Remembering MICHAEL HOUSER on his birthday (video)

#michaelhouser #widespreadpanic #rockfile

Michael Houser (January 6, 1962 – August 10, 2002) was a founding member and lead guitarist of the band Widespread Panic. He appeared on seven studio albums during his 16-year tenure with the band from 1986 till 2002. He is also featured on 4 live albums by Widespread Panic (2 released posthumously), as well as several archive releases, live video concerts and compilations.

Michael "Mikey" Houser was born in Boone, North Carolina, graduated from Hixson High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and became a founding member of Widespread Panic in 1986 while attending the University of Georgia with John Bell. Michael's adolescent nickname was "Panic" due to his then frequent panic attacks, and this moniker later became the inspiration for the band's name.

Widespread Panic's large rhythm section, and John Bell's virtuosity as a rhythm guitarist, allowed Michael to pursue an atmospheric lead guitar style that often lingered behind the primary melodies. His predominant use of the Ernie Ball volume pedal caused him to spend most of his performance time balanced on one leg, this would eventually lead to circulation problems causing his left leg to become numb. In 1996, during an acoustic tour known as the "Sit and Ski" tour, he was reminded of how much more comfortable and accurate his playing was while he was seated. Subsequently, Houser returned to playing all shows seated in 1997. His playing style used a volume pedal for sonic effect, rather than just for volume control.

Widespread Panic always shared writing credits for all of their songs during the Houser era, but he wrote many of the band's standards, including Porch Song, Airplane, Ain't Life Grand, The Waker, Impossible, B of D, and Vacation.

Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the spring of 2002, he died on August 10 of that year, in Athens, Georgia, at the age of 40. A solo album of his instrumentals entitled Door Harp was released after his death, and was followed by Sandbox in 2006. He is survived by his wife Barbette and two children, Waker and Eva.

Widespread Panic has continued to tour and record after Houser's passing as was his wish.

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday MICHAEL STIPE (video)

#michaelstipe #rem #rockfile

John Michael Stipe (born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, lyricist, film producer and visual artist. He was the lead singer of the alternative rock band R.E.M. from their formation in 1980 until their dissolution in 2011.

Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image, often selecting album artwork and directing many of the band's music videos. Outside the music industry, he runs his own film production companies: C-00 and Single Cell Pictures.

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday STEPHEN STILLS (video)

#stephenstills #csn #csnandy #buffalospringfield #rockfile

Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young). He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time. Stills was ranked #28 in Rolling Stone Magazine's 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 in the 2011 list. Stills became the first person to be inducted twice on the same night into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with CSN and Buffalo Springfield.

source: wikipedia

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My Favorite Games of 2017 (video)

I find it hard to judge art as "best". We can discuss how it was technically executed but how much you enjoy the art doesn't have to correlate to its quality of construction. Art resonates with you or it doesn't, whether it's music, movies, painting, sculpture, etc. Therefore my lists are my favorites of the year. In this case, the games I spent the most time on and will probably return to. I play mostly single player games, just don't have the kind of time needed to play multiplayer.
These are my favorite games of 2017:

Horizon Zero Dawn-  PS4

Persona 5 - PS4

Assassin's Creed Origins - PS4

South Park Fractured But Whole - PS4

Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War - PS4

Cuphead - PC

My Favorite Albums of 2017 (video)

I find it hard to judge art as "best". We can discuss how it was executed technically but how much you enjoy the art doesn't always correlate to it's quality of construction. Art resonates with you or it doesn't, whether it's music, movies, painting, sculpture, books, etc. Therefore my lists are my favorites of the year. In this case, albums I have gone back to and will re-visit in the future, these are my favorite albums of 2017. #rockfile

Steven Wilson - To The Bone

Leprous - Malina

Anubis Gate - Covered In Black

Mastodon - Emperor Of Sand

Von Hertzen Brothers - War Is Over

Soen - Lykaia

Voyager - Ghost Mile

Anathema - The Optimist

Caligula's Horse - In Contact

Nothing More - The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Lunatic Soul - Fractured

Drifting Sun - Twilight

In Search Of Sun - Virgin Funk Mother

He Is Legend - few

Blackfield - V

Reissues and Live Sets:

David Gilmour - Live At Pompeii Deluxe Edition

RUSH - A Farewell To Kings 40th Anniversary

Marillion - Misplaced Childhood 4CD+Blu-Ray

The Pineapple Thief - Where We Stood

DGM - Passing Stages Live in Milan and Atlanta

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