Photo: Darrow Montgomery

Chuck Brown, one of Washington DC’s most prominent musicians and a mainstay of the Go-go music scene, passed away on May 16th at the age of 75. Brown had been hospitalized since April for pneumonia.

Brown was credited as the “Godfather of Go-go,” a subgenre of funk and R&B that enjoyed popularity in Washington DC from the late 60s to the early 80s. While go-go music never found a large audience outside of the DC metropolitan area, Brown did experience chart success during his decades-long career. Brown and his group The Soul Searchers had their biggest hit in 1979 when their song “Bustin’ Loose” topped the R&B charts for four weeks. “Bustin’ Loose” was also notably sampled in Nelly’s smash hit “Hot in Herre” in 2002.

Brown came from extremely humble origins, working odd jobs at a young age. In his teens, Brown became caught up in a some criminal activities. Originally incarcerated for aggravated assault, Brown was eventually charged with murder after the man he attacked died in hospital care. While in prison, Brown reportedly traded a few cartons of cigarettes for his first guitar.

While popular success would prove fleeting for Brown and Go-go music at large, he continued to have a vital career. Brown scored his first GRAMMY award nomination in 2011 for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals with Jill Scott and Marcus Miller for the song “Love.”

Listen to Chuck Brown’s “Bustin’ Loose” below.

In Gregg Allman‘s new autobiography, My Cross To Bear, the man who has helmed The Allman Brothers Band since their inception in 1969 reflects on the wins, losses and draws he has experienced in his four decades of rock stardom. Having Allman’s history put into this kind of historical focus provides an excellent opportunity for slightly less objective parties (ahem) to tally up the home runs and strikeouts Allman has racked up in his long reign on the Southern rock throne. Some of them are as obvious as the beard on Gregg’s mug, but a few of them just might come as news to you.

1. The Hour Glass

Allman hit the ground running with The Hour Glass, the band he formed with his guitar virtuoso brother Duane. Their first album was released before Gregg was even out of his teens, and both of the band’s records featured an appealing blend of soul and psychedelic rock, including everything from an R&B-soaked take on Carole King‘s “No Easy Way Down” to a paisley-patterned adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe‘s “The Bells” alongside original material.

Continue reading ‘Riffs, Rants and Rumors: Gregg Allman’s Triumphs and Trip-Ups’

Up until Superbowl Sunday, Juliet Simms was known solely in the underground modern rock scene as the vocal powerhouse of  pop punk band Automatic Loveletter. On stage, she was a charismatic performer, earning her stripes on the Warped Tour circuit and on club tours with bands like Secondhand Serenade and Cute Is What We Aim For. But behind the scenes, Simms struggled to find a label to call home and was constantly battling those who believed a woman simply couldn’t hang in the male-centric world of rock music. Simms’ tight-knit fan community were by her side, but she couldn’t seem to break into the mainstream the way she wanted to.

OS: What was your audition process for The Voice? What made you decide to sing “Oh! Darling” for your audition?

JS: I’ve never really been one for covering songs. I’ve always just done originals. However I grew up singing The Beatles and just felt if I was going to do this show, I was going to do it my way and represent the music I so much believe in.

OS: Before you auditioned, did you have a first choice for which coach you’d want to work with? How did it feel when three out of four coaches turned their chairs around for you?

JS: I walked onto the blind audition stage just hoping one would turn around for me. When I saw that three had turned for me I was dumbfounded. Cee- Lo spoke from his heart and I could hear the loyalty in his words. I knew he was the right coach to go with!

OS:  What has life been like for you since the show ended? Do you have any immediate plans of things you’d like to start working on?

JS: Life has been drunk…[laughs] no, just kidding. Being out in the wilderness again is taking some getting used to. I’m pretty much just resting…I was and still am pretty sick so I’m trying to get better. My plans are to take immediate action in making an album.

Continue reading ‘Exclusive Q and A: Juliet Simms Takes Us Behind The Scenes of ‘The Voice’’

Brittany Campbell

You want untapped, gutsy, street cool? You go to Brooklyn. And if you’re lucky, you just might find an artist half as interesting as Brittany Campbell. The singer-songwriter/producer/guitarist cross-pollinates doo-wop, Motown, new wave and pop rock for a completely fresh and revelatory sound. Like Amy Winehouse, Debbie Harry and Santigold, Campbell’s an original. On “Call Me Baby,” vintage guitars strut against a beat while Campbell summons the soulful angst of a 1950s teen, singing “There’ll be no mercy now / Wherever you are is where I’ll be.” “Nerd,” with its handclaps, 8-bit synths and bouncing beat is instantly infectious even as the singer delivers dubious lines like, “Guess you haven’t heard / God, I’m such a nerd.” As if. “Goody Goody” is the track you’ll want to put on repeat. New wave synths, surf guitars and Campbell’s powerful voice make for a smart and sexy rocker with a vintage edge. Have mercy.

Many years ago in a galaxy known as metal, some stuff happened that would change the course of the genre forever (but you probably knew that already). We’re here to ponder things like “what if that never happened” in regard to some of metal’s most momentous events and happenings—What might the metal world be like today?

Metal vocalist, professional pilot, author and even part-time actor—Bruce Dickinson is a man of huge talent and even larger personality. Anyone with a serious passion for metal probably already knows that Mr. Dickinson was not the original vocalist for legendary metal band Iron Maiden, but what if Bruce never joined the band at all, and the vocalist remained Paul Di’Anno, who performed on the first two Iron Maiden albums?
Continue reading ‘Metal Monday: What If Bruce Dickinson Never Joined Iron Maiden?’

Let’s face it, sometimes the past should stay dead. But when an awesome musical artist fades from popularity, their fans later wonder, “Where are they now?”  You may not know it, but many artists you loved in the past are still hard at work writing new albums or preparing to tour once more.  Fortunately, you now have “Second Coming” to reintroduce you to some of your favorite acts of the last few decades and give you the scoop on what you can expect from them in the future!

THEN: Before the Spice Girls and the bubblegum pop princesses of the late 90s, Gwen Stefani was serving up her own brand of girl power. As lead vocalist of the ska band No Doubt, she brought her fearless fashion sense and formidable vocal ability to the world of pop. The band’s traditional ska sound on their debut album failed to deliver commercially, but the more polished sound of their 1995 record Tragic Kingdom was applauded by critics and fans alike. The GRAMMY-nominated record spawned monster singles like “Just A Girl,” “Don’t Speak” and “Spiderwebs,” placing No Doubt in the sweet spot of achieving mainstream success, while still staying true to their roots. The band followed up Kingdom with another GRAMMY-nominated record, Return of Saturn, which piggybacked off its predecessor in terms of sound. Just one year later, No Doubt released Rock Steady, which showed a sharp turn of musical direction with its dancehall and reggaeton-infused tunes. The album was a mega pop success, churning out the ubiquitous “Hey Baby,” “Hella Good” and “Underneath It All.”

Continue reading ‘The Second Coming of No Doubt’

The Kicks

One normally doesn’t think of Lowe’s as an arbiter of music, but you gotta hand it to them—they nailed it when they placed The Kicks’ “Good Morning” in their “Fresh Cut Grass” spot. The sailing power ballad is catchy to the extreme, burrowing down into your brain and setting up camp. As great as that track is, it isn’t the only ace up the Nashville band’s sleeve. The Kicks straddle pop and Southern rock spheres, taking big hooks and roughing them up with a little grit. “Hawk Eyes” is a ballsy little rocker that slips into a garage rock groove, deft as Jet. But unlike the erstwhile Aussie band, The Kicks take their rock all over the place. The soulful “This Feeling” reads like vintage R&B, while “Sore Thumb” has an almost ‘80s attitude. Like Lowe’s, these guys never stop improving.

In the late ’70s, Squeeze was a quirky crew of new wave weirdos with a string of strange hits (“Take Me, I’m Yours,” “Cool For Cats,” “Slap and Tickle”) in England and low-key cult-hero status among the rock cognoscenti in America. In the early ’80s, the albums Argybargy, East Side Story and Sweets From a Stranger made them stars in the States. Led by the songwriting team of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, who began getting a rep as a modern-day Lennon and McCartney, Squeeze was among the small handful of acts (Blondie, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, The Cars) that burst up from the new wave underbrush to mainstream success in the US. They did it on the strength of songs like “Another Nail In My Heart,” “If I Didn’t Love You,” “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),” “Tempted” and “Black Coffee in Bed,” mating masterful pop hooks from tunesmith Tilbrook with weird, wordy, worldly-wise lyrics by Difford. In 2012, Squeeze is back on the boards, touring with contemporaries The English Beat and preparing for a new album; all the aforementioned songs and more can be heard on their new concert recording, Live at the Fillmore.

Continue reading ‘Riffs, Rants and Rumors: Glenn Tilbrook’s Squeeze Play’

Here at OurStage, we’re always on the lookout for new music across all possible genres, from hip-hop to metal to indie rock to dubstep. That’s why Jordan has created his very own adrenaline-pumping mix of only the most exciting music out there. Metal? Check, Kylesa and Rooks, are crushing it. Hip-hop? Check, we’ve got Will Brennan and The Notorious B.I.G. Indie? Check, The Ascetic Junkies are holding it down. Electronic? Check, Nero is in the mix. There would be a whole lot more, but let’s not get out of hand here…

Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown

Tyler Bryant was only eleven when he got the calling. It was in a music store where Roosevelt Twitty, a sixty-three-year-old bluesman, was playing. A decade later, Bryant’s come into his own as a blues musician. He’s got a song on Guitar Hero 5; a feature in the film Rock Prophecies alongside Santana, Beck and Slash; and serious hype from Vince Gill, who called Bryant a “future guitar god.” One listen to Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown and you’ll realize the future is now. The band delivers sweaty and swaggering rock with plenty of blues gristle. From the droning, shivering “Say A Prayer” to the bruising guitars of “The House that Jack Built,” to the delta blues moan of “Kick the Habit,” Bryant and his comrades know how to give listeners a visceral thrashing. If you worship at the altar of whiskey-soaked, cigarette-singed, explosive blues rock, well, you just met your gods.