Dotan Negrin is traveling across the United States playing an upright piano he drags along with him in his truck. He’s living off donations given to him while he plays in some really cool locations. I’ve been enamored with his posts for months and I’m finally getting around to sharing it.

I hope that when he’s done with the US he jumps the ocean and keeps going west.

With Conan back on the air and Jimmy Fallon approaching his prime late night television is at its finest in years. Here, please, enjoy Jeff Goldblum and Biz Markie singing Just a Friend.

Last night was Conan O’Brien‘s first episode of his new show Conan on TBS. Jack White was the music guest. Perfect. Here is the video.

An instant classic in NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series is with Weird Al Yankovic. He covers three songs. I recommend the entire series of Tiny Desk Concerts.

NPR music is pretty much the best place on the Web right now.

So: Dude sings a song at a talent show-thingy, puts it up on his YouTube channel (there are a lot of fakes), everyone says he’ll be the next Bieber, Ellen sees it, has him on her show. Stardom awaits.

But wait, did you catch the brilliant move that Ellen is now doing? She puts her chair directly behind the person performing. If the video goes viral (even if it is ripped from her custom branded video player) her attachment to the performance stays in tact. This is pretty genius. Maybe she’s taking tips from Mr. Cowell.

“Gone to Sleep” is a product of this process with Moby and Kelli Scarr and the 16-minute featurette is nothing short of awesome. Moby and Kelli managed to finish their song in under 8 hours so they spent the entire second-day doing a few other versions of the song as well as a Tiny Desk Concert (another series at NPR) for the NPR staff.

Here is Moby’s opinion of the song and process from his journal:

“i’m really proud of it, to be honest.  writing and recording and mixing a song in a day is a daunting process, and i’m really happy with how it turned out.   and i think that kelli’s vocals sound beautiful.”

You can watch the video, download the entire song in all of its versions, and watch the concert for free.

I love NPR.

Special guest Nick Ogozaly and I ponder whether or not people should expand their horizons by learning to play an instrument in this episode of Random 60.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments.

Originally recorded in December 2009. First-frame photo credit: Eliza Devroe.

Or, as I like to call this particular video – YouTube video of the week.

Again /via Jason Kottke.

Random 60: What is your favorite music genre?

Special guest Jeff Johns, a friend and fellow Viddler team member, has a particular taste in music so I put him on the spot to name his favorite music genre.

My favorite music genre would have to be Rock.

What is your favorite music genre? Let us know in the comments!

As performed by Viddler member Musicreator. A beautiful piece to play loudly while programming, I assure you.

Thanks to Apple for providing a solution in relatively short order.

I’m a huge fan of John Williams. Seriously. I have nearly every work he’s ever wrote, conducted, and recorded. When Kyle Slattery posted this video on his Tumblr I knew I had to ‘repost’ it here.

By ApprenticeA on YouTube.

Random 60: Getting songs stuck in your head | Favorite on Viddler.

Today’s random 60 topic was suggested by Sam. Thanks Sam.

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head? How did it get there? Maybe you listened to the radio, or a friend is addicted to a song and plays it over and over, or perhaps you were in the grocery store and heard it. No matter how it got there, for a while, it is there to stay.

Most recently I’ve had the song Jump Rope by Blue October surgically planted into my head by Chris because he plays it over and over (it is also the intro to today’s Random 60 video).

What was the last song you had stuck in your head and how did it get there?

I’d be remiss not to mention that Carbondale, Pennsylvania is having a Wine & Music Festival on June 20, 2009. Mayor Justin Taylor, who is pretty active on Facebook, created a Facebook group for the event. (Not sure why he didn’t chose to create an event on Facebook, rather than a group, but at least he is using Facebook.)

Eliza and I really enjoy the Finger Lakes Wine Festival in Watkins Glen, NY. Huge tents housing hundreds of local wineries, brewers, local music talent, food, and more. The entrance fee, which I believe is $40 for two days, is more than worth it.

The Carbondale Wine & Music Festival’s entrance fee is far less expensive (though it is only one day and, I assume, much smaller) at $10. Steamtown, a national park in Scranton for trains, is sending a train to Carbondale for those in Scranton that would like to take the train. That price is $25. I’m half-tempted to drive to Scranton just to take the train ride from Scranton to Carbondale.

I’m happy that Carbondale is having such an event and I hope it goes really well for the city. I continue to have high hopes that Carbondale can dig itself out of its current state and, in some ways, return to what it was so many years ago (before my time). One way we can all help is by supporting local business, building businesses in town rather than out, going to events like these and trying to help promote them, and generally keeping your part of town clean.

Oh, and I’m not going to bring up Wingfest 2008. Because that won’t happen in Carbondale, right?

Random 60: Dear American Idol, ditch the lip syncing, please. | Favorite on Viddler.

I’m really sick of the group performances on American Idol. Maybe they wouldn’t be so bad if they were live performances done by the contestants – but in fact they are being lip synced. Yesterday I said on Twitter that, while American Idol is a huge success, they need to ditch the lip syncing sessions pronto. People on Facebook agreed.

Lip syncing? During a singing competition? Please, please, get rid of the group performances altogether. It’d make the first few minutes of American Idol watchable.

The music video features The Fray’s new song “You Found Me”.

Source: LOST Season 5 “You Found Me” (link opens iTunes)

The Jack Black Family

Charlie Haden is one of the most respected jazz bassists and jazz composers today. He grew up part of a musical family through the 30s, 40s, and 50s. He sang until he was 15 years old when he was struck with polio which affected his vocal chords.  This is when he picked began to play bass.

Fast forward to the present day and Charlie finds himself with a growing family and an amazing black book filled with some of the world’s foremost talented musicians, singers, and artists.

Charlie’s son-in-law is none other than the singer-songwriter, actor, and comedian Jack Black. Jack Black is married to Charlie’s daughter, Tayna Haden, who is an accomplished cellist herself.

So, the family is pretty much dripping with talent.

Charlie Haden recently brought together his family and incredibly talented friends for a new album Ramblin’ Boy (Charlie Haden and Friends) which was released this year.

Now to my point.

We’re used to hearing Jack Black sing. Anyone that has seen School of Rock or listened to Tenacious D will know that Jack can hold his own with a guitar and as a vocalist. But until Ramblin’ Boy Jack hasn’t really shown his chops outside of Rock. That all changes with Jack Black’s version of Old Joe Clark.

You can listen to a excerpt of Jack Black singing Old Joe Clark through Amazon’s MP3 store.

Also worth your time, if this topic interests you, is a recent episode of Fresh Air on NPR in which Terry Gross interviews Charlie Haden, his daughters and son, and Jack Black about his performance on the album.

If you have a moment, go give it a read.

Source: Hey Mr. Genius DJ!

The question isn’t if Sirius satellite radio is cool or not, the question is why is Andrew listening to Sheryl Crow?!

Parental discretion is advised.

Look for gonna scccrrrape you sucka to hit store shelves and the iTunes Music Store soon.  If you would like to request my services for your upcoming album, please feel free to contact me.

Scott and Nyke performing
Borders in Dickson City, PA in 2004

After watching him I wrote:

Scott played some Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews and Howie Day all while mixing in some of his own stuff. His own stuff wasn’t too bad, and after listening to his entire album I’d say he’s pretty good. Certainly not as well rounded as the aforementioned artists, but what he put together along with his Violinist, was definitely a nice sound. Only took like 7 photos total, here’s 1 of them.

I now know that his violinist is Nyke Van Wyk. Check out Scott’s web site if you want to catch him perform sometime.

[tags]scott mckenna, borders, nyke van wyk, music, photos, repost[/tags]

There was some really nice music playing in various portions of the town. Dear John (not sure if this is their official site or not) was there. They have some really good sound to their music, decent lyrics, and their front-man is pretty decent live. But they could definitely use help on the backup signing.

Derrick and Dustin performing

Derrick and Dustin, who do not appear to have a Web site, were playing some Jazz next to a restaraunt (which they seem to do each year) have a really really great sound. I asked for a CD but they said they had sold out already, and so I just sent them an email asking if I can send some moola their way if they’d send me a copy. I’m not sure what goals these guys have, or if they ever want to “make it”, or just do this for fun – but I think they would have potential to put out something spectacular.

On Sunday, my parents came in for a visit. We had a nice lunch with my parents, and my sister Nettie’s family. We all stayed on our diets (my parents included) and ate grilled chicken salad and fruit. In my opinion, a perfect lunch.

After that I went and played basketball for about three hours, came home and watched a horrible Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Come on Dallas! What did you do this weekend?

[tags]diet, the-diet, owego, new york, strawberry festival, family, nba, music, dear john, derrick and dustin[/tags]