Interview: Taylor Locke of Rooney
For all 37 Metromix sites nationwide.
Guitarist Taylor Locke wants to talk about his band’s new tour…not his famous exes
If the band is best-known for “When Did Your Heart Go Missing?”, Locke is best-known for his love life. First, there was a long-running relationship with the Donnas’ guitarist Donna R., aka Allison Robertson. More recently, his breakup with actress Mischa Barton, star of “The O.C.”, made headlines.
Interview: Neko Case Q&A for St. Petersburg Times
Ran Thursday in Weekend section.
For the first time in more than a decade Neko Case is coming to Florida.
The alt-country chanteuse’s sixth solo record, Middle Cyclone, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 pop chart in March, and Amazon.com has already crowned it best album of the year. On the phone, though, calling from her farm in rural Vermont, the charming Case sounds like an eager, unsigned artist, chatting about inspiration in household chores.
Interview: Kevin Bacon and Michael Bacon
For the St. Petersburg Times:
Though best known as a movie star — and the subject of the Six Degrees game that’s ingrained in pop culture — Kevin Bacon is a talented singer-songwriter and guitarist whose band performs catchy roots rock sweetened by Philly soul flourishes. Kevin and Michael, who were raised in the City of Brotherly Love, spoke to the St. Petersburg Timessimultaneously by phone from their respective homes in New York.
Interview: Neko Case for Orlando Weekly
Short (500-word) piece I did for Orlando Weekly on killer vocalist, and great interview, Neko Case.
‘It’s gratifying to be up there with U2 and Taylor Swift,” says Neko Case from her farm in rural Vermont about her latest release, Middle Cyclone, which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard charts. “All of us just hanging out … that lasted an entire week.”
Record review: Norah Jones, ‘The Fall’
Running on all 37 Metromix sites nationwide:
“Kissed my neck with a crooked, cracked fang,” Jones sings on the entrancing love song “Young Blood.” “Your chocolate eyes, like buttons of lies,” she intones on the bitter “You’ve Ruined Me.” Jones, who wrote or co-authored every track on “The Fall,” has never before delivered such juicy lines.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel also ran it.
My new job as Music Editor at OC Weekly
I’m excited to announce that I have gratefully accepted the position of Music Editor at OC Weekly, a Village Voice Media publication covering Orange County (and a little bit of Los Angeles County), California.
My first day is Nov. 30.
Q&A: Matt Burke of Have Gun, Will Travel
For Metromix Tampa Bay.
“Postcards from the Friendly City” has such a warm, spontaneous feel to it. You can hear the space of the room, the way you do on, say, classic, 1950s Sun recordings. Where did you make this album?
We recorded it ourselves at our practice space in downtown Bradenton. Our guitarist Scott Anderson did the recording – he does a lot of sound work on the side. He just set up the equipment in our warehouse rehearsal space and we recorded over the course of five or six months at our leisure. We basically went ahead and recorded the way we wanted to. One, for the purpose to do our own record and have ultimate control but also it afforded us the ability to experiment with how we recorded the songs in regard to mic placement and stuff. We weren’t on the clock, which was nice. We got done and then dumped the tracks on [ace Pinellas-based musician/super producer] Steve Connelly, who skillfully mixed and mastered the album.
Top 10 Songs About Food
For the Miami New Times music blog Crossfade.
Burly, bearded Zac Brown and his band play Sunset Cove Amphitheatre on Saturday. The highlight of the evening will likely be a beer-drenched, sing along performance of his fiddle-laced, pleasantly simple and patriotic country smash “Chicken Fried.” It’s a fun little ditty that got me thinking about all the really great songs inspired by food — or with something edible in the title. Here’s my highly subjective list.
Interview: Matt Burke of Have Gun, Will Travel
Story I did for Sarasota Herald-Tribune on one of the best unsigned alt-country acts around. Seriously, check ‘em out at myspace.com/hgwt. And then read my short feature:
After landing his indie rock trio The Chase Theory on a national label in 2003, Matt Burke (center) has made his current project, Have Gun, Will Travel, the most promising alt-country act in the region.
Interview: Celtic Woman Orla Fallon on going solo
For the Portland Press Herald/Maine Today:
It can’t be easy walking away from a world-famous group at the peak of its popularity. But that’s exactly what Irish singer-harpist Orla Fallon did earlier this year when she left Celtic Woman.
“It was a fabulous experience,” she said by phone from Cleveland, where she had just taped a PBS special. “It was a rollercoaster ride of playing venues I had before only ever dreamed about.”
