I thrive on the daily challenge of tackling the blank page. My writing style focuses on creating strong, engaging leads and getting to the heart of my subject matter. chris.davidson11788@gmail.com
Wilco on “Ode to Joy”
Eleven albums into their career, Chicago's Wilco has been labeled everything from "alt-country heroes'' to "the American Radiohead" to "sellouts" for licensing songs to VW commercials.
[INTERVIEW] FLEET FOXES Open up about new album, Crack-Up
Interview with Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes for Performer Magazine
The End: Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie
hell would be] sitting on the tarmac of an airplane after an international journey waiting for the gate, but the gate never opens up."
To end out the week, we ask Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie (and also The Postal Service) some questions about endings and death. Death Cab for Cutie has been a pivotal act in bringing indie rock to the mainstream in the mid-to-late 2000s with seminal releases such as Transatlanticism, Plans, and Na...
Not a Bad Seat in the House
Home concerts give music lovers an up-close view of favorite artists or a chance to discover new ones.
Photography by Eric Dejuan
The prospect of entering the house of a person you do not know to spend a few hours with 20 to 40 strangers watching a musician seems, on the surface, nerve wracking and slightly unthinkable. But in its usual magical way, Birmingham makes this situation work.
Granted, these types of performances have been around for decades and the term for them varies depending on...
Through The Sparks: Lazarus Beach 15th Anniversary Reissue
Fifteen years ago, Birmingham’s superb indie-rock band Through The Sparks unleashed the gorgeously quirky Lazarus Beach (via Birmingham’s legendary Skybucket Records) into the world, where it was quickly praised by a variety of national critics and publications (Tiny Mix Tapes, Pitchfork).
Led by Jody Nelson, this particular lineup of the band delivered an incredible collection of songs that could have found themselves included in the Elephant 6 “Recording Company” scene of the mid-to-late 90...
Justin Cross: To The Light
Originally from Georgia, Justin Cross has become ingrained in the fabric of Birmingham’s rich songwriting legacy for over a decade. From the gentle chords that open 2012’s Another Winter EP to the electricity crackling through 2020’s The Rock and the Roll, each new release delivers another facet of his musical, lyrical and melodic abilities. With this year’s To The Light, Cross continues his evolution by being simultaneously thematically intimate and sonically expansive.
We spoke with Justin ...
COVER STORY: Courtney Barnett Opens Up About Her Creative Process on New LP
And spit out better words than you’
But you didn’t
Man you’re kidding yourself if you think
The world revolves around you”
So sings Melbourne, Australia’s Courtney Barnett on “Nameless Faceless,” a song addressed to internet trolls and the first single released from her much-anticipated second LP, Tell Me How You Really Feel. This song is just the beginning as Barnett does not hold back in rest of the follow-up to 2016’s critically lauded Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit.
The Sound of A Revolution: This Is American Music
“Southern Indie” label This Is American Music shows there’s more than meets the eye in their home region and reveals the importance of community in the music business....
Birmingham’s Preston Lovinggood releases new album
The title of Preston Lovinggood’s latest record, “Consequences,” might not imply what you think. Rather than negative connotations, it’s a nod to the relationships the artist built during the writing and recording processes, which greatly impacted the album that resulted.
Sidewalk Film Festival celebrates 20 years
If you recently spotted a Hawaiian shirt-clad John Travolta or a car-chasing Aaron Eckhart downtown, you probably can't wait to see these scenes of the Magic City play out on the silver screen. While the increasing number of movies being filmed in Birmingham as of late can be considered a result of the city's revitalization over the past few years, the interest in film can be traced back to the early days of Sidewalk Film Festival.
In 1998, three Birmingham-based filmmakers (Wayne and Kelly F...
Q&A: Sleepwalking with Brian Fallon
“Time is a strange thing,” Brian Fallon said to me when I phoned him on the afternoon of January 31st as we both wondered how February was a mere 12 hours away.
“It seems like the older I get, time moves faster and faster. When I was a kid, it would just drag forever. But now it’s this ever-present ticking clock. Whenever you’re home, you’re always counting down to what’s next. ‘I’ve only got three weeks. I’ve only got two days.'”
Though his latest music output has slowed down just a tad from...
Death Cab for Cutie - Ben Gibbard on “Thank You for Today”
Three years after 2015's Kintsugi, Seattle's Death Cab for Cutie are releasing their first album as a quintet, Thank You for Today.
My Favorite Album: MC Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger on Brightblack Morning Light
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May 25, 2020 By Chris K. Davidson (As Told To) Photography by Graham-Tolbert Hiss Golden Messenger
I first heard the record when it came out in 2006. I was in my previous band at the time [The Court & Spark], and it really struck me, this record. I was living in San Francisco at the time, and that band, Brightblack Morning Light, was based out of Northern California as well. They were friends of friends, which is how I heard about them.
The first son...
Review: Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional at Avondale Brewing
“Well, this is incredible.
Starving, insatiable,
Yes, this is love for the first time.
And you’d like to think that you were invincible.
Yeah, well weren’t we all once
Before we felt loss for the first time?
Well this is the last time.”
Such was the vulnerable final verse of “This Brilliant Dance,” the opening track of Dashboard Confessional’s sophomore album, The Places You Have Come to Fear The Most. Exactly like the album version, Dashboard’s mastermind Chris Carrabba sang the tune only ac...