Singer-songwriter Christian Beach is scheduled to join us for tonight’s live webcast of Technology and the Arts at 10 p.m. EDT. Feel free to watch at technologyandthearts.com or on the Technology and the Arts YouTube channel.
Category Archives: live music
Christian Beach’s CD Release Party @ The Saint, 4/10/09

Christian Beach
Mark your calendars for April 10…not only is it my wonderful girlfriend’s birthday, but my friend Christian Beach will be celebrating the recent release of his self-titled CD with a show at The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ.
I will once again be part of Christian’s backing band, helping out on organ and accordion, as he performs the entire 12-song CD in tracklist order. Christian will be hitting the stage around 10 p.m. and tickets are just $10.
If you are in the area and are available that night, please feel free to come to the show. If you want to get a taste of Christian’s music, visit his new web site at ChristianBeach.net or visit him on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/christianbeach.
The CD can be purchased via CDBaby.com or iTunes.
Christian Beach
The Saint
601 Main St.
Asbury Park, NJ
http://www.thesaintnj.com
“Christian Beach” CD now available on CD Baby
NOTE: This post was originally published on Brian Kelley’s Tandem With the Random blog on February 4, 2009.
It’s finally here…the self-titled, solo CD from my good friend, singer-songwriter Christian Beach!
“Christian Beach” is now available for sale at CDBaby.com, where you can also listen to 30-second samples of each of the album’s 12 tracks.
And here’s a fun fact for you: I designed the CD artwork around a photo by Charlie Pranio, which means I just did layout and selected an appropriate font.
Anyway, if you want to check out Christian Beach live, he has a few shows coming up:
Sat., Feb. 7, 2009
5:00 p.m.
The Strand Theater
Lakewood, NJ
http://www.strandlakewood.com
with band
Sun., March 8, 2009
8:00 p.m.
Rosie’s Cafe Presents at the Atonement Lutheran Church Hall
Asbury Park, NJ
http://www.atonementlutheranchurch.com/ROSIES-CONCERTSr.html
solo
Sat., March 28, 2009
8:45 p.m.
S.S. Cape May Music Conference Showcase
Congress Hall – The Brown Room Lounge
Cape May, NJ
http://www.sscapemay.com
solo
Fri., April 10, 2009
10:00 p.m.
“Christian Beach” CD Release Party @ The Saint
Asbury Park, NJ
http://www.thesaintnj.com
with band
Thurs., April 23, 2009
8:00 p.m.
Triumph Brewing Co.
Princeton, NJ
http://www.triumphbrewing.com
solo
Thurs., May 21, 2009
8:00 p.m.
Triumph Brewing Co.
Princeton, NJ
http://www.triumphbrewing.com
solo
For information about Christian Beach, visit http://www.myspace.com/christianbeach
Fox Elipsus…the Technology and the Arts Interview
Hey, folks…remember when we ended the podcast back in December, we said that we wouldn’t abandon this place entirely? Well, we meant that.
Case in point, above this text is a video interview I did with singer-songwriter Fox Elipsus. Those of you on MySpace and Facebook have probably received a friend request from him at some point…but that’s because social networking sites are his primary way of reaching his fans. Fox records his CDs at his home studio, promotes his music through MySpace and Facebook, and is currently on an extensive tour of bookstores and cafes in the United States in support of his latest double CD, “Momentum.”
So…enjoy the interview…and be on the lookout for an audio-only version on the ol’ blog and podcast feed…coming soon!
Oh, and I want to make a special mention about Bill…one of Fox’s fans who has given him a place to stay the past few days while in the NJ/PA area. Bill also has very good taste in music…anybody who thinks highly of Francis Dunnery, Midge Ure and Roland Orzabal has my utmost respect.
– BK
Show Notes for Technology and the Arts Podcast #38
In this installment of the Technology and the Arts podcast, we share some interesting news, web sites and online resources we have come across recently, including the Trons, a robot band out of New Zealand, and the immense visual treat that is “The Wall” at Philadelphia’s new Comcast Center skyscraper. Plus, we discuss the latest cinematic gem from Pixar, “Wall-E”…and more! Hosts: Brian Kelley and John LeMasney. File size: 7 MB. Time: 14 min, 4 sec.
Related Links:
- crumb.tumblr.com – John LeMasney’s tumble log.
- lemasney.com – John LeMasney’s Web site.
- bktandem.tumblr.com – Brian Kelley’s tumble log.
- Lifestream.fm profiles for John and Brian!
- This is another solo podcast for Brian…John was off yet again this week, as he and his wife recently welcomed their second son into the world (but do listen for cameos from John near the end of the podcast).
- John has announced his plans to return to the podcast…listen for details!
- Here are some things Brian mentioned:
- Brian updated some information regarding upcoming shows by (and with) his friend, singer-songwriter Christian Beach (see videos below). Check out Brian’s YouTube playlist of all Christian Beach live videos. Also, check out www.sundayjams.info on July 13 for a special live webcast featuring Christian Beach & Friends (time TBD…check back here later).
- BBC One will broadcast the fourth season (or series, for those in the UK) finale of “Doctor Who” this Saturday, July 5…here is a teaser for the episode.
- Congratulations to Rider’s own Jason Thompson for getting selected by the Sacramento Kings with the 12th pick of the 2008 NBA Draft. Good luck, Jason!
- Check out The Trons, a New Zealand-based, self-playing robot band. Watch The Trons in action (YouTube), and read about them here (Access Atlanta) and here (Under the Radar).
- The latest film from Pixar, Wall-E, is another classic…go see it!
- The huge, video wall (pictured above, courtesy of Engadget) in the lobby of Philadelphia’s tallest building, the new Comcast Center, is a sight to behold. Read about it here (Engadget) and here (Philly.com)…and watch the YouTube video (and make sure you click on “watch in high quality” when you do).
- Check out the Technology and the Arts Events page.
A couple of Christian Beach videos for you, featuring Brian on organ (top video) and on accordion (bottom video).
Christian Beach – “Great Ideas”
Live at The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ, 7/1/2008
(Video courtesy of NJIronMom)
Christian Beach – “Way Back Home”
Live at The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ, 7/1/2008
(Video courtesy of NJIronMom)
Show Notes for Technology and the Arts Podcast #37
In this installment of the Technology and the Arts podcast, we share some thoughts on Metallica’s latest Internet controversy, the BBC’s plans to create an online archive of its entire 81 years of existence and Viacom’s move to put episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on Hulu.com. Plus, we discuss independent music label collective Merlin and its emergence as a virtual fifth major label…and more! Hosts: Brian Kelley and John LeMasney. File size: 13 MB. Time: 26 min., 20 sec. File size: 6 MB. Time: 11 min., 37 sec.
Related Links:
- crumb.tumblr.com – John LeMasney’s tumble log.
- lemasney.com – John LeMasney’s Web site.
- bktandem.tumblr.com – Brian Kelley’s tumble log.
- NEW! Lifestream.fm profiles for John and Brian!
- This is another solo podcast for Brian…John was off yet again this week, as he and his wife recently welcomed their second son into the world (but do listen for cameos from John near the end of the podcast).
- Here are some things Brian mentioned:
- Brian updated some information regarding upcoming shows by (and with) his friend, singer-songwriter Christian Beach. (See promotional poster below.)
- After filing a lawsuit against YouTube, Viacom turns to Hulu.com to host online videos of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. (Ars Technica)
- The BBC plans to create an online archive of its 81 years of radio and TV history . (The Age)
- Metallica ticks off…then makes nice with bloggers who posted reviews of their soon-to-be-released CD (Ars Technica)
- Merlin, a collective of independent music labels, claims to have U.S. market share equivalent to major label EMI, effectively making Merlin a “virtual fifth major label.” (Ars Technica)
- Check out the Technology and the Arts Events page.
Show Notes for Technology and the Arts Podcast #28
In this installment of the Technology and the Arts podcast, we discuss the Qtrax debacle and Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo! Plus, we’ll take a look at whiteboard application Skrbl.com, instant messaging site Meebo.com, and Library of Congress images on Flickr. Hosts: Brian Kelley and John LeMasney. File size: 13 MB. Time: 26 min., 20 sec.
Related Links:
- This podcast was recorded at Triumph Brewing Company in Princeton, N.J. Thanks, Triumph!
- crumb.tumblr.com – John LeMasney’s tumble log.
- bktandem.tumblr.com – Brian Kelley’s tumble log.
- John promotes some future talks he has coming up: Brookdale Computer Users Group talk on open source software (especially GIMP, Inkscape and Scribus) and server technologies in March, Trenton Computer Festival in April, and Princeton Public Library Tuesday Tech Talk on using technology to lose weight.
- Brian talks about his return to the stage as he played organ and — believe it or not — accordion for his friend Christian Beach on Feb. 2, 2008, at Paul’s Tavern in Lake Como (formerly South Belmar), NJ. Watch the video at the very bottom of these show notes to see Brian playing tambourine and organ (far left…I show up every now and then) during Christian’s performance of “Poet of the Great Plains” at Saturday’s show.
- After something was misstated in the last podcast about timeline Web site Viygo.com, John and I are hoping to talk to viygo.com’s Matt Collins and Duncan Meech for an interview to appear in a future podcast.
- Microsoft has officially made a bid for Yahoo! John and Brian are among the many who are not happy about this.
- John loves these Vibe Body Sound Headphones.
- Periodic Table Printmaking Project – another topic discussed by John and the reason for the image above.
- Martin Sargent of TechTV fame has a new show…Internet Superstar.
- John discusses a few applications he has implemented on his blog at lemasney.com: whiteboard application Skrbl.com and instant messaging site Meebo.com.
- WWI: Experiences of an English Soldier – This blog features letters written by a World War I soldier that are posted online exactly 90 years after they were written, according to the dates on the original letters.
- The Library of Congress is putting 3,000 public-domain/copyright-free images on Flickr (let’s just hope Microsoft doesn’t screw that up if it gets its hands on the Yahoo-owned photo-sharing site).
- BBC Worldwide has opened up its MySpace and YouTube videos to the entire world…Brian has already posted a “Doctor Who” video on his MySpace profile.
- The similarly named “Technology in the Arts” blog writes about JotYou.com, an SMS service that takes geography and time into account.
- Finally, read all about one of the legendary tech-related disasters of all time…Qtrax! This P2P file-sharing service spent $1 million to announce it had struck deals with all four major record labels to distribute free DRM-encrypted tracks through an ad-supported service. Hours after the announcement, it became apparent that Qtrax had deals with NONE of the major labels. The Globe and Mail’s Matthew Ingram called Qtrax “one of the most bungled launches in Web 2.0 history.” Meanwhile, Ken Fisher of Ars Technica writes: “I can’t recall a launch this hyped that failed so miserably in recent years. None of the key pieces are there—the licenses, playable music, well-tested client code, the web site itself—yet they opened it to the public.” And GizmoRepublic.com referenced a famous Monty Python sketch by saying this about Qtrax: “It‘s like opening the doors to your new cheese shop, without stocking any actual cheese.”
- Check out the Technology and the Arts Events page.
And, as promised, here is the YouTube video I found of Christian Beach peforming “Poet of the Great Plains” at Paul’s Tavern in Lake Como, NJ, on Feb. 2, 2008. I enter the frame every now and then playing tambourine and organ. Enjoy!
“Poet of the Great Plains” © 2007 C.J. Beach
Show Notes for Technology and the Arts Podcast #26
In this installment of the Technology and the Arts podcast, we will again hear from Barbara Mink, founding director of the Light in Winter Festival taking place January 18-20 in Ithaca, N.Y. Plus, we will discuss live streaming Flash video on ustream.tv and operator11.com, the David Byrne interview with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, an interactive fashion exhibit at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the latest buzz on eMusic and Apple, and more. Hosts: Brian Kelley and John LeMasney. File size: 18 MB. Time: 37 min., 42 sec.
Featured Story:
- Light in Winter Festival – Barbara Mink, director and founder of the Light in Winter Festival in Ithaca, N.Y., returns to talk about this annual event celebrating the synergies of science and the arts. This year’s event takes place January 18-20, 2008. (Pictured above: James Kakalios, University of Minnesota professor of physics and author of “The Physics of Superheroes,” will be taking part in a program titled “Imagined Identities” at the Light in Winter festival.)
Related Links:
- crumb.tumblr.com – John LeMasney’s tumble log.
- bktandem.tumblr.com – Brian Kelley’s tumble log.
- John talks about a big e-mail project at Rider University in which all users are moving over to Yahoo-owned Zimbra.
- John also spent some time over the holiday break with friends at Triumph Brewing Company in Princeton, N.J. While there, he found some new beers to enjoy.
- John also congratulated the Princeton Public Library’s Janie Hermann for a recent article featuring her in the US 1 newspaper. John will again be taking part in PPL’s Tuesday Tech Talk series in 2008.
- Brian will be returning to the stage when he plays organ and — believe it or not — accordion for his friend Christian Beach.
The show takes place at The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ, on Feb. 2, 2008. UPDATE: Oops! Just found out from Christian that the show is actually taking place at Paul’s Tavern in Lake Como (formerly South Belmar), NJ. - Brian also will be seeing synthesizer legend Howard Jones perform acoustically at the Dennis Flyer Memorial Theatre in Blackwood, NJ, on Jan. 18.
- John is excited about the new “embed” feature available for Google Presentations.
- Stream live Flash video across the Web with ustream.tv or operator11.com.
- Check out the photographic political commentary of Allison Jackson at www.mbfala.com.
- John is excited about the prospects of a Netflix set-top box.
- Brian and John both discuss a recent wired.com interview of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke conducted by David Byrne of Talking Heads fame (check out the accompanying photo)…and, on a related note, “Weird Al” Yankovic asks why he hardly sees any money from digital download sales of his music. Also, sales of CDs tanked during the 2007 holiday season.
- Brian discusses an interactive, participatory fashion exhibit he came across on a recent trip to New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Check out blog.mode: addressing fashion.
- eMusic is in the news. The No. 2 online music retailer after iTunes may have some indie labels threatening to leave the service. However, eMusic has also struck a deal with AT&T to allow wireless customers to download songs directly to their handheld devices…AND download free copies of the same songs to their PCs.
- With Macworld days away, Apple is in the news. First, the company reportedly will begin renting DVDs from Fox through the iTunes Store. Also, there is a rumor going around that Apple will be launching its own music label…with Jay-Z at the helm! (But take that rumor with a grain of salt.)
- Check out the Technology and the Arts Events page.
Pandora Presents at the Urban Saloon
At the risk of repeating myself, Brian and I had a lot of fun on Wednesday night at the Urban Saloon in Philadelphia talking with Pandora users at the Pandora Presents get together.
Pandora, ( http://pandora.com ) for those of you who might not know, is an online music service that allows you to log in and create ‘radio stations’ that you program to your own tastes.
In Pandora, in each station, you start with a song, and as a song finishes, another song starts. You thumbs-up songs that you like, and you thumbs-down songs that you don’t. Each vote shapes the musical taste in your radio station. By voting, you also inform the Music Genome Project about someone who likes songs a, b, and f, but not g, j, or t.
The more users who vote, the more likely that the music that Pandora suggests for you to listen to (tuned by you and influenced by others who tune their stations in similar ways) is enjoyable, interesting, and surprising.
They also allow people to advertise their stations to others, and create multiple stations, so I might have a lemasney approved jazz station, a rock based holiday songs station, and a drum and bass club mix. Or, I could just find others’ existing shared stations that meet those needs.
They also just recently added classical music to the stations, so the music is becoming more and more diverse, just the way we like it.
It’s a fun way to listen to music, a great way to find new sounds that you are likely to enjoy, and a great form of social collective work that influences on both an individual and a group level.
Special thanks to Kevin Seal, the host of the evening, and Chris McGrew, for stopping by to converse with Technology and the Arts. Go, Griddle!
Show Notes for Technology and the Arts Podcast #13
Marsha Loftis, creator, producer and narrator of the Madie: Life in Bear Country podcast, is interviewed. Other topics of discussion include the passing of television’s “Mr. Wizard,” the ease and efficiency of Google Docs & Spreadsheets, an artist who has taken a picture of himself (almost) every day for 20 years, and the soon-to-be-released Apple iPhone. Hosts: Brian Kelley, John LeMasney. File size: 13.3 MB. Time: 29 min., 00 sec.
Featured Link
- Madie: Life in Bear Country – This blog/podcast is the brainchild of Marsha Loftis, a working mother of five children married to a member of the U.S. Air Force who lives in Arizona. It is a podcast done in a serialized journal format, which chronicles the life of Madie and her friends as they try to survive in a world without adults.
Other links related to this episode:
- For this podcast, John joins us via telephone from his vacation in Ocean City, N.J.
- Brian talks about the upcoming season finale of “Doctor Who” over in the UK, some old recordings of his that he has stumbled across, and his upcoming “one night only” return to the stage as a keyboardist for good friend, Christian Beach, for a July 13 show at The Saint in Asbury Park, N.J.
- John talks about using Google Docs & Spreadsheets as a vital tool for the graduate course he is taking.
- In sad news, Don Herbert — TV’s “Mr. Wizard” — passed away recently at age 89.
- Artist Karl Baden recently held an exhibit in Boston of nearly 7,300 photographs of himself taken every day from February 23, 1987, through February 23, 2007 (well, except for one day when he forgot to do it). He has sold about 350 of the contact print-size photos for $10 each.
- And, it’s almost time for the iPhone, which gets released to the masses in the United States at 6 p.m. in each time zone on Friday, June 29.
- To get ready for a star-spangled Fourth of July edition of the Technology and the Arts podcast, check out the “Venus Rises” science-fiction vidcast. VR’s creator/writer/director J.G. Birdsall will be our guest for that show.