Posts by Neil Ferguson

It’s been about twenty-five years since we last got a new record from Pavement, but that hardly factored into the excitement when the band announced their second reunion tour. The pandemic that delayed the tour only added to the anticipation to catch these beloved indie rock heroes. But now, here we are in late 2022 […]

The world was a different place twenty years ago and it was still possible that a more or less unknown indie rock band from the Pacific Northwest could drop an album that would become part of the cultural lexicon for the next decade. Such was the case when The Shins released their debut album Oh, […]

When the Gaslight Anthem announced earlier this year that they were returning to the stage after calling it quits in 2015, it was met by fans with a combination of jubilation and “I told you so.” After all, the New Jersey stalwarts aren’t anywhere near retirement age and seem to have made it through a […]

In the realm of jam bands, moe. has earned its place as one of the most legendary acts. The band was founded in Buffalo, New York and became of the biggest acts to popularize the genre beyond the Grateful Dead alongside acts like Phish and Widespread Panic. Some of those acts may have become bigger, […]

Seeing Steve Earle and his band the Dukes perform live means taking a journey into the lexicon of the American songwriter. Earle is obviously accomplished in his own right as one of the pioneers of what many now call Americana, but his style has always felt more real in that it is a true aggregation […]

Even for those who believe bluegrass doesn’t get nearly enough attention, it’s hard to comprehend the skyrocketing success of Billy Strings. Over the course of a few years (the bulk of which were during a pandemic, remarkably), the guitarist has gone from a respected presence in the jam grass scene to an artist selling out […]

The annual taste-making festival Pickathon made a grand return August 4-7 for the first time since 2019, and though the location of Pendarvis Farm just outside of Portland, Oregon remains the same, attendees were greeted a fully reformatted layout. This is due to the rapid development that has been happening all around the farm over […]

For twenty years, Yonder Mountain String Band has brought thousands of fans to the bucolic setting of Horning’s Hideout in Oregon for the multi-day Northwest String Summit. The festival was always bluegrass-centered, but over the years it gradually expanded to include funk, rock and roll, folk and other music that might fit under the jam […]

Just under thirty minutes outside Portland, Oregon sits the small agricultural town of Canby. Though it may be close in proximity, spend any amount of time in Canby and you will see it is a world away from the twee hipness and liberal attitude of Oregon’s largest city. This factor also made Canby an ideal […]

It’s easy to scoff at bands from the 90s as being the music of flyover states that are trapped in an endless loop of nostalgia, but this is a snobby elitist take that overlooks a key factor in their success and longevity. If you think about it, the wave of 90s alternative rock bands were […]