Interviews
Mike Seeger has helped bring the music of the rural South to popular attention. He did this as a folk musician in the 60s, bringing traditional musicians not yet well known to the forefront of popular attention and continues to do so through performances and archive work today. It is in part through his influence on his own generation that we have the folk-based songs of Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead.
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Recently, Ivan Neville commented, "Derek Trucks is a happening deal. He's the best guitar player I've heard in years." And, he's absolutely right. It is praise such as that, coming from his musician peers, that has followed Derek Trucks' entire life.
Grateful Web recently caught up with Ivan Neville while he was in Maryland. The phone interview had to be postponed for two hours while Neville enjoyed some crab cakes, reputed to be the best in the country. "I'm in Baltimore " he said. "You've got to have crab cakes, and I want to give them my full attention." While his meal was digesting, he spoke about his new band, Dumpstaphunk......
British-born keys player Jon Cleary now makes New Orleans his home where he has immersed himself in a social structure that lives and breathes music. He offers a unique perspective on the cultures that produced New Orleans popular music.
"In New Orleans, music is such an important part of the culture here," says Cleary. It is what first attracts people, not only to visit, but to live there as he has done. "They fall in love with it because they love the culture," he says. "Music is the soundtrack of your social life in New Orleans."
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Jon Cleary's upbringing, amid a family of musicians in England, clearly put him on his lifepath. He was destined to be a musician. "There was never any question," he says. "That was all I really ever wanted to do."
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In a rare Grateful Dead booking configuration, this year's 10,000 Lakes Festival will feature not only found Dead member Bob Weir and his band Ratdog, but also Chicago's Mr.
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Of all the great artists making the rounds this year, none have been more ambitious than Umphrey's McGee. They released the follow-up album to Safety in Numbers called The Bottom Half; a risky two-disc endeavor of leftover studio gems and insightful audio fragments. The band has also since embarked on a national tour that will take them all across the nation, including stops at such top festivals as
The last eight months have been kind of a crossroads period for San Francisco rockers, New Monsoon. Not only did they recruit a new bass player, but also lost their two key percussionists who have left the band indefinitely. In today's fragile music scene, this situation could have been disastrous.
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There is a new trend in the music industry today, bands which have been broken up for decades reforming suddenly in order to cash in on the pocketbooks and prosperity of their baby-boomer generation fans.
This is the beginning. You are about to read Part I of a 3 part series about a quest for true Americana, true outlaws, true America. In case you haven't noticed, the somewhat over genricized music industry is breeding a dozen cowpokes per corral. And America is it recognizable to you?
