The Chevy Music Showcase is an online community and two minute mini-documentary TV series dedicated to the St. Louis music scene. Powered by Chevy , they launch at Atomic Cowboy this Thursday, January 12th at 7pm. The website is now live. The mini-documentary TV series will air soon on the local CBS affiliate KMOV. This post features a track by both of the artists that are playing at the launch party and are also involved in the first season. Beth Bombara is scheduled to perform at the launch with John Henry [...]

Three holy crap it really feels like spring reasons to throw on shorts and a t-shirt and surf your way over to Lincoln Hall tonight... 1. Not that long ago, you could find Genevieve Schatz of Company of Thieves as a regular at popular Chicago open mic spot Uncommon Ground . Now she along with bandmates Marc Wollach and Mike Ortiz are signed to Wind-Up Records and released their debut LP, Ordinary Riches late last year. Well, tonight is Company of Thieves homecoming show at Lincoln [...]
Tonight at Off Broadway, Springfield's own Ha Ha Tonka is headlining a bill with Magnolia Summer and John Henry and the Engine. The band's forthcoming album, Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South,&nb... Continue reading "Tonight! Ha Ha Tonka at Off Broadway + New MP3" >
Roy KastenOtis GibbsSaturday afternoon at SXSW 2009 started early this year, with the second of the 10th annual Twangfest and KDHX parties at Jovita's (disclosure: I'm a KDHX programmer and Twangfest ... Continue reading "SXSW: Twangfest Party with Magnolia Summer, The Deep Vibration, Edward Burch" >
Going into SXSW this year, I was curious to see how the economic meltdown was going to affect the festival. I had heard that fewer labels were having showcases, and fewer journalists and label employe... Continue reading "St. Louis at SXSW: The Pragmatic, Black Spade, Theodore and more" >
John Henry and the Engine are celebrating the release of a video for its song "Cut Your Anchor Free" with a show tonight at Off Broadway. The song sounds like a slow-dance tune from a '50s prom, a son... Continue reading "Tonight! John Henry and the Engine Video Release Show + One Lone Car, Off Broadway" >

I love colors. I love them in saturation, I love them in desaturation. And with the advent of "hipster" culture, I like them in the neon. I used to be one of those kids in school who were obsessed with her colored pencils. I liked to line them up ROYGBIV in cascading hues. The short stubby pencil of the pile? Usually it was black (because of all the outlining) and one of my favorites: yellow! It's so bright and sunny, it added a little pop to all my elementary school scrawling. 1. The Faint [...]

Like a band of young punks stranded in a basement with only Rolling Stones and Springsteen albums to listen to and a case of Red Bull to drink, Henry and Co. bounce off the walls of classic rock & roll, soul and even some Americana. With relentless guitars and restless voices, John Henry & the Engine burn through the past, present and maybe even the future of American music to bring us their new record Under the Yellow Moon . Who forms John Henry & the Engine? [...]
On a night where there are no shortage of good shows (Saturday, April 12), John Henry and the Engine 's CD release show at Off Broadway with the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir stands out. In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer reviews the band's forthcoming CD, Under the Yellow Moon : On Under the Yellow Moon , it's unclear if John Henry & the Engine send us their greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey, or Columbia, Missouri. The quartet is so [...]