Big Ride Training and Fundraising Update

Hey folks! So I'm back from a trip south which included a 100-plus mile ride from Purcellville, Virginia to Washington, DC and back (on the beautiful Washington and Old Dominion Line).

I've set up a YouTube account (which you can find HERE) where I will be sharing choice training videos, and then I will be uploading videos daily during the trip to keep people on top of what I've been doing!

Anyhow, I hope everyone is well, thanks so much for the support, and if you are able, please donate HERE. Thanks again!

Thank you to the customers and the wonderful staff of Concord Teacakes for the $179 in donations over the last week, you are wonderful people, and I am incredibly grateful to you all.

Phil Ashworth Interview

Phil Ashworth was raised in Corning, NY, Phil left there when he became a man and traveled to the greater New England area. While on his quest he was properly educated at the Rhode Island School of Design. After graduating in 2008 he became a boy again, returned home, became a man again, and now wonders what he is doing every single day. During all this he has done several editorial assignments, album covers, designed a skateboard deck for Steez, and displayed his work in several galleries, including the Nucleus Gallery for SILA 47. He most recently exhibited his work along with a childhood friend at Homegrown Boardshop in Ithaca, NY.

What would you say you are most influenced by in your artwork?

I try to make every piece I create contain the grace, fluidity and raw emotional power of Jim Carrey's performance from Dumb and Dumber.

What about skateboarding do you enjoy the most?

It's nice to not have some coach or your parents trying to live vicariously through you. You never have to worry about someone yelling at you for losing, and huge companies haven't completely sucked all of the enjoyment out of it, yet.

What makes great art?

If it costs a lot of money. It matches the rug and the curtains, and if it helps you gain some sort of social status.

You designed a skateboard for Steez, tell me about that experience.

Basically, Joe gave me a basic idea of what he was kind of aiming for and just let me go from there. I shot him a few sketches I had done of some silly fat guy and another one of a grandma throwing the horns/that thumb and pinky, universal surfer "brah" hand signal. Joe dug the fat guy, we made some minor changes, and that was about it. I think, overall, it took about a week. It was a pretty mellow project.

Who are your favorite musicians? Why?

Animal from Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, Tom Waits, and The Clash. Head and shoulders above the rest.

You can hang out with any three people, living or dead, for dinner, who do you invite and why?

A Neanderthal. JFK. Charles Bukowski. Total party animals!

Yarn Live Review

Stone Church // Newmarket, NH // February 11, 2010

Real bluegrass music is about technical skill and emotion. Country music tends to be about lyrics. And folk music seems to be strictly about emotion. Brooklyn’s Yarn is a bit of each of those styles and has all of those attributes in spades, particularly during their live show.

The “intimate crowd” didn’t noticeably bother lead singer/guitarist Blake Christiana and his merry band of musicians. Almost immediately it was clear that Yarn is a band who takes playing music seriously; they are masters of their instruments. Mandolin/Harmonica player Andrew Hendryx may have appeared to be climaxing during some songs, who can blame him though when he plays the fiddle so flawlessly? Guitarist/background vocalist/David Cross look-a-like Trevor MacArthur also showed why this music could just as easily be called bluesgrass – it has real soul to it, even when it is impeccably technical. This is a band that takes practicing seriously, and because of it, they have a seriously impressive live show.

Comparisons to Ryan Adams are unavoidable (especially because of where they hail from). In reality though, Christiana has a better voice, and although Adams’ songwriting is key in his greatness, Yarn’s songwriting shows creativity and originality (and a good dose of humor and humility). Comparisons to Cross Canadian Ragweed and Reckless Kelly would also be in order for their live show because they do not shy away from rocking out.

It was no surprise to find out that Christiana previously played with a jam band. The live Yarn show was filled with ‘impromptu’ solos, with band members passing solos to each other, something that takes an awful lot of practice to make sound good.

A skilled, and fun, live show by a band that knows that if you are having fun as a band, the crowd will be having fun too.

Township – Vol. 1 Album Review

A rock and roll revival is underway and it would be sheer ignorance to not place Township at the very top of the list of bands that are making it worthwhile. Thanks to King Yum, a collection of the ‘best of’ Township has been compiled that includes some of the harder to find music from their earlier days.

‘Lady Ann’ is proof positive that singer Marc Pinansky has a hell of a sense of humor, whether or not you get it doesn’t matter though, because the music speaks a whole other truth, this is real rock and roll. On songs like ‘The Major’ and ‘Highway’ it is impossible to stop your foot from tapping, let alone your whole body from wanting to get involved; on ‘Big Bad’ and ‘Beaver Fever’ , you’ll be transported back to the dirtiest rock club the late 70’s had to offer where they very well could have opened for Judas Priest. If there was a ballad on the album, it would be ‘Baby Rock Me’, which sounds more like an actual love and pain, and real life song, than Skid Row could ever conjure, even in their most heartbroken moments.

It shouldn’t be a challenge for a song like ‘Gunnin’ Thru The Nite’ to end up in regular rotation, but alas, watered down seems to be the order of the day on commercial radio and it’s a damn shame because too many people are missing out.

Township is not a cover band, or even a tribute band, but their style is a tribute to what has disappeared from commercial rock and roll these days; a whole lot of talent, a sense of humor, an attitude, and a pair. And this album does a great job showcasing the lyrical and musical talent that the group has.

King Yum Records / http://www.myspace.com/thefamilytownship

Big Ride Fundraising Continues!

Well it's been two weeks since I started to raise money for my Big Ride Across America and I'm up to just under $1500. I still need to raise a lot to make my goal of $6000, so any help you can offer is great! If you'd like to donate you may go HERE.

An article was recently published in The New Hampshire (the college paper of the University of New Hampshire; where I went to grad school). You can check that out HERE.

If you have any questions, ideas, suggestions, comments, well, anything you want to tell me, feel free to e-mail me at onehundredyears@gmail.com

Thanks for your support!

Biking Across America For A Great Cause.

Hello everyone. This summer I will be embarking on a 48-day bicycling trip from Seattle, Washington to Washington, D.C. in order to raise money for the American Lung Association. I'm in the process of training right now, and I'm also in the process of fundraising right now. I'm going to keep readers up with my weekly progress on this experience, physically and mentally. If you have any questions or want to know anything about the trip, please be in touch.

If you'd like to donate to the ride, please click HERE to do just that. Five dollars or five hundred, it's all going to a great cause!

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support!

Questions? Comments? E-mail me! onehundredyears@gmail.com