When it comes to giving a nod to the past, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals have never shied away from including classic rock covers in concert, tackling tracks from the
A few weeks back, we brought you news about Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s latest release – Preservation: An Album To Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program
Black Joe Lewis probably isn’t that sick of the James Brown and Wilson Pickett comparisons yet (I mean, what a compliment, right?) But it’s inaccurate to portray Black Joe and the Honeybears as a 21st century version of the Godfather’s JBs. They’re more a rock band with a serious Stax problem, or a punk band riding a soul train, or a garage band with blaster horns, on an R&B mission. Really, they’re all those things, not to mention the arrival of one of the most commanding new frontmen in ages.
As the story goes, Austinite Joe Lewis was working in a pawnshop when he started fooling around on guitar, eventually picking up gigs with a blues trio. He met guitarist Zach Ernst and the (now) seven-piece Honeybears were born, initially as an opener for Little Richard, then as a hot-shit regional band in the Austin area, and then, thanks to hugely buzzed about performances at Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits in 2008, then SxSW in 2009, a national act.
The buzz is justified: the band takes the stage and wallops an audience with an almost brutal mix of garage rock, blues-punk, hot-skillet soul and pummeling energy, and does so with a refreshing lack of slickness. The sense of abandon is key to their appeal: they’re not all too polished and they don’t feel like a band hatched in a soul studio with meticulous attention paid by producers. If Joe didn’t already have a moniker, Smokin’ Joe would fit.
READ ON for more from Chad on Black Joe Lewis…
The Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB Tour concluded last night with one final show at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville that found the band channeling the same formula for success
Galactic makes a rare appearance on network television this Thursday, when the New Orleans funksters visit ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. According to Jambands.com, Galactic will perform Bacchus with legendary soul
We’ve reached the end of Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB’s highly successful Winter Tour. The group rocked The TABernacle last night in Atlanta and will conclude the three-week run in
Last night in Charlotte, Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB took their tour down south and apparently left the acoustic interludes in the Midwest. Big Red and his band delivered two
For Sting’s upcoming tour he will be backed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra for a set filled with Police classics and solo gems. Mr. Sumner will rework all of
Last night in NYC, prog-jammers Umphrey’s McGee continued a trend of debuting a cover of a song by a current artist at the Nokia. While back in April they covered
Tortoise brought a rare two-week tour to a close last Saturday in front of a sold-out hometown crowd in Chicago. Often just gigging sparingly, the time on the road had the band sounding as tight and cohesive as I’ve ever seen them, playing a masterful set that spanned their entire career.
Since entering my musical world a few years ago, I can’t think of another band more consistently in my listening rotation. Each record has carved its own place, being called on at specific times to serve their purpose. Intensely structured yet free flowing, Tortoise builds sonic soundscapes that are as dynamic or passive as you – the listener – choose to hear them. Genre-busting and wholly unique, Tortoise have been semi-quietly making some of the best and most influential records of the last 15 years.
As impressive as the records are, Tortoise is a band that needs to be seen live to fully grasp. It’s easy to get lost in their world of shape-shifting studio madness, but to see the same material performed by five dudes in front of your face is truly a whole other experience. The songs come alive, each section grabbing you and dragging you along as it twists and turns before seamlessly flows into whatever is next.
READ ON for more of Joel’s thoughts and pictures…
