Scan the roster of artists playing the Newport Folk Festival next week and you’re gonna see some pretty big names: Maggie Rogers, Billie Strings, Noah Kahan, CAAMP – the list goes on and on. You’re also gonna see this name: Dan Blakeslee. That’s because the southern Maine troubadour has been booked to play the legendaryContinue reading “Local Boy Makes Good — Dan Blakeslee’s Playing the Newport Folk Festival!”
Author Archives: Plague Dad
If You Go To Only One Music Festival This Summer, It Should Be ARME Boot Camp 2
When it comes to live music, Portland punches far above its weight, and the upcoming ARME Boot Camp Festival 2 at Threshers Brewing in Searsmont on Aug. 4 and 5 proves that point in a big, big way – the headlining act this year is Maine’s own Rustic Overtones, who are reuniting to play theirContinue reading “If You Go To Only One Music Festival This Summer, It Should Be ARME Boot Camp 2”
Portland’s Snake Lips just dropped the local Song of the Year …
Yeah, I know. I haven’t written jack-shit in weeks now. I been busy. So sue me. And honestly, I hadn’t planned to write anything tonight, either. But, as The Dude once said: new shit has come to light, man. And that new shit is the latest single from Repeating Cloud recording artist Snake Lips, whichContinue reading “Portland’s Snake Lips just dropped the local Song of the Year …”
Saturday Night Rock: FonFon Ru’s Record Release Party
For my money, your best rock value, pound for pound, is at the Space Gallery Saturday night, with the FonFon Ru record release party — four bands, no waiting: FonFonRu, Ossalot, Kal Marks and That Hideous Sound. That’s a helluva show. Three tracks from FonFon Ru’s new record, Collapse of the Silver Bridge, are upContinue reading “Saturday Night Rock: FonFon Ru’s Record Release Party”
For Mike Rivard and Club d’Elf, It’s All About the Groove
In the end, it all comes down to one thing: the groove, or whatever you might wanna call it. The beat. The rhythm. The feel. The vibe. You know it when you feel it. When it’s locked in, it can be transcendent. And that transcendence, that stunning sense of revelation, is what bass master MikeContinue reading “For Mike Rivard and Club d’Elf, It’s All About the Groove”
Grammy Nominee Rachel Eckroth at the Sun Tiki on Monday, Dec. 27
Monday night, typically, is not a show night at the Sun Tiki Studios – – but then, it’s not every night that a musician of Grammy-nominated keyboardist Rachel Eckroth‘s caliber comes through town, either. Eckroth, who’s playing at the Sun Tiki on Monday, Dec. 27, has established herself as a creative force whose nuanced soundContinue reading “Grammy Nominee Rachel Eckroth at the Sun Tiki on Monday, Dec. 27”
So many killer shows this weekend — it’s a Festivus Miracle!
Rejoice, music lovers, because this weekend offers a bounty of shows to choose from — so many that, unless you know a mystical way to bend the laws of time and space so that you can be in more than one place at the same time, you’ll probably need to make some difficult choices. FridayContinue reading “So many killer shows this weekend — it’s a Festivus Miracle!”
#RecordStoreDay? Nah, the best stuff is homegrown: the new 7″ from Snake Lips …
So, last Friday was #RecordStoreDay which evidently is a twice-yearly thing now – one in June and one in November, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, all the better to capitalize on the consumer feeding frenzy known as Black Friday. Normally, I avoid #RecordStoreDay like the plague, so to speak; standing in line to for anContinue reading “#RecordStoreDay? Nah, the best stuff is homegrown: the new 7″ from Snake Lips …”
File Under: Better late than never — #PortlandStripped at Sun Tiki Studios, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021
Sun Tiki is my local. It’s close by, within walking distance, which is kind of important when the temperature drops. More importantly, thought, Sun Tiki Studios has emerged as a venue that consistently presents adventurous bills featuring some of the greater Portland area’s best local bands, in intriguing combinations. So I go to a lotContinue reading “File Under: Better late than never — #PortlandStripped at Sun Tiki Studios, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021”
Portland Stripped: four of Portland’s most notorious noise merchants unplugged
Fronting a band is one thing. Playing solo is something else altogether. There’s nowhere to hide – no drummer to keep the beat, no bass player to drive the groove, and no one else to pick up the slack. It takes courage, it takes charisma, and it takes strong material. I remember seeing Bob MouldContinue reading “Portland Stripped: four of Portland’s most notorious noise merchants unplugged”
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