Aaron Ewer

Forgive me for bragging a little bit, but I have always been so proud of my son for his work as a DJ. Our family has always been involved in the music business. My grandfather was a piano player for the silent movies back in the 1920’s and played the piano for thousands of events, like variety shows, beauty pageants, juke joints, and all kinds of dance jobs from weddings to sweet 16 birthday parties. My father played every instrument out there until he damaged his fingers on his left hand and couldn’t hold down the chords on a guitar anymore. So he played mostly piano and put together an orchestra aka the Ricky Ricardo Orchestra of the 1950′2. Later on, he managed several bands and handled the entertainment for a large pizza chain.

I took piano lessons for years but worked as a DJ for years for extra money. When possible, I would take along my son to help tote the gear into the venue and if it was an event for kids, I would let him choose the music, cue up the tapes, and eventually do some work on the microphone. When he got older, he started his own DJ company and has been thriving ever since. So that makes 4 generations of music in our family so far.

My son pays a lot more attention to the mechanics of music than I do. He actually mixes his own CDs and does editing, voice overs, and other technical things using the computer. He’s a big fan of a new software called MOV that lets him convert video files to MP3 format and lots of other features. It works with video, CDs and DVDs.

The mov converter does other cool things, like video editing, 30+ special effects and color adjustment operations. If you are into these technical things with video and audio, you should probably get this converter or at the very least check out their site. Even with the little bit that I know about this, I was impressed.

My cell phone is too much for me to handle. I have to admit it, but I hate no idea ow to use three quarters of the features and options that are on it. I don’t even know how to take a picture with the damn thing.

Although I’m not that big a fan of the downloaded ringtones and fancy wallpapers, I came across a website that had a really catchy tune that was available as a downloadable ringtone. So, I thought, “It will be pretty unique and even maybe a conversation starter, so I’ll give it a try.” There were multiple screens and info fields to fill in, so I worked my way through mot of them. Then it came down to the question of which type of cell phone do I have? Well, on the front of the phone it says, “Nokia” and that is all it says anywhere on the phone or in the 4 thousand option menus built into the phone display. I have absolutely no idea what damn model number this is and no idea of how to find out.

So forget about the cute ringtone I wanted. I guess I should feel fortunate that the damn thing rings any tune at all and allows me to talk on it.

Although I love the online music shopping that let’s you search for the specific title or artist that you want, it is not the same satisfaction of browsing through bins of CDs at the local music store.

Sometimes we pick up new releases for a good price at Wal-Mart, but if saving money is the highest criteria, I can buy used CDs from Amazon for pennies on the dollar.

For variety, about the only store with a big selection locally now is Best Buy, and they are only half the inventory of Tower Records used to carry. I really miss Tower Records - that was the best music shopping experience in town and no one has come close to offering the variety and depth of categories since they closed 2 years ago.

The Jonas Brothers live in this area and occasionally I see them out and about when they are here and not on tour. Last week they were at a local coffee shop - although they were drinking tea - and just hanging out waiting for others to meet up with them. They were pleasantly polite and not at all stuck on themselves - just regular teenage guys sitting around chatting and joking.

They were on Oprah a couple weeks ago. Backstage, they had the whole family there, both sets of grandparents, the manager, and two of them were taking photos and videos with handhelds, just goofing around. The link for that couple of minutes is on YouTube and it was fun to watch, as you can a good idea of their true personalities, not just the stage presence. If they can keep their heads on straight they have a bright future ahead.

Heard a great song that was made into a video called, “The Flyer Song,” by Leslie Ellis. If you know anyone in the military, you will love watching this video, made by the guys aboard the U.S.S. John C. Stennis, stationed “somewhere in the Persian Gulf.”

The video clip is on Leslie’s MySpace page, plus you can listen to a couple of her other songs and check her performance calendar to see when she might be doing a show near you.

We’ve seen her at the Bludebird Cafe with Casey Kelly, another great local songwriter. The show was awesome.

Check out Leslie’s MySpace page and think about buying her CD - it’s a good one if you appreciate a sentimental songwriter and great vocalist.