joseph arthur

[Nemoguitt@aol.com]

at work on saturday i waited on michael mills of r.e.m.  (monster tipper by the way:).....we talked a little of looping and he invited me to their sunday nite gig here in da burg.....he said the opening act was a solo dude named joseph arthur and that he was a looping singer songwriter.....i tried to see what joseph was using but alas, the stage was too far away to get a look.....his looping was pretty straight ahead, percussion from slapping on his guitar, looped vocals, playing over changes etc.....nice to see and hear.....what was amazing though was the audiences reaction to his looping, THEY LOVED IT, i think there was more applause for his LOOPING rather than to his songs.....his sound was a bit muddy and at times he lost control of his volume but it was LOOPING none the less.....R.E.M. was fun, a hard working band and mr. mills was a very nice and generous fellow.....it was weird watching a "BAND" seeing that 95% of the shows i see are solo loopers who may jam with other loopers.....anyhow, it took the promise of looping to get me out of my studio and i'm glad i went.....wow, loopin in the big room, what a concept!.....michael