YouTube Treasure – Trixie Whitley “Strong Blood”

Local Rhythms – Remember The Name Trixie Whitley

You should have been there.
When Ray Massucco walked on stage to introduce the first performer at Saturday’s Chris Whitley tribute, he remarked that co-promoter Charlie Hunter wasn’t around. “I think he’s out selling tickets,” Ray told the crowd, which filled maybe a third of the Bellows Falls Opera House.
I have to confess, somewhat sheepishly, [...]

Jenee Halstead – Old Time, Internet Time

In a cavernous living room lit with the glow of 24 candles, Jenee Halstead and her band start to play. There are no wires, spotlights or microphones, simply a half circle of four musicians standing in a corner. The scene brings to mind a Depression-era campfire, not a suburban house concert a few [...]

Local Rhythms – White River Indie Film Fest

“Woodstock” was a subversive movie.
I saw it at age 13, and soon after attended my first rock concert, with tickets I’d won from a local radio station (which had itself gone overnight from top forty to rarely playing the same song twice in a 24-hour period).
Across America, teenagers began buying Jimi Hendrix and Santana albums [...]

FCC Ponders More Localism, NAB Responds

Bloomberg columnist Cindy Skyrzycki writes that a recent FCC proposal has National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) members talking as they meet this week in Las Vegas:
Under proposals published Feb. 13, the Federal Communications Commission would require television and radio station owners to reconnect with their markets at a time when technology allows remote broadcasting and [...]

Local Rhythms – Bragg’s Message to Moguls: Pay Up

I know, it’s only rock and roll, but I like it – and everyone young and old has an opinion about music. Thus, the debate over its future matters, even if the subject doesn’t have the weight of, say, Bernake’s prescriptions for the economy or General Petraeus on Capitol Hill.
Believing I understood all the [...]

Local Rhythms – Friday and I’m Out Of My Mind

Early on, nightly picks weren’t a part of this column. I tried to mention everything of note in the area entertainment scene, assuming that people would make up their own minds. Then a few readers complained.
“Tell me what to do, Mr. Critic,” they said. “That’s your job.”
Never one to shy away from offering [...]

Today’s Free Download – Toni Ballard “From This Moment On”

Chicago’s gift to New England jazz, singer Toni Ballard has shared the stage with top-notch big bands (Nelson Riddle, White Heat Swing Orchestra), in addition to working behind the radio microphone and doing publicity for Berklee Music College.
With her permission, here’s a track from her last album featuring Larry Coryell on guitar.
From This Moment On [...]

Deals, Deals, Deals

UMG has just about made nice with MySpace, according to news reports. This clears the way for MySpace Music, an enterprise offering music streams, MP3s and concert tickets. Propping up the gazillion unknown bands already giving away music on MySpace with a Led Zeppelin or Radiohead wouldn’t be a bad move. Here’s [...]

Today’s Free Download – Ratdog: “Feel Like a Stranger”

It’s free and it’s the Dead – that’s worth some space on your hard drive, right?  Recorded last month on Ratdog’s current tour.  A little too much cheering, but a lot of impressive playing.  A long time ago, Branford Marsalis sat in with the Grateful Dead, and this is a bit reminiscent of that.
Ratdog – [...]