Hey, dude, Jason, when you find yourself in a studio doing things like smoothing out the shrillness of an accordion line and making sure the snare drum isn’t too bombastic, it might be wise to take a step back and make sure you’re not ironing out the peaks and valleys and leaving us with nothing but Kansas. (Do I mean the state, or the band? It doesn’t matter.)
Category: Country Rock
my review of the New L.A. Folk Fest at Zorthian Ranch is up.
Have you read the history of the Zorthian Ranch? It’s pretty fucking incredible, even by L.A./hippie standards. And this link doesn’t even get into the naked human statuary or Richard Feynman… Anyway, yes, I wrote a review of the marvelous time I had on Saturday, and sadly it’s not even fully inclusive, since so many […]
EARL SCRUGGS R.I.P.
He was a titan in his field, an innovator, and it was a supreme pleasure to interview Mr. Scruggs and his son Gary many years ago, as one of my first assignments for L.A. RECORD. He will be missed.
Earl Scruggs is the best banjo player EVER!
Well, you could argue on Bill Monroe’s behalf. But Bill never did this:
the eagle never hunts the fly
I just finished reading Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood. While it was cool to read about Frank Zappa’s log cabin and Joni Mitchell living with Stephen Stills, I have to admit that in my heart, I still prefer balls-out rockers to any of these hippie fucks. What the fuck can Stephen Stills tell me […]
Winter Flowers and Schoolhouse Rock!
I had a blast at 3 Clubs last night, drinking tons of liquor and watching scores of rawkers do America-themed covers, some of them solo on them there acoustic-type instruments, as part of the Christof Certik curated “1st Annual Preindependence Day Musical Extravaganza”. Whilst Darren Grealish’s anti-Bush tune and Sara Melson’s folk sing-alongs inspired a lot of hoots and […]
the Zabriskie Point soundtrack
Yesterday, my baby and I rolled on out to the High Desert to Pappy & Harriet’s to see Winter Flowers, the Chapin Sisters, and a bunch of really amazing bands at the Manimal Festival. We left L.A. early, didn’t hit much traffic, and about an hour in I put in the first CD from the […]