compared to what

“It’s interesting … the music’s evolved,” Hicks said this week. ……..
“We’ve settled into a great rhythm. The more you can play, the better the rhythm gets. Doing six months of work, the body of work grows, and it gets exciting, because you start understanding the synergy onstage with the different musicians. It’s definitely a [...]

Speaking of Stevie, it sounds like it would be a mistake to miss his tour if it comes near you. Only 13 dates, first tour in 12 years, this kind of show:
Throughout the evening, the audience — middle-aged couples, teens, parents with their kids — was enthralled, singing and dancing along. From my perch in [...]

A friend of mine who frequents this blog said that he was one of her favorite performers at a music festival she attended last year. And she said that he cried when he sang the Annie Lennox song “Why”.
That last part got to me.
Off I went in search of John Boutté’s music.
What did I [...]

A garden-variety, wtf? type of post:

Back before the Taylor Hicks spring tour started, Ted “alltheanswers” (tour guitar tech) commented on one of Hicks’ guitars in a thread at graycharles.com:
Taylor is playing a Gibson Les Paul 1959 custom shop reissue tobacco burst. This is a guitar that is not made anymore, but the wonderful people at [...]

A couple of days ago we told you about Josh Smith’s upcoming aftershow gig. Well, it came and went Saturday night. “Galaxieman” caught the show and gave us permission to post his recap and pictures. Here’s his thoughts:

I thought I would give you a small recap of Taylor’s stop in South Florida on August 25th. [...]

I’m not thinking about music right now, I’m thinking about discussions going around (again) about whether a negative AI stigma is still hanging on Hicks, and whether the “soul patrol” label is a reminder of that connection. Fans have been talking about this long and hard behind closed doors, both those who consider themselves part [...]

When the Taylor Hicks tour band was announced last winter, the blues-drenched resume of guitarist Josh Smith caused a mild tremor along some major fault lines in the Hicks’ fanbase. Early warning signs were not in error. No matter what else happens at a show, when the Caribbean waves finally crash and ebb at the [...]

This link has been showing up in my inbox every week now forever (ie, since I started this blog two and half months ago) I kept thinking I’d eventually post something deep and yet pithy about the importance of appreciating local music traditions. That’s not going to happen any time soon, but you still need [...]

From the eye-rolling around me, it was clear we were witnessing an old-fashioned ’60s mind blowing, a system overload brought on by shredding tidal waves of guitar dissonance. Thurston Moore, the legendary feedback aficionado, had blown a mind, an extremely irritating mind, and there was no containing it. Granted, few acts receive that reaction anymore [...]

Jim DeRogatis: Do you see a lot of concerts? Go see bands a lot?
Lester Bangs: No. I don’t, you know. I’ve never liked live music that much, to tell you the truth.
—from “A Final Chat with Lester Bangs”
Lester Bangs (1948–1982), the legendary and controversial rock critic, wrote deeply entertaining and affecting prose combining the feel [...]