Archive: 2010

There’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to catch your favorite acts live. Sometimes they only tour twice a decade (Daft Punk), sometimes they disband before you get a chance to see them (Talking Heads), sometimes they die (Elliott Smith) and sometimes they just plain never existed. Here’s a list of Three Grown Men’s favorite fictional acts…

Name:  “Bleeding Gums” Murphy
From: The Simpsons (TV Series)
Why: “Bleeding Gums” was the real deal. A struggling saxophonist who played on the moonlit bridges of Springfield to no one in particular. He had one successful album, Sax on the Beach, but squandered his money like a bluesman often will. Everyone knows you don’t write good tunes when you’re flush. Luckily, he was able to impart some of his woodwind wisdom to Lisa before passing away.
Closest Thing in Real Life: Sonny Rollins
Clip or quote: An epic Star-Spangled Banner

READ ON for nine more great fictional acts…

Today marks the 15th Anniversary of the best Phish jam these eyes have ever seen – the Albany YEM. On a cold, snowy night in Upstate New York, the quartet threw down an improvisation for the ages. You can read my write-up here or listen to me wax poetic about the Albany YEM on the […]

Since opening a little over a year and a half ago, Brooklyn Bowl has cemented itself as one of the premier and most unique destinations to see live music, eat high quality comfort food and roll a few frames. Earlier this week, Eater Chicago revealed that the folks behind our favorite NYC venue have plans […]

Bruce Springsteen performed with the E Street Band last night for the first time since November 22, 2009 in front of about 60 audience members picked from his fan club at the Carousel House in Asbury Park, NJ. The short show was filmed for a web broadcast, the details of which will be announced next […]

Our quick, random stabbing of ten new albums

G. Love rolls out the first leg to his upcoming U.S. tour in support of his country blues / roots album, “Fixin’ To Die. The tour begins at Nashville’s Exit / In March 1 followed by a stop in Greenville, S.C., at the Handlebar March 2 and Charleston, S.C., at the Music Farm March 3. […]

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.

The Silent Comedy offers more than just a live show – what they offer is an experience.  Those fortunate enough to catch them live eagerly look forward to their next show.  For those who have not witnessed a live show yet, be ready when the band hits the road again in February 2011 supporting Oscar winner Ryan Bingham, and his band The Dead Horses on the west coast.

Soul legend Aretha Franklin has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, according to reports in The Detroit News , Detroit’s Fox 2 and The National Enquirer — though phone calls by Rolling Stone to two Franklin representatives were not returned. (The News credits "a source familiar with the situation"; Fox 2 says its source is a […]

Owl Studios is proud to confirm a May 10, 2011 release date for the bawdy, soulful new CD ‘Platinum’, by Jazz/funk/fusion legends THE HEADHUNTERS. The upcoming album features special appearances by Snoop Dogg, George Clinton, Killah Priest, Del the Funky Homosapien and others, as the pioneering band lays down the grooves that let their guest […]

The Mountain Goats have confirmed the March 29 release of ‘All Eternals Deck,’ their debut album for Merge Records. As with their last album, ‘The Life of the World To Come,’ the group treated the recording sessions as commando raids on several studios with a few different producers: four songs at North Carolina’s Fidelitorium with […]

The Bridge will release their fifth studio album National Bohemian on February 1, 2011 through Woodberry Records/Thirty Tigers. For its latest effort, the Baltimore-based six-piece enlisted Grammy Award-winning producer and Los Lobos multi-instrumentalist Steve Berlin to join the band behind the boards. Ranging from the sonically dense, voodoo-tinged rock of "Sanctuary" to the modern day […]

Gorillaz are set to release a new album on Christmas Day as a free download. Damon Albarn is planning to release the record, recorded on his iPad, through his band’s online advent calendar, through which he has been handing out digital goodies at Gorillaz.com since the start of this month. His Gorillaz partner Jamie Hewlett […]

For the past six months there’s been lots of rumors floating around about a potential Phish festival at Watkins Glen over the Fourth of July Weekend. Today, the print edition of Corning, NY’s The Leader newspaper included an article on the potential concerts that featured a few quotes from WGI president Michael Printup. [Article in […]

PBS, a band formed by bassist George Porter Jr., drummer Russell Batiste and guitarist Brian Stoltz, broke up late in 2009 after what Porter described as un-music-related bullshit. Back in January on Jam Cruise, Porter told us that he loved playing with those guys, but just couldn’t deal with all the headaches on the business […]

Furthur bassist Phil Lesh is no stranger to the world of internet message boards. He’s posted on the PhilZone.org message board in the past including a visit in March, where he told fans about the circumstances behind Jay Lane’s departure from Furthur. This past Saturday night, Phil and his wife Jill headed to the less friendly confines of the RatDog.org message board and had an interesting three-hour visit, in which they posted 32 posts at that forum for the seemingly defunct Bob Weir-led band.

Phil and Jill started off by announcing that Furthur.net will host a message board of its own and took a shot at a few RatDog.org community members who have bashed Furthur and Phil in the past…

Hey, gang;

It’s a slow Saturday here, so we thought we’d log on and let you know that in the coming weeks, Furthur will be inaugurating our new community message board soon, and we’d like to invite the Ratdog community to join us there. Some of Furthur’s team will be available online to answer questions and discuss any issues that may arise in the community. furthur.net will have details soon.

This music can only exist in a harmonious balance between the energies of the band and the audience. Negative energy clogs the channels of communication, unbalancing the energy. We really want to keep a positive tone at our shows and on this new board, so we’d appreciate it if any negative sentiments or issues could be dealt with face to face. We travel constantly, and would be very happy to meet with anyone who wants to man or woman up and trash us to our faces.

Wheelman?
Rutil8ed?
You game?

Phil and Jill

After going back and forth with “Wheelman” for a bit, Phil and Jill took turns answering some questions from a few of the community members. READ ON for a summary of their responses from the lengthy thread…

Yesterday, Daft Punk revealed their official video for Derezzed (via MTV), the most quintessentially “Daft Punk” song on the soundtrack for the upcoming movie sequel, Tron: Legacy. Fans of the old school arcade game will appreciate this, as it pays homage to the original Tron video game with the jousting & futuristic motorbikes. Daft Punk’s […]

Umphrey’s McGee guitarists Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss treated Chicago fans to a set filled with interesting covers, holiday songs and originals from UM’s repertoire at Park West for their Eighth Annual Acoustic Christmas Show this past Friday night.  The performance was a benefit for USTORM – a non-profit organization aimed at raising funds to […]

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. 

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.