Grateful Dave's Music & More

For Record Store Day 2018, The Nation released a vinyl of Boxer - Live in Brussels.  This was recorded live at Forrest National, Brussels, Belgium on November 9, 2017.  The band put out a fantastic album last year in Sleep Well Beast.  Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the release of Boxer, they performed the album in its entirety as part of a tour. The original release in May 2007 was really the followup to their first major label release in Alligator in 2005, but was the bands actual 4th album overall.  By this point the band based out of Cincinnati, OH was gaining popularity and Boxer was one to help that.  The band consists of Matt Berninger, Aaron Dessner Bryce Dessner, Bryan Devendorf and Scott Devendorf.  As you see a couple of brothers and Matt.  By the release of Boxer in 2007 they had quit their day jobs and were at music full time.  They also filmed a documetary of this time period of recording called A Skin, A Night, directed by Vincent Moon that helped the p

With such a group of talented musicians, Rend Collective have put out another big hit in Good News.  Rend Collective are a Christian band out of Northern Ireland.  I would call their style folk rock, worship.  The current members of the band are Gareth Gilkeson, Chris Llewelyn, Ali Gilkeson, Patrick Thompson and Steve Mitchell.   They all play various instruments throughout, but mainly Chis Llewelyn is the lead singer and plays accoutic guitar, Gareth is the drummer, Patrick on Guitar/Banjo, Ali is on keyboard and backing vocals and Steve on Bass. I saw them perform 2 years ago and they are suck and energetic band and know how to keep an audience going from end to end in a show.  They have put out some fantastic albums over the years. Good News being the latest has the same energy and power of the other albums.  The song "Rescuer/Good News" is powerful and had everyone singing through the folky ballad.  It's by far my favorite song on the album. Offic

Dave's Picks is a series of live Grateful Dead shows that are release on  www.dead.net .  They have an annual subscription option that includes a bonus disc or you can order individually, but you have to move fast because they always sell out in the first 24 hours. Before Dave's Picks existed with had Dick's Picks.  There were 36 volumes of archived recordings that the old tape archivist Dick Latvia worked on to have remastered and available to us as fans.  Dick passed away in 1999 but left the next few years of releases set to go.  After Dick's Picks ended there was a series of releases called Road Trips.  Many of those were snippets of various eras and shows with some being actual complete shows.  Fast forward and in 2012 Dave Lemieux, new GD tape archivist and big fan, created a new series of full show releases. Over the years as they file through the tape archives and as new discoveries of old soundboards appear from vaults and private collections, Dave is a

Nels Cline 4 is the latest project for the Wilco guitarist.  The band is made up of Nels along with Julian Lage who he has done several other projects with including a duet album.  Joining the two are Bassist Scott Colley and Drummer Tom Rainey.  The quartet take some really cool and funky paths with improvisational tunes turned into some really good jazz pieces. When I think of Jazz I think of Sax, Trumpet, Bass & Drums.  This Jazz sound takes a Nels approach of blazing guitar riffs that all complement the rhythm of the bass and drums.  Cline and Lage do such wondrous things together playing off each others various notes.  They compliment each other and with the addition of drums and bass really set the musical tone. It's hard for me to sometimes describe the music of Nels with his crazy screaming, screechy guitar to the melodic tones he add in a jazz funky way.  So keep that in mind as I try to put words to the style and play of Nels and his band with their bending and

Belly was formed in 1991 when Tonya Donelly of Throwing Muses and Breeders decided she needed a new creative outlet for her dreamy pop style of music that was different from what Breeders had done.  Although they are all from Rhode Island, they are still known more as a Boston Based band. All four of the original members all attended the same high school in Aquidneck Island, Rhode Island.  Fred Abong played bass and Tom Gorman on guitar with Chris Gorman on Drums.  The Gormans we part of the punk scene in Rhode Island playing in the band Verbal Assault.  in 1993 Abong left the band and was replaced by Gail Greenwood. The band released several EPs that gained popularity in the UK before releasing their debut album Star in 1993.  Star was certified gold mainly because the big hit "Feed the Trees" that got lots of radio play and MTV video time.  They went on to promote the album and were on the road a long time before getting to release their second follow up album King i

Mastersystem is/was a new super group or something of that matter that just release their debut album "Dance Music" on Physical Education Records.  I do say is/was since the heartbreaking news that lead singer Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit) ended his life last week in Scotland after suffering from depression.  This has been heartbreaking to me as I believe he had a lot more to offer us with his talent from the slow melodic/dark songs of Frightened Rabbit to this project which brought together members of FR, Editors and Minor Victories to play more guitar heavy with influences of grunge rock from the 90's. Mastersystem is made up of two sets of brothers, Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit), Grant Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit), Justin Lockey (Editors) and James Lockey (Minor Victories).   Their debut album was released on April 6th, 2018 and they set out to do a mini 6 date tour of the UK  as well as a Performance on BBC Scottland's The Quay Sess