26-year-old Aline Westphal from Hildesheim in Lower Saxony has won the 2011 Air Guitar World Championship in the annual competition in Oulu, Finland. The young German, also known as die Nichte des Teufels (“The Devil’s Niece”), is not just another pretty face. A university drama student, she’s writing a dissertation on “Air Guitar.”
Ms. Westphal is the first woman to win the world air guitar title in the global competition’s 16 year history. Rock on, Aline.
For your post-earthquake dining and dancing pleasure, Eilen Jewell performs a classic 1960 song by Johnny Kidd.
Related:
“Sheet Music of the Week: All Shook Up Edition,” Pat Padua, In The Muse blog, Library of Congress
“At least 5 aftershocks registered after East Coast quake,” AP via USA Today
Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-aVK
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length. Yes, we know about the Wanda Jackson–Jack White performance on Letterman.
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The sound! The fury! The Silly Bandz®! It’s the 4rd Annual Girls Rock! DC Camper Showcase this Saturday morning at the world-famous 9:30 Club. Doors open at 10:30 AM.
Each summer, Girls Rock! DC volunteers teach girls (ages 8-18) Rock and Hip-Hop music skills in an intensive week-long summer camp. At Saturday’s concert, girl bands and DJs will perform their original tunes for the cheering crowd. Much better than watching those same old Saturday morning cartoons.
More about the national Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls Alliance here — they put the “amp” in “camp.”
The City Council of Aberdeen, Washington, once home to grunge music legend Kurt Cobain, rejected a recommendation to rename the Young Street Bridge after the late Nirvana singer. Mr. Cobain spent part of his misspent youth loitering under that span across the Wishkah River. Some local citizens saw the bridge naming proposal as glorification of the musician’s drug abuse and suicide. “Is this the legacy we want to leave to our children?” asked Pastor Don Eden.
Guitar Hero, the music-themed video game with the plastic guitar-shaped controller first introduced in 2005, was recently discontinued. Sales had been in the billions but fell to under $300 million last year. Now the Activision corporation says there might be a reprise:
“‘Guitar Hero’ Not Dead, Says Game Maker Activision,” Scott Steinberg, Rolling Stone
Image (“Portrait with Video Game, after Paul Bril”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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The South By Southwest (SxSW) festival is over, so now it can be told: some Washington DC bands were actually there. Others stayed away, echoing Yogi Berra: “Nobody goes there, it’s too crowded.”
Meet the bands here.
More: “Photos: What D.C. Looked Like at SXSW,” Erica Bruce, ArtsDesk, Washington City Paper.
Image (“Washington Band Crossing Lake Austin, after Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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Fender’s classic Telecaster guitar just turned 60 years old. The solid-body guitar that changed County, Rock, and Blues music sounds just as good as ever. Take it from James Burton, Jeff Beck, Merle Haggard, Elliot Easton, Keith Urban, and a few of their pals.
Jason Persse posted his list of the “50 Greatest Guitar Riffs in Rock ‘n’ Roll.” While we may disagree with some of his choices, you can’t beat the way he did it, with streaming sound clips.
“50 Greatest Guitar Riffs in Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Jason Persse, Spinner.
Image (“Gentleman in a Blue Jacket with a Red Guitar, after Jacopo Amigoni”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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January 8, 2011: Elvis Aron Presley is 76 today. So is is his twin brother Jesse.
Our Elvis is alive; sorry about yours.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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Lucy O’Brien has an interesting post in the Britannica blog. Ms. O’Brien is author of She Bop: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop & Soul and She Bop II, and she reflects on the role of women in the music industry, and how it has changed in the past quarter century.
It’s a rich subject. If you agree, here are a few more titles to consider:
