Life in the music world, at least for its more fortunate inhabitants, offers opportunities for both rewards and rewarding experiences. The name Roomful of Blues has been registered in the music world for 36 years now, expertly creating what guitarist/band leader Chris Vachon describes (after having a five-word limit imposed upon him) as, “jumpin’, swingin’, […]
Rick Cornell
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In klezmer
As noted on Ari Davidow’s informative klezmer Web page (www.klezmershack.com), Emma Goldman once declared, “If your revolution doesn’t include klezmer, I don’t want it.” Perhaps then, despite the apparent lack of klezmer garage bands, we shouldn’t be surprised that one of the three acts at an upcoming benefit concert at the Chapel Hill Kehillah on […]
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1-800-RES-PECT
How would you interpret it? This is the opening line from a classified ad that ran on the back page of this very publication: “Co-create better life with info from soul records.” Instantly, I pictured myself consulting my soul LPs for spiritual and practical guidance. There’s Curtis Mayfield counseling us to get ready because there’s […]
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In wild rock
Here’s a question for you–name the only band that’s made records with Carl Perkins, Captain Lou Albano, Skeeter Davis, and John Candy. Okay sure, Captain Lou has recorded with all the greats (that’s a joke, folks), but it’s the other three that narrow the field to only one: NRBQ. These legendary Nor’easters–keyboardist/vocalist Terry Adams, bassist/vocalist […]
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Ain’t too proud
Commanding the Local 506 stage a few weeks ago was a young guy named Bryan Cates, his voice traveling from rich rasp to falsetto in seconds and his guitar offering ringing, Bobby Womack-style fills. He was fronting a band out of Asheville named the Choosy Beggars that sounded like the ’65 Rolling Stones–the Out of […]
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In brotherly melodies
With four Triangle shows (including a house concert that featured, among many other things, a bongo solo, “Love Train,” and an alfresco finale) during a two-week span in November, the Bielanko Brothers of Marah came close to earning honorary resident status. The brothers took December off to give the Triangle a chance to catch its […]
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In rockin’ riffs
Mark McKay’s second solo release, Live from the Memory Hotel, pulls off the neat trick of portraying him as both a talented acoustic troubadour and a confident band leader. The press seems to be paying attention, with recent write-ups comparing McKay, former member of promising alt-country band Sixty Acres, to icons such as Neil Young […]
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Emotional rescue
After nearly 43 years on this planet, most of them spent with tunes playing somewhere in the background if not being piped directly in my ears, it should no longer be a surprise when music displays its power to slack my jaw in astonishment, bring me to tears, or otherwise move me in ways that […]
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The friend in need
Of course Caitlin Cary remembers the first time she met Alejandro Escovedo. It was on one of the very first Whiskeytown tours, and the band was opening for Escovedo at a club in a suburb of Chicago. “I didn’t know who Al was, but the buzz in the van was that he was a legend–a […]
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Mobile again
During the early-’80s heyday of Lise Uyanik and the Mobile City Band, an old-style rock & roll & rhythm & blues outfit named after a Morrisville trailer park, your best bet was to catch them in Carrboro. There, at least once a month, they’d pack The Station or the Art School, playing the kind of […]