Penn Quarter's Hill Country Barbeque Market is an appropriate venue for Austin, Texas-based blues maven Carolyn Wonderland.
She brings a gutsy, carnivalesque atmosphere to her version of the blues, but doesn't shy from the warm embrace of classic Americana.
Wonderland performs tonight, where—who knows?—she may bring some trumpet and well-placed whistling to the stage. “It's worthwhile to sometimes write [...]
Justin Jones has spent over a decade in Washington D.C. writing songs and playing his own brand of alt-country. He's endured the rejection common to talented indie musicians in a crowded marketplace. Jones also shows a willingness to alter his priorities in order to achieve success on his own terms, a plan that, when one [...]
As a founding member of the Vermont-born, Boulder-based the Samples, Jeep MacNichol saw his share of patchouli-soaked fans. The Samples sold millions of units in the late 80’s and early 90’s based on relentless touring and truly grassroots show-by-show album sales.
MacNichol's reggae-influenced drumming propelled the Samples’ pop-hybrid sound, a driving factor of their early popularity, [...]
Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney and guitarist-vocalist Dan Auerbach are currently continuing the experimentation heard on 2008’s Attack and Release through their respective side projects. Before regrouping for this fall’s Blakroc project with Mos Def and RZA, Auerbach is touring in support of his solo album, Keep It Hid, and Carney is playing bass in [...]
Much of the BLK JKS's press to date invokes afro-beat tinged comparisons to TV on the Radio, Bad Brains and Living Colour, though guitarist Mpumi Mcata brushes off the comparison game by encouraging "the reader to seek out and envision" rather than relying on, you know, critics.
The four-man group has erupted from South Africa as [...]
Austin's Asleep at the Wheel has a lengthy résumé that includes nine Grammys, tours with Bob Dylan, and a recent well-lauded collaboration with Willie Nelson—Willie and the Wheel. The members of Asleep at the Wheel are practitioners of Western Swing, and, according to their Web site, they have "kept a buzz on a genre that [...]
Mechanix is back this week, and resident DJ Sean Gone had this to say about tonight's special guests:
Rapidly emerging American pairing Matt Nordstrom and Orlando Villegas are amongst the most in demand production duos in techno. Previous works for Saved Records (Lucky Drawls & Spanglish) and remixes of the Marco Bailey and Steve Mac have [...]
Royal Bangs "Poison Control" from Sundown in the City on Vimeo.
In advance of the September 15 release of their sophomore effort, Let It Beep, Knoxville, Tennessee's the Royal Bangs are playing the Black Cat's backstage tonight. The well-crafted Let It Beep rises above typical indie fare: Production is high, a must for a band [...]
John Stirratt joined legendary alternative country pioneers Uncle Tupelo as a bass player in 1993 for their final release, Anondyne. After Uncle Tupelo's ugly divorce, Jeff Tweedy was awarded custody of Stirratt and they went on to form the much-lauded Wilco.
In a band that used to have a reputation for shedding members, Stirratt has remained [...]
On Monday night, TV on the Radio exorcised any demons lingering after February's uncharacteristic misstep on Saturday Night Live with a triumphant sold out show at the 9:30 Club. They opened the cage on the postmodern menagerie of sounds harnessed in the masterful Dear Science while keeping the layered electronic howl respectfully danceable.
