EGO PARTY by Penny Peach Have you ever been invited to an Ego Party? Me neither, but I bet they get real loud and standoffish and are filled with folks who are never unsure behind the wheel even when given the murkiest of driving directions. On Penny Peach’s new album, her first full-length and the […]
Avery Gregurich
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Album Review: Dean Gorman — ‘Outer Space, Iowa’
Outer Space, Iowa by Dean Gorman If we are truly living through the Great Resignation, I’m expecting that the coming months will hold a heavy release of “Future Endeavors” albums and straight-up “I Quit” albums. Early to the party is Outer Space, Iowa, the second album from Burlington-by-way-of-Portland musician Dean Gorman. In the album’s description, […]
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Album Review: Zap Tura — ‘Adaptasia’
Adaptasia by Zap Tura With every surge of the pandemic, a soundtrack emerges. Cyclical soundtracks, in fact. First, warm, optimistic fear foists celebrity covers of “Imagine” onto us all. Then, months of winter mark dour observations as people spend time with themselves looking at the brash remains that they all share. Rinse, repeat, release until […]
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Iowa Label Spotlight: Speak Up Records in Ottumwa
In both life and in music, Jason Bolinger has always sort of seen himself as a drummer. “I’ve always been the organizational guy, the guy that books all the tours,” he says. “That’s always been me, holding it all together and helping everyone get to the finish line.” Bolinger, an Iowa native, has played in […]
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Album Review and Q&A: ENGLISH — ‘Mona Lucy’
Mona Lucy by ENGLISH The Des Moines-based band ENGLISH began a few years ago when guitarist and vocalist Chris English assembled a group to record some songs he’d written to commemorate 25 years of remission from childhood cancer. English enlisted Justin Goes on bass, Russ Tomlinson on drums, Hans Decker on trumpet and Tommy Doggett […]
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Album Review: Jimmie’s in the Basement — ‘Star Demon & The Sky Goddess’
Star Demon & The Sky Goddess by Jimmie's in the Basement Let’s just accept it. Not one of us is going up to space this summer on some billionaire’s untaxed vanity spaceship. That’s why last month Jimmie’s in the Basement were kind enough to give us their record Star Demon & The Sky Goddess. Put […]
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Pure Prairie League ‘basically chomping at the bit’ to play
There haven’t been too many summers over the last 50 years when Mike Reilly, Pure Prairie League’s longtime bassist and bandleader, hasn’t been onstage somewhere, harmonizing on the chorus to “Amie.” After 18 months of waiting, he’ll finally be able to do it again when Pure Prairie League plays with Orleans and Catfish Murphy at […]
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Bored during lockdown, a Williamsburg couple built an outdoor stage on their property, offering artists 100% of ticket sales
If you want to accidentally start a performance venue amidst a pandemic, it’s best to start with a barn. Put it outside of the city a few miles where it’s quiet, on four acres of Iowa prairie, most of it pasture for horses, with plenty of places for people to park. That’s how Nathan and […]
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Album Review: Mt. Umbra — ‘Not Great’
Not Great by Mt. Umbra You can find the umbra of anything by searching for the innermost, and darkest, part of its shadow. There’s secrets to be found there, but only if you can bring them back out into the light, half-busted and stained as they may be. Mt. Umbra is the self-described “one woman […]
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Album Review: Logan Springer — ‘Coyote- “kī-yōte”’
Coyotes tend to howl to locate each other and establish their territory, not only for the sake of those around, but also for themselves. It seems prudent then that Iowa alt-country singer-songwriter Logan Springer titled his full-length debut, Coyote- “kī-yōte”. Engineered and mixed at Flat Black Studios by Luke Tweedy and released in collaboration with […]
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How to grieve in America: Iowa City photographer Rachel Cox turns her focus to our shared spaces of grief
It’s a simple, but profound question: Why do we grieve in the way that we do? Photographer Rachel Cox has been contemplating our process of grief for a few years now as she’s worked composing a series of photographs focused on our shared physical spaces of grieving. This series, Mors Scena, comprises her Iowa Artists […]
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Album Review: The Mountain Goats — ‘Getting Into Knives’
The Mountain Goats (erstwhile Iowan John Darnielle with Peter Hughes, Matt Douglas and Jon Wurster) are indie folk legends of their own design, led largely by Darnielle’s singular and incessant creative churnings. Getting Into Knives, the Mountain Goats’ 19th studio album (and second of 2020) was recorded in less than a week at the beginning […]
