Posts by Neil Ferguson

It’s been over thirty years since the world was introduced to Seal, who took the 90s by storm with the release of his first two albums Seal and Seal II, numerous hit songs, and a skyrocketing career that solidified the soulful British crooner’s status as pop culture icon and global superstar. This is the reason […]

Over one year after they were originally supposed to hit the road, Primus has finally kicked off their tour celebrating the music of prog rock legends Rush with a full performance of the band’s fifth album A Farewell to Kings. It isn’t hard to understand why Primus would pay tribute to Rush. After all, they […]

While many parts of the country have been opening back up and hosting full-scale outdoor concerts (Phish tour anyone?) and festivals, the Pacific Northwest and specifically Oregon has been a little slower to get back into the swing of things. This is due in part to its geographic location away from closer touring routes but […]

One of the finest albums you will hear this year is the latest release from Jeb Loy Nichols, which dropped on June 10th. Titled simply Jeb Loy (ORDER), the album finds this veteran singer-songwriter giving us one of his most soulful and lyrically poignant collections of tunes to date. Those familiar with Jeb Loy Nichols […]

With pandemic lockdowns that have been among the most extreme in the country and a large population of folks who are weirdly reluctant to get back to normal despite being vaccinated, live music is hard to find in Portland, Oregon these days. Yet, while much of the city slowly tries to crawl out of its […]

Like nearly all artists, Kasey Anderson was sidelined by the pandemic as he was forced to put what was supposed to be his final album To the Places We Lived (now due this fall) on hold. Suddenly, things changed for the self-professed “Gradually Retiring Songwriter” when his anthemic rocker “The Dangerous Ones” (from the 2018 […]

Places like Nashville, Austin and Bakersfield have long been part of the lexicon of country music, but for many years the Pacific Northwest has been quietly carving out its own scene. Anyone who cares to do a little digging will find a slew of serious country (and alt-country) bands dispersed throughout Oregon, Washington and British […]

In the world of the jam scene, The High Hawks are something of a supergroup. Featuring the robust lineup of Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon), Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth), Chad Staehly (Hard Working Americans), Adam Greuel (Horseshoes & Hand Grenades), Brian Adams (DeadPhish Orchestra) and  Will Trask (Great American Taxi), these musicians who have jammed together on […]

New York-based band Combo Lulo moves side to side from effortless Jamaican foundation rhythms into the further reaches of Caribbean influence. Incorporating a natural transition between Jamaican classics and the essence of Afro-Latin ritmo and finding a common thread between styles like cumbia, rocksteady, dub, ethiojazz and afrobeat. Their debut album Neotropic Dream is out […]

Elizabeth King has been singing gospel music for her entire life, with less of a focus on the traditional paths to success and more of a focus on what success means in the eyes of the lord. For this 78-year old Memphis artist, that has meant dedicating her life and her talent to spreading messages […]

With touring and shows still largely on hold, many artists have been taking to less conventional means of connecting with their fans and generating income. For many, this has meant the now tired medium of online streaming, but more adventurous artists have hit the road to play intimate shows outside the world of official music […]

When the members of New Orleans group Dumpstaphunk started recording their first new album in seven years, they weren’t anticipating that the world would go to shit. Throughout their career, the group, led by the venerable Ivan Neville on keys, was focused on bringing the party with raucous concerts that were about getting people dancing […]

Like pretty much everyone in the music industry, Israel Nash didn’t expect to be sidelined from touring for an entire year. Stuck at his home in the Texas Hill Country outside of Austin, Nash decided he would seize the moment by diving headfirst into the studio he calls Plum Creek Sound that he built on […]

The new album from singer-songwriter Lia Ices came during a time of major change in her life. She had made a major move from the East Coast to California, living on Moon Mountain in Sonoma, and was pregnant with her first child (she just had a second). These events inspired her to start writing and […]

The story of a bluesman getting discovered late in life is one that has repeated itself a handful of times over the last few decades. There is a sadness to this story in the fact that talented musicians can toil away most of their life without having their music ever heard and appreciated by anyone […]

Dan Auerbach is best known as one half of the arena-filling rock and roll outfit The Black Keys, but these days his real strongpoint is signing talented artists to his label Easy Eye Sound and lending his masterful skills as a producer to the albums it churns out on a regular basis. The latest example […]

If you’ve been following the career of Aaron Lee Tasjan, there is one thing that has been a constant and that is his constant evolution as an artist. From playing guitar in rock bands to emerging as a solo troubadour in an Americana vein, to a full-fledged psychedelic ringleader a la Tom Petty, Tasjan has […]

Pony Bradshaw (James Bradshaw) may not be a household name but he is quickly carving out a respected place amongst great Southern songwriters and troubadours. His thoughtful approach to songwriting seems is rooted in storytelling in the most literal sense, and he crafts lyrics filled with intriguing, often troubled characters that haunt their Southern landscape. […]

Viagra Boys have erected a rock and roll sound that stands on its own. The Sweden-based band came onto the scene in a big way in 2018 with the release of their debut album Street Worms, bringing together a brash style of post-punk, industrial, a smattering of saxophone and synth, and deadpan howling courtesy of […]

It’s an odd choice to release an album at the tail end of any year after most publications have already published their best-of lists. Add a pandemic ton top of that and it seems crazy that any band would want to release a new album. For Cooper Trail and his project Desolation Horse, these factors […]