Scott McLennan  

 

Topics by Scott McLennan

Music

The good life returns to Prowse Farm



By Scott McLennan
The Life is good Festival just doesn’t make sense. Or more correctly, the success of the Life is good Festival just doesn’t make sense; it presents the best in kids and family music alongside marquee names in pop and rock.
Music

Preview: Jamaica Plain Music Festival



By Scott McLennan
The JP Music Fest popped up last year after a few plugged-in residents of this musically rich Boston neighborhood decided it was time to show off the talent making its home in Jamaica Plain.
Music

Music: The Naukabout Music Festival



By Scott McLennan
The Naukabout Music Festival in East Falmouth is testament to how fertile our musical fields are here in the Bay State.
Music

Music: The Heart of Metal Beats in Worcester



By Scott McLennan
Why the Palladium matters so much will be on display tonight when the Summer Slaughter tour rolls into the building with nationally touring acts plus a whole second stage of heavy metal bands from Massachusetts and neighboring locales.
Music

Music: Jaimoe, Jazz, and The Allman Brothers



By Scott McLennan
He’s an unflappable and slinky rhythm keeper, etching little sonic flourishes into the Allman Brothers Band’s music since its founding in 1969, but Jaimoe is also an outright musical omnivore.
Music

Music Preview: Newport Jazz Festival Flaunts Today's Talent



By Scott McLennan
You’ll find titans such as sax player Joe Lovano playing on the Harbor Stage and the legendary drummer Jack DeJohnette celebrating his 70th birthday with an all-star band on the Quad Stage, while young gun Darcy James Argue brings his Secret Society big band to the main stage.
SUMMER ARTS WEEKEND

Summer Arts Weekend Off to Stellar Start


More Summer Arts Weekend; A Classical Sunday
By Scott McLennan
Something new was truly under way in Copley Square Friday night when the inaugural Boston Summer Arts Weekend took off.
Music

Summer Arts Weekend: Del McCoury Brings Bluegrass Back to Preservation Hall



By Scott McLennan
McCoury and Preservation Hall Jazz Band team up again Friday as part of the Boston Summer Arts Weekend. “Collaboration” is the buzz word at this new arts festival, as it lays the groundwork for artists to get involved in each others’ sets.
Music

Preview: The Lowell Folk Festival



By Scott McLennan
The hallmark of the Lowell festival, now in its 26th year, is its ability to show how wide the definition of folk music stretches.
Music

Summer Arts Weekend: Soul Rebels Launch Brass Attack


By Scott McLennan
The Soul Rebels will blow you away, and not just because the group features six horns. Rather it’s the band’s radical gumbo of New Orleans brass band music mixed with hip-hop, soul, and funk that is lighting up all sorts of musical camps.
Music

Summer Arts Weekend: Suzanne Vega Not Alone in Celebrating Solitude



By Scott McLennan
Suzanne Vega isn’t quite done examining her past–a task she started in 2010 with the first volume of her four-part Close Up CD series. Vega is also making a detour back into Solitude Standing, her breakout sophomore album that turns 25 this year.
Music

Music: Steel Pulse Keeps the Beat Going



By Scott McLennan
From its early songs about overcoming racism and poverty, Steel Pulse has always flashed a political edge with its music, but balanced that with a calming, richly grooved hopefulness.
Music

Music: Woody Guthrie Still Resonant at 100



By Scott McLennan
The folk-music icon would have been 100 years old on July 14, and his descendents celebrated the occasion by convening at the Green River Festival this past Saturday.
Music

Music: Green River Festival Hosts Woody Guthrie Centennial



By Scott McLennan
The centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birth is being celebrated around the county this year. But the biggest bash stands to happen on Guthrie’s actual birthday, July 14, when his descendants gather for a performance at the Green River Festival in Greenfield, MA.
Music

Music: Harborwalk Sounds at the Institute of Contemporary Art



By Scott McLennan
Harborwalk Sounds proved so popular it is now a weekly series, with eight concerts through August 30.
Music

Debo Band Merges Traditional Song with New Sounds in Ethiopian Pop


By Scott McLennan
The award-winning, Ethiopian-pop group Debo Band, hailing from Jamaica Plain, disproves the notion that “world music” comes from someplace else and proves that innovation is essential to the tradition.
Music

The Signature Sounds of Lake Street Dive



By Scott McLennan
The band has a knack for pop smarts, but also composes and plays with a degree of sophistication that makes all the difference between confection and substance.
Music

Indian Ranch: A Stronghold for Country Music



By Scott McLennan
Its longtime allegiance to country and western shapes Indian Ranch’s style to this day. Located off of Gore Road in Webster, about 15 miles south of Worcester, the concert pavilion is part of a larger camp ground where the roads are named after country music stars.
Music

Pink Floyd's The Wall Comes to Fenway Park



By Scott McLennan
Originally a personal work, The Wall is now a broader commentary about the terrors wrought by conniving governments and misguided authority, with fresh graphics underscoring these themes alongside classic images of marching hammers and menacing mothers.
Music

Music Under the Lowell Sky


MORE FROM WGBHARTS
By Scott McLennan
The Lowell Music Series is what we’ve come to expect: a mix of seasoned vets and rising stars, plus plenty of genre hopping, so nobody should feel left out of the experience.

Scott McLennan

Bios

Scott McLennan

By Scott McLennan
Scott McLennan is a music correspondent for the Boston Globe and former entertainment columnist for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. His work as taken him from the Newport Folk Festival to the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival and many musical points in between. Scott also writes about skiing for Hawthorn Publications.

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