Live Review: Shamrockfest 2014
All photos © Kristen Mankowski at The Muse Juice Cafe. There wasn't much of a breeze, but there was still a bit of a draft for quite a few kilt-wearers celebrating their Celtic pride at Shamrockfest D.C. last weekend. Plaid man-skirts in an array ...
Edgar Meyer and Mike Marshall at The Barns at Wolf Trap – March 6
Stepping within this quiet sanctum, I could almost hear a pin drop. We weren't alone, my girlfriend and I, as we walked into The Barns at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Va., but it certainly felt that way due to the atmosphere these walls evoked. I'm not s ...
CD Review: “Inward:Outward” by Mire
Slaving and working to serve the Hive... It's been some time since I listened to a truly progressive record. The last may have been Dream Theater's Train Of Thought, but even that was mainly a metal album from an artist considered to be progressi ...
Interview with Hannah Holbrook of SHEL
Image above used with permission. © Taylor Ballantyne. Last year, after becoming infatuated with learning the mandolin, I stumbled upon a young woman's Youtube video in which she played Bach on an octave mandolin. Her name was Eva Holbro ...
CD Review: “Nobody Likes Neville” by Nobody Likes Neville
Hey there, Harry Potter aficionados! New Baltimore-based rock band, Nobody Likes Neville, is calling your out on the lack of love shown for their namesake: Neville Longbottom. Its self-titled seven song EP, released digitally on January 28 (and no ...
CD Review: ‘Far Enough Into The Void’ by Brian Larkin
Emotionally driven, from start to finish, is the debut Brian Larkin album, Far Enough Into The Void. To many the name might not ring a bell, but I've had my ear to this man's musical grindstone for quite some time and have been anticipating this ...
CD Review: ‘Devil In The Lake’ by Emperors and Elephants
Chicago's Emperors and Elephants, a band that formed in 2010, has been gathering momentum through the years. It's already achieved some radio support for the single, “Your Will,” and has opened for larger acts like SOiL and Pop Evil during tours. Texa ...
CD Review: ‘The Shiver’ EP by Metameric
I'm going to do this one backwards. Stop what you're doing right now and go purchase The Shiver, the new EP by Seattle's very own Metameric. Never have I been so captured and engrossed by such a new band's release. Composed of elements of progres ...
CD Review: ‘Infection Legacy’ by Death Toll Rising
As I listened to the title track from Death Toll Rising's newest album, Infection Legacy, something clicked. As the guitar wailed into the solo, there was a remarkable melodic sensibility to it. The care given to each note and the smoothness in w ...
Live Review: Carbon Leaf at Rams Head On Stage
“Be careful this weekend. There's a winter storm coming in.” This was the foreboding text I received Saturday morning, conveniently placed before the Carbon Leaf concert my girlfriend and I had been planning to attend for the past few months. We h ...