Ben Howard / Music Hall of Williamsburg / Brooklyn, NY
The room was packed and the energy high for a performance powerful enough to give Williamsburg a … Read more
Reviews
The John Jorgenson Bluegrass Band / West Social Center / Green Valley,…
Text and photos by Bob Gottlieb The John Jorgenson Bluegrass Group (John Jorgenson, Herb Pedersen, Jon Randall and Mark Fain) deliver bluegrass with a touch that no one else … Read more
The Call Featuring Robert Levon Been of B.R.M.C. – A Tribute to…
It is never easy to be the progeny of a great artist. Expectations are already heightened whenever the industry pricks up their ears at kin, particularly musical ones, stepping forward … Read more
Beth Harrington – The Winding Stream (Beth Harrington Productions)
It would be easy to make a documentary about Johnny Cash, June Carter and their careers and relationships, but instead, The Winding Stream chooses to focus on the roots of … Read more
Doug Seegers – Going Down To The River (Rounder)
You’ll swear he’s the guy who… or the one who did the song that… but if you’ve ever heard Doug Seegers before this album, it was likely on some street … Read more
Weezer / Bowery Ballroom / New York, NY
Weezer is a band with a complicated history. They have spent most of their career alternating between … Read more
Top Picks From This Year’s CMJ Music Marathon
As NPR tastemaker Bob Boilen so pithily described CMJ: “60 something bands in five days. Lots of pizza & friends.” Though our tally of CMJ performances may not quite match … Read more
Robert Plant – lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar (Nonesuch)
When discussing Robert Plant’s solo work, all reviewers worth their column space must be as stone determined not to fall into hollow Led Zeppelin comparisons in their writing as Plant … Read more
Matt the Electrician
I acquired this deceptively simple CD during the Americana Music Festival in September, and am just now—with difficulty—taking it out of rotation. Matt the Electrician pens lovely tunes with hooks … Read more
King Biscuit Blues Festival / Helena, Arkansas
Text and photos by Ali Kaufman This past April, I made my first trip down the “Blues Highway” (US Route 61). That trip took me as far as Clarksdale, MS … Read more
