http://www.yesweekly.com/articles.sec-240-1-tunes.html The likelihood of finding a successful rapper lacking in bravado is about the same as finding a Hall of Fame slugger who can't hit a hanging curve; it's not a result of being great, it's one of the tools that got them there. If there's one thing to take from the cover of Greensboro rapper Brandon D's new release Carolina Legend,. ]]> When jam-band provocateurs moe. kicked off their 20 th anniversary tour at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City last month, something looked just a little bit off. ]]> Durham black string and folk resurrectionists the Carolina Chocolate Drops recently released their third studio album Genuine Negro Jig, their first with a major studio, and are enjoying more than a major regional following, but a burgeoning international following. ]]> National Signing Day for any avid college football fan usually guarantees one thing: a day of lost productivity in the workplace. ]]> After more than a year in the making, the debut album for Sam Robinson%uFFFDs Five Gallon Groove is finally available and it%uFFFDs been well worth the wait. Though it%uFFFDs a bit abbreviated at eight tracks, the star-studded, self-titled disc is a tour of Southern rock, jazz and blues through the sweltering guitar of one of Winston-Salem%uFFFDs most unsung talents. ]]> Yet, there was still a rather sober fleshing-out period from the time that singer and guitarist Ryan Vanderhoof departed to join a midwestern Buddhist Monastery in 2007 to the release of their first album as a trio, 2009%uFFFDs Set %uFFFDEm Wild, Set %uFFFDEm Free.. ]]> It was apparent that, while setting up my Raving Knaves%uFFFD gear at the Westerwood Tavern, the dozen or so locals didn%uFFFDt appear to be there for the mod-fueled RB of the evening%uFFFDs soon-to-be-headlining quartet, Rough Hands. By the time the PA was assembled, the place was nearly empty. ]]> The first time Molly McGinn met Jim Avett, he insulted a brand new Ibanez guitar she was playing. McGinn was playing with Thacker Dairy Road at the time, who were opening for the Avett Brothers during her encounter. ]]> Hunter S. Thompson said that, and it's a quote that speaks directly to the often sordid nature of the entertainment industry, a game that historically rewards duplicity, punishes integrity and has a funny habit of turning investments into debt. It's also a business that Joe Ferguson can't seem to get enough of. ]]> One of the finest dives in downtown Greensboro is joining forces with a desperately underfunded, though vital nonprofit for a full weekend of music starting Friday night. ]]> In ways that extend beyond simply performing and recording music, 2009 was one of the best years in Jim Lauderdale%uFFFDs 20-year career. Sure, he was an integral part of Elvis Costello%uFFFDs band the Sugarcanes and the subsequent album Secret, Profane and Sugarcane,. ]]> When it comes to things like relationships, careers and your alma mater's head football coach, sometimes the grass really is always greener on the other side. This too is true in music; at least it always feels that way as the decade winds down. It seems as if the end of a decade is the most barren in terms of quality of music. ]]> Post-rock power trio the Bronzed Chorus possess a truly unique characteristic among their kind: There are only two guys in the band. Using only three limbs to generate an enormous amount of percussive punch, drummer Brennan O'Brien has proven to be far more capable at his craft than many of his peers who use all four. ]]> Never will you see men and women alike zealously rushing a stage simply for the sake of putting their hands on a band's frontman as if doing so could give eyesight to the blind. You will, however, if you go to a Morrissey show. ]]> Swift (www.myspace.com/swiftband) had a sound in 1998 that was undoubtedly ahead of its time. Gary Forsyth's seamless marriage of affectingly melodic wails and fierce death-metal snarling to the tune of impossibly heavy rhythm and guitars was like a blueprint for metal in the first half of the following decade. ]]> It doesn't matter whether a hip-hop show is large or small, but it's highly likely that the term "Real hip hop" will be tossed about by anyone with a microphone to anyone listening. On the surface, it's a term that appears to signify that what's happening then and there is the essence of hip-hop culture. ]]> About a half-dozen people sat on the hardwood floor around the stage where Jukebox Riot, a potent trio who's name alone conveys their intent better than any one-sheet could, played on Friday to a grand total of only a handful more than that. ]]> Generally, when two of the most heavily criticized performers of the last decade are booked to play in the same complex at the same time on a Sunday night of all nights, one logically doesn't expect venue attendance records to be challenged. Yet, that's precisely what happened when teen-pop princess Miley Cyrus and salacious RB star R. ]]> They may have sold more records than any band in history, but there's very little institutional memory about how the Beatles were in concert. That's to be expected from a band that hasn't toured in 43 years and only performed two highly-publicized events in their final three years. ]]>