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Exciting News!
As of today, I am the Correspondent in the Boston area for a new program on No Depression, a wonderful magazine dedicated to all things roots music! Called ND Roots, I am partnered with Club Passim in Cambridge, and will be bringing you reviews of many shows.
For these shows, the reviews can be accessed through my page on ND Roots and photographs will be posted on this website. I will provide links from each to the other so you dear readers will not miss anything!
I am thrilled to be part of this new program. To quote Kim Ruehl, editor of No Depression, ‘I am the most important voice on live Americana/roots music in the Boston area!’ Thanks Kim!
My first two reviews are here: Driftwood and Noel Paul Stookey.
Club d’Elf Soars
Club d’Elf is an amazing ensemble that never seems to consist of the same members twice! I’ve seen them three times so far, and the only musician who has performed in all three shows is Mike Rivard, the bass and sintir player.
Mike Rivard
It is difficult, if not impossible, to describe Club d’Elf’s music in one word – other than fabulous! Read the rest of this entry
Willie Nile, A Great Storyteller
Willie Nile is one of the best singer-songwriters you don’t know, yet he’s been around long enough that he opened for The Who and recorded in the same studio at the same time as Yoko Ono and John Lennon.
Willie Nile, Johnny ‘Pie’ Pisano, and Peter Hoffman
Music maven that I am, I wasn’t familiar with Willie until a couple of years ago when I saw a picture of an elementary school friend playing with him. That was reason enough to check him out in a live performance. Now, I will see him every time he plays in the Boston area, especially if he’s at Club Passim.
Willie Nile
An Overview of Boston-Area Music Venues
I thought this would be a good time to post some lists. One I’ve been thinking about for a while is to my ten favorite shows of the year. That’s going to be a hard list to make since I’ve seen about 125 shows so far.
In this first list, I’ll tell you about many of the venues where I’ve seen shows, and what I like as well as dislike about them. This will be in alphabetical order so as not to imply that the top of the list is my favorite venue – I’m also forcing you to read the entire post! Aha, an ulterior motive!
This list is not complete because there are venues at which I have not attended shows – Iron Horse in Northampton, The Center for the Arts in Natick, T.T. the Bear’s and The Middle East in Cambridge. I have also not included music festivals because I don’t believe anyone attends a festival because it’s held at a particular venue or outdoor space. Read the rest of this entry
It’s Always the ‘Year of the Cat’ for Al Stewart!
As it is in my house (with four long-haired cats), but Wednesday night it was all Al Stewart‘s ‘Year of the Cat’ at Club Passim. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to see this show, and we were lucky to get tickets for his second sold-out performance.
Al Stewart
If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m extremely open-minded about hearing live music – if I trust someone’s opinion, I’ll go hear the band. The previous night, my friend suggested we go. I knew Al’s biggest hits – ‘Year of the Cat’, “Time Passages’, ‘On the Border’ and ‘Song on the Radio’ – but not much of his deep catalog, so I was looking forward to the show. Read the rest of this entry
Outstanding Americana Triple-Header!
This is one show for which I had high expectations – I’d seen two of the three bands and adored the shows I saw. This sold-out show at The Sinclair surpassed my expectations!
all of the bands plus a few added friends, Jay Sweet among them
The headliner of the show was Spirit Family Reunion. The first opener was The Deslondes and the second was Hurray for the Riff Raff. Any one of the three bands on the bill could have headlined and the audience would have been thrilled. Read the rest of this entry
And now for something completely different… Theatre!
The day was filled with wonderful live performances – theatre, though, not music (although there was a little music thrown into the mix)!
The day started when I got on line (I’m from New York – we get on line, not in line) at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts at 9:05 a.m. in order to score one of a maximum of $25 standing room tickets for the matinee performance of “All The Way”, a world premiere of a play by Robert Schenkkan about the first year of LBJ’s accidental presidency. I was the third person there, so I felt confident that I’d be able to buy one of the prized tickets.
suze reviews the blues 