Last summer as a build up to his six appearances a DC's Fringe Festival, I bent the ear of anyone who'd give me the time about how truly great and unique and f'n hysterical a Hamell on Trial gig can be. Hell, I caught four of those six performances, did the lights for two of them, and STILL I was laughing my ass off each and every time. Then the unexpected and the well-deserved occurred: Ed won the Fringe Festival's distinguished Director's Award. That's right—HE WON THE WHOLE FREAKIN THING. Not that it's a competition, [...]

A wonderful cascade of covers from a friend has turned my thoughts to covers of punk music this week. As Katie noted in her send-along, much of which appear below, "the thread that runs from folk to punk seems such a vibrant and easily spotted one to pull at", and that sounds just about right; I'd even go so far as to suggest that, like folk in the generation before it, Punk both served and sprung from the hearts of a discontented youth counterculture, and - as I noted about Rap rather tongue-in-cheek last year - [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Backyard Tire Fire : 2009-10-17, Madison [mp3,,ogg,flac] "Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young cover)" [mp3] other Backyard Tire Fire posts at Largehearted Boy Chatham County Line : 2009-10-10, Pittsboro [mp3,ogg,flac] other Chatham County Line posts at Largehearted Boy Cracker : 2009-10-13, Freiberg [mp3,ogg,flac] "Brides of Neptune" [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Akron/Family : 2009-07-23, Detroit Lakes [mp3,ogg,flac] "Lake Song" [mp3] other Akron/Family posts at Largehearted Boy Backyard Tire Fire : 2009-08-21, Bloomington [mp3,ogg,flac] "F the CC (Steve Earle cover)" [mp3] other Backyard Tire Fire posts at Largehearted Boy Blitzen Trapper : 2009-08-01, Happy Valley [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Backyard Tire Fire : 2009-07-03, Naperville [mp3,ogg,flac] "One Wrong Turn" [mp3] other Backyard Tire Fire posts at Largehearted Boy Chatham County Line : 2006-07-13, Ancramdale [mp3,ogg,flac] "In the Arms of the Law" [mp3] other Chatham County Line posts at Largehearted Boy Guster : 2009-07-05, [...]

To those who know of Hamell On Trial , he's a bit of a legend. All the political fury and fiery rock noise of a punk band, rolled up in one guy and his acoustic guitar. In his own words, "just a little bit of wood, and a little bit of wire. Call up Smokey the Bear, 'cause there's gonna be a fire." Ed Hamell started out playing in punk bands around New York in the eighties. Eventually, he left the bands behind and ventured into the singer-songwriter arena. [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Cowboy Junkies : 2009-06-19, York [mp3,ogg,flac] "Powderfinger" [mp3] Cowboy Junkies : 2009-06-18, Richmond [mp3,ogg,flac] other Cowboy Junkies posts at Largehearted Boy fIREHOSE : 1992-02-12, San Pedro [mp3,ogg,flac] "In My Mind" [mp3] other fIREHOSE posts at Largehearted Boy The Gourds [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Cowboy Junkies : 1994-02-04, WNNX [mp3,ogg,flac] "Anniversary Song" [mp3] other Cowboy Junkies posts at Largehearted Boy Degenerettes : 2009-06-13, Baltimore [mp3,ogg,flac] "Queer for You" [mp3] other Degenerettes posts at Largehearted Boy Drive-By Truckers (with Booker T.) : 2009-06-13, Bonnaroo [mp3,ogg,flac] "Green [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Gene Ween Band : 2009-05-30, Hunter [mp3,ogg,flac] "Mountains and Buffalo" [mp3] other Gene Ween Band posts at Largehearted Boy Gomez : 2009-05-30, Hunter [mp3,ogg,flac] "Sunset Gates" [mp3] other Gomez posts at Largehearted Boy The Gourds : 2009-05-29, Charlottesville [mp3,ogg,flac] "Mister Betty" [...]

The Orpheum Theatre felt as though it was about to burst at the seams several times last night, as a veritable who's-who of progressive folk artists and throngs of their adoring fans cheered, danced, and jammed. Catie Curtis, Hamell on Trial, Melissa Ferrick, Dar Williams, the Indigo Girls, and Ani DiFranco all took to the stage in honor of the Progressive Magazine's 100th anniversary, with Wisconsin's own Peter Mulvey acting as the master of ceremonies. There seemed to be an honest to goodness competition between the audience and the performers to see who was enjoying themselves more. Each [...]

The music festival portion of SXSW kicks off today! The festival features more than 1,800 musical acts from all over the world on over 80 stages in downtown Austin, Texas. Here's a list of Nettwerk Music Group's artist appearances for 2009: Angus and Julia Stone http://www.myspace.com/angusan djuliastone Wednesday 3/18 @ Buffalo Billiards (KCRW Official SXSW Showcase) - 11 PM Datarock [...]

I won't be going, but if I was, these would be my highlights. Now I know it will be impossible to see all of these bands/artists, I know how SXSW works. However, the SXSW website has a plethora of free songs for you to sample to assist you in your decision. If you are not going, go ahead and download them anyway; there's obviously a reason why these bands were picked to showcase their music this year. Abe Vigoda - Don't Lie [...]

As the names keep piling up for South by Southwest 2009 ( Decemberists at Stubbs ! Grizzy Bear! Devo!!), a more subtle development has caught our attention that - while less impressive than this year's roster of names - will no doubt prove far more useful to those intrepid souls heading down to Austin next month. Similar to the customizable schedule-maker that CMJ unveiled for last year's Music Marathon, mySXSW.com is a new platform unveiled on the SXSW site earlier this week that allows users to manage their own personal itineraries throughout the four-day event. [...]

South By Southwest ( SXSW ) organizers have confirmed a whole bunch of new artists for the forthcoming weeklong event. SXSW is set to take place March 18-22 at the Austin Convention Center and at various venues throughout the city. Among the artists confirmed are Barcelona , Andrew Bird , Ra Ra Riot , and The Little Ones . For more information go to Sxsw.com . [...]
The SXSW list has been updated. Not the final list and I'm hoping to see some upgrades. But I'm still excited to see acts like the Woggles, Black Lips, Hamell On Trial, and Elvis Perkins included... Artists we play on Musical Justice: Dave Alvin (Los Angeles CA) Annuals (Raleigh NC) Apollo Sunshine (Boston MA) The Asteroids Galaxy Tour (Denmark DENMARK) Beach House (Baltimore MD) Andrew Bird (Chicago IL) Martina Topley Bird (London UK-ENGLAND) Black Lips (Atlanta GA) Bottle Rockets (Festus MO) Cory Branan (Memphis TN) Butterfly Boucher (Nashville TN) The Courteeners (Manchester UK-ENGLAND) The [...]

Via the official site , here are the bands currently slated for official showcases (get ready to do lots of scrolling): The Abrams Brothers (Kingston ON) Absinthe Minds (Madison WI) ABSU (Dallas TX) Ace Enders (Hammonton NJ) A Classic Education (Bologna ITALY) Acoustik Wire (Thessaloniki GREECE) Action Action (New York NY) Act Of Congress (Birmingham AL) [...]
The Abrams Brothers (Kingston ON) Absinthe Minds (Madison WI) ABSU (Dallas TX) Ace Enders (Hammonton NJ) A Classic Education (Bologna ITALY) Acoustik Wire (Thessaloniki GREECE) Action Action (New York NY) Act Of Congress (Birmingham AL) A Day To Remember (Ocala FL) Adventure (Baltimore MD) Afghan Raiders (Las Vegas NV) Afterhours (Milano ITALY) AIDS Wolf (Montreal QC) The Aimless Never Miss (San Francisco CA) The Airborne Toxic [...]
SXSW has updated their band list yet again... These seem like the fastest updates they've done in a long time, right? Notables include Grizzly Bear, Au Revoir Simone, The Long Winters, The Raveonettes, Nashville Pussy, Langhorne Slim, THE VASELINES , more. It's always a bit overwhelming to digest the list and SXSW doesn't point out the new additions... Keep reading for the full list. The Abrams Brothers (Kingston ON) Absinthe Minds (Madison WI) ABSU (Dallas TX) [...]

The beginning of a new year comes with rampant speculation of who is going to be on each upcoming festival's line-up. I'm going to break down some of the rumours, and talk about the festivals I am most excited about in 2009. So break open your calendar and get ready to plan your year in festies: Big Ears Festival (Knoxville, TN) February 6-8 Usually the festival season doesn't [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Buffetlibre has put together another compilation of indie bands covering 80's pop songs, Rewind 2 . Au Revoir Simone : "Here Is the News (Electric Light Orchestra cover)" [mp3] from Rewind 2 other Au Revoir Simone posts at Largehearted Boy Headlights : "Making Plans for Nigel (XTC [...]