Tenacious D on Howard Stern – May 15, 2012 

And check out Tenacious D’s performances of Rize of the Fenix and Beelzeboss on Fallon…

Tenacious D – Rize of the Fenix (Live on Fallon)

Tenacious D – Beelzeboss (Live on Fallon)

Princess Henrietta by Lo Faber

One of my all time favorites — a pure piece of fun. I really think, and I think many songwriters will agree, it is harder in many ways to write something that is pure fun than to write something that is heavy, dark or sad. Life itself, after all, is fraught with difficulties, and to write about those, we need only observe the world; but to make something that is joyous takes an act of creative imagination, a conjuring up of a world of smiles that all too often eludes us in reality.

[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]

Anyway. I remember vividly the experience of writing “Henrietta.” It was, for one thing, very influenced by a band we knew that did a great job of writing pure, fun pop: the Spin Doctors. I think I had recently seen the Doctors at a packed Nightingale Monday night show and been very impressed by their musicianship, their songs and their appeal.

God Street Wine – Princess Henrietta (Live at the Gramercy)

But of course, because I am me, when I set out to imitate the Spin Doctors it came out a bit different. I wrote “Henrietta” pretty much in one sitting, in my head without any instrument at hand. We were playing at a fraternity party at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania in I think winter 1992 and while there was no actual band room, there was a room adjoining the room in which we were playing, that had some armchairs and a fireplace, where one could get a little privacy. I sat in one of those armchairs in the down time after our sound check, and composed all of “Henrietta” including the instrumental. I even had the vocal harmonies pretty much in mind and who would sing which part. This was the only time I ever did this and it was a kind of weird experience: I was so sure I would remember everything about the song I didn’t even feel the need to write any of it down. It was just beamed into my brain, and I could go ahead and play the show and then go home and start teaching it to the band at the GSW house the following week.

It was a very natural song for GSW to learn and I recall it being very easy; I don’t think I ever wrote a chart for it, just played it for the guys. It’s so well tailored to the band’s musical strengths. Our later producer Bill Wray called the groove the “White Boy Jump” and said, rightly I think, that it was the funkiest feel we played. Of course Henrietta soon became a very popular live tune and then the first song on our first major label album, $1.99 Romances.

Lyrically, what can I say? It’s a rock’n'roll comic book about rescuing a princess from human sacrifice. How can you go wrong with that? I love singing this tune and can’t wait to sing it again at the shows this summer.

Upcoming God Street Wine Shows:

August 9 – TRI Studios (Free Webcast)
August 10 & 11 – Sweetwater Music Hall, Mill Valley CA
August 16, 17 & 18 – Gramercy Theatre, NYC NY

Thanks to Lo for sharing the story behind the tune and Mike for his work on the video.

The Dreams Tulum resort will host the inaugural Strings & Sol and packages are available with lodging at the hotel and without. Dreams Tulum is located 75 miles south of Cancun on the Mayan Riviera. Rooms and four-day passes go on sale May 23rd at noon EDT through the event’s website.

On Friday night, June 12, Phish played a lengthy late night set and then closed out the festival two days later with two full sets and an encore. This clip below, which will only be available for one week, features repertoire staples Down With Disease, Wolfman’s Brother and Possum plus more.

6/12
Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan
Possum
Down With Disease
Wolfman’s Brother
Kill Devil Falls
Free

6/14
Manchester Jam
Light
46 Days

Click on the links above to go directly to the song of your choice and don’t sleep on one of the best versions of Kill Devil Falls to date.

While a schedule for this weekend’s webcast hasn’t been posted, a press release announcing the broadcast points to a number of acts whose sets will be aired…

Fans not lucky enough to score tickets will still be able to watch the show on Myspace and catch performances by hot artists, such as Jack White, String Cheese Incident, Dispatch, Umphrey’s McGee, G. Love & Special Sauce, Paul Oakenfold, Gogol Bordello, Dr. Dog,  Flogging Molly, Yelawolf, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Alabama Shakes, and more, blaze the stage on May 18-20.

Once a schedule goes up, we’ll be sure to let our readers know.

Allman seemed very subdued and soft spoken. He talked about revisiting old Allman Brothers Band recordings and advised the audience to use headphones when listening to music. Comedian Bill Maher, another guest on last night’s episode of Conan, weighed in on how Stormy Monday from At Fillmore East helped him score women. If you missed it, here’s a four-minute segment from the interview…

Now, we’re up to four gigs on the newly reunited Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s slate. The group is one of the headliners at Outside Lands in August and will play a pair of shows at Red Rocks with Alabama Shakes.

Unlike the first 13 installments of Voodoo, organizers will offer on-site camping options this year that range from basic to glamping. Tickets are available now.

Sugru is an amazing little product. It is a Play-Doh like substance that can be formed into any shape you can imagine. It adheres to practically any substance (including previous Sugru applications) and within 24 hours cures into a flexible, rubbery, waterproof, temperature resistant wonder-material. What does that all mean? Read on to learn a little bit more about what you can do with Sugru.



Sugru is awesome.

Several months ago, I read a few articles about Sugru and thought it looked and sounded useful. However, I wasn’t convinced that I had a need for it and figured it was kind of an expensive product. Fast forward to last month when I went from camera repair store to camera repair store trying to find a fix for a broken ring around one of my lenses. While the broken plastic ring didn’t affect functionality of the lens, it did prevent my lens cap from being able to snap onto it to protect the lens. Repair cost estimate? $200. I remembered Sugru and figured it was a good time to buy some to see if that could solve the problem. Problem solved with Sugru. So is $20 expensive for 12 packages that will allow for many different repairs? I think not.

How does it work? Simply cut open a package and form whatever you need. The material feels like Play-Doh with a slight stickiness. The sticky texture allows for easy adhesion to practically any material like rubber, wood, plastic, metal, and ceramic. Keep rolling, pinching, forming, and squeezing until you’ve created just the custom part you need. You’ll have about a half hour or so before the material starts to cure. Once it is fully cured, in about 24 hours, your finished product will be waterproof, dishwasher safe, temperature resistant, and best of all: still flexible. This allows you to use Sugru on hoses, cables, footwear or other objects that need to bend.

Give Me Some Ideas on What I Can Do With It: Your imagination is the only thing that limits the usefulness of Sugru. I’ve done several simple repairs like fixing loose USB cable connectors, broken knobs & handles, a broken wheel on a dishwasher rack and also for attaching things permanently.

I have a small flashlight that’s been to its fair share of concerts. (I always bring a small flashlight with me). I was getting ready to ditch it since the rubber power button was worn through and was a hassle to press without hurting my thumb.  A little dollop of Sugru and it is as good as new!

I used Sugru to attach an NFC tag to a cell phone stand that I got at the dollar store to make my own desktop dock and it saved me $70.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A couple of quick Google searches for “Sugru Uses” or “Creative Uses Sugru” should give you scores of ideas on the types of things that you can do with it. Car repair, cable management, laptop repair and outerwear repair all seem to be pretty popular uses.

Black, white and a few different colors are available to match your needs. And, just like PlayDoh, you can mix colors together to create your own custom palettes.  However, be careful when ordering: Despite the packaging in small, airtight, foil pouches, the shelf life is only six months. Once I started using Sugru, I realized that wouldn’t be a problem for me as I just ordered my second batch.

Bottom Line You don’t need to be very handy at all to enjoy the benefits of this great product. Sugru is extremely easy to work with and forms to any shape, bonds to anything and will cure to a permanent state just by being exposed to air. Several colors are available and while a couple dollars for each small pouch may initially seem expensive, the value is exponentially higher being able to save on costly repairs, replacement parts and making everyday items perform better.

Sugru.com

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Hidden Track Technology Tuesday
email: parkerjh@gmail.com
twitter: @tmwsiy
voice-mail(781) 285-8696

Have an idea for an article? Product, app, or web service you are passionate about? Feel free to get in touch with me.

As far as the additions, we’re proud of HT contributor Wyllys, who will make his Bonnaroo debut this June. Other additions to Bonnaroo 2012 include The Infamous Stringdusters, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Pelican, Unchained (Van Halen Tribute), Sara Watkins and The Dirty Guv’Nahs as well as GZA, who will perform Liquid Swords backed by Grupo Fantasma.

Head to Bonnaroo.com for the full schedule.