If anything, the members of St. Helena, Jessie and I can agree on one thing: Allston bars, you’ve gotta knock it off with the Top 40 radio bonanza.  Patrick, Shawn, Chaeten, Magen and Keith all mirrored our distaste for the onslaught of Britney and Katy and Rihanna our ears were met with over the course [...]

When I think about the Boston music scene, I think of a big, boisterous group of people who support local music by going to each other’s shows, who promote the releases and events being put on by friends of theirs who also happen to be in local bands, and who can play the “Oh, you [...]

For those who have been dropping by Toad on Monday nights to see the Tim Gearan Band do their blueey, country-flavored set, a change is in store: A couple of weeks ago, Tim let it be known that his residency at this bohemian hangout and respected music spot would be phased out over the month [...]

Amidst the singers and songwriters and banjo pickers of the thriving Somerville/Cambridge music scene, we can say one thing for sure: Though each musician hailing from Davis to Union to Central possesses a noteworthy trait setting them apart from other artists in the community, not one of them uses the jaw of a donkey in their percussion section like the David Wax Museum.

As they took the stage of the Comcast Center on Friday night, the Followill boys, known to the world as explosive rock powerhouse Kings of Leon, ambled from the wings to the solemn, soaring crescendoes of “Lacrimosa” from Mozart’s Requiem.  The shadows remained as the Kings grabbed their guitars and swung the straps over their [...]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people collectively try to light a cigar as I did the night that Jessie and I wound up talking with MEandJOANCOLLINS in a deserted parking lot in Central Square. Jessie, Bo, Jen, Jen’s girlfriend, Kathleen, and I tried to assist at various points in the lighting [...]

Back in June, I found myself sitting underneath the vast ceiling of the Armory Center of the Arts in Somerville completely and utterly intoxicated with the swells and soaring of Nicole Nelson and Dwight Richter’s voices.  As Dwight and Nicole played to the sounds of each other’s resounding heartbeats during the first Somerville Jazz & [...]

“So, where are we going, Matt? What’s going on?”

As the fog rolled in off of Narragansett Bay and onto the main stage of the Newport Folk Festival, Jessie and I found ourselves scurrying up one of the hills contained within the walls of Fort Adams in hot pursuit of Deer Tick and the Ice Cream Man…

We first heard of Annie and the Beekeepers from the list of local favorites given to us by Rhode Island-based experimental folk upstarts The Low Anthem during an interview and, after their subsequent, awe-inspiring Brattle Theater performance, we absolutely trusted their opinion when it came to quality musicianship. So, when Annie Lynch, Ken Woodward and Alexandra Spalding came through Boston in support of their latest EP, The Squid Hell Sessions, recorded locally in Jamaica Plain, we we jumped at the chance to check them out.

On May 22nd, Hallelujah the Hills took the stage Downstairs at the Middle East in front of a rowdy crowd… at 12:30 in the morning. Though the five bands on the bill that night were collectively responsible for filling the floor of the basement venue, the fact that the fans of You Can Be A Wesley, the Bon Savants, Cymbals Eat Guitars and Magic Magic all stuck around to see the set of the reputable headlining act speaks volumes about the appeal of Hallelujah the Hills and the nature of their city’s independent music scene in which they’ve maintained a popular status over the course of the past year.