Music and the World Wide Web have a lot in common including breaking down boundaries and pushing ideas to the limit. For anyone in a band, starting a band or following a band the Internet can be your quickest, easiest and most direct route to entertainment information.

Here is a look at some local and some not so local sites with Cumbrian music roots.

Band sites are the number one draw. Why not start with a visit to Lakes now London group Gear's web site at http://www.gearsflyingcircus.com ? Or, you could link into http://www.thisisthelakedistrict.co.uk/music_scene/news/ display.var.724316.index.gearing_up.html for Off the Record reporter Beth Broomby's recent look at the band.

To see a groovin Cumbrian roots band' visit Striding Edge online at http://www.striding-edge.org/ They describe themselves as "authentic Lakeland jigs on fiddle and melodeon fuse with frenetic world beat grooves. Outbreaks of English village brass mingle with soulful northern ballads and rich vocal harmonies." Take a close up look. The band emailed me to say the site is live and current.

Using a search engine, keying in the name of your favourite local band will very quickly tell you if they are online and well promoted.

If you have a band and want to record, visit a site called Help for Bands. Although http://www.helpforbands.com is under reconstruction, it does provide a list of studios around the country. One studio site based in West Cumbria is the Music Farm Studio at http://www.instinct-training.co.uk/musicfarm/clients.htm.

Cumbria's Linden Studios have an excellent site at http://www.lindenstudio.co.uk/

It includes MP3s from their line up of artists, information and software links. It shows you what a web site can do for you.

Millom's Morgue Project has set up on the Web at http://www.morgueproject.co.uk

This new venture offers a 24 track recording facility and is big on the education factor. The site and name are a bit scary', but it's worth contacting them just to find out the history behind the name. They have included a full line-up of photos of the facilities so you can see what you are getting into. The North East is also full of studios and a visit to http://www.neckit.co.uk/UK/studio/studionorthenglist.htm will help you look around at what is available.

The Northern Echos Entertainment North East is a proactive site for musicians and listeners alike. Visit

http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/the_north_east/entertainment/index.html to find out what is happening. This site is expanding soon to cover the North West. It features a great music and festival directory so you can keep your music calendar tuned up. They also run superb band competitions with recording studio time as a prize! You will definitely want to check out the Revolution link for rock/pop http://www.revolution.co.uk

Only the tip of the Cumbrian music online iceberg has been touched. If you have a site you want us to look at, e-mail details to digital.media@kendal.newsquest.co.uk

Site of the week: Rock music and flashy sites go hand-in-hand. But it's the corner music shop that remains the base of all music happenings. To visit just such a place, go to Paul O'Connor's Music Room site at http://www.musicroomulverston.ukonline.co.uk/. He believes in the evolution of musicians and is designing his site to help get people going or keep them going. You never know, it might inspire you to buy an instrument and get on the music bandwagon!

May 15, 2003 10:00