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Alec Adams on October 13, 2021
Lots of blues vocalists have great talent as singers, but the ones who rise above bring with them a real “cigarette smoke, tears in the whiskey glass” pain to their work. An orphaned infant in the Vietnam War, Lara Price discovered her love of music as a child and has been channeling…
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Bill Kopp on March 4, 2020
In the early 1970s, British rock band Wishbone Ash helped usher in the era of twin-lead-guitar groups, a powerful and effective approach that influenced many of rock’s most beloved bands—from Thin Lizzy to Boston to Iron Maiden and beyond.
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Bill Kopp on February 26, 2020
To listeners who have followed his work over the last few decades, it may appear that guitarist Eric Gales has evolved his technique. While quite good for what they are, the pair of albums he released in 2006 and 2007—Crystal Vision and The Psychedelic Underground—are characterized by what detractors might call overplaying.
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Wallace Baine on February 18, 2020
The Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers take their cues from the immortal Texas power trio ZZ Top. And, in case you’re wondering, the answer is yes—they are rockin’ those famous ZZ beards. The Drinkers (named for an unforgettable song on ZZ Top’s 1973 album, Tres Hombres) headline this big Bay Area tribute-band…
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Wallace Baine on February 4, 2020
Bon Jovi fans may always be “livin’ on a prayer” that they’ll somehow find their way back to the 1980s—when party-rock ruled the airwaves and mullets were worn unironically. That may never happen, but at least they have this: A triple bill at the Club Fox, featuring Bon Jovi completists Steel Horse,…
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Nick Veronin on January 22, 2020
While its shiftless younger cousins, rock and hip-hop, rely on the impulsive tendencies of youth, blues is a genre that rewards mastery. From B.B. to John Lee, the best bluesmen only improve with age. Case in point: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Elvin Bishop. His 1976 single “Fooled Around and…
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Bill Kopp on January 8, 2020
Pat Travers was part of a wave of late-’70s guitar heroes—artists who, in the wake of Peter Frampton’s runaway success, seemed poised to break out in a major way. But just as things got rolling for Travers, a combination of changing fashions, the corporatization of rock radio and plain bad luck blunted…
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Matei Predescu on July 17, 2019
This newly formed local alternative rock outfit displays their polished and multilayered songcraft on their recently released debut album, Aurora. “Rock ’n’ Roll Queen” and “Chasing Ghosts” recall timeless traces of the Foo Fighters, QOTSA and Soundgarden. Incorporating a nuanced blend of spacey keys, atmospheric synths and catchy guitar riffs, the band’s…
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Nick Veronin on July 11, 2019
San Jose hard-blues heavyweights Zed are back with their third full-length effort, Volume. “This album is definitely next level for us,” says bassist Mark Aceves. The group’s new drummer—veteran Bay Area musician Sean Boyles—does more than hammer away on Zed’s latest LP; he helped with songwriting and arrangements as well, which not…
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Wallace Baine on January 3, 2019
Yes, the songs of Neil Diamond have been blaring from radios and overhead grocery store speakers since the days of Shakespeare (or so it seems). But Super Diamond, the Bay Area-based Neil Diamond tribute band, has been around almost as long. With frontman Randy Cordeiro, SD was part of the first big…
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