Bette Smith grew up in the rough and tumble neighborhood of Brooklyn’s Bedford–Stuyvesant. Her humble beginnings were mitigated somewhat by her father, a church choir director who once had to
An all-female surf band isn’t exactly a common thing, so when you find one, it’s noteworthy. The Neptunas is even more noteworthy simply because of the way the band was
From Mike McClure’s first strains in his compelling opener, “I Am Not Broken,” this writer had to check the CD jacket to ensure it was not Steve Earle singing, which
Portland, Oregon has been dominating news headlines these days for reasons that many cities would like to avoid. Despite the doom and gloom of a pandemic, wild fires and constant
Almost exactly one year ago we brought you the second album from Bright Dog Red (BDR), a collective from Albany, NY that fuses free improvisation, electronica, jazz, hip hop, psychedelia, noise,
In 2017 Multi-Grammy Award winner Diana Krall issued two albums, her own brilliant Turn Up the Quiet and her collaboration with Tony Bennett, Love Is Here to Stay. It would
Rising UK blues singer-songwriter Malaya Blue caught the attention of Grammy-winning writer Dennis Walker in the past couple of years. You remember Walker from his collaborations with Robert Cray, where
With a band as prolific as Thee Oh Sees, every new release can seem cumbersome. Since 2003, the band has released nearly 25 albums and gone through several different name
Steeped in everything from 70s classic rock, satirical lyricists like Harry Nilsson, and current dark indie rock poster boys like Nick Cave, The Demon Rind’s third effort, Something Nice I
The jazz landscape has no shortage of inspiring guitarists and Tom Guarna is one of the brightest emerging stars. We use the term “emerging” rather casually here as Guarna has
