Cayamo Cruise 2011 proved once again that it wasn’t the destination that mattered, but the journey to get there. Along with more than 2,000 partying passengers and three dozen outstanding artists over the course of February 13 – 20, I felt fortunate to be there for the third year in…
John Mellencamp Au-Rene Theater, Broward Center for the Performing Arts Thursday, March 3, 2011 “I admire John. He’s trying to survive in a tough business. Yet, he’s stripping it down rather than flowering it up.” That statement comes from photographer Kurt Markus, whose documentary It’s About You opened John Mellencamp’s…
While some artists move toward the future, John Mellencamp seems to travel back in time — at least in terms of trumpeting his Middle American origins and blue-collar credo. It’s a transformation that could scarcely have been imagined when glam rocker wannabe Johnny Cougar reinvented himself decades ago as journeyman…
Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman shares stories of memorable rock ‘n’ roll encounters that took place in our local environs. This week: the depressing realities of a business breakdown.Let’s start with some free advice. Never open a record store. Of course this may seem obvious now, especially…
Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman shares stories of memorable rock ‘n’ roll encounters that took place in our local environs. This week: Every picture tells a story… In last week’s column, I betrayed the fact that I am indeed quite the obsessive collector, owing to the fact that…
The Todd Wolfe Band is neither a run-of-the-mill bar band nor a true progressive power trio, but on first encounter, it seems intent on being both. A good portion of the band’s recorded catalog is culled from live performances, but it places as much emphasis on precision as it does…
Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman shares stories of memorable rock ‘n’ roll encounters that took place in our local environs. This week: The haunted hoarder. This column requires that I clean out the cobwebs of my memory, as well as the dust that’s gathered on the albums, photos…
Boston-bred Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers attract affection and attention via the Everyman ambitions of Springsteen, Mellencamp, and Petty. Chock-full of populist appeal, the quartet melds affirmative anthems with the travails of awkward boy/girl encounters and adolescent uncertainty. Passionate delivery, a playful attitude, and a battery of propulsive melodies all…
The annual Rib Round Up features today’s top country stars and, you guessed it, lots and lots of ribs. Headliners Rodney Atkins, Joe Nichols, and Craig Morgan boast a slew of chart-toppers and a devoted legion of fans and followers. This, then, is Nashville’s newest generation of certified superstars. Nichols…
Boston-bred Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers attract affection and attention via the Everyman ambitions of Springsteen, Mellencamp, and Petty. Chock-full of populist appeal, the quartet melds affirmative anthems with the travails of awkward boy/girl encounters and adolescent uncertainty. Passionate delivery, a playful attitude, and a battery of propulsive melodies all…
It’s ironic that the Dropkick Murphys have become practically synonymous with the words Irish and insurgency, especially since that particular outfit hails from Boston, a city that’s separated by several thousand miles from the Emerald Isle. And although Los Angeles outfit Flogging Molly purveys a similar sound, the band actually…
For an artist whose career spawned such wide-ranging diversity and whose circle of collaborators included some of the biggest names in rock, Gary Moore never became more than a cult hero outside of his native Britain. Yet the news of his passing this past Sunday while on holiday in Spain…
Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman shares stories of memorable rock ‘n’ roll encounters that took place in our local environs. This week: crazy characters from the world of radio. In just a few months, I’m going to experience a major dose of déjà vu. It centers around…
It’s not surprising that the majority of offerings in Yonder Mountain String Band’s recorded catalog are culled from live performances. A foremost proponent of the so-called “new grass” phenomenon (think the Dead or Phish), the band couples guitars with banjos, bouzouki, and mandolins to spur the communal enthusiasm. Investigate YMSB’s…
Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman shares stories of memorable rock ‘n’ roll encounters that took place in our local environs.This week, a look back at some timeless troubadours. Last week marked Richie Havens’ 70th birthday. So what, you say? The significance lies in the fact that folk…
Guitarists who have been tagged as Jimi Hendrix’s heir apparent include Stevie Ray Vaughan and Joe Satriani, but Robin Trower was the first to earn that distinction almost immediately after Jimi’s demise. Although Trower’s guitar work was a distinctive element in early Procol Harum, he consolidated his sound with his…
Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman shares stories of memorable rock ‘n’ roll encounters that took place in our local environs. This week, advice from his idols. I don’t expect my interview subjects to be overly eloquent — these are rock musicians I’m referring to, after all –…
Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman shares stories of memorable rock ‘n’ roll encounters that took place in our local environs. This week: A musical misstep leads to danger… and deceit! My recent column recounting my musical memories of the University of Miami sparked a flood of comments and…
Over its multidecade history, Little Feat has undergone a tangled trajectory. Founded by guitarist Lowell George, a former member of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, Little Feat evolved from two earlier outfits, the Fraternity of Man and the Factory. Fusing rock, blues, country, boogie, and R&B, songs like “Willin’,” “Dixie…
Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman shares stories of memorable rock ‘n’ roll encounters that took place in our local environs. This week: Florida foibles… My wife, Alisa, and I recently did our annual road trip up to Eastern Tennessee, and because we chose to travel via I-95, past…
The more cynical among us would insist James Blunt’s one-hit-wonder status is a fate well-deserved. A vapid song so pandering and puerile, “You’re Beautiful” was curse enough to those who find soft rock, adult rock, easy pop, and the like an anathema in any of form. Two successive albums found…
At the end of the ’60s, Tommy James’ stock was on the rise. Early entries like “I Think We’re Alone Now” and “Mony Mony” helped assure the Shondells their Top 40 appeal, but “Crimson and Clover” and “Crystal Blue Persuasion” found them fusing their commercial instincts with headier aspirations and…
