If It's Too Loud...

When I first heard about The Town & City Festival happening in Lowell, MA, I assumed it would be limited to local Lowell area bands, and maybe a Boston band or two with Lowell ties. "A Fall Celebration of Music and Art in Lowell" just gives off a local vibe. When the line up was announced yesterday, to say I was pleasantly surprised would be a huge understatement. There are some local artists playing (Arlen, D-Tension) but there are some huge favorites of ours, also. Playing are "new" favorites like Kingsley Flood and Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys. But somehow the festival are legends Edo G, Damon and Naomi, and Kristin Hersh (!?!?!?!?!!!). And they are throwing in a bunch of artists that we always see listed and mean to check out but never quite get around to it (Abbie Barrett, Analog Heart, Frank Morey, Oldsoul). Of course, there are more to be announced, but you can check out the current line up on the poster to the left. The Town and The C...

We're back with Friday Freebie, a collection of free music downloads we've recently discovered. We have four truly great groups of offerings for you, and I think you'll all agree and love them all. As always, if you do download these releases for free, be sure to at least track them down on social media and give them a follow. New Aura - New Aura Hailing from Boston, New Aura have recently released their debut self-titled EP. We noticed them since they share at least one member of another of our Boston favorites, The Magic Shoppe. While they share a psychedelic sound with The Magic Shoppe, they have a self-described sound that is a throwback to "...   the old 'Bosstown' sounds that dominated the city's radio waves in the late 60's and 70's." What's great about them is they're psychedelic without being weighed down by the hippie label, and they're not part of the hard rock leaning psychedelic sound you hear a lot of in modern mu...

It's rare to have a week without any real clunkers, so enjoy! Suz Slezak - When the Nighttime Comes : We've covered this album in more depth than anything else at this blog , so I don't think there's a lot new to say per se, but given that this was my first time listening to it, I was surprised at how much more I liked it than I thought I would have. For an album that's designed, at least in part, to be lullabies for little ones, it's actually a really pretty folk album that reminds me of the earlier Hem albums from long ago. Definitely the release of the week. Damon & Naomi - Fortunes : In a different week without the Slezak album, this would have really blown me away. Instead, we get a really solid folk-style quiet album meant to be a companion to a short film by Naomi , so listening to it independently might miss the point. Overall, though, a really good listen. Elle King - Love Stuff : I won't lie - everything I read about this had me hopi...