Sinnet holds court at Deep Cuts on Saturday, 11 January 2025.

The Gravel Project and Nick Prato open the triplestack bill at the Hinterlands Ball.

What is the Hinterlands Ball? Looks like a happening that happened at least ONCE before in 2022. Does that make it a thing now?

Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix

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Hump Nights

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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️ Hump Nights 〰️

Hump Nights

Apr 3

Straight outta the Shenandoah, with a top shelf Maine opener.

Apr 4

The 4th Wall celebrates its 17-month anniversary at the Capitol Theater.

Apr 6

14th Annual Arlington Jazz Festival, featuring Mike Stern Quintet.

Apr 10

FACS / Landowner / Major Stars at Deep Cuts.

Apr 12

A punk rock finale to the Cambridge Day Record Store Walk.

Apr 19

A rock n roll fourstack at Jamaica Plain’s favorite dive.

Apr 26

Slo-Anne returns! or debuts! at Jamaica Plain’s favorite dive.

May 31

Maine backwards at Jamaica Plain’s favorite dive. Don’t miss this!

Hump Nights

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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix

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Hump Nights 〰️ Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️

The latest edition of Tami-Fest – Tami-Fest 4 – will take place at Lizard Lounge on Tuesday, January 21. Hit it up. And don’t try to order the drink of the month, which is a mocktail called “Cherry Pie,” because nobody at the bar has ever heard of it. Just as well. I’m breaking my Dry January as I type these very w o r d s.

Nick Prato led a quintet through its electrified folk rock paces at Deep Cuts, including a first-timer with the band on keys. The keyboardist was so confident she wouldn’t need the upper register of her instrument that she laid an open notebook along the keys. Likely a reminder about all the chord progressions for these brand new songs. That’s a scary prospect for some, piecing it together on the fly, but the production sounded smooth as silk.

A rootsy Americana sextet… with a Key West kind of flavor? The Gravel Project was one shot of rum away from installing a full-time steel drum player. As it stands, the group goes deep on percussion, with two drummers, lending the country overtones profoundly rhythmic undertones. Shout out to the solo on the Hammond organ – the guy was a hurricane of sound ready to roar whenever he got the nod from the fronter.

Veterans of the first Hinterlands Ball in 2022, which probably pegs them as lead organizers, Sinnet carries the torch into 2025. January is traditionally a “dead” spot on the music events calendar, so why not attack it head on? The Hinterlands Ball takes on the challenge. On Saturday night the five-piece built out bouncy indie rock numbers with cleanish guitars and literate, if not literary, lyrics. Dad-rock approved.