Here is the latest installment in our periodic series highlighting Boston and New England artists. (View the complete series here.) FEATURED ALBUMS Barnstar! (from the Signature Sounds Records release Sit Down! Get Up! Get Out!) I don’t think that it is possible to listen to Barnstar and not crack a smile. Every performance, even the […]
Tinsley Ellis – Tough Love
Tinsley Ellis came up as a hard-rocking guitar slinger in the mold of Stevie Ray Vaughan. He was always known as a great axe-man, but as the decades passed and his art matured, he also became an accomplished songwriter and interpreter of the many shades of blues. Kanye West might even be a little impressed with […]
Sons of Bill – Live at Bottletree Cafe, January 15th
The Sons of Bill played for an intimate and enthusiastic audience at Bottletree Café in Birmingham, Alabama. Ironically the next day they boarded a plane to England for a European tour, in which one of the stops in the UK will also be Birmingham. That should set the table for an intriguing linguistic study comparing […]
Readers’ Pick: Shadows In The Night by Bob Dylan
BOB DYLAN, Shadows In The Night beats out SMOKIN JOE KUBEK & BNOIS KING, Fat Man’s Shine Parlor as your favorite for the week of February 3, 2015. Poll Results Readers’ Top Picks – Winter 2015 JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE, Absent Fathers (17) THE DECEMBERISTS, What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World (13) BOB […]
Joe Pug On Touring In a Hand-Me-Down Van and an Expensive Line-Item From His Music Budget
Joe Pug talks about the upcoming retirement of his tour van, earning his first $100 in music by playing Foo Fighters covers and the most satisfying day job he has ever had.
Monday Morning Video – Dietrich Strause Serenades Some Ducks
Famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow last week, signaling six more weeks of winter. Sure enough, Boston is in the midst of a three day snowstorm. Perhaps Phil would have acted differently if singer-songwriter Dietrich Strause serenaded him instead of these two ducks. The song is called “Sling and Stone” from his 2013 release […]
Kristin Andreassen Takes on a Grateful Dead Classic
Even if you don’t buy into the culture that emerged around the Grateful Dead, it’s hard not to appreciate the songs that they created. Kristin Andreassen responded to a fan request and turned out this exquisite version of the Dead’s “Brokedown Palace.†“I might not have had the courage to tackle this epic Grateful Dead […]
Smokin’ Joe Kubek & Bnois King – Fat Man’s Shine Parlor
Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King have been playing together for 25 years, and it shows. The Dallas, Texas native Kubek and Delhi, Louisiana-born King met in the late 1980s, and collaborated with Kubek as the band leader and King a featured player. Over the years, the terms of the partnership have evolved until King became […]
Readers’ Pick: Then Came the Morning by The Lone Bellow
THE LONE BELLOW, Then Came the Morning beats out PUNCH BROTHERS, The Phosphorescent Blues as your favorite for the week of January 27, 2015. Poll Results Readers’ Top Picks – Winter 2015 JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE, Absent Fathers (17) THE DECEMBERISTS, What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World (13) RYAN BINGHAM, Fear and Saturday […]
Matthew Ryan Talks the Economics of Touring, His First Gig and the Value of Having a Gang
Matthew Ryan talks about life on the road and why healthy eating is a priority, when and why he purchases new instruments and gear (and what it costs), plus the friction between being wildly self-conscious and not giving a shit.