Posts by Shane Handler

The Tall Pines might not have the back-story that their spooky band music conjures, but the New York City duo’s music itself radiates with enough validity and soul to draw the attention it’s been getting. After all their first names are Christmas and Connie – a name that makes Jack and Meg sound first grade. […]

Woodstock-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Adrien Reju isn’t one to hide her influences on Strange Love and The Secret Language out August 7th. The accessible yet respected harmonies and compositional mode of Fleetwood Mac and Feist is present in this worldly recording of singular love songs that feature A.C Newman, Marco Benevento and also includes covers of artists David […]

“Comparisons are everywhere. I never feel pressured by them. People’s relationship to music is so personal and when someone compares me to an artist, what they’re really doing is comparing me to their experience of that artist,” says musician/songwriter Sara Curtin about being compared to both Sharon Van Etten. But the comparison to Van Etten […]

In each installment of Easy Answers (get the reference?) we will question a different musician or band, ranging from the obvious to the not so obvious, about the importance of Grateful Dead on their own life and musical path. We could easily keep this column within the jam band community – and we will most […]

LA-based duo HONEYHONEY just released their third full-length release, appropriately titled 3, on June 9th via Rounder Records. Recorded in Nashville and produced by Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson), 333delivers golden harmonies with a pure musical vibe that is as country influenced in the Americana realm as Sturgil Simpson, Jamey Johnson and select others. Ben […]

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 […]

It was June of 2014, Umphrey’s McGee, while overseas for some London Brooklyn Bowl shows, received privileged but pricey time in the famed Abbey Road Studio where the Beatles recorded most of their iconic records as well as Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Recorded in 12 hours with little time for breaks or […]

Sun Bones, from Tucson, Arizona might have a seemingly desert themed band name, but don’t consider them “desert rock.” In fact their music has more in common with the stylistic diversity of The Arcade Fire than the sandy lore of Gram Parsons.  The band is comprised of Sam Golden (vocals, guitar), Seth Vietti (drums, vocals), Bob Hanshaw (bass, […]

The raw metallic resonator guitar sound of Charlie Parr registers as a magnet of sorts – in the same way we’re drawn to the curious sounds of Tom Waits and even the indie folk of The Mountain Goats. Over the course of 13 plus albums since 2002, the Minnesota native has developed a catalog of […]

When the McDowell Mountain Festival announces its lineup each December, it becomes a little bleep on the web pages of highly trafficked sites like Pitchfork , which bothers festival organizers very little. Instead a small local community embraces the unveiling – which is the closest thing Arizona has to a national non touring music festival […]