Singer-songwriter Mat Kearney has come a long way from his rebellious, skate-punk roots, but his love for hip-hop — the music and culture — remains. That juxtaposition with his folky beginning has made Kearney the performer he is. “That in-the-moment thing that hip-hop brings is something that I love. It’s unfolding before your eyes, and […]
Music Features
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Steady as he goes
It’s hard work writing songs with characters vivid enough to fit a movie script or a novel. Bespectacled rocker Craig Finn’s been doing it for a little less than a decade as the front man for The Hold Steady, Brooklyn’s beloved bar band. Although he’s recently taken a brief detour as a solo artist to […]
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Hooked on ’phonic
The Polyphonic Spree has always been ambitious. While the Dallas-based symphonic rock band isn’t as fond of the eccentricities and gimmicks of someone like our own Flaming Lips, more than a few similarities exist — most notably a total disregard for convention. Tim DeLaughter formed the group on the heels of the demise of Tripping […]
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Music Made Me: Nicholas Ley
The Zombies — “Odessey and Oracle” (1968)I remember the night my best friend and lifelong band member, Colin Fleishacker, brought me this record. I was at a party and he burst in, dragged me out to his car and made me listen to the first four or five tracks. We were recording vocal tracks at […]
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Two Suns — Dream Familiar
While it might be tempting to write this enterprise off as another of many Radiohead tributes, the album’s far too nuanced and interesting to squarely categorize. After “Not the End”’s shoegazey, textured drumming and “Nostalgia”’s chiming Americana, “Dirty Industry” slurps and sizzles with guttural, low-end bass and synths that approach learned dubstep. Davidson’s songwriting isn’t […]
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Craig Finn — Clear Heart Full Eyes
“Clear Heart Full Eyes” (yes, the title’s a play on the catchphrase from “Friday Night Lights,” of which Finn is admittedly an enormous fan) really seems to follow the groping, narcotized and promiscuous teenagers that characterize The Hold Steady’s discography, as it moves away, discovers integrity, grows up, and/or finds Jesus. It follows pretty logically […]
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Lynne her your ears
While plenty of industry honors, roles in film and television, and appearances on late-night shows have all come Shelby Lynne’s way over her two-plus decades’ career, she’s never forgotten the fundamentals of her craft. “With acting, I pretty much just use my singing credentials,” said the 43-year-old contemporary country singer-songwriter, who plays The Blue Door […]
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Burns both ways
Metalcore band August Burns Red is rapidly approaching a decade together with relatively few lineup changes and nothing but smooth seas in sight. “We never blew up and exploded overnight,” guitarist JB Brubaker said. “We grew at an organic pace and amassed a following that way. That’s the difference between us and some of the […]
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Dead alive
Costa Stasinopoulos, record producer and leader of Tulsa alt-rockers Dead Sea Choir, has had a pretty rough month. Someone broke into his car on Jan. 15, taking a friend’s guitar and a pair of hard drives containing yet-to-be finished records. And this came just as he was repairing his vehicle from another break-in mere weeks […]
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Trapper keeper
Chris Trapper is an old pro … although he tends to forget that. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, 14 years, and have always had jobs and opportunities, but I don’t think about it like that,” Trapper said. “I still think I’m trying to make it.” The scrappy singer-songwriter has been rewarded for […]