Email Author Roy Kasten

2009 Stories by Roy Kasten

• Noted pop songsmith Marshall Crenshaw explores Jaggedland with a new album

  published April 1, 2009

  Marshall Crenshaw is an American pop craftsman of the highest order. And though he's best known for early-'80s hits such as "Someday, Someway"... More >>

• Tionól

  published April 1, 2009

  You're probably not looking for the Lollapalooza of Celtic music, but just in case you are, look no further than Tionól, a... More >>

• Show Review: Drive-By Truckers at the Pageant, Saturday, March 28

  published Mar 30, 2009

  On a good night, the Drive-By Truckers can go toe-to-toe with the heaviest of the heavy weight rock bands currently touring the planet. Saturday night, however, was not a good night. Lay the blame ... More >>

• SXSW Report: Saturday with PJ Harvey and Beyonce's Little Sister, Friday with New York Dolls and Camera Obscura

  published Mar 24, 2009

  Where to beginr I should start with the ornamental comb, like three white gleaming stakes from some Gnostic purification ritual, holding a jet-black stack of hair atop the fiery head of Polly Jean Har... More >>

• SXSW: Twangfest Party with Magnolia Summer, The Deep Vibration, Edward Burch

  published Mar 24, 2009

  Saturday afternoon at SXSW 2009 started early this year, with the second of the 10th annual Twangfest and KDHX parties at Jovita's (disclosure: I'm a KDHX programmer and Twangfest volunteer), and Nash... More >>

• Drive-By Truckers

  published March 25, 2009

  As blockbuster trades go, the Drive-By Truckers' swapping of Jason Isbell for steel guitarist John Neff, plus an enhanced role for... More >>

• Clem Snide

  published March 25, 2009

  The peculiar spell of Clem Snide's magical realism begins with the resonant imagery: an organ grinder's monkey's mocking dance, a toy... More >>

• Wiley and the Checkmates

  published March 25, 2009

  Unless you're a Southern soul fetishist with a trust fund to burn, the name Wiley and the Checkmates will be unknown and the group's... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  SXSW Day 2: No Leonard Cohen, the Hold Steady Stay Positive, Blind Pilot Soars

  published Mar 20, 2009

  Imagine, if you will, the worst possible way to spend a day at SXSW, one that doesn't involve an emergency colonoscopy or a Marnie Stern showcase, and then imagine something even more tedious and desp... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  SXSW: Day 1 with M. Ward, Billy Bob Thornton, Caitlin Rose and Gringo Star

  published Mar 19, 2009

  On Sixth Street in Austin, it's Day One of SXSW 2009 (for Day Zero, go here) and the promotional and busking stunts are on: A couple of kids dressed in epidermally fused body suits to hype (sweetly) t... More >>

• The Scissormen

  published March 18, 2009

  Slide guitar began with the "diddley bow," or a wire nailed to a wall and raked with a blade, piece of glass or maybe a stone, which gave rise... More >>

• Special Delivery : Eli "Paperboy" Reed delivers tales of his busking-soul roots

  published March 18, 2009

  Eli "Paperboy" Reed is only 25, but he has the voice and perspective of a cagey, soul-music veteran. "You can only sing for so long," he says... More >>

• Ed Hamell

  published March 11, 2009

  Musically speaking, it's hard to make a convincing case for Hamell on Trial, the one-man band of Brooklyn-based songwriter Ed Hamell.... More >>

• Dumpstaphunk

  published March 11, 2009

  If the legendary, mad Mardi Gras injuns of the Wild Tchoupitoulas have a 21st-century equivalent, it's Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk.... More >>

• Truckstop Honeymoon

  published March 4, 2009

  With a name like Truckstop Honeymoon and songs like "Waffle House Booth" and "Jesus Ain't Done Jack," the acoustic duo of Katie Euliss... More >>

• Dave Barnes

  published March 4, 2009

  The Southern California '70s singer-songwriter scene always had quasi-Christian subtexts, even if the pretensions to revealed truth were cut... More >>

• Voices Carry: Shirley Brown, the forgotten soul sister, sings on

  published February 25, 2009

  The year is 1974; the place is Memphis, Tennessee. In the Stax studios on McLemore Avenue, a young protégé of blues giant Albert... More >>

• Reckless Kelly

  published February 25, 2009

  Like fellow Okies Cross Canadian Ragweed, Reckless Kelly plays a brash and overdriven style of country that kicks too much shit for... More >>

• The Parlor Mob

  published February 18, 2009

  It's no slag to observe that had the Parlor Mob only formed (or at least been born) 30 years ago, the band would now be a household name... More >>

• JJ Grey and Mofro

  published February 18, 2009

  Although Florida is probably the last place you'd consider for a funky vacation, you're missing out. From Tampa Red to Blind Blake to Ray... More >>

• Ravi Coltrane carves his own path beyond his father's shadow, while William Elliott Whitmore explores the art of the electric protest song

  published February 18, 2009

  It would be easy to view William Elliott Whitmore as an anachronism. The 31-year-old singer is best known for perching on a stool, plucking... More >>

• Greg Laswell

  published February 11, 2009

  San Diego singer-songwriter Greg Laswell has built a career out of impeccably self-produced evocations — tunes that have made him... More >>

• The Howlies

  published February 4, 2009

  If you're wondering how much life is left in the well-worn genres of power pop and garage rock, the Howlies have an answer: as much life... More >>

• Dr. John/The Neville Brothers

  published February 4, 2009

  Contrary to his biggest hit, "Right Place Wrong Time," Dr. John has almost always been in the right place at the right time. Even when... More >>

• Amplified Heart: Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple of the dB's spend a weekend in St. Louis

  published January 28, 2009

  When the dB's first appeared in 1978, the American ideal of power pop was just coming into focus, and the psychedelic Southern jangle of R.E.M.... More >>