Nova Music Reviews

 Last night I finished watching the three-part series on Disney+, “The Beatles: Get Back”. I’m really impressed by the work that Peter Jackson did with the 60 hours of unused footage from the old “Let It Be” movie. He showed those sessions, long described as acrimonious and destructive, as what they were: happy, sad, exciting, boring, productive, unproductive. In short, completely different than what was depicted in the original film. What follows are some of my personal highlights. The first big highlight for me was when Paul McCartney was simply stunning his bass guitar trying to come up with a lick, and it morphed into the beginnings of the song “Get Back”. To see one of rock’s most famous songs being conceived from scratch was jaw-dropping and amazing. Part I ended with George Harrison leaving the Beatles, and the filming at Twickenham studios ended abruptly, which really lent an air of seriousness to the situation. Even though us hard-core Beatles fans knew that George was eventua

 One of the things I love about seeing artists perform is seeing them in intimate settings. I’ve done the arena and stadium shows, where most times I’m so far away that I’m resigned to watching most of the show on the projection screens. But nothing beats getting up close and personal with your favorite performers. And on this night, it was intimacy to the max. Hank Dietle’s Tavern, in Rockville, MD, is a roadside honky-tonk bar that has the distinction of holding the first and oldest liquor license in Maryland, issued at the end of Prohibition. The bar was heavily damaged by fire in 2018, and closed, but a rehabilitation program got the joint back open this summer. They have local music nightly, but Steve Forbert was the main attraction tonight, in a sold-out show. I was lucky enough to get last-minute tickets that were only released on Tuesday of that week, so thanks to Allen, one of the owners, for the notice. I got to Dietle’s early, at 5:30 PM since I wanted to beat traffic and ge

 Recently, I’ve been streaming music rather than listening to terrestrial radio, which is a big change for me. I’ve always been of the mindset that streaming services don’t pay artists enough for their music, but after looking at it, radio pays them much, much less (if anything at all). I’ll get to that later. For years, terrestrial radio has been a wasteland of songs repeated daily, if not hourly, in some cases. In my Washington, DC, market, we don’t have a station like WXPN out of Philadelphia, where the music is much more diverse. So we are stuck with formatted stations that follow an algorithm, which makes for a predictable and boring playlist. But after discovering new music playlists in various genres and sub-genres on Spotify, I’ve come to change my attitude towards streaming. These curated playlists open me up to new music and artists with whom I am unfamiliar. This had led to me purchasing CDs (yes, I still enjoy physical media) direct from the artist, as well as concert ticke

 I’ve been a fan of Chuck Prophet ever since I heard his song “A Bad Year For Rock & Roll” while searching my Sirius XM channels about 5 years ago. He had a sound that was rootsy, not too country-ish, and at times, really rockin’. Soon thereafter, I purchased 4 of his (at the time) most recent digital albums, which were on constant play during my work commute for most of the next year. But I was not fortunate enough to get to see his live show, then Covid hit. Fast forward to 2021, and live music is coming back! Chuck and his band, The Mission Express, were coming to Jammin’ Java, a small club about 15 minutes away. Another regret of mine was not ever getting to Jammin’ Java in the previous 20 years of its existence as a live music venue, so this was a double treat! Upon entry that Sunday night, I encountered a very intimate joint, with seating for about 200, at dinging tables and general admission seating. I took as seat at the back of the GA area, and waited. Opening the show tha