Category Archives: live music

First Chair, Last Chair, Any Chair, No Chair

Posted on April 9, 2018 by L. M. Bernhardt

Experience suggests that conventionally trained symphony orchestra and symphonic band musicians (especially we non-pros) probably don’t think all that much about the physical arrangement of their performance spaces, once certain fundamentals are settled to their satisfaction: section leadership and playing … Continue reading →

Posted in aesthetics, live music, music, Philosophical Mess-making, review, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on First Chair, Last Chair, Any Chair, No Chair

Light and Sound

Posted on January 18, 2015 by L. M. Bernhardt

I’m really a terrible photographer. I have no idea what I’m doing. If you want to have a long, thoughtful conversation with someone about lenses, I am not your huckleberry. I found a digital camera that lets me do what I … Continue reading →

Posted in aesthetics, Cherokee Jazz & Blues Festival 2015, live music, photography | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Light and Sound

Making Joyful Noises

Posted on January 17, 2015 by L. M. Bernhardt

The Cherokee Jazz & Blues Festival is a fun way to fight the winter doldrums in snowy northwest IA, and I go whenever I can (heck, I was even a part of a band that played on the pub crawl, … Continue reading →

Posted in aesthetics, Americana, Cherokee Jazz & Blues Festival 2015, live music | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Making Joyful Noises

Happy LOUD New Year! (or: Toward a Partial Taxonomy of Gigs)

Posted on January 1, 2015 by L. M. Bernhardt

Bar band gigs are a funny thing, and bear reflecting on if we want to take the complexities of the relationship between performers and audiences seriously. Unlike a concert, where the patrons are paying (assuming it’s a concert one pays … Continue reading →

Posted in aesthetics, live music, local music, music, Philosophical Mess-making | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Happy LOUD New Year! (or: Toward a Partial Taxonomy of Gigs)

Dead and Dying for Rock and Roll

Posted on November 9, 2014 by L. M. Bernhardt

This much is true, I think, for live performances in general: you play to the audience you have, not the audience you ought to have or wish you had. Performances, unlike jams or practice sessions, build the experience of those … Continue reading →

Posted in aesthetics, live music, local music | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dead and Dying for Rock and Roll

Making Music (Some Random Post-Show Musings)

Posted on October 26, 2014 by L. M. Bernhardt

One of the things I constantly bang on about when I write and talk on the subject of the philosophy of music is the failure of most recent ontologies of music to take it seriously as a practice rather than an object. … Continue reading →

Posted in aesthetics, live music, music, Philosophical Mess-making | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Dubious Joys of Enhanced Muzak

Posted on May 23, 2012 by L. M. Bernhardt

Performing music to a live audience is an interesting experience. Sometimes you’re playing a concert or  some other sort of show where the crowd is focused on you — you are what they’ve paid to see. Sometimes you’re a part … Continue reading →

Posted in live music | Comments Off on The Dubious Joys of Enhanced Muzak

"…but it was good anyway."

Posted on September 3, 2011 by L. M. Bernhardt

This week, I had the chance to back up Andy Juhl as a Bluestem Player once again, but this time the venue was wildly different from our usual gigs. This time, we were (rather inappropriately, as it turns out) playing … Continue reading →

Posted in live music | Comments Off on "…but it was good anyway."

365 DotU, Day 67: Blast From the Past

Posted on July 24, 2011 by L. M. Bernhardt

It’s the weekend, so you get an old tune from the archive. Today, it’s last summer’s live Laura and Josh cover of Neko Case: “Magpie to the Morning.” It’s one cool song among many on an absolute stunner of an … Continue reading →

Posted in A Monumental and Daunting Task, covers, Laura and Josh, live music, YouTubification | Comments Off on 365 DotU, Day 67: Blast From the Past

365 DotU, Day 59: Coasting With Miss Cline

Posted on July 16, 2011 by L. M. Bernhardt

Another busy weekend of service to the Wedding Industrial Complex requires me (sadly) to go back to the archives and throw out an old recording again. As a form of compromise, I’ll give you an old audio recording with a … Continue reading →

Posted in A Monumental and Daunting Task, Laura and Josh, live music | Comments Off on 365 DotU, Day 59: Coasting With Miss Cline