Archive for October, 2010
Jesse McReynolds & Friends: Songs of the Grateful Dead
Jesse McReynolds & Friends Songs of the Grateful Dead Woodstock Records Rating: For more than half a century, Jesse McReynolds and his brother, Jim, set the standard by which so many of today’s bluegrass acts are measured. As a mandolin innovator, Jesse influenced everyone from David Grisman to Rhonda Vincent, and although Jim died in [...]
Various Artists: Original Songwriter Demos
Various Artists Original Songwriter Demos Warner Brothers Rating: Countless aspiring songwriters pull into Nashville every day, with nothing but their guitars and their (usually incorrect) notions of how to get started in the music business. And the vast majority of those who manage to stick it out longer than a year often spend the rest [...]
Devon Allman’s Honeytribe: Space Age Blues
Devon Allman’s Honeytribe Space Age Blues Provogue Rating: Devon Allman’s father Gregg is one of the great white blues singers of all time. His uncle Duane was one of the great guitarists of the classic rock age, and maybe the most ferocious slide player ever. So, if you’re Devon Allman and you’re a musician, how [...]
The Octopus Project: Hexadecagon
The Octopus Project Hexadecagon Peek-A-Boo Rating: The Octopus Project’s fourth album, Hexadecagon, was originally conceived as an elaborate experimental performance piece, aiming to create a sensation of perfect immersion in sound and video. The technology to achieve their vision didn’t actually exist, however – so they built a custom eight-channel surround sound and eight-channel audio [...]
Ray Charles: Rare Genius: The Undiscovered Masters
Ray Charles Rare Genius: The Undiscovered Masters Concord Records Rating: When he passed away in 2004 at the age of 73, Ray Charles left behind a musical legacy of daunting breadth and depth, reflecting an extraordinary life that traced the contours of late-21st century American history like those talented fingers once traced faces into familiarity [...]
Buffalo Springfield Reunion Highlights Packed Bridge School Benefit
Neil and Pegi Young’s Bridge School Benefit has always been one of the coolest concert bills around, and this year was no different. Highlighted by a reunited Buffalo Springfield, the weekend-long concert, which benefits disabled children, featured acoustic sets from Pearl Jam, Modest Mouse, Grizzly Bear, and many, many more. Merle Haggard was forced to [...]
Snoop Dogg Boogies Down In Nashville
Bow wow wow, yippee-oh yippee-ay. On Friday night, Snoop Dogg’s tour bus rolled into Nashville. The rapper was the headliner for Vanderbilt University’s Commodore Quake concert, which also featured Passion Pit, B.o.B. and Playboy Tre. The mostly collegiate audience was well-behaved, as was the 39-year-old father of three. “How many of you was two when [...]
Catching Up With Bluegrass Icon Alison Brown
Grammy Award-winning bluegrass superstar Alison Brown will release her debut DVD tomorrow, Alison Brown Quartet With Joe Craven – Live At Blair. Shot at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music in Nashville, the DVD captures Brown and her band getting down in front of a delighted audience, with a guest appearance by multi-instrumentalist Joe Craven. What [...]
Bob Dylan, “Ballad In Plain D”
“Ballad In Plain D” I once loved a girl, her skin it was bronze With the innocence of a lamb, she was gentle like a fawn I courted her proudly, but now she is gone Gone as the season she’s taken. In a young summer’s youth, I stole her away From her mother and sister, [...]
Writer of the Week: Netherfriends
For the release of his debut album, Barry and Sherry, Shawn Rosenblatt of Chicago band Netherfriends cooked up a novel promotional campaign. He’d leave his home and day job behind, and travel the country, playing gigs and writing a song about each state. Sufjan Stevens once had a similar idea; he gave up. We talk [...]
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