Engine 145 - A Roots Music Publication

To say that the Bluegrass Underground concert series is held in one of the more unique concert locations is an understatement of magnificent proportions.  Some several miles out of the whopping metropolis of McMinnville, Tennessee—population 13,000 or so—is a bluegrass concert series that is held once a month underground. 333 feet below ground at Cumberland [...]

Continue reading "Concert Review: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver with Becky Schlegel at the Bluegrass Underground"

Being six months pregnant in the sauna that is a Washington, DC summer—after a transcontinental flight and sleeping in a tour bus bunk—seems, well, pretty miserable. You wouldn’t know it by looking at Kasey Chambers, though. Her Saturday night show at Alexandria, Virgina’s Birchmere was an hour and forty minutes of pure delight thanks to [...]

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I’m not the type of person who travels 2700 miles for a concert. The best part about living in DC is that nearly all genres of music can be found just a short walk or Metro ride away. But on Monday, I found myself flying cross-country to Sacramento for the third annual Golf & Guitars [...]

Continue reading "Golf & Guitars: Great Music for a Great Cause"

D.C. has had a rough week, thanks to a couple feet of snow that brought the normally bustling city to a screeching halt. But what better way to cure a raging case of cabin fever than with the Queen of Rockabilly? Wanda Jackson, that sweet lady with a nasty voice, brought some much needed pep [...]

Continue reading "Queen of Rockabilly Wanda Jackson Rocks D.C.’s Black Cat"

Patrick Huber’s Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South states that many fans and even some historians tend to view country music as the product of the rural South, ignoring the influence of the industrial Piedmont region, which was the textile capital of the world pre-WWII. The Carolina Chocolate Drops have [...]

Continue reading "Carolina Chocolate Drops Bring Raucous Fiddle Tunes to the Birchmere"

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Actually, scratch that last part. This tale of two Robbies—alt-country treasure Robbie Fulks, joined by similarly forenamed, longtime sideman Robbie Gjersoe—features only good times and great music, bolstered by hefty doses of swearing and hilarity. Equal parts everyman and intellectual, Fulks is something [...]

Continue reading "Robbie Fulks Conveys Heartbreaks And Humor At Jammin’ Java"

The American Revival Tour is currently winding its way down the Eastern seaboard, spreading the gospel of oldtime and bluegrass. Monday night the tour stopped in Alexandria’s at the Birchmere. Though the venue wasn’t sold out, there was a respectable turnout for a weeknight, especially considering that Lyle Lovett and Bruce Springsteen were in town. [...]

Continue reading "Dixie Bee-Liners, Sierra Hull and Uncle Earl Spread The Gospel of Old-Time and Bluegrass"

Hall & Oates may have been at the 9:30 Club on Wednesday night to perform Jimmy Wayne’s smash “Sara Smile,” but the best show in town featured co-headliners Robert Earl Keen, Todd Snider, and Bruce Robison. The three men sold out Alexandria’s Birchmere on the inaugural stop of their Barstool Tour, something that seems to [...]

Continue reading "Todd Snider, Bruce Robison and Robert Earl Keen Kickoff Barstool Tour in Alexandria"

Steve Martin may just be one of the most talented men in America; not only is he an accomplished comedian/actor/playwright, he’s also an excellent musician, having played banjo for 40-plus years. What’s next? A banjo tour, of course. Martin was nothing if not optimistic about this venture, remarking “if everything goes to plan, I’ll only [...]

Continue reading "Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers Ride Into D.C."

In 2005, banjoist Bela Fleck journeyed to several African countries including Tanzania, Mali, and the Gambia in search of the banjo’s roots. The result was Throw Down Your Heart, a documentary about his travels that has been making the festival circuit for approximately the past year. More recently, the Throw Down Your Heart album was [...]

Continue reading "Bela Fleck Brings Banjo’s Roots to the State Theater"