Sunrise in Vegas

Mid February already? Where is the year going. I have been busy with "real work" and have had to put The Project on the back burner for bit...I hate that. The song playing under the images this week is not an original song for the CD but by a Band called the Drive By Truckers
who I saw live late last year at the Phoenix and loved this song when they performed it. If they come back to Toronto, you should catch them Live. It is time to get things back in motion and rolling again. Stay Tuned...

The Truth 1/2 Hurts

Orangecap-Circa 2000

Wow 2009 already? Although the song is not finished yet my friend Dale Clark gave me permission to use his song in progress called "Boulevard Hotel-Truth Hurts" underneath the images this week. This is the 10th song for the compilation CD I want to produce since starting the project in May of 2008. Steve Stanley and Carla Macneil of "Two Many Sisters" are going to record their song "Freemont Street Cowboy" in the next two weeks and that should complete the 11 songs for Volume 1 ! The time period of 9 months from conception to the "birth" of this compilation is fitting.

The "Lost Vegas" calendars are printed and I have been distributing them to friends and colleagues here in Toronto...and to anyone who asks. Thanks to Godin Productions for the great treatment they did with the images for the calendar!

Snow White In Vegas

Merry "whatever you celebrate" and Happy New Year to everyone who has helped out and participated in the "Lost Vegas Art Project" since it started in May !!!

2008 has been the best of times and the worst of times for sure. Last week I received an email from Chris James in Las Vegas (who also wrote the song "Las Vegas -I'm Going Back" ) with a new song he had written that he thought may work well for the project. I loved it and thought that with Las Vegas getting it's biggest snow storm in history a couple of weeks ago it made sense also.
Thanks again Chris...Chris?.....Christmas !!!

Who knows what 2009 has in store for us all? I believe that great changes are on their way.

Here are the lyrics to "Snow White in Vegas" @ Chris James

Snow white so up tight
Seems your prince is gone.
Left you all alone.
Took your from your home.
Stripped down, kicked around
And made you cry...

So while the nights still young
Come girl lets have some fun
Summer days in the sun
Looking out for number one.
I know a place... ya
We both can find.

Mmm Hmm...Tell me
Have you ever seen the sunrise over Vegas?

Well the way the stars shine so bright,
On a Maryland Moon lit night.
Oh ya...
Princes should never live at all
Till his towers fall tonight.

Money don’t mean a thing.
Neither do diamond rings.
Just strip it down tonight.
You can’t buy your happiness
And you never will be blessed
Till you break those chains tonight.

Have you ever seen the sunrise over Vegas?
Oh the way the stars shine so bright.
On a Maryland Moon lit night.
Oh oh...
Princes should never live at all
Till his towers fall tonight.

And when the Prince fades away.
You gotta live with the choice you made.
And find a better day !

Money don’t mean a thing
Neither do diamond rings
Just strip it down tonight
We all wear our mask
Pursuit-O-Happiness
Is gonna drive you home tonight.

My Princess never lived at all.

SIN CITY

"Sin City" the song playing under the Lost Vegas images this week is by a German punk rock band called "The Radioactives", and the "Lost Vegas Art Project" has now gone International.
I get a real kick out of trying to find the appropriate "quotes" to match the sense of the song that the viewer is hearing well as matching the sense of the images? After I had chosen the quotes that I wanted to use for this song I googled to try and find the lyrics to the song. Here they are:

Sin City:

"A run down man once showed me this place
That l’ll now show to you.
You gotta have some action, you gotta feel the power.
And never regret the fun!
You ought to booze, right now you ought to f***.
Just play with the chicks.
The cuties don’t know who I am.
Satanic Blood runs down my veins.

Chorus:
Committing sins won’t be in vain. I’ll surely get what I deserve.
But before I’ll die, I’ll share everything. I’m alive! – In Sin City.

As long as I’m here, I can feel the pulse pounding.
I can feel the heat of the night.
The heroes have died mistaken, anyway.
And the bad ones have won.
The city is awake, no doubt, it’s so moving.
The good guys to the bad.
Can you blame me? Am I guilty?
Listen! “Life was built on a sin!”
by The Radiactives

Great song ! Unnerving really?

Now look and listen to it again...

Got Dem LOST VEGAS BLUES...

Thanks to Dave "The Rave" and his band "Flight of Ideas" for the great blues song that plays under the images this week. Dave lives in California by way of New York (where he wrote and recorded the song). Dave says he is a huge fan of Las Vegas...


"I was just there a week ago. Being out here means I'm a lot closer to the action.
I checked out your site and the design is terrific and I just love the pictures and quotes. Vegas is at once a city of inspiration and desperation . . I like to call it Disneyland for adults. When I'm there I forget about the real world for a couple of days . . ."lost" in a maze of dice tables and the next drink. Batteries recharged, I'm ready for a couple more months slugging it out in the
9 to 5.


I'm tickled that you like the song . . . I had thought for a while that Vegas could use a blues number about it . . once I got the words out the rest was easy."


When I contacted him about including his song in the project his response was..."Please feel free to use my song in your project, I don't write music to make money - but if your project goes well and you want to mail me a cheque I would not complain"


May The Blues be with you !!!!

Las Vegas- I'm going back...

The song this week "Las Vegas, I'm going back" playing under the "Lost Vegas" portfolio is from Cris W. James, the only musician that will be featured on the compilation who actually lives and works in Las Vegas ! Chris also recorded a dance version of this song that is pretty cool also if youwant to hear it and other songs on the "Myspace" link .

My band worked on our Lost Vegas song "Lucky Lady" the other night till 1:00 am. It is coming along nicely and hope to record it in the next two weeks. I also got a call from my friend "Kidd Rasta" who is also interested in creating something for the project. Raggae music and Las Vegas are not really synonymous, but if there is anyone who could pull this off it is the Kidd.

Stay Tuned !

The Vegas Strip

Special thanks to all the gentlemen of the "Insurgentlemen" for the wicked song they created for the "Lost Vegas Project". I was talking to the boys last week about the idea of shooting a video for the "21 @ Glitter Gulch" song. I came up with a "concept" for it... Hint: There will be lots of naked strippers in it. That is all I will let out of the bag for now..

This evening my band "No Signal" will work towards our recording of a really cool song written by Andrew Sprachman called "Lady Luck". Lastly on the music front Stephen Stanley (Lowest of The Low) and Carla MacNeill (Too Many Sisters) are set to record the song they wrote for the project in the next week or so. . It is going to be a very unique mix of music and styles.

My friends Kevin and Todd Godin of "Godin Productions" , who printed the beautiful "Lost Vegas" posters for me, are using the Lost Vegas images for their 2009 Calendars. They always make me a few hundred "Blatant Exposure" calendars for me to distribute, so look for those coming soon...