chamber pop Archive

Western NC Songwriters: Nine of a Kind

Asheville and its environs are home to a deep bench of musical talent. Whether they’re homegrown or drawn to the region to pursue their musical careers, singer-songwriters make their mark […]

Album Review: The Left Banke – Strangers on a Train

When the terms “baroque pop” or “baroque rock” come up in conversation, discussion of The Left Banke is assuredly to follow. While the group scored only a few hits – […]

Album Review: Curt Boettcher & Friends — Looking for the Sun

Those who take the trouble to dig deep into pop culture know that there exist around the margins an untold number of worthy artists who never got their due. Said […]

Musoscribe’s Best of 2018

Even having shifted my focus these last few years toward interviews and feature writing, I still manage to listen to and review quite a few albums. In one form or […]

November 100-word Reviews, Part 4

My roundup of worthy albums that deserve coverage continues with five more hundred-word reviews. Each of these deserves deeper coverage, but “so much music, so little time.” Dig ’em all. […]

Best of 2014: Concerts

One of the many pleasures associated with living in the small mountain city of Asheville NC is access to great live music. I grew up in the 70s and 80s […]

Festival Review: Big Ears 2014, Day 3 (Part One)

Dean and Britta I had already seen Dean Wareham and his wife/collaborator Britta Phillips on Day One of Big Ears 2014. But what was advertised for their Sunday performance – […]

Festival Review: Big Ears 2014, Day 1

Dean Wareham We arrived in Knoxville in plenty of time to grab front-row seats in the beautiful Tennessee Theatre. It certainly helped that attendance for Wareham’s set was light (the […]

The Chris Stamey Interview

Chris Stamey has been an important – if ever-so-slightly underground – part of the American music scene for decades. An early post-Big Star collaborator with Alex Chilton, he went on […]

The Polyphonic Spree: Fragile Army, Reinforcements of Hope

There are so, so many things out there that remind you: this is all good. –Tim DeLaughter Tim DeLaughter, leader and lyricist of Dallas-based The Polyphonic Spree, reflects on the […]