So this was it. The culmination of a 40th anniversary (for The Specials) and forty years of me wanting to see the band. This is one of the longest trips Adrienne and I have taken to see a band, and …
Jun 12 2019
Don Dixon and Secret Monkey Weekend at Imbibe, Chapel Hill NC
This was not a typical show for Don Dixon, the North Carolina rock legend, voice of Arrogance, and fine solo artist. Seated on stools coffeehouse style, were Don, guitar in hand, alongside novelist John Bare, who read from his book …
Jun 4 2019
The Figgs live at The Cave, Chapel Hill NC and Heyday Guitars, Winston-Salem NC
(The Figgs at The Cave)
I was going to start this particular review by discussing how the Figgs should be playing much bigger venues, should be getting bigger crowds, etc. etc. But after seeing this astoundingly good band two nights …
May 28 2019
Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets - Love Starvation EP
I recently read an article that said Nick Lowe was in the ‘third act’ of his career. This EP, three original songs and a somewhat obscure cover, along with last year’s 4-track Tokyo Bay EP (www.tinyurl.com/tokyolowe), …
May 17 2019
Moogfest Moments 2019 Part 2 or Clem Burke is not a Metronome
Part of the Moogfest manifesto is the celebration of inventiveness and ingenuity in electronic instruments. Thursday’s programming in the big hall of CTD celebrated a blending the earliest mechanized playback--the piano roll--and later innovation--the Moog-Buchla PianoBar in what Money Mark …
May 13 2019
Tyler Ramsey Live at the Bohemian Cafe, Greenville SC
(Track used with express permission of Tyler Ramsey)
Asheville’s Tyler Ramsey is a local treasure. This was his third visit to The Bohemian, and not only is he an amazing, evocative guitarist and singer/songwriter, but he is also one of …
May 2 2019
Babylon: The Movie
It's great to see a movie that fills in lots of holes in your musical knowledge. Babylon is a very British film from 1980 that was co-written by Martin Stellman, who wrote Quadrophenia, and directed by Italian-born Franco Rosso. …
Apr 30 2019
Moments from Moogfest 2019: Part One
So this was my 4th year at the (now) Durham-based festival that bills itself as celebrating “Future Sound/Future Thought.” Each year the festival seems to suffer some whispered rumors about major management, planning, and booking upheavals, and reported glitches, whispers…
Apr 29 2019
Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets at The Orange Peel, Asheville NC
I Love The Sound Of Wrestling Masks It had been less than a year since I saw Nick and the Straitjackets at the much smaller Grey Eagle in Asheville. It was a great show and I was 20 feet away …
Apr 26 2019
Peter Holsapple Combo Live at The Station, Carrboro NC
This was the fourth week of the Peter Holsapple Combo ‘residency’ at The Station; meaning that they were playing every Tuesday night in April, and featuring a special guest every week. I’ve seen the Combo about four times in the …
Apr 3 2019
Secret Monkey Weekend At Magnolia Music Cafe,Wake Forest NC
Imagine a band, a family band, where the singer and guitarist is the dad, and the bassist/backup singer is his 16 year old daughter, and the drummer/ other lead singer is his 11 and a half year old daughter. This …
Mar 28 2019
Whitey Morgan and The 78’s at The Blind Tiger, Greensboro NC
It’s always good to step into someone else’s scene. Whitey Morgan is an artist I wasn’t aware of until a few months ago. He is a real-deal honky-tonk king, carefully following in the footsteps of Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard, …