Email Author Roy Kasten

2010 Stories by Roy Kasten

• Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps

  published December 30, 2010

  In the land of the twee, cloying is always just across a sliver-thin border from charming. Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps... More >>

• Yonder Mountain String Band

  published December 30, 2010

  Once upon a time, a string band meant hillbilly music as advanced by Roy Acuff, Charlie Poole and John Hartford. But the Grateful Dead and... More >>

• The HillBenders

  published December 16, 2010

  The old-school, Bill Monroe-blessed, one-microphone style of bluegrass isn't for the faint of heart or the under-woodshedded. The young... More >>

• Clare Burson

  published December 9, 2010

  In some sense, popular music — even at its most oblique — is a form of oral history, a subjective account of these passing days. On... More >>

• Kevin Welch

  published December 9, 2010

  With poker-faced, name-dropping absurdity, Kevin Welch sets the tone for 2010's Patch of Blue Sky, his first studio album in nine... More >>

• St. Louis Stereo, a new high-end audio store, brings out the best in music

  published December 2, 2010

  On the third floor of the former Sporting News building at 2020 Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis, Charlie Schnyder sits in one of... More >>

• Show Review: Loudon Wainwright III Brings Mirth Without Mercy at the Old Rock House, Monday, November 22

  published Nov 23, 2010

  A Loudon Wainwright III gig is a performance but not a show. He stands on the stage alone, with a big Martin D-28 acoustic guitar, a small table with scattered cheat sheets and a bottle of water. He ... More >>

• Lee Boys

  published November 25, 2010

  The network of House of God churches, from New York to Florida, is the sacred ground of sacred steel, one of the most spiritually ecstatic and... More >>

• Ivas John Band

  published November 25, 2010

  Chicago-born, Carbondale, Illinois-based singer, songwriter and guitarist Ivas John takes the blues seriously, but his mind and ears are... More >>

• Two Cow Garage

  published November 18, 2010

  At some point, most sloppy and sloshy Midwestern rock & roll bands admit that they simply won't be the next Replacements. Two Cow Garage... More >>

• Hill Country Revue

  published November 18, 2010

  As nouveau Southern-rock jam bands go, Hill Country Revue raises serious ontological questions, beginning with: "Why does the band... More >>

• Grammy-winning lyrical legend Loudon Wainwright III is as funny and biting as ever

  published November 18, 2010

  In the school of American musical satire, Loudon Wainwright III is the dean, less because he's written topical songs and more because he's... More >>

• Everest

  published November 11, 2010

  The last thing California rockers need is our sympathy, but it's hard not to feel for Everest, an LA band that's done its best to dodge... More >>

• Iron & Wine

  published November 11, 2010

  The recent news that Iron & Wine has moved from its long-time label, Sub Pop, to Warner Bros. should be no cause for alarm. The title of... More >>

• Show Review: First Night of Beat 'n' Soul Gets Down at Off Broadway, Friday, November 5

  published Nov 06, 2010

  The concept behind Beat 'n' Soul is straightforward enough: two nights of veteran and revivalist garage rock and soul at one club in St. Louis. Think of it as a mini Ponderosa Stomp for the River City... More >>

• Interview: The Fleshtones' Keith Streng on New York, the Ramones, Lenny Kaye and Rock & Roll

  published Nov 05, 2010

  According to some garage rock geeks, the Fleshtones is the greatest rock & roll band in the world. For once, the geeks may have a point. At the very least, the New York group, formed in 1976 by high ... More >>

• Concert Review: Band of Heathens and Deer Tick Scare Up Bluesy Rock at Off Broadway, Sunday, October 31

  published Nov 01, 2010

  At first blush, a Band of Heathens and Deer Tick double bill at Off Broadway seemed a strange pairing. First blushes, however, are no match for good guitars, good songs and a damn good Halloween party... More >>

• The Fleshtones

  published November 4, 2010

  The Fleshtones turned out to be the most prolific and durable band to emerge out of New York's CBGB scene. The group defines the essence... More >>

• The Bo-Keys/Charles Walker & the Dynamites

  published November 4, 2010

  The Beat 'n' Soul Showcase kicks off with the one-two headlining punch of the Dynamites (featuring Charles Walker) and the... More >>

• Black Heart Procession

  published October 27, 2010

  If the glorious St. Louis fall is threatening to turn you into the double rainbow guy on ecstasy, the Black Heart Procession will wipe... More >>

• St. Louis Secret Sound Festival

  published October 27, 2010

  The Cherokee District renaissance continues at a breathtaking pace, and now, with the St. Louis Secret Sound Festival, it has the... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Interview: The Walkmen's Peter Bauer on Recording, Songwriting and the Mystery of Lisbon

  published Oct 19, 2010

  For the Walkmen's sixth album, Lisbon, the band started out in the same New York studio where it had recorded the 2008 release You & Me. Then, however, the band left New York to take a chance on a stu... More >>

• Chuck Prophet

  published October 20, 2010

  If Chuck Prophet isn't sick of reading critics gush over his talents, he will be by the end of this paragraph. From his earliest... More >>

• Bob Dylan

  published October 20, 2010

  Recently, speculation has turned to just what kind of 70-year-old John Lennon would have been if he hadn't died. In the case of Bob... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Show Review: Band of Horses Races Through the Night at the Pageant, Wednesday, October 13

  published Oct 14, 2010

  By the end of the Band Horses' mostly potent, sometimes diffuse performance at the Pageant, a fight had broken out on the packed floor. Par for the rock course, you might say, but try telling that to ... More >>