Duke Egbert

BORN: “Love Is Blue” by Paul Mauriat was number one.JOINED THE DV STAFF: September 1998 (the first time...)HOMETOWN: Ottawa, IllinoisNOW LIVING IN: Louisville, KentuckySPOUSE / KIDS?: Some of eachFAVORITE ARTIST: Alan Parsons, solo or Projected.OTHER ARTISTS I LIKE: Duncan Sheik, Vertical Horizon, Spock’s Beard (Neal Morse era only), Peter Gabriel, Carrie Newcomer, Heather Dale, The Smithereens, Rush, Amanda Marshall, James McMurtry, Vienna Teng, Eva Cassidy, Marillion, Kansas, Kacey Musgraves, Icon For Hire, Jim Croce, Susan Werner.BEER: Odell 90 Shilling, Save The World Lux Mundi, Strange Land Entire Porter.OTHER HOBBIES: Reading, writing, gaming.PERSONAL MOTTO: "Our life is what our thoughts make it." – Marcus AureliusI WRITE MUSIC REVIEWS BECAUSE: …Rolling Stone pissed me off at an early age.
17 Posts
31 Dec

The Top 14 of 2005-06

Duke EgbertBest Of
As I've mentioned before, I was moving and getting settled for most of the early part of 2006. As such, I present the DV faithful with the Top 14 of 2005 and 2006: 14. Nickel Creek -- Why Should The Fire Die? Newgrass wunderkinds Nickel Creek break out of their sophomore slump with a tight, powerful CD of brilliant music. 13. Blackmore's Night -- Winter Carols I don't often put holiday music on this list, but I had to in this case. Candace Night has the most beautiful voice currently recording.  12. Il Divo -- Siempre Yes, they're manufactured. Yes, they're…
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21 May

King’s X’s Ty Tabor Gets Manic in the Moonlight

Duke EgbertFeature
King's X is a band who are constantly named to "best of" lists compiled by musicians, but their commercial success has been limited. Fighting off every label that could be assigned to them, the band - bassist/vocalist Doug Pinnick, guitarist/vocalist Ty Tabor and drummer/vocalist Jerry Gaskill - has continually thrilled and challenged their fans with mixtures of funk and psychedelia, often in the course of the same song. The band's latest CD, Manic Moonlight, is their third effort for Metal Blade Records - not including any of a selection of side projects the band has been involved in. Tabor recently chatted…
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21 May

Lief Sorbye: Keeping Tempest In Balance

Duke EgbertFeature
Author's note: This interview was done on May 3 of this year. DV readers, Tempest fans, and most of all Lief Sorbye (who was a gracious and informative interview) have my apologies for its lateness. I moved somewhere in there, and relocating a family of seven has its own challenges. Better late than never.* * *DUKE EGBERT: Tell me about the recording of your new CD Balance. Did you do anythingnew, anything different, any moments you remember as being really really cool?LIEF SORBYE: Well, yeah. We recorded it at the tail end of last year and we had beenwoodshedding material…
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05 Dec

2004: Duke’s Top Ten

Duke EgbertBest Of
10. Rig The Jig -- Passing ThroughIrish acoustic rockers Rig The Jig blew my speakers off with a tasty mix of traditional Irish music and American roots music. Where else could you hear a jig segue neatly into Leonard Cohen or Arlo Guthrie? This stuff is too cool. 9. Alan Parsons -- A Valid PathThe jury's still out from the fans; some love the longtime progressive rock producer's first foray into electronica, some just aren't sure. Put me in the love column; produced clear as crystal and performed magnificently, this is music that will both touch your mind and move…
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05 Apr

Great Big Sea Hits The Landlocked Midwest

Duke EgbertFeature
"I wish all our first concerts in a town were this good."Journalistic neutrality be damned, I'm going to be a shameless fanboy here. If you don't like it, well...you have my apologies.After six years of waiting, I finally got to see Great Big Sea live this last week, and it was, in a word, incredible. Simply put, the concert was incandescent in its energy, enthusiasm, and talent, and the band proved that no matter how good they are on CD, they're even better in person.GBS is currently doing a US tour in support of their latest CD, Something Beautiful. The…
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06 Dec

2003: Top Ten CDs Of 2003

Duke EgbertBest Of
This was the toughest one of these I have ever done. There was a lot of good stuff sent to yours truly this year; so much so that I've arbitrarily handed out five honorable mention CDs as well that I want to make sure you hear about once more. Without further ado, here's Duke's Completely Opinionated Top Ten Of 2003:10. That's How I Walk -- Stephen Fearing Canadian folk-blues artist Fearing brought us a punchy, complex, and well-written CD in his Rounder Records debut. The singer-songwriter is not dead, folks. 9. Terra Firma -- Acoustic Syndicate Steve "Big Daddy" McMurry…
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07 Dec

2002: Top Ten CDs

Duke EgbertBest Of
Been a busy year for yours truly, with some new ventures and a lot more work. But I still had time to listen to a lot of music. Some of it was bad, most of it was average -- and some of it was wonderful, proving once again that the Internet has brought us more musical diversity. Without further ado, here are 2002's Top Ten CDs: 10. Shana Morrison -- 7 Wishes The daughter of Van Morrison proves she has some pipes and some talent of her own on this outstanding pop release. 9. T. Thorn Coyle -- Give Us…
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