Bentley’s Bandstand: January 2023 By Bill Bentley The Bad Ends, The Power and the Glory. What’s better than a surprise? When The Bad Ends album was released and holding down the drum spot was R.E.M.’s Bill Berry, it was like a circle had been completed. Berry had supplied so much of the power and finesse […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand: December 2022 (Part 2)By Bill Bentley Gail Ceasar, Guitar Woman Blues. There might not be many female blues singers out of Pittsville, Virgina, but it’s a surety there won’t be another better than Gail Ceasar. Born in 1984 and taught to play by her uncle Pete Witcher, there is something so sweet and […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand: Favorite Albums 2022By Bill Bentley Nicki Bluhm, Avondale Drive. This is a singer who has been making headway surely over the last decade, in bands with other artists and then fronting Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers. Now that she has gone on her own and then moved to Nashville from San Francisco it […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand: December 2022 (Part I) By Bill Bentley Johnny Adams, Only Want To Be With You. It is no accident that in his hometown of New Orleans soul singer extraordinaire Johnny Adams was lovingly called the Tan Canary. He enthused such a reverence from his many fans there that they could hardly contain themselves. […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand: November 2022By Bill Bentley Art of Time Ensemble, Songs of Leonard Cohen Live. An artist like Leonard Cohen is like a walking advertisement for tribute albums. The Canadian wrote so many undeniable songs of greatness there’s a chance that the tributes will go on for decades. The Art of Time Ensemble is a […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand: October 2022 By Bill Bentley Rory Block, Ain’t Nobody Worried. It’s become obvious that during the pandemic years a lot of musicians had a chance to slow down and figure out what it really is that makes their mojo work. For blues woman Rory Block, it’s the great songs of the ages, and […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand: September 2022By Bill Bentley Dave Alvin, New Highway: Selected Lyrics, Poems, Prose, Essays, Eulogies and Blues. At this point in his long and rollercoaster ride of a career, there’s not much that Downey, California’s favorite son hasn’t done. From a blues-soaked early education in Los Angeles clubs, forming the Blasters in the late […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand: July 2022By Bill Bentley Bhi Bhiman, I’ll Sleep When I’m Famous. “We might be helpless but we’ve got an open heart…” Those are the words that start this musical provocateur’s totally fascinating new album. Though Bhi Bhiman is originally from St. Louis, he really does sound like a captain of the entire universe. […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand June 2022By Bill Bentley Nicki Bluhm, Avondale Drive. Nicki Bluhm has been heading for making this album for many years. After other solo albums and some with Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers releases, Bluhm found herself at a crossroads. She had moved from San Francisco to Nashville alone, in many ways starting over […]
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Bentley’s Bandstand: May 2022 By Bill Bentley Johnny Ray Daniels, Whatever You Need. When the higher powers of the music business make a man wait until he’s 76 years old to make his own first album, there isn’t much left to say except WHATEVER YOU NEED. That is the name of Johnny Ray Daniels’ soul-kicking […]
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