Wear Your Favorite Artist On Your Wrist

Photo via Wear Your Music

It happens. Guitar strings break. Often. Which is why bands should always bring an extra guitar on the road, or at the very least have some interesting banter prepared, in case they need to re-string their instrument in the middle of a show. Not that I have ever witnessed this before or anything…

Anyway, Wear Your Music has designed a clever way to reuse those snapped strings while raising money for some fine nonprofit organizations. Here’s how it works: guitarists donate their old guitar strings, Wear Your Music fashions them into bracelets, and we the fans get to show off the results. All proceeds go to the charity of the artist’s choice.

Bracelets range from $75 to $500, depending on whose fretboard the strings came from. It’s definitely pricey, but remember – this is for charity! Participating artists run the gamut from indie darlings Death Cab for Cutie and Wilco, to country icons Willie Nelson and Bonnie Raitt, to rock legends Keith Richards and Eric Clapton.

Like the look, but can’t afford the price tag? Wear Your Music has recently introduced a generic version of their guitar string bracelet for $10 a pop. A portion of  the profits still go to charity, you just won’t be able to claim that John Mayer’s dreamy hands once strummed the strings that now adorn your wrist. At least not truthfully (but you can always fantasize, right?).

Get it here: Wear Your Music (artist bracelets $75-$500; fashion bracelets $10)

Can You Help Fuel Dan Deacon’s Tour?

Photo via MySpace

Dan Deacon needs help getting to his shows. Turns out finding fuel for his school-bus-turned-tour-van, pimped out to run on vegetable oil, can be a bit of a challenge.

Scrounge up five gallons of clean used veggie oil, and you could be rewarded with a pair of free tickets. Even better, 30 gallons will get you dinner cooked by Dan Deacon himself aboard the veggie-mobile. Just don’t forget to make prior arrangements with the “oil master” Geoff.

Deacon made his plea to fans via this MySpace bulletin:

hello,

the school tour bus the 20 of us are riding in runs on veggie oil. we need help gathering that oil to fuel our bus. if anyone can bring at least 5 gallons of waste veggie oil to one of the shows we will put you on the guest list. it is easily found behind almost all restaurants.

if the oil looks dark and full of crud we can’t use it. the lighter the color and the less viscous the better. if you can bring us CLEAN and filtered oil we can put you + 1 on the list.

an easy way to filter the oil would be to stretch a tight sheet or t-shirt over a bucket and pour the oil into the bucket through the sheet to get all the gunk out. a slower way, but better way, would be to tie one of the pant legs of jeans into a tight knot and hang that over a bucket and pour the oil into the jeans, and clean oil will slowly pass into the bucket.

to arrange the grease for list swap you can call geoff at 862-266-6130. call or text him. he is our oil master. the more oil the better. we have enough storage for 100 gallons of oil. if you can get us 30 gallons we’ll cook you dinner on the bus (we have a little kitchen and many great cooks).

please repost this to anywhere you think it might help. thanks you!

dan deacon

Dan Deacon’s North American tour runs through the end of May. Deacon’s legendary live performances and rave reviews of his new album, Bromst, should provide more than enough motivation to bring out the deep fryer.

Wheatware Makes It Okay to Play With Your Food

Photo via Wheatware

Who says you can’t play with your food? Not Wheatware, a company that makes biodegradable drumsticks and guitar picks from wheat. For the kids-at-heart, they also make a maraca that doubles as a yo-yo. It’s filled with bean seeds, and will actually grow into a plant if you bury it in the ground!

There’s an annual 50 billion bushel wheat surplus, so there’s plenty of wheat to go around. Even better, Wheatware plans to create a take-back program for their stuff so it can be recycled to make new products.

But the real question is, can they rock? If awards and publicity are any indication, then yes. Wheatware guitar picks won “Best in Show” in the accessory category at the NAMM (the National Association of Music Merchants) show in Austin in July 2007 while Wheatware drumsticks scored “Trendsetter Award” at the NAMM show in Nashville in June 2008. Wheatware has also been featured on the History Channel’s Modern Marvels TV show and at the 2008 Grammys and Live Earth concerts.

If you’re still not convinced, you may be interested in knowing that the company’s top executives Warren Kirsch and Katherine Patton are musicians themselves  – they play guitar and drums respectively.

Get it here: Wheatware (drumsticks $15/pair; guitar picks $4.20 for 12; yo-yo/maraca $7)

Neil Young’s Ode to the LincVolt

Photo via LincVolt

Neil Young wants the best of both worlds: a big, flashy car and fuel efficiency. Impossible? Maybe not. Neil’s been working on making his vision a reality with the LincVolt project. Along with green car guru Johnathan Goodwin, Neil is converting a 1959 Lincoln Continental into an electric vehicle.

Neil and his team hopes the LincVolt will take the Progressive Automotive X Prize – which will be awarded to the first vehicle that achieves 100 mpg, meets strict emission standards, and that can be mass produced.

Neil’s new muse has also inspired an albumful of songs, Fork in the Road, released this week. Check out the video for “Johnny Magic” with special guest star the LincVolt itself!

Neil also plans to drive the LincVolt to Washington, DC to raise awareness about clean car technologies. We’ll be able to track the journey live via the LincVolt website, and there will be a DVD to fill us in on the rest of the story. Because really…if Neil can make it work with a 20-foot long, 5,000-pound behemoth, anything is possible.

Protect Your iPod With EcoShield

Photo via Agent18

Although mp3 players have many advantages over the personal music players of yore (I sure don’t miss having to lug around tapes or CDs), durability isn’t among them. One too many drops on the floor and it’s your $300 iPod Touch’s funeral.

The best thing to do – for our wallets as well as the environment – is to take good care of these devices so they last their longest.

You can protect your iPod or iPhone the eco-friendly way with Agent18’s EcoShield line of cases made from recycled postconsumer plastic bottles.

The packaging is also recyclable, unlike that awful rigid plastic packaging many consumer electronics and accessories use. Opening a box should not require a crowbar and 45 minutes of my precious time. This alone is worth choosing Agent18!

Get it here: Agent 18 ($13-$30)

A New Spin on Picture Frames

Photo via Uncommon Goods

If you’re like me, you probably have lots of bits and pieces of music memorabilia littering your drawers and shelves. Why not commemorate that life-changing concert experience by turning one of those souvenirs into art?

This 6.75″ square frame, made from recycled LPs,  has a 5″ x 5″ opening. It’s the perfect size for ticket stubs, concert snapshots, the set list you nabbed after the show, or perhaps your prized autograph obtained during your stalking chance meeting of Clay Aiken.

Although you’ll find similar products elsewhere, I like this one in particular because a) the frames are handmade by Philadelphia-based artist Jeff Davis, and b) he uses records that are scratched/no longer playable. (All you vinyl aficionados can now breathe a sigh of relief.)

Mr. Davis makes a slew of other cool products from old records, so check those out while you’re at it.

Get it here: Uncommon Goods ($22)

Guilt-Free Guitar Straps

Photo via Splaff

Leather. It’s practically synonymous with rock ‘n roll. Unfortunately, it’s not so great for the environment (the leather industry uses lots of energy and chemicals), not to mention the cows and other animals that constitute the raw materials for our shoes, bags, and yes, even our guitar straps.

For a classic look without the guilt, Splaff offers guitar straps made from 100% recycled bicycle inner tubes. Each two-inch strap is hand-crafted and produced in a 100% waste-free process in which all leftover materials are reused or recycled. Choose from two versions – both in basic black – plain and grommet (for those that require a little extra attitude).

If you’re not a guitarist, Splaff also makes a few related accessories like belts and wrist bands, although I’m pretty sure the latter went out of style with hair metal bands back in the late 80s.

Get it here: Splaff (plain $28, grommet $32)