Showing 1 - 25 of 109
Artist: Rascal Flatts
Five studio albums into their incredible career, the members of Rascal Flatts find themselves firmly atop the music world. Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney have scaled unbelievable heights in the eight years since their debut, and yet with the release of Still Feels Good, they find their fortunes still rising. For proof, they need to... [+] Read More
Artist: Archetype
Brecksville, OH's Archetype was formed in 1997 by singer Greg Wagner, guitarist Chris Matyus, bassist Jamie Still, and drummer Keith Zeigler. Taking their cues from both progressive and power metal strains, and bolstered by Wagner's powerful, expressive voice, the band debuted with 1999's Hands of Time EP and eventually followed it with 2002's... [+] Read More
Artist: John Altenburgh
Jazz pianist/composer John Altenburgh was born and raised in Mosinee, WI; in 1989 he founded his own label, Altenburgh Jazz, and the following year issued his debut LP, (Old City). 1992's Vol. II further bolstered his growing reputation, and with the 1993 follow-up Generations Altenburgh earned his strongest reviews yet. Subsequent efforts... [+] Read More
Artist: Midwest Product
Midwest Product is an Ann Arbor, MI-based trio made up of Chad Pratt, Ben Mullins, and Drew Schmedling. Their output places equal emphasis on complex interplay -- including a reliance upon electronics to bolster a traditional rock-band setup -- and sharp melodic hooks, with early '80s electro and mid-'90s post-rock as dueling jump-off points.... [+] Read More
Artist: Lyn Todd
Released on the Vanguard label in 1980, Lyn Todd's only known album sports the auspice of future disco magnate Bobby Orlando, who played most of the instruments and wrote most of the material. The resultant Lyn Todd record showcases excellent '70s rock bolstered by nascent Hi-NRG. The talented Orlando immediately went on to launch his... [+] Read More
Artist: Nappy Roots
Country and proud of it, Nappy Roots formed in 1995 around a sextet of students attending Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. Four members of the group were Kentucky natives (Skinny DeVille, B. Stille, Ron Clutch, and Big V), bolstered by a pair of Oakland-born transplants (R Prophet and Milledgeville). Nappy Roots began making music... [+] Read More
Artist: Tsunami Bomb
Bay Area punk combo Tsunami Bomb was formed around 1999 by bassist Dominic Davi, who was joined by vocalist Agent M, guitarist Mike Griffen, and drummer Gabe Linderman. With their California punk influences sewed proudly to their sleeves, the members of Tsunami Bomb set about conquering America the old fashioned way -- with incessant touring.... [+] Read More
Artist: X-Angels
The Portland, OR-based band X-Angels play a mature, solid brand of roots rock bolstered by accomplished, veteran musicianship. During the '90s, the group became known as a formidable bar band on the Portland scene. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Tom McGriff founded the group in the early '90s when he returned to Portland after a 15-year stint in... [+] Read More
Artist: Rough House Survivors
Rough House Survivors released one album, Straight From the Soul, in 1992. DJ Swinn and MCs Dread One, Kev, and Roberto made up the quartet, who were lucky enough to deliver their rhymes on top of some of Tony Dofat's (Mary J. Blige's What's the 411, Monifah's Mo'hogany, Heavy D's Blue Funk) best production work. Although its stature was... [+] Read More
Artist: The Mertons
The Kentucky band the Mertons plays a rollicking brand of roots rock or grain belt rock, with the emphasis on the "rock." A lot of their material is bolstered by amped-up guitars that garner comparisons to Uncle Tupelo, early Son Volt, or Soul Asylum.
The band, consisting of singer/songwriter J.P. Hanly, drummer Preston Gorman (who was later... [+] Read More
Artist: The Brigands
The Brigands' "(Would I Still Be) Her Big Man" was an outstanding and unusual 1966 garage band single. In addition to a good fuzz riff, the usual staple of many a 45 in the genre, there were also fairly involved lyrics espousing a working-class perspective, bolstered by good backup harmonies. It sounds like the kind of thing heard on many a... [+] Read More
Artist: Lara Fabian
Belgian-born pop singer/songwriter Lara Fabian began singing, dancing, and taking piano lessons at a very young age and began formal music lessons at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels at age eight. During her ten years of study there, Fabian started writing and performing her own songs, which were inspired as much by her classical vocal and... [+] Read More
Artist: Hudson-Ford
Though best known for their membership in The Strawbs, the rhythm section of John Ford (bass) and Richard Husdon (drums) worked together both before and after their '70 - '73 stint with the folk-prog band. Previously with Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, and then The Velvet Opera, the duo moved on from the songwriting disputes of The Strawbs to form... [+] Read More
Artist: Defiled
Japanese death metal band Defiled was formed in Tokyo in 1992 and initially featured guitarist Yusuke Sumita, bassist Norihisa Fukuda, vocalist Masafumi Kitamura, and drummer Kouji Uchida, but the last two didn't make it past the group's self-financed debut EP from 1994, Defeat of Sanity. Their replacements were Hideki Fujimoto and Yuichi... [+] Read More
Artist: The Be Good Tanyas
Be Good Tanyas play an old-timey blend of folk, country, and blues bolstered by sweet harmonies and traditional fingerpicking. The Vancouver trio has garnered comparisons to like-minded predecessors such as Gillian Welch and Iris Dement.
The group came together when Samantha Parton, who had spent her post-high school years traveling with her... [+] Read More
Artist: Robert Davis
One thing that gives blues guitar fans the blues is the lack of recordings by a country-blues performer named Robert Davis. All that exists is a single guitar instrumental titled "Poor Joe Breakdown." The track originated sometime in the summer of 1935, part of the field recording project undertaken during that period by Alan Lomax and John A.... [+] Read More
Artist: Greg Behrendt
When he made his big standup comedy debut in 2005 with the Uncool DVD, Greg Behrendt had already co-authored the two-million-copy bestseller He's Just Not That into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys. The idea for the snide-help book came to Behrendt when he worked as a consultant and executive story editor for three consecutive... [+] Read More
Artist: Wagon
The St. Louis alternative country group Wagon consists of Chris Peterson (fiddle), Ben Davis (guitar/vocals), Danny Kathriner (drums/vocals), Len Small (bass/vocals), and multi-instrumentalist Steve Rauner (mandola, Hammond organ, lap steel, and accordion). The quartet's brand of earnest country-rock, which is bolstered by lilting two-part... [+] Read More
Artist: Grand Mal
Bill Whitten formed the New York City band Grand Mal after the dissolution of his former group, the Connecticut combo St. Johnny, in 1995. While his former unit gloried in Sonic Youth-style fuzz and feedback (with a distinct slacker air), Grand Mal was decidedly less lethargic, glorying in glammed-up aggression and gutter-punk abandonment.... [+] Read More
Artist: Nick Tosches
Born in Newark, NJ, and raised by a Jersey City bar owner, Nick Tosches would begin his writing career in the '60s and '70s as part of that holy triumvirate of rock critics, including Lester Bangs and Richard Meltzer, who seem to be accused of creating the trade. (The three in fact, worked together at Creem magazine.) Bangs died in 1982 and went... [+] Read More
Artist: Swells
Hailing from the fertile Austin, TX, music scene, the Swells specialized in swirling dream pop reminiscent of British shoegazer groups such as Ride, Lush, and My Bloody Valentine, and created richly textured songs soaked in sprawling atmospherics and chiming melodies. Singer/songwriter David Malerba first formed the group in 1992, but within a... [+] Read More
Artist: MC Paul Barman
It's almost an understatement to say that New Jersey-native MC Paul Barman defies hip-hop convention. Rail thin and lilly white with a mop of curly hair hanging off his head, Barman plays the geek image to the hilt. His off-kilter verses and painful delivery almost seem like a put-on, but the Brown graduate has a disarming charm and comes with... [+] Read More
Artist: Gene Summers
On the subject of all things Dallas, Gene Summers seems to be as important to the city's history of rock & roll as the grassy knoll is to assassination theorists. Speaking of big bands, some sort of implosion of creative forces occurred in the spring of 1961, when Summers left a combo called the Rebels in order to bolster the membership of... [+] Read More
Artist: Chiodos
Originally known as the Chiodos Bros., the sextet better known as simply Chiodos (pronounced "chee-OH-dose") -- named after an obscure '80s horror movie term -- came together during high school in their hometown of Davison, MI, located just outside of Flint. Citing influences like Saves the Day, At the Drive-In, and Queen, the band's sound was a... [+] Read More
Artist: The Klaxons
Klaxons is an English band, currently based in London, with a large underground following. The word 'klaxon' derives from the Greek verb klazō, meaning "to shriek".Their original name of Klaxons (Not Centaurs) comes from a line in the art text The Futurist Manifesto.Their debut album, titled Myths of the Near Future, was released on January... [+] Read More
