Like a fiery blaze of orange, Bill MacKay is burning bright. Hot off the release of his second solo album, Fountain Fire, Bill's on tour, traversing the Midwest, armed only with his picker's prowess and deep harmonic inspiration. And that's more than enough! As Dusted put it, "MacKay makes his instrument express joy and wonder and agony like a voice, only more so." Bill digs deep within himself on Fountain Fire: showcasing a precise evolution of songwriting, arrangements, even singing--in an arc... (read more)

You know what haven't we had since 2016? Besides sanity and a general sense of well-being, that is? Joanna Newsom live in concert! This fall, Joanna will be playing for the first time in a long time, only (for now?) in New York, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Chicago.  These will be rare and intimate performances by Joanna alone: solo voice, harp and piano. And probably some t-shirts in the lobby. Get your tickets this Friday, April 5th at 10am local time! Or StubHub them later....

Ever since that all important release day back in January, Tim Presley's White Fence is out there, feedin' Larry's Hawk. This bird just can't seem to get un-famished! It's this search for satiation that is the underlying theme of the new "Forever Chained" video (directed by Sean McAnulty and Alex McLaren), which by the way, brings the total of visual accompaniments for I Have To Feed Larry's Hawk to five - a generous output that further illuminates the enigmatic messages of Tim... (read more)

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme - great ingredients for any homemade meal and who knows, maybe even an album title? Once upon a thyme, you might reply, but the world of yesteryear still speaks a lot to "America's Funnyman", Neil Hamburger, which is why Neil's brand new video from his latest LP, Still Dwelling, is a USDA Choice cut from 1966 and one of Simon & Garfunkel's greatest hits, "Homeward Bound." Our only question is, why didn't... (read more)

Death comes in many forms; with symbolic representations as the Grim Reaper, Azrael, the Hindu God Yama, Father Time and, of course, the world's first punk band! Originally made up of three African-American brothers, Detroit legends Death are returning to the touring circuit for the first time in years, hitting up cities they missed on their last jaunt...all in the name of celebration! It's been ten fucking years since Death arrived on the world stage with the archival release of ...For The Whole World To... (read more)

19 IN THE SHADE

WOW! If this is our last year on Earth, we’re going out with a BANG. Just a few months into this thing, we’ve been so set to the grindstone that your humble scribe hasn’t found the moment to compose a deathless Drag City’s newsletter – until right this minute, of course. By which we mean, 15 minutes before this minute. No foolin’, though – we got hot stuff – and not simply the distressed magma... (read more)

Our hearts and minds and dreams and lives are heavy today. RIP Scott Walker, you were twilight personified.

Mike Donovan's Exurbian Quonset is a genre, a thought process, a way of life and a full-grown branch of the rock and roll family tree! As many steps as it takes to get something 'perfect', it takes just as many to get to what you might call its opposite --- a place underwater, where songs sung through gills bubble to the top for all of us on dry land to hear. Mike excels by presenting the tangible and the unknown, making music that's perhaps... (read more)

This month marks CAVE's triumphant return to Europe for a bonafide tour - including a single date in the CAVE-thirsty UK, with a huge run through Spain, naturally! To celebrate, the first full-length CAVE album, Psychic Psummer, is back in print after years out of it. Questing listeners can once again drop the needle on the launch-pad moment where CAVE came into their own, evolving into a collective capable of full-length mastery. Their expertise in collating trippy dance jams of all colors... (read more)

Wand's upcoming fifth full-length is a dramatic evolution in the life of a band who've grown ecstatically since their debut, taking even further flights of fancy from the reinventions of Plum and "Perfume." The longer Wand wander from the pulse of their inception, the more teeming life they absorb: Laughing Matter maneuvers spectacularly from start to finish, brimming with eclectic visions, explorations, and exhalations.

For a sample of these new reaches in the Wand-iverse, look no further than "Walkie... (read more)