Dan Auerbach—best known as half of The Black Keys—will embark on a winter tour beginning November 5 in Columbus, OH. The tour, which includes shows at New York City’s Webster Hall, Nashville’s Cannery Ballroom and Philadelphia’s Theater of the Living Arts, arrives on the heels of Auerbach’s critically acclaimed solo debut Keep It Hid, recently released on Nonesuch. The album received wide praise from The New York Times, NPR’s Fresh Air, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. Opening for Auerbach on the fall dates are Justin Townes Earle and Jessica Lea Mayfield. Please see below for tour details.
Keep It Hid was produced and engineered by Auerbach at his studio Akron Analog and features him playing a variety of instruments, including drums, guitar, percussion, and keyboards. Many of Auerbach’s friends and family play on the album, including his uncle James Quine, who contributes vocal harmony and electric guitar on the track “Street Walkin.” Other musicians include Jessica Lea Mayfield, who sings on the track “When the Night Comes,” and Bob Cesare, who plays drums on “Whispered Words,” a song originally written by Auerbach’s father. Of the recording process Auerbach states, “I wanted a live, organic sound. Nothing was too plotted or planned, just a lot of spontaneity.” The record was mixed by Auerbach’s good friend Mark Neill at Neill’s Soil of the South studio.
With his Black Keys bandmate Patrick Carney, Auerbach has recorded five critically acclaimed full-length albums, beginning with 2002’s The Big Come Up. 2008’s Attack & Release debuted on the Billboard Top 200 chart at #14, marking The Black Keys’ highest position to date. The New York Times called it a “savage, bitter concoction built on a snarling punk-rock riff,” while the Los Angeles Times called it “without doubt the Keys’ most dynamic effort yet.” Auerbach also has been busy with his own record label, Polymer Sounds, for which he produced the 2008 debut from Jessica Lea Mayfield With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt; Pitchfork praised Mayfield’s album as “fascinating and endlessly listenable.” On November 18, 2008, Nonesuch will release a DVD produced and directed by Lance Bangs titled The Black Keys Live at the Crystal Ballroom.
November 5 Newport Music Hall* Columbus, OH
November 6 The Majestic Theater* Detroit, MI
November 7 Phoenix Concert Theater* Toronto, ONT
November 8 Le National* Montral, QC
November 9 The Paradise† Boston, MA
November 11 Webster Hall† New York, NY
November 12 Theater of the Living Arts† Philadelphia, PA
November 13 Sonar* Baltimore, MD
November 14 Cat’s Cradle† Chapel Hill, NC
November 16 The Orange Peel* Asheville, NC
November 17 Variety Playhouse* Atlanta, GA
November 18 House of Blues* New Orleans, LA
November 20 Minglewood Hall* Memphis, TN
November 21 Cannery Ballroom† Nashville, TN
December 3 Turner Hall* Milwaukee, WI
December 4 First Avenue* Minneapolis, MN
December 6 The Bluebird* Bloomington, IN
December 8 Southgate House* Newport, KY
December 9 House of Blues* Cleveland, OH
Here he is performing the title track from his debut solo album, Keep It Hid:
Scofield is proud to release his 36th solo album, Piety Street, which will be available March 31 on Emarcy. It’s a blues inflected album with an adapted gospel repertoire.
“I’ve always wanted to record and tour a blues project,” says Scofield. “That’s where I started as a guitarist and I’m feeling that music more than ever of late. I launched a personal search for musical inspiration beyond the standard 12 bar blues and found it in “old time gospel” music - the closest relative to and inspiration for the R&B that we all love. I’ve always treasured Gospel but never really dug deep into it. My search led to countless songs that really move me. It’s really powerful stuff. Of course, it will be Gospel done my way - all the arrangements are mine.”
Joining Scofield on Piety Street are the spectacular musicians, Jon Cleary (piano, keyboards and vocals), George Porter Jr. (bass), Ricky Fataar (drums), John Bouttè (vocals) and Shannon Powell (percussion).
Track highlights include Dorothy Love Coates’ “That’s Enough”, the Thomas A. Dorsey classics, “Never Turn Back” and “Old Ship Of Zion”, Rev. James Cleveland’s “Something’s Got A Hold On Me”, and the traditional “Sometimes I feel Like A Motherless Child.”
Check out the widget:
http://widget.nabbr.com/oh_happy_day.html
EMI Music/Vector Recordings is set to release the highly anticipated recording Oh Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration on March 31. The album features performances by 3 Doors Down, Al Green, Patty Griffin, Heather Headley, Jon Bon Jovi, Jonny Lang, Queen Latifah, Joss Stone with Buick Audra and many more (see below for full track listing). For the project, these world-renowned musicians collaborated with Gospel artists and several of today’s top Gospel Choirs to record renditions of some of the most loved and recognizable inspirational songs. It’s been said you don’t just hear gospel music you feel it. It’s woven through the fabric of the American spirit and history and its influence can be felt and heard around the world today and in the background of many of today’s most talented artists and musicians.
The album’s concept resulted from a close partnership between EMI Gospel and Vector Recordings and was produced by Ken Levitan, Bill Hearn, Jack Rovner, Ken Pennell, Drew & Shannon, Johnny K, Sanchez Harley, Obie O’Brien, Keith Thomas, Tommy Sims, Cedric Thompson, Simon Climie, Michael McDonald, Joss Stone and Buick Audra. Of the project, Bill Hearn, CEO of EMI Christian Music Group comments, “We wanted to create an album that honored the legacy of gospel music—it’s the backbone of the American spirit—but also create unique artist pairings that fans could find no where else.” Vector’s Ken Levitan adds, “Gospel music has always been not only spiritually and musically uplifting but also a great American art form. With this project we’ve taken artists who have been successful in other genres and combined them with this great art form to create new powerful music.”
While recording the record at Ocean Way Studio in Nashville, Jonny Lang notes, “(Gospel music) is really all I’ve been listening to for the last few years…it’s my favorite form of music…at least for now…” Lang goes on to say, “it’s such an honor to record with the legendary Fisk Jubilee Singers, their very first take on the song just blew me away. They’re such pros…quite an honor…” Additionally, Heather Headley comments, “It’s not everyday that you get the opportunity to revisit a classic song like “People Get Ready,” record it with a great producer like Keith Thomas, and sing alongside a legend such as Rev. Al Green. It really was a pleasure, and I had a great time doing it.”
Track Listing:
1. Jonny Lang & the Fisk Jubilee Singers “I Believe”
2. 3 Doors Down & the Soul Children of Chicago “Presence of the Lord”
3. Robert Randolph & The Clark Sisters “Higher Ground”
4. Jon Bon Jovi & the Washington Youth Choir “Keep the Faith”
5. Al Green & Heather Headley “People Get Ready”
6. Mavis Staples & Patty Griffin “Waiting for My Child To Come Home”
7. Michael McDonald & the West Angeles COGIC Mass Choir “Storm Before The Calm”
8. Angelique Kidjo “Redemption Song”
9. Aaron Neville & the Mt. Zion Mass Choir “A Change is Gonna Come”
10. Queen Latifah & Jubilation “Oh Happy Day”
11. Joss Stone & Buick Audra “This Little Light Of Mine”
Available Exclusively At Walmart:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10928864
Late last year, Concord Music Group announced it had entered into an exclusive arrangement with the Ray Charles Foundation to develop the artist’s post-1960 catalog, which contains his classic work for the ABC-Paramount and Tangerine labels. In addition to planning a series of CD reissues, Concord will make the catalog available digitally for the first time ever.
Ray Charles — Genius: The Ultimate Ray Charles Collection chronicles the high points in Charles’ catalog. As noted jazz writer Don Heckman writes in his liner notes, “The first feeling that comes to mind after even a short glance at the titles included here is a sense of wonder. The diversity of the material is impressive in its own right — blues, of course, transformed gospel songs, country tunes, an American Songbook standard, a Beatles classic and a climactic American anthem. But more than that, it’s what he does with all these variegated numbers. Good singers can do great interpretations. Great singers like Charles possess the material in a way that makes a song their own, while remaining true to the essence of each.”
Ten of the tracks on this collection made it to #1 on the R&B charts and three songs hit #1 on the pop chart. “That may sound like nothing more than numbers,” says Heckman, “but it represents an extraordinary string of successes in which Charles released a Top 10 R&B single in almost every year between 1954-67, and a Top 10 pop single almost every year between 1959-67.”
The album contains 21 of Charles’ biggest hits, each within its own unique history and meaning. “Hit the Road Jack,” penned by Percy Mayfield, a #1 pop hit and a 1961 Grammy winner for Charles, opens the collection. Also included are “What I’d Say (Part 1),” ranked #10 in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time; the classic “Busted”; “I Can’t Stop Loving You” from the album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, which reached #1 on R&B and pop charts; the Bobby Sharp composition “Unchain My Heart”; Charles’ signature rendition of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia on My Mind, another #1 pop hit; “I Got a Woman” which was Charles’ first #1 R&B hit and was later sampled by Kanye West; “You Are My Sunshine,” the Jimmie Davis standard that Charles brought to #1 R&B; a soulful edition of Hank Williams’ “Take These Chains From My Heart”; the offbeat “Hide Nor Hair”; Ashford & Simpson’s “Let’s Go Get Stoned,” a #1 R&B hit by Charles; “You Don’t Know Me,” earlier a hit for Jerry Vale, which charted #2 pop; “Hallelujah I Love Her So,” originally a gospel hymn; “Crying Time,” a Buck Owens song which Charles brought to #6 on the pop charts; the funky “I’m a Fool for You,” which charted #1 R&B; “One Mint Julep,” Charles’ version of The Clovers’ hit with a big band arrangement by Quincy Jones; “Here We Go Again,” sung as a duet with Betty Carter; “Yesterday,” the Lennon/McCartney classic, in which Charles, according to Heckman, “embraces the song’s deep inner heart”; and finally his 1972 signature recording of “America the Beautiful,” the perfect ending and relevant once again.
Genius: The Ultimate Ray Charles Collection will be packaged in a handsome embossed digipack and presented with a 24-page collectors’ book of rare photos and Heckman’s notes.
“Genius Loves Company was Ray Charles’ highest selling record ever,”
said Valerie Ervin, President of the Ray Charles Foundation. “In addition to the artistic quality of the music, the release was matched by Concord’s skill in finding new ways to market in the increasingly challenging environment.
Their incomparable ability to innovate will also be seen in the upcoming
releases.”
Concord will release several other Ray Charles reissues this year including Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music, Volumes 1 & 2, The Genius Hits the Road, A Message to the People and Genius + Soul = Jazz & More.
Ray Charles - Genius: The Ultimate Collection Video Streams:
“Georgia On My Mind”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q5hD9cRQ9k
“Hit The Road Jack”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Tiz6INF7I
Preferred Retail Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Genius-Ultimate-Ray-Charles-Collection/dp/B001QAZAPS/?tag=concordreco0c-20
STREAM: Patrick Droney – “Save Me”
15 year old PATRICK DRONEY has become one of America’s phenomenal young
guitar players and talented young songwriters. Winning the Robert Johnson
Star Award in 2006 as one of the country’s most promising young musicians,
he has been turning heads since picking up the guitar at the age of 7.
Patrick has graced the stages of The Montreal Jazz Festival, The Whiskey
A-Go-Go, BB King’s Blues Clubs (LA and NYC), The Bamboozle Music Festival,
and House of Blues, just to name a few. His band (in 2006) was even the
youngest to play the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, according to Vintage
Guitar Magazine. He has been the support band for such legends as BB King
and the late James Brown and recently (October 2007) performed at the Taj
Mahal in Atlantic City as part of the Jimi Hendrix Experience Tour, sharing
the stage with Mitch Mitchell (drums) and Billy Cox (bass), the same Jimi
Hendrix Experience rhythm section that played behind Hendrix at Woodstock.
Critics have compared his talent to one that fuses elements of Stevie Raye
Vaughan, Robert Johnson and John Mayer while adding his own original style.
Patrick posses a textural smoothness and warm fluidity that connotes a
visceral connection between his fingers and the fret board, belying his
age. Blues Matters Magazine dubbed him “The New Generation”, The 2007 SXSW
Festival Must-See list called him “one of the best young guitarists alive
today.”
Track Listing:
1. Need Me Now
2. Everything
3. Alive
4. Bring You Back
5. Save Me
6. The Other Side
7. Brightside
8. Down On My Knees
9. Brighter Days
10. Angel
11. Reaction
12. Not That Special
Here he is performing Live:
Recorded at The Village Recorder in Los Angeles, CA One Kind Favor is meant to sound like an album recorded in the 50s. To get this sound Burnett and King replicated the kind of blues band King had back in the day bringing in some of the greats – Dr. John on piano, Nathan East on stand up acoustic bass and Jim Keltner on drums, to name a few. Studio conditions of the time were reproduced. The result is a vintage sounding album filled with the songs that influenced King in his early days as an artist.
Watch what BB himself has to say.
The full track listing for One Kind Favor, along with the name of the artist who originally recorded the track, is:” See That My Grave Is Kept Clean” (Lemon Jefferson), “I Get So Weary” (T-Bone Walker), “Get These Blues Off Me” (Lee Vida Walker), “How Many More Years” (Chester Burnett), “Waiting For Your Call” (Oscar Lollie), “My Love Is Down” (Lonnie Johnson), “The World Is Gone Wrong” ( Walter Vinson, also known as Walter Jacobs, and Lonnie Chatmon, core members of the Mississippi Sheiks), “Blues Before Sunrise” (John Lee Hooker), “Midnight Blues” (John Willie “Shifty” Henry), “Backwater Blues” (Big Bill Broonzy), “Sitting On Top Of The World” (Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon) and “Tomorrow Night” (Lonnie Johnson).
In other B.B. news, on September 13th King– one of the few musicians in the world to be so honored – will preside at the opening of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in his hometown of Indianola, MS. Also in September B.B. King will begin hosting his own weekly radio show on XM Radio on their newly relaunched blues channel “BB Kings Bluesville” (XM 74).
For more than 60 years, Riley B. King - better known as B.B. King - has defined the blues for a worldwide audience. Since he started recording in the 1940s, he has released over 50 albums, many of them classics, won 14 Grammy® Awards, been inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of the Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award and the NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers) Chairman’s Award, among many other awards. In a special ceremony at the Library of Congress, Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington presented B.B. with a “Living Legend” medal in honor of his achievements as a musician and ambassador for the blues. After 10,000 concerts, B.B. King continues to bring his music to audiences around the globe spending the better part of each year on the road with his beloved guitar, “Lucille.”
B.B. King Official Site:
B.B. King Tour Dates
9/06/08 Harrah’s Laughlin Rio Vista Ampitheatre Laughlin, NV
9/07/08 Celebrity Theater Phoenix, AZ
9/18/08 CenturyTel Center Bossier City, LA
9/19/08 Beau Rivage Resort & Casino Biloxi, MS
9/20/08 Pearl River Resort Choctaw, MS,
9/21/08 Von Braun Center Huntsville, AL
9/25/08 The Klein Memorial Auditorium Bridgeport, CT
9/26/08 The Bushnell Ctr. for Perf. Arts Hartford, CT
9/27/08 Sovereign Center Reading, PA
9/28/08 Paramount Center For The Arts Peekskill, NY
9/30/08 MGM Grand Detroit Casino Detroit, MI
10/02/08 Stranahan Theater Toledo, OH
10/03/08 Rialto Square Theatre Joliet, IL
10/04/08 SIU Arena Carbondale, IL
10/05/08 Welk Resort Theatre Branson, MO
10/07/08 Century II Perf. Arts & Convention Ctr. Wichita, KS,
10/17/08 Route 66 Casino Albuquerque, NM
10/23/08 Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino Mescalero, NM
10/25/08 Boulder Theater Boulder, CO
10/29/08 Iowa State Center Ames, IA,
10/31/08 The Riverside Theatre Milwaukee, WI
11/14/08 Riverwind Casino Norman, OK
11/16/08 Meyerson Symphony Center Dallas, TX
11/18/08 American Bank Center Corpus Christi, TX
11/24/08 The Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
11/26/08 Birchmere Alexandria, VA
11/28/08 North Shore Music Theatre Beverly, MA,
11/29/08 House of Blues - Atlantic City Atlantic City, NJ
11/30/08 Durham Performing Arts Center Durham, NC
12/01/08 Maryland Theatre Hagerstown, MD
For Academy Award nominated actor Danny Aiello’s second CD he was inspired by Atlantic City, Sinatras old stomping ground. It was the place where old blue eyes performed his final public
US concert while Danny Aiello watched from the audience. “My wife Sandy and I got a call from my agent inviting us down to
Atlantic City to see the show and meet Frank. I loved Sinatra and jumped at the chance not knowing what to expect. He was everything and more and the Copa Room, well, it was the perfect setting.”
Ten years later Aiello recorded his debut CD. Five days after the release, Danny Aiello made his Billboard Chart debut! His first album I Just Wanted To Hear The Words hit the Billboard Traditional Jazz Chart at #4, the highest new entry that week, just behind Harry Connick Jr., Winton Marsalis and Diana Krall.
And so it is fitting when a friend suggests in 2005 that he record one of those Atlantic City shows, preferably from The Sands so he and his band could preserve a little history for themselves, Aiello agrees, “Given Sinatra’s history on that stage and my memories of seeing him there, the Sands really captured the spirit of the resort’s history among the excitement of a new Atlantic City. For me, it made perfect sense.”
Check out the live streams for Pennies from Heaven and All Of Me.
Culling songs written during the band’s unsigned years, “Unraveled” (out June 17th) provides a chance for the band to truly break out! Singled out by the San Francisco Herald as “the next big thing,” the band saw its first national radio single, “Perfect,” peak at number 46 on the radio charts, only to have their record label go chapter 11. The band lineup changed as well, shifting from a quartet to a trio and different band members coming on board. In the following years, MIGGS appears to have moved out of the shadow of expectations and overcome intense odds to right things for the band. And if the reviews and growing crowds are any indication, this lineup appears ready for its close up. The San Jose Mercury News proclaimed: “[Don Miggs] is a guy who deserves to be a star,” while the San Francisco Examiner dubbed their sound “well-crafted, catchy, guitar-based, melodic rock” and Billboard magazine said, “Miggs is distinguished by a timeless quality that will keep them fresh-sounding for years to come.”
Prior to signing with Rock Ridge Music in 2008, MIGGS sold over 20,000 units without any true label support and has shared the stage with diverse acts such as Train, Cake, Gomez, and Mandy Moore. The band can be found online at www.miggsband.com and www.myspace.com/miggs.
Track listing:
1. I Believe - Live Stream HERE!!
2. Perfect
3. To Be Wrong
4. Suddenly Wonderful
5. Nothing
6. Maybe
7. Everything Is Fine
8. Taste
9. Blank
10. Lie To You
11. Invisible
From Yahoo News:
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock ‘n’ roll whose distinctive “shave and a haircut, two bits” rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, died Monday after months of ill health. He was 79.
Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.
The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. In recent years he also played for the elder President Bush and President Clinton.
Diddley appreciated the honors he received, “but it didn’t put no figures in my checkbook.”
“If you ain’t got no money, ain’t nobody calls you honey,” he quipped.
The name Bo Diddley came from other youngsters when he was growing up in Chicago, he said in a 1999 interview.
“I don’t know where the kids got it, but the kids in grammar school gave me that name,” he said, adding that he liked it so it became his stage name. Other times, he gave somewhat differing stories on where he got the name. Some experts believe a possible source for the name is a one-string instrument used in traditional blues music called a diddley bow.
His first single, “Bo Diddley,” introduced record buyers in 1955 to his signature rhythm: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as “shave and a haircut, two bits.” The B side, “I’m a Man,” with its slightly humorous take on macho pride, also became a rock standard.
The company that issued his early songs was Chess-Checkers records, the storied Chicago-based labels that also recorded Chuck Berry and other stars.
Howard Kramer, assistant curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, said in 2006 that Diddley’s Chess recordings “stand among the best singular recordings of the 20th century.”
Diddley’s other major songs included, “Say Man,” “You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover,” “Shave and a Haircut,” “Uncle John,” “Who Do You Love?” and “The Mule.”
Diddley’s influence was felt on both sides of the Atlantic. Buddy Holly borrowed the bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp rhythm for his song “Not Fade Away.”
For the rest of this article head over to Yahoo! News.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette
Just don’t get too carried away with your iPod karaoke.
Published: Tuesday, April 29
Is it just me, or is everyone plugged in these days?
“Nine out of 10 people workout with an iPod or MP3 player,” said Melanie Shernofsky, group fitness coordinator at Montreal’s Mansfield Club.
The same could be said for the many runners and walkers who are tuned in to their own playlist while cruising the streets of their neighbourhood.
Yet despite the apparent spike in music appreciation amongst the fitness crowd, exercising to music isn’t new. People were skating around roller rinks to the tunes of Buddy Holly and jumping to the beat of the Pointer Sisters in aerobics classes long before Amy Winehouse took top billing on the iPod of most gym rats.
Why is music such an integral part of the exercise experience?
“Music takes us away from the physical discomfort and the process of exercise itself,” said Jim Gavin, a clinical health psychologist from Concordia University.
Indeed most exercisers will tell you that music is a pleasant distraction during a workout. Some even go as far as saying they can exercise longer and harder when listening to music than without. And while there is a general consensus that music can make the minutes go by faster when running on a treadmill, there is little data to suggest that you can workout longer or harder while listening to your favourite tunes.
Numerous studies have evaluated the heart rate and time to exhaustion among exercisers listening and not listening to music. The majority noted no significant difference between the two. Which means exercise duration and intensity weren’t affected by music. What was affected, however, was how hard the exercisers perceived they were training while music was playing.
Study after study notes that exercisers perceive their level of exertion to be lower when music accompanies their workout compared to those who exercise in silence. Also interesting to note is that the affect is greater the harder you exercise. In other words, the tougher the workout, the more music helps you hang in there.
“Music tends to separate us from what we are physically doing and leads us further away from how we are feeling,” says Gavin.
Not all music is equal in its distraction, though - at least where exercise is concerned. A 2006 study of 128 undergraduate students noted a preference for faster, more upbeat music as the intensity of the workout increased. No surprise there. Footloose beats out James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful every time when the going gets tough. Nike’s iPod sensor combo even allows runners to program their own “power” song that can be pressed into play when the feet need a little extra incentive to keep moving.
Yet as powerful as music is, not everyone appreciates the distraction. Yet another study noted that among runners, novices were more likely than veteran runners to benefit from listening to music during their training runs. The elite runners actually found music to be an unwanted diversion, which suggests that the disconnect between mind and body is not considered beneficial for runners who use their body’s feedback to continually gauge and modify their intensity.
Of course, there are other uses for music in the exercise field. Yoga instructors often play music as a form of relaxation, helping participants to de-stress and slow down their hectic pace in tune with the mindful approach of the practice.
Group exercise instructors have long been known to count on music not just to motivate, but also to keep everyone in the class moving in synch. In fact, the addition of music to group exercise classes is what characterized the aerobics boom in the 80’s - back in the day instructors spent hours choosing the right music to motivate and the right moves.
Interestingly, with personal MP3 players now all the rage, music lovers don’t need group exercise classes to supply musical motivation. In the age of self-selection, exercisers can create their own workout playlist with their favourite tunes that can be updated at will. This means they can find all the motivation they want on their own iPod, making a solo run on the treadmill just as motivating as a group exercise class.
Shernofsky thinks that’s a good thing.
“For people who don’t like to exercise, music can be a great motivator.”
It also means that anyone with two left feet or an aversion to a Madonna, Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey re-mix played at 150 beats a minute can now workout to the beat of their own drummer.
That being said, there are some rules that go along with plugging in during exercise. Don’t tune out to the extent that you aren’t aware of your surroundings. Keep alert and listen to your body and what’s going on around you. And whatever you do, limit your iPod karaoke to places where you aren’t likely to be overheard. Not everyone is a fan of Bat Out of Hell sung at full volume on a beautiful Sunday morning (don’t ask).
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2008
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