Song of the day, 25 August 2026

The first single from Son Volt's new album which comes out later this week, methinks.

Song of the day, 24 August 2026

Happy birthday to my sweet pea kitty cat, Willow.

Song of the day, 21 August 2026

Since my ladyfriend was up in the UP last weekend and I now have Yooper coffee, Yooper soap, and thimbleberry jam. With the UP on my mind, here's some Yooper beat poetry. Boreal and sultry.

Song of the day, 20 August 2026

Learn how to polka at The Bur Oak

You can't paint the blues without Primer*

It had been a while since I'd seen John Primer perform but didn't realize that the last time I did was way back in 2009. Where does the time go?

There really isn't a bad seat in the house at The North Street Cabaret and I was up front stage left.

Primer is one of few remaining Chicago blues connections to all the greats that had so much influence on rock music. In his 80s now, he came to Chicago in the early 1960s and got his start at the Maxwell Street Market before getting a regular gig at the legendary Theresa's Lounge where he played with Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and on and on.

Just after 8 the band stepped onto the stage. The harp player, Steve Bell, strapped on his ammo belt of harmonicas, drummer Lenny Media took a seat behind his kit, and bassist Melvin Smith strapped on his 5-string. And, of course, Primer grabbed one of his guitars and they started playing the blues.

Speaking of blues, someone needs to write a song for Willow who is at my feet meowing. Something like the "Got No Churu Blues".

The treats are gone, Skippy

And kibble just won't do

That little dish is empty

I've got the no Churu blues

Poor cat.

I just found out that Bell is the son of the legendary Corey Bell. No wonder he was so effin' good. Everyone was great, truth be told. I really loved Media's playing. He knew exactly when to throw in these perfect, short fills. Just wonderful. Sorry I didn't get a good photo of him in action.

The night was a mix of classics such as "Mannish Boy" and "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" and newer tunes - "Chicago" and "Tough Times" come to mind, the latter having been (co-?)written by his daughter. I am not very familiar with Primer's catalogue and am struggling to recall song names but can tell you that there were more than a couple times when the band just hit a groove and it was absolutely sublime. Primer and Bell traded solos while the rhythm section held things down for them. Simply fantastic.

A woman behind me was dancing and, although the rest of us weren't quite so animated, everyone was having a good time. I even saw a smattering of folks younger than me.

Ooh! They played "Across the Universe" as the opener of the second set. Neat! Also for the second set I sat next to Primer's granddaughter. I chatted with her a little bit and she was such a nice woman. And, improbably, she lives in the Madison area. She told me that she had gone to college and was a poet but that she was looking to go back to school. Best of luck to her.

The show ended with a spirited "Got My Mojo Working" which was awesome.

It was a great night and I see that Primer returns to The North Street Cabaret on 27 February. I plan to be there.

*I stole this from his website.

Song of the day, 19 August 2026

R.I.P. Frank Beard.

Proggy goodness, old and new. Well, it's all old, really.

Many thanks to MadCity Music for the new tunes.

I've always meant to investigate Caravan beyond the title track of In the Land of Grey and Pink and a remaster with bonus tracks for $5 was an absolute steal. The Kansas set is a live album. I've heard several songs from it and this is the band in fine form - perhaps at their proggy peak. It's full of energy and twists & turns and is just wonderful. (I wonder if there's overdubs.) I already have Mayhem Symphony, a cleaned-up radio broadcast courtesy of the Progressive Rock Remaster Project, from Pittsburgh on Halloween 1976, but Two for the Show was recorded on the Point of Know Return tour and has some classics from that album.

Listening to J-Tull Dot Com has been fun. It brings back a lot of memories from a time in my life that were a bit like wilderness years. I was single and getting on my feet career-wise. In a sense it was around this time that I really began to mature into an adult. While it's not Tull in full on prog mode, there's a lot of nice riffing from Martin Barre, Andy Giddings continues to bring vitality to keyboards in Tull's sound, and they both getting writing credits here. The flute playing is loud and brash. Plus some of the outtakes are just as good as the material that made it onto the album.

The 2026 remixes are really good. There seems to be more space between the instruments with everything a bit more upfront. Plus I think there's more stereo separation, though I haven't done a thorough comparison.

Song of the day, 16 August 2026

With a tree about to meet its end down the block, let today's song be about our leafy friends who majestically tower over us, shading us from the sun, providing a place to climb. And some of them give us their sappy goodness for our pancakes.

Trees, glorious trees!

Song of the day, 14 August 2026

OK, back to Mancunian tunes.

Rhiannon Giddens covers Elizabeth Cotten

Rhiannon Giddens has released another track from her upcoming album, Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, which comes out next month. It's her take on "Freight Train" by the great Elizabeth Cotten.

Song of the day, 12 August 2026

NPR's All Songs Considered recently did a multi-part Grateful Dead extravaganza so their music has been floating through my brain lately. While there are surely some fine live versions of "Terrapin Station", I don't believe they ever played the entire song live. However improbable, the strings and horns rarely seem cheesy or get in the way for me. 

I just like the way it wends its way through the various sections. It feels purposeful and adds some dynamics to the tune. Let's hear all 16+ minutes.

Stay off the Yahara River in early November

The Dave Matthews Band will be in town for a show on 4 November so put those canoes and kayaks away until they're safely out of town.

Song of the day, 11 August 2026

I just learned that The Mindbenders were from Manchester. Brings back memories of high school dances where Phil Collins' version was played many a time.

Song of the day, 10 August 2026

More Mancunian music.

I didn't know Van der Graaf Generator were formed in Manchester until recently. Here they are at Shank Hall in Milwaukee back in 2009. I was at this show and "Interference Patterns" (heard here) and "Man-Erg" left me gobsmacked.

Song of the day, 9 August 2026

Mancunian music! Is there a The Chemical Brothers tour in Manchester?

GENER-AY-SHUN!

Earlier this week I went down to Chicago to see Pavement. Finally!

I think I got into them a bit after Wowee Zowee was released but it took me 30 years to go see them. Better late than never. They played here in Madison at the Barrymore in 1994 but I don't think they returned after that and instead stuck to Milwaukee and Chicago. So, back in the spring when I saw the announcement that they'd be at The Salt Shed come summer, I figured I'd better go as none of us are getting any younger.

I reserved a parking spot via ParkChirp but the ramp's scanner rejected my code. Oh well. I will never use them again. I parked and then went and grabbed some dinner at a little Mexican place by Halsted and Scott. The chicken quesadillas were tasty.

It was a perfect evening for an outside show with a temp in the mid-70s when I arrived at The Salt Shed. The outdoor area - the Fairgrounds - was a nice spot. There were a few vendors selling food and schwag towards the back while a handful of small sections of bleacher seats lined part of the wall of the Shed for those who preferred a seat without paying a premium to hang with the sophistos on the deck above.

There was a fair amount of space up near the front so I made my way to the bar nearest the stage for a brew. A comely young woman greeted me, "Hello, friend." I felt like I'd been transported back to the 1930s and that she'd tell me Pavement was the bee's knees. Not surprisingly, a sawbuck won't get you a beer at The Salt Shed. I ordered a Della, a Kölsch(-Style Ale) from Old Irving Brewing which was $11. Uff da!

Refreshing libation in hand, I found a spot not too far from the stage for the opening band, Nap Eyes. Hailing from Canada, this group of 20-somethings reminded me a little bit of Pavement here, a tad of Silversun Pickups there. Despite the songs feeling a bit undercooked, they were good overall. For their part, the band seemed thrilled to be opening for Pavement.

I returned to the bar for another tasty treat and grabbed a Pils from Dovetail. It was just swell. Expensive but at least they had good beer on tap. Wandering back from whence I had come, I found that my spot had been filled in so I settled for the nearest opening as close to the front as I could get. About half an hour after Nap Eyes had finished, Pavement stepped onto the stage.

Stephen Malkmus got things going with the two-note chiming of "Grounded" and I got very excited as a 30 year dream was finally being fulfilled. Spiral Stairs was grinning as was Mark Ibold and the pair were in good spirits the entire night while Bob Nastanovich seemed to be gearing up for mischief. Touring keyboardist Rebecca Cole had a smile on her face and looked to be ready for a good time. Steve West had a more serious look but that's drummers for ya. I think in all of the concert videos I've seen, he has looked like he was intensely concentrating.

Not having looked at any setlists, I was curious if they'd avoid Crooked Rain Crooked Rain for the most part but "Gold Soundz" was played early and followed up by a great "Silence Kid" featuring Nastanovich on cowbell. The show touched on all of the band's albums along with some non-album tracks thrown in for good measure. 

When they started "AT & T" I heard a blood curdling scream to my left. Turning to look at the source of the sound, I saw a woman falling onto her companion gripped by elation. I cannot recall the last time I witnessed someone so incredibly thrilled to hear a particular song at a show. Once the tune was done, she yelled "Thank you for playing my favorite song!". "Fight This Generation" was great and afterwards Spiral Stairs looked over at Malkmus and commented that he didn't say "generation" right and proceeded to enunciate it with an exaggerated tone. This prompted a group of women behind me to do the same. They sounded like the woman from Citizen Kane who says "Charlie Kane" at one point in the film. Is it Susan? Was it a New York accent?

While I was hoping to hear "Transport Is Arranged", I did not. But they did play a couple Terror Twilight outtakes - "The Hexx" and "Harness Your Hopes", which were both great. Spiral Stairs got to step out on "Date W/IKEA" and, unexpectedly, "Painted Soldiers", a song I adore. Also unexpected was a slow jam on "Stairway to Heaven". When Malkmus started scratching out the melody, I thought, "Am I hearing what I think I'm hearing?" It was sloppy and different lyrics got thrown in and it was just glorious.

"Unfair" is the song that got me into Pavement and so, when they started playing it, I kind of went bonkers. But, having gone solo, I didn't have anyone to fall onto. It was great! The whole show was great. The band were in good spirits, smiling and goofing around, and the vibe in the audience was fantastic and I should be so lucky to have it at every concert I go to. There was the "AT & T" lover, the women shouting "Generation!", and Nastanovich grabbing a woman just offstage and dancing with her during "We Dance".  Also thousands of people shouting "No big hair!" People just seemed to be having a good time and the whole night just had a great, joyous vibe.

A couple different people recorded the show on video and have put everything up on Youtube.

A couple more new Son Volt tunes

Jay Farrar is in full Woody Guthrie mode these days.

"Raw power at the root and heart of evil"

"Skeleton at the Feast" is vaguely Rolling Stones flavored with that slide guitar.

The latest came out only today and sees the band musically doing a tribute to Neil Young with a very -"Cortez the Killer" kind of tempo and feel. Plus more Guthrie-esque lyrics about life under Trump.

Pink Floyd in Madison '73 - in colour

Pink Floyd kicked off the tour for Dark Side of the Moon here in Madison on 4 March 1973. While I have never seen an audio recording of that show in general circulation, I now see that there are a couple videos from that show - high res scans of Super 8 film.

It is really neat to see and hear the tunes from Obscured by Clouds.

Me enjoy myself ex post facto

Last week Phish had a two night stand here in Madison. Back in the spring when the shows were announced I considered buying a ticket. I am not a Phishhead but I do think Billy Breathes is a fantastic album and one that is intimately tied to a particular time of my life. There are some very potent memories tied to it in my brain. Beyond that album, I enjoy a smattering of their catalogue. For instance, I think there are some really good, fun tunes on Hoist and "Fuego" is a stone cold classic.

I saw them in 1994 here in Madison and truly enjoyed parts of that show but I admired most of it rather than liking it. Given my spotty taste for their music, would it be worth going?

With the shows now history and recordings of them freely available, I am kicking myself, albeit gently.

The first night they performed a couple tunes from Billy Breathes, "Free" and "Character Zero", plus "Fuego". And on the next night "Julius" from Hoist was played along with another pair of songs from Billy Breathes, "Prince Caspian" and "Waste".

I have written about my love for "Prince Caspian" previously and so I was a bit sullen immediately after seeing it in the setlist. I had missed "Prince Caspian"! Gah!

Oh well.

While I cannot go back in time, I can enjoy recordings from those nights. Thanks to all the tapers who shared their material online.