Vincent James & Keep Music Alive!

Sunday's Flashback Song - "Shannon" by Henry Gross

Henry Gross first knew fame as founding member of the 60's rock'n'roll vocal group Sha Na Na that performed at Woodstock and other well known venues of the time. Henry left Sha Na Na to pursue a solo career in 1970 and after six years of mostly struggling hit pay dirt with this incredibly moving song that was dedicated to Beach Boy Carl Wilson's Irish Setter dog of the same name that had drowned. I remember first hearing this song back in the late 70's and really being drawn to it ....even today I still get chills whenever I hear it. If you have never heard "Shannon" or its been a while you are in for a treat please take a listen here:

"Shannon" - Henry Gross (YouTube)

Does Playing an Instrument makes us smarter??

A recent article suggests that those of us that play an instrument (any instrument) actually improve our ability to focus and remember as well as motor skills. That's great news for me - if I hadn't started playing piano and guitar all those years ago I would be a lot dumber than I already am ha ha :) Seriously though if you have children (or will have them somday) its probably worthwhile to get them hooked on an instrument and music early in life - you might just have some real smart kids on your hands and have a lot of musical fun along the way. For more info on how playing music makes us smarter check out the full article here: Playing Music Makes us Smarter

After last Saturday's running around playing at 7 different Borders (supposed to be 8 but the traffic was unwielding :)) this weekend has been quite and peaceful which is nice. We're in the planning stages for a big Mothers Day week mini-tour so stay tuned for more info on that.

Please enjoy the rest of your Sunday and weekend and we'll be back with another post manana!

~Vincent