George Rains
May 2, 20188 min read
Cellar Dweller, Part One
First of Three Parts The Cellar began as an eccentric little coffee house in a dank, dark basement underneath Houston Street in downtown...
Bill Bentley
Apr 9, 201810 min read
Bentley's Bandstand / April 2018
Marcia Ball, Shine Bright. This woman must have a fountain of youth flowing through her backyard, because after a half-century of ripping...
Bill Bentley
Mar 20, 201810 min read
Bentley's Bandstand / March 2018
David Byrne, American Utopia. In rock & roll, David Byrne has long been the King of Quirk. That's a high compliment, too. Over 40 years...
Bill Bentley
Feb 18, 201810 min read
Bentley's Bandstand / February 2018
Bing & Ruth, No Home of the Mind. As those moments arrive when the only sure-thing bet for a psychic lift is music that turns sound into...
Bill Bentley
Jan 15, 20189 min read
Bentley's Bandstand / January 2018
Ella Fitzgerald, Ella at Zardi's. As part of the centennial celebrating Ella Fitzgerald's birth, the lady's record label went all out...
Bill Bentley
Jan 3, 20182 min read
The Haiku Reviews / Bentley's Bandstand
The end of the year seems like a good time to collect some of the righteous reissues that have come out in the past 12 months and help...
Bill Bentley
Dec 21, 20179 min read
Bentley's Bandstand / Best Albums of 2017 (Second Half)
For whatever reason, 2017 has flown by in a blurry flurry. Likely the news oozing out of D.C. daily lends to that hyperdrive, or maybe...
Bill Bentley
Dec 13, 20179 min read
Bentley's Bandstand / December 2017
Peter Bernstein, Signs LIVE! At the end of a long and discombobulating year, what could be better than a sheer blowing session by what is...
Bill Bentley
Nov 18, 201712 min read
Bentley's Bandstand / November 2017
Blind Boys of Alabama, Almost Home.When it’s time to turn toward the spirit world and work your way home, take the hands of the Blind...
Nick Russell
Oct 17, 20172 min read
From the Oil Patch to the Sun: Nick Russell's Early Photography
The photos shown here are a selection from Nicolas Russell’s show at SouthPop Austin, opening Oct 22 through Dec 2, 2017. They were taken...
Bill Bentley
Oct 10, 20178 min read
Bentley's Bandstand / October 2017
Amadou & Mariam, La Confusion.When it comes to modern African music, there is no greater joy expressed than by this married couple from...
George Rains
Sep 30, 201710 min read
Doug Sahm: Family Man & Night of the Living Blues
Family Man My friend Charley and I went to see Doug Sahm at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go on Sunset Boulevard. Doug was there with his band, The...
Bill Bentley
Aug 31, 201710 min read
Bentley's Bandstand / September, 2017
Nicole Atkins, Goodnight Rhonda Lee. It's a strong sign when a new album gets both a ringing shout-out from The Replacements' Tommy...