One Sweaty Show: Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Grand Ole Party

By J Howell

Beaumont Club, Kansas City MO
June 3, 2009

Ah, summer. Some things go hand in hand with the onset of summer: sunny days, lemonade, box-office blockbusters, and rock shows. OK, maybe summer isn’t really all that much more conducive to rock shows than any other particular season, but in any event, summer is conducive to being out and about and enjoying live music.

Grand Ole Party and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were a bit like a typical summer movie—a thrilling, if not quite profound, way to spend a couple of hours on a gorgeous evening.
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John Lee Hooker, Anthology 50 Years

By J Howell

What can be said about John Lee Hooker that hasn’t been said at least a thousand times before? If you’re somehow unfamiliar with Hooker’s well-deserved “Blues Legend” status, this two-disc compilation isn’t a bad place to start. Hooker was notoriously prolific, recording multiple versions of songs over the years, sometimes under assumed names (but usually laughably close, such as “John Lee Booker”) to avoid contractual snags. Because of Hooker’s prodigious output on so many labels over so many years, assembling a perfect career summary set—especially on just two discs—would be nearly impossible. That said, Anthology 50 Years does a more than adequate, if not-quite-stellar, job of offering an overview of John Lee Hooker’s idiosyncratic style.
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My Short List Of Heroes: Q & A With John Parish

By J Howell

John Parish may not exactly be a household name, but the scope of his work, on both sides of the glass, is almost unparalleled in both quality and variety. My first exposure to John was seeing his name in the liner notes to PJ Harvey’s To Bring You My Love, which is still a favorite record of mine. I had to find out who was responsible for the sounds on that record, which were jarring and lush, often in the same song. Turns out this Parish fellow had a lot to do with it, both as a musician and a producer, and as a mentor of Harvey’s, who basically got her start in Parish’s Automatic Dlamini. (Harvey once introduced him onstage as “more a god than a man,” which probably made him blush a little.)
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Tans Are Okay and Love Is The Best: Q & A with Castanets

By J Howell

Over the last couple of years, Castanets has likely seen more time in my CD player than any other single band. I was fortunate enough to meet them in Brighton, England a while back, and then a few months later I hosted them (along with tour mates Shapes & Sizes) when they were in my town. Aside from making some beautiful music, Ray Raposa and the ever-changing cast of Castanets are also great people. This spring, I conducted the following interview via email, in bits and pieces over a few weeks, as time allowed while Ray was traveling.
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Because It’s Real: Q & A with Jont

By J Howell

You may know of Jont from his song, “House of Dreaming” from the soundtrack to The Wedding Crashers. I first met Jont through MySpace two years ago, when he was first entertaining the idea of taking Unlit (explanation below) on the road in the States. It seemed like a beautiful thing to have at my home, so I told him I was in. The Unlit we held here in Kansas City was one of the most amazing, fun things I’ve ever been a part of.
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