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It’s funny the things you notice when you’re out in the audience at a rock show.I saw the Greg Kihn Band no less than nine times in their 1980-83 heyday, rising with them from small clubs to opening slots in college auditoriums and then headlining those same venues. Though the band consistently delivered its Buddy Holly-inspired power pop with abundant energy, it was apparent from the first show I caught that one of these things was not like the others. Frontman Kihn, Steve Wright (bass / harmony vocals), Dave Carpender (guitar), and Gary Phillips (keyboards / guitar) played hard and…

You won't have to look very far to find books and documentaries about the early days of the New York or Los Angeles punk scene. Cleveland, on other hand, despite being a hotbed of punk activity in the late '70s and early '80s, hasn't seen even a fraction of the attention of the aforementioned cities. Adele Bertei fills some of that void here with a brief memoir of her time in the underground rock circles of Cleveland, where Peter Laughner (Rocket From The Tombs, Pere Ubu) took her under his wing in an abstract mentor sort of way. The two…

These are *not* reviews of 25 favorite albums—rather they are 25 of our favorite reviews, of any album, in any genre. These mostly take one of three forms: reviews where our staff stretched and bent the form, taking fresh approaches to writing about the music; reviews of albums that caught our writers by surprise, in a good way; or reviews of albums that our writers absolutely detested. Each of these reviews is uniquely memorable in some way. Presented in alphabetical order by writer:   Carole King – Tapestry by Jeff ClutterbuckKid Rock – Greatest Hits You Never Saw Comingby Pete Crigler Sugar…

These are 25 reviews of favorite albums, as opposed to 25 Favorite Reviews. Some of these might be acknowledged classics, but the heavy hitters can be found in 25 Albums For The Ages. These are 25 albums that were uniquely special to that particular reviewer, presented in alphabetical order by artist:    Alan Parsons Project – I, Robotby Duke Egbert Allman Brothers Band – Eat A Peachby Christopher Thelen Big Big Train – The Underfall Yardby Jason Warburg Big Star – Radio Cityby Denise Henderson Kate Bush – Aerialby Duke Egbert Johnny Cash – American Recordingsby Christopher Thelen Creedence Clearwater Revival…

These are 25 of the albums that mattered most, that influenced others, that left an indelible mark on our collective consciousness—25 albums for the ages, presented in chronological order:    Miles Davis – Kind Of Blueby Jason Warburg Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylanby Christopher Thelen James Brown – Live At The Apolloby Sean McCarthy The Beach Boys – Pet Soundsby Jeff Clutterbuck The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Bandby Jason Warburg The Kinks – The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Societyby David Bowling Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced?by David Bowling The Rolling Stones –…

The Daily Vault has played host to a wide variety of features over the past 25 years, from interviews and concert reviews to book and film reviews, our notorious opinion essays, and our expansive retrospectives and rankings columns. What follows is a somewhat representative but typically eclectic sampling of our favorite features from the past quarter century. Most are single pieces, though in the name of being true to the “favorite” label we’ve also included five features in their entirety: our retrospectives, Darren Paltrowitz’s long-running music news column “Keeping Up,” our rankings feature, “20 Albums That Influenced Me” from our…

 Part of the magic of music is the way it can create a profound sense of connection with someone you’ve never met.The fact that I never met David Longdon, the late singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for Big Big Train, was more or less a technicality born of proximity. The band is known for being accessible at gigs and if I lived less than 5000 miles from their home base in the south of England, we would likely have met years ago. As things stood, I had high hopes of seeing the band live for the first time when they made…

(NB: We are not critics at the Daily Vault. At least, I’m not, and I’ll fight anyone who says so. I am a lifestyles and art reviewer. So there.) I am well known at the DV for being a defender of critically unpopular – dare I say uncool? – music. I like Barry Manilow sometimes. I own every Dan Fogelberg album ever made before his untimely early death. I believe disco had its good points, and they weren’t all on Yvonne Elliman and Donna Summer. And now, armed only with my razor-sharp wit, a certain curmudgeonly charm, and an outdated…

[Natterings is a very occasional and occasionally funny look at weird bits of the music industry and recorded music itself, written by Duke Egbert, who should know better.]There have been many great country songs. “Jolene.” “He Stopped Lovin’ Her Today.” “Crazy.” “Friends In Low Places.” “Ring Of Fire.” “Get Your Tongue Out Of My Mouth (I’m Kissing You Goodbye).”Okay, maybe not that last one.Nevertheless, there have been many fine songs in the history of both types of music (country AND western). However, today I wish to contend that there is one country song that is a more perfect example of…

  A decade ago, South Carolina-born singer-songwriter Ben Bostick set his compass west like a pioneer, albeit one who found the crowds thronging the Santa Monica pier liked his mix of covers and original songs so well that he could actually make a living busking. It was the beginning of a journey he’s still on today, full of highs and lows and tales that only he could tell.Bostick’s initial oceanside success bankrolled his 2015 EP My Country, a collection of alternately playful and poignant outsider-country tunes in the tradition of Waylon Jennings and Chris Stapleton. His self-titled 2017 debut full-length…