Outside, the warm Gulf breeze is gently blowing the magnificent oaks to a rhythm guided only by Mother Nature. Â Inside the dance hall, the velvet tones of a skinny kid in a bolo tie are doing much the same thing to the couples two-stepping around the well worn floor. Â The piano has a sound that’s […]
Photos that ROCK! Girls Guns & Glory’s new album!
Photos that ROCK! Girls Guns & Glory in the studio New album “Love and Protest” out now! I was so honored when Ward Hayden reached out to me and asked me to come take photos of Girls Guns & Glory in the recording studio. I had a great afternoon learning about the recording process, listening […]
The Sadies – Riverview Fog Premiere
A few years ago I opined The Sadies were the best rock and roll band coming out of Canada.  Like Canadian pathfinders, The Band, they adhere to a storyline that’s about seizing opportunity.  Some days it’s collaborating with stellar musicians like Neko Case, Jon Langford, or John Doe.  Other days it’s about brothers Travis and Dallas Good […]
Just Like Ringing a Bell – A Special Boston Playlist
Over the past few years there’s been a rush of overdue attention paid to the studio musicians responsible for some of the finest music of the rock and roll era. The Swampers in Muscle Schoals. The Wrecking Crew in LA. The Funk Brothers in Motown. I expect that many places, even today, have a collection […]
Big Dave McLean – Better the Devil You Know
There are bluesmen in Canada. Â Some damn good ones. Â Folks like Jim Byrnes, Amos Garrett, and David Wilcox (no relation), have been tearing it up for decades, and relative newcomers like Sue Foley, Colin James and JW-Jones have blazed their own trails to excellence. Â But through the years, one of the mainstays of Canadian blues […]
Dan Layus – Dangerous Things
One of the amazing things about the Great Plains this time of year is the sunrise. Â The flat, or gently rolling, geography lets you see things develop for an hour before the sun actually gets above the horizon. Â The mornings are crisp and you know that the long, cold winter is just around the corner, […]
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit/Live from Columbia, SC, October 16, 2016
Photo by Darren Woodlief The first big concert I remember attending, besides a church revival or Fifth Sunday Night Singing, was Charlie Daniels at the Peach Festival in Gaffney, SC with the Pirates of the Mississippi opening. I was around 14 years old and my dad took me. It was a great time and I […]
Boston’s Best Kept Festy – Sunday
After an Americana love festival on Saturday, the true bluegrassers came out to play on Sunday. No this wasn’t Fresh Grass but it did share Sierra Hull and Festy hosts and curators Infamous Stringdusters. The day started with newly crowned IBMA award winning mandolin player of the year/singer-songwriter Sierra Hull. I’d seen her previously with […]
Boston’s Best Kept Festy – Saturday
I have to admit, I was surprised to see the lineup at such a relatively unknown festival called Festy this year. Where else can you see Americana stalwarts Josh Ritter and Justin Townes Earle on the same day? And when my wife and I waltzed in to the show at a hair past noon, I […]
Win Big – Steve Earle’s “Guitar Town” (with a bonus live album)!
Here’s your chance to win a copy of the Steve Earle Guitar Town 30th Anniversary Collection. Read on for details! There are few artists whose careers can be described as a musical journey. Steve Earle is one of them. Over his more than 30 year – and nearly 20 album – career he has taken […]