Don’t be misled by the fact that the Howlin’ Brothers made their bow on Brendan Benson’s Readymade Records label. Howl has nothing to do with the modern pop motif that Benson is known for, both on his own and as a collaborator with Jack White in the Raconteurs. Howl is…

Bonnie Raitt with special guest Paul Brady Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino November 30, 2013 Better than: Ever? Bonnie Raitt is as feisty as ever at the age of 64. Here is a woman who was nurtured early on by such immortal legends as…

During a career that’s – so far – spanned well over 40 years, Bonnie Raitt established herself as an indomitable force in the music community. Known for her brilliant guitar work, bluesy ballads, searing, soulful vocals and, of course, mass of flaming red hair, it turns out, there’s plenty about…

The music cruise industry has really taken flight — or, shall we say, set sail — in recent years, spawned by a desire by fans and musicians alike to take the fun of a festival to sea. After all, music cruises offer certain advantages, specifically a variety of bands all…

Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman offers his insights, opinions, and observations about the local scene. This week: South Florida’s first festival and a memorable moment with Jimi Hendrix. In May 1968, South Florida had very little to boast about when it came to placing its imprint on…

Billing itself as America’s number-one Eagles tribute band, the Long Run is a group of South Florida musicians whose obvious love of all things Eagles is dedicated to the sole purpose of replicating the sound of music’s most successful chart-topping rock outfit of all time. Having made that their mission,…

Michael Bublé 
 BB&T Center, Fort Lauderdale
 November 2, 2013 Better than: Sinatra, but of course Sinatra’s no longer with us. So consider Bublé the heir apparent. Michael Bublé clearly deserves to be called the best lounge singer of this generation. His mastery of songs, both standards and those that…

Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman shares observations, insights, and updates relating to South Florida’s musical environs. This week, SOSOS’s Americana indulgence. I’ve mentioned it before in this column, but I suspect I’m slowly losing the argument. “South Florida has never been a haven for genuine Americana.” We…

The Grateful Dead. The Jefferson Airplane. Janis Joplin. Quicksilver Messenger Service. All these names are synonymous with the San Francisco music scene of the late ’60s. Yet, there’s another band that also made an indelible impression, and, at the same time, helped bridge the divide between rock and country in…

Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin were once considered Kings of Croon, and Michael Bublé is the heir apparent. Unlike Harry Connick Jr. or Josh Groban, Bublé possesses an everyday guy-next-door appeal. Oozing boyish charm and casual charisma, this well-scrubbed entertainer has, over the past decade or so,…

Born out of the ashes of Buffalo Springfield, the band that first brought Stephen Stills and Neil Young to prominence, Poco can rightly claim the distinction of being among the very first bands to make the crossover from rock to country. The term Americana is bandied about so freely these…

Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman offers his insights, opinions, and observations about the local scene. This week: A local shade of blues. There’s an old axiom that suggests all good things come to those that wait. Or something like that. But when the wait is 30 years,…

Christopher Moll’s musical ambitions have always extended far beyond South Florida. His previous band, the Postmarks, made a mark on the national — and international — scene, releasing a trio of excellent albums with a precious, semi-prog pop sound. Now, Moll is back with a new entry, a group formed…

When you’ve made ten albums over the course of 20 years and your songs have been featured on countless network television shows, you can feel pretty assured that you’ve hit on a successful formula. Yet if you’re singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson, you might feel there’s some reason to tweak your trajectory,…

Admittedly, Canada’s Barenaked Ladies weren’t always in the best position to be taken seriously. First of all, there’s that name, one of several tossed about when founding members and school chums Ed Robertson and Steven Page first conceieved the idea of forming a band. And then there’s those early songs…

John McEuen is a true traveling troubadour. He’s a musician whose spent the better part of the past 47 years making music on his own and as a member of the seminal Americana outfit the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, demonstrating his prowess on guitar, banjo, mandolin, and fiddle. Residing on…

There’s more than enough reason to have the blues these days, with the government shutdown, bickering between politicians, and the continuing absence of Twinkies on our local store shelves. So we figure we might as well just celebrate the feeling and sound, and get into the grove at the second…

Identity crisis isn’t generally a factor that pops up so early in a band’s career. So it’s somewhat unusual to find Augustines (formerly known as We Are Augustines) undergoing a name change after only a single album. It’s not a drastic makeover to be sure, but it may offer opportunity…

Jeff Beck and Brian Wilson with Al Jardine and David Marks Hard Rock Live, Hollywood September 27, 2013 Better than: The so-called Beach Boys that Mike Love is trumpeting as the real deal. No love for Love from this guy! Anyone who thought that teaming of Brian Wilson and Jeff…