Bring It On Home

Collectively, there’s not a single guy in the band that doesn’t love Zeppelin. And aside from Andy Buchanan, who staunchly defends his designation of Neil Peart as the greatest drummer of all time, we recognize each Zeppelin member at their respective positions as being among the best at what they do. With that heavy praise in mind, it might come as a surprise to know that we currently only feature one Zeppelin tune in our set list.

We’ve been moderately limited with the selection of Zeppelin songs we could cover as a great number of them are so well known and revered and we’ve been reluctant to try and cover them unless we were confident in our ability to do them justice. Plant’s voice alone, for instance, keeps me from comfortably singing about 50%-60% of the songs they play!

It’s with great excitement then, Remedy has decided to cover a heavy hitting Zeppelin tune entitled ‘Bring It On Home,’ originally released in 1969 on the Zeppelin II album. At 4:20 seconds long, the song features a bluesy intro and outro, with a bone crushing guitar lick that carries listeners through a very short musical roller coaster ride in between. The intro and outro were deliberate homages to the original Sonny Boy Williamson song, while the rest of the track was an original Jimmy Page/Robert Plant composition.

With fair amounts of reasonably intricate harmonica parts and guitar parts that feature both lead and rhythm sections, the song should prove to be a substantial challenge for the band but an extremely rewarding song to cover at the same time.

In case you’ve not heard the song before, have a quick listen and be sure to brace yourself for the guitar intro!

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Statesboro Blues

Huge fans of the Allman brothers, Remedy has decided to take on a classic by the beloved southern rockers entitled, ‘Statesboro Blues.’ Originally recorded by Blind Willie McTell, a popular blues musician who played in Georgia until his death in 1959, the Allman Brothers recorded the song for the first time at the Fillmore East in 1971. Well known for the incredible slide guitar work done by Duane Allman, ‘Statesboro Blues’ was ranked #9 by Rolling Stone Magazine in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.  Not so ironically, Statesboro is a city in Georgia not far from Macon, where the band lived.

A tremendous admirer of Duane Allman’s skills with the slide, Tim is looking forward to taking on the challenge of duplicating the smooth, fluid style of Allman, while trying to infuse a bit of Remedy flavor into the classic hit. Always requested and heavily applauded during gigs, songs by the Allman Brothers always go over incredibly well with local folks wherever we play, and we look forward to seeing (and hearing) the response we get following the addition of ‘Statesboro Blues’ to our setlist.

If you’ve not heard the song before, have a quick listen to the song below and we’ll be sure to replace it with our version in a few weeks as a basis for comparison.

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Remedy iPhone Application

Remedy has finally made the big time. Nope, not Madison Square Garden, Royal Albert Hall, or the Grand Ole Opry; the Apple iTunes store! The official Remedy iPhone application is now available for free in iTunes and for an Apple fanatic like me, seeing the application in the app store was like gazing into the eyes of my children for the first time.

Sad, I know.

I’m still utterly shocked that I was able to secure the name ‘Remedy’ in the app store and that no one had previously snatched it up. Who knows, maybe someday Preparation H® will offer us $10,000 for the name and we can go buy Andy B. a second set of drums. A guy can dream.

So how’d we do it? With the help of 4 programmers, 3 graphic designers, 5 marketing gurus, 9 investors, and 1 Starbucks barista. Alright, alright, the honest answer is, without much difficulty or cost, and 1 Starbucks barista. Oh, that and a Scott McDaniel, who actually advised me on all of this stuff! Thanks Scott!

Here’s what you need if you want to do this for your band or business.

A Website
Sorry MySpace band page owners, that junk just won’t cut it. I won’t go into what a cyber train wreck MySpace is or my thoughts on it being an archaic wasteland for teeny-boppers and stalkers as I don’t want to appear judgmental.   That said, if you are currently hosting a band page there and directing your users to that location so they can digest your content, run away as quickly as you can, and bring your band equipment and followers with you to your own hosted website.

Now I know that building a website is not the easiest thing in the world for most people to do and I certainly won’t provide a tutorial on how to build one here, particularly because it does require some time, effort, and skill. But buying a domain name, securing a hosting provider, and building a website is easier today than ever before. You can either pay someone to build one for you (likely about $300 – $500 for basic sites), or purchase a template on one of the many template websites available online. With a little knowledge, effort, and skill,  you can typically modify a template and have it up for viewing within a few days.

The route I chose to go for construction of the Remedy site, thanks to the advice of my buddy Scott, is Wordpress. Wordpress is a free, open source web-authoring platform that is incredibly easy to install, use, and maintain. With thousands of developers contributing helpful plugins that make authoring a snap, it’s a no-brainer for folks looking to create a quick and easy website. For out-of-the-box implementation of a template, it requires no programming or .html skills and even the novice user can begin authoring content in minutes. The reason I chose it over other open source authoring tools, or .html, or flash, is because I wanted something that would be easy to maintain, help with search engine optimization, and allow our friends and fans to interact with the site.

RSS Feeds

After you have a site in place, you’ll need to make sure you develop RSS feeds so that users can consume your content without actually needing to be on your website. The iPhone app you develop will be heavily dependent on RSS feeds and the wonderful thing about using Wordpress is that most templates already have them built in! Remedy has RSS feeds for latest news, gigs, video, images, and user comments, as well as RSS feeds from external social networks like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. All of these RSS feeds are essential for feeding content directly from your website to your mobile device.

Build Your iPhone Application

You would think this would actually be the most difficult part of the process but in fact, it’s the easiest. Once you have your website and RSS feeds in place, building your iPhone application shouldn’t take you more than an hour or so. There are several websites available online that take the pain out of creating and submitting applications for mobile devices. My buddy Scott and I built our apps using AppMakr but there are others online that offer similar services. Upon arrival to the site, you can begin plugging in your RSS feeds and building your application, testing as you go along via their slick online ’simulator.’ When the application is complete and you’re thoroughly satisfied with the end result, AppMakr submits the app to Apple for processing on your behalf and you sit back and wait for it to be published. The application cost $100 to construct and was live in the iTunes store within two weeks following my submission.

Please feel free to leave comments for others on the page and ask questions if you’re looking for a little guidance. I’m always happy to help those in need of a little advice as I’m extremely thankful for having received it myself.

Good luck!

Charles Harrison Memorial Blowout for MDA

The Remedy Band proudly accepts an invitation to participate in the first annual “Charles Harrison Memorial Blowout for MDA” on Saturday July 17th, 2010.  Invited by the Clayton County Harley Davidson Owners Group, the band hopes to be part of an annual tradition that contributes to additional funding for finding a cure for Muscular Dystrophy. Steve Rabideaux, Director of the Clayton County HOG Chapter, expects the event to garner a lot of interest. “We expect a large turnout,” says Rabideaux. “We’re expecting this to be one of the biggest events in Harley Davidson of Clayton County’s History.”

Proceeds from this event will be donated to MDA and Remedy is thrilled to be able to participate in kind to support this wonderful cause. Having both friends and family affected by the disease, we’re counting on a tremendous turnout to help raise lots of money for the cause.

Muscular Dystrophy (MD) is a group of more than 30 inherited diseases including lesser know types, such as Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and currently affects a quarter of a million kids and adults now living with the disease. It causes weakening and breaking down of muscle fibers. The muscles become weak and susceptible to damage. This disease affects the voluntary or skeletal muscles, which control the movements of legs, arms and trunk. It can also affect the heart muscles and other involuntary muscles, such as muscles in the stomach. Some forms of MD are found in infancy or childhood, while some may not appear until middle age.

Planning for the event, which will include a motorcycle ride or poker run, is still in early stages but specific details are expected to be determined this month and we will update the website as they become available.

We hope to see you out at this event and encourage you to begin spreading the word. Thank you for your support!

Date: Saturday, July 17th @ 3 PM
Location: Harley Davidson of Clayton County
Address: 1384 Southlake Parkway, Morrow GA 30260
Website: Harley Davidson Of Clayton
Cost: TBA

Motorheads Debut

Remedy had the pleasure of playing at Motorheads in McDonough, GA for the first time on January 15th, 2010 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, playing four sets over the course of our four hour stay. Our first time at the venue, we did our absolute best to make the most of the opportunity by endeavoring to put on a flawless show, with lots of crowd interaction and participation, in addition to playing a whole lot of songs during the course of the evening. We received many compliments throughout the night for doing just that!

We also had an opportunity to celebrate a very special occasion, bringing together a bunch of folks who gathered to join in celebrating Elisa’s birthday party. It was a very special evening for Elisa as it brought together two things she really enjoys; the band and her friends. Be sure to check out the photo gallery to check out some of the action from the night’s festivities.

We had a great time at Motorheads and hope to return soon. As always, please be sure to check our list of upcoming shows for a complete run down of where we’ll be next and a huge thank you to all those folks who came out to join us at Motorheads. You made it a very memorable evening for all of us!

A Night to Remember

Remedy had the pleasure of playing to a packed house at the Twilight Bar and Grill on December 31, 2009 in Newnan, GA. Filled with friends, family and lots of Twilight faithful, hosts Molly and Glenn Veasey kicked off the evening’s festivities with a fantastic steak dinner, set against a wonderfully decorated bar that was perfectly arranged for the big party. Molly personally visited each table, checking on her guests as they enjoyed their meal and making sure everyone was having a great time.

The band began playing music just before the nine o’clock hour, kicking off the first set with Eddie Money’s ‘Two Tickets to Paradise’ and finishing with off with the ever popular Allman Brother’s ‘Whipping Post.’ The band added several new songs to the mix during the evening, including tunes by Santana, The Doobie Brothers, The Jeff Healey Band and Joe Cocker.

At midnight, the bar counted down in unison as the seconds ticked away, followed by lots of hugs and kisses as the clock struck twelve. The band played on as the celebration continued, playing lots of material that kept the dance floor packed and visitors singing along.

Check out the photo gallery for more action from the event.

We’d like to send out a heartfelt thanks to both Molly and Glenn for allowing us to play during one of their biggest parties of the year. It’s no secret we love playing the Twilight and a big part of that is because of them. We’d also like to thank all the Twilight faithful that made the choice to spend their holiday with us. We know there are LOTS of choices when it comes to New Year’s Eve parties and we’re honored you choose to spend yours with us. Lastly, many thanks to our families and friends who came to join us. We’d likely not accept invitations to play holiday parties like these were it not for you coming to celebrate with us. It means so much to us to have you there!

Hopefully we’ll see you all again next year!

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The Remedy Band at Motorheads

Remedy is thrilled to be making our first performance at Motorheads in McDonough, GA. Well known throughout the area for their great music, fun atmosphere and friendly patrons, Motorheads has long been a favorite of many local area bands who appreciate playing for an electric crowd who love good music and a good time. The band has been working particularly hard recently learning new music and plan to bring the house down with outstanding material from The Who, Jeff Healey Band, and Eric Clapton, in addition to playing fan favorites from Rush, Zeppelin, Stevie Ray Vaughn, The Black Crowes, and more.

The evening will be made all the more special by our collective celebration of Elisa’s birthday party. Elisa has chosen Remedy’s Motorheads gig as a gathering spot for her birthday bash and the band is tremendously excited to co-host the event with the wonderful folks at the bar.

We’re looking forward to a great time at Motorheads and hope to see all the folks on the south side of town when we show up and rock the house!

See you there!

Date: Friday, January 15th @ 9 PM
Location: Motorheads
Address: 650 Macon Street; McDonough, GA 30253
Telephone: (770) 898-0008
Cost: FREE

New Year’s Eve with The Remedy Band

Remedy is thrilled to be the featured act at the Twilight for their biggest party of the year, New Year’s Eve. A long standing tradition at the Twilight, Molly and Glenn throw an incredible party each year to ring in the new year with friends, family and faithful patrons of the bar. Featuring a steak dinner, party favors, a champagne toast at midnight, giveaways and prizes throughout the evening, and more than four hours of blistering tunes from the band, this year’s party is sure to be a memorable one for the band and the bar.

In speaking to Molly about the event, she strongly advised potential attendees to call in advance and reserve a table for dinner if you wish to guarantee a spot as the New Year’s Eve celebration at the Twilight fills up quickly and typically sells out prior to the evening of the event.

For our part, Remedy has added an incredible keyboard player since our last visit and have added about 10 new songs to our play-list as well, featuring new songs by Van Halen, Santana, the Doobie Brothers, Joe Cocker, Dobie Gray, the Commodores, and more. We can’t wait to participate in the annual New Year’s Eve gig at the Twilight and look forward to doing our part to make it a memorable and fun-filled evening for all!

See you there!

Date: Thursday, December 31st @ 7 PM
Location: The Twilight Bar and Grill
Address: 311 Raymond Hill Road; Newnan, GA 30265
Telephone: (770) 251-6540
Cost: $25.00 – includes cover charge, steak dinner, party favors, champagne toast, and table.
$10.00 – includes cover  charge and champagne toast.

Bringing Back the Beard

Remedy has decided to assemble a medley from one of the most famous bearded rock and roll groups of all time; ZZ Top. Featuring three songs from the band, the medley kicks off with some killer guitar riffs in ‘Just Got Paid,’ transitions into ‘Waitin’ On The Bus,’ and finishes strong with ‘Jesus Just Left Chicago.’ The latter two songs naturally transition from one to the other but Remedy decided to add ‘Just Got Paid’ to the mix as the prominent guitar lick at the beginning of the song was just too good to pass up. It’s a heck of a lot of fun to play and Tim, as usual, nails the guitar parts as Andy and Jon chime in perfectly with their respective instruments.

Have a listen to Just Got Paid’ by selecting the play button below.

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Big fans of the group and their music, Remedy can regularly be heard playing a few other ZZ Top songs on any given night including ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ and ‘La Grange.’ I don’t know if we’ll be growing the beards anytime soon but you’ll surely hear us pay tribute to bearded boys from ZZ Top during one of our next gigs out. We certainly hope you enjoy it!

Drift Away

Utilizing the talents of our newly added keyboard player, Remedy has decided to add a bit more keyboard-driven material to the play list by learning the Dobie Gray classic, ‘Drift Away’. Chris takes the lead on the vocals, with Andy and Tim picking up the harmonies. In addition, the song provides Chris with an opportunity to showcase his keyboard skills as well, with subtle but distinct melodies throughout the tune.

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The song provides just a taste of what you’ll be hearing at future gigs as we continue to expand our play list, now nearly 80 songs deep, featuring a wide variety of songs that either spotlight piano and keys or serve as great accompaniment to the driving guitar-driven songs the band is known for playing.

Be sure to let us know what you think with a comment below!

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