The Black Lillies’ fourth album opens with a big surprise: a funky drumbeat and swampy guitar riff straight out of Memphis or New Orleans that turns into an extended R&B-style …
Local Music Review: Maps Need Reading
Maps Need Reading Hopes for Chemistry “Morning haze, one hit more,” Maps Need Reading sing on their debut EP. It’s a pertinent tagline for Hopes for Chemistry, four tracks of …
Sliding Home: Highlights of Ry Cooder’s Catalog From Knox Co. Public Library
Paris, Texas The truth of musical lore is almost always more compelling than myth. As a guitar slide, early 20th-century bluesman Blind Willie Johnson preferred the side of a knife …
Hector Qirko Imaginary Bands: ‘Field Notes’
Hector Qirko’s contributions to the local music scene covered more than 30 years—first as guitarist for the seminal Knoxville punk band Balboa, with the late Terry Hill, and later with …
Hey OK Fantastic: ‘Midnight in 3-D’
The members of the eccentric local band Hey OK Fantastic have had a hard time letting go—almost as much trouble as they’ve had keeping the project going. The band played …