I first heard Eric Johnson’s guitar playing when his debut album Tones came out in the mid 1980s. I had never heard anything like it. Nobody had heard anything like it! Since then whenever the Austin native put out something new, I felt I owed it to myself to hear […]
Live Music
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Follow the link to hear songs from Spoon’s eighth studio album played live and a conversation with the fab Alisa Ali and enjoy a flashback to the fellas at Governors Ball (as well as The Strokes) in this video…
Here’s a peek back to Robert Plant’s killer show at BAM in September. The mighty re-arranger never fails to satisfy. Zeppelin? We don’t need no stinkin’ Zeppelin!
Jack White is the 21st century riff-meister! Here’s a flashback to his Governors Ball performance in June – About 100 seconds of the instrumental track High Ball Stepper from Lazaretto.
British rocker Nick Lowe put out an appealing Christmas album last year called Quality Street and he’s bringing his Quality Holiday Revue back to the Bowery Ballroom tonight (Sunday the 14th of December 2014) and the Music Hall of Williamsburg next Saturday 20th of December 2014. Here’s a look back […]
The Hold Steady have become an essential New York band since coming together in Brooklyn about eleven years ago. Three of the guys live in Greenpoint within a few blocks of each other with the remaining members in Manhattan and Memphis. I spoke with Craig Finn and Tad Kubler (pronounced […]
Cool event last night at the intimate Marlin Room (capacity 500) at Webster Hall with Thurston Moore. It was a free show presented by Norton Antivirus and Pandora that you had to RSVP for and it featured an open bar – really! The former Sonic Youth guitarist/singer is now living in […]
Holiday Cheer for WFUV is a brilliant annual event – the last 5 years of its 10 year life at The Beacon Theatre – that raises dough for non-commercial New York City rock radio station WFUV, as well as her sister The Alternate Side. The last few years have featured […]
The Super Soul Revue last Thursday through Saturday at The Apollo was an excellent reminder at the tremendous talent found on Daptone Records. As I’ve been spending some time recently with the outstanding Burnt Offering by The Budos Band, I was keen to capture a taste of their performance and […]
The Figgs have been doing it right for 27 years. Here’s a peak at their recent CMJ Music Marathon show at The Rock Shop. They will be back in NYC Friday 12/12/2014 at Bowery Electric.
It was a good take at The Apollo on Saturday with not only The Wailers and Lauryn Hill but Maxi Priest and Third World as well on hand for a star-studded Bob Marley tribute show. I spoke with Dwayne Anglin about his unlikely journey from Jamaica to New Jersey to […]
The Wailers’ Dwayne Anglin spoke eloquently before a show at The Apollo Theater about reggae’s message and its meaning when faced with the Ferguson reality; mentioning Marcus Garvey and Dr. Martin Luther King in context of protests on 125th Street in Harlem.
I asked Itzhak Perlman about all the awards he has – including but hardly limited to a Kennedy Center Honor celebrating his distinguished achievements and contributions to the cultural and educational life of our nation, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in the recording arts, a Medal of Liberty […]
Robert Randolph & The Family Band were back at it last night at the Brooklyn Bowl. Their annual residency is up there with turkey and pumpkin pie in the delights of late November. Here’s a look at Randolph wailing on pedal steel and a flashback to our conversation from last […]
Ace Frehley, who is touring behind his new disc Space Invader showed off his old tricks – and a few new ones – to the delight of a packed house at BB Kings.
Stephin Merritt topped an impressive lineup at Le Poisson Rouge in the West Village and offered a handful of Magnetic Fields’ faves to celebrate the release of the third issue of Radio Silence, a San Francisco based magazine whose stock in trade is the cross-fertilization of authors and musicians. It’s […]
When The Wytches’ Kristian Bell tested his microphone before this interview and session for WFUV’s The Alternate Side in The Bronx, he said “We Have Assumed Control!” Evidently this is KB’s preferred phrase for checking levels because he applauded me as the first person who recognized that he was referencing the […]
Here’s a peek at ex-Grateful Dead veteran Phil Lesh and his musical Friends doing their thing at The Capitol Theatre! This weekend the lineup is John Kadlecik, Keller Williams, Jason Crosby and Joe Russo. Next Weekend (the 28th and 29th) it’ll be Anders Osborne, Marco Benevento, Stu Allen, Joe Russo and special […]
What a showman – What a band! Gedeon Luke and The People really killed it at Brooklyn Bowl on Friday night.
The 8 night residency of Seu Jorge is a testament to the enduring appeal of the tasteful and tuneful Brazilian musician who spoke to me about his David Bowie covers and – despite singing in Portuguese in a New York room – transcended any language barriers with his captivating performance.
Eric Johnson & Mike Stern are, of course, tremendous guitar players with chops of doom – but they are also great listeners and intuitive partners – who are thrilled to be teaming up on stage and on their rewarding new album Eclectic. [Not a valid template]
QQ rocks the mic a little, talks about the serious burning of the candle at both ends he did while establishing himself as Jamaica’s youngest dancehall reggae star, and reveals how he came up with Stukie and One Drop.
The Allman Brothers played their last show this week – at The Beacon – after 45 years of kicking ass. It was a three set tour de force that ended well after 1 AM. Here’s what Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks had to say about their beginnings in the group […]
Blues singer and guitarist Jr. Mack resides at Terra Blues in the West Village when not frying bigger fish.
While raising dough for Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit music education charity, Cheap Trick, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Alice Cooper lead an astonishing parade of artists singing the songs of Joan Jett – sometimes with JJ herself.