Author: Mark Ray
Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #2 Winter 1995
The Schramms – Cicero’s (St. Louis, MO)
Halfway through their spirited performance in Cicero’s intimate lower quarters, The Schramms’ chief scribe/singer/guitarist and namesake, Dave Schramm, asked if he was mumbling too much. Before anyone in the small but enthusiastic crowd could reply, Schramm followed with a smirky, “Well, I ain’t got nothin’ to say anyway.” Schramm could be excused for being cranky. [...]
Town and Country - Shorter Artist Feature from Issue #5 Sept-Oct 1996
Stillwater – Running wild
“That’s blood.” Upon closer inspection, it’s clear Chris Grabau isn’t kidding. Sure enough, those are faint blood stains on his yellow Fender Telecaster. “We were playing a show in Columbia, Missouri,” explains the soft-spoken singer-guitarist for Stillwater, “and it was a couple of songs before I realized I’d cut my hand on the bridge.” Grabau [...]
Town and Country - Shorter Artist Feature from Issue #4 Summer 1996
Wagon – They’re all spokes in the wheel
A few beers into our conversation in an old Westside pub, it occurs to me that none of the members of Wagon have interrupted one another. Not once. In fact, the only disturbance is the booming voice of a very large bartender across the room, whose insolence doesn’t seem to bother the band at all. [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #3 Spring 1996
Doc Watson – The Vanguard Years
Doc Watson may have recorded for many labels over the years, but the folks at Vanguard Records have wisely recognized their cut of the pie (from 1963 to 1971) as some of Watson’s most seminal work. As a result, they’ve issued this cohesive and complex document of Watson’s most influential period of artistic growth. By [...]
Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #3 Spring 1996
Grain Belt Rock Review – Off Broadway (St. Louis, MO)
Since Uncle Tupelo split and moved on, and The Bottle Rockets left town to tour about 366 days a year, the question has been nagging: Is the community that spawned these seminal bands still vital? By the end of the Grain Belt Rock Review, a two-night celebration of Midwestern twang-rock, a few hundred people would [...]
