Beginning with the upbeat knee-slapper “I Feel The Christmas Spirit”, the twelve tracks in Indigo Girls’ Holly Happy Days include standards like “Oh, Holy Night”, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and “Angels We Have Heard On High” along with inspired versions of not so familiar tunes and three original songs that will find their way into one’s holiday rotation.
If you have the patience to give one more Christmas album a go, then you could do much worse than Crazy For Christmas. Hicks and his band mates roll triumphantly through a few classics (“Run Run Rudolph” and “Here Comes Santa Claus”), but it’s the originals that shine brightest and set this apart from other holiday offerings. “Santa’s Workshop” for one is a classic in the making with its signature sense of humor and witty word that we’ve come to expect from Hicks.
Mary Lou Sullivan artfully interweaves excerpts from a series of interviews for her biography of Johnny Winter. In doing so she depicts the albino Texan bluesman’s career in such matter of fact terms, she almost but not quite undercuts the implicit sensationalism of the book’s subtitle.
Oftentimes bands lose steam after a year of promoting an album, tapering off at the end from the weariness of touring and media appearances, but this was not the case as Stars winded up their last tour to support Ghosts in November. Instead, they burst with energy and ended the era on a serious high note.
AC/DC: High-Voltage Rock 'n' Roll: The Ultimate Illustrated History by Phil Sutcliffe is all that you want out of a hardcover/coffee table book: pictures galore. And like AC/DC’s power chord repetitive formula, this illustrated history is quite simple to read: big letters, big pictures and big pages.
Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds, a two year old, nine piece big band chock full of sultry soul, funk, reggae, lounge, and rock grooves has released their self titled debut album on Modern Vintage Recordings. “Modern Vintage” is a fairly apt descriptor for this band at whose core sits 22-year-old singer Arleigh Kincheloe and her brother Jackson on harmonica.
Southern living is good living. Backyard barbecues, little league baseball, red clay dirt, and porch swings. The days are warm, the nights are warmer, and good vibes abound. Such is the mood conjured by Athens, Georgia-based singer-songwriter Adam Klein on his latest release, Wounded Electric Youth.
“Now that’s rock & roll right there,” I overheard a young man tell his friend as they exited the concert. No, this is not 1977, but the band that once held the world in the palm of it’s hand throughout most of the seventies and early eighties has just played to another sold out venue.
At its worst, Tim and Eric Awesome Show tilts more towards boring than funny, even when that’s what they’re going for. But at its best, Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim defend themselves through dead-on satire of what they’re not: corporate comedy.
Despite having a fairly successful fifteen-year career, Kim Richey is still virtually unknown to the general public. While she's sung on albums by Shawn Colvin, Ryan Adams and Mary Chapin Carpenter, as well as writing hits for the likes of Trisha Yearwood and Brookes & Dunn, Richey continues to fly under the collective radar of both country and rock radio.
