I’m not sure if Neil Young is ever considered an underrated songwriter, in fact, I’m sure he’s considered one of the better ones… but for whatever reason I often overlook him when thinking back to great artists from the 1970’s and onwards.  I’m sorry Neil.  You don’t deserve that.  You truly are one of the greats.  He even has an awesome new album out this year called Le Noise which should not be missed.  Here he is in 1971 performing one of my favorite songs, “Old Man”, from his 1972 album Harvest.   It appears that this is an early, pre-album release performance of this song, so consider that extra cool!  continue reading...

It was only a matter of time before I included a Pearl Jam performance in the weekly Live Flashback segment… and while I maintain that Pearl Jam is the greatest American rock band of the last 20 years, it’s also worth mentioning the fact that they are a terrific cover band as well.   Despite Eddie Vedder having one of the most recognizable voices in rock, he’s quite versatile when it comes to performing other bands songs.  In this flashback I’ve highlighted the band performing Neil Young’s classic, “Harvest Moon” and actually this is another performance that I was lucky enough to be in attendance for.   If you ever want to kill 3 hours or so just head to Youtube and click around looking for PJ’s live videos, they’re all pretty much amazing.  In the meantime enjoy this one featuring Sleater-Kinney on back-up vocals: continue reading...

Alberta Cross are poised for the release of their much-anticipated full-length debut, Broken Side of Time, set for release September 22 on ATO Records. The album arrives on the heels of their acclaimed EP The Thief & the Heartbreaker, which earned the band U.K. touring slots with Oasis, The Shins and Bat For Lashes, and widespread critical praise, including PopMatters, which declared, “The seven-song EP is one of the best you’ll be lucky enough to pick up, resembling a full album’s quality but leaving one wanting a lot more.” Alberta Cross is coming off noteworthy performances at Bonnaroo, Coachella and SXSW and is slated to perform at Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and more. Details on upcoming tour dates will be announced soon. continue reading...

Many things can happen when two talented musicians/songwriters team up in a musical collaboration. Sure, history has given us the awesome supergroups of Blind Faith, The Firm, Temple Of The Dog, Hellyeah and the like, but now, something truly unique has come out way with the pairing of talented veterans Danny Kortchmar and Charlie Karp.

Together, Danny Kortchmar (The Eagles, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Neil Young…) and Charlie Karp (Buddy Miles, Meatloaf, Aerosmith, David Johansen…) have created an incredibly fresh and organic sound that fuses Progressive Rock, Blues and R&B, that can only be inherently defined as one thing… Cool. continue reading...

Say it ain’t so Neil? From the AFP:

BERLIN (AFP) — Canadian folk rock legend Neil Young said he has lost all hope that music can change the world, as he presented a documentary about his 2006 anti-war concert tour at the Berlin film festival on Friday. continue reading...