Posts by Neil Ferguson

At its core, soul music that is actually good is music that dwells on heartbreak and pain yet translates to a sense of pleasure and redemption for the audience. This is something that is often lost in the “modern” soul music that infatuates so many hipsters today when they fall in love with bands who […]

Much like craft beer and beards, newgrass music is something of a ubiquitous presence in Portland, Oregon these days. Portland’s newgrass bands are not to be confused with pioneering “progressive bluegrass” acts like the New Grass Revival, John Hartford and Leftover Salmon, yet those acts definitely serve as influences. More commonly, these groups take a […]

[rating=10.00] As we move into 2016, it’s safe to say we could all use a little salvation after a year filled with a rise in white nationalistic hate rhetoric, bigotry, gun violence and terrorism. Salvation can come in many forms, yet music has always been one of the most effective remedies. This idea was a […]

While the most of the country is slumping deeper into the doldrums of winter, one of the best and biggest parties is going down in New Orleans. Ah yes, the Mardi Gras festivities are in full swing, which means round the clock parades, bead tossing, king cake, an overabundance of adult beverages, and loads of […]

Railroad Earth came through Austin on a chilly Saturday with the sole purpose of using their music to bring smiles to the faces of those who had gathered at Stubb’s for their show. Nearly three hours of music over the course of two sets would find the jamgrass band successful in stirring up both smiles […]

In a recent interview with this very publication, Mike Gordon described the term “jam band” – a term he will be forever linked to from as a member of Phish – as “horrible”. The bassist may have been referring more to implication of the term, which most associate with jolly, frolicking songs that seemingly never […]

Despite a mysterious difference of surnames, Page Burkum and Jack Torrey are indeed brothers. Together they are the Cactus Blossoms, an impressive duo partaking in the time honored tradition of the blood harmony made famous by groups like the Everly Brothers, the Delmore Brothers, Blue Sky Boys, and in a more contemporary yet less familial […]

Mike Gordon is a busy guy these days. Phish just finished four sold out shows at Madison Square Garden as part of the band’s annual New Year’s run only to immediately follow it up with their first ever resort weekend of shows on the beach in Mexico. Now, just days after getting back to the […]

Anyone who’s watched the apocalyptic zombie show The Walking Dead can tell you that it’s anything but uplifting. Now imagine watching it after a break-up and things start to sound downright dreadful. For Nick Loss-Eaton, frontman of Brooklyn band Leland Sundries, it was exactly this scenario that inspired “Apocalypse Love Song”, which we are excited […]

In Vinyl Lives we spotlight and profile record stores around the country who offer music lovers an experience that goes beyond an iTunes purchase or a Spotify playlist. Vinyl has found a new resurgence and the good folks behind independent record stores are on the front line, directly responsible for curating a unique collection of […]

Who are the Yawpers? These young fellas hail from Denver, Colorado and unbeknownst to many they have been criss-crossing the US of A, laying waste to one venue after another with scorching sets of the good stuff, rock and roll. Last year the trio released American Man, their debut album on Bloodshot Records and one […]

As the Dave Rawlings Machine neared the end of a lengthy tour in support of their latest studio album Nashville Obsolete, they found themselves in Austin, Texas on a chilly Saturday night. The quintet took the stage at the ornate and historic Paramount Theater to a near capacity crowd of fans both new and old, […]

Harvest Thieves have only been around since 2013, yet one listen to their debut studio album Rival and you’ll think you’re hearing a band of seasoned pros who have been making music together for years. Frontman Cory Reinisch writes fleshed out lyrics chronicling the kind of whiskey-filled Texas nights that lead to bad decisions, broken hearts, […]

Photo credit: Gerardo Landa Once upon a time there was an aging rocker who found himself burned out on decades of giving his all to music only to come out jaded from the industry, so he retreated to the rugged terrain of Oaxaca, Mexico. Dan Stuart is best known as the wild-eyed lead singer of cult […]

Tonight the rock community has suffered a major loss with the death of  Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister at the age of 70 “after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer,” according to a Facebook post on the official Motörhead page. The front man of the legendary metal band had was known for years of hard living, but […]

Most music publications have just finished wrapping up 2015 with their year-end “best of” lists. This doesn’t mean we can’t be thinking about next year, and many of us already are since the advances for 2016 releases are already pouring in. I can pretty much promise that one of the standout releases of 2016 will […]

Photo by Sonia Child. Melbourne band The Glorious are excited about their upcoming album Falcon, which will be released by The MuseBox on January 8th. Produced by Julian Mendelsohn (Belle and Sebastian, Paul McCartney), the album is filled with The Glorious’ trademark haunting, vividly rendered melodies and emotionally immediate songs penned by lead vocalist/co-founder David Mather. Mather’s […]

Billed as “An Evening With Lucero”, the Southern rockers hit Austin on Friday for a show at ACL Live. In true fashion, “An Evening With” meant no opening act. Instead, the audience was treated to two sets from the band, one “acoustic” and one “electric.” Lucero have always been essentially a hard rocking bar band, […]

It makes sense that New Orleans band the Deslondes would join St. Louis’ favorite son Pokey LaFarge on tour. Both acts wholeheartedly embrace the canon of American roots music and use an amalgamation of genres to craft something all their own. They also both released new albums somewhat recently that are among this year’s most […]

[rating=7.00] Timmy’s Organism are the kind of band I want to party with. They ooze glorious, sweaty sleaze and it’s not hard to picture them hanging from the rafters while beer cans careen through the air. It should come as no surprise that Timmy’s Organism hail from Detroit, as their music embodies the bygone romanticism […]