The “Sticky Fingers” tour began as a few spot dates last summer in Western U.S. markets, but the response to the shows was so strong, Denson said, he and his band decided to keep the idea afloat for a while. A new stretch of East Coast dates kicks off Tuesday, starting with Boston, Mass.
Have you ever heard a song for the first time and gotten goosebumps? That happened to me the moment I heard “Two Kings.”
It would be accurate to state that, in the past, Montevideo High School has proven itself to be a formidable force in the statewide Minnesota Music Listening Contest (MLC).
Ricky Gervais hosted the 69th annual Golden Globes. Monologues and jokes were typical Gervais: slam the person of the moment. No one was safe. But it was to be expected, so pretty much everybody seemed prepared, including Madonna.
Listening to “Chimes of Freedom,” the new 76-song Bob Dylan tribute to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International, is almost a stream-of-consciousness experience. You sometimes feel like you’ve accidentally stumbled into the most way-out coffeehouse in some alternate-universe Greenwich Village.
Punk rock and Broadway musicals: When those two worlds join together, it’s a sign of the pop culture apocalypse. At least, that’s what we used to think. Then, along came the Broadway show “American Idiot,” based on the landmark, Grammy-winning 2004 Green Day album.
J.J. Grey wanted to do something decidedly different when he finally acceded to multiple requests for a live album.
Born in New York City and raised in Russia, the classically trained Elizaveta bills her sound as “opera pop,” which is enough to make anybody nervous. But don’t worry.
The Massachusetts-based Kingsley Flood, founded by frontman Naseem Khuri, first made a splash in 2010 with its debut album “Dust Windows,” a rollicking, literate collection of Americana-style tracks that got the group more than its share of local notice.
Tennesse’s Kevin Gordon has been referred to as a “Southern Springsteen,” but you’re also likely to hear shades of Mark Knopfler’s laconic storytelling style and Steve Earle’s wry alt-country delivery in Gordon’s work. He'll be at Toad in Cambridge on Jan. 20.
“These two guys were sitting over in the corner pointing at me and whispering. Later that night, they came over and introduced themselves, and it was Joe and Dan from Three Tall Pines. They just said they were looking for a new fiddle player, someone with a little more energy and pizzazz ..."
For music history buffs like me, 2011 was one for the record books. It seemed like almost every week something historic was happening on a Billboard chart.
Friday, Oct. 11, 2011, was a day the members of The Gay Nineties barbershop quartet will long remember. The quartet, which was founded in Montevideo 65 years ago, was inducted into the Land-O-Lakes District Hall of Fame at the district convention in Rochester. Over the years, the group has had 18 different members. Receiving the award were (left above, from left) tenor Gary Erickson (member no. 13), baritone Al Reesnes (member no. 18), bass Lester Bockes (member no. 17), and lead Jim Tiede (member no. 16). The quartet’s repertoire has remained virtually unchanged since its inception. The group, wearing its distinctive derby hats, black tuxedos and bright yellow shoes, specializes in a hilarious deadpan delivery familiar to barbershop quartet fans everywhere. (Submitted photo)
Traditionally, we end each year with a list of the year’s best albums, a top 10 of the year’s music. 2011 seemed like a good year for songwriting with a plethora of compelling works from individual styles.
This was a year when most everybody needed to cut loose, kick off their Sunday shoes and dance. If you had moves like Jagger, I hope you didn’t apologize for the party rockin’. High energy, dance-infused club music dominated the charts and airwaves, while a countrified version of the ’80s hit flick “Footloose” kicked up some dust.
The holiday season is a great time to take a look at music books, and the obvious choice for a rock fans’ last-minute Christmas gift might be the new “Aerosmith: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Boston Bad Boys” by Richard Bienstock.
Put up your feet, grab a cup of hot cocoa and take a reindeer quiz.
Members of the clarinet section of the Montevideo concert band perform Monday night during the grades 9-12 band and vocal concert at the Fine Arts Center. (Staff photo by Bruce Olson)
Sophomore soprano soloist Cassie Wright (at left) sings the traditional Italian Christmas carol “Dormi, Dormi, O Bel Bambin” during the Montevideo High School band and choir Yuletide Fest concert Monday night at the Fine Arts Center. Performing were the jazz band, the concert band, the varsity women’s choir, and the concert choir. The choirs are directed by Dan Hampton, and the bands are under the direction of Tim Domka. (Staff photo by Bruce Olson)
About all these songs have in common is that, with a few exceptions, you probably didn’t hear many of them on the radio this year. But they’ll sound great coming from your iPod.
There was plenty of great music released in 2011 — and some that was not so great — but these 21 albums managed to find their way into my iPod playlists more than most over the course of the year. Whether they’re the “best” is certainly debatable … but you could do a lot worse than to give each of these a spin before the ball drops on 2012.
