If It's Too Loud...

Justin Townes Earle Photo by Ken Sears Saturday night was an odd night in the Boston area. It was a painfully chilly night, a full 10 degrees cooler than the seasonal average. Plus, a lot of college students have moved out of the area already. For a large city, Boston can feel like a ghost town starting in mid-May, which can suck the life out of the area. As far as the show went, it ended up starting a full half an hour before the initial announced time for the doors to open. In a really strange move, when I arrived about 15 minutes before Sammy Brue opened, there were three times as many people in the balcony than on the floor. Luckily, the music won out over the oddities of the night to make it one of the best shows I've seen in ages. The Sadies did double duty as openers and Justin Townes Earles' backing band. They've always been one of those bands that I just couldn't get into. Their albums have been fine, but just nothing that has connected with me. If you fe...

A busier than normal week, so I'm splitting this into two days. Album of the Week : Artist : Sallie Ford Album : Soul Sick Quick Description : New album from a favorite here that will just have you asking "Sallie, who hurt you and how can we destroy them?" Why You Should Listen : Sallie Ford somehow improved on what she was doing, and she was already doing some amazing stuff. Overall Thoughts : Man, Sallie Ford's been through from stuff, huh? That was really my first reaction as I listened to this album, a bunch of songs that feel confessional, that drip with hurt and pain, that just feel really heavy. And yet this ends up being beautiful with a lot of inspirational tones and gorgeous music. The whole sort of bluesy thing she was doing takes a bit of a backseat here, but this isn't some sort of singer-songwritery acoustic "woe is me" record, either. It's something a lot more special than that, and it's something everyone really just n...