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Henry Saint Clair Fredericks turned 70 on May 17. More important, he’s coming to our town in a week to perform as Taj Mahal, one of the world’s greatest living bluesmen. He’s also one of our [...]

About a year ago, my wife and I went to an arts/music festival at our favorite neighborhood in Akron. Against all odds, we found an outdoor table at Chipotle (well-kept secret: their Margaritas [...]

Time for a re-post… I’ll warn you up front, this is one of our longer pieces. But it includes some nice quotes from Clarence freaks Dan Auerbach and his Uncle James, as well as our [...]

I’m beginning to think that themes are overrated. People don’t even buy CDs anymore. Why would anyone be interested in how one song might relate to another? Maybe I should just write down every [...]

Temperatures are hitting the triple digits… Tropical storms are starting to line up like jets at LaGuardia… Tempers are flaring at country music festivals as fleshy Bubbas fight over warm beer [...]

Wish I would’ve come up with that headline. But it belongs to a typically provocative HBO documentary (and the book by Michael Schaffer that inspired the movie) that focuses on the various [...]

Last week I bitched about not coming across any new tunes that merit a second listen. Well, my daughter Allie must’ve heard me all the way down in Lexington, because she sent me a couple of [...]

Now we have a new look to go along with our iPad/iPhone optimization. Special thanks to our Web Wrangler, Keena… Looks like all those trips to the World of Rubber Museum finally paid off! [...]

Check it – RCR is now optimized for iPad and iPhone use. We’re also the only site I’m aware of that’s optimized for rotary phones. Just dial Garfield 1-2323 and I’ll have [...]

I’ve got RCR’s IT department working on a redesign of our site to address a nagging problem – if you’re reading our blog on an iPad and sample a song, it takes you away from our site. And good [...]

American Idol’s Randy Jackson would probably describe him as “pitchy,” and I don’t think he’d make it on anyone’s team on The Voice. But Arthur Alexander is one of the great heroes of early [...]

Another rough week, another re-post… Sue me. (Hey, our last post rang up almost 200 Likes – maybe it’s time to send some of our readers back to Drunken Vegan!) Here’s one of our [...]

We’ve covered guitarist Robert Quine pretty well in this blog, especially here and here. But I had to throw this post together after my sister came across a long-lost article in the bottom of a [...]

Several things happened since I first posted this piece almost two years ago: 1) Based on my google stats, it’s still drawing a lot of readers; 2) A new bio about long-time Thelonious Monk [...]

I’m usually not a “let us praise our fallen rock heroes” kind of guy. But I have to admit, the passing of Levon Helm hit me a little hard. And I’m not sure I can really explain why. I always had [...]

“Tim, you’ve just spent another post exhuming a dead blues guy. Are you listening to any music recorded since, say, 1964?” Another nasty missive in the RCR mailbox (family members can be such [...]

America’s greatest musical export? That’s easy – Chess blues and rock ‘n roll. New Orleans R&B might be a close second, and you can’t deny the lasting, global impact of jazz greats like Miles [...]

Let me start by saying Dr. John’s new album, “Locked Down,” is one of the most satisfying listens I’ve come across in the last few years. But I’ll also admit I [...]

So I’m pondering my next post and it dawns on me, some of my favorite songs are about rivers. Or, as Mr. Springsteen would put it, The River. That murky, mythological force that keeps drawing us [...]

Saturday Noon: Arrive at LaGuardia with wife, daughter and friend to spend a few days in NYC with other family members. Agenda includes The Black Keys’ sold-out show at Madison Square Garden. [...]

Season 5 of Mad Men kicks off on March 25. Seems like a good excuse to revisit a post that asks the important questions: Would Don Draper approve of the Big-O jingle? And, can one company bring [...]