Music

Surf rock legend Dick Dale takes to the stage at West Palm Beach’s SunFest tonight. Sandwiched in between early rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly and the British Invasion, surf rock briefly dominated the charts in the early ’60s. Its easily accessible rhythms and narratives of carefree adolescence conjure images of sun…

If you’re impatient, the idea that “good things come to those who wait” seems like the stuff of assholes or dummies. However, after living some life, I’ve found that though it’s uncomfortable to feel left behind, waiting often yields gratifying results. This is true for first kisses, getting your first…

Almost three years ago exactly, Lady Gaga performed back-to-back South Florida dates celebrating her immensely popular Fame Monster EP. Gaga seemed within reach of Madonna’s Queen of Pop crown. It was hard to argue the contrary. Hits like “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance” dominated the radio, while her wildly creative…

What might sound to you like just a fiery, Latin-fusion guitar solo peeking through the verse and chorus of that new chart-topper by [insert pop star here] is, in fact, the sound of Carlos Santana making more money. The guitar pioneer has helped to cast the mold for the modern…

When we heard Jimmy Buffett, the king crooner of Margaritaville and Land Shark lager, was playing these parts, we grabbed our leis and lawn chairs and headed over to Cruzan to watch him perform. And although there are still cheeseburgers in paradise, it was all the parrotheads that caught our…

From the get-go, DJ Scotty Solomon set the mood at Culture Room for the Stokeswood, Jimkata, and Warp9 show on Saturday night. Outside in the patio area, he played very chill, down-tempo, hip-hop mixes that were the perfect start to the evening, especially with all the high-intensity acts still to…

“Just another one hit wonder,” mused music critics when Sacramento, California alternative pop act Cake first came onto the scene in the’90s, with its pervasive hit “Going the Distance.” Led by singer John McCrea’s dissafected speak-sing style, its deep baselines, and heavy funk grooves, the song smothered commercial radio, cathcing…

In 1989, the year the Mavericks first convened, the divide between pop and country was still relatively wide. “Americana” was a term that hadn’t entered the popular lexicon just yet, and Nashville was by and large still off-limits to any artist who arrived sans a cowboy hat and a good-ol’-boy…

In this EDM-soaked world, mostly filled with producers or bands that keep things heavily produced with usually slim to no vocals (unless sampled), it’s very rare to find a group making electronic music that takes time to really craft their songs and lyrics. Jimkata are able to keep the room…

When drummer John Hartmann and guitarist Tom Johnston originally convened in Northern California as the final embers of the ’60s were slowly fading away, they formed a band whose modest intents would eventually make it one of the most popular bands ever. Joined by guitarist Patrick Simmons, multi-instrumentalist John McFee,…