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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
FOTOBOM: RYLEY WALKER, MUTE DUO @ GREAT SCOTT
There are a few ways of getting your name into the music press headlines, with some methods a whole lot better than others. If you didn’t bother to click the first link, the random meeting between folk/jazz/psychster guitarist Ryley Walker and jam band/bro-deity Dave Matthews wasn’t totally random. The mercurial and always questioning Walker […]
FOTOBOM: KURT VILE, JESSICA PRATT @ HOUSE OF BLUES
Kurt Vile had to know that including a song like “One Trick Ponies” on his seventh record would be a vulnerable action, as rumblings from certain cynical/critical corners would gleefully point to Bottle It In and say, “See! He’s just released the same mid-tempo collection of songs he’s always done.” But see… that’s the thing. […]
FOTOBOM: KAMASI WASHINGTON @ ROYALE
Pundits and talking heads say that traditional band-based rock music is dead, and if we’re gonna look back at the fossil record, then jazz has been calcified for a couple of decades. But, like most things, the ‘experts’ have painted the wrong picture. Still, I wouldn’t have put much money on heading to Royale […]
FOTOBOM: COURTNEY BARNETT @ HOUSE OF BLUES
“You know it’s okay to have a bad day.” Courtney Barnett spends a lot of time, thinking about the edges of the daily human existence, sketching out brilliant pastiches of the small moments that everyone experiences. It never hurts to have a catchy song to drape lyrics around, and her case she’s shown […]
FOTOBOM: GUIDED BY VOICES, PARK DOING @ THE SINCLAIR
Fifty three songs. 53! For any bands outside the patchouli-hazed jam world, it would take years if not decades to play that many different songs live, given the rigid set lists of most touring bands. Guided By Voices has no such issue. Granted, leader Robert Pollard has been cranking out full-length records at a […]
FOTOBOM: FARM AID 2018
It’s a bit hard to believe that Farm Aid has been a thing for nearly three and half decades now, but it’s stronger than ever. In its 33th rendition, old friends Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young (along with recruit/”newcomer at 17 years” Dave Matthews) continue to exert their time and energy […]
FOTOBOM: EX HEX, EZTV, E @ GREAT SCOTT
They say variety is the spice of life, if that’s true for bills, this Saturday night’s lineup was a veritable garam masala. The headliner of Ex Hex was the reason the room was sold out well in advance, and Mary Timony along with her crack rhythm section of Betsy Wright and Laura Harris filled […]
