Author: John Barry

Asbury Park: Transparent Clinch Gallery to host live music from Mike Wheeler, Nashville musician and BERTHA: Grateful Drag member
10Oct By John BarryNo Comments
Events, Features

Asbury Park: Transparent Clinch Gallery to host live music from Mike Wheeler, Nashville musician and BERTHA: Grateful Drag member

Mike Wheeler, the acclaimed Nashville-based singer, songwriter and performer, who is also a member of BERTHA: Grateful Drag, will perform on Saturday, Oct. 11, at Transparent Clinch Gallery in Asbury Park, NJ. Wheeler, called, “the kind of road dog troubadour of yore" by Maximum Volume Music, is originally from Vermont. He has established a firm foothold in modern music with a resume that includes work with Todd Smallie of Derek Trucks Band and JJ Grey & Mofro fame; Sierra Ferrell; and members of Sturgill Simpson's band. Wheeler has opened for James Taylor and Jackson Browne; and has taken the stage at the Newport Folk Festival and Jam Cruise. He has also worked with Daniel Donato. Wheeler’s gig in Asbury this weekend will mark a return to the Jersey Shore for him. He and his BER...
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Rush Reunites: How Paul McCartney Helped Get the Band Back Together
10Oct By John BarryNo Comments
Events, Features

Rush Reunites: How Paul McCartney Helped Get the Band Back Together

Rush fans north, south and within the U.S. borders rejoiced Monday at the announcement on Instagram that bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson are getting the band back together for a 2026 tour. And they should all send Sir Paul McCartney a thank-you card. But more on that in a minute. Rush’s “50 Something” tour will run from June 7-September 17, beginning in Los Angeles, California, and wrapping up in Cleveland. Lee and Lifeson haven’t toured together in 11 years. The full Rush itinerary is below.  Drummer Anika Nilles will round out the trio, taking over for Neil Peart, who died in 2020. Nilles has played more than 60 shows with Jeff Beck and has released four solo albums. In addition to banging the skins for Rush, Peart was the band’s lyricist and delivered epic ...
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Phish: Page McConnell Offers Revealing Insight on New Album, in GQ Article
6Oct By John BarryNo Comments
Features, Interviews, Reviews

Phish: Page McConnell Offers Revealing Insight on New Album, in GQ Article

The Something Will Land album cover/Image courtesy of Big Hassle An anchor of the Vermont jamband Phish, but  at times more a member of the four-piece school than a breaching dolphin, keyboard player Page McConnell is playing a new tune at the moment and has got plenty to say.  McConnell has released his latest album, Something Will Land, and is the focus of a GQ article by Grayson Haver Currin. The album, according to a press release, is “An exquisite space of ambient afterglow…Something Will Land feels as if Page McConnell simply slipped behind his instruments and waited to get lost, arriving at a place for settling in amid all the world’s ever-increasing entropy.” McConnell launched into work on Something Will Land in the wake of his last album, Maybe We’re The Visitors. He ...
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U2 and Woody Guthrie: This Land is Their Land
6Oct By John BarryNo Comments
Features, Music

U2 and Woody Guthrie: This Land is Their Land

By John W. Barry Irish rock band U2 will receive the Woody Guthrie Prize, awarded by the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Oct. 21.  U2/Photo by Helena Christensen U2 lead singer Bono and guitarist The Edge will accept the award on behalf of the band at Tulsa’s famed Cain’s Ballroom.  According to an announcement from the Woody Guthrie Center, which is located a half-mile from Cain’s, “Bono and The Edge will return to Cain’s Ballroom, for the first time since U2’s 1981 show on the U.S. leg of the “Boy” tour, “To accept the award and participate in an onstage conversation about the band’s music. They look forward to legally buying their own pints this time around.” U2 formed in 1976 in Dublin, Ireland, gained traction and never looked back. The...
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