5 Steps to Producing Perfect 80s Pop

https://kregmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/04/07-Producing-Perfect-80s-Pop.mp3 Computer Music magazine reminds us, in their July 2014 article 5 Steps to Producing Perfect 80s Pop, why the 1980’s is a musical decade we definitely don’t want to forget. Here is a list of things that make 80s music so unique.  1. Synth Arpeggios Hardware synthesizers often featured onboard arpeggiators. The classic up/down…

Read More

Vintage Rewind: The Roland Jupiter 8

https://kregmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/04/06-Vintage-Rewind-Roland-Jupiter-8.mp3 The keyboard most predominant during the 80s is identifiable by a bright orange, glowing power switch located near its moniker: Roland.  Dave Gale, in his MusicTech article called Vintage Rewind from 2016, explains that the Roland Jupiter-8 is as much a desired object today as it was in 1981. “The value of the 40-year-old instrument…

Read More

Blowin’ in the Wind: Where Have All the Protest Songs Gone?

https://kregmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/02/blog-5-blowin-in-the-wind-where-have-all-the-protest-songs-gone.mp3 In 2003, the Dixie Chicks got a dose of censorship when the lead singer Natalie Maines told an audience the band was embarrassed George W. Bush was from Texas. After that comment, radio stations bumped the Dixie Chicks from their playlists. Has the reemergence of politics in music suffered under the weight of this…

Read More

Music is Power

https://kregmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/02/blog-4-music-is-power.mp3 In an Indie Wire article by Eric Kohn in October 2020 David Byrne of the Talking Heads is asked: “To what extent do you believe your art actually becomes a catalyst for change?” Byrne replies: “I’ve been asking myself this question — how much influence art can have — and I don’t know the…

Read More

Woody Guthrie : A Life

https://kregmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/02/blog-3-woody-guthrie-a-life.mp3 In the late ’70’s, Marjorie Guthrie, Woody Guthrie’s wife, started thinking that the time had come for someone to write Woody’s story.  She found a young, eager journalist willing to take on the task, Joe Klein.  Marjorie gave Klein unconditional access to all of Woody’s writings and he went on to write the only…

Read More