This past Thursday on WFUV, all the jocks immersed themselves and anyone listening in the world of 1969. With references to cultural tidbits from politics, film, television, popular culture, and only one mention that it was my birth year, we did a deep dive on the phenomenal music that year […]
New Music Release
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Early in Jack White’s career, when he partnered with Meg White in The White Stripes, it would be reasonable to say that he was a disciple of Leonardo da Vinci, who is credited with the quote, “Art lives from constraints and dies from freedom.” White consistently put limitations on the duo, […]
In September I had a golden opportunity for a lifelong fan of ZZ Top, an invitation to talk with Billy Gibbons for about an hour in front of an audience at The Iridium. The show was taped for Speakeasy TV who distribute the show through PBS. It is airing tonight […]
With ties to the Catskills as well as New York, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds have built a reputation as a stomping, brass-soaked, eight-piece live band rooted in traditional rhythm and blues. The band’s new album, Gold, is released as a solo work by Sister Sparrow although The Dirty […]
Andrew Hozier-Byrne, who records as Hozier, is friendly and unassuming in person. I met him on a Friday afternoon in September in the photograph-lined offices of Columbia Records on Madison Avenue following a busy week in which the 28-year-old Irishman performed three sold-out shows at the Beacon Theatre and also […]
The video for the new song Roman Cars was released this week following a show by Bill Janovitz and Chris Colbourn in Soho this month that was unusual in a couple of ways. It offered the chance to see Buffalo Tom as a drummer-less duo and do it in the homey, […]
I spoke with Steven Van Zandt at Carroll Studios in Hells Kitchen before the group blasted through a pair of tunes from the Soulfire album for WFUV Public Radio. Vaz Zandt spoke about his latest album but also looked back on how a hurricane helped he and Southside Johnny create […]
Adam Clayton of U2 called me while I was on air at WFUV on Wednesday night! The occasion was the release of You’re The Best Thing About Me, the first new album track from Songs of Experience which will be released on December 1st. They also performed the song on the […]
As a founding member of Sonic Youth, Lee Ranaldo etched his name into the canon of New York rock artists during his 30-year tenure with the group, from 1981 to 2011. His inventive guitar playing, built upon unusual tunings, sprung from the city’s downtown experimental ‘No Wave’ scene and had […]
Tina Guo, the exciting and accomplished cellist and erhu player, turned up in New York this week. Her first love as well as her first training was in the classical realm but Guo’s playing evinces an enthusiasm for music across a wide array of genres. The Shanghai born, California raised and based […]
Thievery Corporation are back with a new album, The Temple Of I & I, that was recorded in Jamaica and is the most dramatic manifestation of their career-long fascination with the music of that island. When Rob Garza and Eric Hilton first got together in DC in the mid 90s […]
As anyone vaguely aware of Talib Kweli knows, the man can spit with the best of ’em and arguably offers more thought-provoking words per song than anyone in the game. The lyrics of Palookas from 2011’s Gutter Rainbows – “You ain’t gotta verse better than my worse one” – would […]
Anything Could Happen: Tommy Stinson Talks Bash & Pop 2.0 – Anything Could Happen by Bash & Pop released 1/20/17 Nothing not to like about the new Bash & Pop record. Tommy Stinson, now safely nestled upstate in Hudson, got some pals together in his home studio with the intention […]
London Haydn Quartet Share Music Of Composer They Love – At The Morgan Library and Museum 1-12-17 It was a great opportunity to hear beautiful music under ideal conditions when The London Haydn Quartet took the stage in the concert hall at The Morgan Library and Museum on Thursday. The […]
Jake Clemons Steps Off E Street To Deliver Solo Debut – Fear & Love released 1-13-17 Jake Clemons has performed more than admirably since stepping into the oversized shoes of his Uncle Clarence in 2012 as sax player in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. The Boss’s crew draws heavily on the personality […]
Martha Wainwright CD Release Party At Le Poisson Rouge – November 18, 2016 Martha Wainwright is the daughter of two accomplished singer songwriters: American Loudon Wainwright III and Canadian Kate McGarrigle who died almost seven years ago. She inherited great expectations along with royal musical blood. Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole is the […]
Jojo Makes Triumphant Return With Mad Love – Her First Album As An Adult & Her First In A Decade It was a delight to meet Jojo whose Massachusetts/New Hampshire roots are close to mine. She takes pride in being from New England and both states are represented among her […]
As it always is with that most exciting of trios, it was my pleasure to take in the Soulive show a few weeks as part of the Louis Armstrong Wonderful World Festival at Flushing Meadows Park. At that time, Eric Krasno revealed in an interview that he has a Central […]
Living Colour Covers Biggie In Stand Against Gun Violence – Who Shot Ya Mixtape Coming Next Month Living Colour have offered a sneak peek at their new video that will accompany their song Who Shot Ya to be released on September 9th as part of an Andre Betts produced mixtape […]
D Generation Celebrate Comeback Album At Irving Plaza – July 30, 2016 “We always liked bands that had melodic kind of pop songs; groups like The Replacements and Cheap Trick and T-Rex. You’re taking something really nasty with the melody and the two are fighting against each other and you […]
New Documentary Film: Miss Sharon Jones – playing this week in NYC “Her spirit is driven by music, and this was always her source of inspiration to continue onwards, despite the odds. Sharon makes you believe in anything.” – Barbara Kopple As a lover of her music as well as […]
Jeff Buckley’s You And I was released on 3-11-16. It was met with praise from artists like Adele and Chris Cornell among many others, especially here in NYC, who were touched and continue to be touched by his music. The two men who were in the studio with Jeff Buckley […]
PINS Set To Drop In On NYC As a fan of PINS, having been exposed to their first record Girls Like Us as well as the follow up Wild Nights released last summer, I was determined to seek them out in Austin. Even though it wasn’t especially convenient to hop […]
Hiromi Plays In Colors, At Highline Ballroom This Week (3/30 & 3/31) Whew – Hiromi can play! As she explained when I had a chance to speak with her this week, she was born in Hamamatsu so she she shares a hometown with the manufacturer of the pianos she plays […]
Basia Bulat, The Kills Impress At SXSW – On Way To NYC I’m a relative rookie when it comes to Basia Bulat but got turned on to her not so long ago by hearing her stuff on WFUV and began to fall under her spell. I saw BB when she […]