Italia e molto bella!

Ciao blog-readers!

I apologize for the delay in entries, but switching continents will do that to you.

So far Italy is great and I'm already scoping out the local music scene here as well as trying to keep up to date on all the happenings of Harrisonburg including COOL AID happening January 19th, tons of Midnight Spaghetti shows, the return of WXJM to the airwaves and the continuation of Blame it on the Train Productions who are hosting Murphy's Kids and Blatant Vibe at Casey's in the Holiday Inn on Friday, January 25th. You can help me out, too by letting me know all the latest in the 'Burg. Leave some comments!

So far the scene here in Italy seems pretty dominated by American music as I have been sitting in a cute bar right beside the Duomo enjoying 2, 50 tea and free wi-fi service all day while listening to such classic songs and artists including Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer, Jamariqui, Rihanna, Dave Matthews, and The Stones just to name a few. Last night at another local bar, The Red Garter a cover band was ripping Beatles tunes out all night and previously there was Kareokee at the same bar which consisted of awful renditions of other typical English tunes. However, I've got my ear to the street and have already found a few local live music venues, mostly featuring Jazz which I hope to ambush during my three month stay here in the city of romance, Florence, Italy. Spanish music also seems to be a favorite of the area, especially in the local bar, Salamanca (go figure) and some Italian music comes through on the shuffle occasionally as well.

Due to the thousands of students that migrate to Florence every semester, I can only be hopeful I will be able to dig up some of the best local sounds, however I have already had some success as one of the owners of the bar I'm currently typing away in plays with his brother around the area. I'll keep you updated on that.

At the very least, I have already had the opportunity to speak with various students from all over and even a few Australian journalists about music and have a few new artists to check out on my list. Currently the top artist to download is The Doves, so as soon as I have the opportunity to check them out: I'll let you know ;)

For now, It's off to discover more of Florence! Let's do each other a favor though, and keep in touch. I'm always down to hear about the next big thing.

Ciao!