What a drummer. What a Rhodes!
Look out little Wayde...giant head Paul will eat you!
Nothing says rock-n-roll like Sunday morning!
The backbone of Finn Miles becomes bewildered at a potluck.
I’ve got to say, I don’t get my guitars worked on too often, so I don’t know what to expect. A buddy of mine suggested that I take my Statocastor and Burns - Cobra to Shane at Professional Music Center in West Des Moines. I was blown away by the great work Shane did, saving me money by fixing stuff he could have easily over charged me on. In fact, he even did a little clean up on my guitar, totally unasked for, totally unexpected, totally appreciated. Now that’s good business!
We enjoyed yet another stint at the Ames Progressive, playing acoustic music with our friend Milton and checking out the artwork by Phantom Ben Whitmer #2. thought it’s a bit dark and sketchy (much like the song) we hope you enjoy our rough tape of “Metamorphasis” from our show in Ames, IA.
Just a quick reminder, Finn Miles will be playing an acoustic show tonight at the Ames Progressive! Enjoy the thoughtful, rainy night with some groovy tunes from P, S, and L Gratton!
Good music is no good without a way to get it “out there.”A lot of local musicians complain about not getting signed and being mega-successful or whatnot…though a lot of that could be a lack of hard/smart work.
Rather than bemoaning I’m thinking of heading over to the DMMC Music University’s chat with Saddle Creek next Wednesday at the Des Moines Social Club. I suggest the same to local musicians who desire to grow in their craft…see ya there!
Pick it up, Des Moines!
The sun was shining on Sunday; Finn Miles rocked the first ever Lutheran Church of Hope: CityBranch outdoor potluck! Laura played some great trumpet, and Scotty G was right-on with the keys. Also, adding Wayde A. Stover on the drums to the live lineup was a great success! With a smattering of old songs and new songs, and the Rhodes and drums set on a flatbed truck, the sunshine, and the music were smokin’ hot!
Setlist:
Face the Facts
Jer Blues
Catch you if I can
Looper
The Firing Line
Lean on me
Josh Larson, the visual wizard himself, was featured in the Des Moines Register as a person that “you should know.”
Good thing I already know him…
Josh and I recently colaborated on a super-sweet, high concept multimedia project that is just the tip of the iceburg…I think you should read more about it here.
Over the past few months, I have received a vision for 3 types of interactive experiences. I just finished a prototype for one of them - an interactive tool that could be used to supplement a message to help visualize the concepts being discussed in the message.
I imagine this tool most often being used to help visualize a sermon being delivered to a church congregation. The goal of the tool would be to present an environment that someone on the media team - a “player” if you will - can interact with. The player would interact with the environment in a way that matched up with the speaker who is delivering the message. One example would be if that speaker was telling a story. The player would explore the environment and trigger events to match up with the timing and emphasis of the speaker’s story. If the speaker was emphasizing a certain part of the story, the player could trigger events to help emphasize that part. The final result would be an expression of the story experienced simultaneously through the mediums of virtual interactive experience (of which I consider computer games to be a subset) and oral tradition.
Here’s a run-through recording of the prototype. It’s based on a story given to me by Chris Petrick, Perry Ross, and Richard Webb at Lutheran Church of Hope, with music and sound design by Paul Gratton (one of my partners from the Napkin Sketch collective), and voice acting by Julie Bull.
Here’s a recording from the production room while I, err….performed it during the last of 4 worship services at Lutheran Churh of Hope. It kind of shows how the whole thing would fit into a traditional Christian church service. In this case, it was between two songs and presented on the screens. I imagine a “final version” being like this, but with a speaker telling the story live up on stage and a more developed interactive environment.
Hello friends and fans,
A very special semi-secret show will be happening this Sunday, May 24th approx 11am on the lawn in front of Hubble Elementary, just north off the I235 - 42nd Street exit in Des Moines. Finn Miles is playing a potluck! What makes this show even more intriquing is that for the first time ever, Wayde A Stover III will be drumming with us, giving Scott free reign on the 1978 Rhodes piano! We’ve worked up a tantalizing short set, including a few songs that are not recorded anywhere…you can only catch them at the live show.
Is that enough to bring you out? Did I mention potluck? Show up at 10am if you’re interested in attending the church service as well.
See you on the green,
Finn Miles
This past week, I relocated to Ames, Iowa for the summer. Now in a new place, I’m exited to collect on the local talent. At 10:00 on Wednesday night, my old friend, new roommate, and all around good guy, James Laugerman and I decided to record a video. After setting up in a cozy corner of my new room, James decided on his new song, “Guadalupe” typically performed by his Ames-based acoustic duo sensation, “James and James”. Prepare yourself to feel nostalgia for a place you’ve probably never been to.