Archive: 2010

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy kicks off a brief solo tour on Saturday night at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City with The Autumn Defense opening. To get you ready for the run, here’s a clip of Tweedy performing Theologians at a session for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation… Jeff Tweedy – Theologians

Back in 2005, the members of influential alt.country act The Jayhawks decided to go on an extended hiatus after touring behind their seventh studio album, Rainy Day Music. In the subsequent years, the band’s founding members and principal songwriters, Gary Louris and Marc Olsen, reconnected, and began to make music together – recording an album, […]

his year’s fourth annual Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival might well be remembered as Brrrrrr Creek. There were beautiful daytime temperatures in the low to mid 70’s, but once the sun began to fall into the western sky, so did the temps, with lows in the mid to high 30’s.  As always, though, the hosts, the Suwannee Music Park and festival promoter, Paul Levine, know how to put on a festival. The Suwannee folks get lots of practice though, now hosting multiple festivals throughout the year, including the Allman’s Wanee Festival, Suwannee Springfest,  Magnolia Fest and this year’s new Blackwater Festival.

On November 19th in Portland, Dawes shook down the Doug Fir Lounge.  es plays with a hauntingly precious blend of Laurel CanyonIf you don’t know Dawes, get on it.  A four-piece band of young whippersnappers from Los Angeles, none older than 23; Daw harmonies, Americana soul, and dash of rock n’ roll.  

To those who get a glimpse of Hollywood and some of its residents through reality shows and supermarket tabloids, the place must seem like a bottomless pit of shallowness. While there is plenty to validate such thoughts, it’s a big town that also caters to those looking for something with substance. Many of these types could be found at the Music Box on November 5th, where Gov’t Mule brought their annual west coast run to a spectacular close.

G. Love’s new album, Fixin’ To Die, is set for release on February 22nd on Brushfire Records. Recorded at  Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC, and produced by Scott and Seth Avett (The Avett Brothers), this new body of work is arguably G. Love’s most sincere and candid work to date. After a chance meeting in […]

For better or worse, Apple has changed how we access and interact with music.  Almost everyone has an opinion on the relative good or evil involved…but the indelible fact is that when molds are broken, experiments begin and new ideas take shape.

Aside from the rising popularity of vinyl records, one of the finest by-products to emerge from Apple’s digital conquest is the podcast.

Kevin Smallwood on Truth & Soul Radio

Since their inception, I’ve privately refused to enjoy “podcasts”. Now that I’m writing this, let me state as a matter of fact: I privately refuse to enjoy podcasts. Call me a hater – but personally, the art is too difficult to access. First, the single track format kills the listening experience. I suppose that statement makes me product of my generation but lets face it, there’s a lot of crap out there and the fast-forward button is an extremely undervalued commodity.

The second characteristic I have a tough time with is the “DJ” that walks me through the music. By loose definition, this nuance destroys the concept of discovery, doesn’t it? It has always reminded me of being on a road trip with a guy (or girl) interjecting their personal narrative between the tracks of their Awesome Mix – Vol. 6. It’s not like a radio DJ who serves more as a customer service representative. These Pod-J’s(?) essentially make you hear songs their way and there’s a bit of guilt trip if you want to fast forward, as if you’d miss full enlightenment by skipping tracks.

READ ON for more from Three Grown Men on podcasts…

The latest edition of the Phish Live Bait series focuses on the band’s previous appearances in Worcester as the quartet prepares to return to the city for a pair of shows on December 27th and 28th at the venue formerly known as The Centrum. Phish archivist Kevin Shapiro has selected five tracks including the near […]

The 30 Days of Dead program wrapped up recently at Dead.net and if you missed out on downloading any of the 30 tracks from the Grateful Dead vault that were shared, we’ve got good news for you. From now until December 8th, you can download any or all of the MP3s from this project through […]

Earlier this week, we ran HT Photo Editor Jeremy Gordon’s recap and photos from what were thought to be The Radiators’ last performances in New York City. Turns out the New Orleans-based band has one final throwdown in store for the Big Apple. The Rads’ last NYC gig will take place at the Best Buy […]

God Street Wine guitarists Lo Faber and Aaron Maxwell have been keeping busy over the last few months by performing together on acoustics around the NYC region. The pair have one last show currently on the docket, which takes place at Sullivan Hall in New York on Friday night. [Photo by Michael Weiss] Lo and […]

This rendition of the Peter Tosh 12-minute gem, Rastafari Is, is best known for its inclusion on the live disc portion of the 3-disc retrospective, Honorary Citizen. The fiery live performances for Honorary Citizen were culled from an early ’80s world tour, which highlighted not only Tosh, but also his crack-shot backing band at their […]

To be honest, I’m surprised it took me five or so columns of Postcards From Page Side to write about not only one of my personal favorite musicians, but a man whose dedication to his craft is unlike anything I have ever witnessed. A true “musician’s musician,” as he’s been called, “an unknown legend” as a CNN interview dubbed him, and a master of his plethora of axes and student of music itself, it’s no wonder why even Jerry Garcia once dubbed him one of his favorite unknown guitar players, opening the eyes and ears of a different audience to the world that is STEVE KIMOCK.

I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Kimock a few times over the years, and in different settings such as Jam Cruise, or over a glass of red wine backstage – which much like his playing, makes you appreciate patience and maturity to gain the full effect. I’ve also worked for him for HeadCount as his Artist Rep, and having done other small work for his camp and led street team efforts. If there’s one thing I’ve learned is the man loves to talk not only music, but about his gear and the nuiances and intricacies of improvisation – something that he is clearly a pioneer of (he’s been playing for 40+ years, maybe more), and makes sound so effortless.

Besides technical efficiency, which is almost anti-rock star in methodology, Kimock takes pride in tone and draws and blends together on all sorts of genres from jazz, to middle eastern, to rock and everything in between. He has played with some “main” bands over the years, most notably Zero, KVHW, was part of the legendary Phil & Friends lineup in ’99 (and beyond for a spell), a few incarnations of The Steve Kimock Band and most recently Praang and Crazy Engine.

READ ON for more of this week’s Postcards From Page Side…

Sir Elton John performing at the Asheville Civic Center, Asheville NC 11.16.10.

For Mike Gordon, having just finished an exhaustive two month swing of projects that included a 13-date Phish tour, the donning of another musical costume for Halloween as Little Feat’s Waiting for Columbus, the release of the new Mike Gordon Band album, Moss, and a 17-date tour behind it (that at one point included ten shows in just 11 days), it comes as no surprise that the opening track on his latest album is titled Can’t Stand Still.

[Photo by Brad Worsham]

Gordon has always been known for his tireless output — be it his bass playing with Phish, his collaborations, his solo career, writing, filmmaking or any number of other outlets — but at this point, the creative synapses are firing on overdrive.

Unlike many musicians who take the approach of churning out a record and touring behind it before taking an extended break, Mike takes a more calculated path. He aims to strike natural balances between his work with the two main bands (Phish and MGB), his professional time and his down time, his bass playing and other instrumental endeavors, and even his music and other creative outlets. It’s all a balancing act. And in the words of Albert Einstein, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

On Being a Bandleader

Given that Mike Gordon’s solo career exists in its relative infancy, as does his role as a bandleader, this era brings about many exciting changes and challenges. For example, he’s had to learn how to put together setlists; increase his sensitivity to people’s reactions to songs; internalize what’s going on in the room; and “let the music become what it wants to become.”

“It’s about discovering what is already there, and figuring out certain balances,” Mike explains. “For example, I really like playing music that people can dance to. So, if the people are dancing, do we try to keep them dancing? Or do we give them something more contemplative, or a slow song, to change moods? And if people seem to be sweaty and revved up and want to dance, is it OK to be counter-intuitive and say, ‘Maybe it’s time to change it up and explore something that’s more soul and less about body?’ You only learn to make these decisions by trial and error.”

READ ON for more of Ryan’s feature on Mike Gordon…

Southern California’s soul-punk quartet, Cold War Kids will kick off their 2011 tour on March 3rd at Crystal Ballroom (Portland, OR) and will travel across the country from New York, NY (Radio City Music Hall) to Oakland, CA (Fox Theater) for an incredible 24-date tour. On Sunday, December 12th Cold War Kids will play Jack […]

A new six-song iTunes Session by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros is available exclusively through the popular online music store beginning today.  Recorded at EastWest Studio in Los Angeles, the session features reworked, unique versions some of the band’s most popular songs from their debut album "Up From Below".  Also included in the release […]

If Live at Roseland proves to be Phil Collins' swan song (as the bonus feature interview seems to suggest), then it's a fitting, heartfelt close to a misunderstood, undervalued career. 

For Mike Gordon, having just finished an exhaustive two month swing of projects that included a 13-date Phish tour, another musical costume for Halloween, the release of a new album, and a 17-date tour behind it, it comes as no surprise that the opening track on his latest album is titled Can’t Stand Still.

GDRADIO.NET has announced the launch of its app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. In addition to offering a 24/7 stream of live Grateful Dead and more, the application features the ability to browse setlists from every Grateful Dead show and such bands as Ratdog, Phil Lesh and Friends, Furthur and more. New users […]