6 more good things from 2021 Columns Editor Picks Music Features Reviews by Ken Templeton - December 22, 20210 As we shift into a whole new phase of things that could have been prevented, it’s helpful to know about some good things from 2021. Brian wrote about 7 Good Things the other day. Honestly, every single one of his recommendations is on my list too. So, I thought I would just add 6 more, to bless you with a lucky 13 to close out this year. Here are six records that sustained me in 2021. Allison Russell, Outside Child In a year that has required all of us to expand our capacity for grace, this album is an object lesson. Allison Russell’s autobiographical expression of abuse, liberation, and forgiveness is testimony to the power of love. When I say love, I’m thinking of
An Artist Retrospective: Where did it all begin? Columns Music Features by Brian Carroll - December 22, 20170 As we slide toward the end of the year I tend to think a lot about 'endings'. The tail end of the year, what I wasn't able to accomplish this year but hope to in the new year, another year of life behind me and the inevitable end of the world under the current political climate. But I digress, I think its also important to realize what we do accomplish and reflect on our triumphs and where we are in relation to where we came from as well. I reached out to artists within the community for their insight and input...their story. In an effort to give us all a tiny glimpse into how it all started for them on their
The People Have Spoken, Your 2017 Big Reds… Columns Music Features by Brian Carroll - November 29, 20170 I feel like this portion of the year and this post in particular is always somewhat tough. First of all, it marks the end of a sh*t ton of traffic to the website because of this whole voting thing...selfishly speaking of course. But, I suppose under a more philanthropically guided lens, we have to go and announce "winners" of a voting process when I truly feel that all the folks who were a part of this process are 'winners' - be it those who nominated a favorite musician, those who were a part of the pool for each category, or the artists who didn't get a mention on this list but played their asses off in 2017, released something beautiful and
Forgotten Relics of Sonic Joy: My First Guitar Columns by Brian Carroll - January 13, 2016February 2, 20160 An artist has their paintbrush and canvas, an architect has their drafting table and pencil, a carpenter has a hammer and nails, and musicians they have their instruments. They come and go. Often times we acquire far more than we actually need, sell off one to pay for another, spiral into regret of losing “the one” later on, or move on and build upwards from the entry level kit. For me, personally, I always look back to that first instrument that gave me a voice I didn’t realize I had. I have always been (at least my mom would tell me) a hard worker. I never really applied myself in school, but did well all through high school regardless…college may have
Community Support: 2016 Iguana Music Fund Announcements Made Columns by Brian Carroll - January 7, 2016February 2, 20160 For those that may not know, we here at Red Line Roots adore Club Passim and everyone involved from the folks behind the board, the chefs cooking up delicious meals, the talent on stage, and those behind the scenes turning the crank, investing time, love and money into the non-profit to support the community around it. Each year the Iguana Music Fund gives approximately $45,000 in grants to individual artists in amounts from $500 to $2,000 each. Grants are used for projects and expenses to aid in artists' career growth, and range from recording projects to community programs to specialized equipment or instruments. Many of the recipient’s then descend on Club Passim to talk about their projects, updates, and perform
Sixteen for ‘16: Looking Ahead to Concerts in Boston Columns by Ken Templeton - January 4, 2016January 28, 20160 At this time of year, it’s customary to reflect on what makes us grateful. As someone who is seldom happier than when I see live music, I am incredibly grateful for living near a city that boasts incredible opportunities for live music, week-in, week-out. Here are sixteen concerts already on the books for 2016 that I’m pretty excited about. This takes us through the spring, basically. But there is enough great music in the first few months to last the whole year. I’ve stayed away from the bigger venues, even though they have some great shows lined up for 2016. So even though I am counting the days until Jason Isbell / Shovels & Rope, they’re not on the list below
7 Photographers that Inspired Me in 2015 Columns by Brian Carroll - December 17, 2015January 20, 20160 2015 was the year where I founded my love affair with being behind a lens. The very first year I would actually consider calling myself "a photographer" and not just a guy who owns a few cameras. A big part of what Red Line Roots has evolved into is the photo and video work I am blessed to get to do with insanely talented musicians and songwriters. I have been lucky enough to be invited to photograph at festivals like Newport Folk and Freshgrass in past years but this year in particular found me really diving further in the art. Thinking about composition rather than just snapping “cool shots” of performances, delving into the world of portrait photography, and toying with
Red’s ’10 Best Things I Saw in 2015′ List Columns by Brian Carroll - December 16, 2015January 20, 20160 While I already wrote my top 15 albums of 2015 list for the year, the article that Ken wrote the other day got me thinking about the live experience and what really “got” me in 2015. Things that changed how I view music, creating it and feeling it. It is damn near impossible to do that in record form (though this year there were a few that did it for me) so in an effort to be as broad as possible in my “best” coverage, I decided to go ahead and take a stab at the best things I felt through music this year…in a live setting. Dan Blakeslee at Tweed River Music Festival: It is hard to think that a
EBASS: Revitalizing a Community of Songwriters Columns by Brian Carroll - December 15, 2015January 21, 20160 Last week I walked into a friend’s house with a camera, some recording equipment and offered to shoot live, one-take videos for a collection of 9 up and coming Boston area songwriters for a fraction of what I would normally charge for something like that. I may have given myself an ulcer wondering how it would go, what kind of personalities I would run into, and how I was going to shoot footage that the people would dig, make it unique enough so each video had it’s own life, and finally edit all this stuff and get it back to folks in a relatively quick manner. Well, it all went well…shockingly enough. And while I was filming and technically working
Ten Songs that Floored Me Live in 2015 Columns by Ken Templeton - December 14, 2015January 28, 20160 This list is a slightly different take on the year-end list. These are ten songs that when I saw them performed live, they left me speechless. Not all of them were written in 2015--in fact, many were not. But these versions of these songs happened live in 2015 and never will again. Charlie Parr describes live music as moving air molecules around for a while and that a song performed live is always a unique event. For me, the air molecules these musicians moved are still buzzing, and thinking about these moments brings me immeasurable joy. In no particular order, ten times I was floored by live music in 2015: Dave Rawlings Machine, Short-Haired Women Blues, State Theatre (Portland, ME). This