To say that singer Ryan Dahle has spent a significant portion of his career immersed in a series of unfortunate events betrays a gift for understatement. To begin with, the singer/guitarist's first project that drew significant notice, Age Of Electric, imploded under the weight of co-founder Todd Kerns' ego. Then his celebrated side-project-turned-main-squeeze, Limblifter, was derailed by Dahle's brother (and Limblifter drummer) Kurt's shenanigans. At every turn, Ryan Dahle has encountered another significant obstacle in the...

A couple of years ago, when The Grates appeared as the biggest of independent blips on the comically over-sized pop music radar, it looked like they had it made. Sporting kamikaze riffs that gave listeners that seemed like they might be able to demolish everything in their path but held at bay by the virtuous, post-punk Disney delivery of singer Patience Hodgson, songs like “I Won't Survive” and “19 20 20” established the band in their native Australia. That assault...

Although the band has released more than their fair share of groundbreaking albums, it has always been the live show of The Cult that has elevated them to legendary status. No matter how many genres they crossed, or how many times Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy have reached down into themselves and pulled out their own hand-stamped brand of music, whether it be the unmistakable flanged-out guitar intro to "She Sells Sanctuary" or the crunch guitar riff of "Rise," there...

Ever get the feeling you just heard history being made? Not history like, “That's one small step for a man…” or, “I have a dream…” or, “Ever get the feeling you've been cheated,” I mean the sort of history that has played out before but has seemed to be so long gone that an entire set of ideas and styles had been lost forever but suddenly reasserts itself in one moment. When singer Dave Erickson belts, “We're commin' for you”...

Over the last few years, Willie Nelson seems to have gone out of his way to flex the muscles that about five decades as a celebrated songwriter and performer have earned him. In the last five years alone, Nelson has done an in-depth examination of Cindy Walker's music, done a series of sessions that ultimately bore the plainly reggae-inspired Countryman, actually covered some countrymen (including Dave Matthews, Randy Newman, Bob Dylan and Kris Kristopherson) on Moment Of Forever and cleaned...

Having attending concerts since 1979, and seeing my share of amazing shows, Motley Crue was by far one of the most incredible shows ever. Before the lights went down the last song over the P.A. was the Ramones "Sedated," which was fitting for the Dr. Feelgood-themed stage design. Followed by a set list of the entire Feelgood album in song order. This marked the 20th anniversary of the album's release. An interesting intro to the show involved an over-sized vintage...

The beauty of some musicians is that – while there is a very strong six degrees of separation between them and some taste-making establishments (names, sounds) – they don't attempt to bandwagon-jump or coattail-ride their personal endeavors on the strength of someone else's sound or some associated name. They simply elect to run their own race. Such is the case with Afie Jurvanen – aka Bahamas – and his new album, Pink Strat. Resisting the temptation to remodel his own...

Over the last couple of years (pretty much since Good News For People Who Love Bad News came out in 2004, but the rise really kicked into overdrive when We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank smashed listeners over the head and crashed the gates of mainstream radio in 2007), Modest Mouse has established itself as the big-time identified, hipster band of new rock (sort of like what the Talking Heads were to punk in the Seventies) and both...

Although it was now almost 4 pm, I still had three bands left on my list that I wanted to see, and as luck would have it, the set times were all spaced out just enough for me to enable me to see all of them. First I headed back over to the Hurley.com stage for Black Tide, a young metal band hailing from Miami, Florida. I had seen Black Tide on a few different occasions, and honestly couldn't decide...

Hometowns have a unique way of existing, being different things for different people, all in one zip code. For Paul Banwatt, Amy Cole and Nils Edenloff, home is a song. Or thirteen. The trio forms the Rural Alberta Advantage, and they are the creators of whimsical, achingly honest indie rock piped straight from the essence of their native Alberta on Hometowns. This album sings to all things Alberta; “Frank, AB” even nods to a devastating landslide in 1903. These kids...