For a certain stripe of blues fan, the older, wilder and more obscure the performer the better. If you’re of that mindset, you probably saw Drink Small, the 80-year-old South Carolina bluesman who’s been playing various joints for the past half-century. The opening of his set, where he delivered a borderline-risque rap and then a [...]
Tag Archives: folk
Beth Patterson & Patrick O’Flaherty, Caelic (Speak Jolly Music)
November 1, 2012 – 12:48 am
On her first full-length project since ‘08s On Better Paths, Beth Patterson reunites with fellow former Poor Clares multi-instrumentalist Patrick O’Flaherty for an eclectic baker’s dozen worth of tracks that’s hardly your standard Celtic fare. Buy on AmazonThe majority of the tracks feature Patterson thrashing away on bouzouki and O’Flaherty gliding on accordion — an [...]
Chip Wilson, Fond Regards (Immersion)
August 1, 2012 – 12:51 am
Chip Wilson is a folk musician by default, the way you might call Leonard Cohen a folk musician. Accompanying himself on six-string guitar, he fingerpicks in a discursive style that accompanies his soft, fragile but intensely expressive voice as he plies spooky tales of New Orleans that disappear like wisps of purple clouds in the [...]
Luke Winslow-King, The Coming Tide (Independent)
July 1, 2012 – 12:56 am
Most people don’t realize that New Orleans is the tail end of the Mississippi River Delta, so “delta” blues has always fit in here with the rest of the great roux of Crescent City music. This is obvious from the first notes and drum hits of Luke Winslow-King’s The Coming Tide, where Winslow-King combines Smokey [...]
South Memphis String Band, Old Times There (Merless Records)
July 1, 2012 – 12:42 am
The latest record from the roots collective the South Memphis String Band has a relaxed, off-the-cuff feel. Then again, anyone who has seen Jimbo Mathus (Squirrel Nut Zippers, Tri-State Coalition), Alvin Youngblood Hart (Muscle Theory), Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi All Stars), and Justin Showah (Knockdown South, Hill Country Records) play together knows that they cut [...]
Mississippi Rail Company, Coal Black Train (Independent)
June 1, 2012 – 12:54 am
In the last year, the Mississippi Rail Company has been generating some buzz for its live show, and its debut album, Coal Black Train, hints at what people are hearing in concert. The piano/upright bass/drums trio takes a youthful, rowdy approach to piano-based roots music, which requires some nerve in New Orleans. Travers Geoffray doesn’t [...]
Hurray For the Riff Raff, Look Out Mama (Born to Win Records)
May 1, 2012 – 12:50 am
On Look Out Mama, Hurray for the Riff Raff expands its sonic palette while maintaining the simple, basic nature of their songs and lyrics. The band has added more percussion and touches of piano to the guitar and violin of their previous releases, fleshing out its sound (a bit—there’s still a lot of space between [...]
Carolina Chocolate Drops: Intentional Grounding
May 1, 2012 – 12:40 am
“It’s a fusion,” says Dom Flemons. He plays the 4-string banjo, guitar, harmonica, kazoo, snare drums, bones and quills, and he’s one of the founding members of folk/roots trio Carolina Chocolate Drops. He’s addressing the notion of making old things new, preserving legacy and creating a contemporary realm for his group’s music instead of merely [...]
Carolina Chocolate Drops and Lee Fields on Liveset: Win Tickets to See Fields in Person
April 25, 2012 – 3:26 am
After a beautiful front-yard concert with Hurray for the Riff Raff on the eve of French Quarter Fest, we’re partnering with online live concert folks Liveset for another couple of shows to kick off Jazz Fest. Up first are the Carolina Chocolate Drops—profiled in our online Jazz Fest Bible package—performing on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. [...]
Hurray for the Riff Raff Play Liveset: Win A Spot in the Audience
April 6, 2012 – 1:30 pm
[UPDATED] OffBeat joins with Liveset.com to present an online concert with Hurray for the Riff Raff Thursday, April 12. The band’s British debut album made The Times of London‘s Top 10 Album list for 2011, and they have a new album on the way, Look Out Mama. They’ll also perform at Jazz Fest Thursday, May 3 [...]
