Sunday evening at the 1884 Lounge, the smaller, more intimate concert room of Memphis’ Minglewood Hall, The Lone Bellow played a sampling of songs from their self-titled debut album to an enthusiastic, albeit slim crowd. The Lone Bellow is a group that I would say is right on the cusp of making it big, maybe even huge, but unfortunately a Sunday night in Memphis doesn’t always produce the best crowd for live music. The night before they played a sold-out show at the Exit/In in Nashville and will be playing another sold out show in Nashville at the historic Ryman when they open for Dwight Yoakam later this spring. It’s a shame that the crowd was small, but I’m sure the band will be back in the future. The crowd size also could have been affected by the fact that they were not even considered the headliner of the show despite receiving substantially more critical acclaim and music industry buzz than the actual main attraction Marcus Foster. (Admittedly I did not even stay to see Foster play, so if he becomes the next big thing in American music, I’ll have to live with that choice.) Read more

I held out hope I would never have to write what I’m about to write. I held true to my belief the online world would correct itself and reverse course from the horrid direction in which it was descending. But there’s no pulse anymore. The body’s gone cold, and the ambulance has been called. It’s time to declare the diva dead. Read more