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Music for Methadonia
Renowned New York City-based guitarist/composer JOHN PUTNAM collaborated with sound designer Beo Morales to create the melancholy musical score for the HBO documentary film Methadonia, directed Michel Negroponte. The film follows a group of individuals as they attempt to recover from their Methadone addictions. The term "Methadonia" describes the strange unidentifiable place one is trapped in by the use of Methadone. In creating the music, Putnam drew from classic 50's jazz styles, while adding some early blues elements. Morales then strategically added modern electronic sounds. Putnam recalled being fascinated by how effectively the acoustic instruments such as trumpet and guitar merged with the electronic, often greatly manipulated sounds such as chains and children's voices. He also described how the "dreamy jazz/blues mood" music he and Morales created mirrored the disparity and loneliness present in the lives of the recovering drug-addicts. Methadonia premiered at The New York Film Festival in September 2005 and ran on HBO throughout the fall. Putnam is much in-demand as a session guitarist in New York City. He is also currently playing guitar in the Broadway musical, The Wedding Singer, and plans to finish and release his first solo recording later this year.



The Life of a Song
WHILE RASCAL FLATTS continues to dominate the charts and the concert circuit with music from their new album, Me and My Gang, a song from their last album has achieved a life of its own. That song, "Skin (Sarabeth)," written by Colorado-based songwriter Joe Henry and Nashville's Doug Johnson, continues to be one of Rascal Flatts' most popular and requested songs. It tells of a teenager, being treated for cancer, fearing that no one will take "a bald girl to the prom." Inspired by the courage shown by the late daughter of a friend, Henry helped to turn personal pain into a song that grew to become a musical phenomenon that has inspired millions of listeners. Because of contractual reasons, "Skin" was a hidden track on Flatts' 2004 album, Feels Like Today. But once their fans discovered the song at the end of the album, they bombarded radio stations with requests and the song became a hit, topping the national country music charts for weeks in 2005. Consequently, the album was re-cut, listing "Skin" as the official 12th song. But more importantly, because of "Skin," the band was inspired to donate $600,000 of concert proceeds to a Nashville children's cancer hospital. Henry says the thought that his song might have saved the life of "just one child" stricken with cancer is one of the greatest rewards he's ever experienced as a writer. Photo by Mark Fox/Aspen Times Weekly.



AM's entire album on such shows as HBO's Big Love and MTV's The Real World as well as such films as Dreamland and The Naked Ape.

GRANT BACIOCCO's podcast as one of the most highly regarded family podcasts on the web. The podcast entitled "The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd" has been featured on iTunes, Tivo and Spin magazine.

LORI BARTH co-wrote the featured performance and end credit song "I'm Dreaming of Home" for the film Joyeux Noel, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film. Her co-writer is SACEM composer, Phillipe Rombi.

RAPHAEL DIGIORGIO's compositions on the new hit TV show Cuts on the UPN Network.

JOHN W. HARDEN's music in the PBS program Justice for All?, which began airing in March of 2006.

STEVEN HEINSTEIN's two songs in the feature film Mr. Fix It. Heinstein wrote, produced, performed and sang one of the songs and wrote the other.

DAN KIROUAC in the February issue of Massachusetts' The Pulse magazine for an article about music instruction.

MOLLY-ANN LEIKIN'S song, "I Hear Your Heart", co-written with Guntars Racs, Reinis Sejans and Andris Sejans, will be sung by Cosmos in the Eurovision finals in Greece in May, 2006.

DAN LOCKLAIR'S Brief Mass and Pater Noster are featured on the CD, American Music from Saint Thomas, on Koch CD 7567 as performed by the Choir of Men and Boys of St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, NYC (Gerre Hancock, Conductor). Released in January 2006.

COLLEEN MCFARLAND's songs in the DVD release of Northern Exposure: Season 4.

DON MURO as the event programmer for the first New York State-Wide Music Education Technology Conference.

BOB POREMBSKI's "Feelin More Like Christmas" on CBS's The Young and The Restless, USA Network's 12 Days of Christmas and the TRIO Network.

BARB SORENSON's Walk the Mile music video on Swiss TV to over 16,000 viewers every hour, every day during the first week of April 2006.