Reviews

I must admit I was worried that the departure of guitarist John Neff was going to leave a noticeable void in the sound of the Drive-By Truckers last Friday night at the Boulder Theater (Neff split in December of last year). His pedal steel was always on time amidst the guitar-heavy DBT shows, a near perfect "icing on the cake," if you will. All said and done, was his absence noticeable? Sure.

Modern Funk's native sons are releasing a new album at the end of April and it's exactly what you would expect, which is a good thing.Dumpstaphunk's "Dirty Word" is a solid album from a seasoned group of musicians.

Introducing a new dynamic duo of sorts in Country music known as Howard Salmon and Deborah Martin-Lemmon who just released their latest effort entitled Old Habits are Hard to Break. Right from the start it might be easy to just categorize these 2 as a straight ahead Country duet types and write them off as the newest trending thing. It wouldn’t be wise, though.

Over the years, many great bands have played the stage at George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville, AR. And many of them have played in Fayetteville year after year. One of those bands is Elephant Revival. If you haven’t seen this band before, just go. I promise you won’t regret it. In the short time I’ve been listening to Elephant Revival, they’ve become one of my top 5 bands.

Out of the resurging Bluegrass Music movement one of the most seasoned vets around is Jeff Austin. The mandolin-man of Yonder Mountain String Band built his following beside his band-mates based upon a loyal fanbase and always keeping it interesting for them. Yonder lives for their fans, and have made their mark in the community.

Before the band even takes the stage, the energy at "the rock show" is palpable:  Whiskey and flannel, talks of SEC football, and sweet sweet accents.  It's the closest to the south you’ll get on Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado.

A common misconception about funk music is that the style is all nostalgia and not contemporary. Many of the founders of the form are still performing today such as George Clinton, George Porter Jr., Leo Nocentelli, or Art Neville. Though the founders are still a big part of the funk scene its best to think of funk as a sensibility rather than something definitive or solidified.

Indie supergroup Mister Heavenly released one of the most underrated albums of 2011, and if we’re lucky, they just might do it again this year.

If musical jams are your thing, a quick rising band, TAUK has all the jam, jelly, marmalade and preserves to suit any jamband fan’s tastes as witnessed on their LP, Homunculus. If the genre is rock, fusion, jazz, bluegrass, country, classical, rap, pop or psychedelic; musicians produce a “jam” for whatever their genre may be.

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