According to www.rollingstone.com … Chuck Berry and Leonard Cohen were honored with the PEN New England Awards for Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston on February 26th, 2012. Here, Keith Richards hangs backstage with Chuck Berry and Leonard Cohen to show his support.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/photos/random-notes-2012-20120111#ixzz1ncJ6zI00

According to Harmony Central News – Incident in New Baghdad has been nominated for an Oscar this year in the Best Documentary Short Feature category. The film was scored by Emile D. Menasche, author of The Desktop Studio, https://www.musicbooksplus.com/The-Desktop-Studio-Second-Edition-p/hl8673.htm, Your Sound Onstage, https://www.musicbooksplus.com/Your-Sound-Onstage-p/hl9934.htm and Home Studio Clinic https://www.musicbooksplus.com/Home-Studio-Clinic-p/hl6353.htm . He recorded the soundtrack to Incident in New Baghdad in his home studio using his MacBook Pro.

Menasche says, "I worked closely with producer/director James Spione on the soundtrack. It was a real collaboration. We recorded the soundtrack in my home studio using a combination of Ableton Live and Logic Pro. Because the story involves an American soldier in Iraq, the music reflected both cultures. We didn’t have indigenous instruments, so I had to adapt classical flute and guitar to sound more Middle Eastern. Returning worked well with the guitar, a technique I discovered working on a previous documentary, God’s Open Hand, which covered the Afghan elections a few years ago.

"We also used some electronic sounds to underscore some of the battle scenes. The trick was not to get the music to sound too dramatic. The director didn’t want it to sound either heroic or like it was out of a horror/suspense film.

"A lot of the final cues came from improvised flute phrases, played by my daughter Rebecca. I had her play both melodic parts and beds, then used Live to change their pitch and texture to create a blend between natural and digital sounds."

To view the trailer for the film, visit: http://incidentinnewbaghdad.com

Stalking the Red Headed Stranger, or How to Get Your Songs into the Hands of the Artists Who Really Matter Through Show Business Trickery, Underhanded Skullduggery, Shrewdness, and Chicanery, as Well as Various Less Nefarious Methods of Song Plugging: A Practical Handbook and Historical Portrait is the funniest, hippest, longest-titled how-to book you’ll read this year!!

Stalking the Red Headed Stranger is a guide to the art and history of professional song plugging. But this isn’t your run-of-the-mill history book/instruction manual. It is an in-depth, up-close look into the real music business by industry insider and Grammy Award nominee Randy Poe, who has represented literally hundreds of the greatest songs in the history of popular music, including “Stand By Me,” “Happy Together,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Under the Boardwalk,” “Hound Dog,” “What a Wonderful World,” “Spanish Harlem,” “Chapel of Love,” “Summer in the City,” “Love Potion No. 9,” and “Kansas City.”

But wait! There’s so much more! Interwoven throughout this entertaining and enlightening book is the hysterical saga of the author as he chases American icon Willie Nelson across Canada – via plane, taxi, rental car, and even ferryboat – in an attempt to pitch a single song to the Red Headed Stranger. And what happens on Willie’s bus doesn’t stay on Willie’s bus.

Check it out at:

https://www.musicbooksplus.com/Stalking-the-Red-Headed-Stranger-p/hl10412.htm

Dom Famularo has been traveling the globe preaching the gospel of drumming for over 30 years. An intense performer, Dom is one of the most respected solo drum artists in the world, with a career built solely upon his unique skills as a drummer, educator, author and motivational speaker.
He has presented master classes and clinics around the globe in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Columbia, Venezuela, Uruguay, Peru, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, Russia, Israel, Serbia, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Costa Rica, Honduras, Puerto Rico, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Canary Islands and South Africa.
He has directed and emceed major drumming expos around the world, and has been one of drumming’s most sought-after private instructors for over 40 years. Students regularly fly in from around the globe for intensive study with Dom…currently teaching over 1,000 students from over 20 countries at his WizDOM Drumshed studio in NY. A major player in the percussion industry, Dom acts as Education consultant for Sabian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks, Mapex Drums, Evans Drumheads, Hudson Music Publications, Wizdom Media for whom he oversees programs worldwide.

Check out his book/MP3/QuickTime video package, – Groove Facility
https://www.musicbooksplus.com/Groove-Facility-p/ap4050.htm