Email Author Christian Schaeffer

2007 Stories by Christian Schaeffer

• M. Ward / Norah Jones

  published April 25, 2007

  Say what you will about Norah Jones, but the woman has the guts to choose opening acts that could potentially blow her off the stage. On... More >>

• Homespun: Strawfoot

  published April 25, 2007

  The seven members of Strawfoot immerse themselves in old-timey music with the same spirit that makes Civil War re-enactors don wool uniforms and... More >>

• Crowd Control

  published April 25, 2007

  Even when someone else sings a John Vanderslice song, it's not hard to hear his songwriting traits. With an almost cinematic flair, the... More >>

• Isley Brothers

  published April 18, 2007

  Don't count Ronald Isley out just yet — even if he's dealt with a stroke, a bout with kidney cancer and a prison sentence for tax evasion in... More >>

• The River of Dreams

  published April 18, 2007

  In his storied career as lyricist and piano man, Billy Joel has written his share of place-songs. "New York State of Mind" is as loving an ode to... More >>

• Homespun: Perry Went Home

  published April 18, 2007

  A young man's boredom has long been a staple of rock & roll, but as everyone from the Who to a young Will Smith has shown us, it need not... More >>

• Homespun: Berry

  published April 11, 2007

  Like legendary shoegazing post-rockers Hum, Berry hails from the middle of Illinois (Greenville, specifically) and makes expansive songs that, at... More >>

• Erie Choir

  published April 4, 2007

  Eric Roehrig is best known to indie fans as the singer and guitarist of Sorry About Dresden, a North Carolina band that never quite broke out... More >>

• Homespun: Midwest Avengers

  published April 4, 2007

  By this point, hip-hop fans have made peace with live instruments replacing or augmenting turntables and samples: One either loves it, hates it or... More >>

• Snuggling up with the Long Winters

  published April 4, 2007

  As singer, songwriter, guitarist and figurehead for the Long Winters, John Roderick has a way with words. This may be an obvious point (he's a... More >>

• Bang! Bang!

  published March 28, 2007

  Chicago's Bang! Bang! bills itself as "sex rock," which seems a little bit redundant — isn't all rock & roll about sex? Last year's... More >>

• Homespun: Jumbling Towers

  published March 28, 2007

  The first thing one notices about Jumbling Towers is singer-keyboardist Joe DeBoer's voice — which sounds like that of a pilled-up British... More >>

• Castanets / Shapes & Sizes

  published March 14, 2007

  Raymond Raposa hails from sunny San Diego, but the music he makes as Castanets sounds as wind-swept and barren as the high plains in... More >>

• Top o’ the Morning!

  published March 14, 2007

  It's not hard to find fans and music critics to pile heaps of praise on the Hold Steady and, to a lesser degree, the Thermals. The Hold Steady's... More >>

• Homespun: Blinded Black

  published March 14, 2007

  Blame it on My Chemical Romance: Today's emo bands aren't content to merely tell us of their broken hearts and tortured minds with simple... More >>

• The Safes

  published March 7, 2007

  If films such as The Boondock Saints have taught us anything, it's that you don't fuck with Irish-Catholic brothers. And so although the... More >>

• Bears

  published March 7, 2007

  Craig Ramsey and Charlie McArthur may go by the ominous moniker Bears, but the duo's hushed, melodically fused vocals recall the... More >>

• Dr. Dog / What Made Milwaukee Famous

  published March 7, 2007

  Talk about an opening salvo: Dr. Dog starts off its new album, We All Belong, with "Old News," a double shot of piano glissando and... More >>

• Homespun: Auset

  published March 7, 2007

  Auset is a bit of a mystery — at least at first. Judging by the austere, sketchy-on-identifying-details packaging of last year's self-titled... More >>

• Nothing But the Truth

  published February 28, 2007

  The fourth annual True/False Film Festival takes place Thursday through Sunday, March 1 through 4, in Columbia. Following are previews of some... More >>

• The Charms / Gentleman Callers

  published February 28, 2007

  The members of the Charms flirt, strut and, well, charm their way through songs of first dates and one-night stands by throwing a bit of... More >>

• Richard Buckner / Six Parts Seven

  published February 28, 2007

  Richard Buckner is a bear of a man. At over six feet tall, he could make an imposing center for the Alt-Country Alt-Stars basketball team.... More >>

• Primordial Undermind

  published February 28, 2007

  Initially based in Austin, Texas, but recently relocated to Vienna, Austria, Primordial Undermind knows a few things about incorporating... More >>

• Homespun: Lung Dust

  published February 28, 2007

  When it comes down to it, most forms of music hinge on the strength of a riff (or a hook, or a vamp, depending on the genre). And Lung Dust... More >>

• Denison Witmer

  published February 21, 2007

  Every college dorm has a guy like Denison Witmer: a sensitive, gentle-voiced singer with a trusty acoustic guitar whose songs of love (and... More >>