The catalog that Jim Croce created during his short life and career is awe-inspiring. From the entertaining storytelling of “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim” to the heart-tugging beauty of “Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels)” he demonstrated a mastery that leaves us wondering what could have been if he hadn’t died in a […]
Music With a Purpose – Revived and Revitalized
Several years back I did a series about music released with an eye towards social impact or change. Called Music With a Purpose, it was one of the more enjoyable series that I’ve written. The starting point was some great music, made all the more significant given the underlying meaning. Well, the time has come […]
Readers’ Pick: ‘Talk About That’ by John Mayall
You picked “Talk About That” from blues master, JOHN MAYALL, as your favorite new release for the week of February 3, 2016. Poll Results New Releases Did we miss something? If you feel a new release is missing from our current poll, please let us know in the comments. Readers’ Tops Winter 2017 BRIGITTE DEMEYER AND […]
The Traveling Ones – Meet Me There
Peanut butter and jelly, Luxardo cherries and good rye whiskey, banjos and mandolins. Â Some things go well together, like Justin Ahmanson and Emily Villareal, a duo that goes by the name The Traveling Ones. Â Their debut album is called Meet Me There and offers plenty of proof that this couple belongs together musically. Philosophically the […]
Girls Guns and Glory at the Sinclair
Girls Guns and Glory at The Sinclair Cambridge, MA; January 14, 2017 To see Ward Hayden come out on the stage at the Sinclair, you’d have no idea that he was from Scituate, Massachusetts. His new record, with his face on it, implies a more introspective view of the music. And Hayden’s entrance in a […]
Monday Morning Video – Joe Strummer covers Jimmy Cliff
My original plan was to share a version of Jimmy Cliff covering his classic “The Harder They Come.” Until I stumbled across this version of Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros rockin’ it right.
Readers’ Pick: Mockingbird Soul by Brigitte DeMeyer and Will Kimbrough
You picked “Mockingbird Soul” from new folk duo, BRIGITTE DEMEYER AND WILL KIMBROUGH, as your favorite new release for the week of January 27, 2016. Poll Results New Releases Did we miss something? If you feel a new release is missing from our current poll, please let us know in the comments. Readers’ Tops Winter 2017 […]
A J Hobbs – Too Much Is Never Enough
There’s an old saying about blues musicians who had no formal training and yet could unload a gut-wrenching, soulful composition about life or love or maybe just an old dirt road: “it in him, and it got to get out.” Â There’s a country outlaw version of that in the first full-length album from California native […]
John Mayall – Talk About That
In the 1970s, John Mayall, O.B.E., was, along with Bob Dylan, John Prine, David Bromberg, Loudon Wainwright III, Shawn Phillips and Jerry Jeff Walker, one of my musical heroes.  Now at 83 and still touring and recording albums, Mayall is an inspiration. Mayall, often called the “Godfather of British Blues,†is so much more than […]
Monday Morning Video – Girls Guns and Glory “Rock and Roll”
The lead off track from Girls Guns and Glory’s latest long player (Love and Protest) seems like a fitting song to kick off the week. Are you ready to rock and roll?