Here’s the second of three collections of reviews. The Hangabouts – Kits & Cats and Saxon Wives Good-timing, cleverly-written melodic pop is what’s on offer on the latest album from the Hangabouts. It rocks a bit harder than their last outing, and there are hints of some of the more adventurous end of early 70s

Continued from Part One… Petersson recalls the early days when the band was playing clubs. “People would come up to us and go, ‘God, I love your band, but you ought to dress your guitar player up like [Jimi] Hendrix.’ Or, ‘We kind of love your band, but when is your drummer going to get

Brooklynite Jonathan Coulton has been making albums for years without becoming a household name, but he made news in 2011 when he told an NPR interviewer that he was making more than half a million dollars a year from his music. Operating completely outside the traditional musical industry, Coulton nonetheless makes highly tuneful, accessible pop

Nearly everything about Asheville-based band Skunk Ruckus is suffused with humor. But the band is very serious about its music. The inherent tension between those two realities is part of the band’s recipe for success, as is the band’s musical style: equal parts punk and mountain music, delivered in cheeky style. Skunk Ruckus celebrated the

In recent months a bright spotlight has been shone upon multi-instrumentalist Billy Sherwood. The 51 year old, Las Vegas-born musician has had a long and prolific career of his own, releasing his original music and producing an array of other artists, primarily in progressive rock. But his long and fruitful association with some of the