Forecast: Sunny Skies Ahead – John Mailander (Podcast) Music Features Podcast by Brian Carroll - January 21, 20220 I thought this audio was forever lost in the process of getting a new computer last year, but the magic of perusing old external hard drives grants us a special conversation (in audible format) with a special guest. The conversation was previously posted as a written article. You could go an entire lifetime and never come across another artist like John Mailander. His musical voice resting on the precipice where beauty meets power. His even temperament balancing the sheer virtuosity that lays beneath his finger tips, riddled with character, grace and soul. The robust palette that he paints his sonic landscapes with is vast. Deep and pulling shades of blues and greys mingling with brilliant gold and saffron, covering the full breadth
Green River Fest 2022 Announces Initial Line Up! Music Features by Brian Carroll - January 21, 2022January 21, 20220 Well, some very good news for the first month of 2022, one of our favorite New England music fests just announced it is coming back in full force after a triumphant 2021 event that made us all feel just a little bit more normal after...well, let's just forget about 2020, right? We saw some great bands on Sunday of Green River Festival last summer at their new location and based on this preliminary roll out, we are in for yet another treat with acts spanning from folk super heroes to some of our favorite local acts. More below and head to their website for update, follow them on the ole socials, all that... January 20, 2022- Northampton, MA- The Green River Festival
Scott Hirsch: Love is Long (podcast) Music Features Podcast by Ken Templeton - January 5, 20220 As we head into a very tenuous 2022, maybe it will help you to know about a great album that was released in 2021! Scott Hirsch’s Windless Day is a fantastic record for stepping outside yourself a little bit. As Scott talks about in this episode of the Red Line Roots podcast, he thinks deeply about the songs on his records in relationship to each other, to create a coherent experience. In an era of singles and streaming, Scott prefers to think about how the album will be on vinyl–not as a vinyl snob, but as a creative expression of how to invite listeners in, how to take them someplace over the course of sides A and B. I loved getting to chat
21 Songs for 2021…a playlist Editor Picks Music Features by Brian Carroll - December 23, 2021December 28, 20210 So, I couldn't just leave it at "7 good things". The past 2 years have been a shit show of epic proportions in so many ways. Failures and triumphs. Music has endured. Songwriters and musicians and music makers have somehow, endured. It is astounding the amount of grit and fortitude that artists have displayed. Having the livelihood of touring taken away, given back, then taken away in many capacities again. But like a group of phoenix (phoenixes?, phoenixi?...I digress) rising from the ash, beauty was created by many. So, here are 21 songs from 2021 that slayed me, made me rise up, lifted my heart or tore it apart. Thank you all. Aaron Lee Tasjan "Another Lonely Day" - I said it before
Club Passim Announces 2021 Iguana Fund Award Winners Music Features by Brian Carroll - December 22, 2021December 22, 20210 Each year Club Passim and the Iguana Music Fund give a little bit of hope to musicians and artists. Hope, sometimes comes in the form of cold, hard cash so they can release records, fix up tour vans, buy much needed gear or continue a years long tradition of going to an island to co-write and practice their craft. We are equally as excited to see some friends gracing the list; such as Jake Blount, Honeysuckle and Lisa Bastoni; as we are to see names that we have never heard of before. More info below. Great things from a great organization! Release info from Club Passim: (Cambridge, MA) Passim has awarded $40,000 to 23 musicians through its Iguana Music Fund. The Iguana Music Fund
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
7 Good Things: Music & Such That Kept Me Going in ’21 Music Features Reviews by Brian Carroll - December 20, 2021December 20, 20210 2021. Divided by 3. 3 sides of the pyramid. The Illuminati. 21 divided by 3, is 7. 7 is the number of good things. I don't know. Like everyone else in this day and age I am just fucking grasping at air trying to catch a hold of something and keep dangling for a bit. In reality a friend posted an article I wrote a couple years back with a similar tag and I think we all could use some "good things" right about now. So, there you go... Anyway, here we are at the end of 2021 and I feel like I am in the same place as I was way back in 2020 while writing the feature titled "Shit
Joe Troop: Making Mistakes (podcast) Interviews Music Features Podcast by Ken Templeton - December 2, 2021December 2, 20210 When Joe Troop talks about cancel culture, he isn’t just talking about the right wing folks who don’t want any books in school about gay people or racism. He’s also thinking about the people more committed to saying the right words about issues than they are about taking the right actions. It’s complicated--I know he’d be the first to say that what you say matters, and we should be accountable for what we say and do. And, at the same time, there can be this version of equity work that is much more about posturing than it is about changing things. I have seen other white people do this in spaces for racial equity--trying to prove that they’re the best white
Alisa Amador: Right Again (podcast) Interviews Music Features Podcast by Ken Templeton - November 25, 20210 This has to be one of my favorite conversations that I have been lucky enough to have as part of this podcast. Alisa Amador is an amazing musician and shares so much insight into her work on this episode. Red Line Roots was founded as part of the Boston music community, and Alisa has quickly become one of the most important voices in the Boston roots/folk scene. She’s been in music her whole life, playing in her parents’ band, Sol y Canto, since she was a kid. Alisa released her latest EP, Narratives, in September, and it is one of my favorite records of this year. It has such a range, and I can listen to it all day long.
Less is More: Kat Wright Trio “Sessions Vol 1” Music Features by Brian Carroll - November 24, 2021November 24, 20210 The first time I saw Kat Wright live was a festival gig where the band's horn section alone was comprised of 3 people. Wright has that special balance of power and grace in her voice that can shimmer and float to the top of a big band setting, I don't think anyone who has witnessed her perform could deny that. But the intimacy and vulnerability that she and collaborators Bob Wagner and Josh Weinstein has crafted with their newly (and COVID necessary) formed trio outfit is something truly magnificent. A few months back the three artists performed a showcase about 30 minutes from my house, beneath a large tent as rain poured from the sky, pattering against the white sheathing of