In press materials accompanying his latest album, Common Ground, singer/guitarist Walter Trout claims that “I’ve almost created my own genre.” While a comment like that smacks of narcissism, it’s also tough to argue. Over the course of two decades and 19 albums, the former member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers...

Crowded House’s second post-reunion album—an elegant, mostly laid-back affair—finds the band continuing to eschew its earlier mainstream appeal and write serious alternative-pop songs for grown-ups...

Almost a half-century after the release of his first official recordings, in 1963 with a short-lived group called The Squires, Neil Young continues to captivate listeners. He has released multiple vintage recordings in recent years, including the massive, groundbreaking Archives Vol. I. The new book Long May You...

California-based singer-songwriter Ruth Gerson is the archetype of today’s creative do-it-yourself artist. A single mom, vocal coach, music producer and inventor of The Singingbelt—a bio-feedback device created to help teach singers diaphragmatic breath support, the proceeds of which she says “make it possible to be...

Some bands simply evolve more than others. Over six years and three albums, The Mighty Short Bus has come barreling out of Madison, touring the Midwest as one of the city’s hardest-working DIY groups while consistently redefining its sound...

It’s been two decades since Stevie Ray Vaughan, a swaggering blues revivalist with a thick and recognizable style, played his final concert at Alpine Valley on Aug. 26, 1990. He then jumped into a helicopter that crashed minutes after takeoff and killed everyone onboard...

Irish rockers The Answer enjoyed recent success in the United States with a retro, Led Zeppelin sound. Now, The Answer’s fellow countrymen in Glyder hope American listeners are craving more throwback rock. Glyder proudly worships at the altar of Thin Lizzy—and, in fact, made its public debut in 2004 at...

Ronnie James Dio spawned countless imitators—musically, vocally and lyrically. And if imitation is, indeed, the sincerest form of flattery, then Pittsburgh’s Icarus Witch—a veteran under-the-radar metal band that opened for the Dio-fronted Heaven & Hell last year—may have unwittingly released one of the finest...