Locced Down

Danelectro Guitars: A Brief History

It all started in 1947 for Danelectro Guitars. The company was founded by Nathan Daniel and began making amplifiers for department stores Sears Roebuck Co.and Montgomery Ward. Nineteen fifty-four marked the first year that Danelectro started producing solidbody electric guitars and amplifiers under the Danelectro name although many were sold by Sears in their “Silvertone” line. In 1956 Danelectro
Read the rest of this entry »

Questions abound when it comes to Ethel, the funky, forward-looking ensemble that makes its Boston debut tonight at Sanders Theatre. Is it a string quartet? Does it play “classical” music? And most urgent of all, where’d that name come from? Merman? Barrymore? Rosenberg?

“Actually, the name came right out of ‘Shakespeare in Love,’ ” says Ralph Farris, the group’s violist. Cinephiles will recall that in the movie, the Bard is trying unsuccessfully to write a play called “Romeo and Ethel the Pirate’s Daughter.”

Read the rest of this entry »

A Cursive Memory, which has a note on its MySpace page that says “Vote for us on TRL!” may be a “Total Request Live” kind of pop-rock band, but that doesn’t mean its not good. It just means that the band is young. ACM members started the group in 8th grade, and that was only about five years ago. Tonight’s show, featuring ACM at the ICC in Allston, should appeal to fans of another TRL-friendly band, Boys Like Girls. 6 p.m. $10. ICC Church, 557
Read the rest of this entry »

In an attempt to expose you to Latin dance beyond salsa, El Bembe hosts a night dedicated to Venezuelan moves. Tonight at the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center, you can check out the “Pan-American Dance Party,” which we assume will include the joropo, which is something like a Venezuelan waltz. The night starts with a lesson. 9 p.m. $15. Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center, 85 West Newton St., Boston. 617-262-3424. iba-etc.org Read the rest of this entry »

Olivers, the backroom club at the Cask ‘n Flagon, isn’t a rock-only venue, though many of its lineups have featured guys and guitars. Tonight, the nightspot gives its stage to the Press Project, a Portsmouth, N.H., hip-hop act that blends rap, jazz, and soul a la the Roots. At tonight’s show, you’ll hear songs from an album called “Get Right.” HelloMahalo, a funky alt-rock act (yes, more guys and guitars), is also on the bill. 8:30. $9. Olivers,
Read the rest of this entry »

If it had been unseasonably chilly or overcast in Las Vegas last July, Panic at the Disco fans might not now be thoroughly enjoying or loudly complaining about the sophomore album from the Sin City pop-rock quartet.

Happy, singing clouds; shiny, robust suns; and beguiling female-identified moons - not to mention various winds, stars, and weather vanes - appear so often in the lyrics of “Pretty.Odd” you begin to wonder if the band is obsessed with meteorology.

Read the rest of this entry »

CHELSEA - Inside a cramped apartment, amid shelves of books, rows of DVDs, and a living room stuffed with musical gear, a young prince is locked in an epic battle with an evil sorcerer. The stakes? Winning the hand of a beautiful princess. A vintage Rock’em Sock’em Robots toy, its red and blue adversaries poised to strike each other on the kitchen counter nearby, is not nearly as old or animated as the struggle taking place on a far wall.

Beneath
Read the rest of this entry »

The summer concert season is starting to heat up, with much-anticipated tour announcements rolling in from some of the planet’s biggest stars.

On the heels of news that her 11th album, “Hard Candy,” debuted at No. 1 on this week’s Billboard charts, Madonna alerted the world that she’ll kick off her “Sticky & Sweet” tour on Aug. 23 in Cardiff, Wales, and stop at Boston’s TD Banknorth Garden Oct. 15. Tickets are $55-$350 and go on sale May 17 at
Read the rest of this entry »

The first single from the new Death Cab for Cutie album begins with a long wordless groove. It’s practically prog, this swarm of shimmering keyboards, throbbing bass notes, and wandering guitars, and the sound builds, disarmingly, to a measured and chilling peak. At the 4 1/2-minute mark, when most rock tunes would have already come and gone, Ben Gibbard starts to sing.

“You gotta spend some time with me,” enthuses the stalker - a tenor! - to his prey on “I Will Possess Your Heart,” “and I know that you’ll find love.”

Read the rest of this entry »

When Erykah Badu took the stage at the Orpheum Theatre last night she was rocking a shiny bouffant wig and ruffled black crepe dress that looked like a tailor-made human candy wrapper. Her two-hour performance took its lead from her sartorial statement: classic, sleek, sweet, and uniquely funky.

Backed by, and acutely in tune with, her band - a big affair including four singers, a flutist, and a turntablist - she began the night easing into the
Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes an artistic project comes along that seems at once utterly unlikely, yet at the same time completely logical. Unlikely because of the strange sequence of events that it took for it to occur; logical because the connections it explores are ones that were present, if submerged, all along, just waiting to be brought back to life.

One such connection is the one that binds the hill-country blues of north-central Mississippi - a deeply entrenched
Read the rest of this entry »

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Trace Adkins, a former oil roughneck, has written and recorded a song called “Black Gold” that will open an upcoming truTV series of the same name.

The show, which premieres 10 p.m. EDT June 18, follows three drilling crews in their quest for oil in West Texas.

Before he was a country star, Adkins, 46, of Sarepta, La., worked as a roughneck and derrickman on offshore drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Trace knows
Read the rest of this entry »

ATLANTA—When he was younger, Ne-Yo watched from afar as his friends hugged their fathers — and he wondered where his dad might be.

“A lot of aggravation was inside me,” the 28-year-old singer-songwriter told The Associated Press. “Dad stuck around for a minute and decided it wasn’t for him. But I credit my mom for being so positive, putting the pen in my hand.

“It’s single women like her who don’t get enough recognition.”

Now Ne-Yo, whose real name is Shaffer C. Smith, is honoring moms like his own.

Read the rest of this entry »

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Eddy Arnold, whose mellow baritone on songs like “Make the World Go Away” made him one of the most successful country singers in history, died Thursday morning, days short of his 90th birthday.

Arnold died at a care facility near Nashville, said Don Cusic, a professor at Belmont University and author of the biography “Eddy Arnold: I’ll Hold You in My Heart.” His wife of 66 years, Sally, had died in March, and in the same month, Arnold fell outside his home, injuring his hip.

Read the rest of this entry »

LONDON—Amy Winehouse was arrested Wednesday in connection with a January video that allegedly shows her doing drugs at a party at her north London home.

London’s Metropolitan Police said the Grammy winner was released on so-called police bail following several hours of questioning at a police station in the city.

Winehouse’s spokesman, Chris Goodman, confirmed that his client had been arrested Wednesday and held in police custody to answer police questions.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Revolutionary Sound Of The Fife

The fife is a type of flute that is fairly similar to the piccolo. It is a transverse flute that emits a high pitched sound that is louder than the piccolo because of its design. It has a narrower bore that causes the higher pitch. This flute was most often used in marching bands and the military, possibly because of its loud and distinguishing sound. It was not often used in musical orchestras
Read the rest of this entry »

The Asian Elegance Of The Willow Flute

The willow flute is simple in design, as is the case with most flutes. It differs from most others, however, in that it does not have any finger holes to manipulate the sound that it emits. It has a fipple mouthpiece, meaning that the air escapes from a small hole just below where the musician blows into the instrument. The willow flute is also known as a sallow flute and was created by
Read the rest of this entry »

The Irish Melodies On The Tin Whistle

The tin whistle is a type of flute that belongs to the woodwind instrument family, though it is often called a wind instrument or an aerophone. Its appearance is quite similar to that of the recorder, but there is little mistake that this is a different instrument altogether.

Like the fife, this particular instrument is constructed with six holes bored into the tube that are covered
Read the rest of this entry »

The Silly And Sometimes Amusing Sound Of The Slide Whistle

Most people are familiar with the slide whistle, but do not often view it as an instrument that is to be played for the same reasons that someone would pick up the saxophone or violin to play. It is a great little instrument that most will use as a sound effect, or to use in adding something into a piece of music they are playing. Also known as the swanee whistle or the
Read the rest of this entry »

The Shrill Of The Musical Whistle

The whistle is quite possibly the most well-known type of whistle out there that most people are most familiar with. It is a member of the woodwind instrument family and is a type of whistle that only emits one sound when blown into. There are many different variations of this whistle that are used today. They are not only used by police, they are also used in sports, by trains and ships; any
Read the rest of this entry »

The Mythical Sounds Of The Pan Flute

The pan flute is an instrument that consists of ten or more pipes, which differ in length, that are closed tube. The tubes are placed in a row, from the longest tube to the shortest. Each length will then produce a different note, depending on its length. It is most often viewed as an old folk instrument and it is what preceded the harmonica and the pipe organ. It is believed that the different
Read the rest of this entry »

The Spiritual Song Of The Oboe

The oboe is a member of the woodwind instrument family and is a double reed instrument. The oboe has a clear, mellow and warm tone that many people enjoy because of how it can be so calming. Like many brass instruments are, this woodwind instrument is a conical bore, which means that the diameter of the tube begins relatively small and becomes wider to the end of the instrument. This particular
Read the rest of this entry »

The Little Heard Cousin Of The Trumpet

The cornet is an instrument that is a member of the brass instrument family. Its appearance is close to that of the trumpet in its design. The tubing is wrapped in a clever way that will allow the musician to easily carry and play the instrument, and the tube’s diameter increases in size until the end. It is a common mistake for people to believe that the cornet has originated from the medieval
Read the rest of this entry »

The Bass Of The Band The Tuba

The tuba is best known as a member of the brass family, though it is also known as a wind instrument and an aerophone. It is a rather new instrument as it only first appeared in the mid 1800s. It has the lowest pitch of all the brass instruments and like other brass instruments is played by blowing directly into the mouthpiece through closed lips. This creates the vibration needed to make the sound.
Read the rest of this entry »

The No Valve Trumpet To Awaken To

The bugle is a small brass instrument that is basically a natural horn, because it has no valves or keys. One might wonder how the pitch is altered without any keys or valves; the pitch can be altered by controlling the air that the musician is blowing into the horn through closed lips. Blowing through closed lips is what creates the vibrations that make the sound. Of course, even with the ability
Read the rest of this entry »

May 9 David Hoose’s stellar troupe winds up its Kurt Weill season with the composer’s intriguing, rarely performed second symphony. The singers join the orchestra for the Boston premiere of Charles Fussell’s choral symphony “High Bridge.” Karyl Ryczek, Janna Baty, William Hite, and David Kravitz are the dynamite soloists. 8 p.m. $10-$54. Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St., Boston. 617-868-5885. cantata singers.org Read the rest of this entry »

May 13 Four of neotrad’s best and busiest hold a genre-bashing super-jam: banjo ace Greg Liszt, from Bruce Springsteen’s band; Sam Grisman, bassist for his legendary father, David; Frank Vignola mandolinist Josh Pinkham; and Tony Trischka fiddler Michael Barnett. 8 p.m. $12. Club Passim 47 Palmer, St., Cambridge. 617-492-7679. clubpassim.org© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company. more
Read the rest of this entry »

Steve Winwood is back in the high life again (sorry, we had to) at Berklee. He’s in town to receive an honorary doctorate on Sunday, but tonight he’ll play his hits and material from his new album “Nine Lives.” 7:30 p.m. $35-$70. Berklee Performance Center,136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston. 617-747-2261.berkleebpc.com

F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company opens a production of “Fuddy Meers,”a David Lindsay-Abaire play about a woman with amnesia and a secret
Read the rest of this entry »

Neo-soul singer Erykah Badu is at the Orpheum tonight to support her new album “New Amerykah Part One (4th World War),” a disc that has gone well with critics (our own Sarah Rodman is one of the many who approves of the single “Honey”). Sharing the bill will be acclaimed hip-hop act the Roots. 7:30 p.m. $46-$56. Orpheum Theatre, 1 Hamilton Place, Boston. 617-679-0810. ticketmaster.com© Copyright
Read the rest of this entry »

May 10 Led by the tabla superstar, a 10-member ensemble of India’s premier performers, including sitar virtuoso Niladri Kumar, explores the country’s classical and folk rhythms, instruments, and dances. 8 p.m. $28-$45. Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-876-4275. worldmusic.org© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company. more stories like this