independent thoughts on alternative music
Peoria, Illinois-based collective The Way Down Wanderers recently released their latest album, illusions, and are tearing up the highways to bring their unique sound to eager audiences across the land. Foundationally, the band is bluegrass, sonically, they’re a little bit of everything. Consisting of five guys with a variety of musical backgrounds (Austin Krause-Thompson, Collin … Read more 8 QUESTIONS with THE WAY DOWN WANDERERS
It’s no longer a secret that Nashville’s music scene is more than a love-hate relationship with its country music stereotype. With indie and alternative rock now a dominating force, the music floods out of concert venues, clubs, and bars nightly. While there are numerous faces in the crowd of the city’s emerging rock acts, there … Read more LIVE SHOW REVIEW: RON GALLO
Today, American Aquarium released their new album, Things Change, an aptly-titled stunner; a year ago, the band’s world was upended, and frontman BJ Barham was at a crossroads when his entire band decided to leave. “I’ve always had a rotation, tumultuous would be the word to describe my band situation,” laughs the native North Carolinian … Read more PREVIEW: AMERICAN AQUARIUM at THE BASEMENT EAST on 6/5/18
“I come from a musical family, my parents both play, my sister and brother do also, so it came naturally. I started playing fiddle and guitar as a kid. I came into my own as a songwriter in high school. The rest is history,” declares New York-based alt-rocker Margaret Glaspy of her musical upbringing. She … Read more PREVIEW: MARGARET GLASPY at THE BASEMENT EAST on 4/1/18
“I played The Ryman before with City and Colour, and Dallas Green has this array of amazing pedals with him,” recalls London-based singer/songwriter Lucy Rose. “I was drooling over this tremolo pedal of his, and I was going to have to save up for that for a long ass time,” she laughs. “At the end … Read more PREVIEW: LUCY ROSE at THE BASEMENT EAST on 3/19/18
“We definitely went in that day with the intention of writing a happy song, that’s what we do,” says Colin Louis Dieden, vocalist for Southern California collective The Mowgli’s of their latest single, “Real Good Life.” “We wanted to remind people that even though it’s hard to remember sometimes, especially with the political and social … Read more PREVIEW: THE MOWGLI’S at THE BASEMENT EAST on 3/8/18
“I was playing in bars at age 12,” reveals Los Angeles-based artist Cobi, whose tour with explosive alt-rock duo Black Pistol Fire concludes at Nashville’s Basement East on Friday, December 8th. “We’d play blues covers from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., that’s how I got started. I grew up in a really small town, there … Read more PREVIEW: COBI at THE BASEMENT EAST on 12/8/17
“Check, check, and check, Check all those boxes,” reveals Nashville’s JD McPherson when asked about the pressures he faced when making his new record, Undivided Heart & Soul, out now via New West Records. “I’m a compulsive worrier,” he admits. “I’m confident in my taste, and I have, at the same time, this incredibly crippling … Read more PREVIEW: JD McPHERSON at THE BASEMENT EAST on 11/18/17
Volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes have nothing on Nashville rock outfit Goodbye June; in the milliseconds that pass after pressing “play” on their forthcoming album, Magic Valley, rapid-fire snare hits ring out to introduce frenzied album opener “Bamboozler,” as Landon Milbourn’s scorching vocals erupt over the face-melting guitar stylings of his cousins, Brandon Qualkenbush and Tyler … Read more PREVIEW: GOODBYE JUNE at THE BASEMENT EAST on 5/5/17
Miller Made Music and Jessie Baylin, with additional support from LabelLive and Lightning 100, have come together in support of Baylin’s December 7th show at The Basement East in Nashville to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank, a non-profit charity organization whose mission is to feed the hungry and work to solve hunger issues in our community. … Read more JESSIE BAYLIN & THE WATSON TWINS TO PERFORM BENEFIT FOR SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK