The historical county of Essex is home to many great bands and the inspiration for many great songs — Tradition is a funny old thing, especially in an ‘old’ country like England. Many people follow the traditions from hundreds, even thousands of years ago. We English still measure fuel consumption in miles per gallon even though we buy our petrol in litres and West Ham and Millwall football fans…

Several of you probably read my previous attempt at this challenge over at Plethora of Pop. As I said, I wanted to do it twice to separate my rap choices from my other choices. This made the challenge a little easier for me thankfully. …

Write about local music in your hometown — Bar Chords is a publication dedicated to local music happening now. Music is everywhere, from the big city to the one-stoplight town, and the people who make it are more common than you may realize. Most of the world’s musicians are not famous. They don’t appear on television and you…

10 songs, sorted from least to most specific — For the longest time, Michigan was primarily known for two things: automobiles and music. That was probably 60 years ago. I honestly couldn't tell you what Michigan is best known for these days. Crime? (Detroit was ranked the most dangerous city in America in 2020.) The drinking water in Flint…

Ozzy Osbourne gets the Nineties tribute treatment — The Nineties were a good time for tribute albums. Candlebox covering John Lennon, Sonic Youth covering The Carpenters, Blind Melon covering Led Zeppelin… Grunge and other alternative styles were perfect for taking classic tracks, tapping into what was real about them, and presenting that in a new light. …

Songbird Sessions Featured Street Musician — Dovydas is like the Where’s Waldo of indie music. You never know where you will find him. I love the YouTube algorithm gods that introduced him to me with this video of him accompanying Vere Hill singing Tennessee Whiskey. This video took me…

A Review of Ruston Kelly’s Album, Shape & Destroy — Background Ruston Kelly is from a musical family. In the 1960s his dad used to play steel guitar in the east Texas folk scene. His sister also sings and eventually became an actress. Growing up, there were guitars and other instruments laying around the house like old newspapers. It was only…

“Some people may not realize it but the Rascals were the first rock band in the world … in the center of the universe, New Jersey, the Rascals were the first band.” – Steven Van Zandt, 1997 Induction of the Rascals into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame New…

Mixing soul, rock, dance-pop, dubstep, reggae and Tejano — This post is part of the ongoing series: “1001 songs to listen to before you die” where I steadily work through 1001 songs from the history of music, published in the book of the same name. If you missed any of the previous parts, then you can catch up here. 1001 Songs to Hear Before You Die medium.com …