EDiTOR'S
NOTE:
A
LETTER FROM THE EDiTOR:
ROCKWiRED
MAGAZiNE WELCOMES A NEW
WRiTER, GETS RECOGNiZED BY THE
NEW MEXiCO
MUSiC COMMiSSiON,
COMMENTS ON iTS ANNUAL READER’S
POLL
AND JUST
PLAIN LOOKS AHEAD
WRiTTEN
BY BRiAN LUSH
Whenever
I go on FACEBOOK, I see all of my friends from high school and
college with families of their own and chasing after their little
children despite the twenty to thirty plus pounds that
age and parenthood evidently have
a tendency to add to you. For me, it’s a little different, but I must
say that
the twenty to thirty plus pounds aren’t exactly exclusive to
parenthood! I
never found that soul mate and I never had that litter of kids that I
hear are
supposed to make your life seem complete. My baby – ROCKWIRED MAGAZINE
– seems
like an overactive five year old eager to get its hands into
everything. The
New Year is indeed an exciting time for the five year old website.
 In the
past couple of weeks, I have become acquainted with a
young, talented writer by the name of LAYLI LONG SOLDIER. The
particulars of
why her name was brought up by a dear old friend aren’t easily
remembered, but
it definitely had something to do with writing, music, and being Sioux
– a heritage
that both LAYLI and I share (LAYLI is Oglala Sioux. I am half Yankton
Sioux). In
getting to know Ms. LONG SOLDIER, I also learned that she is a graduate
of the INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS -
CREATIVE WRITING
DEPARTMENT as was I so many years ago. The friendship was instantaneous
and I
saw no reason to not give LONG SOLDIER the chance to be a contributor
to
ROCKWIRED. In doing so, I have given her a tremendous amount of freedom
to
interview whoever the hell she wants. Her first interview for ROCKWIRED
was
with the indie rock duo MR. GNOME
with
regard to their acclaimed new release
HEAVE YER SKELETON. Her approach and journalistic instinct are both
engaging
and informative. LAYLI has discussed her own ideas for ROCKWIRED which
include a
series of profiles of current female artists of various genres. The
addition of
Ms. LONGSOLDIER to ROCKWIRED MAGAZINE has been immensely exciting.
Currently
based in Tsaile, Arizona on the
Navajo Reservation, LAYLI has
released a chapbook of poetry entitled ‘CHROMOSOMORY’ (Q AVE. PRESS)
and
is
engaged to acclaimed Navajo poet and educator ORLANDO WHITE. The two
have a daughter
named CHANCE OHITIKA ALEXIE WHITE.
Speaking with LAYLI
over the phone got me thinking about the
fact that ROCKWIRED is the only native-owned rock music magazine that
I’m familiar
with (Someone should correct me in case I’m wrong!).In the five years
that I’ve
been doing ROCKWIRED, coverage of music from Indian Country has been
lacking.
Hell! It’s been non-existent! While one can expect to see coverage of
contemporary Native American music in the coming year, ROCKWIRED is in
no way
shifting its focus away from independent music from around the world.
Readers
can look forward to a significant expansion in our reportage. We intend
to profile
all aspects of independent music from artists to entrepreneurs to
producers and
organizations and resources that are available to the independent
artist.
 Although
ROCKWIRED is now firmly entrenched in the sands of New Mexico, it took a while to
take a gander at the
musical resources that the state and - more specifically – the city of Albuquerque
have to
offer. After getting to know the folks at the NEW MEXICO JAZZ WORKSHOP
and
various other organizations throughout the city and state, I’ve made a
decision
to do a special series of profiles on New Mexico-based artists and
enterprises
called ROCKWiRED NEW MEXiCO.
Our magazine is now listed by the NEW MEXICO MUSIC
COMMISSION (NMMC) as an
Entertainment Media resource. I am looking forward to working closely
with the
NMMC and its Executive Director NANCY
LAFLIN in the very near future.
Kicking off this
series of profiles is an interview I did
with the Albuquerque-based ace session man and producer LUIS GUERRA
and his one
of a kind audio production/recording studio TERREMOTO.
When I interviewed
GUERRA, he stated that he didn’t want Albuquerque
to be viewed by the outside as the Wild West, but for myself and
ROCKWIRED, that
is exactly what the milieu seems like in terms of all that is
possible
within New
Mexico’s small yet burgeoning
music community.
 I
have always relied on the excitement generated by our
annual reader’s poll to get me through the doldrums of a New Year and
for the
past four years, I’ve welcomed a New Year with anticipation and
excitement. The
voter turnout for this year has been the most enthusiastic. One minute,
you think
you know ho is going to win and the next, it’s someone else. I
apologize for
keeping mum about the results thus far. There is something to be said
about the
element of surprise when the winners are announced. I’m sad to report
that the Canadian, all female heavy metal
band SCARLET
SINS – who are nominated for BEST BAND and BEST RECORDING
(LP) –
have disbanded. Evidently, the break up happened a couple of months
before the
nominees were announced, so I feel like a total rube for nominating
them (not
that the nominations weren’t deserved). I wish those girls the best in
whatever
endeavor each of them wishes to pursue. I just wish they were still
pursuing
that rock n roll dream together.
The
results of the 2010
ROCKWIRED READER’S POLL won’t be
announced until March 1, 2010 so there is still plenty of time to vote.
Keep
your eyes opened for newsflashes and updates with regard to this year’s
nominees.
ROCKWIRED MAGAZiNE is carrying on despite
rough economic
waters. We’re taking advantage of our beautiful surroundings here in New Mexico
and are eager
to continue making ROCKWIRED a worthwhile place to read about music. We
want to
wish everyone a belated yet prosperous New Year.
Sincerely,
BRiAN LUSH
EDiTOR-iN-CHiEF
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