Sick!

Yo!

I was just talking to a client yesterday, and I told him I'd send him some cool videos to get him re-inspired. I went looking on YouTube, and man, these are sick!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZoX6Q0UK8A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX-GJ46kiCo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHZTyfKseZE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reuK2msTzec

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzQb79IhoRE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9a4ThBNacY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddn4MGaS3N4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TklYkadFLZA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55nAwmVLQSk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7rJAEvA-vk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihvvf1R_vWo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SvTrptAuvs

Enjoy!

Are you a FOP?

Hey hey hey!

I've just started something realllly cool! A Global Guitar Club on facebook! It's called....Drumroll please.....

The Fraternal Order of Poodleman

(And, of course, it's in no way intended to be disrespectful to our brothers in blue.)

I started a guitar club for my students, and now, I'm takin' it global! Join up, and rock on!

AND - you may have noticed the new widget to the right called "FFOPs." (Who comes up with these names? Widgets, that is!)

If you're a fan of The Doghouse, become a follower! Wow...I'd like to have followers. Perhaps a limo is next? Ha ha!

Your letters worked!

Hey everyone!

I'd like to say "Thanks" if you sent in a letter on Troy Davis' behalf. Less than two hours before he was scheduled to be executed on extraordinarily shaky evidence, his execution was stayed. I can't imagine what a relief that must have been. What a poor fella - talk about messin' with yo' head.

Check out the Amnesty International press release. The Supreme Court will decide on Monday if they'll hear his case again.

And remember - we all have a voice. This is proof that they work! Never forget that, and never forget the guys who fall through the cracks. This case shows me how it could happen to any of us.

Now, where's the music? OK, here's some wisdom and advice from a buddy of mine:

The Only Place Success comes before Work is in the dictionary.

Go Practice!

Adobe Audition crash fix!

Yo Rockers!

Man, I just figured out a fix for Adobe Audition. If you're trying to record with this cool program, but your PC keeps actin' funny (and you don't know why!), try this:

- Uninstall Microsoft Intellipoint
- Uninstall Bonjour service (I think it's with iTunes, but I could be wrong.)

Audition does not like these guys, as I found out. I had problems with my recording screen "shimmying" around (like it was scared of the mouse or something!), and my computer would crash every five minutes or so. This usually happened when I was using a lot of effects on the tracks. I initially thought I needed more memory, so I added another 2 gb to my existing four. This still didn't fix it. After some googling, and seeing other folks' pain and solutions, I uninstalled Intellipoint and Bonjour. Presto! It works like a charm, now! A disclaimer: My computer has not blown up yet, but ask someone who knows what they're doing if it's ok to give these programs the pink slip before you uninstall 'em!

And it really works great with my new Presonus Firestudio Project FireWire interface! This is a cool piece of gear. I can record up to 8 XLR inputs simotaniously, and it sounds great. Plus, it's got some cool blue lights on it. I bought the unit from Randy over at Sweetwater. Those guys are great. I highly recommend 'em. Ask for Randy, and tell 'em Josh Urban sent you.

Rock on!

Two hours left...

Send a letter for Troy now!

Click here.

Tales from the teachin' room

Man, I have a great job. I get to sit down all day and play guitar. And let me tell you, these folks I teach are mighty funny. This past week in my teaching studio has been especially entertaining.

Young student (we'll call him Juan): My Dad says that the singer for AC/DC has a drugged out voice.

Me: Yeah, well, a lotta those guys are crazy.

Juan: Their voice is all scratchy
Me: Yep, and smoking messes up their voices, too.
Juan: My teacher says that coke will temporarily scratch your vocal chords, too.
Me: (Note: Anytime a kid brings up drugs, I try to tell them to stay away from 'em, how Stevie Ray Vaughan cleaned up his act, and generally be a good example.) Yeah, that stuff will kill you! Stay far away from it.
Juan: Well, my brother says he just loves that taste, and that sugar rush!
Me: Uhhhhh.....yeah...I thought you were talking about....well, it's not that bad for you. But it's still unhealthy! In fact, it will take copper off pennies.


A few hours later, Mabel comes in. Mabel, younger that Juan, is one of the few students that actually likes the singing Hannah Montana pen that resides in my studio.

Mabel: Josh....Are Earth Girls easy?
Me: (Thinking back to the numerous hippie chicks that have failed to see my obvious and stunning charms...) Well, that's not always been my experience....
Mabel: I was watching this movie called Earth Girls and it was about aliens coming to earth!
Me: Oh.


My goodness...I'm always getting knocked off my chair. Hey, they certainly keep me on my toes!

By the way, that Troy Davis case is down to the wire. If you've got literally 30 seconds, call the Georgia Board of Paroles at:

404-651-6671

Give 'em your name, what state you're calling from, and urge clemency for Troy Davis. It's that simple.

I want to rock the house, not the boat, but...

As a musician - Rocking the house is a good thing. Occasionally, the boat gets rocked, too.
It's certainly not my wish to do that this time, however.

I've got over forty students, so many friends and colleagues, and each with a different point of view - all of which are worthy of respect and consideration.

It is with some hesitancy that I'm posting the link of a buddy's blog. James is a friend of mine, and he's super liberal. I think he's got some great points at this crossroads of America, and I really dig his blog. However, I certainly don't want to put folks' collective noses out of joint. So - I'll put the warning that he's very political, very left wing, and doesn't have any qualms about it. As universal studios would say, "the views contained in his blog aren't necessarily endorsed by Rock God Music, LLC, or it's affiliates." If you're up for it, check it out at

www.thepoliticalcaveman.blogspot.com

And if you're not, I suggest that you don't.

Now, this is a music blog, so here's some music!

The next time you need a challenge, try this: Dial up 80 beats per minute on your metronome, or www.metronomeonline.com, and play the following:

The major scale in increments of:

1 note per click
2 notes per click
3 notes per click
4 notes (yawn) per click
5 notes per click (what?!)
6 notes per click
7 notes per click

Key:

Plain text indicates run of the mill shred
Boldface text indicates knock yo' block off hard confusing stuff to get your chops Arnold level.

Subdividing the beats in such odd increments creates a unique challenge, indeed.

Don't be a girly man! Try it!

PS. Keep an eye out on ultimate-guitar.com for my latest article! It should be out fairly soon.