Jerks of Grass deliver a disc 10 years in the making.
Other than two tracks on the Greetings from Area Code 207 series, there has been nothing to bring home and put on the stereo for fans of what has been at times Portland’s hardest-working band.
By SAM PFEIFLE | July 23, 2008

Hybrid rhythmic engine

Nation Beat is a gas
Fusions are the lifeblood of music, but too often they come with a whiff of high-concept gimmickry.
By JON GARELICK | July 15, 2008

Gabba gabba hayride

Tommy Ramone’s roots show in Uncle Monk
Punks in the know will tell you that the club where the music started, CBGB, is an acronym for “country, bluegrass, and blues.”
By STEVEN BEEBER | July 08, 2008

Drinking and driving

The Molenes release Songs of Sin and Redemption
Dave Hunter and his Molenes show they’re more than just a guitar band.
By SAM PFEIFLE | June 04, 2008

Indie gets the blues

The Gossip, the Black Keys, and the Kills
White rockers generally come by the blues one of two ways.
By MATT ASHARE | April 23, 2008

Chatham County Line

IV | Yep Rock
Over four albums, this quartet from Raleigh, North Carolina, have retraced the evolution of bluegrass.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | April 02, 2008

Northeast newgrass

The rootsy routes of Hot Day at the Zoo
Lowell is known for Kerouac, its historic canal system, and the Industrial Revolution, not the “high and lonesome” sound of bluegrass.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | January 22, 2008

A philosopher in bunny ears

Steve Martin’s new memoir unlocks the freaky logic of his comedy
Martin’s new memoir, Born Standing Up , grants us our best access yet to this remote and brilliant figure — the cool architect of the comedy.
By JAMES PARKER | December 31, 2007

Schools of rock

There’s a whole lot of moving, shaking, and band-building going on in the world of local music instruction
“You walk in here, and you feel as though you’re visiting your favorite aunt or uncle’s house ... it’s a place where you want to visit and you’re willing to take risks.”
By SAM PFEIFLE | November 28, 2007

How I became a Grasshole

Or how my music teacher tricked me into having fun
If it wasn’t for Buckdancer’s Choice, I wouldn’t be a Grasshole, and I’d be a hell of a lot poorer for it.
By SAM PFEIFLE | November 28, 2007

Beyond the White Stripes

Alison Krauss and Robert Plant lead an Americana resurgence
There’s a blues and old-school R&B resurgence rumbling in the indie-music underground, and it goes well beyond the icky thump of the White Stripes.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | October 30, 2007

Bounty

The best of the season’s roots, world, folk, and blues
It’s payback time for Boston’s blues and roots music scene.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | September 12, 2007

Citadel of sound

Nashville’s RCA Studio B celebrates its 50th
Before the digital universe expanded, serious home recording was just a dream.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | July 03, 2007

Ain’t that America

Henry Horenstein surveys country music in the 1970s
Photographer Henry Horenstein crossed paths with Jerry Lee Lewis at a Ramada Inn in Boston in 1975.
By GREG COOK | July 03, 2007

Something for everybody

This summer, New England’s music calendar offers everything from Neil Sedaka to Lez Zeppelin
As that great philosopher Brian Wilson once observed, summer means fun.
By BRETT MILANO | June 11, 2007

An other Ramone

Uncle Monk, Club Passim, April 6, 2007
“It’s home-brewed stuff,” Ramone explained pre-set.
By JIM SULLIVAN | April 09, 2007

Don't call it clawhammer

The Tough cats hit the mainland with Piñata
Of the 3877 songs currently on my iPod (generation two, 20 gigs) none had “unclassifiable” in the genre description until I loaded the Toughcats’ debut full-length into my iTunes.
By SAM PFEIFLE | November 29, 2006

The Ditty Bops

Moon Over The Freeway | Warner Bros.
Armed with mandolin, lap steel guitar, and washboard, Los Angeles’ Ditty Bops reach farther back in time than a synthesizer and drum machine for nostalgia. Songs from Moon Over the Freeway, The Ditty Bops
By MEGAN BELL | August 01, 2006

Cheap thrills

Paw Sox, Penny Slots, and Ponies — so cheap, it might cost you
Summertime inevitably raises the question: what are we going to do with our crazy, hot selves? Summer Guide 2006: Cheap thrills from Bar Harbor to New Haven.
By ELLEE DEAN | June 14, 2006

On the Racks: June 6

From Strummin' with the Devil to a revived Live
David Lee Roth, AFI, Cheap Trick, Camera Obscura, Elvis Costello, and Live
By MATT ASHARE | June 06, 2006

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