Archive: 2024

Thanks largely to the indomitable presence of the late Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan, the Grateful Dead’s roots in blues and R&B will never really be lost to history. Here the co-founder of the group is depicted performing “It Hurts Me Too,” an oft-covered tune by icon of the genre Elmore James, from the now mythic Europe ’72 tour: […]

Charlie & Margot is the brainchild of New Jersey native Matteo DeBenedetti. A songwriter since childhood, Matteo cut his teeth in various bands touring the DIY circuit of the East Coast for the last decade. 2019 brought an unprecedented moment of introspection, and out of the uncertainty of what would follow that year Charlie and […]

Seasoned LA-based producer Max Foreman is set to release his newest single on April 3rd. Letter of Resignation is a sardonic ode to leaving a toxic work environment. Drawing from the brass arrangements of legends like Burt Bacharach and Stevie Wonder, his synth surrealism brings to mind contemporaries like Mac DeMarco. Criminally smooth touches of jazz collide […]

The songs that make up American Primitive, the 13th studio album from the venerable Texas mainstays the Old 97’s, finds the band as feisty and loud as their mid-90s starting point. They’re a little grayer, likely suffering some hearing loss from standing in front of amps for decades, but 30 years into their career (the […]

Grammy-nominated roots/blues/rock musician Cody Dickinson announces his solo album, Homemade, out June 21st on Strong Place Music. Known for his role as founding member and drummer of North Mississippi Allstars, Dickinson moves in front of the drum kit on Homemade as he handles all aspects of the album: songwriting, performing every instrument, engineering and production. […]

Last year the Circles Around The Sun released Language and a major highpoint on the album was the title track where they teamed up with harpist Mikaela Davis. Following up on that success comes After Sunrise, a four-song offering with over a half hour of languid (mostly) instrumental offerings that cruise along with the same […]

A natural companion piece and logical extension of namesake Duwayne’s 2023 Acoustic, Cedric Burnside’s Hill Country Love hews close to a stripped-down and intimate sound. Featuring only four musicians in skeletal arrangements, this co-production with North Mississippi Allstars’ Luther Dickinson is a credible acknowledgment of the entire Burnside family’s musical roots in a region of the deep south teeming with authentic […]

Celebrating a birthday over more than one day is always special. But, it’s even more special when you can tour across the U.S. with friends playing music from your prolific and eclectic career. Well, birthday boy Maynard James Kennan has put together an elaborate tour dubbed, Sessanta. Sessanta (meaning sixty) brings collaborative performances with shared […]

Some artists can make a room feel larger than it is. World Cafe Live’s Lounge is a 200-capacity venue that overlooks the water right near Drexel University in Philadelphia. The dim lighting and red curtain give the small venue a theatrical feel but last night (April 3), the room truly came to life as Haley […]

I’m very influenced by the big singer-songwriters from the ’60s onward–Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, Tom Petty, Warren Zevon,” says Nashville-based singer/songwriter Cole Gallagher. “They were trying to make sense of the times they lived in, but when I heard them, I felt like they were speaking to me at that moment.” As new musical generations […]

Since The Black Keys returned from their hiatus in 2019, they have put out fine, if not very memorable albums (‘Let’s Rock’, Delta Kream, Dropout Boogie) and seem to be checking the boxes needed to continue as one of the few arena-filling rock bands left on the scene in workmen like (if uninspired) fashion. That […]

Pictured conspicuously at a distance from each other on the front cover of  All This Time, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams nevertheless present a deep and abiding connection to each other on their third studio album (and fourth LP overall).  As in the previous efforts, the duo mixes original material with carefully chosen covers, all of […]

There is no question about it, The Roots are one of the most innovative and accomplished musical groups to ever rise from the city of Philadelphia. The city has a long, rich history of the arts dating back to their contribution to soul music’s popularity in the 60’s but The Roots crew took it to […]

Based on the Pernice Brothers’ previous output, five years between records is really not that long. The band went almost a decade between 2010’s Goodbye, Killer and 2019’s Spread the Feeling. But with this week’s release of Who Will You Believe, Joe Pernice and his bandmates have once again put out a reliably satisfying collection […]

Dustin Kensrue has been releasing solo records for almost two decades now, leaning into a relaxed mix of folk and Americana, but he is still largely known by many as the frontman of post-hardcore/punk band Thrice. And while there would seem to be little overlap in the Venn diagram of those two bands, one needs […]

Over the past few years, the borderless soul of Khruangbin has grown in a plethora of directions. Like the roots of a tree, the band has deviated into different styles and genres from around the world, incorporating their worldliness into live LPs and collaborative efforts over the years. With the trio of bassist Laura Lee […]

A lineup this powerful in the metal world only happens once in a lifetime, or so we thought. Ten years ago, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer, and Primus banded together to form Sessanta, a metal supergroup that put on a single show that brought artists together that have similar history and shared members (Tim Alexander on […]

New Orleans-based singer/songwriter Lynn Drury will be releasing her album, High Tide, in various formats on April 5th, 2024, via Nolamericana Music. It was Produced by Papa Mali (Ruthie Foster), and recorded mostly live over three days last year at Dockside Studio in Maurice, Louisiana by Justin Tocket. Drury prefers to record in a studio […]