There is no nice or polite way to write this, but someone has to say it: Balance And Composure is not the first band to make The Things We Think We're Missing. They might not even be the tenth band to release it. The Things We Think We're Missing has been made...
Remember when you were a kid and first started really liking the idea of getting inventive, readers? It was a really cool time – we'd sit down with a pencil and paper and make some of the most outrageous ideas come to life on paper. It was an exercise in...
There's no question that everyone – fans, critics, press, everyone – was surprised when the list of nominees for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced. Of course, applause should deservedly go to such venerable names as Link Wray,...
Welcome to our new book review column here on Ground Control called I Wanna be Literated! We are going to try and keep this column up with not-just-music-related and not-just-brand-new-books. Some will be topical, old, some new, some borrowed, and almost all of...
Playwright William Congreve may have been correct when he wrote that “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” but it was Tammy Wynette who proved that the voice and words of a woman scorned could come framed with gold and platinum trim when set to just the...
Even a cursory glance at the current crop of artists drawing the most interest in the roots, folk and Americana genres these days illustrates why it has become so difficult for new, untested artists to break through: for the first time in decades, the top artists...
With the recent, unfortunate passing of Levon Helm last year, interest in the musical history of the Band is at an all-time high. Although they have always been mainstays on classic rock radio, their timeless material is now being played even more than ever. As always...
The beauty of bluegrass music – when it's played well and not with the intention of packing theaters or stadiums (that music usually gets dubbed 'Americana' these days) – is that it has the potential to be some of the most affecting and...
For the last thirty-two years, Al Jourgensen and Ministry have been the premier purveyors of a fine form of subversive songwriting which has regularly pulled the rug out from under the genre they were working in at that moment. Be it electronic music or metal, the wit...
Ever get the impression that you're re-living a part of your life which you'd just as soon forget about? Most of those sorts of feelings revolve around pop music from the Eighties for me; granted, there was a fair bit of really great music recorded during the...