Posts by Albie Cullen

Last night Warren Haynes, Don Was, Michael McDonald and company turned Boston’s Orpheum Theatre, into a working, full blown time machine; teleporting the audience back to November 26, 1976. This  date of course was one of rock n’ roll’s most magical, legendary nights when at the pinnacle of their ability and at the peak of […]

Every nook, cranny and fissure of the House of Blues was filled with footprints as Boston awaited recent Grammy winnner Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. Strolling onto a blackened, stark stage adorned with just three stain glass windows above, Isbell, looking fit and sounding relaxed eased his gold-top Les Paul into “Palmetto Rose”, a groove […]

Oklahoma’s Turnpike Troubadours followed up their 2014 raucous Boston performance with much more of a slow burn when they hit the Wilbur Theater this time around. But once the fuse was lit, the Wrangler jean, big belt buckled, trucker hat-clad band knew how to stoke the fire until it burned the house down. Pharmacist by […]

The aptly named The California Honey Drops (CHD) made their Boston debut before a comfortably crowded room Friday night.  The Bay Area band  released their fourth full-length original studio album A River’s Invitation in September and sold out two nights at The Fillmore in San Francisco in support of the album. Starting with the opener […]

[rating=8.00] The opening, sixteen minute plus, “Vibration & Light Suite” on the Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s (CRB’s) latest release is representative of the band’s style and sound; clean meandering guitar lines, soaring harmonies, soulful vocals and just the right amount of weird. One of the benefits of recent technological advances is that live music is more […]

The third year edition of the biannual Boston Calling Music Festival kicked off on a gorgeous Friday spring evening in the literal heart of the city, City Hall Plaza; a brick oasis surrounded on three sides by skyscrapers and Faneuil Hall and the Atlantic Ocean on the fourth.  A true “city festival,” the organizers have […]

In celebration of the Boston opening of Converse’s World Headquarters, the shoe company sponsored five nights of live music at the Cambridge club The Sinclair.  Dubbed the “Converse Rubber Tracks Series ” tickets were only available through internet lottery. Given the opportunity to see the legendary Replacements in a five hundred-seat venue the line was […]

Blackberry Smoke touring in support of their fourth album, Holding All the Roses (which debuted at Number 1 on the top Country albums chart) was all smiles and swagger as they hit the stage in Boston; exuding not a cockiness but rather a quiet “we will never have to sleep in the van again” confidence. […]

From the moment Los Lobos hit the stage, their Latin vibe rhythmic rock and roll set everything in motion; the sextet wandered the stage as if making a game of musical chairs, their fans were shaking and by the end of the night the tiny theater was quaking. At this point in their forty-two year […]

[rating=8.00] Touring relentlessly in support of their first three releases (over 2,000 shows in the last ten years) Blackberry Smoke has built a well-deserved reputation as the heirs to the southern rock music mantle.   Their latest effort and first for Rounder Records, Holding All The Roses, produced by Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Neil Young, […]

On the coldest night of the year in the winter wasteland that was once Boston (minus 5 degrees), Sturgill Simpson, arguably one of the music industry’s hottest acts, rolled into town. The 800 person capacity club was  sold out for months and by show time the room was full and then some; barely a sliver […]

[rating=9.00] Using his trademark acoustic guitar as his canvas, Texas singer-songwriter James McMurtry dabs banjo, mandolin, slide guitar, organ and harmonies throughout the tracks making his ninth studio release, Complicated Game, perhaps his best. The album is the perfect mix of stark, dark ballads, toe-tapping ditties and magical musical tours. Lyrically McMurtry’s words beautify the […]

As Boston endured the fifth blizzard in four weeks the seven feet of snow was no deterrent as Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s (CRB) “Freak flag continued to fly in the face of winter’s onslaught.” Deciding to play just one set instead of the usual two the band took the unadorned stage shortly after nine. Before a […]

Ryan Bingham, dressed in jeans, trademark grey Henley shirt and leather jacket delivered “The Gospel according to Ryan” to the sold out Club 939 Friday night in Boston.  The extremely intimate room (200 capacity), which is run by Berklee College of Music students, is essentially an oversized living room complete with leather couches.  The large […]

Bypassing his usual beer and occasional shot of whiskey, James McMurtry’s glass of red wine was symbolic of the evening’s show.  Touring with his band in support of his first studio album in six years, “Complicated Game” McMurtry delivered an intimate, perfect volume and relaxed set to a jam-packed Johnny D’s.  Perhaps due to the […]

Even before the Rival Sons took the stage the sold out and then some crowd was buzzing like a lit fuse.  When the Son’s jumped off into the 60’s tinged guitar riff of “Electric Man” the audience exploded.   The Sons are Scott Holiday on guitars, Jay Buchanan on vocals, David Beste on bass, and Michael […]

Part concert, part frat party, and part religious revival, Vintage Trouble’s Boston performance last Tuesday was one hell of a good time. From the opening notes of the double timed blues progression of “High Times” lead singer Ty Taylor, whose stage persona exhibits a strange combination of James Brown and Iggy Pop, he made it […]

[rating=7.00] With the one-minute bare bones’ acoustic guitar and vocal opener, “If I’d Waited” which sounds nothing like any other track, Holy Ghost, is a successful work of misdirection.    Based on both his history and his abilities you would expect former Black Crowes’ guitarist Marc Ford’s latest solo effort to be blistering leads over layers […]

An anticipatory buzz arose from the bearded boys in trucker hats and free spirited women who packed the House of Blues in Boston on 9/11.   With an array of acoustic strings, mandolin, fiddle, banjo and guitar the audience was eased into the sparse and subtle, “Ghosts” from Trampled by Turtles’ seventh studio release, Wild Animals.” […]

David Gray kicked off the most recent leg of his “Mutineers” tour on Boston’s waterfront last Friday.   Where past tours began with a bang and some sizzle, Gray  quietly strolled to the upright piano and  slowly eased into the opener, “Birds of the High Artic.” The six piece band: cello, background vocalist, guitar, bass, synthesizer, […]