Nick Spacek

Stacey Ryan. // photo credit Laura-Lynn Petrick Musician Stacey Ryan skyrocketed to fame with her debut single, “Don’t Text Me When You’re Drunk,” taking hold of TikTok in 2022, and since then, she has toured as the opening act for like-minded musicians such as Lawrence. Recently signed to SoundOn, TikTok’s music label, Ryan released her debut album, Blessing In Disguise,...

Live scores to films are nothing new, but for the most part, it’s usually orchestras hitting big, brassy notes with action and adventure movies, such as Indiana Jones and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or the actual artists like composers Fabio Frizzi and prog rockers Goblin touring their own scores to obscure favorites such as The Beyond and Suspiria. Rarely does...

This weekend, the Kansas City Blues & Jazz Festival returns after nearly 25 years’ absence from the scene. After an 11-year run from 1991-2001 at the National WWI Museum and Memorial, the festival disbanded due to money woes, but now, the return of a top-flight showcase of the music that made KC famous is back for two days at Legends...

Challenger Artists’ Peyton Marek (l) and Hank Wiedel (r). // photo by Katie Rich Wednesday, Mammoth Live officially announced the launch of Challenger Artists, representing what the longtime event production company describes as “the next chapter in Mammoth’s mission to champion artists at each step of their career as they expand beyond the stage.” The names behind it are Los...

Bill Wood’s Let’s Split Up is the queer YA slasher novel kicking off spooky season

Cinema Stereo. // photo by Nick Spacek Cinema Stereo with Flora from Kansas and the Blast Monkeys Replay Lounge Wednesday, August 27 Nothing fixes a lousy week quite like a matinee rock show. As Blast Monkeys frontman Scott Vick put it about two songs in, “What else are you going to do on a Wednesday night?” I mean, there’s definitely...

Goo Goo Dolls. // photo credit Allister Ann Long-running alt-rock band Goo Goo Dolls has had one hell of a career. From early releases on Metal Blade to the smash success of their fifth album, A Boy Named Goo, in 1995, and the still-inescapable City of Angels soundtrack cut, “Iris,” the band has transformed from a scrappy bunch of Replacements-like...

The Songs For Kids Band! // photo courtesy the artist Started in 2007, the Songs For Kids Foundation began as a way for kids with “illnesses, injuries, and disabilities” to perform music, something which might not have been available to them due to their circumstances. In addition to mini concerts within hospitals, Songs For Kids also does bedside performances for...

Photo by Travis Young We take a listen to the latest local singles to hit Soundcloud, Spotify, Bandcamp, et al, and sum them up in one sentence. Simple enough? Here we go. Lee Walter Redding, “All My Text Messages Are Verification Codes”  One of the singles from the new EP, Student Loan Forgiveness Program, this sees Redding once again work...

This year, Iowa’s Hinterland Music Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary. The first incarnation took place in 2015 at the Avenue of the Saints Amphitheater in St. Charles, just south Des Moines, where it continues to be held today, and featured a mix of indie and roots music artists like TV on the Radio, Old Crow Medicine Show, Edward Sharpe and...

Toad the Wet Sprocket's Dean Dinning talks '90s pop culture ahead of Saturday's Grinders show

Thimastr. // image courtesy the artist It’s been over five years since Lawrence’s Thimastr dropped their debut album, Between The Knees And Squeeze, via High Dive Records. In the intervening time, there’s been some lineup changes, along with changing the spelling of the band’s name, but the group’s dreamily surfy indie rock has remained gloriously great the entire time. The...

Blood Incantation. // photo by Nick Spacek Blood Incantation with Krallice The Granada Tuesday, July 22 Psychedelic progressive metal is a hard sell, you’d think, especially on a summer Tuesday, but by the end of opener Krallice’s first song, the place was packed. Yes, granted, that song was lengthy, as were many of the tracks played the other night, but...

Warehouse on Broadway is here and ready to turn heads in Westport. Here is what the two partners expect out of their venue.

Pegboy. // photo by Nick Spacek Pegboy with the Whiffs and Local Darling The Bottleneck Friday, July 11 It’s the weekend after the Fourth of July. It’s been a sweltering mess of a week recovering from three days of blowing shit up and drinking too much. You do not want to be outside at all, so what you do to...

Ashley Ream. // photo credit Jamison Weeks Writer Ashley’s Ream’s new book, The Peculiar Gift of July, out this week from Dutton, is a marvelous summer read for so many reasons. The story of Anita, a woman running a small grocery store on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest, who takes in July, the adopted daughter of a long-lost...

Todd Barry. // image courtesy the artist Comedian Todd Barry’s dry wit has garnered him quite a following over the past three decades, along with his appearances on seemingly every comedy series of note in that time. Be it the superlative special Medium Energy, his crowd work tour , or popping up in everything from Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist and Flight...

Swamp Dogg. // image courtesy the artist While you might not be familiar with legendary musician Swamp Dogg, you know his work.  If nothing else, the song he co-wrote with Gary “U.S.” Bonds, “She’s All I Got,” was a number two country hit for Johnny Paycheck and is still a staple on classic country radio. In 2013, Alive Naturalsound Records...

I’m With Her. // photo credit Alysse Gafkjen I’m With Her, the trio of Aoife O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz, and Sara Watkins, released their sophomore album, Wild and Clear and Blue, early last month. Coming seven years after their debut, See You Around, the album is worth the wait, with the harmonies and melodies even stronger, and it sees the group...

Billy Strings. // photo by Kylee Gregg Billy Strings T-Mobile Center Wednesday, June 11 There is something truly mind-bending about seeing bluegrass guitar virtuoso Billy Strings in concert that goes beyond just seeing the musician and his four bandmates perform with astonishing proficiency. The brain-melting light and video projections are part of the whole getting your jaw dropped to the...