Perusing the concert listings a few months ago, a listing for “Steve Martin & Edie Brickell” jumped out at me. “That Steve Martin? That Edie Brickell?” It all seemed so bizarre. My father later expressed interest in going to the show, as Martin’s newfound musical career apparently gets a great deal of play on XM/Sirius’ bluegrass station. I bought the tickets out of curiosity. Last week, I got a taste of what we might be in for when that performance […]
Posts tagged "bluegrass"
Spin Cycle: The Avett Brothers, The Carpenter
In the realm of swaying, stomping, harmonic pop-folk, The Avett Brothers stand only in the shadow of Mumford & Sons, a recent success story that, perhaps not-coincidentally, the long-running North Carolina brother-band is starting to bear more than a passing resemblance to. Comparing Mumford’s lone album to the Avett’s discography previously yielded only superficial comparisons: po-faced, earnest lyricism; the tell-tale lilt of a banjo here and there; shouty, fractured harmonies. But where the Mumfords use their Appalachian sensibilities […]
The Blerd13 with… Brett Detar!
Brett Detar has been a part of the modern music scene since 1996, including a nine year run with alternative/indie band The Juliana Theory, but after a decade in the rock and metalcore scene, Brett took a hiatus, returning in 2010 with his first solo album, Bird in the Tangle. Fans of his previous work, however, were in for a surprise. Brett’s return stems from classic country and folk roots, rather than the hard rock of before. I was able […]
Spin Cycle: Brett Detar’s “Bird in the Tangle”
The amazing thing about people (and musicians are, despite the rumors, also people) is that we are rarely static entities. Time and age have a funny way of sculpting our tastes and experiences, to the point that we may not even recognize ourselves in a decade or so. Brett Detar’s debut solo album Bird in the Tangle is a sonic testament to this truth. After turns as a guitarist in metalcore pioneers Zao and as lead vocalist for the indie/alternative […]
