Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Infamous Stringdusters had a pretty good year last year. Indeed, it seems almost clichéd to lead with such a statement, despite its truth. After all, the Stringdusters have been on a steady rise for nearly seven years, and the band didn’t hit the lofty critical heights […]
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Infamous Stringdusters had a pretty good year last year. Indeed, it seems almost clichéd to lead with such a statement, despite its truth. After all, the Stringdusters have been on a steady rise for nearly seven years, and the band didn’t hit the lofty critical heights […]
When Juan Wauters emigrated from Uruguay to Queens, New York in the early aughts, he brought a love of music that was nurtured into maturity in the borough that brought us the Ramones. In his debut solo record, N.A.P. North American Poetry, Wauters delivers effortless hooks and sentimental lyrics with a heavy folk influence. The […]
Restless musical innovator Béla Fleck is known for taking the banjo on a wide range of sonic journeys. The 15-time Grammy winner brought his instrument to the outer limits of improvisational jazz with his lauded outfit the Flecktones and explored its roots in Africa through the documentary Throw Down Your Heart. These days, Fleck is […]
Throw the word “post” before the name of a music genre, and it can pretty much mean whatever you want it to. The members of Future Islands, an act caught somewhere in the limbo between indie rock and electronic dance music, once called themselves a “post-post” band. Fortunately, the three-piece outfit is willing to get […]
Sunny California meets the Aloha spirit in the alt-reggae troupe Iration, comprised of childhood friends Joseph Dickens, Adam Taylor, Cayson Peterson, Micah Pueschel, and Joseph King. The five-piece is currently gigging on its third release, Automatic, which features a collaboration with Cage the Elephant guitarist Lincoln Parish. The album skyrocketed up the Billboard and iTunes […]
Mention hand drums to most metal heads and you’re likely to get virulent responses, or worse. But the members of local band Blooddrunk Troll prove that hippie drums can be hardcore. John Jones, the dark master of the hand drum, bangs out serious beats on his djembe, laying the foundation for Luke “Beer Troll” Smith’s […]
Experience runs thicker than blood with dynamic folksters Kopecky Family Band. Shared circumstances rather than chromosomes drew the six Nashville natives together to form a group with thoughtful, emotive lyrics and booming, intelligent musical arrangements. Its latest record, Kids Raising Kids, experiments with sound, building on the rich country history and playful pop beats that […]
Brett Dennen has a knack for writing upbeat hits. At least once on each album, he lays down a jaunty single that toe-taps its way up the charts. It turns out, that’s exactly in line with Dennen’s personality. Preparing to get on a jam cruise out of Miami on Valentine’s Day, Dennen was giddy—and possibly […]
Trouble, Hospitality’s sterling sophomore record, announces itself by proffering a warning. “If you go to sleep, dear,” warns guitarist and singer Amber Papini on “Nightingale,” “you’ll see ghosts in your bed.” Later, she cautions against other mythical creatures—sirens, vampires—that threaten sleepers. But Papini said the trouble that inspired the record is a bit more existential. […]
Pop-soul throwback Lake Street Dive’s music is kind of like all these Spiderman movies, to loosely paraphrase drummer Michael Calabrese. “There is this whole thing right now in our culture of reaching back and trying to do something new with old ideas and make sense of them in our modern time,” he told C-VILLE Weekly […]