ARTS Pick: Glenn Jones and Dais Queue

Glenn Jones first made his musical mark as a member of the experimental rock band Cul de Sac in the ’90s. His work with that group eventually led to him become the protégé of the legendary, beloved, and notoriously difficult John Fahey, who was then enjoying a late-career resurgence. Since Fahey’s passing a decade ago, […]

ARTS Pick: Cashless Society

Deriving its name from the loss of the Man in Black himself, Cashless Society embarks on a high-spirited, rambunctious mission to preserve the unique rockabilly sound that erupted from Memphis, Tennessee in the 1950s and ’60s. If audiences pause long enough between boisterous sets, they may notice that the lead guitarist donning the swagger of […]

ARTS Pick: Andrew Leahey

Abandoning rigid classical training at Juilliard for the free-spirited dominion of rock, alternative country, and Americana, Andrew Leahey and his backing band, the Homestead, create feel-good music with impressively refocused talent. Now comfortably at home in the music mecca of Nashville, the Richmond native found himself dreaming up his new EP, Summer Sleeves, while cruising […]

Garden state of mind: Andrew Cedermark’s ode to transience

For the past five years, Andrew Cedermark has consistently made some of the best and most vital rock music around: unpretentious and exuberant, quiet yet confident, messy and triumphant. But his career path has been a strange one, with several unexpected twists and turns, a story that is still being told as he cautiously finds […]

Down on the Bayou: Anders Osborne’s evolving New Orleans Sound

Through a two-and-a-half-decade career, Anders Osborne has consistently proven to be one of New Orleans’ most versatile musicians. Since releasing his debut album in 1989, Osborne has become a Crescent City mainstay, able to vary his sound from edgy Bayou blues (2001’s Ash Wednesday Blues) to introspective soulful folk-rock (2007’s Coming Down). He’s collaborated with […]

ARTS Pick: The Sweater Set

Contemporary folk duo Maureen Andary and Sara Curtin, a.k.a. The Sweater Set, first met as teens in a Washington, D.C. church choir. In the years since, the pair has taken their vocal training and friendship on the road, developing multi-instrument arrangements that include the ukulele, banjo, glockenspiel, and even the kazoo, layered with “elaborate lyrical […]

ARTS Pick: Gary Allan

Often appearing on stage in faded tees and ripped jeans, Gary Allan embodies the homegrown simplicity of country music. Injecting elegance into lyrics laden with manly understatement, Allan’s unpolished voice tells the stories of everyday life, love, joy, and pain. In his latest release, Set You Free, the California native proves that raw, unadulterated emotion takes on entirely new […]

Tried and true: Dwight Howard Johnson rides an irresistible formula

The pun-named Dwight Howard Johnson is neither a hotel chain nor a center for the Lakers, but rather a Charlottesville band. It plays appealing and charming pop rock, drawn from the timeless well of all pop rock bands, while reminding one of the 1990s, when such pop music was actually popular. The most obvious comparison […]

ARTS Pick: NYMPH

Transcendental whimsy With no less than seven members, spiritual rock group NYMPH blurs traditional musical genres to the point of nonexistence.  Deriving their visionary sound from the realm of free-jazz, the Brooklyn-based group weaves their way through pulsating African beats and jazz thrills to ethereal guitar harmonies, providing a musical trip across cultural, artistic, and […]

ARTS Pick: Two Gallants

This past year San-Franciscan folk rock duo Two Gallants returned from a five-year hiatus with a new sound on its ATO Records debut, The Bloom and the Blight.