Jon Dee Graham My SXSW show list is usually built around bands that I’ve never seen. Jon Dee Graham is the rare exception who makes the list every year. His gruff voice fits well with the bit of his lyrics, not to mention his razor-sharp guitar-playing. And his stories and between song banter, rich with […]
Alejandro Escovedo – Street Songs of Love.
Alejandro Escovedo will be releasing Street Songs of Love on June 29th, which is the day after my birthday. I think he planned it that way. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. What better birthday present is there than a new Alejandro release. There are no secrets here. It is pretty obvious […]
Tallest Man on Earth – Live at the Black Cat
What a difference a year makes. When I saw Tallest Man last year at the 9:30 Club in DC, he was opening for John Van Der Slice and the audience seemed a bit confused by the man. Only about a third of them (150 or so) were there when he played and maybe half of […]
SXSW 2010: The Scene
SXSW 2010 has come and gone. Over the next week I’ll be sharing a few highlights of my experience. All in good fun. Children By the Million Sing for Alex Chilton This year’s SXSW began and ended with the passing of Alex Chilton. The co-founder of Big Star was scheduled to participate in a panel […]
Old Settler's Music Festival – 2010
As the first night of this year”s Old Settler”s Music Festival was just swinging into high gear, the Infamous Stringdusters took the stage.  Andy Falco marched up to the microphone and said, “Wow, feels like we”ve been cooped up all winter”. That pretty well captured the moment. They then launched into a version of the […]
Todd Snider/Live at the Visualite Theatre/Charlotte, NC/April 15, 2010
He’s been driving around this country for 15 years making this shit up as he goes along and playing it for anyone that will listen. Some people say his stuff is a bit opinionated, and while this may be true, he does not sing anything to try to change your mind, but rather to ease […]
Marah in the Treehouse
When you walk into a concert venue and you happen to find the band shmoozing in front of the chicken coop, you know the show is a bit different than the usual. I’ve seen Marah in two other small venues, but the fact is that I’ve never quite experienced the intimacy of the inaugural show […]
Sidewalk Dave- Gold Liquid Mischief
“Gold Liquid Mischief” is an album inspired by, written while, and recorded under the influence of drinking. This might seem like it was all fun and shame, and at times it really was, but when your only choice on the matter of drinking is either cheap scotch or cheap bourbon, it begins to drown your […]
Crooked Still / Infamous Stringdusters
Two of the best young Newgrass groups have upcoming albums. Crooked Still – will release Some Strange Country on May 18th on Signature Sounds. They are certainly a genre bending groups always, but they rise to a new level on this. The album is beautifully arranged,lyrically infused with both spiritual and earthly wisdom, and as […]
Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
While you may wonder why a folky Swede deserves to be recognized on a decidedly more twangy website, one listen should do the trick. In that one song you’d probably never know that Tallest Man on Earth wasn’t raised in the mountains of North Carolina. Perhaps that’s because as well as Bob Dylan, Kristian Matsson […]