Rickie Lee Jones has always made a point not to repeat herself. While commercial success came quickly thanks to her eponymous debut; its attendant hit single, “Chuck E’s in Love”; and Pirates, her highly praised sophomore set, the tangled trajectory she pursued thereafter gave way to critical drubbing and the…
Sure, David Bowie and Neil Young have kept their fans fascinated by their various shifts in style and persona, challenging listeners to anticipate where their muse would carry them next, but no one’s been more unpredictable than the former Declan Patrick MacManus. Better-known as Elvis Costello, the artist has managed…
It’s commonplace for musicians to juggle multiple projects at once, but few mount two tours at once the way guitar virtuoso Tim Reynolds does. It’s not enough that he spends a good portion of every year touring with the Dave Matthews Band. He’s got to spend his free evenings with…
If ever there was an individual destined to be a singer/songwriter, it would likely have been Robert Bidney. For one thing, he trained for it in a very practical sense. Working in an advertising agency his creative impulses were encouraged by writing the jingles for such big name clients as…
Rarely has a band been…
Admittedly, Canada’s Barenaked Ladies aren’t in the best position to be taken seriously. For starters, there’s their handle, chosen when school chums and founding members Ed Robertson and Steven Page initially exchanged ideas for band names. And then there’s the signature songs on which they built their decidedly wacky reputation…
Don’t ask Chris Carrabba why his band Dashboard Confessional is making a comeback. Never mind the fact that he and his outfit have been on a self-imposed hiatus for the past six years and that they haven’t had a tour or a new album since late in the last decade…
Roger Houdaille apparently doesn’t sleep. At least that’s the assumption one could make based on a prodigious output that includes five albums in a mere six years with his band Ex Norwegian — and before that, various outings with his earlier outfit, the equally inexplicably tagged Father Bloopy. Drawing on…
Joan Armatrading Parker Playhouse May 3, 2015 Better than: Many performers who dare go solo, sans accompaniment After spending more than a year on the road as part of what’s been touted as her last extensive world tour, Joan Armatrading had no reluctance at all in admitting she’s tired. “It’s…
It’s not always easy taking over the family business, especially when you’re forced to do it publicly and in the face of huge expectations. And when your dad was generally considered to be one of the greatest drummers of all time and his band pretty much set the standard for…
Joan Armatrading wants to make one thing perfectly clear. Her current tour will not be her last. Not even close. Once this world tour is completed, she will likely reenter the studio and produce some new music. What she won’t be doing is hitting the road for endless months at…
“I feel like I’m closing a circle,” Tom Paxton, one of America’s most iconic folk singers, reflects. “I’m looking forward to way off in the future, November 14, when I play in Alexandria, Virginia, at the Birchmere Theater, which is only ten minutes from my home. And then I’m going…
Eddie Money isn’t shy about his resume. “I’ve been getting really great reviews,” he breathlessly proclaims moments into the interview. “The band is amazing. I had twelve songs in the top 100. That’s kind of like a Billy Joel or Bon Jovi. I got a nice shout out by Lady…
There’s likely no one better-qualified to share the history of South Florida’s live music scene than Lee Tiger. As a founding member of the band Tiger Tiger, alongside his late brother Stephen, his career mirrored the evolution of Miami’s budding music industry. Likewise, as a Native American, he also knows…
Despite coming to prominence more than 40 years ago, the infectious sound of KC and the Sunshine Band still seems to be everywhere these days. Denizens of the dance floor still express delight when the DJ throws on a KC classic like “Shake, Shake, Shake (Shake Your Booty),” “Get Down…
“‘Bluegrass is going to be big this year’ is what I heard when I started playing around 1964, and every year after that for 20 years!” John McEuen of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recalls. And while “big” remains a relative term, he notes there has been an upward trend…
Reverend Peyton is the first to admit that the name he gave his outfit — Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band — is somewhat misleading. “We’ve had so many soundboard people ask us over the years, ‘How many channels do you need? I don’t know if our board is big enough!’…
“I don’t know about this weather lately. Everybody’s getting colds. I’ve had bronchitis. Oh man, it’s bad.” The weather classic rock band Vanilla Fudge’s founder, singer, and keyboardist Mark Stein is referring to isn’t related to the snow storms that have been plaguing our Northern neighbors. Actually, he’s complaining about…
In the mid- to late ’70s, Blue Öyster Cult was among the biggest bands in the musical stratosphere. Its records sold in the millions, and the band could claim three hit singles — “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” “Burnin’ for You,” and “Godzilla.” It was also a constant fixture on the…
Music changed forever during the heady days of the late ’60s. Indeed, while the bands may no longer be around, their legacies still survive thanks to the influence that resonated with so many musical acts that followed. The roll call of immortal outfits that left an indelible imprint reads like…
In the early and mid-’70s, only the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd typified the sound of Southern rock better than the Marshall Tucker Band. The band became one of the leading lights on the budding Capricorn Records label courtesy of their eponymous 1973 debut. Originally dubbed the Toy Factory, the…
South Florida’s live music scene is becoming one of the most robust in the nation. One measure of that vitality is the upcoming opening of a new venue called Lafayette’s in West Palm Beach. It’s the offshoot of an establishment with the same name currently located in Memphis, Tennessee. The…
