Frank De Blase

Canadian Troubadour Fred Eaglesmith’s songs sound like they came out of the womb already sad, washed up, and washed out. His stories have a down-and-out narrative that still possess a little hope for light at the end of the tunnel — just to find out it’s a train. There’s humor and irony couched in questionable […]

Let’s face it, funk gets abused. It gets slapped on as a label for anyone that digs remotely substrata in search of a groove. Funk is the go-to hop and grind spice for the jammers. But if you turn up the funk, you risk breaking backs. The solution? The New Mastersounds. This Leeds-based band expertly […]

This Brunswick, New Jersey, band positively seethes. The burn starts at the front where Marissa Paternoster (who art in heaven) sings with one hell of a powerful voice all the while punching in her searing guitar breaks. Spin Magazine voted her the 77th greatest guitarist of all time in 2012 — she beat out Vernon […]

Sometimes everything is too much; sometimes it ain’t enough. But Ann Arbor’s The Ragbirds has found the sweet spot with a succinct multi-genre, multi-instrumental display. The band effortlessly floats in the ether between genres, be it roots-rock, folk, bluegrass, and gypsy jazz, with a cohesive pop patina. It’s 100 percent honest and beautiful. The Ragbirds […]

It’s gotta be fairly difficult to keep the requisite guitar drive prevalent in the mix without overshadowing the vocals and its story. Pittsburgh’s Young Fox manages it magnificently. Vocally this band is on an even keel with a melodic sensibility, all while the guitars drive at it from every side. It’s heavy and atmospheric and not […]

In a flash of DIY and musical moxy, Chicago-born musician Courtney Yasmineh is truly an alternative to the alternative with her quirky take on what would be pop if it came out of anyone else. There’s antagonism and mirth-o-plenty in her tunes. Hell, I even hear some new wave in there, too. The Sun Parade will […]

As we approach what feels like the final frontier in experimental music, plenty of us have braced ourselves for the impending avalanche of weird; fortunately artists like Marco Benevento have wedged themselves beautifully between sensibility and the great unknown. Benevento’s music is open-ended and curious. It’s fun, a bit quirky, and yet deeper upon each […]

You don’t have to look that hard when tracing back through the Creole and Zydeco heritage, the music’s blood is Type Frank. Preston Frank’s family — he’s the big papa donchyaknow — is at the heart of traditional Louisiana music and has been so for decades. Preston has eased up on touring a tad, and […]