I'm trying to talk a few of my friends into accompanying me to MerleFest this spring in Wilkesboro, NC. But I'll probably attend the festival even if I have to go alone. The festival, which honors the late Merle Watson, features a killer lineup, starting with Doc and Richard Watson. Here's a partial list of some of the great acts who'll be there this year: • John Hammond • Tony Rice • Corey Harris • Sam Bush • The Waybacks • Jim Lauderdale • Little Feat • The Avett Brothers • Elvis Costello • Benton Flippen [...]
The last time alt-country godfather Jim Lauderdale was in town, he came as part of Elvis Costello's touring band. Tonight's appearance at AllGood Cafe will be quite a bit more intimate.Getting a... Continue reading "Gig Alert: Jim Lauderdale at AllGood Cafe" >
Any Bluegrass fans out there? Merlefest has announced its 2010 line-up , featuring classic Bluegrass and "Traditional-plus" music from the likes of Doc Watson, Jerry Douglas, the recently 'Bluegrassified' Elvis Costello, and a number of other heavy-hitters in the broader Bluegrass realm. The Wilkesboro, North Carolina festival will take place April 29 - May 2, 2010, and will celebrate its 23rd year in existence. From the press release: MERLEFEST 2010 ANNOUNCES TALENT LINE UP TICKETS ON SALE NOVEMBER 10 WILKESBORO, N.C.- MerleFest 2010, presented [...]

Soulful, rustic rock 'n' roll with blue country edges Will Hoge is a soulful, rustic rock 'n' roller whose career has mostly stayed under the mainstream radar. Yet he's not only turned out a consistent string of fine records over the past decade, but toured tirelessly in their support. His initial two albums with Atlantic didn't build a short enough on-ramp to stardom to keep the label's interest, but a few indie releases caught the ear of Rykodisc, for whom he's now releasing his second full-length. Hoge's music takes in the rootsy guitar rock [...]

Once again, a reminder that Loud Loop Radio will once again grace the intertubes tomorrow, Saturday, October 17, at 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. CST on Radio DePaul . It will be awesome as always. Now on to our picks for this weekend's top shows... Mastodon Hitting to Chicago for the victory lap tour after the success of their prog-metal masterpiece Crack The Skye , Mastodon will be supported [...]

TOP ALBUM RELEASES: AUGUST 2009 NICK'S TOP YACHT: See Mystery Lights Nurses: Apple's Acre Yim Yames: Tribute To EP Jay Reatard: Watch Me Fall Modest Mouse: No One's First and You're Next EP [...]
"The Cocks are cummin' to your town soon. Hide your daughters," warns industrial metal god Al Jourgensen. All who remember the power of the Revolting Cocks (also called RevCo) as support for Ministry last year will know to take heed. Perversion galore reigns supreme as the industrial madhouse announces a full-fledged headlining tour for 2009, its first ever in North America during its 20-year career. Properly inducting RevCo into the wide, wide world of North American headliners is none other than Jim Rose, who's quite the spectacle himself. Those who witnessed The Jim Rose Circus with NIN during the mid-90s [...]

Time to take one final look at the nominees for this year's Americana Music Awards. We've tackled Best New & Emerging Artist, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year (as I type this, it looks like Alejandro Escovedo is your pick for best album)... now it's time to take a look at everything else. We'll start with the nominees for Instrumentalist of the Year... Sam Bush, Buddy Miller, Gurf Morlix, and Jerry Douglas. We've already discussed Buddy a couple of times due to his nominations for Album and Song of the Year, and I'll [...]
REVOLTING COCKS gear up to take over North America beginning today on their nationwide LubRiCaTouR and are set to release Sex-O MiXXX-O, a collection of stellar remixes from their March Sex-O Olympic-O CD. Featuring RevCo/Jim Rose of Jim Rose Circus/Blownload/Left Spine Down In typical RevCo style, look for surprise guests at select dates!!! "The Cocks are cummin' to your town soon. Hide your daughters." – Al Jourgensen/Ministry & RevCo Founder In 2006, After a hiatus of nearly a decade, Al Jourgensen resurrected his delinquent side project The Revolting Cocks with the star-studded [...]

I found this picture earlier tonight on Buddy Miller's website. It was taken at Buddy's house during the recording of Solomon Burke's Nashville CD. I just thought it was a great picture and wanted to pass it along. For those who don't know... Solomon is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and one of the absolute giants of soul and R&B music. Jim is an Americana Jack of All Trades who is a gifted performer, talented songwriter, and the charismatic host of Tennessee Shines. [...]

Tomorrow is the last Wednesday of the month, and that means it's time for another installment of Tennessee Shines live from the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville. Can you believe the concert series started one year ago this month? Tomorrow's show is actually the first show of season two. Here's a link to a story about the origins of the series . I linked it once before, but it's still a good read. For the first show of season two, things are going [...]
YES A NEW GWAR RECORD! Ha. But seriously. Stoked about the new Mute Math . And Mew has been long overdue for a new album, and we get... an EP. I guess that's good? :: 65daysofstatic , Escape from New York (Monotreme) :: Accused , Curse of Martha Splatterhead (Southern Lord) :: Adam Marsland , Go West (Karma Frog) :: As Tall As Lions , You Can't Take It With You (Triple [...]

Richard Thompson's Walking on a Wire is in stores tomorrow. The career-spanning box set includes songs from his Fairport Convention Days, his albums with Linda Thompson, and his solo work. Mid-summer means the music release list is a bit short, but quality music abounds this week. I can definitely recommend Brendan Benson's My Old, Familiar Friend , The Cave Singers' Welcome Joy , Choir of Young Believers' This Is For The White In Your Eyes , Mount Eerie's [...]
The daily mix: 1) Keith Sykes: "A Long Monday" 2) John Prine: "Slow Boat to China" 3) DB Harris: "Torture" 4) Daddy: "Nobody From Nowhere" 5) American Gun: "Someone to Blame" 6) Duane Jarvis: "If That's All You Need" 7) Lucero: "Wasted" 8) Jim Lauderdale and Ollabelle: "Your Glass House" 9) Eilen Jewell: "Nowhere in Time" 10) Brigitte Demeyer: "All You've Got to Lose"
MUSIC NEWS - With a varied performance schedule this season, performing with The Sugarcanes or The Imposters; solo at an NYC bar, LA and SF Record shoppes, in front of thousands at Bonnaroo or with Sheryl Crow at the MLB All-Star charity concert , Elvis Costello is performing at his peak this summer, hot on the release of one of his best albums. Most of Costello's recent gigs have been with his all-star cast of Nashville session players while he supports his June 2 release; Secret, Profane and Sugarcane [...]

Gritty, heartfelt country covers tribute to Tucker's father The wear that Tucker's voice has accumulated over the years, the burnish of life, drugs, drink and age, has only made her sound tougher. There isn't a waver in her pitch as she relives this dozen country classics. Even rougher, she takes on songs that were originally the emotional province of male singers, showing that while times have changed (women wearing pants!), it still takes an unusually strong woman to stand toe-to-toe with iconic classics waxed by Faron Young, Hank Williams, Buck Owens, Ray Price, Conway [...]
The daily mix: 1) Jim Lauderdale: "It's Such a Long Journey Home" 2) Charlie Louvin, Waylon Jennings and George Jones: "Country Boy's Dream" 3) Orville Couch: "Uncle Red" 4) Will Kimbrough: "This Modern World" 5) Buddy and Julie Miller: "The River's Gonna Run" 6) Charlie Robison: "Nothing Better to Do" 7) Charlie Rich: "Why Don't We Go Somewhere and Love" 8) Fred Eaglesmith: "Rainbow" 9) Jean Shepard: "Satisfied Mind" 10) Blaze Foley: "Small Town Hero"
--- From drunken angels to grievous ones, this post is a continuation of sorts from the path I started beating yesterday. After posting the Lucinda Williams performance of "Drunken Angel" taken from her appearance on Sessions @ West 54th , I started browsing through the available videos from some of the other artists who had made appearances on the show during Sessions ' run on PBS in the late 90's. I don't think I ever saw any of the shows after they first originally aired and while there were a host of standout appearances, [...]

Following a number of instantly sold out reunion shows across the country, including at New York City's Blender Theatrer , the Get Up Kids have confirmed a full U.S. tour. The tour will kick off September 11th at Harrah's in the band's native Kansas City and will coincide with the 10th anniversary deluxe reissue of its landmark second album, Something To Write Home About , September 8th on Vagrant Records . The Get Up Kids formed in 1995 and later officially disbanded following a July 2, 2005 [...]
MUSIC NEWS - After several instantly sold out reunion shows at NYC's Gramercy Theater, Los Angeles' Troubadour and San Francisco's Great American Music Hall, the Get Up Kids have announced a full USA tour. The tour kicks off September 11 at Harrah's in the band's native Kansas City and will coincide with the 10th anniversary deluxe reissue of its landmark second album, Something to Write Home About , releasing September 8 via Vagrant Records. The Get Up Kids formed in 1995, released [...]