PHOTOS, PLAYLIST: Riot Fest Chicago Lineup Unveiled
With the unveiling of the first wave of the eighth annual Riot Fest's 2012 lineup, the Chicago summer festival scene officially welcomes yet another i...
With the unveiling of the first wave of the eighth annual Riot Fest's 2012 lineup, the Chicago summer festival scene officially welcomes yet another i...
Mike Ragogna | Posted 05.14.2012
John Pizzarelli: Favorite album of all time? ... Abbey Road is pretty close to the top of the list. It's funny. You could say Abbey Road or you could say In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning, because they're the types of records you put on and say, 'Oh, I'll just listen to one or two tracks.'
Mike Ragogna | Posted 04.25.2012
Family music has changed much in recent years, with groups representing every possible musical genre (folk, rock, bluegrass, jazz, Latin, Americana, hip-hop, etc) only under the sub-genre of Kindie Rock.
David Wild | Posted 05.07.2012
Just to be safe, I will only pick some of my favorite number songs from the book up to #9 -- since when we get to double digits, that old math anxiety begins to kick back in.
Randy Fox | Posted 05.05.2012
Today, Hollywood is alive again in the cities and valleys of Western PA and its surrounding areas.
Michael Sigman | Posted 04.25.2012
I never thought Nico would make me feel 14 again. That's exactly what happened last week when I caught Tammy Lang's performance of Chelsea Madchen, a fabulous show in which she eerily reincarnates the Warhol superstar Nico.
Ruth Gerson | Posted 04.14.2012
I've only seen Bob Dylan play live 11 or 12 times. My best friend laughs at me -- he's seen him over a hundred. Bob Dylan's singing and performing shaped my mind and what I believe in. He has influenced anything I've ever sung.
AP | Posted 02.10.2012
JERUSALEM -- American musician Cat Power has canceled her show in Israel, joining a list of artists shunning the country over its conflict with the Pa...
Marcia G. Yerman | Posted 04.01.2012
Amnesty International's Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan is not the first time they've tapped into the music community to raise funds and bring awareness to human rights issues.
David Wild | Posted 03.14.2012
I think I speak for all Americans -- okay, for literally dozens of them -- when I say the prospect of Stephen Colbert formally entering the Republican race makes it feels a lot like the day before it's morning in America again.
Steve Kettmann | Posted 03.04.2012
Does anyone -- in this age of delusional frenzies of time stress -- even bother to read, really to read and consider, the quotes with which authors open their books?
David Wild | Posted 02.28.2012
Instead of making any promises to myself that I might not live up to, here's my best shot at the ultimate, mostly uplifting playlist for all of our New Year's Eve parties.
David Wild | Posted 01.28.2012
I do not know if Herman Cain ever cheated with Atlanta businesswoman Ginger White. But this much I do know: the worse the personal behavior, the better the song.
Mike Ragogna | Posted 01.25.2012
According to Vince Mendoza, the idea of his latest record was partly to embrace the various musicians that he's met over the years and to invite his old friends to participate in his music.
Joseph Vella | Posted 01.23.2012
In the modern era of jazz, finding a true composer to follow is not the easiest thing to do. Especially if the composer can actually write beautifully melodic and emotionally deep music. Vince Mendoza does this and more.
Mike Ragogna | Posted 01.03.2012
"I've made a lot of records because that's what I do, and I've listened to a lot of records, and I have to tell you the truth--it wouldn't have mattered if The Beatles had recorded "A Hard Day's Night" on Silly Putty. It would have sounded good."
Posted 12.19.2011
It's been over three decades since Elvis Costello released his debut record "My Aim is True," which Pitchfork calls the 80th best album of all time. B...
Mike Ragogna | Posted 11.18.2011
On Woody Guthrie: "in a short life he saw so much, but he was really present and there with people. I think he's just really vital, not just in his vision, but as a spokesman for America."
Mike Ragogna | Posted 11.08.2011
Hugh Laurie has a new album, Let Them Talk, which is New Orleans blues based. Here he discusses how he came up with that idea.
David Wild | Posted 11.02.2011
Here's a playlist sent out in hopes the president goes bold with his upcoming jobs speech, and that the federal government that we all employ gets out of the business of assured mutual self-destruction.
Sal Nunziato | Posted 10.22.2011
This relentless new release from Eagle Rock took my breath away... literally. I tried typing out my review while listening, but Della Street I'm not. The band kicked my ass and took my name.
Chris Kompanek | Posted 10.03.2011
There's an aura around the Newport Folk Festival that intrigues me -- this is the place after all where Bob Dylan was booed off the stage for going electric -- so I decided to check it out this year.
Mike Ragogna | Posted 10.02.2011
John Hiatt's new album Dirty Jeans And Mudslide Hymns kicks off with a pretty universally themed song, "Damn This Town." It's true, no matter what town you grow up in, every kid can't wait to get out of it.
Mike Ragogna | Posted 09.25.2011
Here's the latest video by the Chop Shop Records' act Scars On 45, the title track to their Give Me Something EP.
Mike Ragogna | Posted 08.03.2011
Louisville rocked on the cutting edge Tuesday, May 31st, when hometown heroes My Morning Jacket took the stage at The Palace Theater for a three hour performance for Unstaged: An Original Series From American Express.
Posted 05.15.2012