Reviews

Smiles were plentiful last Thursday night (3/29) at Brooklyn Bowl when Erika Wennerstrom performed her stellar opening set for the Drive-By Truckers. In the first night of two shows in a row, Wennerstrom and her band (and the Truckers) left it all on stage and left the packed room with full hearts. Decked out in […]

In the latest Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on Gran Pavo Real, the new album from country rockers Great Peacock, in his signature six-panel comic strip form. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on desktop):

Eastern Pennsylvania’s devoted blues community, as well as several fans from New Jersey and New York, showed up in enough force to make the seventh annual Blast Furnace Blues Festival at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, PA  a musical success March 23-15, 2018, despite featuring many unfamiliar names.That’s because, in a thoughtful gesture, the Festival […]

[rating=7.00] When I first saw the Naked Giants’ frenetic shredding onstage a few months back, it felt like capturing lightning in a bottle. Their performance was youthful and wild like they were making it up as they went along and it just happened to come out perfectly. Their look was nostalgic, like 70s punk colliding […]

Since their early days playing “itty bitty shows” at New York’s intimate Rockwood Music Hall, The Lone Bellow have developed a reputation as one of the most consistently exhilarating live acts in the Americana scene. Pouring every ounce of themselves into performances that often verge on spiritual, it’s no surprise the band has developed a […]

Ending a three-year touring hiatus and touting a new album of songs, Cut Copy arrived back in Austin on March 30 to a rabid fan base that craved a liberating dance experience. Having been to Stubb’s BBQ for close to 100 different live music shows, I can confidently say that this past Friday was the […]

In a landscape where good rock and roll is increasingly hard to find and genuine positivity is something of a rarity, South Philly favorites Low Cut Connie reign supreme. Eight years after forming, the piano-driven finally seem to be getting their due from a growing group of fans who are all hip to the fiery […]

[rating=8.00] Rod Picott is a multi-faceted writer. This double CD set of songs, Out Past the Wires, is the inspiration for an accompanying book of short stories. While we deal only with the music in the review, note that less than three years after his previous release, Fortune, Picott has become a published poet, written […]

Prepare to be oppressed by atmosphere and tension.

[rating=9.00] When you win a Grammy as Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite did in 2014 for Get Up! an encore is certainly called for. In No Mercy in This Land the collaborative duo reaches even deeper into spare, haunting country blues, with touches of soul, gospel, and shuffling blues. This is an album that could […]