I can’t get enough of Playing for Change. Anyone who’s read the Listening Room over time knows I raved about this project when it first aired on PBS. The brainchild of producer and sound engineer Mark Johnson, Playing for Change combines the talents of street musicians throughout the world, whose… Read More →
Our own Chris Brown is out and about spreading folk/rock throughout the Lower Hudson Valley. We recommend you go check him out – whether he’s doing a solo gig or playing with a host of performers in his musical circle. Chris’ resonant voice, guitar playing and stable of talented performers… Read More →
It wasn’t so long ago that all things Australian were all the craze, be it beer or movies. Somehow one Australian import slipped into the states with little mainstream attention just over five years ago. Well, it’s time we turned on the spotlight, because alternative country guitarist Anne McCue is… Read More →
There’s so much to say about last night’s Smashing Pumpkins show at Terminal 5 that I honestly don’t know where to begin. So I guess I’ll start at the end, saying that by the time the show was over, everyone was dripping not only in their own sweat, but in… Read More →
Roberto Parente Listening Room columnist This month, July 2010, marks the 50th Anniversary of one of the first live blues album and perhaps one of the very finest ever recorded: Muddy Waters at Newport 1960. Waters was backed by a band at the Newport Jazz Festival which included Otis Spann… Read More →
The Concert Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture is a unique venue. In fact, the quaint, 600-seat former chapel is as unique a musical space as you’re likely to find in the Big Apple. The downside is the acoustics, which really don’t lend themselves to the kind… Read More →
Add Dee Snider to the list of reality TV stars. The Twisted Sister frontman will be the subject of a new seven-episode show on A&E titled Growing Up Twisted, the network tells us. This should be interesting. (photo courtesy of A&E) Treading where Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne have ventured,... Read More →
Credit Rolling Stone magazine with finding this gem of a factoid. Granted, I was way slow in finding the piece, but RS’s May 27 issue featured an article about Creed Bratton, the surly and menacingly mysterious character in the hit TV show The Office. Well, turns out that Bratton was… Read More →
Listening Room columnist Roberto Parente threw this excellent blog our way from his good friend and music guru Emil Donofrio. It’s a great piece, and we hope to hear more from Emil in future. Enjoy. A Bigger Ball of Confusion This summer marks the fortieth anniversary that the Temptations’ hit… Read More →
I have to admit that Tim Reynolds first came to my attention as the guy who played and toured with the Dave Matthews Band, and did acoustic duo shows with Matthews. I didn’t give the man near enough credit. The German-born Reynolds is, in fact, an accomplished guitarist and instrumentalist… Read More →
Briggette Sayegh Listening Room contributor The Kooks — a band that is often described as a less severe version of the Arctic Monkeys — have caught and have successfully held my attention over the last couple of years. Why? First, well, I’m a sucker for English rock bands (think Razorlight… Read More →
The music industry has always been something of a time warp, but we seem to be going through something of a revival of ‘70s performers. We told you recently about Randy Bachman and Fred Turner of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, who are set to release their first album together in two decades… Read More →
Nick Viagas Listening Room columnist Previously to Tuesday night I had only heard of English jam band “Squeeze” when a classmate and I were trying to name the bands least suited to cover “Master of Puppets.” Never would I imagine they were famous enough to open for Cheap Trick, a… Read More →
Thanks to Listening Room contributor Jared Zeide for the thought-provoking commentary! I have always contended that as a child of the 90’s I am incredibly lucky to have seen so many of the innovators and creators of rock and roll perform. If you accept the theory, as I have, that… Read More →
Cactus is the forgotten supergroup. Formed in 1970, the blues-based rock band was meant to bring together Jeff Beck on guitar, Rod Stewart on vocals, Tim Bogert on bass and Carmine Appice on drums. But injuries from a traffic accident knocked Beck out the project. Stewart, the former singer for… Read More →