What makes a scene? How does it happen? More specifically, how did the sleepy Southern college town of Athens, GA become a powerful and influential beacon for indie culture and music?  It’s all here in Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, …Read more

Without warning, they just did it: here’s Alphabetland. Los Angeles’ original punk rockers X just released their first record in 35 years with their original lineup. Dropped via Bandcamp and Fat Possum Records with no advance warning, Alphabetland is …Read more

 

 

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift Live Online for Nashville Tornado Relief Part 2  We love to blog about the shows, films, music, tv, books and even the occasional art exhibit we see. In the days of social distancing precautions, artists …Read more

 

Kind and weird.   Those are the two words that come to mind when I think of Katja Blichfeld and Ben Sinclair’s remarkable HBO series High Maintenance. Blichfeld is an Emmy award winning casting director known for her work on 30 …Read more

I’ve seen Arrow Beach, a Triangle based NC band, twice (tinyurl.com/zubbeach). I’ve seen the lineup change and become friends with them, and I have to say they are without a doubt one of my favorite bands. The band …Read more

 

Drugs have always been a thing in rock and roll. The bands that I grew up with, from The Beatles to The Stones to The Velvets, Iggy, Bowie, etc. all were well versed in drugs. It’s funny for me, someone …Read more

 

 

My first pandemic series binge. I’d like to say a little bit about the 9-episode series of Watchmen on HBO. First of all, I know this is a very beloved comic from the DC comics world. I personally am not …Read more

 

For over a month, Steve Nieve (best known in Zub circles as Elvis Costello’s longtime keyboardist) has been streaming cozy piano-based salon shows from his home in Normandy, France. The “Daily Improvisation” shows, recently dubbed The Immobile Tour, are …Read more

 

This 2017 movie is about the creation, production, and touring of Iggy Pop’s Post Pop Depression record. Co-directed by Joshua Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age) and photographer Andreas Newman, this is one amazing, astounding music film. The people at …Read more

 

If you are a Zubland regular, you know I am a huge fan of Peter Holsapple and his (now disbanded) combo. We did an extensive Podcast about the dB’s a while back at tinyurl.com/zubamplifier. Peter’s solo career went on…

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Game Theory, the San Francisco based band led by Scott Miller, was one of the most influential pop bands of the 1980’s. They are one of those ‘greatest bands you never heard of’ types. They existed in several line-ups led …Read more

 

For someone who is such a fan of his father, the late Ian Dury (tinyurl.com/zubreasons), I know very little about Baxter Dury’s career. I knew he had released a record or two but The Night Chancers is actually …Read more

When my family moved from a series of college towns in the midwest to the foothills of North Carolina, I experienced a bit of a culture shock. The 1974 talent show of my country K-8 featured an uncool Elvis tribute, …Read more

We love to blog about the shows, films, music, tv, books and even the occasional art exhibit we see. In the days of social distancing precautions, artists are moving their works to streaming platforms and Zub is going there with…

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I’m a stone cold Beatles freak and have read way, way too many books about this band. Kenneth Womack, a dean of English at Monmouth University, has written an excellent book about the making of Abbey Road. It seem …Read more

 

We have sung the praises of Will Birch’s fantastic new biography, Cruel to Be Kind: The Life and Music of Nick Lowe with a mini pod (tinyurl.com/zubprewill) and a maxi interview podcast (tinyurl.com/zubcruel) and even posted …Read more

 

 

We love to blog about the shows, films, music, tv, books and even the occasional art exhibit we see. In the days of social distancing precautions, artists are moving their works to streaming platforms and Zub is going there with…

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I just saw Pylon Reenactment Society (aka PRS) a week before this at The Earl with The Bongos. They were wonderful and had a great show. What changes in a week? Well, honestly, not much. The Foundry is a very …Read more

 

Much like Greenville’s Hyperchina, I have to tell you Secret Monkey Weekend are one of my favorite bands. I have been involved in a great recording project with them that we will talk more about in the future. This Durham, …Read more

 

Florence Dore is a singer and songwriter who is also a professor of Literature at The University Of North Carolina. She has written a fine book called Novel Sounds that connects Southern Literature with rock and roll. She also released …Read more

 

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Hyperchina. I have recently recorded and produced their first CD, so I am pretty familiar with the band and their music. I like them because they are a local band in my…

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            This was a night of discovery. Once again, due to my pal Russell, I was inserted into a musical scene that is not my own. Usually when I write about a band, I know them pretty much back to front. …Read more

 

       

 

                      Pylon Reenactment Society just keeps getting better. The Athens, GA band is led by original Pylon singer Vanessa Briscoe-Hay and was formed as a tribute to her former band (see our Pylon Podcast at tinyurl.com/zubcrazy), but as they have …Read more

 

I’m a guy that knows a thing or five about guitars. You may know I’ve been a musician, guitarist, and bassist for over three decades. I also ran and owned a musical instrument shop, so I have quite a bit …Read more