ARTS Pick: Gary Clark Jr.

With over 15 years of acclaim under his belt, it’s hard to believe Gary Clark Jr. is just releasing his debut album, Blak and Blu. His natural prowess on guitar first surfaced during his childhood in Austin, Texas, a city that declared an official Gary Clark Jr. Day while he was still in his teens. Prodigy […]

The mysterious Godspeed You Black Emperor! reunited and on tour

Formed in Montreal in the late ’90s, the band Godspeed You Black Emperor! took its name from a documentary about Japanese motorcycle gangs. The group added musicians and instruments as it grew, at one point totaling 15 members before whittling down to a nine-person line-up with two drummers, three guitarists, a bassist, and a three-piece […]

Interview: Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison finds his voice

When Scott Hutchison started writing songs, he wasn’t sure he wanted to be heard. He says he intentionally mumbled early in his career so people wouldn’t understand his lyrics. His band’s name, Frightened Rabbit, was taken from a nickname his mom gave him because he was such a shy kid. What a difference a bit […]

The many sides of Aoife O’Donovan’s talent

Aoife O’Donovan (pronounced ee-fah) has girl-next-door good looks, which makes it all the more shocking when she breaks into the opening lines of “Too Repressed,” a song she wrote for her folk trio Sometymes Why. “I wanna fuck you/But I’m too repressed/ I wanna suck you/but I can’t take off my dress,” she breathes on […]

ARTS Pick: Robert Jospé

Trace the evolution of one of American music’s most influential styles through the expert chops of jazz percussionist Robert Jospé and his music instructor colleagues—who straddle the line between players and professors—in an educational performance reflecting the history of jazz. Jospé and his quartet illuminate the music with works from the musicians and composers who […]

ARTS Pick: Eleanor Friedberger

Eleanor Friedberger may be best known as half of the crisp, jangly indie pop duo, Fiery Furnaces (currently on hiatus), but her sophomore solo effort, Personal Record, establishes her vocal prowess within a smooth mix of infectious production and a steady rock beat. Friedberger says that a love of music, and how it connects people, […]

ARTS Pick: The Meat Puppets

Is it time to miss the ’90s? If so, than it’s time to reconnect with the punky forefathers of grunge. The Meat Puppets are back with a new album, Rat Farm, and it’s filled with the flaunting style that influenced Kurt Cobain and hordes of flannel-sporting Gen Xers. With a few new members, the group […]

ARTS Pick: The White Animals

Nashville-based band White Animals blazed onto the Southeast music scene in 1980 when Dr. Kevin Gray quit his residency at Vanderbilt Hospital to start a band, and it became one of the hottest rock acts on the college party circuit. The foursome returns to Virginia for the first time in 30 years with its signature […]

ARTS Pick: Jessica Lurie and the Megaphone Heart Bands

A true instrumentalist, Jessica Lurie is an expert saxophone player, accordion player, and vocalist, accounting for the tremendous amount of praise she receives in the jazz community. The New Yorker is a real “jack of all trades” when it comes to her genre, and along with the Megaphone Heart Band, throws a complex melody over […]