Interviews

Some albums come out and change the game of how music can be perceived and understood.  It doesn’t have to be The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Dr. Dre’s original, The Chronic or more recently, Radiohead’s quintessential, Kid A.  For The Glitch Mob, their debut album Drink the Sea-which hit shelves a month ago with the surprisingly genre-defying appeal, achieves this status, maybe without you even knowing it.

After having played two smokin’ sets at Bonnaroo for their record-breaking sixth appearance. Glide recently caught up with Umphrey’s singer-guitarist Brendan Bayliss right before he and Jeff Austin (band mate in side project 30db) had the honor of singing the National Anthem at Wrigley Field.

For nine years now, summer time in the Pacific Northwest has been graced with the musical bounty that is Yonder Mountain String Band’s annual Northwest String Summit. Not only has this festival brought some of the most influential bluegrass pickers of both national and international fame together in Oregon, but this conflux of incredible talent has continued to grace the northwest at one of the most intimate and beautiful venues in the nation, Horning's Hideout. Glide had a chance to talk to Jeff Austin about String Summit's of past and present. 

He’s cultivating legions of fans through word of mouth and a reservoir of replay-worthy YouTube clips.  Glide goes overtime with unsigned phenomenon Wax, whose third album dropped in May.In Good to Great:  Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t, Jim Collins discusses what he terms the Flywheel Effect to explain traits of successful businesses.  In essence, it’s a blend of common sense and karma where equity from solid decisions accumulates over time – a classic case of the whole exceeding the sum of its parts.  At a certain point the momentum becomes a self-sustaining cycle and success is cemented.  It seems like Wax is nearing that sweet spot where escalating word of mouth yields enough traction to get a foothold in the music industry.  After his six-piece band dissolved a few years back, the Dunkirk, Maryland, native sat in his Nissan Sentra, flipped on a video camera and jumpstarted his solo career.

The band has come a long way since their move to New York. Today, the group has lost its inhibitions, connecting further with the audience. They seem to feel freer to roam around the stage  With her sweet, sensual sound, Debbie Chou take turns on vocals with Fitzgerald while maintaining keyboards; Chris Gersbeck, a controlled, yet highly energetic drummer, remains powerful and observant; and Mike Koene, on lead guitar, is confident with his playing, as feral as his sound may be.

Their names are Brooklyn, Nick, Austin, Connor and Will. Collectively they are known as Picture Me Broken. Hailing from the bay area, and with one hot EP already under their belts and a following other young bands could only wish for, they are about to be known as the next big thing in "hardpopternative-core.". With a new record deal with Megaforce Records, a new album called Wide Awake coming out in July, and some of the best sounding vocals you’ve heard in a very long time, PMB are ready for the big time.

Graham Parker is as comfortable in his skin and niche as an artist could be, a good nature curmudgeon if there ever was one (if there is in fact such a thing). He's too prickly for a mainstream audience to embrace him, but that doesn't deny this transplanted Brit's prowess for writing great pop songs, only that his persona doesn't lend itself either to the warm and fuzzies, contrived melodrama or the slavish idolatry that fuels the cult of personality.

With the album out this week, a summer tour mapped out, and some big dates performing with the Rhythm Devils fast approaching, Keller is busier than ever.  Luckily we stole a little bit of his time – it’s only fair.

If you’ve ever heard more than a few notes of Zappa Plays Zappa, you know that the band transcends the “tribute band” label. More akin to an orchestral performance of selected works than an imitation of the Frank Zappa sound and look, the band have carved out a comfortable space in the live music world, performing for Zappa-starved fanatics and curious newcomers all over the world.

With their ninth studio album just released and a quarter of a century under their belt, Kurt Neumann and Sam Llanas bring their most exposed, vulnerable voices to the table with Mr. Sad Clown.  The result is the perfect balance of beauty, sadness and raw realism that encompasses the changing realities of their lives.

These days, Cary Brothers has his own independent label and a wonderful new album, Under Control. As you might have guessed, it’s a personal batch of songs dealing with loss and breaking free. It’s Cary Brothers as himself, the real artist—the one who set out to “very intentionally make a record that you could put on and listen to beginning to end.”

Since early March, JBM has been out on the road supporting Rogue Wave, having traveled the country with Sondre Lerche though February.  Now things really start to heat up, with his debut record, Not Even in July, coming out April 13th on Partisan Record.

Throughout his entire career, John Butler has always been inspired to pursue the inner meaning and quest for something more in his music and writing.  Following up his 2007 release, Grand National, the John Butler Trio has returned with a passionate and revolutionary album that lights a flame in everyone.  April Uprising is a diverse record that retains and transcends the spirit that is alive and within us all.   

Equal parts quirky and kick-ass, Dr Dog has defined the D.I.Y approach to making music. In the span of a decade, they've redefined and reaffirmed the process of building a grassroots fan-base with a series of increasingly sophisticated recordings and regular touring. The logical culmination of their creative voyage was signing to Anti- and recording their newest album – Shame, Shame.  

If there were more people in the world like Martin Sexton, the word utopia comes to mind. Smelling every rose he passes by, the latest release from the Northeast troubadour, Sugarcoating (due out Apr. 6 on Kitchen Table Records), is another treasure trove of harmonious folk melodies coated in a blend of soul and passion- as unique as the man himself.

Green Day has announced dates for a North American summer amphitheater tour as the band continues to support last spring’s Grammy-winning "21st Century Breakdown." The trek, featuring special guests AFI, gets underway Aug. 3 in Camden, NJ, and includes stops in Boston (8/16) and Dallas (8/26) before wrapping Aug. 31 in Irvine, CA. Tour Dates […]

nks to the Montreal based Osheaga Music Festival, The Arcade Fire will be headlining the Osheaga Music Festival in Montreal and will be appearing with a lineup that includes Pavement, Weezer, The National, Deadmau5, The Black Keys, Metric, Keane, The Black Keys, Stars, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Jimmy Cliff, Beach House, The Cat Empire, The […]

Dave Holland is a deceptively unassuming man. His deliberate manner of speaking belies a passion laced with a mystical undercurrent that may in fact explain the unusual combination of talent that has him compared to great bassists in jazz like Scott LaFaro as well as the genre's outstanding composers like Duke Ellington.  

Judging from some of the vivacious story-telling on Cavaran of Thieves’ debut Bouquet and their dramatic live performances, you’d think this project was a pure off-broadway achievement.  Instead the quartet led by husband and wife duo Fuzz and Carrie Sangiovanni (vocals and acoustic guitars) have carved a niche with their unique blend of gypsy folk/rock and captivating live performances, bringing new version of "live entertainment" to clubs throughout the Northeast.

Eric Krasno’s rolodex must be positively Warren Haynesian by now. He’s never far from a stage, and if you think about all the people he and his two Soulive bandmates have played with over the years, well…it probably wasn’t hard to put an all-star guest list together for a much anticipated residency. Which is precisely […]