Mardi Gras Bhangra with Red Baraat and Butler, Bernstein & the Hot 9, Royce Hall
February 9, 2016
Fat Tuesday in Los Angeles is hard to discern from any other day of the year in this sun spoilt metropolis. Once you get past the pre-packaged king cakes in Whole Foods, there are limited options to channel any decent Mardi…
LA Bluegrass Situation, Greek Theatre
October 3, 2015
Yup, we got an LA Bluegrass Situation on our hands, and with Way Over Yonder a goner and a tinge of real time Hardly Strictly Bluegrass envy, that 10-hour hang at the Greek on a balmy Fall day couldn’t be any more welcome…
KAABOO, Del Mar
September 17-20, 2015
With summer and festival season coming to a close, in steps KAABOO, a 3-day inaugural event held a sea breeze away from the Pacific at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The brain child of Denver based Bryan Gordon and a huge…
Newport Folk Festival 2015, Day 3
July 26, 2015
Proudly sitting on a half century plus of tradition, the Newport Folk Fest feels more like a mellow picnic with your pals and belies its legacy as one of the most important music events of past and present. With attendance capped…
Wheels of Soul Tour – Tedeschi Trucks Band, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and Doyle Bramhall II, Greek Theatre, Los Angeles
June 10, 2015
The musical marriage of Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks spawned a heckuva family. The band sports a 3 piece horn section that drapes Tedeschi’s voice and excellent blues stringing, and provides many a jumping off point for…
Galactic with Kung Fu, El Rey Theatre
March 5, 2015
Yes, it's that time of year again. Jazz Fest is a month or so away, Opening Day even closer, and Galactic lit up the El Rey Theatre on their regular March swing through the Southland. Flashing 20 years of musical intuition and…
Southern Soul Assembly, Regent Theater, Los Angeles
November 18, 2014
The Southern Soul Assembly is not the horn laden, Stax driven sound the name could conjure. Southern, yes, with Mark Broussard, Luther Dickinson, J.J. Grey and Anders Osborne covering that geographic territory. The soul…
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers + Steve Winwood, The Forum
October 10, 2014
Tom Petty has been an L.A. boy for 40 years. You can say he’s more than adopted the city as his hometown and the feeling is mutual, the crushing goes both ways. Petty and the Heartbreakers are pretty much synonymous with…
Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters, Hollywood Palladium
October 7, 2014
Few voices in rock stand as tall and as memorable as Robert Plant's. Whether it's the reverb drenched "aahs" in "Black Dog" or the screaming howl that caps "Whole Lotta Love", that voice is embedded into the brain of any fan…
Way Over Yonder Festival, Santa Monica Pier
September 26-27, 2014
Day one of Newport Folk Festival’s little sister, Way Over Yonder, at the Santa Monica Pier had familiar headliners, solo strummers and new discoveries, true to the Newport spirit. The perfect weather, great beer and…