It’s infrequent (to say the least) for music fans to give props to Wichita, but even though it may sound odd, the local music scene there is burgeoning. Take Paper Airplanes, a six-piece whose roots to outsiders might seem closer to a place like Montreal than the ‘Ta. Led by vocalist Marcus Stoetz, who often sounds like a more creative…
Like all folk revivals, the mighty wind that’s been blowing through punk scenes since the arrival of Against Me gets pretty aimless in some quarters, spinning circles of contrived politics and drafty introspection. But Defiance, OH, a sextet from Bloomington, Indiana, raises the kind of righteous foot-stomping euphoria that could bridge generations. The band’s second album, The Great Depression, is…
At about minute 12 of any drawn-out jam-band solo — especially if the herb’s flowing freely — not a single soul in the campground can tell the band onstage apart from any other at the festival. Unless, of course, that band is Rusted Root. Unlike many of its contemporaries, the Pittsburgh sextet distinguishes itself with a bongo-pounding percussion section that’s…
There might have been a moment in 2003 when Scott H. Biram, quite literally near death after crashing head-on into a semi, made a deal: “Let me live, and I’ll continue bringing my skronky Texas blues madness to the rest of world indefinitely and without compromise, amen.” The Lord abided. Biram, whose music, perhaps coincidentally, sounds like the blues…
“Sobriety fucking sucks,” Ozzy Osbourne told documentary filmmaker Penelope Spheeris in 1988. Old, decrepit and sober since 1991, Osbourne has lost little of his music-making talent — even if the balls-to-the-wall persona of the dove-eating, bat-head-biting former Sabbath frontman is a little softer around the edges. Touring with Black Label Society, Osbourne and wicked guitarist and friend Zakk Wylde amp…
Although it always pays to have some heft around the waist in rock and roll, Los Lobos’ actual guts also have rounded the band’s mystique. Like a club formed by your neighborhood clique of grandfathers, Los Lobos go about their business at an unhurried pace that conveys dignity in leisure. Never mind that they can rock your ass for three…
It’s no secret that Saddle Creek bands (well, mainly Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst) are fans of R.E.M. But only that label’s Now It’s Overhead — which opened part of Stipe et al’s 2004 U.S. tour — successfully captures the enigmatic brooding and mystical Southern-gothic longing of R.E.M.’s best albums. On the upcoming Dark Light Daybreak, Overhead singer and songwriter Andy…
Unlike most supergroups, The Raconteurs formed at the height of its members’ careers (well, at least those of Jack White and Brendan Benson), so who knows how long they’ll be willing to share the spotlight or the paycheck. You can catch this Voltron of indie rock on Sunday at Denver’s Fillmore Auditorium (1510 Clarkson, 303-837-0360.) Or, if you’re the outdoorsy…
As part of our continuing commitment to journalistic excellence, we have discovered the private blog of director Chris Applebaum, in which he discusses his work on Paris Hilton’s new music video, “Stars Are Blind.” May 4, 2006, 7:49 a.m.: WHAT HAVE I DONE? Remember that Carl’s Jr. ad, the one with Paris Hilton humping a soapy car and biting…
Of all the infernal questions to have wormed their way into rock’s subconscious, the merits of David Lee Roth versus Sammy Hagar as frontmen for Van Halen has to be one of the most dimwitted debates circulating in frat houses and gentlemen’s clubs across this great land. Such lip service is especially insipid given that Hagar has always been such…
Van Campbell, drummer with East Nashville band the Black Diamond Heavies, admits that he’s “kind of a beginner” and “still learning a whole lot” about the blues. But three years ago, he found a great vehicle for discovery via his bandmates, keyboardist J.W. Myers (who was raised strictly on gospel but found that the blues came naturally because of it)…
Capitol Grill Regarding Ron Hunt’s comments about being “slighted” by Congressman Cleaver during his recent visit to Washington (Kansas City Strip, June 22): As a resident of Kansas City’s 5th Congressional District, I am happy that Cleaver did not abandon the vote on immigration in order to meet with a visitor. He was voting on legislation that affects his constituents….
I send you this dispatch while sitting in a bourgeois salon. It sits on a cobblestone street in a Paris neighborhood, which I have long forgotten the name of. In fact, if by my description you recognize this corner of old Paris, please let me know. I find myself quite lost. At the request of my editor, I began a…
John Joseph Rizzo, a candidate for Missouri state representative, was a little shaky at a recent pre-primary forum. He’s challenging 40th District incumbent John Burnett, who’s easily 30 years older. The fresh-faced, idealistic J.J. got stomped by Burnett just two years ago in the same race. Rizzo gripped the microphone tightly and announced to a crowd of white-haired listeners —…
We’re on Something The $70,000 media campaign to promote Kansas City, Missouri, proclaims proudly, “We’re on it!” Which makes us wonder … on what? What’s our fair city on? We’ve come up with a few possibilities: We’re on meth: Missouri leads the nation in the seizure of meth labs and also proudly sells newly imported Mexican meth. KCMO police say…
Dear Gabachos: Bienvenidos to the world’s foremost authority on America’s favorite beaners! The Mexican can answer any and every question on his race, from why Mexicans stick the Virgin of Guadalupe everywhere to our obsession with dwarves and transvestites. Awright, cabrones: laugh and comprende! Dear Mexican: Why do Mexicans traditionally like Chevys? Did Chevy once target the Mexican consumer…
When the Strip sees cherries in its rearview mirror, this charbroiled hunk of meat has one thought: “Dang! Guilty of driving while blackened.” Sweating with a cop on the roadside is no fun for anyone, even 32-year-old Spark Bookhart, a former Kansas City police officer. “Even though I was a cop, I knew about being on the other side of…
David Owen said his father bought him a burial plot in his hometown of Cimarron, Kansas, in case a homeless person killed him. Owen told me that when I interviewed him in February for a Pitch cover story (“The Lonely Guy,” March 9). As Kansas legislators grew obsessed with cracking down on sex offenders during the 2006 session, Owen…
One out, top of the second. Inside the immaculate fortress that is the new Busch Stadium, Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez pulls a pitch toward first. The ball lifts foul and appears within reach of Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols. Of course, there isn’t much out of reach of Pujols, at age 26 a bona-fide baseball superstar homegrown…
It’s the morning of the Werewolves’ second attempt to get noticed by the fans at Vans Warped Tour and ignored by the punks who run this gig and don’t want bands like us — mere mites upon the great seething beast of this festival — to take advantage of the abundant food backstage. Well, we foiled them this morning. Skeet…
Don’t be afraid. I haven’t abandoned you. I know it’s not like your reliable Pitch music editor to simply vanish like this, cutting nearly a week of work and letting a column go unfinished. But I had to go; the gods demanded it of me. When one of the greatest Kansas City rock bands of all time calls to ask…
Dear readers: This week, the Wayward Son is actually wayward. Last we heard, he was on a two-lane highway somewhere in western Kansas, in a van headed toward California, having been kidnapped into servitude by a popular Kansas City band. Wed’ call the Kansas Highway Patrol, but as anyone who’s been keeping up with this blog knows, that would only…
The Golden Falcons’ full-court press didn’t get past the KHP. I have bad news for anyone who was looking forward to seeing the Golden Falcons at the Brick tomorrow night: Last night, at around 3:30 or 4 in the morning, the rocking Dallas sep(or oc)tet’s van ran out of gas on the Kansas Turnpike, which, as we all know, is…
Dear Readers, Over the holiday weekend, a saboteur called in and changed my voicemail greeting to something rather offensive, along the lines of “uhhh…this is Jason Harper…uhh…f*ck all y’all.” I didn’t find out until someone called my boss to complain. I don’t yet know who the perp is, but once I find out and exact my revenge, he or she…
