By Ross Boissoneau Joshua Davis is: A) A popular singer/sonwriter B) An instructor at Interlochen Arts Academy C) A finalist on season 8 of the NBC show The Voice D) All the above The answer, of course, is D. Familiar to audiences around the state and the Midwest from both his time fronting the band […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau Guitarist Nels Cline isn’t a name necessarily familiar to those who follow the charts, even though he’s been a part of the popular band Wilco since 2004 and he’s contributed to hundreds of recordings, as a sideman, studio guest, or bandleader or co-leader. That includes seven with the ironically-named Nels Cline Singers, […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau Numbers to know: Six, two, 20-plus and 48. As in six International Bluegrass Music Association wins, two Grammy nominations, more than 20 recordings, and 48 years (and counting) since Greg Cahill founded the Chicago-based bluegrass outfit Special Consensus in 1975. That’s a lot of history. And yes, a lot of numbers. But […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau Robert Berry is many things: Multi-instrumentalist. Vocalist. Songwriter. Studio owner. Producer. Conceptualist. He comes by all those things through a lifetime spent in music. As a youth, he was a fixture at his family’s music store, and by his high school years was gigging regularly as well as working at a local […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau It’s not that far from pop to jazz, or from guitar to ukulele – at least not for Jeff Linsky. The California-based musician has performed pop and rock, Latin, jazz, and more. He’s done so in various settings: solo, in duos, trios, full band and with an orchestra. It all comes from […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau A Renaissance woman. A label owner. An investment banker. An award-winning banjoist. A boundary breaker. Alison Brown is – or in one case was – all these things and more. The celebrated artist has a new recording coming this summer on which she collaborated with everyone from with Grammy Award-winning musician/actor/author Steve […]
Read more“When I heard Jack, it knocked me out. He had an atypical tone and went in and out of the root, messed with time. Jack was the greatest bass influence I ever had. It put me on this path since 1967,” says Berlin.
Read moreGuitarist’s unique instrument perfect for his personal expression By Ross Boissoneau Some people just aren’t satisfied. Take guitarist Trevor Gordon Hall. After practicing, performing and recording for years, he abandoned his guitar for a kalimba. Okay, that’s an overreach. He never even entertained the thought of giving up guitar, but he did embrace the sound […]
Read moreOne name that should be on the tip of the tongue when it comes to great and influential players is Duke Robillard.
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau If someone does two things well, they’re a double threat. Three makes a triple threat. So Paul Brown must be at least a sextuple threat: composer, arranger, producer, engineer, guitarist, collaborator. Oops, make that septuple: the guy’s a singer too, you know. Reached by phone at his home studio, Brown talked about […]
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