I put up a brief clip of my Pittsburgh band playing Frank Zappa’s “Peaches en Regalia” to check out under the Bootleg section of this here site. Enjoy- (at least until it gets cutoff)!
Author Archive for Zack
Here’s a new tune I made yesterday!
Enjoy! Leave Comments if you want!
Peace,
Zack
©2009 Zack Wiesinger Music ASCAP
Hey Everyone, I am very excited to announce that Steve Vai is releasing his new DVD and CD counterpart of his 2007 String Theories World Tour, Where The Wild Things Are, of which I was included on a few selections playing the Lap Steel! Nearly two years of painstaking video editing and audio mixing and mastering later, Steve Vai will release his DVD and CD on Sept 29. I do mean painstaking. Every time I would stop by The Vai Estate to visit or drop something off, Steve would be diligently working on some aspect of the DVD day in and day out! He’s so particular about every last detail, and there is a lot to be said about all of his hard work and dedication to his craft! He’s probably the hardest working musician in the field, and I respect that and strive to adopt his work ethic in my everyday life.
Well, all his hard work paid off, because the few clips he showed me here and there, after all the audio and video was completed, look and sound amazing! I can’t wait to sit and watch the entire thing at the premiere in Hollywood’s historic Egyptian Theater on Sept 15th! So, for all of you Vai fans in the Los Angeles and surrounding areas, you are invited to the premier for a full screening of the DVD with red carpet entrance of the band members and silent auction. Tickets are $40 bucks and ALL the proceeds from tickets and auction benefit the Hollywood Arts organization of which Steve has been a board member for the past two years. I’ll be there! Hope to see you too! Click the picture above to get all details of ticket purchase and more info on the releases coming out!
It’s merely beginning to set in that the father of the electric guitar, the pioneer of multi-track recording, and truly genius musician, Les Paul has passed away yesterday. I never got the chance to see him play or meet him, but I have acquired several LPs and 78s of his recorded legend which is a privilege to drop the needle on the wax each time. Any chance I get to really sit down and listen to any of his classic recordings, I am transfixed by the fact that he invented everything you hear from the very guitar he’s playing to the mesmerizing technique of multi-tracking which creates an orchestra of guitars even down to the tape echo effects. What really amazes me is that he thought to use various speeds of tape to get notes way higher then the guitar can physically go, all while calculating various pitches and tempos to blend in real-time instruments with the sped up ones! Ahhhh!!! What a genius! Truly a remarkable man with countless significant contributions to music and history! It was just last week while he was still with us on this earth that my girlfriend and I celebrated his music in my basement as we danced a two-step to a Capitol label 78 of one of the best versions of Caravan ever! And yesterday, the day of his passing, I went to the record store and picked up a rare LP I have never seen in a store before of him and his trio! I’ll always listen to that particular record with a deep respect and attentiveness. May Les Paul and his legacy live on forever in our hearts and souls.
I’ll be the guitar player for the Irwin Blues Jam at The Irwin Eagles Club backing up Gil Snyder and Special Guest Kenny Blake on Sax. Come out and bring your instrument of choice and sit in with us! It’s a jam session. First set is the core band, and after that, we get all the musicians in the house to come up and play a bit! See you next Thursday The 30th of JULY at 8:30PM!
Zack
We had a blast up in New York. Thank You to all who came out to see us! Photos and Video Clips coming up soon!
OK, we’re gonna be playing At Moondog’s on Friday the 31st of July at 9:30AM. Sike PM!
Debuting a show at Club Cafe on Carson Street for all you South Siders and local Yinzers on Thirsty Thursday August 6th. (opening band “The Drew Bently Band”). Doors at 7:00PM. We start at 8:30PM.
VENUE INFO:
Venue: Club Cafe
Address: 56-58 South 12th Street
Pittsburgh PA, 15203
Phone: 412.431.4950
Website: www.clubcafelive.com
Capacity: 140 (Let’s sell this puppy out and get rowdy! Tell Everyone! First time here- Don’t want it to be the last- haha!)
**TICKETING / SHOW INFO:
Promoter Ticketing [TicketWeb]:
Web: www.ticketweb.com/clubcafe
Phone: 866-468-3401
Announce Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Onsale Date: Saturday, July 25, 2009
ADV Price: $6.00 DOS Price: $6.00
Doors: 7:00pm Music: 7:30pm Curfew: 11:00pm
Ages: 21+
Then my last show on the East Coast for a while is at Harvey’s in West Mifflin! (My Alma Mater) An Epic Show is Anticipated! A true West Mifflin Reunion of both the Baby Boomer Generation and it’s Offspring Generation in the West Mifflin area! And of course neighboring cities are welcome with open arms! Hope to see all the familiar faces out! No Cover! Bring more people and tell them that little enticing fact!
See you at all of them!
Zack
Finally after all these years of hard work and dedication, one of my CDs ended up in Amoeba Records in Hollywood, CA on the corner of Sunset and Cahuenga for $1.99 in the clearance bin! I can finally go to sleep!
Now I know how Navin Johnson felt when he got published in the Phone Book!
Zack
It’s late, and I was having difficulties working out a tricky riff for a new tune. So, I took a detour into the 30′s with a very short version of Steel Guitar Rag played on my Silver Strat through my Blackface Princeton, a few overdrive pedals, and my beloved Echoplex!
I guess, enjoy?
Zack
It’s Wednesday again, and you people know what that means (YOU PEOPLE?!?!?- Who are you calling “You People?”)… It’s time for the most spun record of the week. And the winner with a close “You Only Live Twice” runner-up is… Alvino Rey and His Orchestra “A Drowsy Old Riff.” I read the back of the album, and learned so many cool things about Alvino. This particular record is a pressing from the 1970′s, but it’s a compilation of recordings from the 1940′s with Alvino Rey at the standard electric guitar as well as his “Console Guitar” (nowadays they are called “pedal steel” guitars). He was one of the first to use an electric guitar prototype pickup that he acquired from The Gibson Company in 1935. I read that he was too humble to make the claim that he played the first electric guitar (everyone thinks it was Les Paul). By 1939, he formed his own big band, and later gained further fame with The Kings Sisters.
What kept me coming back to this record was the best version I have ever heard of “In The Hall of The Mountain King.” (I’ll try to put up an Mp3 to hear later, but I wanted to get this post up today since it is indeed Wednesday). His “console guitar” has such an interesting tone throughout the recordings. At times you think he’s improvising a really odd riff or passage on his standard electric or his console slide guitar, but the horns mimic him verbatim which reveals that it was all brilliantly preconceived. This is highly impressive to me because these call and responses are displayed so naturally that they feel improvised. His orchestra is so tight and well-rehearsed, and another talent to be noted is the piano player who sprinkles the most dexterous little ear candy through the entire album in the most tastefully skilled manner.
I learned about Alvino Rey through hearing a record I obtained a few years ago called “Other Worlds Other Sounds” by Esquivel. 
I did research to find out who the steel guitar player was, and since I latched onto his name, I have been finding Alvino Rey records all across the country as I travel and play shows and visit record shops in between. I only paid 3 bucks for “A Drowsy Riff” of a gem! I hope you find yourself a copy to enjoy over the weekend!
Tell me what you have been into this week! Leave a comment! (it’s free and environmentally friendly- or just mentally friendly!)
-Zack-
I made this song using a drum and bass loop that I discovered on an old LP. How rare it is to find 4 measures of drums and bass soloed out on an old record- let alone with such a deep pocket groove! (The artist and title of the album shall remain disclosed for now).
The lyrics are as follows:
“And Away We Go”
We are not who we think
So let’s have another drink
And Away We Go
Listen to the radio
Sittin’ on the patio
We all came here to fly
So let’s have another try
And Away We Go
Smokin’ like a Navaho
Floatin’ like a UFO
I will not shake my hips
Til we’re on another trip
And Away We Go
Better than fellatio
Underneath the mistletoe
We are not who we are
So let’s crack another jar
And Away We Go
Thinner than the audio
Comin’ from the stereo
Thinner Thinner
Thinner Thinner
Thinner Thinner
Thinner Thinner
We are not who we think
So let’s have another drink
And Away We Go
Listen to the radio
Sittin’ on the patio
We all came here to fly
So let’s have another try
And Away We Go
Smokin’ like a Navaho
Floatin’ like a UFO
I will not shake my hips
Til we’re on another trip
And Away We Go
Better than fellatio
Underneath the mistletoe
We are not who we are
So let’s crack another jar
And Away We Go
Thinner than the audio
Comin’ from the stereo
words and music ©2009 Zack Wiesinger Music ASCAP
Enjoy! As Always, comments are welcomed with thoughts and discussions about the posts!
