Texicali restates the original ZZ Top legend (not so much arena rock as arena blues) even as it takes a few Texas-sized steps away from it. You May Also Like: ZZ Top’s “El Diablo,” “Thunderbird,” “Rough Boy” + Others: Gimme Five Supersonic Blues Machine – West of Flushing, South ofRead More

Kevn Kinney, longtime leader of Drivin N Cryin, cops to the fact that his group has always had a broad palette of influences — something that can give their albums a weird schizophrenia at times. He compares it, quite appropriately, to “The Kinks meet the Who meet the Ramones andRead More

An offbeat rumination on love, Debbie Miller’s new EP Measures + Waits finds a way to pull no punches, even as it pulls a few jokes — no easy task. You May Also Like: Debbie Gifford – Changes (2018) Of All the Tom Waits Albums, ‘Real Gone’ May Be theRead More

If you always wondered what the Red Hot Chili Peppers would sound like covering their fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees — both the expected (the Ramones, Iggy Pop) and the decidedly less so (Dion, the Beach Boys) — here’s your chance. You May Also Like: When JohnRead More

The secret of the Machines is that they have an addictively fun, poundingly-heavy beat that is reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, and they have a penchant for really stretching out their compositions for texture and emphasis. It’s prog-rock without the slightest hint of twee frilliness. Road was an EP with aRead More

Little Worlds is another one of those oddly configured trios that’s been popping up lately in jazz, but there is nothing gimmicky sounding from this guitar (Ryan Mackstaller), trombone (Rick Parker) and drums (Tim Kuhl) getup. With all three of these musicians being veterans of rock, jazz and whack jazz,Read More

At first, there’s a homespun innocence about Bobby and Suzy, this brother-and-sister duo. Recording in their music room at Charleston, S.C., you can almost see them as they once were You May Also Like: Bobby Kimball – We’re Not in Kansas Anymore (2017) Bobby Kimball, former Toto frontman: Something Else!Read More

Speaking from the heart is one thing, but to sing from that tender place — to reveal just how vulnerable you are on stage — takes a different kind of courage. And Haley Dreis, the South Carolina classical fiddle player turned budding popular songsmith, has that courage. You May AlsoRead More

Photo from Gregg Rolie’s website by Nick DeRiso Gregg Rolie, a founding member of Santana and then Journey, is probably best remembered as this tiny speck playing keyboards in a sold-out arena. That makes the deeply introspective new EP Five Days, recorded live with just piano and vocals, an unexpectedRead More

Photo from www.SashaMasakowski.com by Nick DeRiso Sasha Masakowski, at once fearless and charming, is featured on two new EPs, one as a leader with Musical Playground (a sampling from the forthcoming next-gen jazz recording Wishes on Hypersoul Records) and another as part of the New Orleans indie rock/electronic band BionicaRead More