In a few months the world (at least, that part of the world which still listens to real music) will turn its ears toward Austin, Texas, for the annual mecca of indie/alt/punk/experimental/fo lk/whatever acts called South by Southwest. We love Austin and all, but that's not why we're here today. No, we want to talk a bit about our hometown - Houston. Contrary to popular impression, Houston's actually a rockin' place. It's a BIG rockin' place. Yes, Houston is one of the biggest cities in the country and we do have all of the good and bad stuff that [...]
What a great year for music 2010 turned out to be and 2011 is already shaping up nicely with a number of releases showing up on my radar, here's a handful that I'm looking forward to and one already making an impression. First of is news of the second full length release from Israel Nash Gripka , his previous album New York Town is a cracker and one to get acquainted with if you're not already, buy at Amazon and CDBaby . From his début album Bricks - Israel Nash Gripka [...]
I think that I had to be sixteen or seventeen before I ever held an electric guitar. It must have been a BC Rich as it belonged to the younger brother of my buddy Beej and younger brother was a metalhead who aspired to join Dave Murray and Adrian Smith in Iron Maiden. The next time I ever held a guitar was a good five years later. A housemate in college, Billy, owned a white '64 Gibson SG. Many nights we'd be hanging out in the living room watching some bad movie on [...]
September 17, 1923– January 1, 1953. . Reposting this for obvious reasons, updated the dead link for anyone who missed it the first time around this is the BBC Radio 2 series "In Love With Hank" from May '07, presented by Steve Earle and originally broadcast as five half hour shows it's well worth the listening too - a great rock-doc for any Hank fan. In Love With Hank
Filed under: Concerts and Tours , News Grammy Award winner Levon Helm had to miss one of his own Midnight Ramble Sessions at his Woodstock homestead this past Saturday as he had been admitted to a hospital in New York earlier in the day. A founding member of the Band , Helm staged a comeback in recent times fueled, in part, by the Midnight Ramble series, during which an ever-revolving cast of special guests and opening bands perform intimate house [...]
Filed under: Concerts and Tours , News Grammy Award winner Levon Helm had to miss one of his own Midnight Ramble Sessions at his Woodstock homestead this past Saturday as he had been admitted to a hospital in New York earlier in the day. A founding member of the Band , Helm staged a comeback in recent times fueled, in part, by the Midnight Ramble series, during which an ever-revolving cast of special guests and opening bands perform intimate house [...]
BONNAROO CELEBRATES ITS 10TH YEAR; 2011 EVENT TO TAKE PLACE JUNE 9 - 12; SPECIAL LIMITED PRE-SALE TO BEGIN DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING VIA BONNAROO.COM Superfly Productions and A.C. Entertainment are proud to announce the dates for the tenth annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Confirmed to take place June 9 - 12, 2011, the four-day festival will once again be held at the same beautiful, 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles southeast of Nashville. Special, limited ticket pre-sales for the festival will begin on November [...]
We're still abuzz from Phish's fantastic interpretation of Little Feat's seminal 1978 live album Waiting For Columbus that we wanted to continue to pay tribute to the highly influential, yet somehow criminally underrated band. This week we're placing that act's classic trucker anthem, Willin', into the squared circle - a song that has been rumored as the reason that Lowell George was asked to leave Frank Zappa's Mothers Of Invention, and thus the impetus for the formation of Little Feat. The track originally appeared [...]
Review of 'Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute To Loretta Lynn' featuring Sheryl Crow, The White Stripes, Kid Rock and others. Covers of Loretta Lynn's iconic songs.
Filed under: The Hit List Once upon a time, the radio disc jockey was king, a trusted voice floating across the airwaves to bring fresh sounds to eager ears. But the corporate takeover of radio reduced the once proud DJ to a meek voice introducing overplayed tracks between endless beer commercials. The emergence of online and satellite 'radio,' along with public and [...]
:: It looks like we have the title and track list for a new Decemberists album. :: If there's one thing Steve Earle is good for, it's a quote: "I've written a lot of songs, which I guess happens if you don't die ." :: TV Casualty - the best Halloween-time supergroup that only covers Misfits songs - made an appearance this year . :: Ryan Adams is getting back up on that horse . The joke about [...]
A few months back we reported that seminal pop-rock band The Cars had taken to their official Facebook page posting a photo of the surviving band members in a recording studio with the message "anyone in the mood for a reunion by The Cars?". More recently, the new wave band - who have been recording new material at a studio in Millbrook, NY - uploaded a 73-second preview of a new tune called Blue Tip and according to Billboard , are "strongly considering" touring, though no dates have been locked in. [...]
Filed under: News , New Music , New Releases Jack White was deemed a "friend forever" by Loretta Lynn after he produced and co-wrote the legendary country artist's acclaimed 2004 album 'Van Lear Rose.' And with word that the White Stripes will also lend their rendition of the singer's 'Rated X' to a new tribute album, that bond can only get stronger. The iconic Detroit duo originally released a live version of the [...]
As previously reported, country music legend Loretta Lynn will soon receive the tribute album treatment , featuring such big names as Paramore, Kid Rock, and The White Stripes. Due for release on November 9th, Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute To Loretta Lynn will feature 12 covers. Jack and Meg offer a record version of "Rated X", a track which was previously released by the duo as a live b-side to 2001 single "Hotel Yorba". Paramore and Kid Rock, on the other hand, offer previously unreleased takes of "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" and "I [...]
It might be dirty and smell like piss sometimes, but, if you've ever been, you know there is something special about New Orleans. The French Quarter, the food and, of course, the music. The soundtrack to excellent HBO series, Treme' , a tale of how the people of the Crescent City dealt with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, takes us away from the Quarter and drops into the middle of one of the oldest African-American neighborhoods in America and gives us the pleasure of hearing some of the city's greatest musicians do their thing. [...]
Mist-flanked cypress trees, families sprawled out on blankets, hippies dancing amongst clouds of marijuana smoke - this was the colorful scene surrounding the 10th year of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco, California last weekend. High in the "fog belt" area of the city lies the stage for this massive, free festival in the sprawling rectangle of Golden Gate Park, an epicenter of music and counterculture for California over the last 100+ years. Built in the 1870's out of the undeveloped sand dunes called "outside lands" (hence the name of the Outside Lands Music [...]
Did you see that Giants game tonight? Talk about a futile effort. Neither of those teams really seemed to comprehend the ideas behind the game of football. I'm happy the Giants won, of course, but that offense looked absurd at times. Every time the team's defense did something to put them in a position to score, the offense threatened to give the ball right back to the Bears. It was almost as if the two sides of the same team were playing against one another. Also, no Victor Cruz? What the fuck? I thought you play to win the game...that [...]
It seems like every time I hear someone talk about Justin Townes Earle, he is being introduced with the same few points. "He's Steve Earle's Kid" , "You know he's named after Townes Van Zandt", and "That guy went to rehab after getting booted from his dad's band" always preface any discussion about his music. His latest album removes the need for such an introduction. Instead, meet Justin Townes Earle - a talented young singer/songwriter with a classic sound and a really good new album called Harlem River Blues. Harlem River Blues may be short on running time [...]
Filed under: Concerts and Tours , News , Holy Hell , I Fought the Law Like father, like son. Justin Townes Earle , the offspring of longtime hellraiser Steve Earle , was arrested in Indianapolis Thursday night for drunken behavior after he lost his cool during a gig at the venue Radio Radio. The Nashville-raised singer-songwriter first became incensed when a heckler yelled for 'Freebird.' According to Undercover , Earle responded by saying, "F--- [...]
Country, like jazz music, is a truly American art form born in the United States. Despite the recent glossy and insincere evolution of the "country" label and the occasional absurdly popular right wing propaganda-inspired song , the basic foundation of the genre is still intact. From old greats like Hank Williams and George Jones to contemporaries like Deer Tick and the Willie Nelson-loving Matthew Houck, this playlist is dedicated to those momentary visions of great country music conceived of and kept alive in song. The mixtape's title is inspired by the above photo of Gram Parsons, who was having [...]
30 Days Out
Beat Surrender
Barely Awake In Frog Pajamas
Spinner.com
Radio Exile
Hidden Track
Cover Me
BUZZGRINDER
Consequence Of Sound
Swan Fungus
Merchants Of Rock
Everybody Taste
The Killers Reveal Details Of Fourth Album
Kae — Crazy
Disclosure – What’s In Your Head
Music Singles Chart #109
