“The best country singers die in the back of classic cars” – Rawlings and Gillian Welch and Impala, Chevrolet. Higher Ground, S Burlington, VT. Thurs. 11-12-15, doors 7pm, show 8pm. $30 adv, $35 day of.State Theatre, Portland, ME. Fri. 11-13-15, doors 7pm, show 8pm. $37.50.Lupo’s, Providence, RI. Sat. 11-13-15, doors 7pm. $32-$39.50Wilbur Theatre, Boston, MA. Mon. 11-16-15, 8pm. $34.50. You’ve always liked Dave Rawlings. You just haven’t known it. He’s the male-half to Gillian Welch (check out everything from Time (The Revelator) to The Harrow and the Harvest) and everything the two touch is blissful earnest country. Now take your always-scintillating Welch-Rawlings duo, add aRead More →

Tyler and Maggie Heath + band (+ waterfall). Photo (C) Laurie Heath. The Met, Providence, RI. Thurs. 11-12-15, 7pm. $15 adv, $17 day of.Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA. Fri. 11-13-15, doors 7pm, show 8pm. $15 adv. A glorious return to the East Coast cometh a band with a sound like a tidal force. Having left us jaw-gaping at Newport in 2014 (do excuse the poor sound quality), siblings Maggie and Tyler Heath (with about a dozen other musicians) have been on a tear with their sophomore Dear Wormwood. We will admit this: we adore their folksy harmonies. We adore their exuberance, their bright energy. AndRead More →

Sallie Ford (+SOS, -electricity) at Newport, 2011 In a few more weekends, the sheet (music) will hit the fan. It’s that time (of the season) for probably our favorite festival. Probably? Almost certainly. Almost certainly? We can do better than that.It’s about time for the Newport Folk Festival. It took us a little while to do another writeup on it. Why? Lack of inspiration, laziness, lack of direction. Working on a book (or two). But last night, we realized why we had to come back; speaking to a friend, whom we’d met at last year’s, there really is something different about this “little” fest. ARead More →