Bill Bentley is a guy who had an idea.
A former publicist at Warner Bros. Records who also put in a few years working for Neil Young, Bentley was a guy who saw a void that desperately needed filling. Like a lot of aging baby boomers not yet quite ready to hang up their rock and roll shoes, for Bentley the mind was still willing. It was just in sore need of a destination.
"Since the record stores all started going away," Bentley explained in a recent phone conversation, "I saw a need for a place where older people could just have fun discovering the music again."
To that end, Bentley started Sonic Boomers, a website tailored specifically to the needs of aging music fans. Enlisting a number of great rock journalists (like Creem Magazine vets Jaan Uhelski and Bud Scoppa), as well as several newer writers, Sonic Boomers serves as something like a one-stop source for news, reviews, streaming tracks, and more — all targeted towards those folks who just aren't yet ready to give up the rock.
Although Sonic Boomers does feed the need of its target audience with a steady diet of the sixties and seventies bands one would probably expect, classic rock is not the only item featured on the menu.
"There are plenty of artists and bands out there who consist of 20-year-olds, that are going to appeal to somebody who is, say, between 35 or 65," Bentley explained. "You just aren't going to always find them that easily in the environment of something like a Best Buy."
To that end, Sonic Boomers features a "Boom Tune," which is rotated on a daily basis. Often the Boom Tune is by a new and developing artist, as is currently the case with Louisiana songwriter/musician Mary Gauthier. At Sonic Boomers, you can listen to her song, "I Aint' Leavin'." If you like it, there is a link right there to buy it from iTunes.
Article comments
1 - Pico
Sounds pretty cool, Glen. Has any of your old articles or interviews shown up on "Past Print" yet?
2 - Glen Boyd
Not yet Pico, but I'm not working on it. And not the "old ones" either. Stay tuned...
-Glen
3 - Glen Boyd
Actually, I meant to say I AM working on it. Damned arthritic fingers...
-Glen
4 - Richard the P
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I like this a lot, Thank You!
Would you please consider writing an article about how some great songwiter/producers have assenbled musicians to record a song(s), and giving the name of a band to the project... henceforth "One Hit Wonders" that are such great songs it's hard to figure out why the "band" had just that one hit? I think most music lovers would also find this interesting. Thanks again!