As we enter the first days of the Sturgis Rally (76th) and the ensuing insanity we are also preparing for some interesting musical events. We’ll have Willie Nelson, Cheap Trick, Miranda Lambert, Elle King, Ted Nugent (ugh), Foghat, Kid Rock, Sturgis’ official band Lynyrd Skynyrd and lots lots more. It isn’t SXSW, Lollapalooza, or The Pitchfork Music Festival but we’ll take what we can get…
If James Taylor and His All-Star Band are ANYWHERE near you, go! I hadn’t seen James since my days In Chicago and that was nearly 40 years ago. It was an absolutely incredible evening. The All Star Band was no exaggeration: Steve Gadd, “Blue” Lou Marini, Michael Landau, Luis Conte, and more. And James was wonderful; I believe Kathy (my wife) said it best……”he was gracious”. In the extreme. The crowd loved every minute.
I don’t usually reference other web sites, but Fluxblog (one of the oldest and best music sites) has been compiling the best songs of the 80s by year for download. If you are interested (and you should be) here is a link. click here.
One of the benefits of attending SXSW is being on their email list. They compile loads of interesting articles from publications and sites around the world. Here is one from The Guardian that asks the question: “Where have country music’s women gone?” click here.
I have a bunch of new albums to listen to and lots of down-time (because of the Rally) this week to do it. All come highly recommended: Haley Bonar, Carrie Rodriguez, Owen, Maya Beiser, Pylon Live, Mitski (had this for awhile), and lots more. Stay tuned.