Getting to Know: Matt James, Blacktop Mojo

by Linda Carlson - November 9, 2020November 9, 2020

Article & Photos: Linda Carlson If you don’t know Blacktop Mojo, get yourself out from under that rock! This East Texas band, formed in 2012 by lead singer Matt James and drummer Nathan Gillis, fills an underserved rock niche that infuses classic southern rock with metal and grunge overtones, sprinkled with

Damn you, Coronavirus… I Miss Live Concerts!

by Linda Carlson - May 28, 2020

Article & Photos by: Linda Carlson As a concert photographer, I regularly attend live performances, photographing nearly two hundred bands last year alone. Then all of a sudden… Boom! NO LIVE PERFORMANCES, thanks to the coronavirus. Like most concert-goers, there is a hole in my life, and I am a bit

Album Review: Yuki – Be Free

by Charles Yamabe - May 8, 2020May 9, 2020

Article by: Charles Yamabe Chicago, IL -- It's not often I get sent an album that I immediately fall in love with, let alone a freshman album by an artist that, for all intents and purposes, is relatively unknown. The album Be Free by nineteen-year-old New Zealand native Yuki is

Machine Head // Live @ The Mercury Ballroom // 2.12.20

by Michael W. Bright - February 22, 2020

Article and Photos by Michael W. Bright Louisville, KY-- Machine Head put it all out there. This night’s show marked four months into the band's Burn My Eyes 25th Anniversary tour, celebrating the release of their debut album, 1994's, Burn My Eyes, an album roundly hailed as one landmark in metal history. To mark

Blacklite District // Live @ Riverfront Live // 1.30.20

by Linda Carlson - February 9, 2020February 10, 2020

Article and Photos by: Linda Carlson Cincinnati, OH – January can be a relatively sleepy time for touring. Tour schedules are often still being firmed up for the new year, and venue schedules can be a bit light. However, January 2020 ended strong at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Live, which hosted Blacklite District and Adelita’s Way to

Rumpke Mountain Boys // Live @ The 20th Century Theater // 12.30.19

by Linda Carlson - January 9, 2020

Article & Photos by: Linda Carlson Cincinnati, OH – People ring in the New Year in all sorts of ways, and what better way than two nights of music from the Rumpke Mountain Boys and friends? As was done last year, The RMBs played two nights (December 30 and 31) at

Mannequin Pussy // Live @ Zanzabar // 12.17.19

by Michael W. Bright - December 31, 2019January 4, 2020

Article and Photos by: Michael W. Bright Louisville, KY -- Don't think about it too hard. Once you get comfortable with this band's name it becomes easy to surrender to the raw energy, visual display, and fearless abandon that's at the core of Mannequin Pussy. If you walked into Zanzabar's performance space

Static X // Live @ the NorVa // 11.20.19

by Wendy Podmenik Darugar // Glenn Woodell - December 8, 2019December 8, 2019

Article and Photos by: Wendy Podmenik Darugar NORFOLK, VA: Where has this band been all my life? Nestled into a genre that's right up my alley, industrial/nu-metal band Static-X has rejoined the scene, with a twist and a purpose. Currently touring both as a memorial tribute to late lead singer Wayne

Dead and Company // Live @ Hampton Coliseum // 11.8.19

by Wendy Podmenik Darugar // Glenn Woodell - November 18, 2019November 19, 2019

Article and photos by: Wendy Podmenik Darugar HAMPTON, VA: Thirteen gleaming red and white semi trucks were parked in a meandering line in the back lot, humming in unison on a crisp fall night. The latest incarnation of the Grateful Dead had finally returned to the famed mothership, after twenty-seven long

Icon For Hire // Live @ Top Cats // 11.5.19

by Linda Carlson - November 13, 2019

Article & Photos by: Linda Carlson Cincinnati, OH – On November 5, cozy Top Cats hosted a pair of female fronted bands that exuded positivity, liveliness and righteous dance-worthy fun. The evening started with Veridia, a Nashville-based alternative rock band, touring with headliner Icon For Hire on the East Coast portion of