“I know what! This time you play guitar and I’ll play drums! He can play the trumpet!” There’s a bit of the O Jeez that puts you in mind of the Hardy Boys or Li’l Rascals movies: Somebody has this […]
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So what if the Derailers look and sound like Buck Owens & his Buckaroos, circa 1965. The Derailers write nearly all of their material (most of it first-rate), have an unwavering honky-tonk ethic, and finally boast a rhythm section that […]
Mill Valley is a small village in Marin County, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. This is where a lot of the Bay Area rock ‘n’ roll robber barons moved to in the ’70s and ’80s, once the royalty […]
This one was like the feeling you get an hour and a half after slamming down a six-pack of Jolt Cola: sugar up, sugar down. Buick MacKane got the night off to a frenzied start, while Son Volt’s headlining set […]
By today’s standards, celebrating 40 years of anything is a significant milestone deserving of a significant celebration. So Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music celebrated its 40th anniversary and its plan to move to a larger, more modern facility […]
“How long can I remain legendary?” John Fahey queried to both himself and his audience in response to his invisible emcee’s intro. Appearing less frazzled and more affable than in his last visit here almost a year ago, Fahey regarded […]
Getting an audience to listen to your music is always tough for a new band, especially in the tiny little corner of the musical universe that is alternative country (whatever etc.). It means playing opening slots for shows in faraway […]
Critical darling and platinum seller, Beck the white-boy hip-hopper-folky-faux-James-Brown-punk-jokester is a bona fide star in the alt-rock ’90s. But as postmodern as his breakthrough release Odelay is, Beck seems equally at home, if not more so, bowing at the feet […]
Picture, if you will, the Fugs jamming on the soundtrack of the old black-and-white Steamboat Willie cartoon. Or the Replacements testing their Gershwin out on Prohibition-era speakeasy crowds. Or maybe Bill Monroe and Scott Joplin swinging together in the Whiskey […]
Editor’s note: Upon hearing of the death on Nov. 20 of musician, producer and journalist Robert Palmer, we passed along the sad news to Ed Ward, who just a few days earlier had asked that his paycheck for the article […]
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