10 Jun 2017
Book Reviews: Two by Rev. Keith A. Gordon
Today I present a special Saturday blog post. — bk And I thought I was prolific! One of the leading lights among my My music journo brethren has released yet another – actually, two – book in his ongoing series of criticism/review collections. With astounding regularity, in recent years the Right Reverend Keith A Gordon
09 Jun 2017
Album Review: Samantha Fish — Chills & Fever
File next to: Nick Curran, JD McPherson, Wanda Jackson On her previous albums, guitarist Samantha Fish churned out a solid modern blues. Not unlike a slightly more Americana-leaning Ana Popovic, Fish displayed her six-string abilities on stomping, barroom-style blues numbers. And while there’s not a thing in the world wrong with that, on Chills &
09 Jun 2017
Album Review: Evolfo — Last of the Acid Cowboys
File next to: Black Keys, King Khan & the Shrines The album’s title might conjure images of – depending on one’s musical frame of reference – the Flying Burrito Brothers or Cracker/Camper van Beethoven. As it turns out, Evolfo has little in common with either. On Last of the Acid Cowboys, the Brooklyn-based band showcases
08 Jun 2017
He’d Only Just Begun: Paul Williams and The Holy Mackerel (Part 2)
Continued from Part One … From a very early age, Williams had been greatly influenced by the Great American Songbook. He recalls that even as a child in Omaha, Nebraska, “I was this little 11- and 12-year old kid singing Gershwin, Cole Porter and the like.” Gordon Jenkins’ 1946 album Manhattan Tower was Williams’ favorite
07 Jun 2017
He’d Only Just Begun: Paul Williams and The Holy Mackerel (Part 1)
(Note: an edited version of this feature appeared previously in print in Goldmine Magazine.) In 1970, songwriter Paul Williams was catapulted to the top of the pop music world. Two of his songs – co-written with Roger Nichols – became major hit singles: the Carpenters scored with “We’ve Only Just Begun” (a #2 hit), and
06 Jun 2017
A Johnny Mathis Playlist
To preview a Johnny Mathis concert, my editor at Salt Lake City Paper recently asked me to compile a playlist of the vocalist’s lesser-known tracks. This I did. The piece as it ran was edited for space, but some good stuff got cut. Here’s the entire essay. — bk Johnny Mathis has been a staggeringly
05 Jun 2017
Album Review: The Moon and You — Endless Maria
With Endless Maria, Asheville NC duo The Moon and You proves that you can indeed have it both ways: this new collection of songs hits the sweet spot between bouncy pop and something more substantial. The disc is the duo’s third release, following a 2013 debut EP (The Ocean’s Lonely Daughter) and 2016’s full-length A
02 Jun 2017
Dengue Fever: Holidays in Cambodia
Music historians often observe that the Beatles-led, so-called British Invasion was an example of British musicians absorbing American influences, and then serving that music back to Americans. In a sense, Los Angeles-based Dengue Fever did something similar when the band started out in 2001. Brothers Ethan and Zac Holtzman had discovered the pop music of
01 Jun 2017
The Wooks in Their Natural Habitat
Kentucky-based band the Wooks came together in early 2015; the group quickly established its core sound: an acoustic approach that bridges the gap between bluegrass, old-time music and the modern jam band aesthetic. The latter influence would seem to be reflected in the band’s name: if Wooks is short for wookie, then it may be
31 May 2017
The River Arkansas: Keeping Current
Pueblo, Colorado singer-songwriter Mike Clark enjoyed a big break when his band Haunted Windchimes scored two appearances – in 2011 and 2012 – on A Prairie Home Companion. And while that band continues, Clark’s songwriting is too big for just one band. His prodigious and varied output meant starting another musical project – The River