Bid On “A Holiday Benefit, Vol. II” Silent Auction Items Now!

At last year’s “A Family Holiday Benefit,” our raffle raised a few hundred extra bucks for 826NYC. At this summer’s Authentic Record’s Flood Relief Benefit, though, we tried a silent auction instead and raised a few thousand. And so, for Monday’s big “A Holiday Benefit, Vol. II,” we’ve got a bunch of cool silent auction…

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“A Holiday Benefit, Vol. II” Rehearsal

My primary assignment was bartender, but I also played the role of backing vocalist, reporter, photographer and tambourinist. Most of the “A Holiday Benefit, Vol. II” gang got together to rehearse last night: Chris Abad, Tony Maceli, Jaime Allegre, Casey Shea, Jamie Leonhart, Bryan Dunn, Deena Goodman, Rosi Golan, Derek James, Dov Rosenblatt and Amber…

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“A Holiday Benefit, Vol. II” Due December 1

Comprised of eleven tracks from some of New York City’s finest emerging artists plus their collective cover of “Happy XMas (War Is Over),” A Holiday Benefit, Vol. II is a charity CD spanning the sacred (Brent Shuttleworth’s “The God In You”), the profane (Derek James & Kyle Paas’ “Mele Kalilkimaka”), plus plenty of rockin’ holiday…

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Live Forever For You (Or, How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love The Smart Bomb)

At 7:16pm Wednesday night, I was working on a PowerPoint presentation entitled, “The Smart Bomb,” a very serious, very substantive, 16-page strategic document. At 7:17, the butterflies in my stomach overtook the synapses in my brain’s ability to make any further Q4 projections. There was a rock show to be had. So I left. Less…

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“Live At Rockwood Music Hall” Available Now!

As The A-Team’s Colonel John ‘Hannibal’ Smith used to say, “I love it when a plan comes together.” Benjamin Wagner “Live At Rockwood Music Hall” is available for download now! The online-only LP comes in two flavors: an 8-song iTunes version, and 10-song Authentic Records version. Tracks were culled from three separate performances over the…

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Hey, Whatever Happened To That Documentary?

What’s going on with Wagner Bros. Pictures, LLC’s still-forthcoming documentary, “Mister Rogers & Me?” I’m glad you asked. Or, I’m glad my pen pal Magnus did. “When I inquired about the documentary a few months ago [you said] it was on hold,” he writes. “I don’t know what the progress is, or what’s holding it…

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Backstage At The TRL Finale (Or, At Home At The End Of The World)

When I walked into Times Square this afternoon, the sidewalks were overflowing with wide-eyed, stargazing teenagers hoping to steal a glimpse of a celebrity — any celebrity — pouring out of a limo and into MTV Studios. Tonight was the end of an era: the finale of MTV’s flagship, Total Request Live. Two hours after…

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The Observer Effect

In physics, “observer effect” refers to changes that the act of observation will make on the phenomenon being observed. The rule applies to rock shows. Remember those junior high school plays? Ever dig that VHS tape your parent’s recorded out of the basement? The show were better in your memories, right? Well, way back in…

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