It would be only natural to surmise that this North Carolina combo called Chatham County Line has returned to its roots, given the fact that it’s reunited with former producer Chris Stamey and that its aptly named fourth album recaptures the essence of its original back-porch motif. This is, after…
With another Saint Patrick’s Day almost upon us, we’ll once again don the green, approximate some lame Irish accents, and prepare to ingest massive amounts of oddly tinted beer. They’re all worthy pursuits, but why not add some music to the mayhem? We’re not talking about sentimental sludge like “When…
The Bonzo Dog Band, an eccentric ’60s British band with a penchant for silliness and satire, once released a song whose title begged the theoretical question: “Can blue men sing the whites?” That is, of course, a twist on the age-old argument about whether white musicians have suffered enough to…
Call Ani DiFranco the ultimate overachiever. As an artist, entrepreneur, activist, and insurgent, she’s evolved over the years as a torchbearer for both feminist affirmation and DIY empowerment. For the better part of the past two decades, she’s helped recast the stance of the modern folk troubadour. Fans around the…
For starters, you gotta love anyone who can bring that sharp-tongued Simon Cowell close to tears. That’s exactly what transpired when Paul Potts auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent, the U.K. version of American Idol. His show-stopping performance mesmerized YouTube gazers worldwide and made the onetime supermarket stocker and mobile-phone salesman…
Of all her many hits, Canadian chanteuse Anne Murray may be best known for her first, a song called “Snowbird,” which winged its way to the top of the international charts. Of course, here in South Florida we regularly refer to our neighbors to the north as snowbirds, although that…
Sometimes it’s kinda embarrassing to own up and say you’re a fan of country music, what with all those silly dudes wearing the big cowboy hats and the shiny suits and carrying on with their show-biz shtick. No wonder Music City is often dismissed as Nash Vegas, given the slick…
For the first six albums, a dozen years into their collective career, the North Mississippi Allstars opted to take a more traditional approach to their rural, rootsy designs, resulting in a sound that paid homage to blues by the book. Then again, that’s not surprising considering their family pedigree —…
Noting the over-the-top adulation accorded his glamorous wife, Jackie, during their state visit to France, President John F. Kennedy was moved to remark, famously and facetiously, that he was the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris. In reality, of course, JFK didn’t need an intro, but others who accompany…
In the dozen or so years since the breakup of his band Black Janet, Jim Wurster has produced a steady stream of exemplary albums, both solo and at the helm of his Americana outfit the Atomic Cowboys. In the process, he has established himself as one of South Florida’s most…
Before assuming his frayed, pony-tailed persona and long before the superstardom he snared in the ’70s, Willie Nelson was just another strait-laced, short-haired Nashville tunesmith cranking out hits for others. His songs — “Crazy,” “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Hello Walls,” and “Night Life” among them — went on to…
When you’re in a world-famous rock band, having your frontman meet an unexpected demise can really turn into a major annoyance. At the very least, it makes you rethink your future. Take what happened when Jim Morrison OD’d in that Paris bathtub — the remaining Doors gamely put out two…
It’s easy to take Ryan Adams for granted; after all, he’s a prodigious overachiever whose output often manifests in multiple annual offerings. So it’s no surprise to find Follow the Lights, a well-stocked seven-song EP, following closely on the heels of his recent full-length Easy Tiger. But while some artists…
There are certain riffs that are forever emblazoned within the soundtrack of rock ‘n’ roll: the Beatles’ “Day Tripper,” the Stones’ “Satisfaction,” the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me,” Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love,” and Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.” Then there’s that opening guitar lick to “Locomotive Breath,” the inevitable showstopper in…
Frank Sinatra once dubbed him the best pop singer in the biz, and when it’s the Chairman of the Board himself doling out the praise, you’re inclined not to disagree. Indeed, while best known by the masses for his signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” (recorded 45…
Like most tales of triumph and tragedy, the life, career, and untimely death of bassist Jaco Pastorius continues to resonate a full two decades after his passing. Perhaps no other bass player was as essential in meshing unabashed rock with the introspection and complexity of freeform jazz. It’s no wonder…
For music lovers with a long enough memory, it’s a big deal that Black Janet is reconnecting. Ask anyone who was on the scene in the late ’80s and early ’90s and they’ll tell you that South Florida was once a rich breeding ground for musical talent — much of…
Joni Mitchell once sang, “You don’t know what you got till it’s gone.” Aside from the bit about paving over paradise to make way for a parking lot being sooooooo South Florida, the lyric could also sum up the could-have-been, should-have-been local love affair with Sam Beam, a onetime Miami…
The Thrills’ 2003 debut, So Much for the City, was a fanciful homage to the California myth, as filtered through the Day-Glo haze of wistful ’70s euphoria. Its playful imagery summoned endless vistas of surf and sand, idealized and admired from a vantage point somewhat distant and distinct. It’s not…
It’s well into midday on a Saturday afternoon, yet Ivan Neville, on the phone from his New Orleans home, sounds beat. Maybe he’s recovering from a gig the night before, or perhaps it’s the result of some revelry down on Bourbon Street. Whatever the reason, if Neville’s tired now, it’s…
Musical dexterity is well and good. But better yet, try writing melodies with hooks your listeners can hold on to. Take the Samples, for example. Having attained credibility with the college crowd by prefiguring the jam-band template in the mid-’80s, this Colorado combo has largely eschewed the rambling, numbing style…
More than 25 years on — ten spent at the helm of the Eurhythmics, the rest following a solo trajectory — Annie Lennox remains one of pop music’s most distinctive divas. Her credence stems not only from her beguiling vocals, clearly among the best in the biz, but also from…
