Sound Bites

Damn Right, Buddy Guy is 90

Damn right, Buddy Guy, born June 30, 1936, turns 90 today.

And dude is still workin’, still makin’ albums - his latest, Ain’t Done with the Blues, arrived in 2025 - and still playin’ gigs on the farewell tour he launched in 2023.

But Guy doesn’t need that kind of gimmick to command attention. His still-stinging guitar work and still-powerful voice take care of that.

And though his career goes back to session work in the 1950s and collaborations with Muddy Waters and Junior Wells, Guy didn’t release a solo album until 1967 and had just six LPs to his name when 1991’s Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues kicked off his solo career for real. And Guy just keeps going and going and going …

May that continue.

In the meantime, he’s cookin’ up plans for a public birthday party Oct. 1 at Radio City Music Hall with admirers and acolytes including Eric Clapton, Gary Clark Jr., John Mayer, Robert Cray, Bobby Rush and Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi.

“Michelle” (Take 1) Announces Rubber Soul Special Edition

- Reissue arrives Oct. 2 with previously unknown John Lennon song

The forthcoming Rubber Soul Special Edition will include a previously unknown John Lennon song called “Little Girl.” But first, “Michelle.”

And the Beatles had everything but the guitar solo when they laid down the first take of the Paul McCartney number.

It’s out to announce the Oct. 2 arrival of the Rubber Soul reissue, which, in addition to “Little Girl,” includes a new stereo remix, the original mono, studio outtakes and home demos.

While any previously unheard Fab recording is a treat, particularly at this late date, “Michelle” (Take 1) doesn’t add to Beatlemaniacs’ of how the song took shape, other than to confirm McCartney had it all worked out in advance and George Martin was wise to dial back the wordless backgrounds a bit.

“Brilliant Songster” Glen Hansard Dies in Motorcycle Accident at 56

Glen Hansard, the Irish musician who co-founded and fronted the Frames before launching a successful solo career, died July 29 in a motorcycle accident in Dublin. He was 56.

“We are still dealing with the shock of it all, so we kindly ask that the privacy of Glen’s family, colleagues and friends is respected at this difficult time,” Hansard’s management said in a statement.

Aoife O’Donovan said she was “heartbroken” at the loss of her occasional collaborator.

“Safe passage, brother,” she said.

Hansard’s music career began in 1990 with the Frames, with whom he released a handful of albums. He then went solo and recorded with Markéta Irglová as the Swell Season.

“You were a real one and the world is so much poorer for your loss,” Rhiannon Giddens said of Hansard.

Hansard was a “brilliant songster” who could hold an audience rapt, Low Cut Connie said.

“I was on a bill with him at Carnegie Hall in 2019 and he stole the show with his unbelievably powerful voice and presence,” Connie said. “He sang without a microphone and absolutely brought the house down. Thanks for the songs, GH.”

That voice “seemed to re-shape the elements and pierce every heart with truth,” Amy Helm said, while the High Kings said “Glen’s passion, honesty and unmistakable voice inspired generations of artists and reminded us all of the power of a simple song.

“He championed Irish music with authenticity, generosity and courage, and Glen leaves an immeasurable mark on us and on our cultural landscape,” the band said.

Bruce Springsteen shared an Irish stage with Hansard in 2013 and eulogized him as “a great musician, a good friend and a generous and gracious man.

“Always positive, smiling and ready to sing,” Springsteen said.

Album Review: Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts - As Time Explodes

With Neil Young off the road for 2026 save for a scheduled appearance at Farm Aid, As Time Explodes, the live album culled from Young’s 2025 gigs with the Chrome Hearts, is the best chance most fans have of experiencing the octogenarian musician with his latest band.

Though Young’s reedier voice and clunkier playing are detrimental to such ballads as “After the Gold Rush,” where Mother Nature is on the run in the 21st century, and “Harvest Moon,” they add something to seething electric numbers such as “Cortez the Killer.” When Young has a senior moment with the lyrics of “Cortez,” he’s heard saying something to one of his bandmates off-mic before synching back up in a powerful affirmation of the magic of live music.

Playing 13 career-spanning numbers alongside guitarist Micah Nelson, keyboardist Spooner Oldham, bassist Corey McCormick and drummer Anthony LoGerfo, Young is slightly diminished but still his unique self. And the second group to carry the NYCH acronym - but this ain’t Crazy Horse - is a sympathetic bunch of musical collaborators and supportive on the vocal front, where they provide essential buoyancy to folksy numbers like “Daddy Went Walkin’” and angry arena anthems including “Ohio.”

Though Nelson, McCormick and LoGerfo have previously worked with Young as NY + Promise of the Real, the Chrome Hearts are a new band with the addition of Oldham and the subtraction of Lukas Nelson. Songs from 2025, like the thrashing “Big Crime” and the countryish “Silver Eagle,” whose lyrics provide the LP title, suggest this band could develop into something special.

Older numbers, including “Vampire Blues” and “Like a Hurricane,” confirm it, though the inclusion of the dreadful “Be the Rain” - both on setlists and on As Time Explodes - is a head scratcher.

Grade card: Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts - As Time Explodes - B

Song Review(s): Billy Strings - “Cabin Song,” “The Lonesome River” and “Home” (Live, July 28, 2026)

Billy Strings and his band arrived onstage like speeding bullets, diving headlong into the tight harmonies and high-test bluegrass of “Cabin Song.”

Thus began Strings’ July 28 gig/webcast from Connecticut, which featured a three-song giveaway for the cheapskates at home. This fiery first salvo was followed by the wobbly balladry of “The Lonesome River,” a song that found guitarist Strings, mandolinist Jarrod Walker, bassist Royal Masat, banjoist Billy Failing and fiddler Alex Hargreaves literally playing to their strengths.

“River” showcased this band’s ability to play trad bluegrass while the following “Home” was an ethereal experiment that hinted at what Days of Future Passed might’ve been had the Moody Blues been a bluegrass combo. But then, as Strings switched to electric sounds, the song began a slow build and “Home” turned toward rock ‘n’ roll.

A strong performance of a weak composition.

Grade card: Billy Strings - “Cabin Song,” “The Lonesome River” and “Home” (Live - 7/28/26) - B/A+/C-

Song Review(s): Grateful Dead - “Box of Rain,” “Brokedown Palace” and “And We Bid You Goodnight” (Live, Sept. 26, 1991)

To promote the latest Grateful Dead full-show release, the keepers of the GD vault chose three tracks that rely heavily on strong vocal harmonies. Which would be great, except for the fact that the Dead weren’t singing so strongly on Sept. 26, 1991, in Boston, if “Box of Rain,” “Brokedown Palace” and “And We Bid You Goodnight” are any indication.

That said, any modern “Goodnight” was a treat and this one, difficultly finding the key and recalling all the words, is no exception. Of particular interest is Jerry Garcia cuing his fellow singers with one more time, something he virtually never did.

The preceding “Brokedown” has similar issues and is further complicated by Bruce Hornsby’s decision to switch from piano to accordion, thus muddying the waters by the bank’s green edge.

Phil Lesh’s “Box of Rain” begins the preview of Dave’s Picks Vol. 59 (July 31) and is also rough on the vocal front. Not so much because of Lesh’s acquired-taste singing voice, but because of the harmonies Garcia, Hornsby, Bob Weir and Vince Welnick are unable to achieve.

Three spectacular numbers; three lukewarm vocal performances.

Grade card: Grateful Dead - “Box of Rain,” “Brokedown Palace” and “And We Bid You Goodnight” (Live - 9/26/91) - B-/B-/B

Hear them here

Song Review: Jesse Welles - “There’s a Hole”

To hear Jesse Welles sing it - correctly - Pete Hegseth isn’t just an asshole, he’s the troll in the hole in the ass of the country.

Welles lays out the evidence in the 100 seconds of his latest homemade release, “There’s a Hole.” Solo-acoustic and set to a mid-tempo, pseudo-waltz, it uses plain language to decry the abnormal situation the United States finds itself in.

Yeah a moron from the Pentagon they call this one Pete/and he’s the troll in the hole in the ass of the country/well, things they slip out and other things they slip in/it’s a revolving door getting filled to the brim/with any company with a product that’ll kill folks with ease/anybody knows if you’re wanting dough, there's a place you can reach/it’s in the hole in the ass of the country, Welles sings.

It’s brilliant little ditties such as this that’ve made a sensation out of Welles. That he’s not running out of ideas - and that the Rhymes with Fondled Dump abomination keeps serving up material - virtually guarantees Welles’ music will have legs.

Grade card: Jesse Welles - “There’s a Hole” - A

Song Review(s): Little Feat - “Willin’” and “Don’t Bogart that Joint” (Live, June 7, 2026)

Even the best tribute acts have songs they find tough to replicate. And that includes America’s most-authentic Little Feat cover band - a group that happens to be Little Feat.

Its pairing of “Willin’” and “Don’t Bogart that Joint,” captured on pro-shot video June 7 in Massachusetts and just released, makes the point. It’s musically close and vocally not so close as guitarist Scott Sharrard tries to handle Lowell George’s spot at the mic. “Willin’,” therefore, mostly benefits from Bill Payne’s piano solo and Fred Tackett’s mandolin showcase.

The vocal challenges are particularly apparent on “Joint,” which is virtually a cappella. This version is raggedy, which is acceptable. However, where the original Feat had soul in their imperfections, the modern Feat just sound like a bar band who’re well in to their free drinks.

Grade card: Little Feat - “Willin’” and “Don’t Bogart that Joint” (Live - 7/6/26) - B+/C-

Album Review: Geiger von Müller - Neocubist Blues

Geiger von Müller continues his experimental bent with Neocubist Blues, an instrumental, solo-acoustic guitar album that while not entirely - or even mostly - blues might be neocubist, whatever that means in a musical context.

Specializing in slide but perfectly adept with fingerpicking, harmonics, percussive playing and other unorthodox approaches, the London-based von Müeller pairs ideas with compositions by mixing seconds-long cuts like Parts 10-12 of “Toys in Ghettos” (perennials across his discography) and “Orphic Cube,” “Synthetic Cube” and “Analytical Cube” with fleshed-out pieces like “Bottleneck Blues” and “New Revisit” that respectively breach the five- and seven-minute marks.

An original unashamed of borrowing, von Müeller, conjures sonic images of III-era Jimmy Page, Tommy Emmmanel and even tosses in a slice of Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4.” It’s music challenging enough to reveal nuances with each listen and melodic enough to work as early-morning or background music.

Grade card: Geiger von Müller - Neocubist Blues - B

Song Review: Old Crow Medicine Show feat. Del McCoury, Ronnie McCoury and Molly Tuttle - “My Side of the Mountain” (Live, June 7, 2026)

With Del McCoury, Ronnie McCoury and Molly Tuttle back on board, Old Crow Medicine Show on June 7 took “My Side of the Mountain” from the studio to the stage in Tennessee and captured it on professional video.

This version is more raggedy as Del McCoury has not committed his lines to memory and the still-fresh track hadn’t fully gelled. It’s also purer and in the moment, two of the elements that make live music such an exhilarating experience.

In addition to singing alongside Del and Ketch Secor, guitarist Tuttle is a featured soloist with mandolinist Ronnie McCoury and the fans who bought tickets to hear OCMS in the cozy confines of Nashville’s American Legion must’ve been beside themselves at the opportunity to witness multiple generations of bluegrass stalwarts on the tiny stage.

It ain’t perfect; yet it kinda is.

Grade card: Old Crow Medicine Show feat. Del McCoury, Ronnie McCoury and Molly Tuttle - “My Side of the Mountain” (Live - 7/12/26) - B+

Song Review: Widespread Panic - “Vampire Blues” (Live, July 17, 2026)

Released amid an energy crisis in 1974, Neil Young’s “Vampire Blues” is perhaps even more relevant in 2026 as the world seems to have learned nothing in the intervening half-century-plus.

So, Widespread Panic’s John Bell sung Young’s words July 17 in California as his bandmates set Young’s melody in a slow, bluesy arrangement during a performance just released on professional video.

I’m a vampire, baby, suckin’blood from the earth/I’m a vampire, babe, I'll sell you 20 barrels worth, Bell sings, slightly out of step with the music. And though this is likely intentional, the effect is slightly disorienting - also likely intentional.

Keyboardist Jojo Hermann and guitarist Nick Johnson are the featured soloists, with the former opting for acoustic piano to contrast this his colleagues’ electric sounds.

The interludes are the highlights of this “Vampire Blues,” a song that’s not yet quite found its way to blend into the Panics’ tapestry. It will.

Grade card: Widespread Panic - “Vampire Blues” (Live - 7/17/26) - B-

King Crimson Spans Decades, Continents and Members on Hybrid “Exiles”

Neither John Wetton nor David Cross were a part of King Crimson’s 2017 lineup. Now, thanks to Alex Mundy, the “Exiles” of 1973 are united with the band as it was 44 years in the future.

Engineer Mundy retroactively made them so by grafting Wetton’s vocals and Cross’ violin, as recorded in London during the Larks’ Tongues in Aspic sessions, on to Crimson’s June 11, 2017, live performance of the song, which had been dormant since ’74, in Seattle.

Remarkably, the former Crimsons sound perfectly at home within the musical soundscape the then-current lineup. This is thanks not only to the musicians, but to Mundy’s imagination and studio skills and Robert Fripp’s weird ability to keep King Crimson consistent across time and more than 20 members who came and went across the decades.

EP Review: Vilray - Indifference

Vilray goes through a serious emotional shift between “Indifference” and “Lord, Take that Man.”

Solo-electric, World War II-era jazz recorded at home, the songs from the mononym musician’s Indifference EP find Vilray swinging from feeling empty but good on the previously released title track to being full of feelings and not feeling so great on “Lord.”

Within me the bile’s bubbling/that hat and that awful hair/the thought I’m aware is troubling/but lord, take that man, Vilray sings in his soothing, smooth-as-silk baritone that softens the hard reality both songs address.

These tracks stand in stark contrast to EP closer “Falling & Love,” a traditional take on a romantic tryst better suited for the voice of Lake Street Dive’s Rachael Price and the Rachael & Vilray banner. This truth notwithstanding, the tune is another example of Vilray’s brilliant ability to bring the mid-20th century into the early-21st with uncanny ease.

Read Sound Bites’ review of R&V’s West of Broadway LP and its deluxe reissue here.

Grade card: Vilray - Indifference - A-

“I Want Your Love” Previews David Bowie’s The Shel Talmy Recordings

- Credited to Davy Jones & the Lower Third, song dates to 1965

The most-fascinating thing about Davy Jones & the Lower Third’s “I Want Your Love” - besides the fact that it’s a young David Bowie at the mic with his birth name intact - is Denis Taylor’s fuzzy, feedback-laden solos.

This is raw garage rock poorly recorded by producer Shel Talmy in 1965 and previews the Sept. 18 release of Bowie’s the Shel Talmy Recordings. The LP collects (mostly) previously unreleased material that includes contributions from Jimmy Page and Nicky Hopkins among others. Neither appear on “Love,” but Taylor’s solos - which don’t fit the song’s character and take over the track when they emerge - is a fascinating early dose of acid rock.

The Bowie estate has issued an overabundance of material over the last decade, leaving one to wonder if it’s reached the bottom of the barrel. “I Want Your Love” suggests it’s close, but the song has historical significance on its side.

Song Review: Ray Wiley Hubbard - “Look What the Cat Drug In”

The title is a tired phrase and Ray Wylie Hubbard has made plenty of ramshackle songs like it before, but “Look What the Cat Drug In” is a classic Hubbard number.

With slides on steel undergirded with chaotic percussion that may be played on plastic buckets, Hubbard sings of a grody feline gift in ragged harmony with co-writer Michelle White:

Good god, look what the cat drug in/smelling as guilty as original sin/funky as Jimmy Reed’s thin twin/good god, look what the cat drug in

The song lands right in Hubbard’s wheelhouse and follows “Cassette Mix Tape” and “Dog or Wolf” ahead of the Aug. 21 arrival of Reel 2 Reel 4 Real, which is shaping up nicely.

Grade card: Ray Wiley Hubbard - “Look What the Cat Drug In” - B+

Song Review(s): Billy Strings - “Gone a Long Time,” “Old Train” and “Heartbeat of America” (Live, July 25, 2026)

With “Gone a Long Time” as the opening number, Billy Strings had the immediate opportunity to work in a nod to Portland, Maine, and grab some applause - as if he needs the gimmick - off the top.

I’m headed up to Portland for two shows in a row, he sang. And the crowd, as they say, went wild.

And there was plenty to go wild for, including dexterous, lighting-fast pickin’ and high-quality vocal harmonies. This was one of three giveaways from the associated July 25 pay-per view livestream and set its traditional self apart from the mellower “Old Train” and the psychedelic “Heartbeat of America” that followed.

Strings and his bandmates - mandolinist Jarrod Walker, bassist Royal Masat, banjoist Billy Failing and fiddler Alex Hargreaves - clearly have their fingers on the heartbeat of Americana music as they continue stretching the boundaries of bluegrass - Bass solo! Echo! Electric guitar sounds! - while keeping their feet in that good ol’ mountain dew.

Grade card: Billy Strings - “Gone a Long Time,” “Old Train” and “Heartbeat of America” (Live - 7/25/26) - A/B/B+

Alan Parsons Live Project with Columbus Symphony Orchestra at Columbus Commons, July 25, 2026

The Columbus Symphony Orchestra was mostly hidden behind the nine-piece Alan Parsons Live Project. But neither their relative invisibility, nor Parsons’ faux pas in calling them the Columbia Symphony diminished their contributions. For on this refreshingly mild July 25 evening on the Columbus Commons, orchestra and prog-rock band were one entity and Project drummer Danny Thompson - who played like a flailing madman all night - and violinist Tyson Montgomery Leonard could’ve been confused for CSO members but for not wearing white.

The symphony was astonishing all evening, never intrusive, always essential and making it possible for the band to play the majestic “Silence and I,” which appears only at symphonic shows and showcases J.P. Olsson’s powerful vocal cords.

Overseeing his and Eric Woolfson’s legacy was Parsons, the 77-year-old Project leader who, in another life, engineered the Beatles’ Abbey Road and Let it Be and Pink Floyd’s the Dark Side of the Moon before co-founding his namesake Project. Perched above the APLP and the CSO, he strummed an inaudible acoustic guitar, played some keyboards and recorder and occasionally sung; his presence and inspiration being his essential contributions.

Split into two sets, the 95-minute show ended with the big hits “Sirius” -> “Eye in the Sky” and “Games People Play.” But it was the stuff these people don’t often play - including the instrumental “Luciferama” and the first side of the Alan Parson Project’s 1976 debut, Tales of Mystery and Imagination - that were the standout moments.

The Edgar Allan Poe-inspired tracks began with Orson Welles’ recitation on tape before Parsons’ recorder signaled the instrumental portion of “A Dream Within a Dream” and his heavily processed voice called “The Raven” to roost in downtown Columbus, Ohio. And while singers Olsson and Todd Cooper (sax, acoustic guitar) adroitly handled the difficult task of singing for APP’s many studio vocalists, guitarist Dan Tracey struggled mightily on forceful rock ‘n’ roll of “The Tell-Tale Heart,” just as fellow axeman Jeff Kollman did on “I Wouldn’t Want to be Like You,” extended with a funky Guy Erez bass solo, later in set two.

That second set found keyboardist Tom Brooks weaving “I Robot” motifs into the intro of “Damned if I Do” and the piano outro tacked on to “Prime Time.” And while the song never materialized, APLP struck a fine balance between deep cuts and radio standards in its efforts to satisfy both the prog- and pop-loving factions of its fanbase.

Grade card: Alan Parsons Live Project with Columbus Symphony Orchestra at Columbus Commons - 7/25/26 - B