.

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The Dark Asteriod

Episode 7

dark.asteroid@gmail.com (The Dark Asteroid) — Fri, 9 Dec 2005 01:57:00 -0800

It’s a snowy night here where the Dark Asteroid landed on Earth; Moose the Dog has been running around the back yard with his nose under the snow like a 70 pound snowplow and winter is here for real. The Dark Asteroid is back with his usual mix of musical styles and commentary, this time taking a poke at Sony BMG Music for their nasty DRM (digital-rights management) software — which they placed on a large number of CD’s over the past few months in an attempt to defeat music pirates. The purpose of the software was to allow a limited number of legal copies to be made and then no more. Unfortunately, the software was installed on the computer of the CD purchaser without his/her knowledge and was so poorly written that it left the computer vulnerable to exploitation by hackers, crackers, and other assorted nasties. As promised in the podcast, you can click HERE for the link to the Washington Post article.

The link was accurate as of the time and date of this post.

Artists and titles from this episode included:

St. Somewhere — (Whisper)
Super 400 — (Green Grass End)
Spero — (Beauty Queen)
From the Club Gigolette — (I’m A Dirty Dancer [But Only For My Man])
Verbal Kint — (Seabreeze)

St. Somewhere — The band is from Knoxville, Tennessee. St. Somewhere consists of a unique blend of sounds, pivoting mainly on the Caribbean influences of Calypso, Reggae, and Latin Rhythms blended within the North American influences of Rock and Jazz. The Steel Drum, invented in the late 1930’s, is the only acoustic instrument to be invented in the 20th Century and is the key ingredient exploited within St. Somewhere’s musical design. Members are Quincy Yeates on keyboards, steel drums and Vox, Kevin Wiley on drums and Vox, Christian Lay on Guitar, Chris Towson on Bass, and Myron Scott on Percussion. Find out more about the band at http://www.stsomewhere.com.

Super 400 — Troy, New York is the home of this trio, consisting of Lori Friday on Bass, Joe Daley on Drums, and Kenny Hohman on Lead Guitar and as Lead Vocal. They’ve been getting quite a write-up in the trade magazines and you can look for them to continue on their upward path. Find them online at http://www.super400.com.

Spero — A group of friends that formed in the summer of 2004 who all have strange, natural, innate senses of music that cannot be explained by rational thought. (According to them.) They all share the same common love of their music and wish to share it with whomever will listen. They are from Cullowhee, North Carolina. Members are Adam Blythe on Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Erin Justice, who sings the Lead Vocals, and Michael Cannon on Drums (and who is also the group’s producer). No web site could be found for Spero.

From the Club Gigolette — ALL MEN ARE DOGS is the musical sex comedy telling the story in song and dance of The Wife fighting a battle for her philandering husband vs The Other Woman. The action takes place in the fictional Club Gigolette, a small topless bar.

All Men Are Dogs has been performed at a number of theatrical venues and clubs in Southern California and Las Vegas, most recently for two sold out months at the world famous Coronet Theater in West Hollywood and prior to that at WeHo's historic Masquers Cabaret and NoHo's Chandler Theater.

All Men Are Dogs was inspired by Ray Combs, the late host of the game show Family Feud, and his heroine of a wife Debbie who since has remarried and is living happily ever after. She's given birth to two more beautiful children in addition to the original six, for a total of eight, and still looks great.

Verbal Kint — Verbal Kint was featured in Episode 4 with “Harbor Lights.”

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The Dark Asteriod

Episode 6

dark.asteroid@gmail.com (The Dark Asteroid) — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 23:34:00 -0800

It’s another eclectic mix of hard-driving rock and soulful, haunting neo-folk, with a little acoustic instrumental action thrown in for good measure as the Dark Asteroid descends to Earth from the Podosphere for Episode 6. Kick back, relax, grab a glass of your favorite beverage, and enjoy this shorter-than-usual version of the Dark Asteroid Radio Program.

Artists and titles from this episode included:

Just-Bus — (Give It Back)
The TriSonics — (All I Ever Wanna Do)
Circe Link — (Blue Bird Tattoo)
Todd Smith — (The Cliffs of Aran)
Christa Couture — (Day 4)

Just-Bus — From their web site: “If you're looking for one heavy, tight fisted son of a blues band, then you're looking for Just Bus. This young gang of blues miscreants hails from the sticks of Des Moines. With blues influences ranging from Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton to Buddy Guy & Bernard Allison, Just Bus will keep the beer tastin' just as sweet during every tune. Lead man Gabe Van Nordstrand shows his versatility with his "fret-board manipulation" on the fast ones, and his "my woman done left me" howl on the slow burners. Accentuating his lunacy is keys man Mike Fust, described by "Blues Wax" as, "one of the premier organ and piano players in Iowa." Another member of the "controlled chaos" is drummer Levi Baber, with a bad reputation of bustin' heads...literally. I believe the bumper sticker on his car says it best with "Don't feed the drummer." Putting the harness on this four man blues beast is bass man Ben Fust. Whether you're looking for the grueling Texas blues, an edgy Just Bus original, or a mean southern shuffle, Just-Bus will take you where you want to go.” View the complete site at http://www.just-bus.com/.

The TriSonics — The TriSonics were featured in Episode 5; you can find their information there.

Circe Link — Circe Link was also featured in Episode 5.

Todd Smith — Todd is from Boston, and recently graduated from Berklee College of Music. He is currently pursuing a career as a songwriter/performer, arranger/producer. He performs every instrument on his songs, which are influenced by a diverse group of artists including Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Band, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, Richard Thompson, and more. He is also a proficient arranger/composer in all styles of music including jazz and classical. Find out more at http://www.garageband.com/artist/toddsmith and http://go.berkleemusic.com/toddsmith.

Christa Couture — From Christa’s web site: Christa's music is neo-folk pop. Described in reviews as "the new Ani" and "Tori Amos with a guitar," she's a formidable young woman armed with a haunting voice and a quick-witted, poignant turn-of-phrase. Her live performances are energetic and moving and it is in this context that Christa's work is at its spontaneous best — fueling her attentive audience with candor, wit and passion. Christa recently recorded her first full-length album, entitled "Fell Out of Oz," which should be released in April. You can find much more information at her web site, http://www.christacouture.com.

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The Dark Asteriod

Episode 5

dark.asteroid@gmail.com (The Dark Asteroid) — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 03:37:00 -0800

Lab mice and dark, dark songs — German groups singing American rock and roll — and a song called “FALDNWM Blues.” This episode of the Dark Asteroid Radio Program brings you another eclectic mix of music and information that you just ought not be without. It’s a cold November night and the Dark Asteroid is feeling a little whimsical, so hold on to something soft and let’s go…

Artists and titles from this episode included:

The-Low-Country — (Lord I Want an Exit)
Michael Heaton — (The Good Times)
The TriSonics — (Mystery Lady)
Suspects — (FALDNWM Blues)
Circe Link — (Travelin’ Daddy)

The-Low-Country — The group is sort of based in Cambridge, UK, though singer/songwriter for the band, Emily Barker, is a Western Australian currently living in London. The band was formed by guitarist Rob Jackson roughly 3 years ago. Also in the band are Ian Pickering on drums, and Alex Machell on bass guitar. In the first few weeks of their existence, they managed to put together a demo cd which they abruptly sent to their DJ hero the late John Peel. Incredibly enough, he played a track from it: their slow, atmospheric interpretation of the ubiquitous Stephen Foster song, "Oh Susanna." Since that healthy start, the band have been gigging around the UK at various Americana-friendly venues and festivals, and have managed within a couple of years to record and self-release two albums, the latter of which received distribution through Proper. They are currently gigging around as a band, as well as pursuing individual musical ventures. You can find more at http://www.the-low-country.com.

Michael Heaton — Call him rock, call him pop, or call him country - Michael Heaton's music is "Bluejean rock" in the musical traditions of Tom Petty, John Mellencamp and John Hiatt. Based in the Chicagoland area, Michael Heaton is a musician with a talent for creating heartfelt lyrics and melodies about life, love, work and burning houses. "I try to write songs that everyone relates to," says Heaton. "I like my songs to tell a story, and maybe people can see themselves in these songs." Although music has always been a passion, Heaton reminisces about former jobs. "From diaper delivery person to making false teeth to performing singing telegrams, I guess I've done a little bit of everything." It's his previous life of "doing a little bit of everything" which makes Heaton's music and lyrics so accessible. With a knack for using a unique combination of musical styles to create tunes that are catchy and light-hearted, Heaton delivers an astounding and compelling experience both live and on CD. Heaton’s web site is http://www.michaelheaton.com.

The TriSonics — Just like Jerry Lee Lewis said: "Either be hot or cold. If you are lukewarm, the Lord will spew you forth from his mouth". True to this motto, the TriSonics favor hot - red hot! They've spent the last three years rocking clubs, festivals and parties all across Europe. Members are Derek Singleton: Lead Vocals (Guitars), Ralf Nickolaus: Drums (Backing Vocals), and Barbara Streidl: Bass (Backing Vocals). Find them online at http://www.trisonics.de.

Suspects — The group is from Rapid City, SD.  They are Black Hills musicians that got thrown together to play a gig and decided to make it a Wednesday night "boys’ night out" which turned into an aclaimed local jazz/blues staple. So instead of bowling, they play music. Their last world tour encompassed Spearfish, Deadwood, Sturgis, Piedmont, and Rapid City. No more international tours are planned, but they would be willing to consider one...  Members are Will Waller: Keyboards, Bob Fahey: Lead Guitar, Jon Margolis: Drums, Greg McDonald: Lead Guitar, and Bernd Winkler: Bass. Their online home is at http://www.garageband.com/artist/suspects.

Circe Link — Straight from her own publicist: “Sweet sassy and sexy this gal is cooking with the right stuff. A colorful blend of nostalgic Country, steamy Jazz, and weeping Blues only stimulates ones appetite for more. Accompanied by acoustic guitars, mandolin, violin and upright bass a voice of pure feminine charm reaches through the player to leave red red lipstick on your collar. With a shot of Patti Page, a dash of Sara Vaughn and a side of Patsy Cline this is the sound discriminating ears were waiting for.”  Her backup group includes Christian Nesmith: Acoustic Guitar, Producer , Sarah Schweppe: Backing Vocals, Ian "Skillet" Walker: Bass, Christopher Allis: Drums, and Bart Ryan: Acoustic Guitar. Her web address is http://www.circelink.com.

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The Dark Asteriod

Episode 4

dark.asteroid@gmail.com (The Dark Asteroid) — Fri, 4 Nov 2005 01:27:00 -0800

It’s 2:58 AM, Central Standard Time, and Episode 4 has just landed from somewhere deep in the Podosphere. A slightly more eclectic mix this time, the program was probably influenced by the autumnlike night outside the door of the Dark Asteroid’s studio, evocative of campfire nights and weenie roasts and homecoming bonfires and jack-o-lanterns carved beside a fire’s dying embers with the help of two small boys.

Artists and titles from this episode included:

La Tribu — (Sylvia)
Anyma — (Anyma – Submarine MIX)
Jenn Watts — (We’re Okay)
Tools — (I Know Where I’m Goin’)
Verbal Kint — (Harbour Lights)

La Tribu — Here’s what they have to say about themselves: “For the past year this sensational 12-piece orquesta from Austin has been redefining the term "big band" weekly - with style, panache, and a show that brings audiences out in droves and packs local dance floors to capacity. The immediate popularity of the "big band" style among jaded Austin rock and blues clubgoers has been a pleasant - though not entirely unexpected - turn of events for La Tribu. Just how popular is evidenced by the fact that the barely year-old group was awarded "Best World Music Group" at the 2001 Austin Music Awards. "World Music" is in fact an apt description - drawing on influences as diverse as their nationalities, the group leaves virtually no stone unturned or influence un-namechecked in its spirited exploration of El Musica De La Tribu. From Perez Prado to Duke Ellington, Tito Puente to Earth, Wind & Fire and De La Soul to Santana, La Tribu creates a seamlessly amalgamated style that respects tradition yet remains fresh and innovative enough to appeal to fans of all ages, races and musical tastes. In targeting crossover audiences, this multinational outfit has taken the current latin dance craze out of the salsa clubs and "taken it the street" with extraordinary results.” Find La Tribu at http://www.tribumusic.com.

Anyma consists of two artists, Christian Bourassa and Ghislain Caya. They have been composing music together since 1991 and say, "we are exploring the world of sounds through various sources of media." Anyma’s music is a blend of different styles, from tribal-techno through atmospheric-electronica up to ambient; the resulting music is often hard to classify. Their web site is http://www.anymaworld.com.

Jenn Watts is a repeat artist from episode two.

Tools (Jim Tullio) is a repeat artist from episode one.

Verbal Kint — Rogier Oster & Dennis Moerkerk are the people behind Verbal Kint. They used to play in a rock band called Twist of Fate which was (and still is) very popular in the Rotterdam rock scene. During the Twist of Fate years Rogier & Dennis became interested in more laidback grooves and chilled sounds, and when the band broke up they decided to try out some new stuff. Before joining Twist of Fate, Dennis had already made productions in his studio for several respected dance labels (Blackhole, NEWS). Now they make the Verbal Kint sound with Rogier playing the drums and Dennis other sounds and production. Featured on: http://www.dennis-m.nl and http://www.muziek4um.nl/forum/

This was a bit of a different show in terms of the music selected; let us know how we’re doing! Comment here or send an email to dark.asteroid@gmail.com and give us our report card.

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The Dark Asteriod

Episode 3

dark.asteroid@gmail.com (The Dark Asteroid) — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 01:15:00 -0700

Episode 3 took wing from the Dark Asteroid and soared through the podosphere on October 20th at about 1:15 AM Central Daylight Time. It was the usual mix of music and reflection, with a few familiar voices and some new artists as well. Episode 3 is dedicated to Mary Lou, Connie, Susan, John, and Tommy — and those involved know why.

Following is a list of artists and titles from this episode:

Artist — (Title)

Kick the Cat — (Porno Jazz)
Amy Martin — (Raven's Wings)
BB Chung King & the Buddaheads — (Still the Rain)
Val Davis — (The Texas Sky)
Kick the Cat — (Era of the Common Man)

BB Chung King is a repeat group from last week but the others are all new this week.

Kick the Cat is a four-member fusion group from Chicago, IL. The personnel consists of Chris Clemente on Bass, Kris Myers on Drums, Chris Siebold on Lead Guitar, and Vijay Tellis-Nayak on Keyboards. They compose, produce and perform all original fusion music, which they describe as a progressive sound of jazz, funk, rock and world music. The arrangements, they say, can get hairy. They also feel that the interplay and improvisation is their strength. You can find out more at http://www.garageband.com/artist/kickthecat.

Amy Martin was born in Iowa and lives in Missoula, Montana. She has been making her living as a musician since 2000. In that time, she has released five albums and started her own independent label, Raven’s Wing Records. She was named Missoula’s Peacemaker of the Year for 2004, and has raised $10,000 for women-run health and education projects in Afghanistan through the sales of her third album, This Fall. Amy tours regularly throughout the country, and has shared the performance and the protest stage with Pete Seeger, Indigo Girls, Bruce Cockburn, Holly Near & Cris Williamson, former U.S. Senator George McGovern, Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer, Slaid Cleaves, Lucy Kaplansky, Toshi Reagon, Cheryl Wheeler, and others. You can find out more at http://www.amymartin.org/.

Val Davis says of himself: “I am not a band, but a one man show. I sing, play and produce everything. I've been playing for 30 years. Have worked in recording studio and played a lot of live gigs in the last 30 years. Recording on my own now on a computer at home.” You can find out more at http://www.valdavis.com/.

We hope you are enjoying the shows. Please comment here or send an email to dark.asteroid@gmail.com and let us know how we’re doing!

You may click here to download this episode.

The Dark Asteriod

Episode 2

dark.asteroid@gmail.com (The Dark Asteroid) — Fri, 7 Oct 2005 22:13:00 -0700

After a week of gathering new music and new equipment, the Dark Asteroid again went into the studio. This time he was a little better prepared.

On the equipment end of things there are two new (well... new to THIS studio) University Sound US660A dynamic supercardioid microphones, and what a difference they make to the vocal quality of the recordings! There is also an Alesis Multimix USB-8 mixer for getting the mikes into the computer. In addition to doing the mixing, the Multimix has a 100-setting digital audio effects onboard processor which is a lot of fun to play with. All together, the new equipment has made a huge difference in the quality of the sound of the program.

This week, rather than concentrating on a single performer, the show moves around a bit and offers a bit more variety. Let us know how you like it!

Here’s a list of what was played, and some biographical info about the artists.

Artist — (Title)

BB Chung King & the Buddaheads — (Company Graveyard)
Jenn Watts — (Here Without You)
BB Chung King & the Buddaheads — (Every Now and Then)
Guinness Clarke’s Wine — (Artist at Heart)
Tim Hopper — (Drum Circle)
BB Chung King & the Buddaheads — (When the Blues Catch Up With You)

BB Chung King & the Buddaheads are from Burbank, CA. The Buddaheads have been together for two years with this line up. BB (Alan Mirikitani) writes all the songs and arrangments, is the guitar and vox. Lee Spath is on drums, and Johnny Griparic on bass. They own and operate their own recording studio which allows them to be very prolific with their music. They say that they have been influenced by Curtis Mayfield, BB King, and Jimi Hendrix. Find out more about them at http://buddaheads.com.

Jenn Watts is from Mission Viejo, CA. The Dark Asteroid hasn’t been able to find out much about her but really likes her voice. She has been influenced by Sarah McLachlan and Sheryl Crow, and the McLachlan influence is very noticeable. She lists a couple of web sites but one of them is a broken link; the only working one the Dark Asteroid could find is http://www.garageband.com/artist/jenn_watts.

Guinness Clarke’s Wine comes from Huntington, WV. Rather than try to summarize, the Dark Asteroid will just reprint their own biography: “GCW's members come from a variety of musical influences. It is that diversity of musical taste that make up their unique sound, a blend of basically every genre imaginable. Jeff Ellis on lead vocals and guitar comes from the Springsteen era of songwriting. Joe Bailey, a jack of all trades (bass, mandolin, percussion, etc.), shares a love of all things metal with newcomer Daniel Johnson (drums). Adding to the massive percussion onslaught is Gregg Radcliff, a student/teacher of African dance and rhythm. Phillip Arthur James (keyboards, vocals) is the band's Beatles influence. Sharing constant lead and rhythm duties, and making up the big guitar sound that has come to define GCW, is Mitch Linville and Damon Adkins, both coming from the school of 70's rock and roll. Together, with their powers combined, they make up Guinness Clarke's Wine.” For more information, check out http://gcwband.net.

Tim Hopper is just an all-around great guy and an expert on anything percussion. If you don’t believe the Dark Asteroid, just ask the guys at Rho chapter of Theta Chi!

You may click here to download this episode.

The Dark Asteriod

Episode 1

dark.asteroid@gmail.com (The Dark Asteroid) — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 21:17:00 -0700

Well, it's official; Episode One of the Dark Asteroid Radio Program is in the podosphere! Perhaps not the most exciting broadcast of all time, nor the most professional, but we're pleased with it as a start. The audio shows the results of having been recorded on a cheap microphone and maybe "playing it by ear" without a script wasn't the best idea, but sitting around waiting for a podcast to create itself wasn't getting anything done, either.

Finally taking the bull by the horns, we just gathered together some podsafe music, loaded it into PodProducer, and away we went! Let us know what you think — but be kind; we will get better!

Here’s what you heard on today’s program:

(Artist) — (Title)

Tools — Down to the River
Tools — Long, Long Way From Home
Tools — Better Love Next Time
Tools — I Don’t Got You
Tools — Teach Me How to Dance With You

Tools is the name used by Jim Tullio when he took some of his songs and put them up on GarageBand.com to see how they would do. Jim is a session player of long standing, and in his own words he has “been producing records for over thirty years. Worked with John Martyn, Mavis Staples, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Richie Havens, Steve Goodman, John Prine, David Bromberg, Dave Mason, Chevere, Sonia Dada, Los Lonely Boys, Phil Roy, Bill Miller etc... Am currently working with some young new artists such as Liz Longley, Nyco, Todd Carey and Courtney Jones. Decided to throw my own song demos up, just out of curiousity.” For more information, go to http://www.garageband.com/artist/tools.

You may click here to download this episode.

The Dark Asteriod

About Podcasting

dark.asteroid@gmail.com (The Dark Asteroid) — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 18:48:00 -0700

So what’s all this “podcast” stuff? Anyway? It sounds like the invasion of the Pod People! Well – to put it quite simply, a podcast is any audio content in the form of an MP3 file that can be delivered automatically to your computer or to your MP3 player. You don’t have to have an iPod or any particular brand of MP3 player; for that matter, you don’t have to have an MP3 player at all. You can just play the file on your computer, using the Windows Media Player, RealAudio Player, QuickTime Player, WinAmp, or whatever MP3-playing software happens to be your favorite. Windows, Macintosh, Linux, BeOS – makes no difference!

How is a podcast different from the streaming Internet Radio that’s been around on the web since the mid ‘90s? It’s quite simple… to listen to the Internet Radio feed you have to be there, at your computer, while it’s happening. You can’t save it for later and you can’t take it with you. A podcast has been recorded by the podcaster and saved as an MP3 file which is then automatically sent to your computer for you to listen to when and where you’re ready to listen to it. You control when you’re going to listen to it, and whether you will listen on your computer or on your MP3 player. Since so many people use iPods as their MP3 players, the name podcasting was just kind of inevitable.

So how do you get these podcasts coming into your computer? The answer lies in software called a podcast aggregator; what many people call a podcatcher. A podcatcher is just a program that lives on your computer. Its job is to maintain a list of podcasts which you have given it and check the Internet sites where those podcasts live; you decide how often it should check for you (it could check every half hour, for example, or just once each day). When it finds a new show listed at that site, it will download it automatically for you and put it into a folder which you have specified. You tell it which shows to check by subscribing to them. Don’t be confused by this term; “subscribing” in this sense just means that you’ve set up your podcatcher to receive the RSS feed from that site and to automatically download any new shows that it finds posted there. (An RSS feed, in simple terms, is a specialized Web page, living at the site that publishes the podcast, that tells your podcatcher where to find the MP3 files.) There is seldom any actual cost involved in receiving a podcast, since most are free; only a handful at this time request a payment from their listeners, and simply “subscribing” through your podcatcher is always free.

As of today, the three most common podcatchers are iPodder Lemon, iPodderX, and iTunes. iPodder Lemon and iTunes are free; iPodderX offers a free 30-day trial; if you want to use it after that time the cost is $24.95.

Once you have your podcatcher installed, all that’s left is to find some podcasts that you like and subscribe to them… how about starting with the Dark Asteroid Radio Program?! Find the menu item for subscribing to a new podcast, and enter the URL of the program: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DarkAsteroidRadioProgram and start enjoying the show!

Wanting to find others? Well… there are a lot! The Rocky Mountain News for September 23, 2005 reported that iTunes as of that date listed 15,000 podcasts and was adding new ones to the list at the rate of 1,000 a week. Podcast Alley, another popular podcast directory, has more than 7,000 podcasts listed, with at least 400 waiting for approval. With those kinds of numbers, it’s nice to have some kind of directory to help you look. Here are three the Dark Asteroid personally likes, along with the information from their sites’ front pages.

Podcast Alley: “Podcast Alley is the podcast lovers portal. Featuring the best Podcast Directory and the Top 10 podcasts (as voted on by the listeners). You will also find podcast software, the podcast forum and great podcasting info.”

Podcast Pickle: “The world’s BEST podcast community and directory.”

Digital Podcast: “Podcast directory and podcasting news.”