Bands Through Town
Evolution Festival Walk-Through
After a few years of laboring through summer music festival emptiness—STL has double-downed on two-day festivals—offering Music at the Intersection (entering its third year) and the premiere of the Evolution Festival in Forest Park. Just a few weeks apart, the only thing in common the two festivals have are that they take place in the same city—as both offer differing, unique experiences. Here's our rundown of the Evolution Festival with interviews with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, The Nude Party and Michigander. Our exclusive Nikki Lane interview from our Spring print issue is also featured.
Photo: Jim Herrington
Wrestling restless creativity vs keeping it simple—The Black Keys Way
By Dave Gil de Rubio
When it comes to the creative process, no one can accuse The Black Keys of ever taking a complicated approach to scratching their musical itch.
Guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney have perfected that approach since the duo got together at Akron’s Firestone High School in 1996. Most recently, that unspoken compositional ESP carried the twosome through the pandemic and yielded two albums in as many years—2021’s Grammy-nominated collection of hill country blues songs, “Delta Kream,” and last year’s “Dropout Boogie.”
Evocative is their middle name: The Nude Party
By Aaron Irons
Rock n’ roll is a hairy wheel, tangled and greasy, fragrant from seven decades of viscera, cactus’d by snapped guitar strings, scarred by glass, smoldering with distorted legends and hot ash, stripped to the steel belt by burn-outs to the point no reasonable sentient should even feign consideration… But then a band like the Nude Party emerges to heroically cut through the myth, expose fresh tread, and make the whole machine go ‘round once more.
Photo: Clark Hodgin
For Jason Singer, aka Michigander—Things are never the same
By Alan Sculley
Jason Singer endured a long journey before seeing the March 31 release date arrive for his latest EP, “It Will Never Be The Same.”
Singer, who records under the name Michigander (a nod to his home state), was heading full steam toward an Oct. 7, 2022 release of the EP when the proverbial rug was pulled out from under him.
To be fully accurate, it was his feet that were pulled out from under him. During filming a video in the mountains near Los Angeles for the song “Superglue,” Michigander slipped and fell, breaking his leg in three places.
By Melanie Broussalian
From the opening notes of her first album in five years, it’s clear that Nashville songstress Nikki Lane is in her “kick ass and take names” era of her career. Even at her most sincere and saccharine, Lane’s music has always had a tinge of edge, whether coming from the signature rasp in her voice or driving rhythms. Now, the grit, grime and fun—which are always covered in fringe and sparkle—are front and center in Denim & Diamonds, a follow-up to 2017’s Highway Queen.
Photo: Cory Weaver
