Since her debut album in 1987, Cindy Lee Berryhill has carved a niche for herself, writing and performing songs that are variously quirky and endearing, moving from genre to genre. Starting out with a playing post-punk folk music after woodshedding in New York City, she released Garage Orchestra in 1994, which is being reissued, with […]
It’s almost hard to “Believe,” but the Auto-Tune pitch-correction processor plug-in is over 20 years old now. I remember when I first read of its existence. The very concept of finally having vocals on my recordings that were as in tune with the track as I had always wished they could be was not only […]
Catching the ear at the latest Texacali Music Fest on Mission Bay in August were Dawn & Hawkes, a pair of Austin folk singer/songwriters. The duo got together in 2011 and toured, then got an early career boost from the TV talent show The Voice in 2013, which gave them a hit single (a Beatles […]
There is a mistaken assumption that memories are reasonably accurate movies, little pieces of trustworthy journalism, reliable reporting about prior events. It’s a comforting, if false assumption. I’m afraid the truth is much less comforting. Truth is like that. Believing that memories are reliable helps us cling to the notion that there is a clear […]
Surf music thundered from the transistor radios of the world in the early 1960s, and folk rock, New Wave, metal, punk, grunge have come and (mostly) gone since then without seeing the disappearance of its drum-heavy, twanging attack. Dick Dale recently passed in April, and his early albums were a template for much of the […]
A common and not entirely unjustified lament amongst music lovers is that nobody makes music like they used to. Modern digital technology gives artists and producers an infinitely more capable set of tools than was previously available, but it is this greater flexibility that often undermines the work ethic and sense of craftsmanship that gave […]
Wayne Riker has established himself with multiple releases since 2008, as well with his many instructional videos and books, his experience as a guitar teacher for decades, and his columns in Guitar Player magazine. His many projects have included various iterations that have paired him with many of the top local blues and jazz players, […]
A nagging question sometimes rolls around my head as I see today’s youth-centered culture. Is artistic success and creative growth only for the young? Do we, indeed, burn out, fade away, and rust down to nothing in the inevitable impermanence of life? It comes in various forms as I speed my way through television streams, […]
