The Roots (Band)

Deep Covers: Bhi Bhiman re-imagines rock favorites on Substitute Preacher

LouFest Lineup 2013: Here Is Our Best (Educated!) Guess

This morning LouFest launched a guessing game for its 2013 line-up, releasing a Wheel of Fortune-like thing with fill-in-the-blank band names and plans to release one letter a day between today and Monday, April 29. The first clue is the letter "U," which makes nine appearances in the line-up. In th ... More >>

Django Unchained upends the Western — and America's original sin

Also read: Quentin Tarantino tells of his struggle to make Django

Nelly's 7th Annual Black & White Ball: A Diary of Our Crash Course in County Grammar

Nelly's 7th Annual Black & White ball was this weekend at the St. Louis Science Center. The charity event brought out some of the city's best and brightest, all dressed in finery for an evening of music, food, drinks and hobnobbery. Also in attendance were a couple Stag-swilling chumps with absolute ... More >>

Nelly and Crew Busted in Texas with 36 Bags of Heroin, 10 Pounds of Weed and a Loaded Gun [Many Updates]

Update, 9:00 a.m.: We spoke with Jay E, producer of almost every song on Country Grammar and frequent Nelly collaborator. While he certainly isn't about to condone anyone's actions here, he is urging restraint. After all, none of us were there. He posted the following on his personal Facebook page y ... More >>

72 St. Louis Musicians Record the Soundtrack for Laumeier Sculpture Park

Art and life co-habitate, informing, imitating, and enriching each other constantly. Each week in Better Living Through Music, RFT Music writer Ryan Wasoba explores this symbiotic relationship This weekend, the Site/Sound exhibition opens at Laumeier Sculpture Park. Local electronic sensei Eric Hal ... More >>

Mike Keneally

7 p.m. Saturday, September 8. The Gramophone, 4243 Manchester Avenue.

Out Every Night: The Best Shows From September 4 to 9

Well I don't know about you, but I was certainly not impressed by so-called "Tropical Storm" Isaac. Yeah, it rained a little, but the way people were talking about it made it seem like we would all be awash over the weekend -- my neighbor even asked me on Friday if I had enough groceries and batteri ... More >>

Ronnie Burrage, the Multi-Tasking Drummer and Penn State Hip-Hop Professor, Comes Home

Jazz music has a history of drummers who have made their mark at a young age. In the 1960s, the late Tony Williams was barely old enough to qualify for a driver's license when he was hired to join Miles Davis' famous quintet. More recently, saxophonist Branford Marsalis tapped Justin Faulkner to joi ... More >>

Here is Nelly Performing "Hot in Herre" with the Roots (Video)

Well this is awesome. Nelly, fresh off his blowout headlining gig downtown last weekend, landed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night. Which means that, like all Fallon's musical guests, he got to play with the Roots as his backing band. And, perhaps because he's re-evaluating his musical legac ... More >>

Bonnaroo 2012: Big Ass Water Slide, Illicit Koozies and Bands

Bonnaroo is an entirely different world, one where the air always smells of weed and the people you encounter share any kind of resources they have, the way we were taught as children but adults seldom practice. People were kind. Musicians were gracious. Deep-fried oreos were a reality.

Bonnaroo 2012: Highlights from A to Z

The team: six 40-year-old men, leaving behind six fairly respectable jobs, five wives and 14.9 children for four days. The tools: a 32-foot RV, VIP tickets, comfortable shoes and enough beer to take down a small fraternity. The task: to do and see as much as physically and logistically possible at ... More >>

The 2012 RFT Music Showcase Lineup for June 2

Ryan Mifflin on the Problem of "Heard Of" but "Not Heard"

Ed. Musicians may get all the groupies, but there is more to a city's music world than people wielding instruments. To name a few: venue and studio owners, show promoters, assorted enthusiasts and -- the subject of this series -- bloggers. In Music Blogs of St. Louis, we'll talk to the humans behi ... More >>

Hip Hop (Group/Collective): Meet the 2012 RFT Music Award Nominees

The 2012 Riverfront Times Music Showcase is two weeks away. And if that is our own St. Louis Music holiday, then consider this the season: Throughout May, we've been making our cases for all 125 bands and artists nominated for an RFT Music Award this year, introducing the nominees from one or more o ... More >>

Pete Rock

10 p.m. Friday, March 30. Lola, 500 North 14th Street.

Out Every Night: The Best Shows From March 26 to April 1

Still tired from last week? Too bad, March is unrelenting. Time to down some coffee, eat some energy bars and pack in the protein (might we recommend some pink slime?) because this week is jam-packed with shows as well. On Friday, two guys named Pete who happen to be legends in their respective fiel ... More >>

Win A Pair Of Two-Day LouFest Passes! [Update]

​LouFest is a week away. The weather forecast is hot but manageable, though it's not like we much care given how great the lineup is: TV on the Radio, the Roots, Cat Power, Deerhunter, and plenty more. And you can go for free -- we've got a pair of two-day passes looking for a loving home. W ... More >>

Announcing The Official Before LouFest Party

​LouFest is just over two weeks, and our excitement is reaching unhealthy levels. You already know the headliners: The Roots, TV On The Radio, The Hold Steady, Deerhunter, !!!, Cat Power, etc. The local lineup is impressive as well: Jon Hardy & the Public, Old Lights and Troubadour Dali lead t ... More >>

tUnE-yArDs Plays "Gangsta" With The Roots In Our St. Louis Concert Calendar Fantasy

Image via​And also in reality, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, which has given us plenty of incredible musical performances. But you'd be hard-pressed to name one that tops last night's tUnE-yArDs appearance, at least in terms of the actual collaborative value. Fearless freak Merril Garbus p ... More >>

LouFest 2011: What to Expect, What to See and More

​It's no secret we're all aflutter over the return of LouFest, our city's very own large-scale indie music festival. Not only does the to-do feature eighteen bands on two stages over two days, it's set in the green jewel of our city, Forest Park, and attracts national acts in genres from hip h ... More >>

Questlove And Deerhunter Will DJ The LouFest After Party

wikimedia commons​The official LouFest after party, to be held on Saturday, August 27th at the Gramophone, will feature DJ sets from the Roots' Questlove and members of Deerhunter. Advance tickets are $17 and on sale now. St. Louis' DJ Needles and 18andCounting will open the party -- doors op ... More >>

Aretha Franklin, Dead Prez Lead This Week's Show Announcements

​Yowza! Aretha Franklin is re-opening the Peabody Opera House with a little known feller named Jay Leno on October 1. The living legend and infamous chin are headlining a night called "An Encore 77 Years in the Making," once the $78.7 million dollar restoration of the historic opera house is c ... More >>

Tom Huck On His Roots Phrenology Cover and Motorhead

Photo by Jon Scorfina​Many artists have used the album cover as a vehicle for greater mass exposure. Robert Crumb transitioned from the obscurity of underground comics to mainstream consciousness with his cover of Big Brother and the Holding Company's Cheap Thrills. Derek Riggs made his mark o ... More >>

This Week's New Releases: Bon Iver, Jill Scott, Weird Al Yankovic

​Each Tuesday, record store clerks unpack boxes of albums and re-stock shelves with this week's newest music releases. There's a whole bunch of good stuff, so we've gathered a few notable albums as a starting. This batch includes parody craftsman Weird Al Yankovic, Grammy-winning singer Jill S ... More >>

Seven events you can't afford to miss this summer

What Do the Beastie Boys Have in Common with Mixed Martial Arts?

Chrissy Wilmes​Every week, we'll ask your local record store clerks to advise you on which new releases are worth your hard-earned pennies. Today, Vintage Vinyl employee (and drummer for the Humanoids and Doom Town) Shaun Morrissey fills us in on some of his favorite recent releases and reissu ... More >>

LouFest 2011 Schedule Announced, Tickets On Sale Now

​LouFest is back. We already told you about this year's steller lineup, which features TV on the Radio, the Roots, Cat Power, Deerhunter, the Hold Steady, and plenty more, including a solid batch of locals. Today, LouFest released its 2011 schedule; you can take a look at that below. You can a ... More >>

LouFest 2011 Lineup: The Roots, TV On the Radio, Cat Power and the Hold Steady Are Highlights

​Surprise! Happy Tuesday! LouFest just announced the lineup for the 2011 edition of the festival, which takes place in Forest Park on August 27 and 28. Hip-hop hotshots The Roots, indie darlings TV On the Radio, folkie chanteuse Cat Power, neo-shoegazer Deerhunter, bar-band bros the Hold Stead ... More >>

Ten Non-Traditional Holiday Songs To Keep You Sane

We're all force-fed holiday cheer from Halloween through New Year's, and even if you really, really love Christmas music, hearing the same old standards and modern classics over and over again can begin to fill you with exactly the opposite of holiday cheer. To avoid the monotony of those soft-rocki ... More >>

Ten Memorable Shows at The Pageant, In Honor Of Its Tenth Birthday

This Saturday, the Pageant celebrates its tenth birthday with a concert by Chuck Berry. $35 general admission tickets are still available; balcony seats are sold out. The show starts at 8 p.m. with a set from Shooting With Annie. In the venue's lengthy history (a PDF listing its shows is a whoppi ... More >>

Tour Diary: DJ Mahf Competes at the Red Bull Thre3style U.S. Finals in Denver

(Last weekend, Earthworms member DJ Mahf competed in the national finals of the Red Bull Thre3style DJ competition. In June, he took top honors at the St. Louis regional event at the Old Rock House. Mahf was kind enough to keep a diary of his Denver experience for A to Z. Read on below! For more cov ... More >>

New Release Highlights for September 21: John Legend and the Roots want you to Wake Up!

(New albums are typically released on Tuesdays, i.e., today. What can you spend your hard-earned pennies on this week? Find out below.) Flying Lotus' latest Pattern & Grid World​*Flying Lotus, Pattern Grid World Just months after releasing the full-length Cosmogramma, Flying Lotus returns wit ... More >>

John Legend

8 p.m. Saturday, July 3. Fair Saint Louis, Gateway Arch, 707 North First Street.

New Album Release Highlights: Tuesday, June 22

(New albums are typically released on Tuesdays, i.e., today. What can you spend your hard-earned pennies on this week? Find out below.) The Constellations' Southern Gothic​*Chemical Brothers, Further The Brothers' seventh album is an elaborate audio/visual project, with "interactive" videos a ... More >>

Watch: Sheryl Crow Covers Exile On Main Street's "All Down the Line" with Rolling Stones Keyboardist Chuck Leavell, The Roots

In honor of the May 18 reissue of the Rolling Stones' classic album Exile on Main Street, a cadre of local musicians has banded together to form the tribute act Torn and Frayed. Next Tuesday at Off Broadway, the group will play songs from Exile, as well as other Stones classics. Not to be outdone, l ... More >>

The Felix Culpa

8 p.m. Friday, April 9. The Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, 3301 Lemp Avenue.

Pattern is Movement/Via Audio

9 p.m. Thursday, March 4. The Billiken Club, 20 North Grand Boulevard, in the Busch Student Center on the campus of Saint Louis University.

Nneka

10 p.m. Saturday, February 13. The Gramophone, 4243 Manchester Avenue.

Incubus/The Duke Spirit

7 p.m. Thursday, July 23. Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 14141 Riverport Drive, Maryland Heights.

Do the Evolution: Soul prodigy John Legend brings Indie.Arie and a wealth of inspiration to the Fabulous Fox

Prince

Planet Earth (Sony)

Yo! RFT Raps

The Next Big Thing

A middle-aged couple with a million dollars and a big dream: To make St. Louis a pop-music hub

The Roots / Talib Kweli / the Pharcyde

Doors at 8 p.m. Thursday, July 27. The Pageant (6161 Delmar Boulevard).

Mix Master Mike with Rahzel

Friday, March 24; Firehouse

QUICKIES

Fat Monkey puts out, live; those mourning the breakups of the Phonocaptors and Johnny Magnet may have new reason to smile

Sound Checks

Rhythm Regatta

Isaac Hayes performs in the hallowed halls of Powell as part of the Blues, Roots, Honks and Moans Festival