Of the many roads that could be taken, The Alt—an Irish folk band comprised of John Doyle (guitar, bouzouki, vocals), Eamon O’Leary (guitar, bouzouki, vocals) and Nuala Kennedy (flutes, whistles, vocals)—chooses the beaten path on its music journey. The band’s self-titled debut is not, however, a collection of Irish tunes that are beloved by the […]
Of the many roads that could be taken, The Alt—an Irish folk band comprised of John Doyle (guitar, bouzouki, vocals), Eamon O’Leary (guitar, bouzouki, vocals) and Nuala Kennedy (flutes, whistles, vocals)—chooses the beaten path on its music journey. The band’s self-titled debut is not, however, a collection of Irish tunes that are beloved by the […]
Canadian chamber-folk group Beyond the Pale formed in 2001, employing expert musicianship and dynamic song-crafting to create a sound that takes from jazz, reggae and classical music, while being heavily accented by Balkan and Romanian tradition. The group crosses musical borderlines on instruments from around the world, including fiddle, accordion, guitar, mandolin, hammered dulcimer and […]
From the ambient, simplistic beats of her track “high,” to the steady, head-bobbing chord progression of her latest cut “nightmare weekend,” local talent Maria DeHart’s music is as varied and unique as the town she plays in. DeHart takes the stage to celebrate the release of her new EP, Fade, with the help of fellow […]
Luis Soler bought his first guitar for $30. It was a pawn shop find, “the worst possible guitar,” he says while nursing a pint of beer at Champion Brewing Company on Halloween eve. “Metallica,” “Slayer” and other metal band names were scratched into the guitar’s paint, says Soler, prompting throaty laughter from his Little Graves […]
Maxx Katz won a SOUP grant in 2016 that became instrumental in launching her project Floom, leading indirectly to Sunday’s release of Multi-Voice of the Immensity, a 38-minute track of flute, doomy guitar and voices. “If a performer rings their heart like a bell, it starts ringing everyone else’s,” Katz told C-VILLE after the win. […]
It might come as a surprise to learn that alt-J members conceive of themselves as a folk band. After all, the U.K. trio’s synths, patterns and rhythms don’t conjure the same aesthetic as an acoustic guitar-wielding troubadour. The experimental art-rock does, however, evoke its own brand of folklore. Take “Adeline,” a track from the group’s […]
On Seth Glier’s new album, Birds, he processes grief through songcraft, touching on themes such as a broken criminal justice system, capitalism through fracking and the fragility of life. The Grammy-nominated artist, who’s been compared to Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel, made the record in a revamped textile mill in western Massachusetts following the death […]
There’s no disputing that digital music and online platforms have radically changed how we listen to and discover music. The DIY scene has aced this technological inroad, benefiting from the access and control it gives to up-and-coming artists. Today’s unsigned musicians release their own music, book their own shows, eschew mainstream media and feel a […]
“They told Tom Petty that his first solo album wasn’t commercial enough. It had f**king “Free Fallin’” on it.” Drive-by Truckers’ Patterson Hood lists the first 10 things that come to mind in no particular order.
Beats and brotherhood Made up of brothers Tahir, Stephen and Courtney Panton Jr., along with their father, Courtney Panton Sr., New Kingston infuses urban style into its Jamaican heritage, bringing fresh innovation to its soulful, rhythmic reggae. Starting musical careers at an early age in New York, the family has become a vibrant force on […]