Eric Church | Courtesy photo
Eric Church plays a show at Jefferson Center tonight. Read story, get show details.
On this podcast, we talk about the recent Rolling Stone feature on Church and about how the title song from "Carolina" can help anyone fashion a little mental escape hatch to a favorite place.
Robert Trent, director of guitar studies at Radford University, has a brilliant young charge these days.
One of his students, 16-year-old Max Hiner, of Radford, last weekend won high school category at The Music Academy of North Carolina's national guitar competition. He had finished third last year, competing with young players from across the nation.
Check out some video of the young master.
Courtesy of Michael J. Media Group
Chris Knight performs on Wednesday night at Kirk Avenue Music Hall. Read story, get show details.
On this podcast, we talk with Knight about his career, his past life as a strip mine reclamation inspector and more about a long-ago honky-tonk fight. Also, we stream “Trailer II” versions of “It Ain’t Easy Being Me” and “Love and a 45.”
Our old TimesCast buddy and blues guitar man Kevin Selfe has scored in his new home, Portland, Ore. He and his band, Kevin Selfe and the Tornadoes, won the Cascade Blues Association's Muddy Award for best contemporary blues act.
Selfe wrote: "After 10 nominations in 3 years, it’s our first time winning one, so we’re pretty excited!"
He truly was in good company at the Nov. 6 event. Blues veteran Curtis Salgado, an old buddy of Robert Cray, won in the R&B act and male vocalist categories. Triva item: According to Cray, Salgado was the guy who schooled a young John Belushi on the blues and dark sunglasses -- both of which would figure heavily in the music-geek classic movie, "The Blues Brothers."
Courtesy Junior Sisk and Ramblers Choice
Junior Sisk, who performs on Saturday at the Franklin County Free Clinic and Health Expo and Fiddle Fest, is a heckuva nice guy. He's also one of bluegrass music's top singers. Look for a full story here later today.
His band, Junior Sisk and Ramblers Choice, received several International Bluegrass Music Association Award nominations. Though the band didn't win one, it solidified its status as a critical and commercial act, even as it sticks closely to traditional grass.
On this podcast, we stream two tunes from the band's IBMA award-nominated record, "Blue Side of the Blue Ridge. We play "Leaving Baker County" and "Little Bit of This, Little Bit of That," and talk about the songwriters (Tom T. and Dixie Hall; Ronnie Bowman) and producer Bowman, a onetime Franklin County guy.
Photo courtesy of Old Crow Medicine Show
Old Crow Medicine Show returns to the Roanoke Valley on Friday night, with a gig at Salem Civic Center. Read story, get show details. We talked with Harrisonburg's own Ketch Secor, who is this medicine show's hype man.
This is really not my thing, but these guys nail what they're doing, and the crowd loved it. Here's the print review.
The surprising thing to me was the guitar skill of singer Adam Levine. He's got a Carlos Santana feel to his leads, and he can pick fast as greased lightning when he wants to. Main guitarist James Valentine gets his throwback on, too -- he quoted Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone From The Sun," and has a generally hot blues/rock style.
Musically, their impulses run from corporate rock ("I Won't Go Home Without You") to something much cooler, an updated Terrence Trent D'Arby kind of thing ("Harder To Breathe", "Through With You"). I could've stood a lot more of the latter.
Candye Kane
Blues/jazz chanteuse Candye Kane, whose resume is at least as interesting as her music, plays Blue 5 Restaurant on Saturday night. Get details at Top Tickets.
On this podcast, we discover her recovery from pancreatic center, the music she made in response to the disease and going from adult film performer to college student body vice president, among other things. And we stream songs from her latest CD, "Superhero."
Holy Ghost Tent Revival
These guys were a smash at FloydFest last summer, and they're coming once again to Martin's Downtown Bar & Grill, Roanoke. Show is on Friday -- get details at Top Tickets.
Hear conversation with drummer Ross Montsinger and cuts from the Greensboro, N.C., band's new EP, "Family."
Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights
Well, a podcast with Tyler, really, who is a cool guy. The act comes to Awful Arthur's, Salem, on Friday, and Awful's Towers on Saturday. Show details at Top Tickets.
We talk about touring with Kid Rock, making a new album and Southern musical influences. Plus, we stream songs from the band's first album, "Hot Trottin'", which helped the act get a deal with Atlantic Records.
