Reviews

Dr. Dog ended their early 2014 performance at Higher Ground the same way they kicked it off: pumping away as a unified sextet, seeming hell-bent on a mission. There’s no doubt the comfort level they developed with their repeated visits to Vermont inspired them to invite to the stage Queen City music-scene fixture, and Grace […]

[rating=8.00] It was an equally brave and honorable gesture Paul Rodgers made with The Royal Sessions. Offering homage to those artists, like Albert King, Sam, Dave and Otis Redding, that strongly influenced him to develop a career that included singing for “Free,” forming “Bad Company” and fronting the remaining members of “Queen,” one of the […]

[rating=10.0] As Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn piloted their battered touring van up the eastern seaboard in the midst of an Arctic-like winter to Boston’s Fort Apache Sound, it’s doubtful they envisioned themselves as heartland saviors or inventors of newfangled musical genres. Sure, they were driven and motivated to make good on the […]

[rating=7.00] The honesty in John Butler’s songwriting comes through in his storytelling, both lyrically and instrumentally; it’s a component of his music that is very experience based.  In live performance, a cornerstone experience like “Ocean” is something that is transmitted from Butler into anyone who is actively listening.  The newest release from the John Butler […]

David Crosby came down from his Santa Ynez ranch to play a very special concert at the Lobero Theater in downtown Santa Barbara, CA. The recently renovated Lobero Theater was the perfect backdrop for what was billed as a warm-up concert for his new mini tour to promote his first solo project in twenty years. […]

Arctic Monkeys took the Hard Rock stage obscured by a dense fog and lighting that cast the band in silhouette. The ambiance created a somber mood that lasted until the first crunching drum beat of the set-opening “Do I Wanna Know?” There are two types of Arctic Monkeys fans — those who accept the band’s […]

With the emergence of CD box sets, two specialties seem to be rising to the top like natural selection. Perhaps one’s a direct result of the other, who knows, but we now have the best label compilations (Island, Vertigo, Harvest, Dandelion, Dawn etc.) along with current labels compiling genre anthologies. Just released by Grapefruit Records, […]

Full disclosure: this reviewer walked into the Neptune theater in Seattle the other night entirely expecting to enjoy Josh Ritter’s set. As one of many people who would call his latest release, The Beast In Its Tracks, one of the best albums of 2013, it seemed a fairly safe bet. Ritter, on an acoustic tour […]

The weather outside was frightful, leaving eager attendees scrambling on the treacherous roads, but the payoff was well worth the risk. The true storm was brewing inside in the form of unique and stellar musings from Lotus and The Werks at the recently opened The Space at Westbury. Strangers to the jam scene are quickly […]

We all have our own personal greatest hits list.  A dozen or so songs that stand out to us either because of the sound, the lyrics, or maybe the memories it invokes.  If you’re a musician, in addition to listening to the music, you can actually perform your “Favorites” playlist.  If you’re a musician’s musician, […]

Dr. Dog kicked off their long winter tour Saturday night with a rollicking set of fluid playing, supporting the group’s diverse catalog. After taking a break in December from the road the group showed no rust and hit its stride in support of their most recent effort B-Room. Opening things on this national tour is […]

[rating=7.00] There is distinct vulnerability in James Vincent McMorrow’s voice on his latest release Post Tropical.  It’s a tone that casts a vision of remembrance, strained relationships and patience, and while these are vivid elements that stand out in the music, they cause parts of the record to blend together the way they are arranged.  […]

[rating=8.00] Railroad Earth’s latest album, Last of the Outlaws, finds the sextet both exploring some new territory in the studio while at the same time giving their fans a healthy dose of what they have been used to since the band’s inception in 2001—tightly-crafted music that tells a story and seems to get better each […]

[rating=8.00] Written on both coasts between touring, Too True finds the Dum Dum Girls pushing off almost all their garage rocking ways and in turn trying on some shimmering 80’s pop for size; it sure fits well. Main songwriter Dee Dee Penny talked about an overall aesthetic (and a new guitar pedal) that links things […]

[rating=9.00] It is a tribute to Eric’s Clapton’s fundamental integrity as a musician that, no matter how deeply he’s pursued mainstream acceptance, he’s never wholly forsaken his roots in the blues. Accordingly, what might seem just another careerist move, his appearance on “MTV’s Unplugged television program in 1992, turns into a reinvention of his persona […]

For those looking to have a good time and let loose on a Friday night, there are few better alternatives than a Robert Earl Keen concert. For over 30 years now, Keen, or REK, as he tends to be referred to by those in the know, has been offering forth a wildly combustible live show […]

To say that Railroad Earth blew through town would be an apt description for their show in Lincoln on January 15th, as there was a wind advisory over much of Nebraska, with winds gusting to well over 50 MPH. Although there weren’t a lot of people out on the downtown streets this evening, a good […]

Free from the expectations and boundaries of the bands that constitute their “day jobs,” the members of Trigger Hippy seemed quite at ease during their Boston performance.   The music and laid-back vibe more closely resembled a casual encounter at a rehearsal space than a rehearsed concert production. Taking the stage to a recorded children’s chorus […]

[rating=6.00] Fun fact: Stephen Malkmus has now released one more album (six total) with his band the Jicks, than he recorded in the entirety of his tenure fronting alt-rock legends, Pavement. For us ‘90’s nostalgics now settling into a more steady and sedate form of adulthood, this only serves to reinforce how fast the time […]

If ever a beloved band (besides the seminal country-rockers Poco) deserved its story told, it’s Little feat. One of the most distinctive rock and roll units of its time, Lowell George and co. went unjustly under recognized during his lifetime despite an affectionate fanbase whose passion and loyalty far surpassed its numbers. Founding Rolling Stone […]