It’s funny how we learn about new music today in the digital world. I haven’t quite turned in my music journalism card yet, so I receive many pitches for new and established artists. Also, in...
Welcome to the final installment in our coverage of the South by Southwest Music Festival, where we decided to listen to some people talk along with continuing to listen to people sing. The free ...
https://www.esdmusic.com/2011/03/31/sxsw-2011-music-recap-iii-day-showcases/
Welcome to Part II of our South by Southwest coverage, where our tireless concert goer braves five straight days of live rock ‘n roll. First we tackled the headliners. Here, it’s showcase tim...
https://www.esdmusic.com/2011/03/31/sxsw-2011-recap-evening-showcases/
“THERE'S MUSIC EVERYWHERE YOU GO, ALL THE TIME, WHICH IS JUST A BEAUTIFUL THING.” The 25th anniversary edition of the South by Southwest Music Conference & Festival went down in Austin, Texas...
https://www.esdmusic.com/2011/03/30/sxsw-2011-music-recap-headliners/
AUSTIN, TX – The 25th anniversary edition of the SXSW Music and Media Conference is upon us this week and it’s shaping up to be another gala event for live music junkies. The initial lineup m...
https://www.esdmusic.com/2011/03/14/esdmusics-south-by-southwest-2011-music-preview/
There are few slopes that are as slippery as music that could fairly be described as precious. A wrong move in any direction, and that ‘c’ becomes a ‘tent’, if you know what we mean. It w...
https://www.esdmusic.com/2011/01/26/steal-this-song-little-tybee-nero/
Holy west coast pop, Batman. Now this is a sound that we wouldn’t mind seeing catch on and infiltrate the mainstream…again. We’re on our first spin through Mirrors, the debut album U.S. Roy...
https://www.esdmusic.com/2011/01/25/steal-this-song-us-royalty-monte-carlo/
RIYL: Flying Burrito Brothers, early Wilco, Gram Parsons We say Part I because Jayhawks guitarist Gary Louris personally told us that there are plans to reissue the band’s remaining three album...
https://www.esdmusic.com/2011/01/17/the-jayhawks-reissues-part-i/
Having children has had a profound impact on my musical tastes. Will it make them cry? Will it teach them naughty words? Will it bore them? Then it doesn't get played around the house, which has ...
It was an interesting year for me music-wise. So much great stuff passed my desk or by e-mail from publicists, but something odd happened: my old PC started getting so slow that I literally could...
It's been another bad year for the recording industry, but another great year for music fans. Rock 'n' roll is alive and well, as is the opportunity to see it performed live. Musicians can still ...
The days of getting lost in an album have passed me by. This year, I really tried to rekindle that lost listening art of playing entire albums – instead of compiling playlists in iTunes. It has...
Each year, when I sort through my favorite songs, I have trouble ranking them because each one has a different meaning to me. I always wind up creating a mixtape (or a playlist, for you younger r...
RIYL: Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, Ray LaMontagne Sarah Sample rises above the typical “Grey’s Anatomy” genre of female singer/songwriting-heart-on-my-sleeve-because-the-whole-world-hurts m...
https://www.esdmusic.com/2010/11/17/sarah-sample-someday-someday/
RIYL: Uncle Earl, Pete Seeger Laura Cortese is a well known side musician whose skill on the fiddle, vocals and bass have made her a favorite with artists as diverse as Uncle Earl and Band of Hor...
https://www.esdmusic.com/2010/11/17/laura-cortese-acoustic-project/
RIYL: U2, Lynryd Skynrd, The Allman Brothers Kings of Leon must be happy that they’re no longer being called the next big thing. Their breakthrough album, Only by the Night, which featured the ...
https://www.esdmusic.com/2010/10/28/kings-of-leon-come-around-sundown/
The 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival continued to make the three-day event's case as one of the best festivals on the planet. It went off with nary a hitch, and in fact, this year's edition...
https://www.esdmusic.com/2010/10/21/austin-city-limits-music-festival-october-8-10-2010-austin-tx/
RIYL: Son Volt, Sugar, Ryan Adams I imagine the conversation went something like this. Pete: (drumming his fingers on the stained bar top) So… Frank… or is it Francis? Black? Anyway… what d...
Men don’t like to talk about it, but there are times in our lives where things are less awesome than usual, and by that we mean that life is complete and utter shit. Being men, we’re not supp...
RIYL: The Black Crowes, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Bob Dylan Many know Bingham only from “The Weary Kind,” his deep country Oscar-winning song from “Crazy Heart” that he wrote with produ...
https://www.esdmusic.com/2010/09/29/ryan-bingham-junky-star/