By Ross Boissoneau Music video at bottom for your listening pleasure. The promotional material for her latest recording suggests Missy Raines has been exploring other sonic territory at the expense of the music she grew up with and has played all her life: “On her newest release Highlander, the bassist/vocalist/songwriter returns to her bluegrass roots.” […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau John Basile is not as well-known as many other guitarists. Perhaps it’s because his discography is limited, with 14 recordings under his name over the last 38 years. Maybe it’s because of his many other interests and vocations, including radiology and boxing. That’s right, he ran and managed various imaging clinics, and […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau Michael Manring says his love affair with his chosen instrument has been nearly lifelong. “I fell in love with bass as a kid,” he says. “I was a little young for the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, so for me it was Woodstock. It was like a bomb going off for me and […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau It’s not easy to stand out in the middle of a rhythm section in a band that boasts five horns and a dynamic lead vocalist. But Tower of Power guitarist Jerry Cortez manages just fine, thank you very much. Since joining the titans of funk in 2010, he’s been praised for his […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau Joshua Davis is: A) A popular singer/sonwriter B) An instructor at Interlochen Arts Academy C) A finalist on season 8 of the NBC show The Voice D) All the above The answer, of course, is D. Familiar to audiences around the state and the Midwest from both his time fronting the band […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau Guitarist Nels Cline isn’t a name necessarily familiar to those who follow the charts, even though he’s been a part of the popular band Wilco since 2004 and he’s contributed to hundreds of recordings, as a sideman, studio guest, or bandleader or co-leader. That includes seven with the ironically-named Nels Cline Singers, […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau Numbers to know: Six, two, 20-plus and 48. As in six International Bluegrass Music Association wins, two Grammy nominations, more than 20 recordings, and 48 years (and counting) since Greg Cahill founded the Chicago-based bluegrass outfit Special Consensus in 1975. That’s a lot of history. And yes, a lot of numbers. But […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau Robert Berry is many things: Multi-instrumentalist. Vocalist. Songwriter. Studio owner. Producer. Conceptualist. He comes by all those things through a lifetime spent in music. As a youth, he was a fixture at his family’s music store, and by his high school years was gigging regularly as well as working at a local […]
Read moreSpecially written by Irene Gómez for Strings By Mail Articles. 2023 has offered the opportunity to realize some interesting and contrasting facts, such as the birth of Wes Montgomery, Bach’s moving to Leipzig, Liszt arriving to Paris and the passing of the great American pedagogue Julia Crane. Today, let’s remember Julia Crane. 1923, the passing […]
Read moreBy Ross Boissoneau It’s not that far from pop to jazz, or from guitar to ukulele – at least not for Jeff Linsky. The California-based musician has performed pop and rock, Latin, jazz, and more. He’s done so in various settings: solo, in duos, trios, full band and with an orchestra. It all comes from […]
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