“Where does it all lead? What will become of us? These were our young questions, and young answers were revealed. It leads to each other. We become ourselves.”-Patti Smith Sometimes the best kind of success is unexpected success. I can only speculate, but I'd imagine that this is the brand of success that accidental rock-legend,... Continue Reading →

One of the things that makes debut albums so interesting to me is that they provide a first impression, a firm starting point for a career, and when put into the context of an entire career are extremely informational and extra interesting in hindsight. Some artists will spend their first album or two wearing their... Continue Reading →

Just because an album is a debut does not mean that the people behind it are inexperienced. In the case of Lynyrd Skynyrd, as we will explore today, the 6 man band had been together for at least 5 years with the founding members having played together for as many as 9. Having written songs... Continue Reading →

Like it or not, country music isn't what it used to be. Long gone are the days of simple acoustic arrangements coloring gunslinger ballads and truthful lyricism. Country music as it is commonly found in the mainstream today has taken on an affinity for loud electric instruments, pop-esque structures, and is built to played on... Continue Reading →

They say that lightning never strikes the same place twice, but I'm no meteorologist, and this theme just has too many great albums to choose from, so here we are again. Just like the first Great Debuts theme a few months ago, this week is going to be dedicated to the first album released by... Continue Reading →

Dedicated readers of my MTP blogs may recall the final day of the "Girl Power" theme, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. In that blog I mention the Harvard Library's hip hop archive and the 4 album founding class which producer 9th wonder described as being "standard of the culture." Today's album, the sophomore effort of... Continue Reading →

So far we've explored a number of duos with a real chemistry and collaborative power when it comes to making music, and while the duo featured today certainly have that they also possess the magic of comedic chemistry. The band featured today, of course, is the comedy-rock duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, better... Continue Reading →

"When you get a groove going, time flies." -Donald Fagen "That's sort of what we wanted to do: conquer from the margins, sort of find out place in the middle based on the fact that we were creatures of the margin and of alienation." -Walter Becker "Now hold on just a minute here, Ben" says... Continue Reading →

What brings people together? 2 of the duos that we've spent time with this month met growing up together in school, and the remaining pair found each other in a ballroom, but sometimes you're just stuck with a person from the very beginning. Today's addition to the Musical Training Plan showcases a type of union... Continue Reading →

Few musical acts are so ubiquitous with the idea of songwriting duos as Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. The 2 men met in Elementary school in Queens New York in 1953 where they learned the basics of music side by side. Over the course of their storied career, the folk-rock duo produced a series of... Continue Reading →