From Dylan’s first ever interview to Hendrix’s last

November 9, 2011 By bgilmartin Leave a Comment

Rock’s Backpages is the ultimate online library of rock journalism and to celebrate its 10th anniversary founder Barney Hoskyns is making some of the collection’s best pieces – those long out of sight or never published – available for free until Nov 30.

It’s full of eye-popping stuff  – Lennon and McCartney talk about songwriting circa ‘66 in a never-before  published interview for Newsweek; Lou Reed gives Lester Bangs a hard time; Hendrix paints a picture of what could have been during his final interview; Kurt Cobain opens up to Jon Savage about his childhood and there’s tons more.

Click here for a one-time registration to access the archive:

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Jimi Hendrix Final Interview, John Lennon, Jon Savage, Journalism, Lester Bangs, Library of Rock Journalism, Lou Reed, Music Journalism, Paul McCartney, Rock Journalism, Rock's Backpages

Fly into Fall

October 13, 2011 By bgilmartin Leave a Comment

A recent road trip found me in Lake Placid, NY, a place I’ve only ever visited in the winter.  Fall colors were exploding and, to my surprise, so was the snowless ski jump at the Olympic training center there.  Watching these guys and gals hurtling through the air was breathtaking. Here are some shots I took –





They do eventually land on this weird plastic grass like thing….

and finally….come to a stop….

I wonder if they could outrun the paperboy from ‘Better Off Dead’

\”I want my two dollars\”

BONUS: The epic slow-motion Ski Jump video “Heaven” from Health

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Better Off Dead, John Cusack, Lake Placid, Ski Jump, Ski Jumping, Skiing

Brooklyn Honey Bees do not care, Brooklyn Honey Bees do not give a…

June 14, 2011 By bgilmartin Leave a Comment

After weeks of wondering what the unexplained boxes on the rooftop across from our downtown Brooklyn offices were, I finally confirmed my suspicions – BEES!

Check out this beekeeper tending to the hive, a full 15 stories up in the air!

I guess the Bees here in Brooklyn haven’t read the reports of their species’ inexplicable die-off.  And what is this experiment anyway?  Some sort of locavore honey-making scheme? Check out their view too, it’s a long way to Prospect Park or Staten Island for pollen…

I’ll keep my eye on this work-in-progress and keep my window shut in the meantime.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: bees, brooklyn, local honey, roof

Up for Sale: My ride to CBGBs

February 11, 2011 By bgilmartin Leave a Comment

It wasn't pretty, but it served beer

Got word this morning that one of the old Staten Island Ferry boats is currently up for sale on eBay.  Check out the Daily News Story here.

Thinking about it for a minute, I realized I had probably ridden that thing about a million times and, outside of work or school, almost always on my way to or from a show.  Having grown up on Staten Island, and just blocks from the ferry terminal itself, it was my main conduit into Manhattan.  As soon as my friends and I were old enough to leave our block unsupervised we were immediately on one of these boats.

I was probably riding this boat home, dejected, after Louise denied me entry to CBGB’s based on the shoddiness of my fake ID. (I was 14 and yes, the quality of Times Square-purchased ID’s left much to be desired).

I was probably riding it on my way home from all the great shows at the Ritz (now Webster Hall) – The Ramones, The Dead Milkmen, Camper Van Beethoven, Boogie Down Productions, De La Soul, Soul Asylum, The Pixies (like three times), who else?  The Sugarcubes? More than I can remember now for sure.  I actually still have all the ticket stubs at home though.

One great thing about coming home from shows this way is that they served really cheap, ice-cold beers.  Great way to wrap up the evening.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: CBGB, Fake ID, Staten Island Ferry

LA Premiere for “Lemmy” Documentary

January 18, 2011 By bgilmartin Leave a Comment

Last week’s Los Angeles premiere of “Lemmy: 49% Motherf**Ker, 51% Son Of A Bitch” featured a who’s who of Rock royalty: Guns ‘n’ Roses/Velvet Revolver’s Duff McKagan,  Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, Richie Ramone, Warren Haynes and the man himself, Lemmy Kilmister. 

With flashes popping and video cameras rolling each was gracious enough to talk about the film and the tremendous influence of Lemmy and his long-running band, Motorhead.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6cm2HI2_F4]

With an after party at the legendary Rainbow Bar and Grill on the Sunset strip Lemmy held court in his usual seat.  He invited some members of the press back the next day for some additional interviews.

Here he is speaking with LA Weekly music editor Gustavo Turner -

We then moved upstairs for some interviews with VH1 -

Here’s me and the legend –

And I can’t help but include this bit of Rock ‘n’ Roll history from the Rainbow.  While Lemmy was talking to VH1 in the upstairs lounge, I stumbled upon this sign that I can only assume is a remnant from John Lennon’s famous “lost weekend” in LA.  Check it out:

Filed Under: Blog

Doonsebury on contemporary music education

January 22, 2010 By bgilmartin Leave a Comment

Had to post this gem. In today’s Doonesbury, Garry Trudeau comes close to imagining campus life at Scott Booker’s Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Click on the image to read:

Filed Under: Blog

New York Benefit Shows for Haiti Relief

January 19, 2010 By bgilmartin Leave a Comment


As details of Haiti’s devastation continue to pour in, the music community has ramped up efforts to raise funds to help the recovery efforts. An amazing amount of benefit concerts, fundraisers, ebay auctions and more are happening all over the country. Here are two NYC events we plan on attending and thought our fellow New Yorkers would want to know about:

City Winery is presenting a series of shows beginning Wednesday Jan 20 and going through Jan 23 featuring performances by Rosanne Cash, Josh Ritter, Patti Smith, The Swell Season, Yo La Tengo and more while Brooklyn’s Bell House will host a show on Wed Jan 27 featuring Jimmy Fallon, Ted Leo, Sondre Lerche and A.C. Newman among others.

100% of funds raised from the City Winery benefit will be directed to Doctors Without Borders, Partners in Health and an emergency mobile hospital aid mission organized by the Jewish Renaissance Medical Center. The Bell House show will benefit Save the Children and Partners in Health.

Of course, we urge you to donate any way you can.

More info and tickets for each show here:

City Winery:
http://www.citywinery.com/news_items/18/

Bell House:
http://www.thebellhouseny.com/calendar.php

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: shore fire events

Mick Rock’s Glam Gallery Opening

September 14, 2009 By bgilmartin Leave a Comment

I was thrilled this past Saturday when I heard about the gallery opening for legendary Glam photographer Mick Rock–and that it was happening right in my sleepy little neighborhood of St. George on Staten Island.


If you’re not familiar with Mick’s name right away, here’s some of his work you may recognize -


A great DJ spinning all the classics kept the crowd going well into the night.


And I even got to hang with the man himself -

Check out more of Mick’s work here – http://www.mickrock.com/

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: shore fire events

Eli “Paperboy” Reed’s Gallery Debut

June 12, 2008 By bgilmartin Leave a Comment

This week the New Yorker and Campari teamed up to present an art exhibition in Soho featuring 25 promising New York artists. To celebrate, they threw a party complete with live entertainment provided by Eli “Paperboy” Reed and The True Loves.

Reed and band’s red hot soul music made sure to distract the the crowd from the hot sticky weather as NYC was experiencing its first heat wave of 2008.
Performing on the middle level of the three floor exhibition space, the whole building seemed to be shaking along with the party goers as a thunderstorm rolled through.

Below: Carrie Tolles and Lauretta Charlton of Shore Fire were at the party and keepin’ cool.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Eli "Paperboy" Reed, New Yorker

Another “Night To Remember…”

May 7, 2008 By bgilmartin Leave a Comment

The annual benefit dinner for The Kristen Ann Carr Fund, ‘A Night To Remember,’ was recently held at the Tribeca Grill in Manhattan and members of the Shore Fire family made sure not to miss the occasion. From left to right – Nick Baily’s wife Rebecca Phillips, Brendan Gilmartin, Rebecca Shapiro, Rebecca’s empresario husband Peter Shapiro and Nick Baily. Shore Fire President Marilyn Laverty, who was honored last year, and Director of Online Marketing Nancie S. Martin were also in attendance. To find out more about The Kristen Ann Carr Fund and its mission to fight Sarcoma click here.
Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: parties, shore fire events
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