I am an unabashed fan of the This Is My Jam music sharing / discovery site. So much so that I've been pretty regular about selecting a "jam" and have even used this blog to collect and publish periodic summaries of my favorites (there are currently five volumes: one,two, three,four, and five).This post...

When Toots & The Maytals took the stage at House Of Blues in Chicago on April 4th, the packed house let the band's powerful reggae grooves wash over them. But many in the crowd, as well as Toots, realize that reggae legends at huge clubs like HoB are disappointingly one of the only options for...

Bloodkin leads the charge of Widespread Panic related shows that have sprung up around their weekend run with a Thursday show at the one of the north side's finest club's, Martyrs.From the very beginnings of Widespread Panic to today and beyond, Bloodkin has been one of our greatest influences. Danny and Eric's music has...

There have been hiatuses, New Year's Runs, Wood Tours, and gigs En La Playa, but there hasn't been a full on electric TOUR from Widespread Panic, since they stepped off the stage in Chicago on Halloween 2011. That changes this week in St. Louis, but the first weekend stop finds them bunking down in our city...

Word of mouth is a great way for me to discover new bands, so it's a little jarring when I realize I find that everybody's talking about a band that was simply never on my radar. That was the case whenSigur Rs announced their spring tour, the excitement level was palpable, but I was completely...

One of our most popular features in 2012 was the showcase of Victor Hertz's incredible rock related pictogram puzzles for The Beatles, Stones, Dylan and more. Meanwhile, the marketing department at Brooklyn Bowl had been hard at work on a smattering of music related puzzles of their own -- using them to promote ticket giveaways on...

On Saturday Night at the Park West, I started to keep track of how funky Galactic's tunes were by counting the number of times drummer Stanton Moore leaped off his stool to emphasize a beat or dramatically finish a fill.Cutting their teeth as one of the most party-ready bands of the nineties, it is...

On the cusp of the release of their third LP, Stories Don't End, southern California band Dawes is criss-crossing the country on a promotional tour playing primarily radio shows and record stores. The Chicago stop, on April Fool's Day, was part of WXRTs "Free Sample" concert series, which afforded them the luxury of playing in...

For a guy who doesn't think the Internet is going to last, and remains a massive engima in person, Prince has sure been good to us with dropping recordings on line. First there was the funky single Screwdriver, which I honestly thought could make a legit chart topper (there's still time). Now, everything old is...

When a band has been continually on the road as much as New Orleans' Galactic, major cities become more than just stops on a tour, they become wrapped up in aspects of the band's narrative. After the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, Chicago became the temporary (to the tune of seven years!) home of Galactic's original...