Behind the Scenes w/ ZBB at GRAMMYs

The excitement (and anxiety) was high from the moment I stepped foot in LA - and it only got better as the days went on.

From rehearsals, to walking the 400 ft. red carpet, to winning Best New Artist, to a mad dash through the media room, to celebrating with family and friends, Darren Doane (director of ZBB's "Toes" and "Highway 20 Ride" videos) was there with his camcorder capturing every moment.

They've already thanked us in front of 26 Million viewers so here's my chance to hit them back:

Congratulations to the Zac Brown Band for all their hard work and here's to another exciting year in 2010.

Shore Fire is a Fan of the GRAMMYS - Are You?

My excitement can't be contained - I love the interactive GRAMMY site and the ability to make a portrait from all our favorite nominees - www.wereallfans.com

Here's a Shore Fire Media portrait I created in seconds with the following Artist DNA. It looks cool as a picture, but click on the image to see a full motion multimedia show:


Zac Brown Band, Maxwell, Ledisi, Bruce Springsteen, Neko Case, Elvis Costello, Booker T. Jones, John Fogerty, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Levon Helm, Mavis Staples, Susan Tedeschi, Diana Krall, Smithsonian Folkways and Loudon Wainwright III

Don't miss Maxwell and Zac Brown Band when they perform on the 52nd GRAMMYs Sunday January 31st at 8pm/7pm Central on CBS.

Your turn - please share your pages in the comments - I'd love to see them!!

Cooper Boone's G-Rated Jingle Balls

I must admit that I giggled (like the 12-yr.-old girl I am) when country crooner Cooper Boone told me that he wanted to make his "Jingle Balls" - a modified spherical butter cookie - on WPIX-TV.

Fortunately Spencer Mindich, Jill Nicolini and the rest of the PIX Morning News team remembered how much fun they had back in August when Coop brought in his recipe for Roasted Corn Salad and agreed to take a chance.

And everyone was glad they did as Coop proved his ability to deliver a fun, high-energy cooking segment full of comedy once again and we all got to feast at 8am on his chocolate/coconut/walnut encrusted butter cookies (a.k.a. Jingle Balls).

Watch their hysterical kitchen antics at:
http://weblogs.wpix.com/news/local/morningnews/blogs/2009/12/cooper_boone_1.html

Lessons I've Learned on My Travels for Hennessy Artistry

In the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to travel with the Hennessy Artistry 2009 Series and learned a few things along the way:

Why is Chicago called The Windy City?

While heavily debated around the table at Shore Fire's Pizza Friday, it seems that no one is exactly sure why Chicago is "The Windy City." While I thought the moniker was a result of a local politics, and others insisted that it was the lake effect that resulted in actual gales, Wikipedia was unable to solve the debate - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_name_%22Windy_City%22#References

And, where does one go when Wikipedia has no answers? The Weather Doctor seemed like a good idea - and they backed me up!

http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/whys/chicago.htm

Where is the best breakfast in Chicago?

Hands down - its the Bongo Room in Wicker Park, this place rivals my all time favorite breakfast eatery Zaftig's in Boston's Coolidge Corner neighborhood. (Nora, THANK you for opening my eyes to the possibilities of a Benedict breakfast.)

Where do you get the best Chicago hot dog?

Not nearly enough time to time to answer this question - I must go back soon.

Does HotLanta live up to its name?

Well, the hip-hop scene and female attire is red hot - as evidenced by my evening at The Velvet Room surrounded by spandex, leather, Project Runway's Mychael Knight & Real Housewife Sheree Whitfield. But as far as the weather goes, we made it out of there just in time to avoid the state of emergency flooding... given the circumstances, I'll need to revisit Atlanta when its not raining to weigh in on this one.

Does Delta's electronic boarding pass get you on the plane?

Short answer - no. Despite the fact that I spent 20 minutes trying to get the pass on my iPhone, as soon as I got to the first security check point they wanted to scan my phone to print a boarding pass..... but the scanner was running low on batteries. Luckily, I had printed a back-up. Then when I got to the gate and asked about why they needed to do this, I was informed that even the boarding gates at Delta's U.S. hub hadn't been upgraded to accept their new technology. Maybe next time.

So here I am back in Brooklyn - a little wiser and ready to take on our grand finale at Terminal 5 on October 7th with Common, The Roots, Elevator Fight, Colin Munroe and a yet-to-be-announced but truly iconic surprise guest.

Will I see you there?

Me and Gary Go are out and about in NYC this week

Fresh in from touring the US on a radio promo tour, Gary Go arrived in NYC this weekend and it's been nonstop ever since.

Yesterday, Gary performed at the Apple store in SoHo (photo above). He performed several songs from his self-titled debut album on just his iPhone alongside Andreas Larsen on acoustic guitar. He also showed his self-produced videos and played his iTunes single of the week "Wonderful."

Today, Gary and I (photo below) traveled to Weehawken to visit the studio where he recorded the album with News 12 New Jersey. Then following a great interview with ABC News Now - where Gary was told his single could make a great theme song for "Grey's Anatomy" - we stopped by Sirius XM to check out a performance by David Gray in the space Gary will takeover tomorrow.

Gary - with Andreas, his iphone and a few surprise props to ensure the "Go" experience - will perform a private showcase at Sirius XM at 6:30pm.

Hit me up if you'd like to come!

Barbara Orbison Relates to the Cuz

Earlier this month, Barbara Orbison made a trip to Sirius Satellite Radio to meet Cousin Brucie and talk about the definitive Roy Orbison anthology 'The Soul of Rock and Roll.' After listening to several never-before-released songs - including "Precious" a romantic serenade that was written for Ms. Orbison and offers a rare solo acoustic performance by Roy - Barbara shared stories of Roy's inspirations, hardships and legacy.

Tune in this Wednesday, November 5th at 5pm EST to hear the interview on "Rockin' With The Cuz" on Sirius's 60's Vibrations Channel 6.