Now more than ever, a band's future is on its own shoulders. With a great deal of the fat cats squeezed out of the equation, the power and control and responsibility is returning to the musicians. And it's also returning to the fans - especially young fans. And bands: you gotta listen to the kids; they'll make you, they'll break you.

My niece is at that wonderful early-teen age where digging on something without mass appeal is cool, discovering new bands is cool, and sharing that band with friends is cool. A lot of this flies below grown-up radar, so we gotta listen to the kids as well. And if I hadn't, I wouldn't have known about The High Court, a fairly decent rock band out of Philadelphia that played a multi-band bill at the heatless (we're talking meat locker here) Penny Arcade last Thursday. This four-piece outfit is a work in progress, its framework and wires still peeking out as it seeks to blend all the avenues that brought it together. No doubt some of the ingredients - emo, pop, rock, hard rock, and a keenly disjointed approach to songwriting - will eventually dominate and The High Court will settle into a sound it'll be known for. Meanwhile, teenage girls will scream, the band will take note, and the whole process will roll on.

The Buddhahood rolled on later that night to a joyous Dinosaur crowd for the first time since it lost its leader. And whereas some people will seek to comfort themselves, imagining the deceased "looking down in approval," the reality is that the person is all the good they left behind. Tony Cavagnaro was his music. This is the immortality he has earned as a musician. Yes, his big frame has gone back to the earth, but he was there, and will be everywhere always. Wanna live forever? Pick up an instrument. It's like dancing on a grave you'll never occupy.

Mr. Spacetrucker, Tommy Brunette played a fantastic set at The Club @ Water Street Saturday, as we all celebrated another year of Dick The Dancing Record. Brunette and his trio leaned heavily on the Cash and blew me away with a nod to chimney sweeps a la "Mary Poppins." Uh huh, "Mary Poppins."