Every spring, a couple of weeks after the madhouse of SXSW, the music festival season kicks off with Old Settler’s Music Festival, about a half hour outside of Austin. Â Started as a bluegrass festival, Old Settler’s now embraces a broad spectrum of Americana. Â Organizer Jean Spivey has a magic touch for consistently mixing old with […]
DBT Slays Boston
50 years old. At that age, you’d think that most people would be settling into their career. Yet Patterson Hood still seems like he’s got lots new to say. He and Mike Cooley may be a little bit older, but they’ve definitely still got a hard-edged guitar attack and a heck of a lot of […]
Readers’ Pick: JOAN OSBORNE, Love & Hate
You picked JOAN OSBORNE, Love & Hate as your favorite for the week of April 8, 2014. Readers’ Top Picks (last 4 weeks) LUTHER DICKINSON, Rock ‘n Roll Blues (11) JOHNNY CASH, Out Among The Stars (9) JOAN OSBORNE, Love & Hate (8) VARIOUS ARTISTS, Looking Into You: A Tribute To Jackson Browne (8) HOLMES […]
Jesse Winchester, In Memoriam
April is shaping up as a difficult world in the world of music. This past week we lost Jesse Winchester, whose soft-spoken style belied the power of his songs. Here are two magical Winchester performances. The first is an early (and often covered) classic “Defying Gravity.” The second is the celebrated appearance on Elvis Costello’s […]
SXSW 2014 — The Sounds, Part 2
DAVE AND PHIL ALVIN I’m a big Dave Alvin fan. Unfortunately for me I discovered the Blasters, the seminal band co-founded by Dave and his brother Phil, after they went their separate ways. I was hooked, though, on their encyclopedic knowledge of American music — everything from folk to country and from blues to vintage […]
SXSW 2014 — The Sounds, Part 1
THE HOLD STEADY While I may not be as crazy as my friend who chased the band around Austin for the band’s 7 planned shows, I wasn’t going to pass up a chance to see the Brooklyn rockers celebrate their first album in 4 years. I accompanied said friend to the front of the stage […]
SXSW 2014 — The Scene
For me, the true harbinger of spring is the arrival of the SXSW Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas. Or rather, spring begins for me when I arrive in Austin for SXSW. With upwards of 2,500 bands and 20,000 attendees from around the world, SXSW is the world’s premiere music conference. Even better, it […]
Readers’ Pick: VARIOUS ARTISTS, Looking Into You: A Tribute To Jackson Browne
You picked VARIOUS ARTISTS, Looking Into You: A Tribute To Jackson Browne as your favorite for the week of April 1, 2014. Readers’ Top Picks (last 4 weeks) LUTHER DICKINSON, Rock ‘n Roll Blues (11) JOHNNY CASH, Out Among The Stars (9) VARIOUS ARTISTS, Looking Into You: A Tribute To Jackson Browne (8) HOLMES BROTHERS, […]
In Memoriam – Dave Lamb
Dave Lamb of the Providence, RI-based duo Brown Bird passed away this past weekend. The circumstances are heart-wrenching. Lamb fell ill with mysterious symptoms while touring Texas last year. In a tale that is all too familiar, Lamb had no insurance. Fortunately, he was able to get home and secure insurance for what became a […]
Southern Soul Assembly at the Saenger Theatre, Mobile, Alabama
So I’m in Mobile, AL this week for my day job. As I’m eating lunch Tuesday I look up and see a poster for the Southern Soul Assembly, featuring JJ Grey, Luther Dickinson, Anders Osborne and Marc Broussard. And it’s that night at the Saenger Theatre about a block from my hotel. I rush out […]