Dickey Betts has passed away from Cancer at age 80. He wrote their hit "Ramblin' Man". They're putting the band back together - in Heaven. Thanks for all the great music Dickey and rest in peace. Tom

Wishing everyone here in Dreamsville a Happy St. Patrick's Day. I really enjoyed the Dublin St. Patrick's Day parade that was carried on our local PBS station, lots of fun characters, bands, and floats! Dinner here will be Corned Beef, Kraut, and Swiss Cheese on rye bread, chips, and a cold Guinness. Music by The Celts, Enya, and others. Have a good day, mates!

Remembering Keith Emerson who would have been 79 today on his birthday. Also remembering Greg Lake on November 10th, his birthday, who would have been 76. Still enjoying your music! We miss you. Tom

A spring Electronic Music Midwest festival has been announced for 2024. The festival will be held at Lewis University in Romeoville IL. Y(http://IL.You)ou (http://IL.You)can also submit works for performance, but there is a $60 registration fee. More info at: https://www.emmfestival.org/(https://www.emmfestival.org/) Tom

First of August. Wishing our friends across the pond a Happy Yorkshire Day! Tom

The Les Paul Foundation has announced a new web page celebrating Mary Ford: https://www.les-paul.com/about-mary-ford-2/ Tom

Andy Rourke, the brilliant bass player for The Smiths has passed away from pancreatic cancer at age 59. I shall be playing selections from Meat Is Murder, The Queen Is Dead, and Louder Than Bombs in tribute. Tom

I wanted to note the passing of Keith Reid, lyricist with Procol Harem, and Ian Bairnson, the brilliant guitarist who played with the Alan Parsons Project, Kate Bush, and many others. Tom

Just read about the passing of Moog Synthesizer co-inventor Herb Deutsch, who passed away last Friday at age 90: The history of the Moog Synthesizer is recalled in the book "Analog Days" by Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco if you're interested. Tom

Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac has passed away at age 79.

Remembering my keyboard hero, Keith Emerson on his birthday today November 2nd. He would have been 78 today. Also, Greg Lake would have been 75 on November 10th. I will be playing my Nice, King Crimson, and ELP CDs and records today in tribute. The music lives on! Tom

Bob Moog would have been 88 years old today. Inventor of the Moog synthesizer. Respect. Tom

The schedule has been posted for Electronic Music Midwest Festival, to be held April 21-23, 2022: https://www.emmfestival.org/concerts.php The festival is held in the Phillip Lynch Theatre on the campus of Lewis University in Romeoville, IL. All concerts are free of charge. Note, this is normally held in the fall, but following its 2-year absence due to the pandemic, it was moved to Spring. Tom

Ronnie Wilson, founding member of the Gap Band has passed away age 73. A brilliant musician, composer, and multi-instrumentalist from Tulsa OK. You might remember their songs "Early In The Morning", "You Dropped A Bomb On Me", and "Oops Upside Your Head". The sound of their funky Moog bass was unmistakable along with their dance rhythms. Condolences go out to his brothers Charlie and Robert and his family and friends. Tom

Hearts of Space is running a retrospective program on the music of Jon Hassell. You can listen for free all day Sundays: www.hos.com Tom

If anyone is interested, Hearts of Space is airing a program on the music of Constance Demby. You can listen for free on Sundays at www.hos.com Tom

I've had the honor of being featured on the Ultravillage.com website, along with some of my favorite electronic music composers. The website features releases from 1975-1995, many on cassette tape. The webmaster, Mark Griffey, plans to also write a book on the subject. You can also purchase these releases at my bandcamp site: Tom

Just a quick note to mention that Constance Demby passed away in March at age 81. A brilliant composer of electronic music, she was often featured on programs like Hearts of Space and Musical Starstreams in the early 80's. She also built some of her own instruments like the Space Bass. Some of her early music was a big influence on me, such as Sacred Space Music. She will be missed in the electronic music community and by her fans. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/02/arts/music/constance-demby-dead.html Tom

Malcolm Cecil, the brilliant bassist, synthesist, producer, and engineer passed away on March 28th. He was best known for his work with his partner Robert Margouleff on four of Stevie Wonder's 1970s releases: Music Of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, and Fulfillingness' First Finale. Cecil helped create the TONTO system used on many of Wonder's albums. TONTO was a large custom-built synthesizer system that combined modules from ARP, Moog, Serge, and Oberheim. It had a number of customized switch triggers and sequencers that allowed the modules to communicate with each other, years ahead of the MIDI protocol that arrived in the 80s. RIP Malcolm, and thank you for all the great music and inspiration! Tom