The Dharma Pages

Interview: Taylor John Williams

Whether you are a Los Angeles native, a momentary visitor or an out of town transplant, Friday nights on Hollywood Blvd are a strange beast. It’s one of LA’s many boulevards but this one specializes in dreams (broken and fulfilled), kitschy novelty stores, Scientology centers, the best Captain Jack Sparrows money can buy, venues, heavy traffic and eateries with overly harsh lighting…like the one…

Connecting The Dots w/ MisterWives

If you are Mandy Lee (vox), Etienne Bowler (drums), William Hehir (bass), Marc Campbell (guitar), Jesse Blum (keys, trumpet, accordion) and Mike Murphy (saxophone) aka MisterWives, how do you follow up your wildly successful 2015 debut album, Our Own House? You connect the dots! Check out my full interview on HIGH VOLTAGE!

Chris Cornell “Scream”: Sometimes Silence Really Is Golden

Anticipation is a bitch, don’t you know. I and half of the Western world anticipated G ’n R’s long suffering “Chinese Democracy” with the fiendishness of a junkie 5 days without a fix only to have the deliverance render not so much as a contact high. When will I learn my lesson? It’s not as if I and the other half of the Western world didn’t “know” that this Chris Cornell/Timbaland thing wasn’t…

Euphoric Mourning: Chris Cornell

I was just about to fall asleep when I got a text…the text. That seems to be the way of the world these days. And, still, I’ve yet to go to sleep. What we know about the circumstances of his “sudden and unexpected” death are sketchy, at best, and we wait for further, but here’s what we do know: Seattle’s Chris Cornell was a rock god among mortal men… Full article on HIGH VOLTAGE.  

“I’m Landon Milbourn. Lead vocalist, star extraordinaire.” “This is Tyler. Tyler Baker. The real star vocal. I play guitar.” “Brandon Qualkenbush. Guitar. I’m celebrating 04/20 in full effect right now.” And that is how our conversation began. Oh, Goodbye June, what are we going to do with you? Check out my interview with Nashville’s Goodbye June on HIGH VOLTAGE.

In those words lie, for the curious and the uninitiated, the crux of the Allan Rayman narrative and begs that we forgo individual song dissection or a bullet point list of the worth of Roadhouse 01’s 13 songs: it deserves better than being severed and consumed in individual pieces which is why album songs released in advance like “13,” “Repeat,” “25:22” – maybe not “Faust Road” – felt so much like irritating emotional cliffhangers.

Yes, that is a compliment.

In His Words: Kamtin Mohager (The Chain Gang of 1974)

Time and change are two irrefutable facts of life but, if we’re fortunate, so is progress. So after Daydream Forever, Kamtin took some time, made a few changes and after 2 ½ years (here comes the progress-part) The Chain Gang of 1974 re-emerged with the sound of the two sharp singles, “Slow” (its video featuring Tears for Fears frontman Curt Smith) and “I Still Wonder” along with a tour with The…

From the birth of the band in 2013 to Los Angeles residencies at favored local clubs, from touring with Miguel and Halestorm to signing with Roc Nation, from releasing their debut album ROCKISDEAD to selling out shows on their first headlining tour, Dorothy (the band = Dorothy Martin, Gregg Cash, DJ Black and Dylan Howard) has been a hard hitting, raw, metal meets blues, whiskey-fueled adrenalin…

10 Artists To Watch in 2017

Here’s to doing that end of the year thing where we get all predictive. These days there’s no such thing as a sure bet so, fortunately, there’s no money at stake where this list is concerned. These artists are either fresh faces who have displayed a boatload of promise or are a mere length or two away from fulfilling theirs. And, of course, all of them have found a home in my HEAR THIS Spotify…

5 (PLUS 5 MORE) ALBUMS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED: 2016

  This is not a “BEST OF” because, well, do you really need another since everyone and their grandmother has crafted one and they all tend to boast many of the same names and products? You’ll find no odes to Rihanna, Drake or Beyoncé here; please see Rolling Stone or Billboard for such. Please see here if you’re curious about what you may have missed amid the noise. Hence, my annual 5 Albums You…

Homecomings should always be so grand.

HEAR THIS: Otis English “Trigger”

Back in August, Los Angeles based Otis English introduced his musical self to the world with the exuberant yet thoughtful debut single, “Young Kids, Old Love” which – between Spotify and Apple Music – has racked up over 1 million streams. Shifting the energy downward and inward on “Trigger,” English delivers a song of solemn beauty, struggle and self-destruction. But with his stentorian voice…