It's been a tough few weeks, for body and spirit. Our inner city school is badly overstocked this year, with classes too full to manage, and hallways that ripple with energy we can barely control; the stress among the faculty is sky-high, and we're hard pressed not to take it out on each other. Limping into such an environment every morning puts me at a severe disadvantage, but limp I must: I seem to have torn something in my knee, trying to compensate for a flared disk in my lower back, and have grow accustomed to [...]
So many songs are just called "Trouble" - seems the word itself is sufficient to set the stage for artists aching to address the challenges and pain of life. We started the week with a cover of the Little Feet song of the same name; as we come to the end of our theme, here's three more favorites, none of them in their original form, all of them relatively rare and hard to find, even as their original versions are likely familiar to the average audiophile. [...]
32nd BMAs to be presented May 5, 2011...
A snapshot of the great year it's been for the blues...
Voting continues through Aug. 31. Here are the nominees and my selections... Music - Awards - Arts - Politics - Campaigns and Elections
Blues fans once again have an opportunity to weigh in on the year's best in the blues... Blues - Tommy Castro - Music - Arts and Entertainment - United States
Aimee Mann, Ben Gibbard and Annie Clark at the Summerstage 2010 Gala Photo : Jon Klemm On Tuesday of last week ( June 8 ), the 25th Anniversary season of Summerstage officially kicked off with an all-star benefit featuring the music of Simon and Garfunkel . A few performances stood out. Marc Cohn and Jonatha Brooke presided over a "Sound of Silence," redone as blue-eyed soul with Memphis horns. Dar Williams and Stephen Kellogg sang "We've Got a Groovy Thing Goin' [...]
Just got wind of this new deal* on the SummerStage 25th Anniversary Gala show: When you purchase 4 General Admission tickets to the June 8 SummerStage 25th Anniversary Gala, you get four no-waiting, guaranteed entry admission passes good for any free Central Park SummerStage show, including The xx on August 8, St. Vincent on August 1, The Specials on August 22, Chrisette Michele on August 21 or Public Enemy on August 15 More info (including the artist lineup and song choices) on the SummerStage Gala after after [...]
Janiva Magness and Peter Karp & Sue Foley continue to stalk the #1 position at blues radio Arts - Music - United States - Shopping - Washington DC
Janiva Magness' predicted reign atop the charts was a short one... Music - Art - Shopping - United States - David Karp
Janiva rises to the top spot and some new albums make their Blues Power Ranking debut... Album - Music - Arts and Entertainment - Shopping - Blues
Will the BMAs shake up a Top 5 that has remained static for the past month? Music - Blues - Business - Arts and Entertainment - Guitar
Happy 10th Anniversary, Kilborn Alley Blues Band! Blues - Music - Arts - Arts and Entertainment - United States
Peter Karp and Sue Foley's duet tops a strong list of albums at blues radio this week...
Magness, Bonamassa, and Kilborn Alley Blues Band make big jumps at blues radio this week...
2010 is shaping up to be a spectacular year for the blues...
The latest blues scorecards from retail and radio...
Holmes Brothers, Guitar Shorty have big first week on Billboard blues chart...
Last night's utterly amazing Greg Brown show started off with a short solo set from perennial sideman Bo Ramsey, who played a set of hushed alt-country blues originals and an achingly delicate cover of Lucinda Williams' Joy , his hands barely brushing the strings. Brown, too, played mostly blues, when it comes down to it: recognizable chords in sixteen bars; low, quickspoken, plaintive lyrics that pulsed along with the bass string beat. Stunning stuff. Which got me thinking about the acoustic blues, and its relationship to modern folk music - not [...]
The Holmes Brothers are Sherman Holmes (bassist/vocalist), Wendell Holmes (guitarist/pianist/vocalist) and Popsy Dixon (drummer/vocalist). As Wendell says about their blend of the secular and the sacred, "Jesus turned water into wine, not wine into water." USA Today calls The Holmes Brothers' vision of American roots music "masterful and convincing." Amazon State of Grace
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