Bela Fleck

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Getting back to roots for the Fourth
A celebration of our nation's founding is as good a time as any to dig into some old-time country music, either from this country or another. Whether a reissue from 1976 (the Bicentennial!) or a release from just last week, Mainers give you plenty of backyard fodder for the long weekend.
By SAM PFEIFLE | June 29, 2010

Tough enough

Stroll, hop, or Run to the Mill
It’s hard to do genuinely new things with roots music, but the Toughcats have proven with their second album what everybody suspected after hearing their first: They are one of the most creative and inventive bands going today.
By SAM PFEIFLE | March 31, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

2009: The top 10 in pop music

Music you need to own
Hmm, lots of women, a few old dudes, and some African banjo (not to be confused with Steve Martin's Hollywood banjo).
By JIM MACNIE | December 22, 2009

More than guitar

Julian Lage's talent isn't just in his fingers
"I like using songs to change the environment — to get the listener's ear to be a little skewed."
By JON GARELICK | September 08, 2009

Time to Dance? Dance. Dance!

Island Moving Co. Takes It Inside
Although Island Moving Co. has moved their summer dance concerts inside, after 20 years of battling the elements at outdoor venues around Newport, they have chosen an unusual and historic site — the 1699 Great Friends Meeting House, the oldest surviving house of worship (Quaker) in the city — for Dance? Dance. Dance! (through July 26).
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | July 21, 2009

Review: Throw Down Your Heart

Magical mystery tour
Hip-hop, funk, and jazz artists are not the only cats who trace creative roots to Africa. So do such banjo-plucking white boys as Béla Fleck.
By CHRIS FARAONE | July 08, 2009

Up in the County

Hamilton's Brokedown Breakdown
Is it bluegrass if it doesn't have a banjo? Or a fiddle, for that matter? Hamilton County, a three-piece acoustic outfit who debut their first CD, Brokedown Breakdown , next week, sure do a good impersonation of a bluegrass band, even if purists might dismiss it on technicalities.
By SAM PFEIFLE | June 03, 2009

Making a connection

Island Moving Co.'s Passions Collide
"Everything old is new again" never seems more true than with the evanescent art form of dance.
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | May 20, 2009

Home, at last

Jerks of Grass deliver a disc 10 years in the making.
Other than two tracks on the Greetings from Area Code 207 series, there has been nothing to bring home and put on the stereo for fans of what has been at times Portland’s hardest-working band.
By SAM PFEIFLE | July 23, 2008

Going on sale: March 21, 2008

Breaking news from the concert ticket trade
Colbia Caillat, Eddie Izzard, Laura Viers, and more.
By GOING ON SALE | March 18, 2008

Going on sale: February 22, 2008

Breaking news from the concert ticket trade
Kimya Dawson, Paramore, Busdriver, and more.
By GOING ON SALE | February 19, 2008

Going on sale: February 15, 2008

Breaking news from the concert ticket trade
The Kills, Cloud Cult, Jay-Z, and more.
By GOING ON SALE | February 13, 2008

Rooting for Rhythm

Digging deep in Charlestown; plus, the Complaints
You can bet that this week Rhythm & Roots Festival producer Chuck Wentworth will be spending a lot of time looking up at the sky — and hoping.
By BOB GULLA | August 28, 2007

Something for everybody

This summer, New England’s music calendar offers everything from Neil Sedaka to Lez Zeppelin
As that great philosopher Brian Wilson once observed, summer means fun.
By BRETT MILANO | June 11, 2007

Don't call it clawhammer

The Tough cats hit the mainland with Piñata
Of the 3877 songs currently on my iPod (generation two, 20 gigs) none had “unclassifiable” in the genre description until I loaded the Toughcats’ debut full-length into my iTunes.
By SAM PFEIFLE | November 29, 2006

Cheap thrills

Paw Sox, Penny Slots, and Ponies — so cheap, it might cost you
Summertime inevitably raises the question: what are we going to do with our crazy, hot selves? Summer Guide 2006: Cheap thrills from Bar Harbor to New Haven.
By ELLEE DEAN | June 14, 2006

Going on sale, April 21, 2006

Breaking news from the concert ticket trade
(International) Noise Conspriracy, Killswitch Engage, Brand New, Bela Fleck, and more
By WILL SPITZ | April 18, 2006