Best Buy expanding its music reach

It’s no denying what happened to the independent record industry when Best Buy hit the market in the early 90s. But whether that happened directly because of Best Buy or from the beginning of the digital revolution in the later 90s/early 2000s, is still a toss up.

So when Best Buy announced it will begin to sell music instruments and gear by the end of the year, what would it be like for independent retailers?

I caught up with some of Atlanta’s indie music stores—Earthshaking Music and Dirt Cheep Music—to get their views on Best Buy invading their turf.

What I thought would be concern turned out to be indifference. Sure, it’s not as though they’re welcoming this surge in competition, but they’re confident that the expertise that strictly instrument retailers offer can’t be matched by a warehouse-like store.

Atlanta’s music stores not worried about Best Buy’s in-store music centers

“Boy you crazy. Nah, I’m Shwayze…”

The Internet rocks.

Due to previous commitments, I missed the premiere of MTV’s newest show Buzzin’ last Wednesday. But thankfully, most major networks stream whole episodes of your fave shows via the Internet, so Thursday morning before work I got to check out what everyone’s been buzzin’ about—pun, intended.

Cisco Adler has teamed up with a Malibu trailer park resident, 22-year-old Aaron Smith, better known to the mainstream as Shwayze, for not only the TV show but on his first full-length album, Shwayze, which will be released August 19.

I’ve listened to the two singles, Buzzin’ and Corona and Lime about 50 times since they’ve been released online. Strangely addictive and fitting perfectly into the college-music scene, it’s pretty chill music, and you can’t help but bounce to the beat.

Cisco Adler and Shwayze’s Buzzin’ premiered Wednesday on MTV

It is her special, special day

So much for being traditional. Apparently, canvas bags and personalized jewelry are considered outdated as acceptable gifts for the bridal party. It seems that some brides are treating attendants to microdermabasion, Botox, chemical peels, and even going as far as breast augmentation to make sure everyone is as…fresh…as possible for her “special, special day.”

Breast augmentation. Seriously? Seriously!

It’s Botox for You, Dear Bridesmaids

• New York Times, by Abby Ellin

Even if you don’t read the whole article (which I’m not recommending since it’s extremely captivating), you’ve got to hear this one quote that Ellin got from Robyn Bomar, an event planner in Destin, Fla.

“They will never choose Botox over a great dress, but they will say ‘Maybe I’ll have a buffet over a sit-down at the rehearsal dinner,’ ” she said. ‘Or: “I’ll spend the money on Botox rather than lunch.’ ”

Priceless.

I don’t know if this strikes anyone else as off-the-wall or if it’s just so outlandish to me because I’m knee-deep in wedding plans and maid-of-honor duties for my sister (Thank God the wedding is in a week, and it’ll be over). Thankfully we’ve implemented the “No Changing Your Mind Rule” so we’re going to keep that sit-down dinner and bridesmaids’ lunch, thank you very much.

An award-winning magazine

I don’t think I’ve ever won an award. An award that holds some weight at least. C’mon, that perfect attendance award in first grade doesn’t exactly do wonders for my resume.

But holy hell, my waiting has finally paid off, my lack of award-winning is deceased, and I’m set with awards until my future Pulitzer 10+ years down the road.

That Girl! is the first place winner in the 2008 AEJMC Student Magazine Contest for team Start-Up Magazine Project.

In 6 months, a 15-person team of undergraduates developed a prototype that competed with 21 other entries in a nationwide competition against undergrad and graduate universities. And we won. And we beat graduate students from Northwestern University’s Medill journalism school, what I consider one of the top graduate schools for journalism.

I am utterly in shock.

This is what Judge Nick Fauchald, senior associate food editor at Food & Wine, had to say about what set That Girl! apart from the other competition.

From the business plan to the design and editorial content, this magazine successfully identifies and caters to a very specific, very difficult audience: 7- to 12-year-old girls. The students displayed an astonishing handle on their projected readership, and it showed through especially on the playful, actionable design; I especially liked the “Just for You” page of cut-and-save content. The articles are perfectly geared to That Girl!’s young readers, and the advertisements are appropriate and easily distinguishable from editorial. Promotion strategies were innovate, especially the viral marketing and online opportunities.

FYI, he called us astonishing.

Even though it’s not exactly “my” award, I’m claiming 1/4 for myself: splitting 1/4 with the best designer for 7-12-year-old girls Holly Gibbs, another 1/4 with our young girls expert and editor-in-chief Nicole Orr, and the final 1/4 to the rest of our class and our team, the best copy editors we’ve got and the ones who sacrificed an all-day Saturday to make sure the photo shoot ran smoothly.

But all that aside, we wouldn’t have won without our detail-obsessed adviser. At the time we may have hated those do-overs, but it really makes it worth it now. Betty Cortina pushed us to do our best, better than our best. Betty Cortina made us into the magazine staff we are.

You might not be able to look at the actual magazine(some sample pages available at Holly Gibbs web site, but you can get an interactive experience of That Girl. (I still totally get chills when I see our video.)

Next stop, New York City and cover of Forbes 500.

Holy shit we won!!!!

It’s really an ice cream truck

Catching up on my daily dose of kissatlanta.com sometime back in June, something caught my eye. Preston Craig has created an ice cream truck, Bodega Nights, that caters exclusively to the late night club scene.

I was intrigued, but I had to see this for myself.

So I pitched the idea, my editor took hold and I swapped a Friday night out for some quality time with this truck.

It was awesome. I spent most of the night chatting with Lindsey Ibarra, kissatlanta.com blogger, Preston’s best friend/sidekick and keeper of ice cream, inside the truck and getting a taste of what this whole idea was all about.

Preston assured me that “Ice cream trucks outside of clubs is not a new phenomenon.” I admit to not being the most traveled party girl, or the most researched party girl, or even the biggest party girl, but I’ve never seen or heard of being greeted after a long, sweaty night of boozing and dancing with some good, old-fashioned frozen treats.

Craig first had the idea of a hot dog cart. But, apparently open food carts are illegal in Atlanta. It must be sold in a closed area. There’s a new thing I learned today. But ice cream is a much better idea, especially since things are definitely getting warmer in the city.

It is a pretty revolutionary idea for Atlanta though, it being the only late night mobile convenience store/ice cream truck in the city. Sure greasy food and alcohol mix perfectly, but I can’t think of anything I would want more than something cold to suck on—That’s what she said!—after being cramped in a club for long hours.

When need something like this is Gainesville, Fla., when summer doesn’t end until December.

Preston Craig kicks off Eastern Bloc with Bodega Nights ice cream truck

Janet Jackson reality show auditions

Reality show overload

I’m a sucker for trashy television. Primetime dramas, meaningless reality shows and “The search for the next (insert action noun) with (insert celebrity has-been).” I watch one segment of one hour of one show, and I’m hooked until the end. Rock of Love, Shot of Love, Legally Blonde, Grey’s Anatomy, Next Food Network Star. (OK, the last one might not be that bad, but it still made the cut.) It’s a horribly vicious cycle.

But hey, at least I’m not afraid to admit it.

So when I saw that Atlanta was hosting an open call audition for—you guessed it—an MTV reality show, I jumped on the chance to go check it out.

Credit goes to Ms. Janet Jackson for bringing us the next reality series and her search for her prodigy.

Doron Ofir Casting, responsible for the fine-picked contestants from some of our favorite reality shows like Shot of Love, Bachelor/Bachelorette, Flavor of Love, Real World/Road Rules and Survivor, picked up on the chance to oversee casting for Ms. Jackson’s prodigy search.

Being the untalented person that I am, I’ve never been to audition before, expect if you could cheerleading tryouts back in high school. It was definitely entertaining, although I was surprised that there weren’t more outright horrible contestants like in American Idol (as if we didn’t already know they picked some bad people on purpose). The majority of them had some sort of talent, even if they weren’t exactly what Doron Ofir and his casting crew were looking for.

Rock on, Atlanta.

Janet Jackson’s reality show hosts open call audition

Pictures to come in next post.

A bit o’ bluegrass

Bluegrass is one of those genres that’s touch-and-go for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love toe-tappin’ melodies and a bit o’ twang in my life. And when a band comes along that just nail those harmonies—ah, it’s golden. But I’ve got to be a particular kind of mood to fully appreciate everything about it.

One of the first—if not the first—articles I wrote for Creative Loafing was about DejaBlue Grass Band’s release party, celebrating their debut CD, Bucket Full of Rain. I would never have believed that these Atlanta locals who packed out  the dim-lit Red Light Cafe one Thursday in May would be competing on the main stage at the 35th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival in the same contest that launched Dixie Chicks and Nickel Creek.

Twelve acts were initially chosen for the contest, and narrowed to four that played in front of thousands.  Click ahead to read the rest.

DejaBlue Grass Band placed 2nd at 35th annual Telluride Festival

In double digits

I remember turning 10. I thought it was my biggest accomplishment to date. Double digits. I was no longer a child. Unfortunately, a family friend hit 30 so my meager birthday was slightly out shadowed, but it was still a big deal to me.

Last night was big.

Not only was it the 21st anniversary of the glorious day of my birth (Ta-Da!) but I’m finally in double digits on seeing Dave Matthews Band live.

It was monumentous, life changing even.

OK, life changing may be a bit extreme. Last year in Gainesville, he played an extraordinary set list, comparable to that he played in Red Rocks in 1995. And I have yet to see him play at The Gorge in Washington state (currently topping my list of Things To Do Before I’m 30), which I’m sure is one hell-of-a-show, if not for the set list than the view itself.

I am a bit bummed though because the Atlanta show fell at a really bad time (other than the fact that it was on my 21st birthday) in his show series. He played Rothbury on July 5 and totally rocked the place out as expected. The only song missing that would’ve topped off the show was Crush, which is why last year in Gainesville is so high on my list. And I’m sure the guys are still hurting over having saxophonist LeRoi Moore hospitalized about a week ago from an ATV accident.

All in all, awesome show. Tim Reynolds was even on the guitar, and a Dave and Tim combo is pretty unstoppable. But I’m a fanatic, so it’s safe to assume that this post is a bit biased.

Weekend Plans

Gearing up for another top-notch weekend, but haven’t finalized your plans yet?

5 shows the see this weekend

Sure, Emmylou Harris and Behind the Sun would be great additions to your Friday night plans, but tonight it’s all about Decatur Social Club. And while it doesn’t quite fit under the “show” category, tonight will definitely be a production. Preston Craig’s creation is celebrating its four-year anniversary, but also closing its doors after one final hoorah. As usual, the party won’t get started until around midnight, but you can be sure to expect a better than average Friday night at someplace else in Atlanta.