North Carolina singer/songwriter, John Mark McMillan, is a relatively unknown name recalling vocal comparisons to Ryan Adams with a fresh new sound that blends americana, indie and country. McMillan’s major label debut, The Medicine, combines his unpolished rock-n-roll with anthem-style choruses and spiritually charged lyrics that we will call “Sacred Twang.”
It was Lyle Lovett, in town for an outdoor show at the Lowell, MA Boardinghouse Park on a perfect summer evening, here to tell us that for tonight we were forgiven for not being Texans, and for a few hours he took us in, boots, belt buckle and Texas twang. Lovett was back on the road, in support of his new record Natural Forces, halfway through a tour that started in July in Oklahoma and will wind up at the end of the month outside of Burlington, VT.
Coming from the heart of New Orleans is this pack of rebel-rousers known as the Rough Seven, with their blinding, fantastic debut disc Give Up Your Dreams. Containing former members of 9th Ward cult heroes Morning Forty Federation, the new outfit strives for a gutter gospel sound and achieves it winningly.
For the uninitiated, simply seeing one’s favorite bands or musicians in the live setting might be enough, but around these parts – where our average reader sees upwards of 50 shows per year – we’re pretty picky about our venues. Our staff and our readers like to see our favorite acts, but we like to see them in an ideal setting, with the perfect acoustics, unobstructed views and ample room – all while washing down some frosty craft brews. Over the next year we aim to detail the best venues in San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and New York City. We’ve started at home here in NYC.
In order to tackle this highly subjective topic, we asked our NYC-area staff members and a few local residents who see upwards of 100 shows a year to rank every venue we could think up – over 60 in total – from 1 to 20. Once we got the scores in from everybody, we utilized a highly complex algorithm called “averaging,” whereby we churned out our aggregated list of Hidden Track’s Best New York City Music Venues, fifteen to be exact.
1) Brooklyn Bowl – 61 Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg, NY 11211
History – Make no mistake, while it seems pretty New Yorky of us to pick the new kid on the block as the top venue, it’s not the novelty of newness that makes Brooklyn Bowl our favorite. True, the venue did just open July 7th, 2009, but the “for us, by us” nature of the venue – which comes from the same bloodlines as former NYC jam mecca, the Wetlands Preserve – assures that this place will hold court for many of the great NYC concerts for years to come. READ ON for more on our top NYC venues…
Moving into the end weeks of summer, we need to be sure to get the funk out one more time with a pair of funk essentials. The first is Parliament
The terms “Ticketmaster” and “fan-friendly” are usually in diametric opposition to each other, but the ticket industry giant is aiming to change that perception with the launch of Full Disclosure
During their hiatus from touring America, My Morning Jacket front man Jim James wasn’t the only member of the Southern-psychedelic-soul-rock act that took time to pursue and record music outside
Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder is no stranger to the art of the movie soundtrack, as he wrote all the music for 2007’s Into the Wild. Vedder has once
We’re anxiously awaiting the announcement of Phish’s Fall Tour, which is slated to come down from the Phish.com mountaintop anytime now. Three of the group’s dates have been confirmed by
Learn everything you ever want to know about The Who and more with back to back looks at the band and Pete Townshend on BIO beginning Wednesday at 2PM (EDT).
