Live Music Review: Mash Rhode @ Cuddler's Cove

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Music Desperados - Marioposa Upshaw & Experiment Rhode
Metaverse Music
Mash Rhode

" Last night as I lay dreaming of pleasant days gone by,
Me mind bein´ bent on rambling to Ireland I did fly,
I stepped on board a vision and followed with the will,
When next I came to anchor at the cross near Spancil Hill."

"dia duit gach duine agus failte go dti Cuddlers Cove"
hello everyone and welcome to Cuddlers Cove"

Mash Rhode is a singer/guitar player from Dublin, Ireland, which is evidenced from the moment he approaches the mic onstage and starts speaking over the stream. Mash is Dublin Ireland - He is the streets, Fibber Magees, the Half Penny Bridge over the Liffey, toast on one side, and a pint of Guinness.

M: Mash is self-admittedly, a "chord basher" who misplaces lyrics, says whoops when he messes up...

...reads the chat and giggles at the comments. But none of that matters, in fact it is part of what makes him so real, as if you're sharing your favorite songs with a friend. Mash has the ability to charm everyone in any gathered audience, because he loves people but even more, he loves music, is passionate about it, and it shows thru his strumming and his singing. He has this uncanny ability to chose songs which not only fit his vocal style, but honor his musical past and present. In the words of a mutual friend and brilliant musician, Russell Eponym: "Mash has such a raw talent, and he takes some great chances musically" (thanks Russell). Thru Mash, I learned about the music of Paul Weller, and the Zutons; JJ Cale and Plain White T's. I thought I knew alot about music, but he taught me more.

Today, Mash was the second act of Crazy Saturday at Cuddlers Cove - the special venue already described in our previous reviews of Russell Eponym and Quinton Whitman. Due in no small part to the magic of owners Suka Nishi and Quinton Whitman, Cuddlers is one of Mash's favorite venues to play.

Ex: Mash has a love of music that goes beyond his singing and playing, making for an entertaining show that will always keep your toes tapping if not your whole body dancing! (M: which is why he has such a loyal following that keeps coming back to hear him over and over). He always mixes his set lists with classic songs from the sixties by The Beatles, The Yardbirds and The Who etc. along with slightly obscure gems from the past 10 years from bands like Plain White T'S and Cast. Mash's exhuburance allows him to hold an audience in the palm of his hand and have them singing along and contributing to the songs like no other artist I have seen.

Ex: Mash's love for the 60's, an era of wonderful music from his youth, is evident in his repetoire. He especially loves The Beatles and will usually sprinkle 2 or 3 Lennon/McCartney classics in his sets. I must briefly make mention of one - "Blackbird". This song is a particularly difficult song to perform but Mash plays it note for note without a single mistake!! ( M: usually :) Worth the price of admission alone. Me tips me hat to ya!

Ex: Cry, Baby, Cry (The Beatles, 1968). This amazing John Lennon song is featured on The Beatles 1968 double album known as "The White Album". This song, that dosen't receive much credit amongst The Beatles glorious canon of music, is deserving of much more attention. Today, Mash gave it that attention - a lovely rendition that highlighted the wonderful wordplay Lennon instilled in this gem of a song. Mash articulates each and every word that brings the song alive in a way I have not heard before. Maybe its his rich Irish brogue or just his skill as a songsmith, but this song sounded as fresh as the first day I heard it so many years ago!

Ex: "Hey There Delilah" (Plain White T's): Call me old-fashioned, but until Mash played this song, I had never ever heard of it despite it being a US #1 and UK #2 hit in 2007 for the band "Plain White T's" from Chicago. It is such a catchy tune, I doubt many would not leave Mash's gig without it ringing in their ears! This song, in Mash's capable hands, now has a UK sound, transforming it into a poppy folk song rather than merely another pop song. A highlight of Mash's setlist!
Mari: "Heart to Hang Onto" (Pete Townsend) - When Mash introduced this song for the first time, I fell in love with it, so much so that I looked it up on Youtube and found a bad clip of Pete performing it on the David Letterman show...with....Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. I loved Townsend's lyric - "Give me a heart to hang onto
Give me a soul that's tailored new, Give me a heart to hang onto, A heart to hang onto" - and i loved how Mash made it his own. This song is deceptively simple, and deeply poignant. Don't we all need a heart to hang onto?

2,3,4,5,6,7....

Mash has the ability to make you feel transported from any venue and welcomed into his in home studio, where you might find a bottle of bailey's, a floor covered with stained lyrics (is there someone holding them up for him to read?) and various papers, half-full glasses, over flowing ashtrays - Mash would offer you a pint, ask you to pull up a chair, and use the irish glamour to make you feel right at home, sharing musical stories from his youth and pulling you into his heart felt songs. It's an Irish ting.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=oD6dvRGKeBk
http://www.myspace.com/chordbasher

Live Music Review: Quinton Whitman @ Cuddlers Cove

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Music Desperados - Marioposa Upshaw & Experiment Rhode
Metaverse Music
Quinton Whitman

M: I love Saturday monrings; whether I've been up most the night working on art, or jumping from venue to venue listening to live music...I look forward to the clock hitting 7amSL time.. because that means its time to go to Cuddler's Cove. Cuddler's Cove is one of my favorite venues in SL. Its a beach venue, lots of sand in front of a tiki sort of wooden stage.. but its not the aesthetics of Cuddler's that makes it special to me.. its the atmosphere. Some kind of mysterious voodoo magic happens at Cuddler's every saturday morning... something in the air .. its the line up of musicians no doubt, but its something more, more than the music.. its an atmosphere of joy and support and appreciation; you can read it in the intelligent, witty banter of the crowd, but I think truly the atmosphere of Cuddler's starts with the venue owners, Suka Nisha and Quinton Whitman.. and Quinton generally takes the stage first on Saturday mornings at 7amSL and works his own musical magic, setting the mood and tone for each act that follows.

I wish I could accurately describe Quinton's voice.. the first word that comes to me is "earthy" - deep, low down, rich and earthy, like something you want to hold in your hands and let it sift thru your fingers...

...soil so rich that strong grain or a mighty oak tree would flourish in it; but its also smooth like fine rich molasses, and growly and gravely, like a stony path in some dark mysterious forest.. and baby you want to walk that path with Quinton, because even tho its a little dangerous, a little sexy, its also irresistable.

Q hails from West Virgina but thats not what i hear in his voice.. i hear something on the wind - like some long lost relation from scotland or ireland whispering and beckoning, reminding us of music deep in tradition Q honors musical tradition .. you can see it in his choice of songs.. but what makes his deep set list so entrancing is the way he can take a song you've heard a thousand times before, and wrap that voice around it, and make it his very own.

Ex: Q's repetoire is a journey through the last 80 years of music, like a musical ride on one of those old trains that winds its way thru mountains and valleys, rocking and swaying, spewing smoke and steam, with unexpected stops along the way - each song is interpreted in a unique way and conjures stories that will have you thinking deeply about life in general - just like his opening song this Saturday morning, "City of New Orleans" written by Steve Goodman and made popular by Arlo Guthrie.

We like to poke around a musicians set list, and while evey song Q interrprets is worth mentioning, we will restrain ourselves and share our thoughts on just these:

Ex: "For What its Worth." / "Cowgirl in the Sand" is a masterful blending, highlighting two of rock's foremost troubadours, Stephen Stills and Neil Young - "For What its Worth" is a protest song from the mid 60's that still is topical even today unfortunately. Written By Stephen Stills as a member of the amazing band "Buffalo Springfield". Q took it's catchy melody and segued it into a song from the Springfield's other famous member Neil Young. The song in question is his tour-de- force "Cowgirl in The Sand" from 1969. Powerful strumming and magnificent delivery of two archetypal 60's songs - A highlight of Q's set.

"Catch the Wind" - Donovan: Lyric -" When rain has hung the leaves with tears, I want you near, To kill my fears, To help me to leave all my blues behind / For standing in your heart Is where I wanna be,/And I long to be, Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind;" It's a forlorn love song, a song of longing.. he wants to be in her heart, but he "may as well catch the wind" - I had listened to this song many, many times but never really 'heard' it until Q sang it in his style, I didnt recognize it at first, so I listened intently to it..an example of how he reinteprets songs and makes them his own.

M: Ghost Riders in The Sky (Stan Jones, 1948) (made famous by Vaughn Monroe in 1949); House of The Rising Sun (Traditional) (First versions by Roy Acuff in 1938 & Woody Guthrie in 1941) - these two songs caught my attention - "Ghost Riders in the Sky" because when i first heard the guitar.. and the first part of the lyric.. i thought.. i know this..why do i know this? and then i heard Dick Dale's version, and Frankie Laine's version playing in my head.. and i thought.. wow, just brilliant; With House of the Rising Sun, i thought back to my own childlike attempts at playing my first six string, and the fact that this song, which has been covered by nearly every musician who puts guitar in hand, was made totally and completely new, fresh and unique by Q. and if thats not a testimony to musicianship, what is?

The Parting Glass: Traditional song, often sung at the end of a gathering of friends. It was allegedly the most popular song sung in both Scotland and Ireland before Robert Burns wrote "Auld Lang Syne". Q sings this acapella, often the closing song of his set. The first time I heard him sing this,Ii was mezmorized, I hung on each word, each note; for when a singer comes out from behind his guitar, and offers only his voice, that is the testimony that your voice is your instrument It takes courage to relinquish your guitar and stand alone - you, your voice, the audience - and with this song, Q manages to take you straight to a neighbourhood pub, a gathering of friends, and makes you feel cherished and that you know, you know - you'll come back again.
We urge you to attend any set by Quinton Whitman.. We guarantee "joy will be with you all".

http://www.tallanwhite.com/
http://www.thesixtyone.com/Tallanwhite/
Youtube

Some Good Web Musical Resources & Marketing Possibilities

Written by Enniv Zarf
Metaverse Music

There are a lot of great resources for musicians online outside of Second Life to use to promote original music. I have been exploring all the different possibilities and still discovering more. So I figured I should list them here just in case if you have missed some. And if you know of any other good resources, by all means list it in the comment section here in the article.

There's a good list after the jump so be sure to click on the read more link to read the whole article.

First of is of course the ever popular Myspace - www.myspace.com...

...Musicians as well as other artists of media genre can create a profile to promote themselves. The positive aspect of myspace really is just its popularity. Nearly every musician online has a profile so it's a great way to network. Feel free to add me there www.myspace.com/paulkwo. Your profile page can be manipulated pretty much almost in its entirety custom to your liking as long as you know how to do it. The drawback of the site is the limited amount of music you can upload.

Next we have The Sixtyone - www.thesixtyone.com which I discovered after reviewing a few musicians in Second Life. The cool thing about this site is that your fans can bump you up. It's a neat little program that gives you a little more reach. Personally I think it's more fun for your fans then for you. It is also definitely much more pop/rock oriented. The other drawback is that you really only get to upload a very limited amount of music onto the site. You get to upload more after being bumped. But for me personally it's not very effective since classical oriented music don't fare all that well there to begin with so I am capped. Feel free to bump me if you like at www.thesixtyone.com/paulkwo.

The site I am now very fond of is Reverb Nation - www.reverbnation.com. It really is a one stop music marketing and promotional website for artists. It's virtually unlimited in the amount of music an artist can upload. It connects itself directly to an artist's myspace page as well as facebook and other programs. It's got a bunch of cool widgets to use. It has very professional management tools of fans and promotional tools. It even have a gig finder to hook artists up to venues. The majority of their site and tools are free. There are some really advanced additional tools that you can pay for. But usually when an artist actually require those tools, you would already be making some money which would easily pay for any of those. I am absolutely a fan of Reverb Nation now and I've uploaded a huge amount of my music up there now. Feel free to listen to my music at www.reverbnation.com/paulkwo. Join as a fan of mine if you like too!

Facebook - www.facebook.com is gradually developing things for artists to use such as their artists page. But they are definitely very underdeveloped and isn't really all that friendly to artists. But if you have an established facebook profile, it's still a great way to do more networking. My profile is at usc.facebook.com/profile.php?id=3434939

The best program I think to sell music is CDbaby - www.cdbaby.com. It's a pretty affordable way to sell music and gets your music at a huge amount of websites, more then Reverb Nation's program. Though CDbaby is just slightly more expensive then Reverb Nation when it comes to CD releases, mainly they take a tiny little bit of commission on every sale. But they do also allow hard copy sales which Reverb Nation doesn't do. And they do sell. They are very well established and people do visit CDbaby looking for new music to buy. I have sold hardcopies and MP3's there before I even started promoting it myself. Check out my album (will be albums in a few weeks) at www.cdbaby.com/all/paulkwo. If you want to join as an artist, you will need to visit their artist site which is CDbaby.net

A few other marketing possibilities for artists are:

1) Blogger.com - Wordpress.com - LiveJournal.com - Xanga.com - Friendster.com

Blogging is really a great way to keep your fans up to date with all your happenings as well as get to know you a little better on a personal level. That always helps keep them as your fans when you add more personal touch. Though of course you do run into the problem of revealing too much and upsetting people. So be sure whatever you blog about, it's still in line with yours or your band's brand.

2) Podcasting @ iTunes and other podcasting sites

I think podcasting can be a very beneficial way of building a fan base. I record all my live music concerts and then I post them up as podcast episodes on a very regular basis. Of course if you do cover songs you will run into rights issues with ASCAP and BMI. But if you do all originals, consider doing some sort of podcast episode every now and then! Let your fans who missed you live catch up with you on your podcast!

3) Indaba Music - indabamusic.com

This is a very neat site where you can collaborate in recordings with artists from around the globe. It's a great resource and all the programs are free there for you to use so why not take advantage of it. It's like google documents for musicians. It really is a neat website. Visit my Indaba Music @ www.indabamusic.com/people/paulkwo

4) SNOCAP - Snocap.com

I personally have had a bad experience with this site mainly because it never worked. Nothing played properly on that site for me so I eventually just canceled the account. Their customer support was totally useless. But if you get it to work, it's a good way to sell some music.

5) Twitter - www.twitter.com

Twitter is a simple way to just keep people posted of your latest activities. The most beneficial thing is that a lot of sites allow for an importing of your twitter so it'll simplify you updating people about your events and activities. Mine's at www.twitter.com/paulkwo

6) LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com

A very good networking website that's business oriented. But you may still find some really good music connections there. My linked in is at www.linkedin.com/in/paulkwo

When you have set up all these sites, be sure to post it to your Second Life profiles to let all your fans know to join you there also.

If you have any of your own suggestions, feel free to comment here and share with everyone!

Metaverse Music Welcomes The Music Desperados

Written by Enniv Zarf
Metaverse Music

Metaverse Music wants to officially welcome our new reviewer team the Music Desperados!

Marioposa Upshaw & Experiment Rhode are both musicians in real life and have extensive musical backgrounds.

We are very excited about this wonderful new team and believe that they will add an exciting perspective to the Second Life live music scene that will benefit everyone!

Please feel free to leave us your comments and thoughts about our work here! We always welcome your feedback!

Also if you feel you are qualified to review music and would like to be on our team of reviewers of Second Life live music, please feel free to contact Enniv Zarf inside Second Life to apply. We are continuously looking for individuals with a passion for Second Life music who will give us different perspectives to all that goes on in SL as well as bring forth to the limelight the diamonds in the rough!

Thank you everyone for being a part of Metaverse Music!

Live Music Review: Russell Eponym

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Music Desperados - Marioposa Upshaw & Experiment Rhode
Metaverse Music
Russell Eponym

Hello Metaverse Music..welcome to the first post by your intrepid reviewers Experiment Rhode and Mariposa Upshaw, the Music Desperados. Our motto is Sin temor, sin favoritismo (no fear, no favoritism)

Russell Eponym
@ Cuddlers Cove 9amSL time Saturday January 17th and
The Wild Rover 5amSL time Sunday January 18th
For our debut, it is our pleasure to present a review of two shows by the immensely talented Russell Eponym, gentleman guitarist, romantic squire and songsmith. Russell has returned to SL after an absence, and we are of the opinon that the musical audiences of SL are much the better for his return.

Russell is an accomplished guitarist as well as a superb harmonica player - his finger picking is of the highest calibre and his eloquent vocal style, reminisent of the finest British thespians of the West End Theatre District, is rich and engaging- whether he is singing one of his original compositions, or any of his superbly selected covers. Russell shares his vast knowledge and joy in each song he presents with his audience, demonstrating his rare ability to make each audience member a part of his personal musical journey.

The first show was at the wonderful Cuddler's Cove, owned by Suka Nishi and Quinton Whitman, two of the warmest, supportive venue owners in SL...

...their sincere love of music and appreciation of musicians (Quinton being a very talented singer/musician himself), is readily apparent in all they do here. Cuddlers Cove is a magical venue indeed.
The second venue was Pauly Zimmer's Wild Rover, a warm and friendly pub with a great stage, a perfect setting for an engaging performer such as Mr. Eponym.


Russell's set list inludes covers by such artists as Bob Dylan (Boots of Spanish Leather, Don't Think Twice, its Alright; Love Minus Zero -No Limit); Donovan (Jersey Thursday, Colours and Catch the Wind); John Prine (The Speed of the Sound of Lonliness) and The Rev. Gary Davis (Cocaine, Candyman) Russell also presented a wonderfully crafted medley of Summertime, It Ain't Necessarily So, and Hit the Road Jack, finishing full circle back to Summertime. It should be noted that in the traditional blues song Candyman, Russell's finger picking increases in velocity setting the strings virtually on fire, and he never misses a note.

Regarding Russell's original compositions, we have chosen three for comment:
One Embrace - Russell's second life partner and rl wife Marianne Madrigal wrote the lyrics for this lovely song. It must be said that the love shared between Russell and Marianne is most evident, not only in the songs he presents, but in the way they communicate with each other during each performance. The audience cannot help but be wrapped in the warm embrace of the genuine and sincere love they have for each other, a rare and lovely thing to behold.

You Have No Eyes - this very special poignant song, speaks to the issues of discrimination and making judgments...if it fails to reach your heart, then you might want to see if your heart is where it should be. A sample of the lyric: "you dont have eyes to see my dreams, although you think you know me well, you've never gone behind the scenes, or sunk within my careless spell".

Sonnet - the lyrics of this original composition combine two poems, for Russell's dear Marianne. It is a melodious testimony to the love they share.

Your intrepid reviewers urge you to catch one of Russell's show's ..when you do, we guarantee that you will be musically embraced with his talent, warmth, and his extraordinary passion for music and musical stories.

Oh for those inquiring minds: An eponym is a person, whether real or fictitious, after whom a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named. Someone eponymous is someone that gives their name to something, i.e. Julian, the eponymous owner of the famous restaurant Julian's Castle.

For more of Russell:
http://www.thesixtyone.com/ukcowboysinger/collection/all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1AxuY1FASQ

New Reviewer Biography - Experiment Rhodes

Written by Experiment Rhode
Metaverse Music

Ex's musical adventures began at age six, when he began piano lessons in Sydney, Australia. The five years of piano and his love of music eventually led Ex to compose original music, to production and engineering, and finally to the formation of a band with mates in Australia.

Ex was for 15 years the editor of Australia's only Beatles' fanzine and he is a credited contributor to the Beatles Anthology Project as well as a consultant to MPL's (McCartney Productions Ltd.) Wingspan - the history of Paul McCartney's solo career.

Music Desperados = Sin temor, sin favoritismo (no fear, no favoritism)

New Reviewer Biography - Mariposa Upshaw

Written by Mariposa Upshaw
Metaverse Music

Mari's musical journey began at age sixteen when she purchased a used six string acoustic, and some musical books and started bashing about learning chords to CSN&Y and singing along. Just like alot of other music crazy kids, she eventually joined a band in high school, singing and then playing her first bass, an epiphone. Post college, she returned to California, joined a rockabilly band as their bass player, (playing a fender mustang), and sometime singer, playing the same clubs as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Los Lobos. A move to Texas led to playing bass (fender jazz bass) in a cover band Class Action.

Mari has written poetry, essays, short stories all her life and has parcipated in poetry readings, including the recent Amnesty International poetry reading in SL

Music Desperados = Sin temor, sin favoritismo (no fear, no favoritism)

Metaverse Music News for 2009

Metaverse Music News
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music

Thank you everyone for being a supporter of our work here at Metaverse Music. We took a little break over the winter to get some things sorted out.

We will be picking up with reviews with 2 new fantastic reviewers this 2009! We will be posting their biography here in the coming days so you can all get to know who they are and what they are about. Soon after we will bring in their first reviews which they have been very busy at this last week!

We will keep the site going for as long as we can to help bring about more serious conversations and discussions of music in Second Life!

Make this a Special Christmas Day and Season!

Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music

I'm sure that all of you have tons of parties to go to these two days and probably won't even get to this post until maybe afterwards. But I thought I should still suggest all of you to show your love to your favorite musicians in Second Life with some of these suggestions.

Even though it's a little late in the game, but you can still show your love by doing the following...

1. Buy an album of your favorite artists and give them to your friends - Nothing shows more love then buying their music. Best of all, you kill two birds with one stone. Your favorite artist is happier and so is your friend who will receive the gift.
2. Pay more then L$1,000 in donation at their next performance. That's just really treating your favorite artist to a cup of coffee! They deserve at least that for working so hard for all of us this year!
3. Send your favorite artist new clothes and other gifts. It's hard to keep up with new looks and stuff. So send them the latest and hottest fashion to get them on the way the next year.
4. Bring all your friends to their big Christmas Bash. They need your support this time of year. With so many events going on, it's hard to get an audience. So bring all your friends and pack the house. They will love you for it. And best of all, you don't have to pay anything for this!
5. Stick around after the show and tell your favorite artist how much you enjoyed the show and chat with them a little. It's so easy to end a concert and then TP right out to the next thing. But just spend a few minutes and just tell them how much you love them and their works. They will love you for it. It may take a few minutes for them to get back to you, but they are probably just in a ton of IM's! Have some patience and show them your love!
6. Visit their home shop/store/venue. If your favorite musician has a home place, stop by for a visit. Check out the latest stuff there and get all caught up with them. Don't forget to leave a tip.
7. Be a groupie. If you are really into supporting your musician, join in with them. Help them out. They can always use an extra host or just extra help with postings and marketing. Approach them and let them know you are willing to help. They don't know who is or isn't interested so it's up to you to let them know!

Well these are some suggestions of what to do this season for your favorite Artist as we all say goodbye to 2008 and go into 2009.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Merry Christmas from Metaverse Music

Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music

Thank you everyone for being a part of Metaverse Music. Although we haven't been here long, we feel like we have grown and gotten to know a lot of you and we welcome all that.

We hope that you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year with all our best wishes to all of you for the rest of this year and the years to come!

Take good care of all yourselves and enjoy all that we have to offer so far and what is to come!!!

Musical Alternatives - Part II: Second Life Theatre

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music

Continuing my presentation of some of the other live events that are around Second Life, I want to share with you one of my absolute passion alongside music in my life.

Theatre has been in Second Life for a very long time, even before voice. Back then theatre was done using live stream while they try to semi-sync the avatars to the stream. Of course the delay varies computer by computer so it was not the easiest of experience.

But today with live voice, theatre productions have a lot more room for their productions. Though there are still voice chat lag, it is significantly easier for actors to navigate their avatars and voice act at the same time. We see avatar movements and interactions sometimes with even the musicians. I have seen a few singer/guitarists who would venture into the audience during their set to create more interaction. These certainly add to the entertainment value of the said performance.

Today in Second Life...

...there are a few major production companies around producing both ancient classics to modern new theatre works. ACT UP, Avatar Repertory Theatre, Broadway Live, Caledon and Second Life Shakespeare Company to name a few. There are of course many more that I don't know of.

The amount of work often put into these productions are absolutely admirable. Many of such productions come with elaborate sets, full costumes and a substantial cast members. Often times in the Second Life world of music we feel it's difficult to organize events with multiple performers. But when compared to such productions where multiple rehearsals are needed by multiple performers, plus the added instability of the Second Life Client, this task becomes even more insurmountable. Kudos to all those who organize and throw together live theatre shows in Second Life.

Theatre in Second Life is a different kind of experience then theatre in real life, or even film and television. The combination of lag and technical limitations combined with the limitations of graphics changes the perspective of what theatre is about here in the metaverse. The actors have to work extra hard to bring their characters to life similar to the great radio actors of the past. But on top of their voice acting, they have to be able to navigate, use animations and even do complete costumes and even avatar changes in the mist of what could be a lagtastic experience. I have seen theatre productions on 4 sim corners where there were near 130 avatars total while I was still with SLSC.

There are productions by various companies all throughout the year. A good group to join would be the Theatre Arts Network if you like to be kept up to date with most productions by all the different companies. Of course you can always join all the individual groups of every company to really be kept up to date but most of us are already in too many music groups.

I hope everyone will try to make some theatre productions and see the admirable efforts for these amazing productions!!!

Up next: Second Life Ballet

Musical Alternatives - Part I: Art Galleries

Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music

Since I am going to take a temporary break from reviewing people, I don't want to just present a ton of venues the next two weeks. I want to also take this time to just share with everyone a little bit of what else is out there if you do not already know.

Second Life does have a lot of hidden gems in the music scene, but outside of the music scene there are also a lot of things of interest that you may or may not know. This will be a multi-part series that will give everyone a little taste of what else is out there aside from the Live Music scene.

Why are we talking about things outside of music? Well actually first of is that a lot of these other events often host musicians in Second Life and pay their musicians. A lot of galleries in Second Life hire musicians for their art exhibitions. Theatre companies hire musicians to play for their pre-shows or even use their music in their shows. And of course ballets are all about music and putting dance to them. I think this holiday season would be the perfect time to just give them a little bit of highlighting alongside the venues who host musicians.

As I just mentioned...

...galleries very often hire musicians to perform at their exhibitions. From the largest to even the smallest, these wonderful gallery owners bring together music and art, as they really ought to be. I personally have performed improv music to art works at many of these locations. Many other musicians in Second Life also have done various collaborations with artists around Second Life.

All throughout history, art movements are directly connected with musical movements. It is no surprise that the two are in marriage with each other quite often in the Metaverse. Perhaps something interesting and amazing may spin out of this unique mesh of a melting pot.

With over 400 galleries in Second Life, the art scene is vibrant. At the large galleries such as the Cetus complex and MOSLP (Museum of Second Life Photography) and many others, you will very often be able to catch many of your favorite artists performing there. Best of all is they very typically pay musicians to perform so you know they won't be starving that day. So support these musicians when they are playing at these venues and not venues that only pay them in tips! When you do, the gallery owners normally would be happier and more inclined to hire them for their next show, paying them again for their efforts! In effect you just paid more money to these musicians by showing up then they would normally make at most tipping venues.

The best part is that even some of these smaller galleries will pay to bring in musicians for their exhibitions. So if you ever do drop by any of these events, be sure to donate to the galleries and purchase art from their exhibits. Most art ranges in the L$300-L$600, though some of the more popular artists can have works up to the L$5,000-L$8,000 range. But by purchasing such works rather then ancient classics uploaded by random people, you too are then supporting not only the musicians in Second Life, but also the artists. And after all it is these artists that actually prettify our sims. Without their amazing builds and their artworks, Second Life would not look as fantastic as it does now.

It's also a refreshing change to listen to music in an art gallery where your eyes are also in for a treat. After a while of watching your favorite musician wearing the same animations on their instrument, it's just nice to feast our eyes on some fantastic art works. I get sick of looking at my own avatar playing. On top, galleries tend to look better in general and more creative in their builds since they are associated with artists.

So this winter season if you are looking for something to buy to give as a present to your significant other, family, friends, favorite musicians, or even your favorite reviewer (yeah right), I highly recommend supporting the arts community and purchase a work or two alongside your favorite musicians’ musical albums. With over 400 galleries around, you are sure to find something that is to your liking.

To learn more about galleries, look up the various art groups in Second Life. Art and Artists Network is a great group to join. And if you have an interest in becoming an art gallery owner and have a venue, contact Sasun Steinbeck who owns the Art Gallery Owner group and has the unofficial official listing of all the galleries in Second Life. If you have seen the sign "The Galleries of Second Life," she is the one who created that network system where you can also pick up the complete listing. So spend this holiday season art hunting as well as music listening!

Coming up next: Second Life Theatre and Second Life Ballet.

Venue Spotlight: Freestar Bay

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music
Freestar Bay

Alright it is getting a little close to Christmas and the holidays and I am sure no one really wants to hear any more of my reviews of artists for the time being. I'm going to take a pause on that and return after the holidays and continue to review more people then.

In the mean time I will present some of the best marathon venues and other special highlights of Second Life Music. These are all what I think are great stuff and worthy of attention so it'll all be all happy and good for the time being. I am not going to do any full negative venue spotlights.

The first one on my list is Freestar Bay, created by Freestar Tammas. This is one of the best venues I know of in Second Life. Now I want to first make it clear, I don't claim to know all the venues out there, so this is a review based on what I do know about venues. I have been to quite a few the last few weeks but still many more I have yet to see.

Freestar Tammas of course holds the fort down at Freestar Bay and she's a wonderful musician. But it has been a while though since I have heard her so I would love to do a review on her sometimes too soon.

Her weekly musician showcases are held Saturday night...

...where each musician performs a half hour set. This really is the best way to get to know different musicians of all styles. There are some regulars that I am fond of and are happy to know that they perform there often. But being a showcase with a rotating roster of people, there are bound to be people I don't like. Nevertheless this is one of the best ways to sample different musicians and discover whom you do and don't like.

What I do absolutely admire about Freestar and her venue is her absolute support of Live Music. Originally they were in a private sim elsewhere where they had to put up with prim limitations and pressure from the sim owner because of her venue's popularity. But now she is on her own island and totally in control. She also aims to open up alongside her main venue, a few side venues to support alternative live music.

She doesn't really make any money from this endeavor. She only aims to try to get the sims self supporting enough and to pay her staff. On top, she wants the donations to support charity organizations. These are all wonderful and noble efforts to do, though I do know how difficult that is in Second Life. One can still hope though.

Still her main weekly musician showcase is definitely a very important showcase to get a good audience group to hear you. So if you are a new musician and have not performed at Freestar Bay, I would highly recommend checking it out one Saturday night and seeing all the different people playing there. It'll give you a good sampling of what's out there. And perhaps if you get to know Freestar and invite her to one of your events, she may just invite you to hers. But that's between you and her. I have no idea how she chooses her musicians.

I do love the venue a lot and am extremely happy it got a new home. It's a beautiful place and does great in creating the environment. Most weeks she uses a virtual room to provide a variety of settings for the performers to pick to fit their music better. But once in a while she has these themed nights with one permanent set, which are also fantastic in their feel and look.

Finally, if you know of another venue that you think are amazing and has done tremendous amount of support of live musicians in Second Life, please leave me a note here and I'll check them out!

From the Editor's Desk: A Gift From Metaverse Music

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music

I know it can get all crazy here at Metaverse Music with all the emotions so high. I thank everyone who have read anything here at Metaverse Music and have commented.

This is the Greensleeves track in my new album "A PK Christmas." It is available at my gallery if you are interested. It's also on my iTunes podcast free, but you'll have to dig through them cause different tracks came from different performances. Nevertheless this track is my gift to everyone.

Yes, you may review this here if you like. Yes you can say whatever you want, just keep it clean - language wise. I'm always interested in your honest opinions. I share mine here.

Merry Christmas; Happy Holiday; Season Greetings; Happy New Years!

Track after the jump...

Artist: Paul Kwo / Enniv Zarf in Second Life
Album: A PK Christmas
Track: Tommy's Night <<--- FREE! (Click on the link to download the track FREE for your private use and enjoyment! By downloading, you agree to not forward the track to any other party. Please share this track only by referring others to this website. Your support is greatly appreciated!)

PK MUSIC PLAYER: (Requires Quicktime)


AFTERTHOUGHT:

We may not always agree. You may not even like me because of some of the stuff I said. And I may be in complete opposition to what you said. But I like you nevertheless. I see this site as a critical look at what we are all doing in Second Life in terms of music. Whether or not you agree with me on specific reviews, I have caused people to pay be critical. Even if it is about how I am reviewing the music and the set. I think those are all wonderful and valid points everyone is making. I get defensive too sometimes, I'm only human. In the end, I do believe everyone is trying to do what they think is best in their eyes.

Well enjoy the music, or not!

Take care everyone and I will see you all around!

Live Music Review: Vanny Wilder @ Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music
Vanny Wilder
Jerry Garcia Amphitheater

Since the last set was only half an hour, I figured I'd stay for this next set too.

Vanny does mostly instrumental works, but does add voice in on the occasion. And he knows his guitar very well, and he plays it very well. He has fantastic energy that is controlled all the time. Never going too far. But that may or may not be a good thing depending on what you personally like.

For me, sometimes it's a great thing. But at times I would like to hear him about about to break that guitar too, which I'm pretty sure he has no problem doing. Still though he's absolutely a fantastic musician and guitar player and does it all effortlessly.

Vanny opened his set with what he usually opened with...

...and it's a pretty fun and groovy lick. But I think the fact that he played it so many times, after hearing the rest of the concert I realized how uninspired that was comparative to the rest of what he played. Don't get me wrong, I didn't realize that until afterward because the rest of the set was so much more interesting and moving then that first piece. The one thing I did think initially was that the piece did run a little too long. By the end of it, I sort of wanted him to just move on to something else or do something crazy.

The rest of the set really showed how much sound he can get out of his instrument. He does everything that I would expect from a guitar player. He's probably one of the best electric guitar player I have heard so far in Second Life. Though I am sure a few others could play a mean one, but since they sing most of the time they rarely show off what they can do with the guitar. And I can't compare the electric stuff with the acoustic stuff, they are just too different.

His third song he actually sang some stuff. But he really muffled up his voice and mumbled his words. He also let the instrument dominate and cover his voice. It came across more like it's half spoken and half sung and it worked well. The voice added this earthy, bluesy quality to the music that I thought gave it a neat variation. It almost felt like it as a random bum off the street trying to mumble something to me. Vanny really got that Stevie Ray electric blues feel down.

Vanny really grew on me over the half hour. His Latin Rumba had some really fantastic sounds that I absolutely enjoyed. Though I did find that with his voice and the electric blues, I'm not sure I buy into it 100%. But it was still absolutely fascinating to hear though even for just once.

He had great energy and his music is there. But I almost wanted him to be just a little less controlled and more wild. I always just feel like that this kind of electric blues just is the unabashed form of blues, with no intention of holding back. So I was kind of hoping for something super sick and super sweet. He gave me just sick and sweet, which I will still settle for any day.

Btw, he also builds and sells household items. We all do multiple things in SL, so should definitely go and check that out sometimes.

Live Music Review: Grateful Stryker @ Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music
Grateful Stryker
Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre
3.5 stars out of 5 stars

Ok, here's a posting I saw today so I thought to check it out:

"Hiya Everyone!!! Grateful is on FIRE!!! Here in San Fran, come on over and join the party, while we listen to this awesome musician and his AMAZING way of mixing originality and passion into everything he plays!!!"

Well it's nice to hear some original music in Second Life. It's always a welcomed thing. It's much needed really. And Grateful does have a unique voice that kind of has this mix of a heavy metal band like quality like KISS, but mixed in with a little bit of Elvis. I'm talking more about the quality of his voice, not so much the style of his singing.

Now I wouldn't considering him an amazing singer, but he is a good musician. But he does sound passionate about what he is singing and what he has to offer and that's definitely a welcomed bonus. So the post is correct in that regard.

What I did like about Grateful was some of his instrumental solo work...

...But I wouldn't think of him as the best musician around as I have heard others who are definitely much more interesting with an original sound here in Second Life. He does play well, and he sings decently. His tunes are good too. But that doesn't say to me an amazing musician with an awesome mix of originality and passion. But if you like him enough, you may call him that. So here in the case of Grateful, I can understand why some people would call him that.

My one biggest problem really is that I don't really think his voice type fits what he's singing and wrote. I think his voice is much more suited for hard rock, heavy metal type music. But his songs are almost too sweet and nice. It had a certain type of 80's band feel to his singing and it just didn't mesh in my mind. But I can reckon that this is more of my subjective choice in taste. Perhaps it is this sound that some people may be referring to as original and amazing. But for me, I rather hear him sing more of a screaming type of songs and let someone else sing the songs he's written.

It was a half hour set and it's a different kind of a half hour, it's pretty different. It's neat to listen to. He is a good as a musician. He plays well, sings decently and has good tunes. Does that make an amazing musician? Probably not in my books. Just a good one who has needs to polish his voice just a little bit more.

Live Music Review: Pato Milo @ Bay Vista

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music
Pato Milo
Bay Vista
3 stars out of 5 stars

Alright, it's late night and I'm in need of doing a review. What do I do?

I get this IM from Second Life Music group that said:

"Pato Milo Live @ Rainforest 10PM : Yahhhh You Latenight Partiers,,,You know whats up...Get Your pixels on over here to party in the rain with SLs most rockin Duckie!! rowboat attached!"

This sounds like fun. I know I'm known all about getting into the quality of the music and the singing. But I am absolutely alright with entertainers if they are here to entertain. But they better be darn well entertaining.

Pato isn't all that fantastic when it comes to singing. He has a pleasant voice though, and I like listening to his voice quality. He just doesn't sing very well. But he does like to give his banter between songs, rambling about really nothing important. Which is fine since he’s pitching himself more of a party guy and an entertainer.

My favorite part of Pato's act...

...is his Banjo. I was told it is a 6 strings banjo that is played like a guitar. But I have nothing against that as long as he delivers the sound, and as long as it's not a computer playing a MIDI instrument. Yes, another performer Winters Kanto was caught with this caught by one of his venue host. In fact he IMed me in the middle of this concert. I will definitely write up a post about this.

But since Pato is playing the Banjo himself, it really doesn't matter to me. Some people call it a cheater's Banjo, but would I call someone who's playing keyboard synths of non-piano sounds a cheater? It takes just as much skill to play that well. I love Pato's Banjo. Whenever that's out, I feel like Pato's on.

That was about it though for me. He wasn't a bad entertainer, but he wasn't good either. I wasn't really that interested in what he was saying or singing or doing, but I didn't mind him being there either. It was more like background noise to add to the atmosphere while I chatted with my friends and did my things. Sometimes I would look up and enjoy the brief moments of interest. But that's about it. There were moments here and there that were kind of interesting. But honestly nothing was really memorable. There are other entertainers in Second Life that is just memorable and catchy (“Sex and beer” comes to mind) and I just can't get enough of. Pato isn't one of them.

But he is relatable. I think that's his catch, I can relate to him. He feels real. So I don't mind at all having him there just to be real. It has this quality of being in a real life coffee shop in NYC or some other major metropolitan area. There's some guy doing his thing there. Nothing great; nothing horrific. He’s just there to add to the ambience. That is what Pato is to me. Nothing wrong with that, just nothing special. He's just there but real.

I don't know if I will say he should change it or do something different if this is his thing. I don't have any problems with him being there. But if he wants to be more then just being there, he needs to move to a more extreme place. He's not deadpan enough to be deadpan. He's also not crazy enough to be wild. He's not funny enough to make me pee in my pants. I'm just not sure where he really wants to go with his act and I'm not sure he is sure either.

Well the notice read party with rockin' duckies. I guess I got that. But it's not the wild crazy musician parties, it's more of a chill and mellow out with your friend type of party.

By the way, I had to write this review the next day cause while I was at the concert I got like 4 IM’s all trying to talk to me about different issues. So I just jotted down some notes as I sat and chatted.

Live Music Review: Izabela Jaworower @ Appassionato Resort

Second Life Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Originally for Classical Music in Second Life
Izabela Jaworower
Appassioinato Resort

I heard Young Zeid a few weeks ago and heard Izabela at a duo concert with Young last week. But I wanted to do a review on just Izabela and so I just sat and enjoyed the last concert and didn't review that. For your information their duo concerts are not double stacked streams, they are actually in the same location performing.

She started off the concert with an "encore" piece, Schumann’s "Tramerei" which wasn't on the program. She forgot to put that back in and even forgot to announce it before she played. But it was definitely a delightful treat to hear such a beautiful piece played with such sensitivity.

Izabela's playing has a wonderful sensitivity to her that is both elegant but with vigor when necessary. Her techniques were near flawless and her tone has a wonderful singing quality. It's brilliant to hear her take the stage on her own from top to finish.

This was the second time...

...I heard her play Vivaldi's "Winter" from "The Four Season". She played it last week at the duo concert and she must have worked on it over the weekend cause it's even better then the last time I heard it. Her tone's even more solid throughout the work and there were even less flaws throughout the piece. Don't get me wrong, she was pretty darn good to begin with. But this performance was definitely on a different league then the last one. It's absolutely fantastic. She had such a wonderful feel for the entire piece today and just sounded like she was totally immersed in the sonic world of Vivaldi. She was able to create both the delicate moments with beautiful singing tones, and flew away with full on vigor virtuosity when appropriate.

She then performed Bach's famous "Air on G String" with just deep passion in a very soulful manner. I almost wouldn't mind if she totally played it without the backing tracks for these pieces. She has such a rich tone in her lower register that I can listen to and enjoy all on its own. I have a special affinity for the G-string on the violin. It really is my favorite string on the instrument and Izabela does not disappoint.

The Szymanowski is a haunting piece and Izabela delivers a chilling performance that is appropriate for the program for this winter season. My one problem is the balance between the piano and the violin. The piano sounds very distant while the violin sounds very close. I would prefer the piano to be more present. It's just a tad bit too far off in comparison that I lose some of the watery effects that it's trying to carry. I much prefer the balance on her performance on Franck then I did on this. But Izabela speaks just so well with her instrument on this piece where her understanding of the message is absolute. This is the kind of music we need to hear more of.

Izabela just speaks so well with her instrument no matter what she plays. Her sounds carry with it tremendous weight and power. And she does them with such passion that even when she's by herself with no accompaniment we wouldn’t have missed them. She moves from era to era, style to style with ease and grace. She delivers a fantastic performance of both classics and lesser-known works. She offers a wonderful contrast from Young's playing that is definitely worth listening to.

By the way, here's her entire program.

"Tramerei" from "Kinderscenen"........R. Schumann
"Winter" from "The Four Seasons"....................... Antonioa Vivaldi
"Air on G String".......J.S. Bach
"Arethusa Spring" for violin & piano.............. Karol Szymanowski
"Polish Capriccio" for solo violin,
"Oberek"................................................................ Grazyna Bacewicz
"Polonaise Brillante" in A Major ......................Henryk Wieniawski
"Sonata" for violin and piano .....................................Cesar Franck

Live Music Review: Satin Galli @ Golden Horn

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music
Satin Galli
Golden Horn

Time for another review.

Satin Galli was advertised as (and I quote):

• "Satin Galli's name says it all! His voice is smooth as satin! If you're looking for great vocals and style, you've found the right guy! Satin has sung must of his life, and grew up in a very musical family. 'Everything involved music growing up' Satin says. Talent comes from deep within him"

I know puffery is a big part of marketing and used to hype up a lot of people. But with puffery comes judgment. My take is the more you puff up something, the higher you increase someone's expectation. When my expectations are up, I become more critical about the person and the music. If you tell me it's just a fun party with no standards, well I come in expecting that. If it's more then that then I'm even more delighted. But if you tell me someone has a voice as smooth as satin, yes I know it's a play on his name, I am literally expecting that.

So was Satin's voice as smooth as satin? No. Usually I put this criticism on the venue for hyping up someone to get attention. But not this one, this was in Satin's profile. On top of that, he writes:

• "If you're looking for great vocals and style, you've found the right guy! Satins name says it all."

There are minor issues in his singing throughout the concert. There are the occasional pitch intonation problems. There are passages that sound like a bland karaoke singing at a local pub. But, there is some nice stuff here and there and his voice does have a good quality to it. It's just not fully polished.

His voice isn't bad, but it is not what I would consider smooth as satin, great vocals and style. A much more accurate description would be Satin’s is a good singer who enjoys sharing his oldies and some contemporaries with his audience. Once in a while he may even be as smooth as Satin, if that’s possible.

Satin sings a lot of oldies...

...which were nice to enjoy. He does do some contemporary rocks too but they are not as good as his oldies. I can tell he does enjoy all these songs and love singing them. And before you all think I hate Satin, I don't. I just don't think he's correct in his advertisement of his own abilities. He is really on par with a good local bar singer outside of a major US metropolitan area.

It is very obvious that his voice definitely needs some polishing to create a real sound that would be record worthy. To me that is what the words great vocals and style means. If you are great, then you are record worthy. You may not have any intention to record anything and you don't have to. But that's what great is, at least to me. Satin is not record worthy, at least not what I heard live at Golden Horn live. Even his Myspace stuff isn't what I would consider great vocals and full of style, though there are some good moments in some of the recordings like "Landing in London."

I have been a bit harsher on Satin because of his description of himself. I do think if he didn't advertise himself as that I would be much less judgmental about his music. He is a good singer. He has a good voice. He is pretty on pitch most of the time. He struggles at the higher register. He’s really a Baritone. He does have a descent quality in his voice that those couple of moments of goodness sounds pretty nice and enjoyable. I would encourage Satin to record every live session of his and then listen to them all from top to bottom. That's the best way to learn and since he has a musical family, maybe have them sit down and give them an honest weigh in. But I know how often that doesn't work since family tends to want to support you then to be honest.

As for style, I think Satin is trying to nail down his style and his voice. I don't think he has it yet. It's one thing to sing your favorite songs really well. That's the beginning. But until you can turn even song that aren't your favorites and make them your own like you own them, and until we can say that is definitely a Satin Galli performance because of how you sing it, you don't have style yet. Style is very hard to develop, especially for singers. We have a huge tendency to imitate when we sing but that will only get you maybe to a hotel lounge singer level. There are a couple of people I have heard in Second Life so far that actually have a style of their own. They turn all the songs (covers and originals) they sing into their own versions. We may not always agree or like them, but that is real style.

I did get a chance to chat with Jeanaette Janus who is in charge of the venue at Golden Horn. I think she's an absolutely wonderful person to talk to and very intelligent. Given the fact that I had been rather critical about some of the performers at her venue that she is still talking to me, I have to give her major credit. The conversations are probably something for a From the Editor's Desk column, but the conclusion I got is that we are all playing a part here in Second Life live music. She is supporting it in her own way while I see it my way and does it my own. To me it's always a pull between all the different sides that makes a scene. If it's all one sided, all happy and bubbly, it doesn't work. If it's all critical and judgmental, it doesn't work. We need both and everything in between.

There have been some real streaming issues lately in Second Life. I few people I know have been struggling with things like that. But they are out of the control of the artist so it's just something we all have to put up with. I am still having issues with my own stream on my Mac and have to use my PC to log on today to play the streams to review. That's Second Life.

I would say if you like to hear some oldies in a decently performed manner, Satin is the right guy for you. But don't go in expecting awesomeness and something that's just great. The vocals are good but not flawless. The style is correct but not unique. But you may occasionally hear something that may be close to being as smooth as silk. But the over all quality of the entire concert is not smooth as silk.

Live Music Review: Noma Falta @ The Original Winterland

Second Life Live Music Review
Written by Enniv Zarf (RL: Paul Kwo)
Metaverse Music
Noma Falta
The Original Winterland

Finally my stream decided to work again, all on its own. I didn't do anything to fix it, no one did. I am just counting my blessings that it's working and I can continue to review.

Of course it wouldn't be an Enniv Zarf day of reviews if I didn't have something to complain about. Today's concert was for UNICEF charity for children, a fantastic thing to support. My only complain was actually the teleport point. What in the world is up with these teleport points at ridiculously far off places? As if Second Life lag isn't bad enough with a ton of people at a concert, some venue owners decided they want you to first get lost and not know where the concert is after teleporting in, then when you do find it you have to lag through the walkway to get to the actual concert. Please set teleport points right in the middle of the concert area or at least somewhere close enough that I can see it without having to look at a map.

But that aside I am very glad to have stopped by Noma Falta's concert. She has one great voice and she knows how to work it too. She's a blues singer who also venture into soulful rock, which leads me to think do blues singer hold themselves to higher standards then pop and alternative rock singers. No matter Noma really has a fantastic rich voice and puts on an awesome show!

Her voice has great...

...range that is solid from the lowest of her register to the very top falsettos. On top of that her chops on her electric guitar is just electrifying. There is a lot of power coming through the stream and just lights up my speakers.

The best parts I think of her set are the wonderful songs she sings with only her bass. They feel like the equivalent of an unplugged version by most other singers who does it with a guitar. I think they are just sweet to listen to. It’s great to just hear her voice carry the entire song which she has no problem doing. In these songs, she was totally exposed but still carried through strong. She doesn't hide her voice and she doesn't need to. She did have a headache today and was having some issues juggling some stuff, which contributed to some shakiness at rare moments that are barely detectable. I probably wouldn’t have paid attention to them if she didn't point out her nerves kicking in. She did stop midway one song, but that is not an issue to me at all. We all have those days.

Her other numbers are also very well mixed and balanced never to cover her wonderful voice, which is definitely her selling point. Having this wonderful complete sound and varying it back and forth between this and the slimmed down electric bass versions really adds to the diversity that helps keep things fresh throughout.

She also has a good diverse selection of songs to begin with that covers a few good sub-categories of blues. And no matter which style she does, she still brings her gifts to the table and owns them all.

I do want to get to know more about her original music. I usually have a hard time telling which are the originals at a concert since without them explicitly telling me it’s an original, it could be an obscure cover. So whenever doing a concert that mixes in both, make sure to let your audience know what’s what.

Another worthy note that I absolutely think is a thing we have to get more into in Second Life is to sing each other’s original songs. We are a community here so why not? Noma presented a song by a friend of hers near the beginning of the concert. It was a good song too and her voice worked very well with it, carrying the song into my living room. I can think of a few other songwriters in Second Life whose songs I would like to hear someone else singing.

Noma's music has a wonderful old school vibe that I can certainly get used to hearing. Her voice along with her instrumentals is just both rock solid. She claimed to have a headache, but if this is her off day I sure can't wait to hear her on an on day. So check her out any day of the week and you’ll all have a great time with some great music.