Rare is the musician that is able to stand back from his subjects – even if he is being introspective – and critique the matter, stoically. How does one not get close to that work? As soon as one begins to write a song (any song), the urge for the writer is...
Ever hear something and have no idea how to qualify it, but like it anyway? It has happened to me before, and has obviously happened occasionally to record label executives and publicists – if what has been said about LoveLikeFire and their album, Tear Ourselves...
It's always exciting when Butch Walker puts out another record, because he seems to change his face completely every time he does.time he does. His record with the Let's Go Out Tonites! found the singer/producer trying out a set of T. Rex-inspired glam rockers...
It's been a while since any country star (Willie Nelson doesn't count – he's spent the better part of the last decade doing everyone's material but his own) actually sounded like he came from a modest upbringing or has shown any affection for it...
It's incredible how, in just a few notes, an album take take a listener to a completely different place. It doesn't always happen – no matter how earnestly a band might try – but a few can do it. The Wave Pictures can do it effortlessly; without...
No venture in the music industry has the ability to pull the “big four” record conglomerates together quite like an awards show can, if only because such pageants bring out everyone's competitive spirit. Everyone wants to hold the biggest bag of marbles...
Alright so I know what you're thinkin'. You're asking, "Whaddaya doin' Don? Ya came early! You're not due to deliver another bag o' SWAG for a couple of days yet! Yer messin' up my rhythm." Yeah well, look at it this way –...
No matter what sort of relationship one might enjoy with other people (be it just a single individual or a group), in that moment when the relationship reaches a vintage of thirty years it is cause for a celebration. As anyone that has been married for a significant...
Once, there was a time when James Brown was called “The hardest-working man in show business.” The title was deserved; Brown was a notorious workaholic – sometimes playing as many as three hundred and thirty one-nighter shows in a year – and...
Creative focus is always an admirable trait in a musician, but sometimes a diversion is in order too – if only to fulfill a desire to do something a little different. Sometimes it happens because the players involved fear that they're stagnating creatively...