after sitting next to their skilled guitar player during the bluegrass workshop, and seeing the respect he was paid, and hearing that they gig all over, I was expecting something great – well, I’ve never seen four men destroy such promising instruments like these four men did: upright bass, guitar, guitar, mandolin/fiddle – it was the weakest ass shit I had ever done seen in my life – the Yo La Tengo of whatever-you-want-to-call-their-music – I heard recently that the difference between the young and the old is that the old understand restraint, well the degree to which these guys have restraint mastered suggests they must be one step from the grave – they were particularly bad when they sang the lead vocalist’s own songs – he’d simper as he described them and they were these cheesy trite bland horrors – I swear he’s trying to turn a church band into a pop band – his voice is weak too, sometimes John Denver, usually church folk – it was the ultimate irony when he was trying to express how he’s changing the world with his music and stated “Nothing speaks louder than music” – the one time they were tolerable was when my guitar man sang – ironically, I feel like their sound has some promise if they would only play more interesting songs– I’ve honestly never seen these instruments handled like they did – they could do ambient bluegrass or something– they also played the song that I hear everywhere I go in Gunnison and will forever consider the theme song of Gunnison: “Wagonwheel” – turns out it’s a song for which Dylan wrote the chorus and never recorded, and then Old Crow Medicine Show wrote verses around it and made it hugely famous… in Gunnison

he was terrific – played a resonator and an acoustic guitar – extremely talented: fingering, slide, stops, taps, you name it – heading toward being a one man band – also had a great voice, a sweet (Jeff B) but hearty-throaty blues voice – he feels the music and it shows in his performance – he did covers by blues greats: Howlin’ Wolf, Robert Johnson – this boy could go places – just realized he’s my pharmacist as well ha

Joe Hahn (of Linkin Park) was a guest DJ on Saturday at Haze. The nightclub, in the basement of the Aria on the Las Vegas Strip, caters primarily to radio-friendly dance music with a revved BPM. So it was a noticeable and immediate shift in tone when Hahn took the reins at 12:30am. He massaged Linkin Park’s nu metal vibe with techno and only the occasional nod to pop or dance. Hahn infused a mix of songs ranging from the Go-Go’s Our Lips Our Sealed, LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out and a extremely deconstructed take on Pumped Up Kicks from Foster the People. Hahn’s approach was sublimely artful – probably not a common thing in a Las Vegas nightclub – and controlled but it lacked the invitation to dance that drew the crowd into Haze to begin with.

[Montreal]: I loved, loved, loved this band – they’ve got a retro sound that manages to be modern and special – ethereal poppy female vocalizing over shimmering guitars – some combo of 80s soft rock, synth pop, and disco – synth yacht rock? Bluesy French pop with psychy soft rock instrumentation? – in same school as MGMT maybe but more pop than psychedelia –a more sincere Cansei de Ser Sexy – kind of Blondie – fairy disco: all high notes and ethereality but still rocking – they were loungey and groovy, simple and complex – I admired their ability to restrain themselves and pick the perfect notes – the kid with a fluff of hair on the front of his head played drums – the kid in the old man sweater played the flute – the kid with the sculpted afro in slouchy baggy-skinny-pants played bass – the girl in a black crop top and black mom jeans played keyboards and provided the vocals, her incessant hair flipping (she looked like F. Bueller’s girlfriend) annoyed me but she managed to seduce the audience very effectively – my favorite though was the bleach blonde kid playing electric guitar in black skinny jeans and an awful color-block jacket (amusingly, I think the yuppie older couple in the front were his parents)

[Portland]: I’m not a huge fan of the House of Blues chain, so this was a nice change of pace – small minorly hipster bar that provided me with my first sparkling wine in a can ever, with a straw attached, enchanting – they also had lots of posters for Coathangers shows, which is a band I tried and failed to see at previous SXSWs, and it turns out they’re from San Diego and frequent this place –it turned out that the majority of the audience, at least initially, was the other bands – this band made me nervous at first glance, Oregon oatmeal, very earnest – they were a guy on guitar singing and a redhead on a cello accompanying him with some “woos” – I ended up really liking them – the guy was a soulful crooner (a la Buckley) – they had great melodies, sounding like Iron and Wine or Mumford & Sons sometimes and more plucky at other times – the rhythm and vocals were solid – the redhead cellist was fascinating – she was very youthful with her long red waves and no makeup but I suspect she’s a black-humor feminist under it all – she’s drama personified – her playing was really good, providing bass and slaps – she gave them a Loreena McKennit quality – they reported later in their show that they were usually a five-piece and were having to make up for the missing band members – they were unique, beautiful , sincere and joyful

[New Jersey]: this band was more interesting –rollicking dance beat (dancepunk) with something of Bright Eyes, Mountain Goats, Hold Steady – three guys on key board & bass, drum, guitars – there was also a laptop on stage but I’m not sure what it was doing – the band’s girlfriends/sisters added a weird dimension to the show, incongruently twirling rave light gear, and singing along at the stage like a bunch of groupies – if I were in the band, I’d tell them to cut it out and stop biasing the audience with their antics – the band were very excited to be playing in CA for the first time, mentioning it first thing, and ending their first song with a reminder that that was the first time the song had been played in CA – it was cute – they told funny stories about their hotel bathroom with a toilet basically in the shower – I liked their music but his atonal plaintive voice got a little annoying

[Ocean Beach, CA]: after spending twenty minutes trying to figure out driving and parking in a new city, I arrived just in time to see this band’s last 2-3 songs – Young Jeezy was playing the main stage at House of Blues, and this was a free show on a side stage – there were 10 of us and rightfully so – this band was standard post-grunge – Creed like

Jeff Ivy’s solo set at the Tootsies Orchid Lounge was a mix of Americana and straight country covers. His voice embodies the sweeter side of country music and I was impressed by the purity of his voice. And he was kind enough to take requests. Sometimes the quality of the artist outshines the dump of a bar he’s playing in, and this was certainly one of those times. Ivy’s own music – which he performs on tour – is a solid collection of songs.

The crowd went apeshit for Chris Young. In his late twenties, he’s still got a pretty boy face and the superstar country music styling down pat. Just from looks, he would do well in a gay bar.

He has a handful of #1 hits some music awards, and his music was toe tapping. He stuck to the hits. Voices (hint: the voices he hears are his family and pastor giving him advice to stay on the straight and narrow) was probably my favorite of the night. It’s heavy handed, but no more so than 90% of country music these days. The new single Neon (hint: I could not tell you what it was about) was just your average song, though he gushed about how he wished he wrote it himself. He closed the set, and the show, with his megahit You. I thought the song was catchy. Unlike 90% of the audience, I had never heard it before. But I was humming a bit on my way out. And for someone who doesn’t live and breathe country music, I think that’s exactly what you want when you leave the Grand Ole Opry.

Craig Morgan can sing. Introduced as an ex-military type who spent 10 years serving our country, he looked the part. He had the muscle build and the square jaw, but the man can sing. He has that low register that’s pretty common in country music. He also played the girls in the audience like a plucking the strings of a violin. They sure loved him.

The music was completely unmemorable but his set had the best energy of the night. He also introduced a couple in the audience asking if the guy had proposed yet. Nope, he did it right there during the show. Not sure if that was staged, but if not, it would make a great part of his act on tour.

The Whites are a family band, three sisters, pa and a couple of backing musicians. They played an old folk song and two others that allowed the four to mix and match their harmonies. They bantered joyfully with some folk from the UK in the crowd but it was hard to tell if the family on stage even liked each other. Maybe a long overdue episode of Behind the Music.

Another long time Opry favorite, Steve Wariner was the crooner of the line-up tonight. He poured his country heart out on the stage. All three sweet and sincere songs could have been dedicated to one lady love or another. He closed the set with The Weekend which he said one of this top-favorite songs of all time. His music is the kind of stuff that you just know sits in heavy rotation on classic country radio and gets played every weekend at weddings around the South.

John Conlee is a bit of a country music institution. Old school country and in that vein, much more my cup of tea than the contemporary country music. He looks like your grandpa, complete with his pants hiked up over his stomach. He still has the voice, though, and on some of the melodies like Got My Heart Set on You there was some gorgeous moments. Thought the silly Stuff that Matters was a bit old fashioned, but he seemed to be having a good time up there anyway.

No trip to Nashville, so they say, is complete without a visit to the Grand Ole Opry. A live show (simulcast on the radio) that runs Friday, Saturday and Tuesday nights every week from the Grand Ole Opry House, this month’s guests include such country luminaries as Vince Gill, Carrie Underwood, and Ricky Skaggs.

Opry shows are divided into half hour segments of which each artist gets a chunk of two to four songs with some commercial sponsorship breaks in between.

Dailey & Vincent capped the opening segment of the show. They’re promoting a gospel album with a country twang and the middle song of their set was the duo playing unaccompanied giving Jamie Dailey a chance to show off his vocal chops. (Side bar, but all of his promotional photos make him look much younger than he does on stage).

The set opener and closer were both performed with the full band, but it was the barnburning last song, completely instrumental, that tore the roof off the place. The musicianship of the band was unbelievable.

I have too much back info on this band – mostly because a key member is a neighbor and a fellow sociologist. This makes it difficult for me to be objective and to see them as a ‘real’ band, because I know how they formed. Said friend is humble and downplays the situation. And of course all or most bands form in these ways. Well, seeing them all amped up and slick at the Brewery convinced me they are a real band, and they have a real sound. It’s a sound that I believe may have morphed since I saw them last many months ago during the monthly Gunnison art crawl. The young blonde lovely has taken over lead vocals (and guitar), while the brown lovely handles backup vocals and fiddle. The two boys and a man variously manage the banjo, the electric bass, guitar, and lap steel. Their sound flits about enough that it’s hard to pin it down but it’s some combo of alt country, folk, and Americana. All covers, I believe. They did help me pin down the Old Crow Medicine Show origins of the apparently #1 song in Gunnison (as per coffee shops) – the song is ‘Rock Me Baby.’ This band is peaceful, sincere, and … pure.

as you might imagine from their name and my locale, they’re a bluegrass band – it’s a good thing I didn’t review them after their intermission act at Move the Butte – for one, I would have complained that the upright bassist is touted as the best bassist in Colorado but never hinted at a slap, as tainted as I am by Austin – two, they weren’t plugged in and they played the same song they taught us at the Bluegrass Workshop (Sittin’ on Top of the World) – anyway, when we heard they had a proper gig lined up and, being frantic for any old sort of music, we decided to give them a shot – turns out the full band includes the guitarist and the bassist I am familiar with, as well as a mandolin, banjo, and fiddle– they’ve got amps and the whole deal so none of your mealy-mouthed bluegrass – each is a very talented musician – their fingers moved so fast, I’m classifying them as speed-metal-bluegrass – they basically reminded me of a CD I picked up in the Appalachian Mountains proper from a local bluegrass band, Blue Ridge Mountain Thunder, which is a big compliment from me, because it’s the danciest bluegrass I’ve done ever heard – as a piece of general advice, you know it’s going to be a good bluegrass song when it has “breakdown” in the title