By Al Kaufman Eliot Bronson is the type of songwriter who could squeeze out something meaningful about taking out the trash. He writes heartfelt songs with dark humor and backs them with his resonant voice and swampy instruments. Back in his hometown of Baltimore, he was dubbed a “folk-singing wunderkind.” He then moved to Atlanta […]
By Al Kaufman San Francisco’s Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers spend a lot of time on the road. The band, with Nicki on vocals, husband Tim Bluhm (of The Mother Hips) and Deren Ney on lead guitar, Steve Adams on bass , Dave Mulligan on rhythm guitar, and Mike Curry on drums released Driftwood in […]
By Al Kaufman If you’re old enough to remember to Athens music invasion of the ‘80s, you have a friend in A Fragile Tomorrow. Although they hail from Charlestown, SC, twin brothers Sean (vocals, guitar) and Dom (drums, piano) Kelly, their brother Brendan Kelly (guitar), and friend Shaun Rhoades (bass) seem as Athens as REM. […]
By Al Kaufman It’s fair to say that women in rock have to be tough. The women who have made it in this “man’s world”, like Patti Smith, Chrissie Hynde, Debbie Harry, and Joan Jett, are all women most guys would not want to meet in a dark alley at 2 a.m. But there’s also […]
By Al Kaufman Denver is on its way to becoming the next big music town. First, the Lumineers took off after toiling in the Mile-High City. Up next may very well be Paper Bird. This seven-person collective will release Rooms on March 26th , and have released the first single, the sweetly harmonious “As I Am.” A […]
Sol Driven Train Underdog By Al Kaufman Sol Driven Train is made up of a bunch of happy guys from Charleston, SC who love making music and probably listened to a lot of Jimmy Buffett as kids. Their songs consist of loose, rootsy melodies infused with horns. They sing carefree songs about the glories of […]
Tegan & Sara Heartthrob Warner Brothers By Al Kaufman The indie pop darlings have discovered the ‘80s. The goal of the seventh album for the Canadian twin sisters was to write a batch of fun ‘80s synth-pop love songs, but add an undertone of darkness. They succeeded. Ditching their producer from the last two albums, […]
Trixie Whitley Fourth Corner Strong Blood By Al Kaufman There is a lot in a name. A name can be a hindrance and a help. In Trixie Whitley’s case, it is both. The name “Trixie” may conjure up a Southern girl yodeling and drawling her way through the wonders of trailer park life. But Whitley […]
Erin McKeown Manifestra TVP Records By Al Kaufman Longtime fans of Erin McKeown have watched her evolve from introspective folky, to pop hell raiser, to swinging mama. While her music has grown and changed, so has she as a person. With each album she has been more and more outspoken in regards to social justice. […]
By Al Kaufman The one thing a music writer does more than anything else is hit the “delete” button. In the time it took me to write that last sentence, three press releases appeared in my in-box. A press release is like a resume given to a major conglomerate; it needs something to make it […]
By Al Kaufman Red Wanting Blue is five bearded guys from Columbus, Ohio who believe in the no-frills pop-rock thing. There will be no costume changes during their shows. They may get a little rootsy on you, or bring in a bit of a ‘70s groove, but that’s because they like those sounds, not because […]
Faithless Town American Refugee By Al Kaufman Atlanta’s Faithless Town harks back to the ‘80s, when people like Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp sang of small town struggles in the USA. At that time, millions of other bands tried to cash in on the sound, only to fall as fast as the poor characters they […]
By Al Kaufman If you saw the shaggy-haired Sean Rowe sitting under a tree playing his guitar on college campus, you would actually stop and listen – even if you weren’t a doe-eyed female freshman. He has a wonderfully honeyed, brooding baritone; a sort-of Greg Brown meets Tom Waits. And he can also tell a […]
By Al Kaufman Usually when an artist’s new album is heralded as “her most mature work to date,” it should be taken as a warning sign. Warning: this album is slow and boring. Blues mama Michelle Malone has just issued her 11th album, Day 2. It is easily her most mature album to date, and […]
Ben Folds Five The Sound of the Life of the Mind Legacy By Al Kaufman It’s been 13 years since the last Ben Folds Five album, The rather lackluster The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. In the intervening years, Folds has cobbled together a rather successful solo career, including the brilliant Lonely Avenue, a collaboration […]
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