Music - Aug. 11, 2009
Mix tape: August 2009
Here are some lightning-fast looks at some of the many, many new CDs landing in shops in August and early September ...
Tags: Andy Chase, Brookville, Trash Can Sinatras, Shank, Garibaldi, A.A. Bondy, ILAD, VP Records, 17 North Parade, Joe Gibbs, Niney the Observer

Music - July 27, 2009
Gig roundup: Polkafinger plays the apolkalypse
You don't have to remember Milwaukee's legendary punk band The Haskels to head over to Shank Hall to see Polkafinger and The Blackholes Power Polka Machine, at 9 p.m. Friday. Although Polkafinger's Richard LaValliere was the singer and bassist for The Haskells and later the equally fine Oil Tasters, you don't need any of that background to enjoy the Brooklyn trio's punk rock polka.
Tags: Polkafinger, The Blackholes, Mark Shurilla, Oil Tasters, The Haskels, Shank, The Rave, Miramar, Cactus Club, Riverside, Pabst Theater, CKY, Warped Tour, All Time Low, Marcus Amphitheater, Crosby, Up and Under, Lonely H, Ground Zero, Midwest Beat, Duck on

Music - May 4, 2009
Gig roundup: The Sounds preview new CD at Rave
Every now and again a record strikes a chord with those of us in the editorial office here and we rock it all day long until we could sing it forward and backward. One such CD was "Dying to Say This to You," the 2006 effort by Sweden's The Sounds. So, when we got a link to hear "Crossing the Rubicon," the third disc by The Sounds -- who play Saturday, May 9 at The Rave -- we were excited.
Tags: The Sounds, Crossing the Rubicon, The Rave, Shank, Nickel Creek, Sara Watkins, Cactus Club, Bobby Conn, Turner Hall, Mogwai, Cursive, Spyro Gyra, Jazz on the Vine

Music - April 12, 2009
Gig roundup: Wakeling going strong after 30 years
Thirty years from "Stand Down Margaret," Birmingham, England's Dave Wakeling is still fronting a band called The English Beat, albeit one populated entirely with different members. And, he says, he's still having fun.
Tags: Dave Wakeling, The English Beat, Dub Trio, John Scofield, Shank, Turner Hall, Miramar, Mad Planet, Cactus Club, Sleepyime Gorilla Museum, Ezra Furman & The Harpoons, Tim Barry, EOTO, Parlor Mob, Pezzettino, Extra Golden, Wilco, Pabst Theater, Cannibal Cor

Music - Oct. 27, 2008
Gig roundup: Schneider previews ninth CD at Shank
Although Bob Schneider was the great, underrated drummer for Semi-Twang and The R&B Cadets -- among other local bands -- he's not the Bob Schneider headlining Shank Hall on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. This Schneider is well known to fans of alternative Americana folk-rock for the eight full-length discs that have helped him nab numerous Austin Songwriter of the Year awards.
Tags: Bob Schneider, Gourds, Shank, rave, Senses Fail, Slightly Stoopid, Foxy Shazam, Riverside, Pabst, Turner Hall, Crosby & Nash, Conor Oberst, Girl Talk, Amos Lee, Priscilla Ahn, B.B. King, Mighty Underdogs, Kings of Leon, Carrie Rodriguez, Rock the Vote, Be