BASSIST STU HAMM BRINGS ‘BOOK OF LIES’ TO NEW HOPE & THE IRIDIUM
If you’re playing alongside hotshots like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai and you still get noticed, you must be pretty good in your own right. As a bassist for those guitar heroes and beyond, as well as t...
Readmore
MASON PORTER BRINGS EXPANDED FOLK SOUND TO STEELSTACKS
Philadelphia-area American band Mason Porter has continued to hone its sound – and expand its growing fanbase – in the roughly 10 years since its inception. The latest step forward for the group is “K...
Readmore
ROB BARRACO ON HIS FIRST GRATEFUL DEAD SHOW, PLAYING IN THE BAND WITH LESH, SINGING WITH WARREN HAYNES AND MEETING BOB DYLAN
Late last year, we spoke with Rob Barraco in advance of a few Mattston/Barraco & Friends performances. Inevitably, the conversation with Barraco – a pianist, keyboardist, occasional bassist and vo...
Readmore
JOSH RITTER, ‘AN INTROVERT AT HEART,’ OPENS UP ON STAGE
In 38 years of life, Josh Ritter’s songwriting has already been compared to Bob Dylan’s. He’s authored a New York Times “best-selling novel” that drew praise from legendary horror author Stephen King....
Readmore
STEEL PANTHER: COCAINE, STRIPPERS, SPANDEX and A LITTLE MUSIC
By Chris Krepich Steel Panther bassist Lexxi Foxxx doesn’t give a rat’s ass what his bass sounds like at a show. For Foxxx and company, it’s all about the chicks, cocaine, spandex, makeup and sh...
Readmore
SAM CUTLER ON LIFE WITH THE DEAD AND THE ROLLING STONES (VIDEO)
As the second annual Susquehanna Breakdown festival approaches, we look back at last year's edition with an in-depth and candid interview with Sam Cutler, the former Grateful Dead and Rolling Stones t...
Readmore
COAL TOWN ROUNDERS CELEBRATE ‘HOW IT USED TO BE’ (TRACK PREMIERE)
There’s a lot of lip service given to “artisanal,” “homemade” and “hand-crafted” products these days. It often seems more like a marketing plan drummed up to ensnare hipsters than anything truly a...
Readmore
BILL EVANS: FROM MILES DAVIS’ RIGHT-HAND MAN TO THE JAM BAND WORLD, SAX MAN FINDS HIS GROOVE
It’s rare to find a musician who has risen to the top of any particular genre. Rarer still is an artist who has achieved remarkable success in two distinct styles – someone like saxophone player and m...
Readmore
PAUL THORN ON MAKING PEOPLE FEEL GOOD, BEATING THEM UP IN THE RING and HIS MOM AND DAD’s INFLUENCE
The son of a preacher man, the nephew of a pimp and a former boxer turned singer/songwriter who fought Roberto Duran on national TV. Sounds like three different characters in a novel, but those are al...
Readmore
PURPLES RISE FROM THE ASHES OF THE TEETH, PLAY SCRANTON WITH HEAVY BLONDE
When the national press started sniffing around the Philadelphia psychedelic (for lack of a better descriptor) rock scene in the mid-2000s, a few remarkable bands were exposed to a larger audience, li...
Readmore