The above headline, “Sunset Going Down” is a phrase taken out of context from my interview with Massachusetts-based painter Joe Wardwell. Wardwell, as it happens, uses a similar methodology in his work, painting the kinds of quintessential American landscapes he saw growing up on the border of Washington and…

So, uh, hey, did anyone else notice it last Friday when President Obama had two U.S. citizens assassinated in Yemen? Anyone catch that?

I have to ask, because I feel like the only one I heard a peep from about it was Ron Paul, who took the bold stand…

Formed in Oakland in the late ‘90s and since relocated to Los Angeles, heavy rocking trio Totimoshi have been chipping away a niche for themselves all throughout their career. Their songs are among some of the most distinctive in all of the American underground, and founding guitarist/vocalist Tony Aguilar…

Joining the formidable lineup of the All Tomorrow’s Parties/Portishead-curated I’ll Be Your Mirror festival in Asbury Park is the reactivated and hugely-influential outfit Swans. Led by guitarist/vocalist Michael Gira, Swans was originally put to bed following 1996’s Soundtracks For The Blind as Gira went on to release seven studio…

As much good and bad as there is in the world, and just as much as there is in the world, these are fascinating times to be alive. Watching the premiere this past weekend of the HBO prohibition-era historical drama Boardwalk Empire, a scene in which the wife of…

Following a successful European stint with his Garcia Plays Kyuss outfit that found him bringing former drummer Brant Bjork and former bassist Nick Oliveri on stage at the Hellfest in Clisson, France, ex-Kyuss frontman John Garcia decided he wasn’t done. Not done with music, not done with Kyuss, not…

Working hard to keep the legacy of heavy metal’s greatest voice alive following his 2010 passing, the touring outfit Dio Disciples are hitting the road celebrating the music of Ronnie James Dio. Comprised of Dio band members guitarist Craig Goldy, bassist Rudy Sarzo, keyboardist Scott Warren and drummer Simon Wright,…

The same week all three bands will be performing at the Small Stone Records showcase in Philly (which runs Sept. 23-24 as part of the Philadelphia Film And Music Festival), New Orleans heavy rockers Suplecs will be making a stop at Union Pool in Brooklyn on Sept. 20 for a…

I don’t know how many Deleted Scenes columns I’ve written over the years sharing the headline above but it has to be at least six by now. This past weekend, as I watched the march of morons all around me—both in the media and in what I’ve recently learned is…

Minnesota native Charlie Parr is bringing his blues-tinged Americana to New York’s Hill Country on Sept. 15. If you’ve never had the pleasure of hearing Parr’s picked and crooned songs of railroads and regret, the man’s a folk poet in a long tradition of names no one knows but recognizes…