Posts by Leslie Michele Derrough

It may have been raining in Austin, Texas, on the afternoon I call up Elijah Ford but it wasn’t putting a damper on his mood. Next month he will not only release his third solo recording, aptly titled As You Were, but he will be heading to France to play some shows with the ATX6, […]

With all the chaos that can inundate itself into the music of My Morning Jacket, guitarist Carl Broemel has found tranquility and idyllic harmony in his solo music. His latest endeavor, 4th Of July, out this week, is like lounging on a passing cloud, rays of sun on your face and thoughts about life and […]

Black Stone Cherry did something earlier this year that every band wishes could happen to them: put out a new album that is better than all the others they’ve done in the past. Every band strives for that goal, to put out material that keeps getting better with each record they produce. With Kentucky, BSC […]

The Carnival Of Madness tour bolted into New Orleans last week with fists raised and lips snarling, charging full steam ahead, and there was no time for laziness for all involved. This was a rock & roll show and good shows involve loud guitars, powerful vocals and some heavy duty pound time on the drums. […]

The lines were long, the seats were packed and $40 t-shirts were flying off the shelves. GNR fans of all ages were ripe for this show, which brought Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan back onstage together after many, many years apart. Playing a venue the size of the Superdome in New Orleans might have […]

“Every time I come to New Mexico I have to make it a point to order some black beans.” One thing you can say about Zella Day (21) is that she has retained her love and spirit for the southwest even though her music has now taken her around the world. Really starting to come […]

Back in 2013, I heard about a young guitar player out of Wisconsin named Jared James Nichols. He had released a live EP in 2012 and his follow-up, Old Glory & The Wild Revival, was just starting to enter into music fans’ universes all across the nation. “We were just kind of getting our feet […]

Zakk Wylde is one smart man. Choosing two of the brightest young lights in music – Jared James Nichols and Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown – to open for him on his current Book Of Shadows II tour shows he knows how to smell out talent and put it front and center of his legion […]

Forty-six years is a long time to maintain a healthy working relationship with someone but Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell have done it happily. Forming America in London in the early 1970’s, the two young Air Force brats were heavily influenced by folk-tinged harmonies and alongside Dan Peek brought their soft-rock melodies to #1 on […]

For those who love their music documentaries with more talk and behind-the-scenes footage than actual musical clips, then Eagle Rock has a goodie for you. Whereas most of the Rolling Stones DVD treasures of late have been full concerts, Totally Stripped has readjusted the weight on the scales and is giving fans a peek into […]

She is the new voice of Beat Soul. Marinating silky vocals over a beat-dominating rhythm, Stella brings a higher pitch to the soothing tranquility than more traditional R&B-based singers. But her swing comes naturally, as the daughter of Carlos Santana, whose Latin-hued guitar playing has been the admiration of many a music lover. But Stella […]

You can always count on drummer Carmine Appice to tell it like it is. He doesn’t go down the frou-frou route with his stories of rock & roll rambunctiousness, groupies, gangsters, ill-fated marriages, a scary life-threatening incident and raids by the Sex Police led by Rod Stewart. As in person, his written word is just […]

The last time we met up with The Temperance Movement, they were fresh off an opening gig for the Rolling Stones and prepping a new record, the follow-up to their 2013 self-titled debut. “The first album was made when we were just friends doing a gig in a local bar in London once a month,” […]

If you attended an Alice Cooper concert between 2004 and 2011, there is a pretty good chance you saw Damon Johnson playing guitar in the band – barring a few years when Johnson left to perform and record with Whiskey Falls from 2007 to 2009. He was powerful, killer on the electric guitar, someone Cooper […]

Port Arthur, Texas, was like most mid-sized cities in America. Nothing overly special other than some history and actual neighborhoods families could grow up in. When Seth and Dorothy Joplin had their first child in 1943, it was nothing out of the ordinary. They would have two more children there. They would work, attend church, […]

If Jason Bonham ever decided to give up rock & roll, he’s a shoo-in as a stand-up comedian. He won over the sold out crowd in Biloxi this weekend with witticisms about his late father, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, and the ages of those who worshipped at the Zeppelin altar when the band was […]

When we last saw Brad Whitford and Derek St Holmes, they were speeding down some highway in Nashville in Whitford’s Mustang. “He loves to drive,” St Holmes said with a laugh. “We’re in this rocket ship and it’s super loud.” Ah, the rock star life … at 63. Rock & roll may have started out […]

You have to give Sam Beam credit for not being a one-trick pony. The South Carolina singer/songwriter likes variety in his life and is not afraid to take it on the road. His band Iron & Wine – which sometimes includes actual band members and other times includes just him – have released several well-received […]

Justin Hayward, the voice of The Moody Blues for the past fifty years, is quite happy about his current solo tour. Hitting intimate theatres across the US, Hayward is taking audiences on a history of his music. From “Nights In White Satin” to “Your Wildest Dreams” to a lovely new song called “The Wind Of […]

Doing something once is not always enough. It may take a while to get back to it but when you do it’s often better (or in some cases, worse) than the first time around. Fortunately for Brad Whitford and Derek St Holmes, another parlay into the Whitford/St Holmes party turned out to be good to […]