Possessed by Paul James Konrad Wert, known as Possessed by Paul James, is a one-man band from Austin, Texas, who performs rootsy folk-punk music. Possessed by Paul James uses a variety of string instruments, including fiddle, guitar, and banjo, to create his unique rocking sound. Konrad is a true entertainer, captivating audiences with his songs, […]
On Stage
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The Archetype
Nashville’s John Hiatt set aside stardom and became one of America’s best songwriters
Two hundred fifty: that’s the number of songs a young John Hiatt wrote and recorded when he worked for Tree Music Publishing back in 1971, earning the aspiring musician a mere $25 a week. Now age 61, and 22 studio albums into the kind of career only a select few are ever lucky enough to […]
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Detroit Rock Pretty
Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas make a move
Like her musical style, which is adding to already favorite genres and classics, Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas also add to the meaning of the word “hybrid.” Raised a baker’s daughter in Detroit’s famous Mexicantown, her fresh-faced genre-bending band mixes pop, blues, gypsy-folk, rock, big band and jazz with distinctive soulful vocals. It calls Rock […]
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Shining Starr Trivia
Think you’re the authority on Ringo? Test your knowledge
As a member of a minorly important British pop group that got its start over 50 years ago, Richard Starkey went from a Dickensian, impoverished and sickly child banging on biscuit tins with sticks, to Ringo Starr, one of the world’s richest and most infamous drummers. “Before Ringo, drum stars were measured by their soloing […]
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Sustained Heat
Locals Warm Gadget release second full-length album
Warm Gadget has been producing some of the most interesting, nightmarish and industrial electro-metal in the area for nearly five years. Correction: the only nightmarish industrial electro-metal in the area. Warm Gadget is made up of a backbone of heavy discordant guitar and mechanized programed drum beats by Colton Williams, throat-rattling vocals by Tim Vester, […]
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The Sopranos
OperaBend brings the Bitter and the Sweet
Passion for opera never seems to wane too far from the cultural zeitgeist. Art forms like written and spoken word poetry and certain styles of theater seem to come and go, but opera never fully disappears. But since the Obsidian Opera closed down five years ago, Bend’s opera scene has been in a holding pattern; […]
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Laugh, So You Don’t Cry
Major Powers and the Lo-Fi Symphony on how they became Adventure Rock™ monsters
Dork rock. It’s a real thing. Almost mathematical in structure, assailing and nearly overwhelming, Major Powers and the Lo-Fi Symphony attempts to cram every scale, falsetto, marathon guitar solo, synth riff, build, drop and pacing change into each of its sadistic songs. If it weren’t so well choreographed, it could easily turn into a rock […]
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What’s My Name?
Lisa Doll and her California dreaming
Lisa Doll is a caricature of a punk front-woman. Constantly suited in either a cut-off jean vest or a black leather jacket, adorned with patches and buttons, Doll is also slightly mysterious, and totally punk; she’s the kind of girl who puts on crimson red lipstick and Doc Martins without blinking. “Most people don’t know […]
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Strict Diet of Songwriting
Paleo wrote a song a day for a year…now what?
In 2006, David Strackany, known by the stage name of Paleo, took on an ambitious project. His goal was to write a song a day for an entire year. The Song Diary, which Strackany successfully wrapped in March 2007, resulted in 365 complete songs, and a shorter collection of selected recordings—a winding soundtrack of life, […]
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The Source Suggests
Zach Ryan and The Renegades Zach Ryan and The Renegades play the kind of living room rock and roll reminiscent of the purest of pop forefathers. Clean and bouncy verses and hooks driven by Tom Petty-esque guitars and narrative lyrics that rattle around in your brain for stretches long after the songs have ended make […]