Album Review: Stirrup- Cut

In the past week I’ve attended performances by banda, honky tonk, mainstream jazz and folk artists.  I also wrote a short essay about an indie-rock group and talked about a heartland rock band on an NPR affiliate.  While it’s all of a piece to me, I’ve regularly employed Cut, a new album by Chicago’s Stirrup, as a proverbial palate cleanser.  Cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm makes a Sonny Sharrock-esque racket in the unconventional power trio.  It's the sort of room-clearing noise that's long appealed to me.  Here’s correspondingly unpopular live footage.


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I reviewed a concert by Julión Álvarez y Su Norteño Banda and Poncho Barraza at the Sprint Center.

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I wrote an extended preview of Gwen Stefani’s concert at the Sprint Center.

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I pondered the carreer of the Rainmakers with Steve Kraske on KCUR last week.

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I reviewed Lee Ann Womack’s concert at Knuckleheads.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I wimped out at Plastic Sax by not identifying the perpetrators of a dismal jazz performance.

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The folk star Glenn Yarbrough has died.  Fun fact: he and Jac Holzman, the founder of Elektra and Nonesuch Records, were college roommates.

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I love E-40.  The Bay Area rapper’s latest single ”Petty” tickles my ears.

(Original image of KCI floor tile art by There Stands the Glass.)

Event Review: PorchFest KC

I attended two ambitious new festivals in Kansas City last weekend.

Boulevardia resembled a Plaza Art Fair for millennials. While I had a good time hanging out with my friends, I wasn't drinking or eating, disallowing me three-quarters of the pleasures noted in the large-scale event's description as "a nation rich in beer, food, music and beer." Most of the bands from elsewhere didn't appeal to me either. Maybe next year I'll be able to quench my thirst while listening to headliners I enjoy.

PorchFest KC, however, was right up my alley. Dozens of porches in the neighborhood southeast of the intersection of State Line and Westport Road served as stages for an eclectic mix of performances by amateur and professional musicians.

Kids, dogs and friendly adults wandered from yard to yard taking in the sounds. A psychobilly trio had a loud PA that attracted a correspondingly large crowd. I heard the dudes in the top photo play groovy versions of "Friend of the Devil" and "I Know You Rider." Timbers, an Americana band, pleased an enthusiastic audience. The tango/classical duo in the photo below played the best music I heard Saturday.

Lots of people were drinking beer at PorchFest.  But unlike my experience at Boulevardia, I didn't feel like I needed to down a few alcoholic beverages in order to relax.


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Bettye LaVette's outing at Knuckleheads on Monday is my new favorite show of the year. Here's my review.

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I reviewed the Knuckleheads debuts of Judy Collins and Don McLean.

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I saw Pharaoh Sanders at Blues Alley in Washington D.C. last week. My notes are at Plastic Sax.

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Casey Kasem has died.

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The Rainmakers shred. (Via BGO.)

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Wussy's Attica! is RIYL: Vic Chesnutt, small towns, Drive-By Truckers.

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Jack White is the Led Zeppelin of the new millennium. Lazaretto is RIYL: Led Zeppelin I, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin III.

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Willie Watson's stark Folk Singer, Vol. 1 is RIYL: Doc Watson, the Smithsonian-Folkways label, Furry Lewis.

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If I'm ever forced to listen to a Conor Oberst project on repeat, I'd like it to be his new Upside Down Mountain. RIYL: Fred Neill, Omaha, Tim Buckley.

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Our Year, the latest from Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison, is delightful. RIYL: Conway & Loretta, the old Austin, George & Tammy.

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The Everymen's Givin' Up On Free Jazz is RIYL: The Hold Steady, New Jersey, Meatloaf. Here's the ridiculous video for "Spain."



(Original images by There Stands the Glass.)