charleyrocknroll's blog: "Charleyrocknroll"

I watched this video and was tremendously moved by this guy's performance. I am sharing it with everyone I can. He deserves to be heard..simply awesome. this guy brought the entire audience to it's feet..they starting applauding, almost as soon as he opened his mouth. the epitome of STAGE PRESENCE. http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=646496&cache=1

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=932475108 Hurricane Katrina was bad for Southeast LA and Mississippi, and Alabama. We've been made very aware of the tragedy inflicted on the people living in those areas. Movies, documentaries, high level authorities made to resign due to mishandling situations, these things have been firmly embedded into our minds by the news media. Especially the people in New Orleans, chased to places like the Super Dome, by the tens of thousands and left standing there, screaming indignantly at news video cameras about how they were mistreated and there was no one there to help them. Hurricane Rita came ashore less than a month later. I live in Hackberry, 12 miles from the beaches on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, my house is just yards from the ship channel leading to the Gulf. Hurricane Rita came through here like a mad woman going to.., well, you've heard that phrase. A storm surge wall of water, tall enough to immerse houses, pushed by 125 mph winds, strong enough to tear houses to pieces like a wrecking ball had had several swings at the buildings, battered the communities of this area. Complete houses washed away, found miles away, in the marshes. Holly Beach is 12 miles due South of me, was wiped completely off of the beach. There were 2 tall palm trees left standing at Holly Beach, I saw them myself, tough trees. Holly Beach settlement residents have seen hurricanes before. They knew what to do. I don't remember seeing anything about Holly Beach residents on the news, making disparaging remarks about the government not helping them. Cameron parish residents may be few, compared to the jammed in populations of New Orleans, but what Cameron parish residents have is common sense, the will to survive, and strong roots in an area deep in tradition. As I watch Cameron parish drag itself out of the mud and hurricane debris, I feel a sense of pride knowing these folks are my neighbors. No whining and complaining heard here, just awe at the forces of Mother Nature and then "back at it", cleaning up and rebuilding, blaming no one, demanding nothing more than offered. It's this vision of the people of South Louisiana I'd rather have plastered all over television screens, than the ignorant people that preferred to ignore blatant warnings and orders to evacuate before Katrina. Cameron parish resident, Charley Drumm

Future of internet radio hangs on new regulations By LIUAN CHEN, The Enterprise 05/29/2007 Updated 05/28/2007 10:05:39 PM CDT BEAUMONT - Sheila Cain runs a one-man show at Beaumont Live!, an internet radio station promoting music by little-known local artists. She relays an eclectic mix of delta blues, jazz, modern Texas rock and "red dirt country" to listeners in 14 countries, but the rhythms could stop July 15 if new Copyright Review Board regulations go through. The rulings would increase Internet radio sound recording royalties up to 1,200 percent and carry a $500 minimum channel royalty fee retroactive to January 2006. What does this mean for an independent broadcaster like Cain? The royalties would add up back to October 2006 when she started the station, meaning a $4,000 fee "for something I never made a penny on." For Cain, a musician herself, finding and promoting local artists is a "labor of love," not work for profit. Most artists on her station aren't paid royalties anyway since they don't have record contracts. If regulations go through, Cain said she "absolutely would have to shut down." "This is a place for people who can't get on a regular radio station," she said. "A lot of good music won't get heard anymore." Blues singer and guitarist Charley Drumm from Southwest Louisiana relies on Cain's station and another in Florida to get his music out. "It's really going to hurt my efforts to get my product heard," he said regarding the possibility of Beaumont Live! shutting down. The rate increases will put thousands of independent webcasters out of business and hurt larger online broadcasters like Yahoo and Live365, webcasters said. Webcasters have organized to appeal the rulings, and Congress also has also pricked up its collective ears. The Internet Radio Equality Act, recently introduced in both House and Senate, would reverse the review board's decision, setting rates at the same level now paid by satellite radio services (7.5 percent of revenue). To Daniel Miller, owner of Radio Free Texas, a Nederland-based Internet station, the new bill is the lesser of two evils. As he sees it, Internet radio unfairly bears a heavier burden than regular radio. While regular radio pays only songwriter royalties under a formula that's decades old, Internet radio pays additional performance royalties. "When it's played on Internet radio, everybody gets paid," Miller said. "We're held to a standard that's less than fair, and their excuse is that it's digital." Miller is confident the bill will pass, largely because Internet radio listeners represent a large voting constituency. His station alone serves 350,000 to 400,000 listeners monthly, he said. "Internet radio is a very grassroots thing. Because we support independent artists people don't hear elsewhere, there's a loyalty there," he said. Concerned listeners are taking action as well. Since Cain announced the upcoming crisis on the Beaumont Live! Web site, many people have responded by calling their congressmen and signing petitions, including Beaumont resident Indra Tucker. "We're all limited to what we can hear on the radio as it is," Tucker said. "I hope they would reconsider so that people have a choice to listen to regular radio stations or online." On June 8-9 in New Braunfels, Radio Free Texas' annual music gathering, the Rowdy Float Trip, might also create a stir. "Based on what's going on, this event's going to be huge," Miller said. "It may turn into an anti-SoundExchange (the organization collecting and distributing the royalties) rally." lchen@beaumontenterprise.com (409) 880-0729 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have any idea what people like Sheila do for our music industry and artists, such as myself, you will make whatever efforts necessary to see she, and others like her, remain in a position to "do what they do". Feel free to contact me for possibilities in helping Sheila. She's a rare person, indeed, and definitely deserves "our" help in meeting whatever ridiculously unfair licensing fees she will be forced to pay, to get our products heard by the masses. charleyrocknroll

Charley Drumm, ALIVE ONSTAGE 28 May 2007, 3:53pm For more than 25 years, CHARLEY DRUMM has been standing in front of people, playing his guitar, and singing the songs he loved to sing and the songs he wrote. His original songs are inspired by benchmarks in his life, loves and heartbreaks, friends and family, and a lifestyle that has taken Charley from rags to more rags. Now 50 something years old, Charley is undergoing a major lifestyle change, moving from married, family man to single, singer/songwriter, with a penchant for fishing. Any performance of Charley's witnessed, leaves one with the definite feeling you have just been a part of something special. Coming straight from the heart, leaving nothing onstage but sweat and tears, Charley pours out his energy and love of entertaining to his audiences. With a few exceptions, Charley has always been a solo act, completely comfortable being the focus of everyone's attention in any room he's played. The many years of solo work has lead to a unique guitar style, flashy, yet, filling any arena with the needed accompanying support for his smooth singing voice. Most arrangements by Charley, makes one look around for sidemen musicians, since it's difficult to believe all of that music and sound is coming from one man. The tag, MUSICIANS' MUSICIAN, is not handed out lightly by musicians, yet it has been used to describe our friend, CHARLEYROCKNROLL, more than once. For a true ALIVE PERFORMANCE, do yourself a favor and catch Charley performing onstage. It's a delight to be a part of his evening of voice and guitar picking extraordinaire. charleyrocknroll,Recordings,yesIknow,charleydrumm