Welcome home, Jimmy Murphy

Bringin’ it on home from El Paso. The email from old friend Jimmy Murphy brought great memories, a big smile and a trip to Shifty’s to see what’s up in his life these days. Murphy’s been living in El Paso for decades now. He’s carved a nice life for himself as an educator, writer and…

Hello, old friend

Walking around Picnics at the Park for my job at the library a bit ago, I was fortunate that the music was being put out by my old friend Colin Aberdeen. He was setting up as I walked toward the library LPL2Go cart, so I stopped for a catch-up chat. Felt wonderful. And he was…

There’s a reason I like elephants

My dear wife Karen and I appreciated a Netflix movie by the title of Holiday in the Wild. OK, that’s a bit of a tease to my upcoming Monday Movie Review. But while watching, it also brought me back a decade, to the day when my music writer’s job at the big daily brought me…

Bridge Under Fire lets it all out with Gluttons Before Grace

Syracuse punk-rock band Bridge Under Fire doesn’t hold anything back with the album Gluttons Before Grace. The 11-cut album released this month by L.R.S. Records is an interesting collection of contrasts. Mark Turley, Jeff Walker, Chris Whitmore and Steve Lowe collaborate for a musical stew that can be rock with a tender sweetness. Guitars ring…

Sophistafunk shares a good Real Vibration at Funk N Waffles Downtown

I never saw a Sophistafunk set where people weren’t up, out, flying about in the middle of a great time. The new album from Real Vibration the Syracuse funk and hip-hop stewmeisters keeps that vibe flowing. Jack Brown, Adam Gold and Emmanuel Washington will come together to celebrate the release of the seven-cut album recorded…

Edgar Pagan sounds sweet, with support from many cool friends

Edgar Pagan can make a few calls, send a couple of emails, punch out a text or three and put together a CD that stands up to anything out there in the whole, wide world. That says so much. About the man’s heart, soul and talent. What a Feeling! billed as coming from GPL (that’s…

Stephen Douglas Wolfe celebrates We’ll Live

My good friend Ulf Oesterle sent over a note about a show in downtown Syracuse featuring Stephen Douglas Wolfe. And when a musician catches the ear and wins over the heart of Oesterle, it’s time to take notice. I know that from the years he pointed me toward cool sounds when I toiled as the…

A music fest, food truck and tap-room

Mark Turley of Syracuse indie label LRS Records dropped me a line about a cool event taking place this Saturday … Which happens to be the same day of the Hoo-hah that is the annual downtown Syracuse St. Patrick’s Day Parade. “We recently partnered with this new building downtown called The Cosmopolitan (1153 West Fayette…

The Shop gets back together at Upstairs at the Dinosaur

Music lover and writer Chris Rapp sent over a message a couple of months ago to alert me about a favorite old Syracuse band of his that was getting back together next weekend. Rapp urged that I alert the world through my blog. He even sent the pictures here along with his text. Rapp wrote…

Alphonso Sanders, Soft Spoken Band celebrate Black History Month

An old friend from my days at the big daily sent me a note about a collaboration this week for his band a special guest coming up from the south. “I am reaching out to alert you about a treasure of a musician who will be headed up from the Mississippi Delta to perform with…