To start, let’s get a few things out of the way. Justin Townes Earle is the son of Grammy Award-winning contemporary folk artist Steve Earle, and he gets his middle name from legendary folk pioneer Townes Van Zandt. With that said, it’s time to say a proper hello to Justin Townes Earle–a young man who is contributing his own unique voice to the resurgence of folk music.

I’m from Florida. I hate winter, and I’m still confused at how I ended up above the Mason-Dixon line. But I’ve never been so happy in my life for the Boston cold as when I emerged sweatstained – sweatsoaked – from the Balkan Beat Box show at the Paradise.

“Don’t you care about the young folks?” howls an audience wag into a newly awkward silence. Best, I suppose, to get it out of the way early: “Young Folks” is so last decade – and this is not the Victoria Bergsman of 2006.

We wish we had been the ones to invent peanut butter and jelly. Or Hipster Puppies. Or Nouvelle Vague. Because some things – such as peanut butter, puppies and Public Image Ltd. – are pretty damn great on their own. But when you add that extra something – such as jelly, biting pop culture commentary or smoking hot French models – you get a hugely smashing success and ideally, a distribution deal.

That’s what happened when Marc Collin, a successful French producer with his own record label, got bored one day and decided to re-arrange some of the songs he grew up with, but hadn’t heard in years, and to find a few sultry French singers who were young enough to be ignorant of the song’s original arrangements to perform them in a completely new way.

Delta Spirit play rootsy twang with frontman Matthew Vasquez’s soulful, slightly singed wail like an old but reliable pick-up truck barreling down a gravel path. The San Diegans’ triumphant Americana is laced with a consistent feeling of motion, also calling to mind the rambling railroads of an ambiguous past era in which people traveled for [...]

Last night was the second installment of TPB’s month-long residency at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. The crowd came early for the buttoned-up, symphonic pop of swaggering newcomers Leisure and stayed for the throbbing and swaying garage rock of Viva Viva.

Retribution Gospel Choir describe themselves as a band that “plays loud and sings in key.” If you’re at all familiar with singer/guitarist Alan Sparhawk’s other project, Low, you’re already familiar with the pitch-perfect vocals this band has to offer. What comes as a departure, though, is that this band rocks in the most classic sense of the word. Playing as a basic guitar, bass, and drums trio, they make no concessions while churning out a huge sound. Sparhawk culls as much sound as possible out of his guitar, while bassist Steve Garrington grooves right along with the riffs and drummer Eric Pollard pushes the intensity to its limits while singing spot-on harmonies. This is much more than just a side project—it is a truly talented band in it’s own right.

Last week saw TeaParty’s inaugural TeaRoom Tuesday at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. Showgoers, gallantly unfazed by partying on a weeknight and/or missing the season premiere of Lost, got an earful from two vastly different acts, held together by the common threads of passion and talent.

4 days of planning, 3 bands, 2 DJs, 1 sold-out night at Great Scott and a whoooole lot of help from our friends added up to about $3,000 going straight into the pockets of reputable aid organization Partners in Health for use in their earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.

When performing, Grieves showed no sign of his laidback disposition, adopting an energetic and charismatic stage persona to compensate for the admittedly down-tempo nature of his music. His DJ, Budo, was in top form– alternating between turntables, trumpet, guitar, and keyboard, often switching mid-song. I got a chance to meet up with Grieves before he took the [...]