Watch opera singer Renée Fleming and banjo maestro Béla Fleck perform four songs for a NPR Tiny Desk Concert. They were joined by mandolinist and singer Sierra Hull , bassist Mark Schatz , fiddler and singer Michael Cleveland , and guitarist Jake Stargel. Top shelf bluegrass with a twist, breathing new life into songs as old as the hills.
Setlist:
Minneapolis-based multi-instrumentalist and singer Scott Gagner stepped up to the mike again for the follow-up for his all instrumental Underwater Waltz. It is an amalgam of indie rock and power pop, with the rhythm section playing catch with the melodic elements. Gagner wraps his concerns about the current right-wing clusterfuck in sunny-side up songs - no mean feat as they were recorded during the height of the ICE raids in his hometown.
Gagner is a veteran with a firm grasp on his art, creating music that is not mainstream, but radio-friendly enough to get past the gatekeepers of pop radio shows. It doesn't hurt that he can write a love song that could be mistaken for a Byrds, Big Star or Beach Boys track. Sweet Tooth may sound soft and innocent, but it packs a punch, provided people are willing to pay attention to the lyrics.
Watch the Scott McCloud video for Make It To Forever, the title track from his new album: "His husky vocals will be appreciated by fans of Bob Mould, Henry Rollins and Iggy Pop. Life has provided him with enough hassles and bruises, but he shows his scars with pride. He is still standing, with a take it or leave it attitude."
HCTF review of Make It To Forever
Phish
2026/07/29
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
Dutch folk noir band The Bullfight have added a couple of shows to their tour in The Netherlands to promote their latest album 81 Bedford St., a soundtrack for a film noir movie that does not exist: "Most soundtracks are connect-the-dots affairs, with a few well-known popular songs and a run-of-the-mill theme that a composer won't lose any sleep over to create to something memorable. Not so for 81 Bedford St. on which the band's resident writer and multi-instrumentalist Thomas van Vliet went above and beyond with a bunch of songs that are closely linked to create a narrative, but also can hold their own and be enjoyed as such. There is jazz, industrial noise, torch singing, avant-garde, pastoral violin driven baroque pop, and much, much more."
