Michael Verity

LIVE REVIEW: Shovels And Rope

Michael — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 05:08:34 +0000

“Cowpunk is alive and well and picking up its mail at a small rural postal office in Charleston, South Carolina, run by a little old lady with a taste for chew and a .45 under the counter. The rest of the time it criss-crosses the country on a tour bus with a banged up kick drum, a handful of duct-taped guitars and a pair of shouters named Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst.”

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LIVE REVIEW: California Honeydrops

Michael — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:56:13 +0000

“With a brand new CD called Like You Mean It on the merch table and dates with Fruition, The Brothers Comatose and Sam Bush in their wake, The California Honeydrops dropped in on Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge with an Easter evening set of their New Orleans-inspired rock, rhythm and roll.”

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The Danberrys

Michael — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:13:31 +0000

My friend Amy Reitnouer over at “The Sitch” (Bluegrass Situation) asked me to do any interview with these wacky kids from Nashville called The Danberrys. Should I confess that I’d never heard of them until this morning? Nah.

All I had to do was listen to one song, a little ditty named “Shady Grove,” to know I’m all in. Love ‘em.

CONVERSATION WITH: Pharis And Jason Romero

Michael — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:50:48 +0000

“PHARIS AND JASON ROMERO are a Canadian duo who live on a homestead outside the town of Horsefly, British Columbia. By day, they’re professional instrument makers and by night, they’re singers and songwriters (as as well as masters of the instruments they create). They took time out from a busy day of building banjos and making music to talk with Michael Verity about their influences, their love of old music and their new album, Long Gone Out West Blues.”

Read the interview.

LIVE REVIEW: Greensky Bluegrass (with Ryan Montbleau Band)

Michael — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:18:15 +0000

“Greensky Bluegrass rolled into town this past Saturday amid high expectations from a crowd of friendly Portlanders, gathered at the Wonder Ballroom and geared up to hear what Greensky had to offer. They weren’t disappointed: the five man band from Michigan ripped open a two-set, 21-song can of bluegrass whoopass that was one part string summit and five parts rock and roll show.”

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Digging DeliRadio

Michael — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:49:12 +0000

Sitting on the merch table at last night’s California Honeydrops show at The Doug Fir were some card for a website called DeliRadio. Punch in your zip code and it lists all the bands playing in your town with some bio information, links to sites and music to preview. There are probably others that do the same thing but I found this one immediately useful and pretty intuitive.

By the way, the show was pretty good. My review will post on Relix.com sometime soon.

CONVERSATION WITH: The Brothers Comatose

Michael — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 22:38:47 +0000

“THE BROTHERS COMATOSE is a San Francisco-born band with a lifetime lineage of music and a “have-a-good-time” approach to playing live. Founding brother, singer and guitarist Ben Morrison took time out before their upcoming LA show at The Mint (appearing Friday, March 1) to share thoughts about chopsticks as percussion instruments, playing music while hanging upside down from trees and paying musical homage to a cherished touring van. ”

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ELVIN BISHOP: Blues Rolls On

Michael — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 02:31:51 +0000

“Among the performers at this summer’s Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon, Elvin Bishop’s hourlong set on the main stage stood head and shoulders — and slide guitar — above the rest. There was nothing innovative about it. He simply played a tight, steamy set of down-and-dirty blues-inflected rock. Bishop’s star-studded new album, The Blues Rolls On, is in a similar vein: There’s nothing earth-shattering about it, just Bishop and his friends playing music together.”

Read the rest of the post here.

WILLIE McBLIND: Bad Thing

Michael — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 02:26:03 +0000

“If you’re a traditionalist who believes the only way to keep blues alive is to reprise songs in their original forms on acoustic instruments, you probably won’t care much for this record. But if you’re a musical evolutionist who thinks blues is an art form to be reinterpreted and reappraised, you’ll find this second album from four-piece band Willie McBlind intriguing.”

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DUKE PEARSON: The Right Touch

Michael — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 02:16:11 +0000

“Tagged with the nickname “Duke” by his Ellington-admiring uncle, Columbus Calvin Pearson, Jr. began his musical career at the knee of his mother, Emily, who taught him piano when he was still a child. As a teenager, Pearson switched to trumpet but ongoing dental problems (not to mention the inspiration of Wynton Kelly) brought him back to the piano during his mid-20′s.”

Read the rest of the post here.