Formerly, and most famously, the guitarist and musical point-man of Joan Jett’s band, the Blackhearts, Ricky Byrd has been called into the service of rock music royalty like the Who’s Roger Daltrey, Ian Hunter, and Southside Johnny. A product of the 1970s New York music scene, Byrd lived out his dreams,…
Better Than: Wait… is Daft Punk playing SX?! The dynamic indie-rock duo that is Pinback graced Fort Lauderdale’s Culture Room with a lengthy set of its twangy and twinkly compositions last night. The duo has been releasing albums of lush soundscapes for nearly 14 years, and last night’s performance provided an up-close…
Better than: Just about anything else to come from the shores of Jersey in the past 30 years, particularly the past five. There is an indelible timelessness to Southside Johnny’s music that is right up there with summertime on the beach, vintage American steel, and young love. Perhaps that was a…
Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain might very well be the nicest guy in heavy metal. The legendary British-born South Florida resident is frequently spotted at local metal concerts, signing autographs and smiling perpetually, taking care of business at his BBQ restaurant, Rock n Roll Ribs in Coral Springs, or participating…
For the Hives, Sweden’s ultimate contribution to the canon of “karrangin’ ” guitar chords and shouted choruses, it’s back to brass tacks these days. Their most recent release, the “cheaply” recorded and undeniably rocking Lex Hives, bottles some of the lightning that earned the band its reputation as one of…
For the Hives, Sweden’s ultimate contribution to the canon of “karrangin’ ” guitar chords and shouted choruses, it’s back to brass tacks these days. Their most recent release, the “cheaply” recorded and undeniably rocking Lex Hives, bottles some of the lightning that earned the band its reputation as one of…
The duality of the Beach Boys’ legacy is a hard pill to swallow for some fans, especially in recent times. Ask a well-studied fan’s opinion on megalomaniac Mike Love and you’re certain to get an earful regarding “Kokomo” or that time in 1988 when Love decided the best route to…
Better Than: Johnny Winter’s performance on the Crossroads Festival DVD There are increasingly fewer artists with a tangible and direct impact on the direction of blues music still working today. We have but one of the three Kings left in B.B., and Buddy Guy is hanging tough and arguably playing as well…
Better than: Andrew Dice Clay calling you a “snapperhead.”See also- Jealous Sound’s Blair Shehan on the Return of Melodic Punk: “People Crave Something Substantial”A tour package that had the goods to satisfy fans of any era of emotive rock music lured fans deep into the swamps of western Pembroke Pines…
For the Jealous Sound, the early aughts were a period of success. The Los Angeles based melodic-punk group found its way to the rosters of larger labels and grew to become a rather influential, though still somewhat underrated contributor to the emotionally-charged rock music of the period. But van life…
Actual country music, and also what the powers-that-be have named the twang-affected psuedo-rock or fiddle-touched pop music that drips out of Nashville’s never-ceasing production lines each year, holds the largest fan-base in music these days. Modern country artists sell records, they sell massive amounts of tickets, and they’re a hot…
Better than: Listening to Hatebreed albums at your Cross-Fit gym.Hatebreed currently has one of the top 20 records on the Billboard 200 list, and the Connecticut-based hardcore titans’ most recent release, The Divinity of Purpose, holds the sixth position on the rock charts. And while we could argue about the…
Better than: Beyonce’ lip syncing and stompin’ all over the stage at the Super Bowl. When it comes to contemporary artists within the realm of orchestral and operatic music, Italian born tenor Andrea Bocelli’s talent and work has been so widely appreciated and lauded on an international level that he stands…
Better than: Driving to Gainesville to watch the same bands and remember none of it.”Everyone’s a punk in October.”For those that don’t understand the reference, it points a rather crotchety finger at the droves that flock from around the state to Gainesville around Halloween every year to take in a…
It’s no secret that the Swedish brand of death-metal and its innumerable sub-dialects have had a massive impact on the heavy music world. But, occasionally, In Flames is left out of the conversation. The band grew from the same scene that sold a million Boss Hm-2 pedals via the exploits…
The essence of blues is rooted in sadness, so, while the concept of a “Sunshine” Blues Festival is a novel one, it is only appropriate that the day was spent beneath the cover of clouds and random torrents of rain.See also- Photos from Sunshine Blues Festival 2013- Derek Trucks of…
Better Than: Staying home and watching Palladia.In our experience, artists who file with the prefix “classic” before their genre face the inevitable loss of some of “the magic” with age.However, Paul Rodgers’ performance last night at Hollywood’s Seminole Hard Rock Live showed that he’s a man who deems himself above…
Better Than: Most of the shows we’ve seen since we saw the Darkness in 2004When New Times spoke with Darkness guitarist Dan Hawkins, he insisted that his band puts on a stadium-sized show literally every time it steps on stage — regardless of the venue, crowd size, or any other…
Hardcore-punk bands come and go, repeating a familiar cycle of building, imploding, growing up, moving on. In some rare cases, these groups stick around long enough to show the next generation how it’s done. Tradition, both oral and aural, is a major part of the volatile mixture that fuels the genre…
Rock ‘n’ roll — at least in its most essential form — will never truly die. The organism evolves, splits, and re-forms as time marches on, but at the end of the day, there is absolutely no substitute for what a band like the Darkness does. These British glam-rock revivalists…
If you’re a consistent follower of County Grind, you’re familiar with our birthday blogs. These pieces are usually a nice way to say “thanks” to artists we appreciate, and a great way for us to exercise of our trivia muscles and give muso-nerds everywhere a thread to troll. However, today we…
Fans of guitar greatness in South Florida enjoyed a pretty serious string of fantastic shows in 2012: Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Aerosmith, B.B. King, Brad Paisley, and what feels like countless other pickers and shredders. Hell, even the alternative six-string-sect had the opportunity to experience multiple encounters of the noise kind courtesy…
