Bloggerhythms

While many prefer The Pretenders 1979 eponymous debut, in reality Chrissie Hynde's finest album arrived on the scene after two tragedies forced her to revamp her hard rocking British band's lineup. After the drug related deaths of both guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon only Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers remained from the band that recorded the group's first two critically acclaimed albums. Hynde replaced Honeyman-Scott with Robbie McIntosh and Farndon with Malcolm Foster. It would be this new group that recorded 1984's Learning To Crawl . By this time Hynde was well aware she couldn't continue her rock n' roll lifestyle without taking a chance on ending up just like her two late bandmates and her new-found maturity was discussed in this LP's ten songs. Learning to Crawl opened with "Middle of the Road" where the singer admits she's "not the cat I used to be, I've got a kid, I'm thirty-three....

It's hard to categorize Chris Brubeck's Triple Play . They're mostly billed as a jazz band but they play almost as much acoustic, delta blues as they do jazz. Their eclectic repertoire includes some very old jazz standards, a little Robert Johnson and Fats Waller, and a few originals. For the uninitiated, the trio is Peter "Madcat" Ruth on harmonica, jaw harp, guitar, ukulele, percussion, and vocals, Joel Brown on acoustic guitar and vocals, and leader Brubeck on bass, trombone, and vocals. Brown is the son of 85 year old clarinetist Frank Brown, and Brubeck is the son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck who, at the age of 90, can still play his butt off. For years Chris Brubeck was a member of his Dad's group but eventually he started his own band. His resume also includes a concerto for trombone that he wrote for the London Symphony Orchestra and he has also played with Celtic music star Eileen Ivers. There is a lot to like on Triple Play's new CD, L...

Dawes Beginning in 1989, with the exception of one year, Appel Farm , a non-profit arts and music summer camp for children, located in the rural outpost of Elmer, NJ, has hosted a one day music festival whose lineup has always been loaded with adult alternative artists. Past headliners have included Jackson Browne, The Indigo Girls, Mary Chapin Carpenter, The Avett Brothers, Rufus Wainright, Fountains of Wayne, and Trombone Shorty. Other favorites who have played there over the last decade are Los Lonely Boys, Madeleine Peyroux, The Smithereens, Josh Ritter, and Roseanne Cash. This year's headlining act was the critically acclaimed jam band, The Tedeschi-Trucks Band. The festival almost ended a few years ago due to financial concerns partially caused by several years of inclement weather but this year it came back with a vengeance as 2012's advance ticket sales outnumbered the total gate receipts for last year. Terrific weather and a stellar lineup helped Saturday beco...