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Columbus OH always boasted a vibrant music scene, home to jazz legends such as Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Rusty Bryant as well as a whole slew of influential alt-rock bands – Scrawl, Great Plains, [...]

I’ve been intimidated by the idea of writing a post on John Lee Hooker. It’s like trying to write a 500-word essay on modern cinema. Or thinking just one reality show is enough to document the [...]

This has turned into a particularly somber holiday season… horrific for some, just plain dismal for those of us still dangling off the fiscal cliff. Can’t say I’ve been in the mood to put [...]

Here’s a re-post in honor of The Rolling Stones’ final 50th Anniversary concert (the 12/15 show in Newark will include Rubber City favorites The Black Keys… Hopefully [...]

Time for another random post… Let’s start with The Grammys. Now RCR is probably the last place anyone would go for the latest news on rock and pop acts that typically get nominated [...]

Editor’s note: I would’ve re-posted this two days ago (Jimi Hendrix’s 70th birthday), but I had my head up my ass. Here’s an idea I borrowed from a fellow music blogger: What’s [...]

One of the most soulful and satisfying reissues from the label that does it better than anyone – UK-based Ace Records – features a major figure in the Muscle Shoals music scene, Dan Penn. A [...]

So I get an email from my friends in Berlin asking their Rubber City correspondent to review a UK-produced compilation of Nashville’s groundbreaking country women. Makes perfect sense, right? [...]

I’ve got a real weakness for West Coast jazz – that cool, seductive sound that didn’t exactly get a big thumbs up from Miles Davis in his autobiography Miles: “What bothered me more than anything [...]

Another re-post… Blame the weather. The contents herein are, to the best of my knowledge, true. (Article first published as Music: The Case of the Mysterious Banjo Player on Blogcritics.) [...]

Former street singer turned major-label recording artist Ted Hawkins would be 76 today (10/28). Here’s a re-post in his honor. Ever find yourself on a long drive in the middle of the night, [...]

I’ve resisted the temptation to use this theme during past Halloweens, but I relented this year for three reasons: a) it’s actually a pretty cool theme; 2) I’m running out of ideas; and iii) what [...]

Two years ago (on 10/10/10, to be precise), we lost one of the greatest soul singers of all time. Here’s a much-belated tribute – a few of our favorite Solomon Burke songs from his early years [...]

After spending the last few weeks mining the deep vaults of my music collection (down in the basement, where I only go to do research and clean up catshit), it dawned on me I should take another [...]

Just got back from Nashville, where I got to see nephew Dan work his magic in the studio with a couple of artists – country rocker Nikki Lane and Hanni El Khatib, who’s a little harder to pin [...]

Knocked down in Nashville… Time to re-post one of our most popular reads. Without question, the best guitarist I ever witnessed in person was Danny Gatton. And I’ve seen some great ones. [...]

This is just a cheap excuse to share some of my favorite bluegrass tunes, most of which have a strong blues influence. I’m sure you can find several qualified musicologists who can speak at [...]

Let me start by pointing out that what I don’t know about Sun Ra could fill a book. A 476-page book, to be precise – written by John F. Szwed, who happens to know a lot about Sun Ra. I’ll also [...]

I’ve been listening to Eddie Hinton for years, and half the time I wasn’t even aware it was him. If you listen carefully, you can hear his chunky rhythm guitar and tasty fills on a whole slew of [...]

OK, I’m done bitching about mainstream country. It’s like bitching about reality TV or big blockbuster movies or Applebee’s… things I can choose to ignore, thereby narrowing down the list of [...]

Music nerds of a certain ilk (my ilk) are quick to declare the death of terrestrial radio. Fact is, it’s not quite dead yet, but definitely on life support… unless you’re a fan of mainstream [...]