Afrobeta Tops County Grind Live Music at Green Room January 14

County Grind and Fort Lauderdale’s Green Room are teaming up for the first of what we hope to be many nights of music, drinking, eating, and social behavior on Saturday, January 14. On that night, County Grind Live Music series at the Green Room (our pick for 2011’s Best Cultural…

Live: Brian Posehn at Culture Room, December 8

Brian PosehnWith Matt Z., Daniel Reskin, and MasticatorThursday, December 8, 2011Culture Room, Fort LauderdaleBetter Than: A night at your local open mic.If toiling away as an independent band on the mid-size club circuit seems thankless, just think — there are other forms of entertainment that are even more so. Independent…

DJ Jonathan Toubin Run Over by Cab While Asleep in Hotel Room

DJ Jonathan Toubin, host of Soul Clap vintage funk dance parties around the country and recently on the inaugural Bruise Cruise (pictured above), is in the hospital following a freak accident in Portland. The charismatic MC and showman has been a regular fixture in South Florida and a friend to…

Y100 Jingle Ball 2011: Flo Rida Added, Village Lineup Announced

Update: Here’s our review of the 2011 Y100 Jingle Ball at BankAtlantic Center.Here’s something that’ll give listeners a “Good Feeling” about Saturday’s Y100 Jingle Ball at BankAtlantic Center. Flo Rida has been added to the already stacked lineup! Between him and Pitbull, the 305 pop/hip-hop contingent just thickened considerably. Last…

Delta Spirit’s Matthew Vasquez: We Rediscovered Depeche Mode

It’s mid morning in America’s heartland, and once again, Delta Spirit is on yet another endless highway, this one midway between Dallas and Houston, Texas. No matter, though; they’ve spent the better part of the last two years spreading their nuanced country-tinged rock, and they couldn’t be more pleased. “In…

Devon Allman’s Honeytribe at Bamboo Room, December 8

With a last name like Allman, this son of the famous Gregg had almost impossible musical shoes to fill. What’s more, Devon chose to ply his guitar trade in more or less the same genre — blues rock — as his dad. Luckily, Devon possesses pretty good chops as both…

Nappy Roots at Speakeasy Lounge, December 9

In the mid-’90s, when Kentucky hip-hop group Nappy Roots first emerged, its unabashed, Southern-fried sound seemed downright weird in comparison to the East Coast boom-bap that ruled rap circles. And if anyone missed the fact that this group was proud of its country roots, there was the fact that its…

Saltwater Grass at Bamboo Room, December 10

Proving that the jam scene continues to be impossible to pigeonhole musically, Jacksonville seven-piece Saltwater Grass skips across nearly a dozen genres just from song to song. While some tracks like “Build It Up” are straightforward, almost blues-rock ditties, others wander into unpredictable territory. Fan favorite “We Use the Water”…

Y100 Jingle Ball 2011: Karmin Is Totally Crashing the Party

Update: here’s our review of the 2011 Y100 Jingle Ball.When we announced the Y100 Jingle Ball lineup back in October, there were more than a few people who were wondering about Karmin. Among them, County Grind. As it turns out, Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan are a couple who got…

Live: Paul Simon at Hard Rock Live, December 6

Paul Simon Hard Rock Live, Hollywood Tuesday, December 6, 2011 Better than: Garfunkel without Simon.At age 70, Paul Simon belongs to an elite but aging artistic fraternity whose membership also includes Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Kris Kristofferson. All singer/songwriters whose work is ingrained in the very fiber of popular culture, these are…

Jim Wurster on His Stepson’s Near-Death and Hired Hand

Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman offers his insights, opinions and observations about the local scene. This week: South Florida’s foremost Americana auteur collaborates on a project that resonates like a resurrection… It wasn’t that long ago that South Florida stalwart Jim Wurster was trumpeting the latest in a…

The Buzz 103.1 Killed by CBS Radio, Replaced by NOW 103.1

After 16 years on the air, as of 3 p.m. Monday the Buzz 103.1 FM is no more and “The Only Station That Really Rocks” in South Florida could be playing Lady Gaga right now.After Cox Radio dismantled 93 Rock last year at about this time, the West Palm Beach…

Red Hot Chili Peppers U.S. Tour Dates Kickoff in South Florida

The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ U.S. tour dates — their first live onslaught of this level since the 2007 Stadium Arcadium jaunt — begin right here in South Florida this coming January.Aside from a big, blistering set of new tunes from I’m With You, this tour will introduce RHCP’s recently…

Live: Buzz Bake Sale 16 at Cruzan Amphitheatre, December 3

Buzz Bake Sale 16With Awolnation, Seether, Chevelle, Hinder, Everlast, Adelita’s Way, Art of Dying, Middle Class Rut, Falling in Reverse, and OneCruzan Amphitheatre, West Palm BeachSaturday, December 3, 2011View a slideshow from the event here.Better than: Being so far away.Awolnation saved the 16th edition of the Buzz Bake Sale –…

Live: Wale at Revolution, December 1

Wale With Meek Mill, Pusha T and Black Cobain Revolution, Fort Lauderdale Thursday, December 1, 2011 Better than: A Thursday night in Coconut Grove. From zero to 60 and in a matter of seconds, the Washington D.C. native Wale got his performance at Revolution started with hard knocking “600 Benz.”…

Buzz Bake Sale: Staind Out, Awolnation In

The tone of the 2011 Buzz Bake Sale lineup has changed significantly in an instant: Staind has canceled a string of tour dates due to illness, including its headlining appearance Saturday at Cruzan Amphitheatre. But take heart, Buzz Nation. The gaping hole at the top of the lineup has been…

Kiss Kruise 2012: Mark Your Calendars for Halloween

Kiss die-hards don’t ever need to prep for what is an inevitable daily immersion in their favorite band, but getting on a boat is something above and beyond. County Grind found out all about it when we tagged along for the inaugural Kiss Kruise this past October. Our complete coverage…

The Beltones’ Bill McFadden: I Miss the Ocean and Publix Subs

The Beltones Cheap Trinkets (TKO Records) beltones.com Last year in September, we had the opportunity to revisit one of my favorite local platters from the ’90s, the Beltones’ Lock and Load seven-inch on the sorely missed Far Out Records. It was, as it usually is within these pages, a great…