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Review: Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues

"Playing the blues is not for sissies." This line, muttered by guitarist and former Phoenix associate arts editor Ted Drozdowski, sets the tone about five minutes into Robert Mugge's documentary.
Review: Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues
By MICHAEL C. WALSH | June 24, 2011

Sun days

Sonny Burgess had his first hit for Sun Records in 1956 — two minutes and 26 seconds of howling wild-ass stomp called "We Wanna Boogie."
No dust on Sonny Burgess
By TED DROZDOWSKI | July 09, 2010

Peter Parcek | The Mathematics Of Love

Blues musicians have been recycling the same ol' same for so long that it's easy to forget just how exciting blues can be. Guitarslinger/singer Peter Parcek's thrill-a-minute The Mathematics of Love is a reminder of that.
Redstar (2010)
By JEFF TAMARKIN | July 02, 2010

Matthew Stubbs | Medford & Main

Boston-based roots guitarist Stubbs has a wicked way with a groove and an ability to conjure vintage tones.
Blue Bella (2010)
By TED DROZDOWSKI | May 07, 2010

Dick 50 | Late Show

Nothing jells like a band who play constantly.
Dick 50 Music (2010)
By TED DROZDOWSKI | April 30, 2010

Peter Wolf | Midnight Souvenirs

This Boston music legend’s metamorphosis from party animal to monster songwriter became complete with his previous solo album.
Verve/UME (2010)
By TED DROZDOWSKI | April 02, 2010

Old man riffer

Bluesman James "T-Model" Ford is a survivor, and has been for a very long time.
T-Model Ford turns 90 . . . or thereabouts
By TED DROZDOWSKI | February 26, 2010

Taking care of business

Boston is one of the healthiest markets for live roots music in the country. Here are the 10 roots shows we don't want to miss this fall.
Digging for gold in the roots and world-music scene
By TED DROZDOWSKI | September 18, 2009

Pleasure principles

King Sunny Adé's music is bubbly as a tonic — a percolating, pop-infused update of the traditional Yoruba sound. "My songs are made to lift worries, so people can be happy and dance their troubles away," declares the 62-year-old Nigerian world-music sta
King Sunny Adé still brings the beats
By TED DROZDOWSKI | July 10, 2009

Slideshow: Easy Star All-Stars at the Middle East downstairs

Easy Star All-Stars at the Middle East downstairs
Easy Star All-Stars, live at the Middle East downstairs, May 15, 2009
By DAVID F. NICHOLSON | May 22, 2009

Soul survivors

Gospel recordings go back to the 1920s, the beginning of commercial recording.
A short list of gospel essentials
By TED DROZDOWSKI | March 23, 2009

Roots of spring

Homegrown recordings from Boston and beyond
Homegrown recordings from Boston and beyond
By TED DROZDOWSKI | March 18, 2009

Griot act

Some albums are extraordinary because they capture their time. Others are great because they transcend it.
Rokia Traoré breaks through with Tchamantché
By TED DROZDOWSKI | February 09, 2009

Open House

I put on the obligatory hard hat and walk through the doors of what used to be Avalon on Lansdowne Street, across from Fenway Park. To the layman — me — it's all dust, noise, metal, and mess.
After more than a year of construction and relative quiet, the Lansdowne Street music scene is about to be reborn
By JIM SULLIVAN | February 04, 2009

Fast-breaking music

WFNX has always been a maverick radio station.
You heard it here first
By TED DROZDOWSKI | December 01, 2008

Rhapsodies in blues

“There are a lot of people that play the blues with too much reverence. And that’s the reason that most blues sucks,” says Scissormen frontman (and Phoenix contributor) Ted Drozdowski.
Scissormen razor sharp on Luck in a Hurry
By MIKE MILIARD | October 15, 2008

Ani DiFranco | Red Letter Year

This is DiFranco’s most sophisticated album, a musical convergence of her best qualities: warm singing, graceful writing, experimentation.
Righteous Babe (2008)
By TED DROZDOWSKI | September 23, 2008

Interview: Dick Smothers

The Smothers Brothers have spent 50 years in funny business.
Mom always liked him best
By TED DROZDOWSKI | September 17, 2008

B.B. King

This is his best since his 2000 collaboration with Eric Clapton, Riding with the King .
One Kind Favor | Geffen
By TED DROZDOWSKI | September 10, 2008

Basic elements

Boston was a world-music stronghold even before the “world music” genre existed.
The international and roots-music scene heats up
By TED DROZDOWSKI | September 08, 2008

Bill Burr

The tirades he delivers here, always laced with self-depreciation, amount to a lovingly mean-spirited string of barbs aimed at racists, idiots, girlfriends, bikers, and well, just about everybody.
Why Do I Do This? | Comedy Central
By TED DROZDOWSKI | August 26, 2008

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