Aimee Mann Christmas show: yucks of all kinds

I never thought I would hear the Til Tuesday 1980s hit “Voices Carry” performed live, but this week I got the next best thing.

My long-time friend Dave came down from Jersey to the Birchmere on 12/2/25 for the Aimee Mann and Ted Leo Christmas show, a variety program.

Mann spoofed her own song, creating new lyrics…

I enjoyed the post-gaze of Denver's Ratstallion

 11/29/25

I received an email from Phoebe of the "post shoegaze" group Ratstallion from Denver. She had some complimentary things to say about T.B. and let us know of her group's new release.

"Sisyphus Happy" is 19 minutes -- 7 songs -- of 'gaze. I wish it was longer. The themes are pain, truth, perception and attachment.

Shoegaze…

Review: grown-up music from Flock of Dimes, Natalie Hill

An older crowd, many of them my age, came to the Atlantis in D.C. on November 11 for Jenn Wasner's homecoming. She's from Baltimore and I'm highly partial to Wasner's last band, Wye Oak. I consider them to be the John Coltrane or Miles Davis of indie rock. So I was curious to hear Flock…

Hana Eid will make you feel 23 again, I promise: show review

Lookout is a Maryland fivesome with songs about white youth reality feelings. They were not ponderous but uptempo, conjuring up Britpop of prior decades. If you like The Delgados, The Sundays or the Go-Betweens, Lookout is for you.

Singer Kate features a mezzo soprano with some of the gravelly bottom of a Janis Joplin. Guitarist Jack…

TB live on bewaretheradio.com 20 Oct. 5pm EPT

TB connects through the internet for a live performance on Bewaretheradio.com at 5 pm eastern USA prevailing time.

The livestream player is on their home page and their mobile app is even better: https://bewaretheradio.com/

BTR is an internet radio station in Blackpool, England, that is part of the mighty Pacifica network. This segment will be recorded…

All Things Go music festival Forest Hills NY 9/28/25

Daughter: Did you know this would be so gay, millenial and female-headlined? Dad: yes. The festival was my choice and my daughter Olivia came with me. We saw four acts. 

GFlip is the kid in school who is your instant friend and can learn any instrument. She sang and played guitar, drums and sax. Her infectious…

Black Violin is dope; Strathmore, Maryland, 9/25/25

My wife and I saw Black Violin mix classical and hip-hop last week. It was way dope.

Kev Marcus plays violin and Wil Baptiste plays viola and sings, sometimes plucking the strings. They are the core of the group. They play a mix of tunes, starting with the Bach they learned as kids and moving to…

Wisp is the future of rock

I have seen the future of rock, and it is Natalie Lu.

She’s 21 and left college to play in big rooms with a shoegaze sound topped with her pop voice.  

She filled the 9:30 in D.C. on August 22 and the crowd swooned and gushed over her.

Shoegaze music is not about anything besides the feelings…

Tell them what you did this summer

I started the lyrics to our upcoming single, "Tall Enough to Ride," while driving in the Virginia countrywide and put some acoustic guitar chords to it.

Bob Hair and Tater Totts changed the chords into something fresh, a song with an easygoing funky feel with a memorable melody because of the clavinet and guitar riffs.

TB sometimes…

Coldgawd+Newmoon in DC: metal or shoegaze?

Bob Hair said I don't know what shoegaze music is. He was right about that, as with most things. But I found out on Thursday 7/25 at DC's Songbyrd.

First, if you like the Cocteau Twins, you'll like Coldgawd and Newmoon. They replicate Robin Guthrie's guitar effects with multiple instruments, so the listener is bathing in…

Snail Mail delivers in Brooklyn

Lindsey Jordan is from Ellicott City, about 30 minutes away from me, so I admit to bias. She's been performing as Snail Mail for 10 years, and is one of the women defining indie music. My daughter Olivia and I saw her on 7/17/25 at the Prospect Park bandshell in Brooklyn, N.Y. 

Bob Hair finds her to…

Aimee Mann gives a master class in musical depression

 

I’m as big an Aimee Mann fanboy as anyone, and the room was full of them. We got a master class on June 15 at the 9:30 Club in D.C.

She delights in being the empress of down, and said all her songs are depressing. If that were true, the room would have been empty.

The occasion…

Stone and Stick blog
Because we can't afford diamonds and wood