Jon Spencer has been slogging it out on the front line of the trashy garage war for so long he’s got foxholes named after him. As the primary or co-leader of vaunted groups like Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Pussy Galore, Boss Hog, Heavy Trash and now the HITmakers, his resume is unassailable. He’s got […]
MUSIC
FOTOBOM: STEVE GUNN, MEG BAIRD & MARY LATTIMORE @ GREAT SCOTT
Over the last ten or so years, Steve Gunn has managed something that eludes most musicians. As he’s slowly transformed his craft from open string Fahey worship to a more tightly-crafted, song-oriented approach that is more akin to 60s troubadours like Fred Neil or a less ornate Tim Buckley, he has also been able […]
INSIDE THE BOX: IN BOSTON, HE’S A COLLEGE STUDENT. OVERSEAS, HE SERENADES THOUSANDS
At the time, he didn’t expect to be sitting in front of a computer only a few years later, at age 17, watching a live video of more than a thousand people singing along to his song in a country he had never been to before.
WE BANJO 3: IRISH-TENNESSEAN BLUEGRASS BADASSES WAX ON NOTORIOUS BANJO BATTLES AND MORE
“It is said that banjo is the instrument of ancient Celtic Kings, so everyone wants to play banjo. Once you have won a title, everything changes. Being mobbed on the street by adoring fans, hiring a big security detail. Not every hero wears a cape; some play the banjo.”
FOTOBOM: NEKO CASE, MARGARET GLASPY @ ROYALE
It took a little while, but Neko Case finally landed in town for a headlining slot instead of as support for someone else’s tour. She’s still in the promotion cycle for last year’s excellent Hell-On, and if you’re a fan of that record you got a heaping handful and then some. Three quarters of the record […]
PARTY LIKE IT’S 1775
Handel & Haydn Society play Mozart and Haydn this weekend Walk into most music shops and the violins hanging on the wall will be strung with steel strings. The highest string on the violin (the E) is particularly prone to sounding metallic when improperly played (think horror-film screech.) Back in Mozart’s day, though, […]
DIG THIS: NEKO CASE, STEVE GUNN, JON SPENCER
THUR 1.24 Neko Case @ Royale Neko last hit town for two shows in early summer as support for Ray LaMontagne, but now the New England-transplant has scheduled her own proper headlining tour, and will get a bit more room to stretch out over the material of her excellent new record. If you […]
SKETCHBOOK: ENDLESSLY CREATIVE CLIFF NOTEZ CURATES CLEVER NEW LIVE MUSIC SERIES
On the heels of a 2018 Boston Music Award for New Artist of the Year, Notez and his collective are bound to be seen and heard much more. Before he takes off on a national tour, Notez is curating an ambitious three-part miniseries in Cambridge.
KILL YA BOSS: AFTER DECADES IN THE GAME AS A TEAM PLAYER, A BOSTON RAP ICON FINALLY BREAKS SOLO
“I didn’t cross over, I didn’t eat my integrity, but I didn’t get to put something out with just my name on it either.”
STL GLD UNVEIL NEW PROJECT + ARTWORK WITH LANDMARK MFA COLLABORATION
“Hip-hop was never meant to be here,” Moe Pope told the crowd of family, friends, and artistic associates who came out for the event.
