2009 August » Flip Side to Music

Les Paul-Guitar Legend, Dies at 94

Aug 132009

Les Paul

Lester William Polsfuss, known as Les Paul (June 9, 1915 – August 13, 2009)

Les Paul, one of the most revered guitarists in history and the father of the electric guitar, passed away.

On August 13, 2009, Les Paul died of complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York. His family and friends were by his side. Paul had been “in and out of the hospital” because of illness.

Paul was born Lester Polfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and his mother was a member of the Stutz family of automobile manufacturers. As a boy, he taught himself to play the banjo, guitar and harmonica, and his first professional jobs at 13 were as Red Hot Red, a nickname drawn from his distinctive hair color.

Before long he was focusing on the guitar and broadcasting on local radio, also being heard in the Milwaukee area. He had a regular spot on WLS radio, Chicago, in the early 1930s, mainly playing country music, and he continued to play live engagements under a further series of pseudonyms, including Sunny Joe and Rhubarb Red. In his late teens he moved to New York and founded his first trio in 1936, adding an accomplished light jazz style to his well-established country repertoire.

In 1938, Paul moved to New York as part of a trio that included Jim Atkins (older half-brother of guitarist Chet Atkins) and bassist/percussionist Ernie Newton. They landed a featured spot with Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians radio show. Paul moved to Hollywood in 1943, where he formed a new trio. As a last-minute replacement for Oscar Moore, Paul played with Nat King Cole and other artists in the inaugural Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in Los Angeles on July 2, 1944. Also that year, Paul’s trio appeared on Bing Crosby’s radio show. Crosby went on to sponsor Paul’s recording experiments. The two also recorded together several times, including a 1945 number one hit, “It’s Been A Long, Long Time.” In addition to backing Crosby and artists like The Andrews Sisters, Paul’s trio also recorded a few albums of their own on the Decca label in the late 1940s.

However, it was as a result of playing at an outdoor festival in 1941 that Paul was inspired to develop an amplified guitar. THE solid-bodied electric guitar that he invented in 1941 would in itself have guaranteed Les Paul’s place in musical history.

Vintage-Gibson-Les Paul Guitar

Marketed by the Gibson guitar company as the Les Paul model, and gradually improved via a series of innovative patents in the 1950s, it became the pre-eminent amplified guitar of the early rock’n'roll era, and has remained one of the dominant designs in the modern guitar industry.His personal Gibson Les Pauls were much modified by him — Paul always used his own self-wound pickups and customized switching on his guitars. To this day, various models of Gibson Les Paul guitars are used all over the world, by both novice and professional guitarists. A less expensive version of the Les Paul guitar is also manufactured for Gibson’s lower-priced Epiphone brand.

In January 1948, Paul was injured in a near-fatal automobile accident in Oklahoma, which shattered his right arm and elbow. Doctors told Paul that there was no way for them to rebuild his elbow in a way that would let him regain movement, and that his arm would remain permanently in whatever position they placed it in. Paul then instructed the surgeons to set his arm at an angle that would allow him to cradle and pick the guitar. It took him a year and a half to recover.

Paul had hosted a 15-minute radio program, The Les Paul Show, on NBC in 1950, featuring his trio (himself, Ford, and rhythm player Eddie Stapleton) and his electronics, recorded from their home and with gentle humour between Paul and Ford bridging musical selections, some of which had already been successful on records, some of which anticipated the couple’s recordings, and many of which presented re-interpretations of such jazz and pop selections as “In the Mood,” “Little Rock Getaway,” “Brazil,” and “Tiger Rag.” Several recordings of these shows survive among old-time radio collectors today.

The show also appeared on television a few years later with the same format, but excluding the trio and retitled The Les Paul & Mary Ford Show (aka Les Paul & Mary Ford At Home) with “Vaya Con Dios” as a theme song. Sponsored by Warner Lambert’s Listerine, it was widely syndicated during 1954-’55, and was only five minutes (one or two songs) long on film, therefore used as a brief interlude or fill-in in programming schedules. Since Les created the entire show himself, including audio and video, he maintained the original recordings and was in the process of restoring them to up-to-date quality up until his death.

In the late 1960s, Paul went into semi-retirement, although he did return to the studio occasionally. He and Mary Ford (born Iris Colleen Summers) had divorced in December 1964. Paul’s most recognizable recordings from then through the mid-1970s were an album for London Records, Les Paul Now (1967), on which he updated some of his earlier hits; and, backed by some of Nashville’s celebrated studio musicians, a meld of jazz and country improvisation with fellow guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins, Chester and Lester (1976), for RCA Victor.

By the late 1980s, Paul had returned to active live performance. In 2006, at the age of 90, he won two Grammys at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards for his album Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played. He also performed every Monday night, accompanied by a trio which included guitarist Lou Pallo, bassist Nicki Parrott and pianist John Colianni, at the Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway in New York City.

In 1978, Les Paul and Mary Ford were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Paul received a Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 1983. In 1988, Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Jeff Beck, who said, “I’ve copied more licks from Les Paul than I’d like to admit.” In 1991, the Mix Foundation established an annual award in his name; the Les Paul Award which honors “individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of audio technology.”[15] Les Paul was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in May 2005 for his development of the solid-body electric guitar. In 2006, Paul was inducted into the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He was named an honorary member of the Audio Engineering Society.

In July 2005, a 90th-birthday tribute concert was held at Carnegie Hall in New York City. After performances by Steve Miller, Peter Frampton, Jose Feliciano and a number of other contemporary guitarists and vocalists, Les was presented with a commemorative guitar from the Gibson Guitar Corporation.[23]

On November 15, 2008, Les Paul received the American Music Masters award through the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a tribute concert in the State Theater in Cleveland. Among the many guest performers were Duane Eddy, Eric Carmen, Lonnie Mack, Jennifer Batten, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Dennis Coffey, James Burton, Billy Gibbons, Lenny Kaye, Steve Lukather, Barbara Lynn, Katy Moffatt, Alannah Myles, Richie Sambora, The Ventures, and Slash.

One thing is for certain: Les Paul is responsible for changing the way rock & roll sounds and he will be greatly missed.

http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/les-paul

From Queen of Me to Queen of Indy Music- Part II

Interviews, articles 1 Response »

Aug 072009

From Queen of Me to Queen of Indy Music, Blue-Eyed Soul Singer Natalie Brown Finds Success Doing it Her Way – Part II

Part 1 located at: http://flipsidetomusic.com/?p=2137

Natalie Brown’s journey, taking her from singing Christian worship music like a choir angel to where she is now—an enigmatic, naturally sexy and savvy voice of blue-eyed soul—hasn’t been a direct or easy adventure. She has had side trips along the way which have made it quite the roller coaster. Yet Natalie has always known she was on the right road. She has been certain of her main focus.

As was brought to light in Part I of this article, Natalie Brown got her start in music as a Christian worship leader. It was difficult for an attractive young lady, in love with the spirit of the music and focused solely on sharing the message through the use of her God-given talent, to follow in a mold which never seemed to fit her. No fault of her own; it was simply that Natalie was an attractive young woman who naturally appealed to the opposite sex.

Natalie explains, “I would travel to churches all over British Columbia and lead worship. Always a song or two before the sermon… . I didn’t need to do much outreach because at that time, a white girl singing the way I did was kind of a novelty.” Natalie’s unique voice—unique because of the dichotomy of the sound she produced coming from an image such as she portrayed—put her in a position that brought her a lot of attention in a short period of time. She laughs as she remembers. “Word kinda got around.”

It wasn’t long before Natalie was asked to record. “I sang a song called, ‘I Am Not My Own,’ written by my dear friend, Warren Holstrum … my first serious musical mentor. He was music pastor at my church and we did a tape called, ‘Songs of Calvary.’” Natalie pauses in her recollection, a smile in her voice. “It was a recording that … didn’t end up on the CD because it was too ‘raunchy,’” the word stresses with sarcasm, “for worship.” She laughs now but it wasn’t all that funny at the time.

How is it that a Christian worship song could be seen in any way as raunchy? “This was my problem!” Natalie is animated. “They opted, after seeing it [on tape], not to include it on the church album because it was a little too much… . I was always getting hauled in for putting my leg out the wrong way on stage … or I didn’t cover down to my wrists. That was one of the reasons I had a hard time with it because it was like I was always wrong, like I was always being bad.”

This is a crucial point in the evolution of Natalie Brown’s musical styling, as well as her life. She still has just-under-the-surface emotions behind this period, the point where she began to come into her own as a musical talent, and as a woman. That evolution came at a high cost—close friends, lifestyle, even home life—but in the long run, it was necessary for her move toward a more natural and fitting musical career and lifestyle.

She continues to explain. At the time this was going on, Natalie had to dig deep inside to try and understand why the elders of the strict, Pentecostal church scene reacted to her as they did.

“I was thinking, ‘It’s not me. Y’all need to stop lusting.’ It really bothered me. I’m still hurt by it, to this day.” She hesitates, carefully weighing her words. “Growing up and becoming a woman … I was not a trashy dresser, I was very conservative. Ask anyone who knew me growing up. I did not dress in an inappropriate manner but you know, I was a cute girl.” Her words held a certain resolve. “I’ll be honest … that very much pushed me towards secular music. I remember Jessica Simpson having something similar happen … that’s so not fair. It’s so wrong. It’s damaging … growing up with that experience … That definitely pushed me away.”

The Natalie Brown we know now, the one that sings of deeply personal issues, emotionally spiritual mindsets, and light, happy moments, this Natalie began to form an individualistic style out of those early experiences.

“Basically, that was my first recording experience.” From there, Natalie moved to the States, settling in San Francisco. The Christian community in the US didn’t react in the same stifled fashion, which was encouraging. “I auditioned for Ron and I got that gig.” Ron was internationally acclaimed Gospel recording artist Ron Kenoly, and the gig was his “Welcome Home” tour in 1996. Natalie saw the US with Kenoly and his group. “I found a lot of liberation coming to the States. The Christian scene was different… . I preferred the US scene but still, I knew there would always be problems.”

When the tour ended and she returned to California, Natalie studied with world-renowned vocal instructors Seth Riggs, who worked with Stevie Wonder, among others; and Dave Stroud, (Terry Ellis of En Vogue). Not only did these experiences form the basis for a career that has exploded in ways Natalie could have never expected, she has matured in her personal philosophy, as well.

“My spiritual beliefs changed one hundred percent but I’m very blessed for having had that time. It taught me a lot. I’m connecting with the Spirit to deliver whatever message I deliver. I’ll never knock it [that period] but it was grueling.”

Natalie is a people person. She feels she has become the artist she is because of her continuing desire to connect on a personal level. “I’m still the same crazy person I was. I’ve always had a good heart and loved people, and that’s why I do what I do, because I love people. I feel that the gift I’ve been given is to use that and hopefully bring some joy into their lives, regardless of faith.” She is determined. “Life to me is bigger than what denomination you are.”

Natalie decides to move on from this topic. She has made the point as to what formed her personal life philosophy. “When I started singing with Ron,” she explains, “that was my first professional gig.” During this time, Natalie soaked up every bit of information she could find on the musical sound with which she most identified. She went through a “voracious devouring of all music … I wanted to find out—where did this music come from? I wanted to research Negro spirituals. I got these old records and CDs, and I immersed myself in everything I could to find out what this was.”

The more she learned, the more she found herself in a paradox. In fact, this became for her yet another advancement of lifestyle and personal expression. “There was the whole thing that I’m white. That whole, ‘This isn’t my music’ for me.” She faced opposition—the way she looked didn’t fit the common perception of the sort of person who should sing as she sang. “But it WAS my music,” she argued. “It’s been the thing that’s calmed me; it’s been my expression… . I definitely feel that music, and I’ve always felt it and appreciated it. And of course, I came out of the whole Gospel thing.”

The more Natalie matured, the more she learned of others who resonated with much the same musical spirit as she. She ticked off some who she felt had kindred souls. “… Billy Joel and Elton John—Annie Lennox… . There are singers who sing from the spirit, and there are singers who sing.”

Natalie Brown has proven she is a singer who sings from the spirit. “It’s that, ‘Je ne sais quoi?’ That little thing you can’t define that fits for me personally.” She knows it when she hears it, though. “It gives me the goosebump feeling and I know, yeah, I’m connected to that.”

These days, Natalie has moved into a seriously professional mode. She knows what she wants, she knows where she wants to be in the next ten—fifteen—twenty years … and she is clear on what she needs to do to get there. “I have a side of me that would live as a recluse, I think, on some beach … but then I know there’s a part of me that would get really bored and want the city. So I’m two people.” She laughs happily. “I could see myself recording my albums half of the year there and in the big city the other half to promote it.”

Natalie supports herself solely through her music. She lives in Canada, with her sights set on career moves which will allow her to work between the States and her home base, and even into Europe. To maintain her career, she does what is called in the business, “volumes.” As she explains, “We put out songs that will probably never be released as solo projects. We do five to ten, and send them to publishers. They see if they can place them. Sometimes, we’ll get a call or e-mail about such-and-such show needs to replace this kind of feel for a song—like a Beyonce track… . We create a song and send it. We’re not guaranteed our songs will get placed. We watch TV, listen to commercials, and we do songs that are place-able in terms of what’s out there.”

This is the business side of Natalie Brown. This is her meat-and-potatoes, and she knows what she’s talking about. “When my own solo stuff gets pitched … luckily, it has been license-able enough to get placed. It works both ways—getting the volumes, we do a pop volume or an R&B volume, and then send it out… . Sometimes it can take a couple years. We’re consistently putting out work to be put in the pool.” Insights into the music world are but a slice of the reality Natalie Brown faces as an independent artist who does it all herself. “It can take two or three years to get paid … have to do the show, record it, use the music in it, report it … and then I get paid.”

So chances are, you have heard Natalie singing in the background of your favorite TV show, or on a commercial between music videos on MTV. She works non-stop, and results speak for themselves. “MTV, VH1 … they use a lot of our music. NBC, CBS, we’ve had placements on just about every channel … Someone e-mailed me and she said, ‘Nat, you’re on this CBC [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation] documentary. I’m sure it’s ‘Let The Candle Burn!’ [one of Natalie’s releases].” Her friend told her that her music was part of a documentary on the sexual revolution in China.

Natalie continues, “I laughed so hard, I thought it was really funny and it turns out, we did get this song placed on that show.” She’s laughing now. “So I get that all the time.” It continues to amaze and delight her that people can pick her voice and music out from all sorts of venues. “I think that’s so awesome, especially today when there are so many people out there doing their thing … that someone can pick my voice out. Especially considering that I’m an indie artist and I haven’t been plastered all over the radio or television. That’s how I’ve heard of half of my TV placements.”

Make no mistake. While Natalie Brown may not yet be “plastered all over the radio or television” and she is an “indie” artist, her focus and intent are single-minded. Her vision is exactly that—she will become a household name. And when you listen to her planning process, what she has in the queue, there is little room to doubt.

“Value is created with your fame,” Natalie states with conviction, “and I’m very grateful.” In 2001, Natalie and her manager began submitting her music to the pool of “volumes” to be used. “We were lucky because … they never used to let indies into this deal.” But it wasn’t long before Natalie Brown’s contributions were being regularly selected and the checks started coming in. Today, she is a working artist, the realization of a dream she never remembers not dreaming. Natalie believes life is good.

There is no question that Natalie Brown has created her own place in the music world, and she knows how to keep up the momentum, and even raise the stakes. “It’s all done by me.” In the early days of news groups, even before the Internet came to be as it is today, Natalie was one of the first pop independent artists. “There wasn’t such a thing, really, and … it used to frustrate me when people would think I have this huge team of people around me. Yeah, me, myself, and I is my team. And my manager. We do everything.”

Natalie Brown has had a plan since she first began. “When I got into this, and I said I’m going to do this as a business, I said I’m going to read every book I can because it’s a business. And you have to run it like it is. I have to do what’s good for my business. I love this. There are two sides to me. There’s the artist, and there’s the business woman.”

Natalie doesn’t hesitate to give credit to the one person she has allowed into her world to help her move forward with her dream. Jeremy is her manager. She met him years ago when she was in San Francisco. “I was doing session work in the Bay area. It was after a tour and I put an ad in The Bay Area Music Magazine to be a background vocalist. This Kenyan contacted me to sing on his project. It was an interesting session, and he wanted me to come back and work with a friend of his. He had this producer … . By that time, I was so jaded because everyone had a ‘producer’ friend who was going to make me famous. Everyone was going to make me famous.”

Natalie laughs as she recalls those days. An attractive young lady with amazing, unusual vocals—everyone wanted to “make her famous.” She continues with the story, “I reluctantly went, and I met Jeremy there. He told me, ‘I thought you did a really awesome job… .’” Jeremy hesitated at that point as he tried to explain to Natalie what he thought about the rest of the project. “Basically he was trying to say, ‘What the hell are you doing singing for this bleeping guy?!’” She laughs again, a rich, delighted sound. “I said I was trying to get paid, I was trying to get myself out there.” Jeremy told her that he was starting a label, and asked her if she would be interested in a deal.

Natalie clicked with Jeremy from the beginning. Not someone who lets everyone in immediately, she just found something about Jeremy that made her know she could trust him. She agreed to his deal. “I wanted to record an album. That was my big thing. I wanted to record my album so I ended up going to meet Jeremy and another guy.” There were a few false starts in the contract process but eventually everything fell together.

“I was trying to record demos, having a really hard time finding producers. A lot of producers wanted to mold me into what they wanted me to be, and I had my really firm ideas of what I wanted to do. I had a book full of lyrics—melodies, things on tapes. I had all my ideas. I just needed a producer to help me bring them to life. And I needed a studio… . Long story short, we started on this demo … ‘Locked in the Shadows.’”

The smile in Natalie’s voice can be heard as she talks about Jeremy. “He loved my voice, and we worked really well together. I felt totally respected as an artist. I was a young girl, and … it was a very difficult minefield to navigate. He was respectful of me… . He said, ‘You’re so talented and it would be a travesty of justice if this album doesn’t come out.’” With some legal issues going on amidst all this, there was danger of the work not seeing the light of day. So Jeremy stated boldly, “What if we start a label and put this out together?”

And so became the beginning of Identity Records, now Identity Music Group, Inc. “We funded the rest of it ourselves and released it in late 2000.” Natalie’s debut album contained thirteen original songs. Titled “Let the Candle Burn,” the album’s material was enthusiastically embraced by her now-growing audience, and was noticed by industry insiders … quite a coup for an independent artist.

That was a number of years ago, and Natalie has not let the grass grow under her feet. Her credits continue to grow—in number and stature. Through ongoing exposure, as well as being featured on countless Internet sites, Natalie remains a fan favorite. She loves her fans and, in return, they show their love for her by loudly applauding every release.

She has also been well-noticed within the industry. Her single, “Run Away,” was featured with songs from Destiny’s Child, Allure, R. Kelly, Eden’s Crush, Lil’ Romeo, Nelly, Mary J. Blige and more in “Promo-Only’s July Rhythm Radio” series. Her music was selected for the CMJ/Savage Beast Technologies Music Discovery Network. This allowed for her to receive radio play across the US, Canada, South America, Austral-Asia and Europe. Billboard highlighted Natalie three times, and noted her as a Top 10 Emerging Talent.

All of this—and we’re still counting—for a little girl from Canada who in her early years was told by her mother that she couldn’t sing. Good for her, and for all of us, that she was determined to prove Mother wrong. The rest, as the old saying goes, is and continues to be history. Natalie Brown’s history. Independent music history. A successful history, by all accounts.

Natalie sums it up by saying, “I want to be the digital age Ani DeFranco.” If you don’t know who she is, look her up. You’ll be amazed with her career, also. “She did it on her own terms,” Natalie continues. “She puts out her music and her art, and she made it work for her.”

Which is exactly what Natalie Brown has done, and continues to do. “I think it’s definitely possible, and I’d like to be the pop version of that model, if I had my dream, if I had my way.”

You’re having your way, Natalie. You’re the Queen of You … and there is clearly no stopping you. None of us would want to, anyway.

Visit Natalie Brown at: http://www.natalie-brown.com

Interview by: Linda J. Alexander
http://lindajalexander.tumblr.com/
August 7th 2009

Getting to the "core" of Smart Apple

Interviews No Responses »

Aug 022009

Smart Apple
A “one-man-project” conceived in 2000 by Teddie Tapawan.

The genre is Alternative Rock, although the style has intense blends of Funk, Blues, Grunge, Metal, Techno and Rap core mixed within. Teddie performs all vocals, and plays all the instruments, and states that his mix of different genre is not necessarily trying to make “something for everyone”, but mostly because he just really digs all types of music, and an open mind has made his tastes in music as broad as the eye can see.

Smart Apple is the pseudo-name given to the project making the music more marketable. The name’s origin comes from the fact that he has has kids and doesn’t like to curse around them, so if he feels like calling someone a smart ass, he just calls them a “smart apple”. Ground breaking name? Maybe not, but the origin is interesting!

Teddie sent his music to Chris “Big Daddy” Hunter (operations manager of Radio.BeOnAir.com). Chris stated, “The response from our listeners was phenomenal, and people all over the world continually request us to play Smart Apple’s Music”.

Smart Apple is a hit, and Teddie has extraordinary musical talent; most people just don’t know it yet because they haven’t heard it! It’s hard to believe all this great music is coming from just one man, so be sure to check it out!

FSM : Teddie….Congratulations on your success so far! Do you feel you are where you planned on being at this time in your career?

TT: No. Not even close… and I fear it’s too late. I’m old and I smell like Ben-Gay…. and I don’t even use Ben-Gay. What the hell is that smell?

FSM: When did you first begin playing?

TT: Playing with what? Oh, around 6 years old perhaps? You’re talking music, right? LOL
At 6 years old, I shanghaied my dad’s old acoustic guitar. I didn’t really play it like a kid would normally. I had these things from a dart gun. Instead of the ends having suction cups, they were these big, heavy, red rubber balls. I would grab the dart-ball things by the ends and hit the guitar/strings with the balls like I was playing a drum. I actually made a song recently using that method. Have a listen to my song called, “My Big Red Balls on My Little Guitar”. (not really, i am just kidding!)

FSM: Oh Teddie you have such a silly sense of humor, but its what makes you so real to talk to!

FSM: Who has influenced you the most in your music?

TT: I had a lot of older friends when I was growing up. Many were into playing music in their bands, etc. There were two guitarist friends that I remember most. Guy named Paymon and a guy named Kim-son. To me, these dudes were guitar gods. There was also another older friend who I felt was like a big brother for a while… Mike Cavanaugh. Singer — his passion for music was scary. Seriously. I learned a lot about music from him that I wouldn’t have known otherwise.

In a more general sense, lots of bands and artists really made an impact on my style(s) of playing/singing. Some recently and some from when I was a youngster. Along with my many different genre influences of which i have listed on my myspace, there are two bands that I truly enjoyed the most while growing up (from the young age of about 5 or 6 years old). Those two bands are Parliament and Funkadelic.

FSM: What made you want to become a musician?

TT: The women. Those dirty dancin’ video women.

FSM: What inspires your songs the most?

TT: Things that happen in my life. The joy, the heartbreak, etc. A couple of songs written about my dad. Etc.

FSM: Where do you come up with your song/cd titles?

TT: My brain… sometimes other people’s brains.

FSM: How many albums/cds in total do you have released now and what are the titles?

TT: Three officially. I released a couple of others that I’m not too proud of, so you’ll have to dig those up somewhere. LOL. The CD titles are: Conformity (CD), Valley of the DogZ (CD), The Adventures of One… (CD).
The song lists for each CD you can find at my website: http://www.smartapplerocks.com

FSM: How would YOU describe your genre of music?

TT: When I started writing and recording my music, I was actually bouncing around the genres like I was nuts. Blues, Ska, Rapcore, etc. I’m still like that, but I’m trying to lean more towards Alternative Rock. So I’d describe my stuff as Alternative Rock with a sprinkling of Funk, Blues, Grunge, Metal, Techno, Rapcore, and other toppings (at no extra charge).

FSM: How would you describe yourself to the world?

TT: Depends on what part of the world I was talking to and if I could find a translator to bore the people with what I was saying. I’d describe myself like this, “Hi, I’m Smart Apple, also known as Teddie Tapawan. I make music. If you listen, I swear I’ll be your best friend. Can I stay at your place while I’m in your country?”

FSM: Outside of music, what other hobbies/interests do you have?

TT: I used to be big into body-building… then back around 2002, I popped some discs in my back and that whole deal was over. Kids, it’s nice to be big, but it’s not worth the pain when you get older. You’ve been warned. When you get to be my age, the things that are most important are wife, kids, and family… oh, and video games, lol.

FSM: Just like you said about growing old rapidly, its great that you spend so much time with your kids because as parents know the time flys and before you know it they are grown!

TT: Speaking of video games, I worked in the video game industry for a little while. I was contracted by Epic/Atari back in 2003 to work on a game called “Unreal Tournament 2004″. I created the map/levels called CTF-Face-Classic and DM-Deck17. You’ll see my name in the game manual if you have it. Just a tidbit of trivia there. Other info about the other stuff I’ve done with games can be found at: http://funrealtournament.com. I think I put some junk on http://tapawan.com as well. Anyway, family is what I’m into now a days. My wife is extremely supportive of my music and my kids are fun and crazy as they should be. I love ‘em. Oh, I also love NASCAR.

FSM: How does it feel to know your music is being listened to by so many people on the internet?

TT: It feels good. I really appreciate those five or six people. Thank you, I love you!

FSM: What advice would you offer to other musicians?

TT: Don’t wait to long to blow up in your music endeavours. You’ll be freakin’ old before you know it. OMG.

FSM: If you could meet one famous musician, who would it be, and why?

TT: Lenny Kravitz. He reminds me of my oldest son, so we’d get along fabulously.

FSM: Where do you see yourself, possibly five years from now?

TT: Older, and perhaps more or less beautiful. I hope I will be around to grow super old with my wife and watch my kids grow up and get married, play with my grandkids, etc.

FSM: What a cool legacy of music your leaving behind for them!

FSM: What are the websites where people can find and get to know you?

http://www.smartapplerocks.com
http://www.funrealtournament.com
http://www.tapawan.com
http://myspace.com/smartapple

Do me a favor and join up as a fan on my Facebook music page here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Smart-Apple-Teddie-Tapawan/130904666390

FSM: Where can people listen to your music and even purchase it?

They can listen here:
http://myspace.com/smartapple
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Smart-Apple-Teddie-Tapawan/130904666390

They can purchase Smart Apple CD’s from here:
http://www.smartapplerocks.com/buy_cds.asp

Thanks in advance for buying. I’m broke.

FSM: Do you have any other or new projects coming up that you want people to know about?

TT: It’s a secret. I don’t even know yet. Actually, I’m working on some stuff. I was working on a song for the new CD and then I stopped working on it due to some equipment problems. But I’ve layed down the drums, guitars, and bass so far for that song… I’m trying to remember what the hell the name of the song was. I can’t remember and I can’t be arsed to go look downstairs in the studio to find out. I’m confortable right now and my heating pad is sending euphoria up my backside. Anyway, the song I’m talking about is nice and heavy, kind of like Soundgarden, close to the tempo of “Rusty Cage”. So you can expect that on the next CD. Also, I’m thinking about putting a song I did for my wife for our 10th wedding anniversary on the next CD. It’s called “10 Sweet Years”. It’s got a Lenny Kravitz kind of vibe to it. I’ve got a ton of songs written, I just have to get off my as$ and get back in the studio. My wife constantly asks me, “When are you going to do some new music?”. I reply, “When you gonna make me a sandwich?”…. JUST KIDDING!

FSM: Thank you for giving us this interview, are there any parting words you would like to say?

TT: Seriously, you’ll be old before you know it. I warned you. Thanks for your continued support and I hope you continue to listen to my music. I love you so much. More than you love yourself.

Flip Side Music and all our readers and listeners want to wish you much success!

From Queen of Me to Queen of Indy Music

Interviews 17 Responses »

Aug 012009

From Queen of Me to Queen of Indy Music,
Blue-Eyed Soul Singer Natalie Brown Finds Success Doing it Her Way – PART I

Natalie Brown planned to be a singer early on in her life. In fact, when she was but a little girl, her mother would sing to her. Natalie would chime in, doing, as she calls it, “a riff.” Her mother, misunderstanding her unique vocal patterns, would say, “Natalie, don’t sing. You can’t sing.”

Oh, but Natalie knew different. She knew, even as a little girl, that she was misunderstood. She could sing and it became her goal to prove it. When she was about seven, all on her own and without any family support or even awareness, she decided it was time to put herself to the test. She left for school that day with a single focus—she was going to try out for the choir. Once she did, and was accepted as a first soprano, she was delighted. And vindicated. “I came marching home,” she remembers, and she proudly told her mother, “I joined the choir.”

Natalie Brown at home in Canada

Talking to Natalie Brown, hearing the animation and genuine love for her craft which shines through even in her speaking voice, one can not question her determination. It is so easy to envision that single-focus little girl, knowing that she has grown up to be exactly what she always knew she already was … a singer. Yet there are countless numbers of talented vocalists to be found anywhere and everywhere in the world. What makes Natalie stand out? What has become the basis for the solid and non-stop growing success which she has acquired on her terms?

Doc Quinn, a blues musician known online as Mistabluesman— http://www.docquinn.com —has repeatedly crossed paths with Natalie on the internet since at least 1999. He says about her, “If Nat’s doing it, it’ll work.” Fairly simple words but with a serious intent behind them. Being the best businesswoman she can be as it relates directly to her own talent and craft, not anyone else’s, has become Natalie Brown’s single-focus. Just being able to carry a tune and create magical sound isn’t all there is to acquiring a fan base and making a serious go of it in the professional music world. Natalie has studied with big talents, figured out how to utilize the amazing power of the internet while never losing sight of its ever-changing nature, and she understands the far-reaching qualities of the World Wide Web. She garners fans at the touch of her mouse. She believes that in today’s world, an artist can have “a totally personal interaction” with her fans without ever leaving her computer, though that isn’t necessarily all there is for Natalie Brown. She is determined to work the entire package.

“The old way is dying,” Natalie says, “so we need to be on the forefront of what’s new and what’s working, and figure it out. We’re going to figure it out … this new model, while the old way of business is sitting there saying, ‘No, no, no. We have to keep what we have. Don’t let it go. Don’t let it go.’ But we say, ‘Let it go because it’s time. It’s time for something new. The world is changing.’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHuNZNzkkS8

And the folks who have known Natalie since way-back-when seem to agree that it has been for some time, and will continue to be, those artists like her who’ll forge ahead into that brave new way of doing business, of bringing their talent and artistry to a continuously growing audience.

Doc Quinn’s remarks verify this. “I have observed her for many years,” he says. “… she would seem to always be the first to inquire about anything new that … would promote her and her music. Nat would ask questions about the new internet music innovations and the next thing I knew Nat was doing it on her own domain.” He was impressed with her determination to present her music and songs to fans all over the world, and he continues to find her innovative ways worth watching for his own career advancement. “I began putting my music on the internet back in 1999 and even today, I stop by Nat’s homepage to see if I can pick up any little tricks or ideas from what I see Nat doing.”

On Natalie’s 2nd album, “Random Thoughts,” out earlier this year, one of her songs, “Queen of Me,” sums up her world—personal, musical, and combined. There really is very little separation between the two for Natalie Brown.

“Do what I wanna do//Say what I wanna say//Play how I wanna play//I am the Queen of me//and I’ve seen what can happen to your dreams//If you follow the main stream//Without question//I’ve gone through out much of my life//Listening to the voice inside… .”

Everything about Natalie bespeaks an intriguing combination of deep inner emotion on one end of the spectrum, and joyous playfulness at the other end—and conscious businesswoman enveloping the entire package. In the course of a few sentences, she goes from being naturally funny to deeply introspective to boardroom bottom line. As she puts it, “There are two sides to me. There’s the artist, and there’s the business woman.”

It may have taken her over some different roads than many who strive to make their art known but make no mistake, Natalie Brown is in it to win. This is one woman who is not playing games when it comes to what she calls, without question, “her business.” With the way of the world moving more and more into the technological era, Natalie is determined to embrace that and make it work for her.

“I … have to think about my future and I have to think about the future of where this business is going … what I do know is that the ‘net is not going to be shut off,” she states matter-of-factly. When she’s asked about doing live shows, she replies, “All shows are … trying to promote music. So you can do the exact same thing online.” She hastens to add, “I really would like to do some more shows. I would prefer to do some shows before I put out another album… . My preference would be to work on my fan base and then do some shows, and then do another album … so we’ll see.”

Natalie and her management have thought this through with great deliberation. Their plan is heavily geared towards the idea of building a fan base so that there are audiences already waiting for her when she plays an in-person venue. “When you talk about [it,] … a radio promotion and a tour and a video—because you have to do all those three things together, and you’re talking, to do it well, five million dollars. You really do need five million dollars to do that.” She seems to shrug. “What do I need to develop my fan base online? I need an internet package and my computer. It’s crazy, really. So … as an independent artist … this is my way, this is my radio … this is my show, this is my connection, this is my meet-and-greet. This is everything all wrapped into one cute lil’ mouse. Point and click, baby.”

Natalie laughs, a happy, melodic sound. She has an upbeat outlook on life, one which has been based on her own individualized and unique set of trials and triumphs. It would surprise no one who has heard a Natalie Brown song that her musical roots grew out of her early years as a church worship singer. Born and raised in Canada, Natalie was not raised in a religious household. As she puts it, “I became a Christian on my own, and un-became a Christian on my own.” She laughs. “It was probably my form of rebellion. And I think that was pretty good. Instead of turning to the bottle, I turned to God. The Bible was my bottle. I didn’t go through that whole ‘sleeping around,’ thing. Instead I went to church.” She laughs again. “Um hmm … no bottle, just the Bible.”

It wasn’t long before Natalie, at about age 15, was leading worship with her young soulful musical voice. “I started to get offers to lead worship at other churches and get paid,” she explains. “I thought, ‘Wow, you can get make money doing this.’” This reflects visions of the astute early business acumen Natalie would display a scant few years later, and hone continuously in her years to come in the professional music world.

So if Natalie wasn’t born to music in the church, what led her into this odyssey in the first place? It wasn’t long after she had “become a Christian” when Natalie went to listen to a mass choir that was visiting from Washington State. Natalie explains, “They came and sang, and I said, ‘Oh my God!’ It was so amazing to me because I felt like something broke through in me.” When the request came, “Any singers come up on the stage,” Natalie felt compelled. “I went on the stage. I didn’t even know what I was doing. I just started to riff, basically… . It was a really weird experience. I felt changed from that day. Whether it was the spirit, or whatever, I just knew what I loved.” She says wistfully, “I fell in love with gospel music. I just wanted that.”

How did Natalie Brown go from singing Christian worship music like a soulful choir singer to becoming the enigmatic, naturally sexy and savvy singer of blue-eyed soul which she is internationally known to be today? How did she go from receiving modest honorariums as a visiting church worship leader to being a pop star of the internet world, with fans at every point on the globe? How is it that Natalie Brown has become big-scene recognized—through her talent and amazing business awareness—by the likes of world-renowned music sensations, Alicia Keyes and Teena Marie?

Part II of From Queen of Me to Queen of Indy Music, Blue-Eyed Soul Singer Natalie Brown Finds Success Doing it Her Way delves into the journey Natalie has taken to get where she is today … and where she intends to be tomorrow and next year and tens of years from now. As she puts it, “It’s going to get more and more and more do-able … so we need to swallow it, say, ‘That’s how it’s going to be,’ take steps and … be a part of that revolution.”

And a revolution is certainly is. Stay tuned next week and get on the bandwagon with Natalie Brown. While you’re waiting for the rest of her story, visit her website and listen to clips of her music:
http://www.natalie-brown.com/music.html

Read Part 2 located at:http://flipsidetomusic.com/?p=2510

Interview by: Linda J. Alexander
Original posted at: http://lindajalexander.tumblr.com/
July 27 2009

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