Live Review: Gov’t Mule, Raleigh, NC, July 26, 2009

My review of the Gov’t Mule and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit show at the Lincoln Theatre Street Stage is up at Hidden Track – Glide Magazine’s Blog. Take a look at it won’t you?

Live Review: Janiva Magness at Blue Bayou, Hillsborough, NC, July 17, 2009

Red-hot blues singer Janiva Magness brought her acclaimed show to Hillsborough’s tiny Blue Bayou Club and treated 100 or so lucky patrons to a performance that was as sultry as the humid southern weather. Many fans were surprised to arrive at the club and find the show sold out in advance, which is a testament [...]

Live Review: Eric Bachmann at Duke Gardens, Durham, NC, July 22, 2009

Near the end of his hour-long set at Duke Gardens, Eric Bachmann appeared to get a little emotional. His voice cracked ever so slightly and his face contorted the way people’s faces do when they’re fighting back tears. As he thanked a few people for helping him “live the dream, which was sometimes a nightmare,” [...]

Album Review: Karen Segal Trio – The Mystery of Life

San Francisco guitarist Karen Segal offers a particularly free-spirited style of jazz on her latest album, The Mystery of Life. The music is largely inspired by classic guitar jazz and bebop, but Segal has lived, performed, and traveled around the world, so hints of other styles show up throughout the disc. The bouquet of influences [...]

Bonnaroo Preview: Ben Sollee

Ben Sollee is quickly gaining fame for his social involvement as well as his sophisticated music. The 24-year-old cellist and vocalist is perhaps best known for his work in the Sparrow Quartet with Bela Fleck, Casey Driessen, and Abigail Washburn. But this summer he’s coming firmly into his own, musically and socially. Once again, Bonnaroo [...]

Bonnaroo Preview: Turbine

Since their beginning around 2004, New York City’s Turbine have evolved from a blues-folk duo into an exploratory quartet that is never predictable. Bonnaroo’s Troo Music Lounge will be the secret hotspot of the day on Saturday, with Turbine opening up the beer-laden tent at noon and the aforementioned Russian Circles set later in the [...]

Live: Ben Folds, Girl Talk, and more at Duke University’s Last Day of Classes, April 22, 2009

Duke’s annual LDOC (Last Day of Classes) celebration has always been intentionally under publicized. Technically, the event is for the students, so the musical performances are rarely promoted off-campus by the artists or the university.
However, this year’s edition of the notoriously lawless event quickly became the worst-kept secret in the area when local hero [...]

Live: The Oatmeal Conspiracy and Triple Wide, Raleigh, NC, April 7, 2009

A genuine jam session broke out at Raleigh, North Carolina’s Pour House Music Hall this Tuesday, as local bands The Triple Wide and The Oatmeal Conspiracy shared the stage. By the end of the night, the free show’s thirsty attendees had heard everything from jazz and pop to blues, funk, clever covers, and electronic music [...]

Album Review: John Scofield – Piety Street

The prospect of hearing a new John Scofield album is often an exciting event, and there are those music fans that still expect the gleaming unknown from the virtuoso guitarist’s every release. Piety Street (CD) may leave those dedicated folks a bit underwhelmed, as it is somewhat predictable, but there’s plenty of gospel gold to [...]

Album Review: J.J. Cale – Roll On

Roll On (CD – MP3), the fourteenth J.J. Cale album comprised entirely of his own material, shows that age hasn’t dulled Cale’s abilities one bit. The 70 year old songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, just a year removed from the 50th anniversary of his first album, is as impressive as ever on this brief but engaging set.
As [...]