The creator of this Infographic contacted me with the question: did we get it right?Well, not sure if anybody could adequately fact check this winding visual amalgam of genres related to Rock and Roll over a 100 year timeline, but it is sure fun to click around in. Click through and the first thing you'll...

There have been times of the past year that I need to keep reminding myself that this is a MUSIC blog and not a LEGO Blog. But sometimes we just have to go there. This is one of those times, as The Barn has not been shy about Simpsons coverage as well (after all, we...

Here's a follow up to our Best Of The First Half of 2013 post. Thanks again to @WeirScrewed for contributing the first part of this list (the six albums with the more detailed write-ups).I (Steve - @thebarnpresents) have added some additional selections, and some one-liners of my own, at the end of the post. You...

Last month, Chicago musician Derek Nelson released Missouri, his newest EP, and debuted the full length release from his new band Martin Van Ruin, Every Man A King. The latter was recorded and engineered by Neil Strauch, who has worked with bands like Bonnie Prince Billy and Iron & Wine.I Am There from Missouri,...

We welcomed writer / photographer Alex Wood to the fold in 2013 and couldn't be happier with his contributions. Before his association with the site, it had been his yearly tradition to circulate a top albums list amongst his friends. We're excited to publish the 2013 edition here to kick off our 2013 year-in-review coverage.1. DAFT PUNK - RANDOM...

While 2013 has been a busy year juggling multiple projects for Karl Denson, you'll find him greeting 2014 at Chicago's Park West the way he'd like to spend the most of next twelve months: with his friends in the Tiny Universe."I want to get back to just doing Tiny Universe," he told me in a phone...

Allen Toussaints New Orleans R&B recordings set a template for generations of blues-influenced musicians to come. But after peaking in popularity in the 70s, the 80s found the legendary singer and pianist dropped from his Warner Brothers contract, working on soundtracks for musicals and, more importantly, focusing on live performances.Thats what makes...

In the same city, on the same stage, separated by just under two weeks, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic and Lettuce delivered huge sets to enthusiastic Chicago funkateers. As usual, P-Funk created an absolute spectacle (rendered here in video and Adam McCall's superb photography), invoking their decades-in-the-making mythology to evangelize the power of the funk.Lettuce,...

I'm a sucker for harmony laden pop-rock songs. The Lone Bellow is an act that emerged in 2013 that fills this role quite nicely. "Green Eyes and a Heart Of Gold" is the kind of infectious, harmony drenched single that dominates airwaves in my alternate universe where the golden age of 70's era rock radio never...

Words / Photos: Alex WoodMoistboyz are too metal to be punk and too punk to be metal. Between the two genres falls the blisteringly energetic rock n roll the band makes their own.Despite their being best known as a side-project for Ween due to the inclusion of guitarist Mickey Melchiondo (referred to as Dean Ween...