Each year the Grammy's evoke the usual wide range of responses from disgust to indifference to praise.  Whatever.  It's the music industry's big wet kiss to itself and I expect a stew of the good, the bad and the ugly in terms of who is nominated, who wins, and what gets televised. That's just how it is. So, in the wake of the Grammy hoopala, here's an appreciation of Pat McLaughlin, one of my very favorite performers, an extremely talented songwriter, singer, and rhythm guitarist.  The kind…

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Phil Alvin nearly left the proverbial building a few weeks ago when difficulty breathing turned quickly into an inability to breath, resulting in an emergency life saving tracheotomy and a week or so in ICU.  He remains hospitalized in Valencia, Spain.  The Blasters were on a tour of Europe, and the band has been with him.  He's said (by his brother Dave at his own show last night) to be recovering nicely with golden vocal cords intact, and is expected home in a week or so. Here's a series…

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The term "Americana" gets used more pervasively on this site than does "billion" by our congressmen, and I tend to wonder if either word is truly understood.  "Americana" appears to include a billion different things and exclude very few.  The more I read and hear the word "Americana" as applied to music, the more I understand where the "whatever that is" used by the No Depression magazine came from, though the answer is no more clear now than it was then. 

Before continuing, let me…

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As a teenager in Buffalo during the 70's, the early days of my music buying, er, hobby, like in most cities, there were many record store chains and mom and pop shops. You could find wondrous things fairly easily. The store clerks were fountains of knowledge. Except the ones touting Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Kansas. Around 1976, the Record Theater opened on Main St. in University Plaza across from the University of Buffalo. I recall them advertising the best possible selection with "over… Continue