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krispyweiss · 2 hours
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Todd Rundgren at Andrew J. Brady Music Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 24, 2024
Todd Rundgren had nothing to say besides Thank you and We love you, Cincinnati at the end of the gig on Wednesday night in the Queen City. The typically talkative musician instead let a career-spanning collection of deep tracks handle communications with his audience, which on April 24 filled about half of the Andrew J. Brady Music Center’s 2,800 seats.
The Me/We tour is one for the faithful, with long-dormant tracks such as 1995’s subdued “Beloved Infidel” and novelties like 2004’s “Stood Up” returning to the setlist for the first time in ages. “Down with the Ship,” Rundgren’s 2022 joint with Rivers Cuomo, meanwhile, is just getting its sea legs and the goofy sea shanty works well alongside the eclectic sonic smorgasbord that found Rundgren conducting synth strings and soprano sax with a baton on the balladic “Kindness” from 1991, playing a searing guitar solo on 2000’s “Buffalo Grass” and proving his compositional prescience on the now entirely relevant rap-rocker “Fascist Christ” from 1993.
In a nod to any casual fans who may have attended, Rundgren began the encore with the first half of “I Saw the Light” segued into the bridge of “Can We Still be Friends?,” which led into the coda of “Hello it’s Me” before the dramatic fan favorite “The Last Ride” and “A Dream Goes on Forever” ended the gig.
Backed by five long-time compatriots - bassist Kasim Sulton and drummer Prairie Prince; Bobby Strickland on keyboards, woodwinds and programming; keyboardist Gil Assayas; and guitarist Bruce McDaniel - Rundgren played 24 songs over 125 minutes, as the black-clad band was bathed in white, red, blue, green and yellow hues from a generous light show that augmented the selections flawlessly.
Strong visuals notwithstanding, sublime audio, from the band and the venue’s sound system, was the focus. Drawing from more than one-dozen solo and Utopia albums connecting 1972’s Something/Anything? to 2022’s Space Force, Rundgren, per his wont, also covered a diverse stylistic template, as he switched from lead guitarist to band leader who paced the lip of the stage sans instrument and tossed in some EDM in the form of “Flesh & Blood” from 2015’s Global for good measure.
Opening with 1974’s ethereal “I Think You Know,” Rundgren celebrated the nature of his fanatical followers on Utopia’s 1985 dance track “Secret Society” before showing off his grimy guitar and gritty growl on 2008’s “Weakness.”
The initial triptych set the evening’s tone as Rundgren, 75, used his deepened voice to bring the songs into the present while the band provided the backgrounds that tied them to their era. To that end, Sulton and McDaniel joined Rundgren around a single mic for the a cappella “Honest Work,” which hushed any grabbers in the house, and “Hawking” came off as a hybrid metaphysical worship service thanks to the veritable choir and a soaring saxophone solo from Strickland. The passage of time seemed to be a loose theme of the Me/We tour as Rundgren plumbed his discography for that explore the unknowable to come up with such tracks as “Lost Horizon” (1985), “Afterlife” and “God Said” from 2004 and “Worldwide Epiphany,” the 1993 celebration of figuring it all out.
The latter got the audience on their collective feet where they remained until the show ended.
Grade card: Todd Rundgren in Cincinnati - 4/24/24 - A
See more photos on Sound Bites’ Facebook page.
4/25/24
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krispyweiss · 3 hours
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Song Review: Bow Thayer and Krishna Guthrie - “Paradise in the Rough” (Live, July 7, 2022)
Whether by coincidence or purposeful “inspiration,” the melody of Bow Thayer’s “Paradise in the Rough” is more than a little bit similar to Widespread Panic’s “Ain’t Life Grand.”
It was true on the studio version and it remained the case when Thayer played a duo-acoustic version with fellow guitarist Krishna Guthrie on July 7, 2022, in Vermont, a performance now out on video.
Thayer’s song mirrors Panic’s in the lyric department as well, as the narrator looks to simple pleasures to escape life’s losses and mundane stressors.
Down here we fit in with the conifers/down where the river runs through our blood/god knows the we’re connoisseurs of canned food/down here it’s paradise in the rough, goes the chorus.
Filling in for the mandolin on the studio version, Guthrie and his guitar buoy Thayer’s rhythm. The collaborator, however, strains on the high harmonies, inadvertently roughening an otherwise-calming mantra.
Grade card: Bow Thayer and Krishna Guthrie - “Paradise in the Rough” (Live - 7/7/22) - B-
4/25/24
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krispyweiss · 18 hours
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Song Review: Widespread Panic - “Chilly Water” (Live, 2019)
There’s nothing subtle about the “Chilly Water” Widespread Panic dived into during the 2019 edition of Panic en la Playa.
No lingering leads. No crooning. No light-touch percussion.
None of that. Jimmy Herring shreds. John Bell screams. And Duane Trucks and Sunny Ortiz beat the shit out of their respective kits as the rest of the band drives the song hard, the only break coming during a drums-bass-keys breakdown that helps extend the number past the 10-minute mark.
On the one hand, this “Chilly Water” smokes. On the other, it’s a tad too heated to dive into outside of the moment in which it happened.
Grade card: Widespread Panic - “Chilly Water” (Live, 2019) - B-
4/24/24
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krispyweiss · 23 hours
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Song Review: Jerry Garcia Band - “The Harder They Come” (Live, Feb. 13, 1976)
“The Harder They Come;” Feb. 13, 1976; on which the Jerry Garcia Band stretches Jimmy Cliff’s tune to one-third of an hour without resorting to aimless musical wanderings.
Out to announce the full-show - save for the lost “How Sweet it Is (To be Loved by You)” opener - release as GarciaLive Volume 21, this version is loose-fitting and slow-to-unfold, leaving plenty of room for John Kahn’s riffing on bass and Garcia’s similarly low-end solos to bubble to the surface. Keith Godchaux, meanwhile, opts for high piano sparkling on the sonic water.
After choruses from Garcia with Donna Jean Godchaux on harmony, the song moves into a long instrumental section before drummer Ron Tutt wills a climax around the 12-minute mark. More vocals follow before Tutt and the band spend the final 90 seconds doing it again.
The sound quality is pristine and with the music so subtle, it’s fun to hear an out-of-his-head fan yelling, whoooo! over and over.
Out June 14, GarciaLive Volume 21 will include “How Sweet it Is” and the first-known performance of “My Sisters and Brothers” as recorded Feb. 15, 1976, to round out the LP.
Grade card: Jerry Garcia Band - “The Harder They Come” (Live, Feb. 13, 1976) - A
4/24/24
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krispyweiss · 1 day
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“Los Lobos Native Sons” to be Released in 2025
- Trailer spotlights 50 years of “truly one of the best musical groups ever formed”
Edward James Olmos spares no superlative in praising Los Lobos.
“Truly one of the best musical groups ever formed,” he says. “You could put the Stones. You could put the Beatles. They’re right there - right in the same vein.”
Olmos is speaking in the trailer for “Los Lobos Native Sons,” a feature-length documentary coming in 2025 and documenting 50 years since the band’s 1973 founding.
“Our goal is to expose music as far as we possibly can to take it,” a young Louie Pérez says in one of the clip’s many archival sequences, “to different parts of the United States, Mexico, the world if possible.”
Soundtracked with “Will the Wolf Survive?,” “La Bamba” and “Native Son,” the trailer shows Pérez, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano and Steve Berlin doing just that as they transform from young upstarts to grey veterans. George Lopez, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Cheech Marin and others appear in the film.
“David, Ceaser, Conrad, Louie and Steve, it’s amazing what they are able to create together,” Tom Waits says.
Read Sound Bites’ previous coverage here.
4/24/24
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krispyweiss · 1 day
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Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams at Natalie’s Grandview, Columbus, Ohio, April 23, 2024
Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams dispensed with the adage about veteran musicians losing the crowd by playing new material as they ran though 2024’s All This Time - plus a number of other tracks - during their April 23 gig in Columbus, Ohio.
Playing in an exuberant, sold-out Natalie’s Grandview, the First Couple of Americana were backed by bassist/background vocalist Brandon Morrison and drummer Justin Guip (Hot Tuna) for a 16-song, 100-minute gig that drew material from their three duo LPs, their work with Levon Helm on “The Poor Old Dirt Farmer” and Campbell’s time as one of Phil Lesh’s Friends with “Big River.”
The former featured Campbell on fiddle and Williams on mandolin as the married music-makers played straight bluegrass atop a rock ‘n’ roll rhythm section. They’d switched to electric guitar and tambourine, respectively, for the hard-charging rockabilly of the latter, which served as the final encore and earned a standing ovation.
But the show was centered around All This Time. And Campbell in black and Williams in red supercharged the 10 songs - homing in on their 1950s, early-rock subtext while presenting them in 21st-century, Americana context. The show-opening run of “Desert Island Dreams,” the title track and “Ride with Me” found Campbell using fingerpicks on his electric axe while Williams strummed her acoustic guitar.
Their voices - his powerful baritone, her soaring mezzo-soprano - meanwhile wrapped around each other much as the subjects in Campbell’s amorous compositions.
“Teresa thinks all these songs are about her,” Campbell said. And of course, they are, except for broken-hearted compositions such as “Down on My Knees,” which Williams said was about “the one that came before” her.
But Williams happily claimed “When I Stop Loving You,” the staggering, soul-rooted Campbell-William Bell co-write from 2017’s Contraband Love.
Baby, the sun won’t rise/the moon won’t appear/and he stars will fall/when I stop loving you/when I stop loving you/somebody will close my eyes/and I’m gonna hear/the angels call/when I stop loving you/and my heart will beat no more, they sung with their voices intertwined at top of their ranges.
This - and “A Little Bit Better,” Campbell’s balladic ode to Laurel and Hardy - left audience members literally gasping at their beauty. So while Campbell and Williams obliterated one adage, they simultaneously reinforced another about intimates making beautiful music together.
That they did so in a tiny venue so cozy Williams likened it to being in the living room with friends made it all the better. But, as anyone who’s seem the pair knows, Campbell and Williams should be playing arenas.
Grade card: Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams at Natalie’s Grandview - 4/23/24 - A
See more photos on Sound Bites’ Facebook page.
4/24/24
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krispyweiss · 1 day
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Song Review: Little Feat - “Spanish Moon” (Alternate Version)
Little Feat’s alternate version of “Spanish Moon” finds the band playing live in the studio, sans the horns and backgrounds that accentuate the album version.
In that regard, it sounds more like an attempt at a backing track or a rehearsal take - a notion reinforced up by Lowell George’s decision to abort the work in progress.
“Let’s stop it and start it again, please,” he says as the song comes to an abrupt halt.
The track previews the forthcoming - no release date yet - deluxe edition of Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, which comes with a remaster, studio outtakes and the band’s previously unreleased Feb. 1, 1975, show in Paris.
The funky groove is there and the lyrics about whisky, bad cocaine and deathly women are as slyly engrossing as ever. But mostly, this “Spanish Moon” serves to illustrate the power of brass and brassy vocals to vault a strong number into classic status.
And Sound Bites still doesn’t buy the alternate-version tag.
Grade card: Little Feat - “Spanish Moon” (Alternate Version) - B
4/24/24
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krispyweiss · 1 day
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Album Review: Todd Snider - Aimless Records Presents: Step Right Up (Purple Version)
A quarter-century after releasing Step Right Up, Todd Snider seemed ambivalent about his sophomore album. His mixed feelings were strong enough, Snider felt the need to apologize to fans in the event he was hating on songs they loved as he performed the record front-to-back during his pandemic-era “First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder” livestream series.
Released as Aimless Records Presents: Step Right Up (Purple Version), the second of 12 audio releases from Snider’s in-quarantine video performances finds the singer/songwriter with a case of the sniffles and in a relatively subdued mood as he runs through the songs, evaluates their merit and talks briefly about the people and events that inspired them.
Comical stories, often a staple of Snider performances, are mostly absent as he seems to be wistfully reminiscing and wondering where the years disappeared to.
“This record’s taking me back,” Snider says before “Moondawg’s Tavern.”
“We were having fun at this time.”
Solo and acoustic with Snider accompanying himself on guitar, harmonica and piano for his trip back to 1996, the Purple Version of Step Right Up is in 2024 a trip back to the days of coronavirus and a reminder of what musicians like Snider provided for the rest of us. It follows Songs for the Daily Planet (Purple Version) and will be followed by Viva Satellite (Purple Version).
Grade card: Todd Snider - Aimless Records Presents: Step Right Up (Purple Version) - B
4/24/24
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krispyweiss · 1 day
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Song Review: Tom Jones and the Blind Boys of Alabama - “Didn’t it Rain” (Live)
Listening to Tom Jones sing in 2024, it’s nearly impossible to believe dude is 83 years old.
But he is. And he is still totally capable of leading the Blind Boys of Alabama through “Didn’t it Rain,” as he did recently at Australia’s Bluesfest Byron Bay.
The performance is out on professional video and it finds the two veteran acts conjuring the spirit with a youthful vitality that matches the charismatic music from Jones’ band. As hot is it is, the meshed music makers sounded even better backstage during rehearsal with Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks looking on; it, too, was caught on video.
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Grade card: Tom Jones and the Blind Boys of Alabama - “Didn’t it Rain” (Live) - B+
4/24/24
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krispyweiss · 2 days
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Song Review: Johnny Cash - “Well Alright”
Johnny Cash wrote and recorded an LP’s worth of songs in 1993 and then shelved the thing. Now, it’s set to be released as Songwriter and if “Well Alright” is any indication, it’s about damn time.
Featuring Cash’s trademark boom-chuck guitar and baritone voice, it’s a whimsical number about turning laundry time into get-naked time.
I met her at the laundromat, she was washing extra hot/I said, ‘don’t you need a little help with that big load you got?’/she said ‘no,’ but did a double take and then she smiled and said, ‘I might’/as I rolled up my sleeves, I said to myself, ‘well alright, well alright,’ he sings.
Cash chuckles as he recounts the story and sings some do-do-dos in an uncharacteristically carefree manner. The song announces Songwriter’s June 28 arrival; it’ll feature appearances from Marty Stuart, who plays on “Well Alright,” Vince Gill, Dan Auerbach and Waylon Jennings.
Grade card: Johnny Cash - “Well Alright” - A
4/23/24
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krispyweiss · 2 days
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Boys Keep Swinging When Bowie Mimes “Boys Keep Swinging”
- Restored clip marks 45 years since Bowie appeared on “The Kenny Everett Video Show”
David Bowie took the odd step of releasing an alternate take of “Boys Keep Swinging” days before the single hit in 1979. To make matters stranger, he did so on “The Kenny Everett Video Show” and, after miming the song’s guitar solo on violin, engaged the show’s host in some appropriately British and raffish humor.
“I fought for people like you, but I never got one,” Everett’s perverted, World War II-veteran character tells the black-clad and frighteningly thin Bowie.
“I’d hit you with my umbrella, but I think you’d enjoy it. And why should you have all the fun? Hit me with yours. C’mon? Please?”
The April 23, 1979, clip has been restored to mark the broadcast’s 45th anniversary. It’s weird. And the Lodger version of “Boys Keep Swinging” is superior. But this video is a good reminder of just how far afield Bowie was even as he garnered mainstream success pre-Let’s Dance and ahead of the relative normality he embraced for the balance of his career.
4/23/24
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krispyweiss · 2 days
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Quarter Notes: Blurbs & Briefs from Sound Bites
- In this edition: the Allman Brothers Band; Aoife O’Donovan, Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal; Paul McCartney & Wings; & Cat Stevens
JAIMOE TO RETURN TO STAGE: Allman Brothers Band co-founder Jaimoe will return to the stage for the first time in 18 months, appearing with ABB tribute band Friends of the Brothers April 27 in Connecticut.
Ticketing info here.
The April 18 death of Dickie Betts leaves Jaimoe as the last surviving original Allman Brother.
AOIFE AND ROSANNE AND JOHN: Aoife O’Donovan will join Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal June 13 in Dublin for a benefit to launch Musician Treatment Foundation in Ireland. Already established in the United States, MTF provides free and low-cost medical care to musicians.
ONE HAND CLAPPING FOR WINGS: Paul McCartney & Wings’ lost live-in-studio album One Hand Clapping, recorded in 1974, will be released June 14.
FORMER CAT STEVENS BASSIST LARRY STEELE DIES: Larry Steele, who played bass for Cat Stevens in the 1970s, died recently, Yusuf/Cat Stevens recently announced.
“He was a soulful musician and a real peaceful guy,” Stevens said.
4/23/24
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krispyweiss · 2 days
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Album Review: Aoife O’Donovan - All My Friends
Wrapping the history of women’s suffrage in classical and folk music, Aoife O’Donovan seeks to teach as well as entertain with her fourth solo album, All My Friends.
And it worked out splendidly.
Drawing lyrical inspiration from suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, President Woodrow Wilson, World War I and the fight to pass the 19th Amendment, O’Donovan put down her vision for the music with assistance from the Knights and their strings; the Westerlies and their horns; the San Francisco Girls Chorus and their voices; Dawes’ Griffin Goldsmith on drums; the Punch Brothers’ Noam Pikelny on banjo; Sierra Hull on mandolin; Anaïs Mitchell on vocals; and others to seamlessly meld disparate genres into a new category of music. And while there are flashes of O’Donovan’s 2020 classical EP, Bull Frogs Croon (And Other Songs) in the music, All My Friends finds the singer/songwriter meeting the challenge this time around.
Serving as omniscient narrators as much as background vocalists, the members of the Girls Chorus imbue O’Donovan’s compositions with tempered determination and celebration as work continues to get the Amendment passed on the opening title track and “Crisis” as string and horns meld seamlessly with O’Donovan’s acoustic guitar. And as O’Donovan voices both Catt and Wilson on “War Measure,” her songwriting blossoms into full flower, displaying maturity and insightfulness only hinted at in her previous solo works and in collaboration with Crooked Still, I’m with Her, Goat Rodeo and other bands she’s been a part of over the years.
Later, O’Donovan warns the work of Catt and others is dangerously close to being lost as she and Mitchell duet on “Over the Finish Line.”
America’s bleeding/we’re watching her die/fire and blood on the screen/her headlights receding/she’s waving goodbye/the curtain comes down on the scene, O’Donovan and Mitchell sing wistfully as the maudlin piano ballad leads into the album’s only cover, Bob Dylan’s “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” featuring a bit of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” in keeping with the overall theme.
With O’Donovan behind the board for the first time, the LP marks a new phase in her career. And while it’s unlikely O’Donovan will undertake another record like All My Friends, it’s also quite likely she will continue to grow and evolve, which, given her previous output, is an almost-scary proposition.
Grade card: Aoife O’Donovan - All My Friends - A
4/23/24
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krispyweiss · 2 days
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Song Review: Songs from the Road Band - “Get Me Where I’m Going”
Sometimes, one just needs to get away. Songs from the Road Band sums those times perfectly on “Get Me Where I’m Going.”
The the latest standalone single from the OG SCR spinoff - anchored by former Steep Canyon Rangers bassist and composer Charles Humphrey III - is high-test bluegrass with mandolin, banjo and fiddle solos buttressing joyful, three-part harmonies on the chorus:
Get me where I’m going/get me under the stars/out in the field by the fireside/where the good times are, it goes.
Inspired by a festival in Florida, “Get Me Where I’m Going” is one of SFTRB’s strongest offerings to date and an ideal number for spring and what follows.
Grade card: Songs from the Road Band - “Get Me Where I’m Going” - B
4/23/24
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krispyweiss · 2 days
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Orilla’s Centennial Drive Renamed for Gordon Lightfoot
- “He is a cultural icon whose music has touched the hearts and souls of millions around the globe,” mayor says
Gordon Lightfoot’s hometown of Orilla has renamed a street in the late folksinger’s honor.
The rechristening of Centennial Drive to Lightfoot Drive takes effect immediately after the Orilla Council on April 22 passed enabling legislation, the city in Ontario, Canada, said in a news release.
Changes to maps, city listings and signage will take place “over the next few weeks,” the city said.
“Gordon Lightfoot was known as Orillia’s favorite son, but his influence extends far beyond the boundaries of our city,” Mayor Don McIsaac said.
“He is a cultural icon whose music has touched the hearts and souls of millions around the globe. … Lightfoot's music brought together individuals from all walks of life who found inspiration in his songs.”
Banners depicting the singer and some of his most-famous songs will be installed along Lightfoot Drive later in the spring.
Lightfoot died in 2023.
4/23/24
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krispyweiss · 3 days
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Song Review(s): Billy Strings - “Southbound,” “E.M.D.” and “Hellbender” (Live, April 21, 2024)
Billy Strings can cover Doc Watson and David Grisman with no problem. But his original material stands right up with songs by his heroes and mentors.
The one-two-three punches of “Southbound” (Watson) “E.M.D.” (Grisman) and “Hellbender” (Strings) as given away in the livestream sampler from Strings’ April 21 gig in Florida make this point once and twice and thrice.
Strings coaxes train sounds from his acoustic guitar on “Soundbound” before calling a solo from mandolinist Jarrod Walker, who delivers between Strings’ turns on the mic.
Grisman’s instrumental gives all five players - Strings, Walker, Royal Masat on bass, Billy Failing on banjo and Alex Hargreaves on fiddle - the opportunity to shine and they transfer that glow to “Hellbender,” an original song of woe and booze and women that sounds like a traditional tune.
For Strings stands on the shoulders of - and right alongside - the masters.
Grade card: Billy Strings - “Southbound,” “E.M.D.” and “Hellbender” (Live, April 21, 2024) - B+/B/A+
4/22/24
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krispyweiss · 3 days
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Duane Betts Cancels Tour Dates in Wake of Father Dickey’s Death
- “I need a little more time to get my head together,” guitarist says
Duane Betts canceled three upcoming appearances as he processes his father, Dickey Betts’, death.
“I need a little more time to get my head together,” Duane Betts said in scrubbing his April 23 gig in Oklahoma and April 25 and 26 appearances in Texas.
Allman Brothers Band co-founder Dickey Betts died April 18 at 80 and has received warm praise and remembrances from his musical friends and fans.
“I’m flooded with pride to see Dad getting the credit he deserves,” Duane Betts said in a statement. “So again, I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart.”
The younger Betts plans to return to the stage April 27 in New Orleans.
“I think Dad would want me to get back out there with my guitar,” he said.
4/22/24
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