Hello Clyde is the side project of Chris Rohr of The White Elephant, though Rohr tells me that he actually considers Hello Clyde his “main squeeze” while the other band is on extended hiatus. “[Hello Clyde] is a revolving door of people that help color the songs I’ve made,” he says…
Michael Roeder
Michael Roeder is a self-proclaimed “music savant.” When he’s not writing for Little Village he blogs at playbsides.com.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
MCF Preview: Adia Victoria talks about getting back to her southern roots
Adia Victoria with Crystal City and Brooks Strause & The Gory Details Yacht Club — Wed., Apr. 6 at 8 p.m. A change in plans can often open up opportunities. For Adia Victoria, moving back to the South pushed her to start focusing on her songwriting and learning guitar. Nashville proved to be a fertile […]
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The Pines explore and preserve tradition
The Pines and photographer Danny Wilcox Frazier FilmScene — Fri., Apr. 1 at 3 p.m. The Pines, with Bo Ramsey Englert Theatre — Fri., Apr. 1 at 7 p.m. In the Little Village review of The Pines’ latest album, Above The Prairie (Red House Records), Matt Steele quotes an interview with Benson Ramsey: “[T]raditional music […]
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Album Review: Halfloves – Self-titled
It’s a ballsy move to rename your band after you’ve had some notoriety. The Olympics decided to go back into the studio after their 2012 album with renewed commitment…
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Interview deep cut: Freakwater on the intricacies of recording and touring
Freakwater The Mill — Tue., Mar. 15 at 8 p.m. In this deep cut from Mike Roeder’s interview with Freakwater, parts of which were published in issue 194, Catherine Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean talk about the record industry, their new album and touring with the band that built it. Freakwater plays tonight, Tuesday Mar. […]
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Freakwater hits the road with their first studio album in nearly a decade
Freakwater The Mill — Tue., Mar. 15 at 8 p.m. Janet Beveridge Bean and Catherine Irwin have been collaborating, writing and performing for over 30 years as Freakwater. Often saddled by media with the distinction of having pre-dated the insurgence of alternative country in the late ’80s and early ’90s, they will sarcastically attribute that […]
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Album Review: Lissie – My Wild West
Lissie My Wild West www.lissie.com “I want my forty acres in the sun” —“Hero” Lissie’s latest album My Wild West is at once a love letter and a breakup letter. After 12 years in California chasing her dreams, which included a major label contract, Lissie decided to change the path she was on. In an […]
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Album Review: The Multiple Cat – Intricate Maps
Quad Cities producer and engineer Patrick Stolley has been releasing albums as The Multiple Cat since 1994 with a rotating cast of sidemen. Stolley is one of the founding members of Daytrotter and still contributes with sessions from his own FutureAppleTree studio…
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Album review: Lynne Hart, Pat Smith & Richard Wagor – Roots of Rhythm
Listening to the Roots of Rhythm album from the trio of Lynne Hart, Pat Smith and Rich Wagor, I am transported to a Woody Allen film in my mind. Allen’s use of early jazz music both reflects his particular taste in music and serves to ensure a kind of timelessness—that same timelessness is reinforced on this album by Hart’s clarinet.
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Album Review: Pieta Brown – Drifters
Pieta Brown Drifters www.pietabrown.com Pieta Brown and her band had a very productive four and a half days at Justin Vernon’s April Base Studios recording her 2014 album Paradise Outlaw. They recorded 20 songs with the intention of making the album a double. Plans changed and she picked 14 songs for the single album we […]
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Album Review: Holy White Hounds’ ‘Sparkle Sparkle’
The guys in Holy White Hounds have been kicking around the Des Moines/Ankeny area for a few years in other bands, but it was the 2013 reunion of high school bandmates Brenton Dean (vocals, guitar) and Ambrose Lupercal (bass) that started the path to their debut record, Sparkle Sparkle…
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Album Review: Danny Dysentery—’My Fangs Are Wet’
Danny Dysentery My Fangs Are Wet dannydysentery.bandcamp.com For every rabid fanbase there is a genre of music, it seems. For example, there is a crossing of horror fan culture with pop music that dates back almost to the dawn of rock and roll (“Monster Mash” anyone?). Alice Cooper, Danzig and The Misfits birthed the blood […]
