Rich KassirerDec 8, 20154 minFavorites of 2015My end of the year extravaganza is called Favorites of 2015 because I just don’t listen to enough new music through the year to warrant c...
Rich KassirerJan 28, 20156 minInterview with Zack Hickman of Barnstar!When last we saw the boys of Barnstar!, they were dressed as a band of pirates riding the high seas of Boston Harbor and performing to a ...
Rich KassirerNov 8, 20142 minOne music fan's boycott of SpotifyI won’t listen to Spotify. In fact, I am personally boycotting it. I’m sure the music streaming executives are quaking in their collectiv...
Rich KassirerAug 14, 20143 minTwo New England festivals are all about the musicHere in the New England, we have no Bonnaroo, no Coachella, no Lollapalooza, no New Orleans Jazz Festival: summer music extravaganzas wit...
Rich KassirerJan 30, 20145 minThree music thoughts in 4 daysHopefully, people will read this and won’t think, “wow, this guy is old and cranky.” That is not true – at least the second part. It just...
Rich KassirerJan 15, 20143 minJoan's arcIn praise of the underappreciated Joan Osborne I recently went to see a band called Trigger Hippy at a concert hall in Boston. As a band,...
Rich KassirerJul 19, 20132 minFurthur, more or lessReturning to the scene of the Dead 30 years later I went back with some misgivings – no Jerry Garcia will do that to even the most ardent...
Rich KassirerJul 16, 20135 minCan musicians get fans to put down their cameras?“At the request of Matt and Zooey, we ask that people not use their cell phones to take pictures and video, but instead enjoy the show th...
Rich KassirerApr 2, 20132 minThat '70s soundNot long ago I wrote of my quest to find a new sound, to get outside the now-overcrowded genre of “Americana” – acoustic guitar, banjo, m...
Rich KassirerMar 23, 20135 minShock and Ugh: The rise and fall of Michelle ShockedMichelle Shocked changed my musical life forever – and for that I’ll be forever grateful. But I believe that the joy she gave me will als...
Rich KassirerApr 7, 20123 minTeleprompters for musicians: cheating or helping?A recent story in the Washington Post brought to light that Bruce Springsteen was using a teleprompter on stage during his recent tour as...
Rich KassirerOct 5, 20112 minMiles Davis and the Grateful Dead, April 1970I recently came across a new posting on Wolfgang’s Vault of an old recording of a Miles Davis concert from 1970 at Fillmore West in San F...
Rich KassirerDec 18, 20102 minSunshine Daydreamin'In our youth we spent some time doing the Grateful Dead thing. Not the full-on, traveling show to show across the country, but we did str...
Rich KassirerSep 17, 20103 minGoodbye PasteYou knew this was coming. Paste magazine, which had struggled for some time from lack of advertising revenue, is dead… or at least the pr...
Rich KassirerJun 10, 20102 minThree Cheers for TremeI’m not a big TV watcher. Luckily, “Mad Men” is on a station I get and I can’t wait for it to resume this summer. I enjoy a couple cop sh...
Rich KassirerFeb 1, 20102 minNaming Josh Ritter's band? I win!Wow! I just learned that I won the contest to name Josh Ritter’s band! From now on, they will be known as Josh Ritter and the Royal City ...
Rich KassirerDec 16, 20095 minSong of the decade: Josh Ritter's Thin Blue FlameThere are a zillion posts and articles out there expounding on the best this and that of the decade, and personally I don’t give two wits...
Rich KassirerJan 14, 20091 minMore BanjoHanukkah has come and gone. There are so many great thing about this family celebration — the food, the songs (including the not-quite tr...
Rich KassirerApr 14, 20081 minOn the Oregon TrailMy search for great music goes far and wide, and recently we found our way to a website out of Oregon called opb.org. I’m not sure what i...
Rich KassirerApr 10, 20081 minVisiting Sun Studio, from homeSome day soon I have to visit Nashville and Memphis… but until then Sun Studios in Memphis — the home of Elvis and Stax and a boatload of...