Music Business Blog by Jason Feinberg

Sometimes I wish I were older. Sometimes I wish I was 23 in 1979. And sometimes I wish I could have been 23 in 1979 on permanent repeat.

So many of the bands that influenced, inspired, and guided me were on fire at this point; it often makes me sad at times that I had to experience so many of them posthumously. The idea of seeing the Misfits in some dank New Jersey club gives me wood. Imagine seeing Gang Of Four touring in support of Entertainment. Or waiting anxiously for the next X-Ray Spex single (although that would have been more ’78).

And when people tell me about growing up in Los Angeles I get insanely jealous. It makes me excited and depressed to think there was a time when your weekly choices for live music included Fear, Black Flag, X, TSOL, the Adolescents, 45 Grave, Christian Death, the Minutemen, and about 100 others.

And to have seen Neil Diamond in the earlier years!!! I have seen him live a few times, I believe 1996 and 1998. They were both amazing shows, especially the front row seats in 98, but classic Neil is about as good as it gets. Just watch the Hot August Night DVD and you’ll see.

But, I was not 23 in 79. I was 23 in 99. I have seen an amazing list of bands so far, many of which I will eternally look back on as monumental occasions. But I just can’t help feel that all that would be multiplied 100-fold had it been about 20 years earlier…

I’ve been a big fan of Henry Rollins since the first second I heard the live CD Who’s Got The 10 1/2 by Black Flag, around 1990. I instantly got into Rollins Band, End of Silence was a perspective-altering record in high school and I still find it one of my all time favorite albums.

I have at least 25 different Rollins spoken word CDs and 12″, and I’ve seen Hank both musically and in spoken word settings many times. Got all the side projects like Wartime, and goodies such the Henrietta Collins record. Tons of his books. You get the point.

Although it’s tough to choose, my favorite Rollins is the first I was exposed to – 1985 era Black Flag, so well captured on 10 1/2. The energy on this record is astonishing. The first time I played it my headphones melted to my head. Rollins leads the band through a blistering set of Flag classics and top notch songs making up the majority of the Loose Nut LP. This time period is a good progression from the raw power of the early stuff and the crushing weight of the Damaged LP.

And with all this in mind, watch this video of the band being interviewed around this time. This is why I love Rollins.

Saw the Cave Singers last night at the Echo. This band gets better every time I see them, and the record is easily one of my favorites this year. I am really happy they have been getting so much attention (including a live set today on Nic Harcourt’s KCRW show and great article on NPR). They are also very buzz-worthy at many of the hipster sites and tastemaker blogs.

Some press has called them late to the folk music game, but I think that’s inaccurate. When reviewing or critiquing a band, you have to consider the background, intentions, and history of said band. In this case, these guys didn’t intend to write a folk record, it just organically came to be when one roommate sung over another roommate’s demo recordings. And it’s not simply “folk” – there’s a spirit to it I haven’t heard in many of the genre’s staples.

Keep in mind these guys are primarily from punk bands (Derek from Area 51, Death Wish Kids, Murder City Devils, Pretty Girls Make Graves; Pete Quirk from Hint Hint; Marty Lund from Cobra High) and I think that’s part of the charm. When three guys (and guest Andrea Zollo, also from many of the same bands as Derek) get together to just express themselves in a new style, you tend to get something outside the standards of that new genre. You do get some of the standard elements of artists like Dylan and Guthrie, but you also get some bleakness that seems to stem from many of the same influences of prior bands. You also get a new take on “folk guitar” – when a guy playing bass for most of his life switches to fingerpicking an acoustic guitar, a non-standard sound emerges. Maybe it’s because I’ve been playing for almost 20 years, but I can hear very distinct phrasing and styling that is quite atypical of a folk guitarist. But it works – it works very well actually.

So check them out – here’s their myspace page where you can hear some songs and see their upcoming tour dates.