After striking gold on her very first attempt with “Heartbreaker,” an anthem for outrage, Pat Benatar’s grip on the charts was as firm as her spandex outfits from the early ’80s on. “I Need a Lover” (written by the then-unknown John “Cougar” Mellencamp), “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” “Treat…
Over the past 30 years or so, Alan Parsons has created a reliable musical brand by recruiting the talents of high-profile contributors and presiding over the proceedings with his name on the marquee. Valid Path follows the same formula, even as it marks Parsons’ continued transition from old school to…
Dr. John, AKA Mac Rebenack, has undergone a number of incarnations in a career that spans nearly 50 years, from the acid-tinged voodoo of his Night Tripper persona to his role as one of New Orleans’ most revered champions of American musical tradition. After several outstanding albums elaborating on the…
An avant-garde effort by two disparate bands trying to bridge the expanse between experimental jazz and neoclassical composition, The Nitrate Hymnal is odd yet ambitious. Punk veterans the Gena Rowlands Band and fusion cooperative Anti-Social Music have pooled their ambitions to create a sparse, idealized narrative about an old woman…
Dear Mainstream Music Machine, When I’m forced to consider all the Britneys and Jessicas you’ve manufactured, I thank the Lord you’ve overlooked Susan Tedeschi. In your world of oversexed teenaged hacks, shiny hair extensions, and even shinier new breasts, you seem to drive talent out beyond the city limits, throw…
It’s become an annoying trend, the recent attempt by onetime rockers to reinvent themselves and thereby salvage their careers by making albums stocked with standards. If the blame’s to be laid on anyone, point the microphone at Linda Ronstadt. After wearing out her welcome on Top 40 radio following a…
Although he took his musical apprenticeship with the legendary Junior Wells, Albert Castiglia doesn’t just cruise through the blues. A consummate showman, Castiglia peppers his performances with witty repartee, offbeat and impromptu asides, original songs, and material mined from a diverse classic-rock repertoire. The Coral Gables homeboy and fixture on…
There’s generally more than a hint of pretension linked to artists who choose to be known by a single moniker. Madonna, Prince, Nelly, Ludacris — Liberace? Could be there’s more invested in branding than in craft with some folks. So why should we believe that someone who refers to herself…
It bills itself simply as that “Little Ol’ Band from Texas,” but considering that its pedigree stretches back some 35 years, ZZ Top might be the best-known power trio since Cream. The band’s videos pass off a slapstick image — two front men boasting huge amounts of facial hair, wide-eyed…
All the media attention that’s been heaped on pop-rockers Rilo Kiley since the release of their third album, 2004’s More Adventurous, may have induced a sense of déjà vu for the band’s two principals. After all, singer Jenny Lewis and guitarist/vocalist Blake Sennet established their showbiz cred as child stars…
Singer, songwriter, film actor, and big band leader (or, to trade on the name of one of his more steadfast ensembles, “Large Band” leader) Lyle Lovett found his ill-fated marriage to actress Julia Roberts and a piled-high pompadour earning him more tabloid time than any amount of accolades accorded his…
Frankly, it’s hard to imagine a better bill than Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers paired with their special guests, the Black Crowes. They’re both traditional rock bands initially inspired by retro references, Petty and pals offering homage to the Byrds while the Crowes mimic Free, the Faces, the Stones, and…
Quick — name some things that Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson have in common. Forget the fact that these old masters both tour incessantly; cynics would suggest they’re each kinda craggy and croon as if suffering from terminal post-nasal drip. Whatever… the common bonds make their current double bill appear…
John Denver may have crooned the classic ode to Rocky Mountain highs, but it’s the Samples who currently exude those idyllic notions in both music and mindset. Wielding an irrepressible blend of stoner sentiment, hippie idealism, and jam band finesse, this Colorado quintet has spent the past two decades crafting…
Nothing suggests the spirit of New Orleans like crawdads, Cajun cooking, the mayhem of Mardi Gras, and of course, the Neville Brothers Band. With the release of their 16th album, 2004’s Walkin’ in the Shadow of Life, the soulful siblings — Art, Charles, Aaron, Cyril, and Ivan — mark their…
Ten years ago, the Album Leaf’s main man, Jimmy LaValle, was part of San Diego hard-core noise demons the Locust. “I played keyboards,” he says. “And screamed.” He went on to play guitar, drums, and bass in three different seminal indie bands, inching away from bombast toward the peaceful melodicism…
After enduring enough anguish to haunt several lifetimes — the deaths of his brother and a band mate, battles with booze and drugs, and two marriages to Cher (commemorated via the aptly-titled Two The Hard Way) — Gregg Allman survives and thrives 35 years after he and the Allman Brothers…
Forget the fact that we reside at sea level and the beat of our streets has more to do with bongos than banjos. While the Yonder Mountain String Band’s down-home sound may seem out of step with our urban environs, there’s a definite exhilaration that results when this Colorado quartet…
