Reviews

Sammy Saltzman is no stranger to music. For two decades he has been in the front row watching one of the best guitar players of all-time, Trey Anastasio shred during Phish’s concerts. He has turned his love of live music into a passion that he shares with his own fans covering his favorite albums all by himself. Sammy is very humble though, he will tell you that he is not a one man band and that he has a production crew, which takes his shows to another level.

Set to release May 27, 2016 is The Urban Voodoo Machine’s fourth album Hellbound Hymns; this album is London’s very own child of anarchy. With psychedelic jazz and blues comes twisted tales of fate vocalized by the ever-talented Mr. Paul – Ronney Angel. Thirteen tracks of booze fueled nights full of debauchery and ravishingly powerful groove fueling rhythms.

April 15, 2016 is the Bones of J.R. Jones Spirit’s Furnace album release date. This marks Jonathon Linaberry, born of NYC’s third studio album with his blended unique style of American classic blues, folk, jazz, and rock. The Bones of J.R. Jones is a terrific character with an array of wonder filled tales full of misadventure and what seems of seldom success, yet as his music progresses you can find yourself rooting for this under-dog of a true talented American artist.

Keep the Edge Studios of Quincy, MA released Ryan Carraher’s debut album Vocturnal on March 16, 2016. With eight tracks of heavy, solid, modern jazz and influences of both Boston and fusion Vocturnal features Ryan Carraher on guitar, Steve Wilkinson on drums, Evan Waaramaa on keyboard, Brandon Wilkins on the Alto saxophone, and Greg Toro on bass. Composed by Ryan Carraher, produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Keith Asack.

Billy & the Kids made their San Francisco debut on Saturday, April 9, 2016, with a performance at The Warfield Theatre with The Greyboy Allstars supporting.  The previous night was Billy & the Kids’ first show in northern California, as Bob Weir joined the gang up at Bob’s Mill Valley venue Sweetwater Music Hall, an event that certainly dominated conversation among

On Friday night, Goodnight, Texas & Midnight North descended on Phil Lesh’s own The Grate Room @ Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael.  This was the first time GN, TX played together at Terrapin, meanwhile Midnight North has been a resident artist since their inception in 2013.  The night was met with additional anticipation as Phil Lesh was billed as a guest bassist

But see that you get on. That’s your job in this hard world, to keep your love alive and see that you get on, no matter what. Pull your act together and just go on.” –Stephen King, The Shining

Wednesday nights at Fayetteville’s Georges Majestic Lounge have a new level of expectations thanks to Yonder Mountain String Band. Warming up the stage, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades will be on tour with Yonder for the majority of spring. Yonder, opening their set with Red Bird, it seemed like conga lines swarmed to the garden stage from the patios and the front bar.

It’s been forty years since mandolinist and bandleader David Grisman began playing with his Quintet, a band that bended more genres into the bluegrass/acoustic idiom that ever before. His groundbreaking compositions sat nicely with the school of acoustic gypsy-swing first popularized in the United States by guitarist Django Reinhardt and fiddle player Stephane Grappelli. Entirely different than the “newgrass” music from his contemporaries John Hartford and Sam Bush, “Dawg” music was and still is truly a form of its own.

The storied bluegrass quintet Yonder Mountain String Band showered The Catalyst of downtown Santa Cruz, CA in full form on Wednesday night, March 23rd.

One week into their spring tour, Yonder and opening act Polecat are hitting on all cylinders. When asked about up and coming artists Dave Johnston, founding member and banjo player for Yonder, said they haven’t jammed with Polecat – yet.

Archived news