August 13, 2012

Dawes: Higher Ground, South Burlington, VT 7/31/12

Doug Collette August 13, 2012 No Comments

At roughly mid-set of Dawes’ July 31st appearance at Higher Ground, front-man Taylor Goldsmith flipped his center stage mic stand around to face the audience as a means of capturing them singing along to “When My Time Comes,” which the approximately 125 attendees did with remarkably practiced-sounding precision. It was a brash move on the part of the Los Angeles band’s /guitarist/vocalist/songwriter, especially since his invitation to help the group was offered only moments before and seemed to be only in passing. But it was testament to Dawes’ faith in their fans, not to mention their devotion and, above all, another gesture of quiet self-assurance on the part of a band earnestly devoted to their craft and their listeners.

Guitar Genius Orianthi (INTERVIEW)

Leslie Michele Derrough August 13, 2012 No Comments

She is not yet 30, but her skills on the guitar has already garnered her some impressive high fives from fret masters such as Carlos Santana and Steve Vai. Hailing from Australia, Orianthi knew early on that her future followed the yellow brick road not through academic poppy fields but along the gleaming stretched out strings of an electric guitar; it’s incredible hum and vivre capturing her soul in such a way that she dropped out of school early and ended up in the promised land of masqueraded broken dreams, where the young lady has actually beaten the jesters and is succeeding where many young musicians have cemented in dead-end non-musical gigs.