When Rick Dirck became Portsmouth Community Radio’s program director two years ago, the first thing he did was conduct an “ad hoc” survey in the...
Music
Love letter
The imperfect symmetry of twin dancers Billy and Bobby McClain has been captivating audiences around the world for the past 35 years. With a love...
Transcendent songs
As the brightly hued foliage begins to fall in layers on the landscape, we’ve started shuffling our sweaters to the front of the closet and...
More life
Chad Clark’s heart nearly killed him. In 2007, the frontman for the Washington, D.C.-based band Beauty Pill thought he had a bad case of the...
Music notes
Gypsy jazz in Kittery It was nearly 80 years ago that Django Reinhardt developed his unique jazz guitar technique, spawning the fiery style of music...
Now hear this
“No Worse For Wear” by Soggy Po’ Boys Self-released File Under: New Orleans jazz, blues, funk Sounds like: Sidney Bechet, Tom Waits, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins...
All together
Music has always been a family affair for Ruthie Foster. She grew up in rural Texas in a family of gospel singers. In church, she...
Original alternative
Al Barr’s 17-years-and-counting with the Dropkick Murphys are a little more than half of his lifelong performance career. It’s fair to say that what Barr...
Art and vision
Nothing Brooklyn-based indie-pop band Lucius does is accidental. The band’s aesthetic is inspired by 1960s girl groups, but the quintet’s sound is pure 21st-century sonic...
Ladys’ night
There’s no pretention behind The Landladys’ infectious brand of indie rock and the camaraderie that facilitates its creation. Filed somewhere between The Microphones and Brian...
Sliding scale
Trombonist Kendall Moore moved from Miami to the Seacoast in March, and the day after he arrived, he already had a gig with trumpet player...
Talking up the Takedown
Spend the day at the annual Pawtuckaway Takedown music festival in Nottingham and, along with a great line-up of local bands, you’ll also see tree...
Family band
Claire Roeth In the beginning, Mexo-Americana was a self-applied tagline for the David Wax Museum. As fans of the band have long known, front man...
Darkness and volume
There’s no mistaking KYOTY’s kinetic riffs and sprawling post-metal sound. The sheer force of their booming industrial oscillations is enough to pulverize eardrums, while their...
Write big
Josh Ritter rarely writes about himself. The singer-songwriter is more at home building narratives and dipping into the lives of fictional characters in his songs....
Laughing in the dark
Old Man Gloom is an experimental sludge metal juggernaut with a reputation for monkeyshines that’s almost as well known as their innovative output. The unpredictable...
Convening of Congress
It started as a small backyard gathering of musicians in 2010. That gathering became an annual tradition, taking place at The Stone Church in Newmarket...
The kids are alright
And The Kids describe their creative interpretation of indie pop as “accessible unconscious existential indie glitter popsicle crisis music.” The trio, made up of Hannah...
A long, happy trip
For even the hardiest touring superstars, playing over 100 shows in a year is a test of endurance. For Baltimore’s transcendent psych-drone duo Darsombra, every...
Tear down the wall
According to Parma Recordings CEO Bob Lord, the mission of the Parma Music Festival is essentially the same as the company’s mission: “To combine different...
Back to the future
Hip-hop luminary Ishmael Butler, frontman of Shabazz Palaces, is always content to let the experimental group’s astral soundscapes and lyrical dualities speak for themselves. However, the...
Out of the past
Robert McClung is righting historical wrongs one album at a time. He’s doing it under the guise of Telergy, a progressive rock band featuring musicians...
Now Hear This
Mother Superior and the Sliding Royales by Mother Superior and the Sliding Royales Label: self-released File under: soul, R&B, funk Sounds Like: Sharon Jones and...
Music Notes
Public NME number one What does a photo of Michael Jackson on the cover of a 1981 issue of a British magazine have to do...
Alone, together
Angel Olsen’s brand of indie folk veers between the fiery and the ambrosial, weaving together dynamic combinations of vintage Americana and rock and roll. Her spellbinding...