Music Spectrum

I am a husband, father of three boys, approaching 40, pastor in a conservative Christian denomination. Yes, I love rock ‘n’ roll, and yes, I, on occasion, get out to see shows. Yet, listening to 120 Days’ new album, set for March 6 release, it dawned on me how strange the circumstances are surroundi

Watch how things take shape as Sassparilla’s The Darndest Thing. “New Love” walks in as a pulled back neo-swing blues carrying with it echoes of Tom Waits and Squirrel Nut Zippers (in a quieter moment). “Same Old Blues” picks up with an almost Dixieland trombone as the eclectic instrumentation circl

Jesus said, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.” (Luke 21:34). Be careful, and you might think that Morgan Christopher Geer’s band, Drunken Prayer, is simply weighed down by

Our first phone conversation got interrupted by lousy cell service as Paul Brill was waiting for a flight at JFK in New York. He had warned me that he might not be quite with it after a couple shots of whiskey, but it was the phone that gave us trouble—not the drinking. Strangely, the phone [...]

I got my teeth cleaned today. I don’t know what it is, but I get kind of tense while the dentist is scraping away at the plaque. To help with the tension, I brought my headphones today, telling the dentist that I didn’t mean to be rude but that the music would keep me calm. [...]

Early in 2011, I wrote about AgesandAges with their Folk-influenced American Rock coming through a bluegrass milieu (review). Late in 2011, the Loom’s Teeth brings back some of that same invitation, albeit more darkly. The Loom has been referred to as chamber-folk, probably for its instrumentation—o

In musical terms, Josh Caterer says that for his 6-year-old daughter, Elvis is first, her dad’s second. He’s teaching her well. Caterer was in Milwaukee on December 22 to play Turner Hall Ballroom with his band, the Smoking Popes. Caterer is lead singer/guitarist, joined by his brothers Eli Caterer

Ah, time keeps rolling on, and while I drive around and work on other things, I often have plenty of time to listen to music. While I listen and do other things, I compose reviews in my head. But when it comes to finding time to actually write the reviews and post them, well, time [...]

Lining up like surfers waiting for the next big wave, the Old 97’s ride into the swell on “Marquita,” the best instrumental of 2011. From their album, The Grand Theatre, Volume 2, it only lasts about a minute and a half, but it charges up the set, leading right into the romping “Bright Spark (See [.

Pastor: Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. People: The Light no darkness can overcome. Today the Light of the world is born. Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And now that the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day worship services are over, now that we’ve sung “O Come All Ye Faithful,” [...