You can’t talk about the history of music in Iowa without mentioning the seminal (and sadly defunct) grassroots record label Trailer Records, started by Iowa City musician David Zollo. Recently on the Iowa Music Archive Series, Zollo shared the genesis of the label. “…[Greg Brown, Bo Ramsey, Radislav Lorkovic and I] wanted something more funky […]
Michael Roeder
Michael Roeder is a self-proclaimed “music savant.” When he’s not writing for Little Village he blogs at playbsides.com.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Salt Fox — ‘Miss You, Kyle/Love Ya, Boys!’
In January 2024, the Cedar Falls indie pop trio Salt Fox found themselves heading to Texas for a gig. Right before departing, Kyle, a friend of a friend that the band had never met, showed up to be the roadie for the trip and became the inspiration for the title of the band’s new album. […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Album Review: Dickie — ‘Headful of Hiss’ EP
Headful of Hiss By Dickie In April 2023, Dick Prall brought a string quartet to CSPS Hall in Cedar Rapids. Billed as Dickie and the Cask Strength Quartet, the evening was a setlist of stringed versions of songs from Prall’s career to that point. Towards the end of the evening, he announced that he wanted […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Munk Rivers — ‘Practice Room’ EP
Most of the press around Des Moines band Munk Rivers mentions their self-declared genre “yearncore.” While obviously somewhat tongue-in-cheek, it speaks to the very human emotions that weave through the lyrics of lead singer and frontperson Charlotte Judkins. Siblings Charlotte and Tucker Judkins started performing as Munk Rivers last summer after they relocated to Des […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Chrash — ‘Music for the Next Scene’
In a recent email from Chris Bernat, guitarist and vocalist for Quad Cities band Chrash, said, “We are all very pleased with the cover shot featuring a big shiner on my right eye.” The week the band was scheduled to do the photoshoot for the album artwork for their latest album, Bernat had a pretty […]
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Album Review: Dope Walker — ‘Heavy Revelations’
Heavy Revelations by Dope Walker The lineup of Dope Walker is an unlikely cross-section of members from Minnesota and Iowa: Aaron “Lazerbeak” Mader from the Twin Cities hip-hop collective Doomtree; Lee County, Iowa folk mainstay William Elliot Whitmore; Mike Schulte from Iowa juggernaut The Pork Tornadoes; Joel Anderson from ft (The Shadow Government); Jeff Allen, […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Run Dog — ‘The Big Room EP’
The Big Room by Run Dog Joel Sires slides into my DMs, “You gotta check this band out. Run Dog from CF. Unreal. So fully realized.” High praise from someone I consider to be one of Eastern Iowa’s great songwriters. I wasted no time checking out the quartet, who released their debut four-song EP The […]
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Album Review: Katie and the Honky Tonks — ‘Two-Steppin’ in the Shower’
Two Steppin in the Shower by Katie and the Honky Tonks You only need to watch Cedar Falls band Katie and the Honky Tonks cover Loretta Lynn’s 1973 smash “Rated X” to understand the rich and influential legacy of women in country music on which they stand. (Luckily, you can: Gallagher Bluedorn has an archive […]
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Album Review: Subatlantic — ‘Say It Again’
Say It Again by Subatlantic Quad Cities band Subatlantic’s new album Say It Again opens with a sparsely arranged synth/guitar/vocal thematic overture titled “Fate” asking, “What would you say if we tried today? / What would you say if we died today?” Every word counts, and we’re measured by how we use them. “Fate” acts […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Histo — ‘JGDC’
JGDC by histo A near-fatal lung infection gave multi-instrumentalist Donald Curtis a sense of urgency to follow his passions for music and form Histo, according to the band’s bio. The prefix “histo” medically refers to body tissue, but it also can mean “structure” or “set upright” (as in a histogram bar chart) — either of […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Album Review: Sylvee & the Sea — ‘The Less I Needed the Better I Felt’
The Less I Needed the Better I Felt by Pieta Brown Pieta Brown says time she spent in Tucson and the friends she made there sparked a music career. These friendships continue to this day as she works with AZ legends like Howe Gelb from Giant Sand and Joey Burns and John Convertino from Calexico. […]
Posted inStatewide
Video premiere: Halfloves, ‘Hospice’
“Try to imagine what it must be like to go to sleep and never wake up …” — Alan Watts On Halfloves’ first new single since June of 2021’s bouncy “Do U Follow Me,” we find the band exploring their more contemplative side with “Hospice.” Trevor Polk and Jeff Roalson both lost their grandmothers in […]
