Posts by Amie O’Hearn

Let’s face it, mayonnaise is the outlier of  condiments. It’s a little different – not mainstream like its ketchup and mustard counterparts. It is at times underrated, it is mocked, it is usually the last picked at the picnic table. But if you mix it with a little garlic? Well then, you have some fancy […]

In his hallmark whole-hearted style, Ryan Montbleau penned the below excerpt of a letter last month to fans pre-ordering his latest album I Was Just Leaving. “After 15 years of going crazy to build a life in music, I found that most of my days were now spent alone in a room reflecting on those […]

[rating=3.00] Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Gabriel. These names come to mind when you think of artists who went on to achieve solo success after already finding it in a band. Though many musicians have gone on to prove their own mettle, it is no easy feat to extricate yourself from a band’s […]

[rating=4.00] When it all comes down to it, growth is the juicy consequence of change. The journey to get there is a risk and anyone with the guts to try deserves to be applauded…some of the time. Signs of Light, the third album from indie rockers The Head and the Heart, is the result of […]

Dietrich Strause, the son of a Lutheran preacher from Lancaster, PA comes home and comes clean on his new album How Cruel That Hunger Binds. The Boston-based multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, known for putting his own spin on classic Americana, has cultivated something of a cult following in the New England area. Last year, Strause announced […]

[rating=8.00] If Karen O. hadn’t done such a bang up job with the soundtrack for the film Where the Wild Things Are, River Whyless surely would have been worthy contenders. Their sophomore album We All The Light brings to mind Maurice Sendak’s famous free-spirited wild rumpus from the triumphed children’s book. And with the earth’s […]

Julie Rhodes has had a pretty amazing year so far, starting with the release of her first album Bound to Meet the Devil in March and landing gigs at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC and on NPR’s World Cafe. This weekend, she is heading down South to Athens, Georgia as part of the next leg […]

[rating=9.00] Well goddamn. It’s rare that a band releases a burner for their sophomore album, the kind you listen to the entire way through and then hit repeat. Yet Portland, Maine duo Muddy Ruckus do just that with Pretty Bones, the follow up to their 2014 self-titled debut. The 12- track LP is loaded with summer […]

  You wouldn’t believe it if I told you. That in little ol’ Somerville, MA, early in the hours of a Friday night,  I witnessed a musical phenomenon. He performed as if possessed; transfixed, eyes rolling back in his head. When he opened his mouth  a melodic voice boomed with all the force and natural beauty […]

The band that jams together, stays together. It is hard to call to mind a band since The Decemberists that incorporates so many instruments (all members of Elephant Revival are multi-instrumental) or can weave such grand tales into their repertoire. If astute fans listen close enough to Elephant Revival lyrics, they may discover the equivalent of […]

Father John Misty takes the stage in the dark. The room reeks of weed and fans are practically hanging from the rafters, the three floors of the House of Blues Boston are so packed. Without word, Misty and band launch into his gin mill ballad, “Everyman Needs A Companion.” His hips shimmy and his eyes […]

On a recent day off, Christopher Paul Stelling sounds tired and contemplative. He is travelling to The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN where he will soon close the curtains on a month long stint opening for Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals. The Brooklyn resident, known for his explosive finger picking and honest narratives, often […]

[rating=6.00] An exodus from the sweet emotionalism of his former albums, Nate Currin takes listeners over to the flipside with the hard truth on his fourth studio album The Madman and The Poet. The first six tracks on the album are both the sparklers of the album and a foray into unchartered territory for Currin and […]

“Look at you, I love you!” Ryan Montbleau shouted affectionately to the audience as he took the stage on Wednesday night. The feeling was clearly mutual as Ryan and his nine-piece band returned home for a two-night stint at The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA. Montbleau and friends treated the crowd to a 20 song set and […]

Elephant Revival is having a good year and they aren’t taking it for granted. The humble, multi-instrumental quintet from Nederland Colorado just wrapped a long stretch with Josh Ritter opening for his “Sermon On The Rocks” tour and now are back on the road again. But this time it’s Elephant Revival who is the main draw. […]

It’s hard to believe that a little over a year ago, Leon Bridges was bussing tables at a restaurant in Fort Worth, TX and now he’s selling out 3,500 seat venues like The Wang Theater in Boston, MA. The audience was already buzzing with excitement on Saturday when Bridges and his band took the stage […]