Alan Weinkrantz

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@KLRN @PBS Shout out for @PaulMcCartney White House In Performance - Interview with @katrinakehoe

via youtube.com

Tonight's PBS is broadcasting the "In Performance At The White House," featuring Paul McCartney and his amazing band. It will be broadcast on PBS affiliates around the U.S. and in my own local market where I live in San Antonio on KLRN.

Last month, I was able to take part in KLRN's Blazing Gavels Auction by playing the role of being a social broadcaster, where members of the social media community could help raise local and national awareness for a wonderful station like PBS.

As KLRN's Director of Public Relations, Katrina Kehoe, points out, KRLN brings wonderful national programming and keeps things very local as well. And with music, the arts, and culture being very much a part of our local cultural, the social web is giving local viewers a voice and a way to take part in and support KLRN.

Two of McCartney's band members, Brian Ray and Rusty Anderson, have given guitar clinics at Richard Turner's Redbone Guitar Boutique, which is in itself is a becoming a cultural mecca for guitar players and musicians from around the world who visit and shop in our city. Richard also has the longest lasting Beatles only radio show on San Antonio College Radio Station, KSYM - 90.1. Next year, Richard will celebrate being with his show for 25 years. And this week, McCartney band member, Brian Ray, just did a pre-release of an awesome album, "This Way Up," which I've been rocking out on since Monday.

Thank you KLRN; you Katrina; and thank you Richard for providing our community with all you do. And thank you Sir Paul for enriching our lives with the wonderful music and you've brought us through the Beatles, your solo work and your current band.

Tags » Alan Weinkrantz Blazing Gavels Brian Ray Gershin Award Katrina Kehoe KLRN KLRN Auction Paul McCartney Performance in the White House Redbone Guitar Richard Turner Rusty Anderson (0 Comments)
- 28 July 2010
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Review, Setlist, Video of Paul McCartney Dallas Show - August 19, 2009

Last night, I was fortunate to attend the Paul McCartney show in Dallas at new Cowboys Stadium. With my children, 17 and 22 joining in, it was 2 hours and 45 minutes of musical bliss, history and some amazing seats. We were fortunate to be on row 2 in the middle, slightly to the left of Paul (facing the stage) and dead center in front of, Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray off to the far right.

Saying that the music was amazing and that the band played well would be an under statement that would speak the very obvious.

Being a Beatles fan, having met Paul when I was a 23 years old at his home in London, it was quite a treat to briefly re-connect with a musical genre that has shaped music and culture all over the world.  As the show started, I told myself to stop "thinking" so hard about what was going on and to just enjoy the show.

Being so close up and near the band, the experience was totally different that other major shows I have seen in my life. I knew we were really close up when they played "Live and Let Die," and you could feel the heat from the pyrotechnics.

From my vantage point, I watched Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray not only play well in supporting Paul, but closely observed their subtle, and critical adjustments to volume, tone and pedal controls that gave each song just the right sound.

Even in a huge arena, sound matters -- and I was so blown away to their level of detail. The other treat about being so close was watching the parade of constantly changing, and often historic instruments Rusty, Paul and Brian played. You could see the scratch marks in the lower portion of Paul's trademark Hofner bass.

He also played an Epiphone acoustic with an early Redrose Speedway sticker.  Rusty played several instruments, but I my eyes really caught the finish on his Gibson ES-335's - one in cherry red and the other a blonde, natural color. Slightly from afar on the other side of the stage, I watched Brian with his  Les Paul SG six string, Les Paul SG Bass, Gretsch Anniversay, and and terrific sounding Taylor 12 string that chimed from being so close to the band. During the show, there were other instruments played by the band, but these are the ones that stood out the most in my mind.

We had to look back to see drummer, Abe Laboriel Jr., and keyboard player, Paul "Wix" Wickens. Being a drummer myself, and having recently seen Abe play with Stevie Winwood and Eric Clapton at the Hollywood Bowl in June, I can only describe Abe as being powerful, elegant and more of a ballet dancer using his sticks as his legs, doing an amazing balancing act supporting the melodies and guiding the band through the songs transitions.

During "Hey Jude," the video cameras turned to the audience and I could see myself and two children's images being flashed on a screen the entire width of the stage. We were singing "Na na na na na ,na na na, hey jude..." not only to ourselves, but to the other 40,000 members of a community who joined in that night. Speaking of community, we had a great contingency from San Antonio where the crew from Richard Turner's Red Bone Guitar Boutique were there in force. During the summer, Red Bone featured a series of clinics, two of which featured Rusty and Brian.

After the concert, we went over the the Waffle House in Arlington to have a very late dinner. I thought of ourselves as truckers taking a break from a long journey, getting some warm grub before we settled in for the night.

None us really talked that much.

I think we were collectively shell shocked in amazement of what had just been through. We finally made got to the hotel at about 1:30 AM and I had to get my son up at 6:00 AM so he could go back to Austin, where he goes to school. I went back to sleep, and about 10:00 AM my daughter woke me up. Again, we did not say much, but on our way in the car we both agreed that we both felt uplifted and almost in the vein of a religious experience. We were still drained, but had a very eery sense of clarity in our brains.

There was one more thing that initially was a disappointment, but turned out to be a blessing (as so many things in life are). Photographer that I try to be, I brought my Nikon D80 to show, but was asked to return it to my car, which I did. My hope was to capture some great photos as a keepsake, but it did not work out that way. Sure, I used my iPhone, but an iPhone is - well and iPhone.

As of now, the real imagery of the show remains clearly in the front of my mind. I promised myself to park those images right there and hopefully never have them relegated to the exit row.

Addendums:

Set List from Dallas Show / August 19

Brian Ray has a superb CD, "Mondo Magneto."

Rusty Anderson just release a new, very rock'n CD, "Born on Earth"

Other YouTube videos from this event.

Tags » Abe Laboriel Alan Weinkrantz Brian Ray Dallas Cowboys Stadium Jr. Paul McCartney Dallas Rusty Anderson Wix Wickens (3 Comments)
- 20 August 2009
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Redbone Guitar Boutique Joins Forces with Takamine Guitars to Host Brad Davis' Flatpickers' Ball - San Antonio / July 25

This summer, I've been hanging out more and more over at Redbone Guitar Boutique in San Antonio, where Richard Turner and his gang extraordinaire have been holding a series of how-to and informative clinics from leading (and sometimes legendary) music industry players and execs. They've formed alliances with major brands like Fender, Gretsch and now, Takamine, who are bringing some amazing and internationallyknown artists and music industry thought leaders to San Antonio.

First it was Brian Ray, followed by Rusty Anderson, who just happen to be in Sir Paul McCartney's band. I attended Brian's event, but had to miss Rusty's due to travel. Last weekend, it was Fred Gretsch (yes, as in the Gretsch brand), sharing his insights on his family's history and personal commitment to keeping a family legacy and brand in place. (I was also amazed when Fred asked me if I followed him on twitter - you can follow him - @fredgretsch).

This coming weekend, it's gonna be flatpicking guitar player, Brad Davis, giving a free clinic at Redbone on Saturday from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. Raising the bar even more, Redbone is offering a chance for you to sign up for a private guitar lesson with Brad on Sunday. (there is an extra charge for this). And if you come to the free event, be sure to register for your chance to win a free Takamine GS330S guitar.

Brad has spent years on the road playing country with Marty Stuart, bluegrass with Earl Scruggs, newgrass with Sam Bush, Gypsy jazz with John Jorgenson, and rock with Billy Bob Thornton. For the past seven years, he has played lead acoustic guitar with Earl Scruggs and Friends, and for the past six years he has played lead electric and acoustic guitar with movie actor Billy Bob Thornton's rock band. He spent two years (2003-2004) as the guitar player for the Sam Bush Band and also performed with John Jorgenson's Gypsy Jazz Quintet in 2005. He occasionally performs with an exciting new bluegrass band, 'Greenbroke', which consists of himself, John Cowan, John Moore, and Dennis Caplinger.

Take some time to read his bio, see who has played with and check out his other YouTube videos.

Visit Redbone or call 210-822-4111 for more information and to sign up.

This is gonna be fun!

Hope to see ya'll there.

Tags » Alan Weinkrantz Brad Davis Brian Ray Flatpicker's Ball Fred Gretsch Redbone Guitar Richard Turner Rusty Anderson Sir Paul McCartney Takamine (0 Comments)
- 20 July 2009
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Alan Weinkrantz's Posterous

Tech PR / Social Media Advisor/ Content Strategist
Alan Weinkrantz is a strategic technology Public Relations and Social Media advisor to American and Israeli companies.

He helps thought leaders establish their message, create visibility, and build credibility via traditional and emerging media channels.

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@KLRN @PBS Shout out for @PaulMcCartney White House In Performance - Interview with @katrinakehoe

Review, Setlist, Video of Paul McCartney Dallas Show - August 19, 2009

Redbone Guitar Boutique Joins Forces with Takamine Guitars to Host Brad Davis' Flatpickers' Ball - San Antonio / July 25

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