mmj

Video: Hacienda – Younger Days

As My Morning Jacket is set to kick off their five-night, full album residency tonight at New York’s cavernous Terminal 5, we wanted to remind everyone to head in early

Read More

Pullin’ ‘Tubes: Bright Eyes Returns

After the release of Cassadaga in 2007, prolific singer-songwriter Conor Obert decided to put his Bright Eyes moniker on hold recording and releasing two albums under his own name with

Read More

At The Barbecue: Constructive Summer – The HT Staff’s Favorite Shows of the Season

Wow, I can’t believe we’ve made almost three-quarters of the way through the year and we’ve haven’t had the time to get the HT Crew together for a solid hang to talk music, while chowing down on a tasty spread of burgers, dogs, kebabs and whatnot. With summer officially coming to an end yesterday, we thought we’d invite the gang over to HT Headquarters to enjoy the quickly disappearing last warm days of the year, throw some large hunks of meat on the grill and crack open a few Long Trail Harvest Ales for another rousing edition of At The Barbecue.

muscle-car-bbq-grill-3


This time around we’re having everyone share with the class what they did on their summer vacation by discussing their favorite show of the summer – which we’ve roughly defined as anything seen between Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends. So with that in mind let’s get to it…

Scott Bernstein – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers / MMJ – August 24 – Izod Center – East Rutherford, NJ

Picking my favorite concert of the summer wasn’t easy as there were about five concerts that all could’ve easily been my choice. While Phish’s second Camden show was fairly epic, God Street Wine’s reunion shows were a blast and catching Squeeze in the middle of Bryant Park was sublime, I’ve decided that the My Morning Jacket/Tom Petty show I saw at the Izod Center on August 24th was my favorite concert of the season. MMJ tore through all of their classics and didn’t hold anything back in tackling their best material, while Petty did a great job of presenting a mini-set of songs from his latest album smack dab in the middle of a flawless greatest hits set.


Not only was the music great but I was very surprised by the enthusiasm displayed by the concertgoers in my section. I expected a crowd of folks who were content to sit all night and instead most stood and danced with joy and excitement. I took great pleasure in watching MMJ win over Petty fans and I do believe The Heartbreakers are extremely underrated as musicians, especially keyboardist Benmont Tench. I tend to focus on the details and watching Tench come up with innovative fills on a variety of vintage keyboards was a revelation. I would’ve never guessed going into the show that MMJ/Petty would be my favorite gig of the summer, but perhaps the lack of expectations and a full, rocking arena led this night to a special place in my heart. Plus, I’m just a sucker for arena rock.

READ ON for more of the HT Staff’s favorite shows of the summer…

Read More

Bloggy Goodness: Wanda Still Partying

Earlier this year we got our first taste of what to expect from the upcoming Jack White produced album from the Queen Of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson – courtesy of a

Read More

FMT: Roots, Rock, Reggae…Repeat

Its amazing the kind of ideas that pop into your head for themes for Friday Mix Tape when you’re walking around with your iPod on shuffle. This week’s edition has

Read More

Pullin’ ‘Tubes: Get Carried Away

During their hiatus from touring America, My Morning Jacket front man Jim James wasn’t the only member of the Southern-psychedelic-soul-rock act that took time to pursue and record music outside

Read More

Recap: Newport Folk Festival

With a seemingly rotating door on music festivals over the last handful of years it’s assuring to know that you can continually count on the Newport Folk Festival to be there year in and year out, offering up a high quality and diverse lineup in one of the most serene settings imaginable. Returning once again to the historic Fort Adams State Park, the fest delivered an amazing swath of artists from folk to funk and everything in between.


Much like how there are those musicians that are referred to as a “singer-songwriter’s singer-songwriter,” well now after having attended Newport Folk the label of a “music fan’s music fest” might be the best way to describe it. With three stages and 30-plus acts to choose from, it seemed relatively easy to plant yourself in front of one stage for the day – like many did – and take in all the action. For the ambitious music lovers though, the close proximity of the Fort, Harbor and Quad stages made it a breeze to catch an impressive amount of music over the two-day span.

Saturday kicked off with one of the fest’s biggest success stories – The Low Anthem – who just three years prior were picking up trash as on-site volunteers and now found themselves with a main stage slot. The Providence-based band showcased their gorgeous folk music, which features an odd menagerie of instruments – crotales, harmonium and clarinet – along with the obvious guitar, bass and drums. Taking in just a handful of songs, which was highlighted by a sublime take on Apothecary, and their interpretation of Rev. Gary Davis’ Sally Where’d You Get The Liquor From?, I had to pulled myself away from really the one lone conflict of the weekend to see a full set from A.A. Bondy.

READ ON for more of Jeff’s recap of Newport Folk…

Read More

Preview: Newport Folk Festival

Next weekend the granddaddy of all music fests – the Newport Folk Festival – will kick off with three days of roots, folk and Americana music that this year will open on Friday night with a night of “banjo and bluegrass” at the International Tennis Hall Of Fame, before moving to the festival grounds at the historic Fort Adams State Park for two days full of music.


Founded in 1959 by George Wein as an offshoot of his already highly successful and well-established Jazz Festival, and possibly most famous as the site that saw Bob Dylan shun the folk world when he went electric in 1965, the fest fell on hard times and was forced into taking a 14 year hiatus starting in 1971 before it was revived in 1985 – and has been thriving ever since with its diverse lineups.

Over the years the iconic fest has hosted a veritable who’s who of musicians from Joan Baez to Johnny Cash to Muddy Waters in its classic years, and more recently has seen the likes of Iron & Wine, Fleet Foxes, Neko Case and even Trey Anastasio log time at the tents and stages.

This year’s lineup is no slouch either. A quick glance reads like my iPod on shuffle on any given day featuring HT faves like Levon Helm, The Felice Brothers, Dawes, The Low Anthem, The Avett Brothers and Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. With so many bands that I’m genuinely excited about seeing over the course of the weekend, I thought I’d focus on six, three from each day and each stage, that I’ve got my eye on…

Day One

A.A. Bondy (Quad Stage, 12:50 PM)

I can’t think of a better way to ease into Newport than with a an early afternoon set from folkie A.A. Bondy. Armed with an acoustic guitar, harmonica and endearingly crackling vocals, the singer-songwriter just seems to evoke the spirit of the festival both past and present with his slow paced meandering folk songs. Bondy, who has two excellent albums to his name, may not be the sexy pick with his set scheduled against Blitzen Trapper and local heroes The Low Anthem – but you should carve some time out to stop by even just for a song or two.


READ ON for more of my picks for this year’s Newport Folk Fest…

Read More

View posts by year

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter