Though the answer sounded rather obvious, it had never dawned on me before upstanding, upright bassist Brian Williams spelled it out. “That’s because you can’t clog on grass,” he said. Williams was sitting in on the bottom end with The Ruff Alley Rounders, bringing extra happy to Abilene’s Friday night happy-hour hootenanny. He was explaining […]
Abilene
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Concert Review: Fox Sisters, 5Head, Minds Wide Open
Out of the oblivion of Memphis low-fi rockers’ The Oblivions emerged The Reigning Sound, a raw and low-down outfit full of Muscle Shoals muscle and stacks of Stax. The band rocked unpretentiously and unparalleled. Nobody did it better. Nobody, that is, until the advent of Rochester’s The Fox Sisters. This band of brothers is a […]
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Concert Review: Deadstring Brothers, Cowboy Mouth
Best show of the winter alert: The Deadstring Brothers served up an excellent set of honky-tonk barroom boogie Friday night, winding the packed house that Abilene built into a two-step frenzy. The band rocks out the country without losing sight of the actual country. It’s like a more rural, less collegiate Old 97s. The instrumentation […]
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Concert Review: Love Canon at Abilene
For me, the 1980’s were the last stand for pop, before the music got stupid, vapid, and insipid. That’s not to say that music of the “Me Decade” was for intellectuals. Let’s face it, we’re all a little blinded by science. But it’s amazing how those little neon ditties get stuck in your head. People […]
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Concert Review: Todd Bradley, Sandwich, Upstate, Babayaga, Sisters of Murphy
I knew he could do it, I just didn’t realize how well. Bassist Todd Bradley has the chops and the pipes for sure, as he demonstrates as a a member of popular Rochester trio The Hi-Risers. But Thursday, February 7, at Abilene, armed with an acoustic and those aforementioned vocal cords (a foundation-rumbling collision between […]
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Concert Review: Fred Vine, This Life, Low Flying Planes
Minor keys are like hot sauce on open wounds. When you want to kick that urge, that emotion, that thrill, that chill up a bit, nothing’s finer than going minor. Then there’s Rochester acoustic blues aficionado and virtuoso Fred Vine. Armed with a dreadnaught and a National Steel, Vine swings from the minor vine as […]
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Concert Review: Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys
With a seasoned cool, classic noir haberdashery and a velvety voice that resembled liquid panty remover, Big Sandy commandeered the SS Abilene and positively rocked all souls on deck Tuesday night with his Fly-Rite Boys. The band ran a nice cross-section review of its lengthy catalogue, from its seminal debut “Fly-Rite With…” to its bust-out […]
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Concert Review: Deke Dickerson, Mike Snow Band, Guy Forsyth
Guitar impresario Deke Dickerson positively peeled the paint off the Abilene walls with his blistering guitar work Friday night. Dickerson is one of the slickest, fastest guitar players alive, and his skill is rivaled only by his genuine, aww-shucks charm. Dickerson’s drummer took a crack at playing guitar while two audience members held him by […]
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MUSIC BLOG: Lydia Loveless, Scott Biram, Moho Collective, Subsoil, and Roots Collider
Certain guitars beg to be played certain ways. A Gibson J-200 wants to be strummed, while a Les Paul is there to reward your efforts with miles of sustain. You pick up a Gretsch 6120, and you can practically hear it say, “Chicken pick me, fool.” So when Bloodshot beauty Lydia Loveless took to the […]
