Conor Oberst

The Weekend Hitlist: Mountain Goats, Exotic Erotics and A Big Benefit

Last Night: The Mountain Goats at the Fillmore

Top Ten Americana Albums of 2008

By Noah W. Bailey Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn't nearly as hard as discarding those great records that just didn't feel right stuck in the category. Releases by Calexico and DeVotchKa felt far too worldly to pigeonhole as folk or country, for instance, while Blitzen ... More >>

Conor Oberst

Conor Oberst (Merge)

Tilly and the Wall tap into a new beat

Conor Oberst (Merge)

Bright Bursts

Conor Oberst succeeds despite the flaws

Bright Eyes

Four Winds EP (Saddle Creek)

Chad VanGaalen

Skelliconnection (Sub Pop)

Ramblin' Gamblin' Men

David Dondero and Adam Gnade hit the road

Rabbit Season

Jenny Lewis emerges as a solo force to be reckoned with, and brings her hardscrabble past with her

Music videos: First they were all the rage, then they were all but dead. Thanks mainly to Apple, they're back.

Jenny Lewis emerges as a solo force to be reckoned with, and brings her hardscrabble past with her

Award Show Guide

Americana/Folk/Country DJ/Turntablist Electro/Electronic/Experimental Hard Rock Hip Hop Indie Rock/Noise Pop Jazz Soul/R&B World Music Music Video

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Americana/Folk/Country DJ/Turntablist Electro/Electronic/Experimental Hard Rock Hip Hop Indie Rock/Noise Pop Jazz Soul/R&B World Music Music Video

Sunshine, Lollipops

The future's so bright, we've got to wear shades to this week's assortment of great shows

No Sympathy for the Demo

Presenting SF Weekly's definitive guide to making it in indie rock, without actually having to make it

Turn Around, Bright Eyes

Indie icon Conor Oberst grows up -- and blows up

Magnolia Electric Co

Trials and Errors

Hear This

M. Ward brings his dusky folk to Du Nord; buzz-band Louis XIV hits the "popscene."

Bright Eyes

Lua|Take It Easy (Love Nothing)

Hear This

Monsters of mope come to Berkeley: M. Ward, Bright Eyes, and Jim James. Old 97's are hotter than Ryan Adams.

Shorties

EPs are usually ignored by reviewers. Here are a few recent releases worth taking note of.

Dark Horse

The Unicorns strike it rich with their unique brand of sullied indie-pop

Story-tellers

Rather than whine about themselves, the Decemberists spin archetypal yarns, and indie rockers love them for it

The Future's So Bright

Meet "the new Bob Dylan," aka Conor Oberst, who knows pain despite his young age

Wander Lore

Folk singer David Dondero finds his songs the old-fashioned way -- by roaming the country's highways and byways

Desaparecidos

Read Music/Speak Spanish (Saddle Creek)

Still Flyin’ hosts the reggae pop party

Read Music/Speak Spanish (Saddle Creek)

The Bridge School Benefit

Read Music/Speak Spanish (Saddle Creek)

Q&A with Blind Pilot's, Israel Nebeker

Joseph SchellIsrael Nebeker of Blind Pilot.​Israel Nebeker is the lead singer and guitarist for Portland's own, Blind Pilot, whose debut album, 3 Rounds and a Sound, has quickly launched the band into indie folk pop stardom. SF Weekly sat down with Nebeker yesterday to chat about the benefits and ... More >>

Last Night: Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit

Christopher VictorioNeil Young and Adam Sandler​Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit Concert October 25, 2009Shoreline AmphitheaterCheck out our Bridge School slideshow by Christopher Victorio here.  Better Than: watching AC/DC play at Marine World. Combine a huge rock' n roll show with a scho ... More >>

Broken Bells' pop partnership

Christopher VictorioNeil Young and Adam Sandler​Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit Concert October 25, 2009Shoreline AmphitheaterCheck out our Bridge School slideshow by Christopher Victorio here.  Better Than: watching AC/DC play at Marine World. Combine a huge rock' n roll show with a scho ... More >>

Album That Time Time Sort Of Forgot: Desaparecidos' 'Read Music/Speak Spanish'

Bill Sitzmann​Today sees the stateside release of the Arcade Fire's third full-length album, The Suburbs, which supposedly kicks ass. Not having heard it, I will instead ruminate on another album about suburbs: Read Music/Speak Spanish, the first and only record by Omaha's Desaparecidos. The ye ... More >>

Official Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Lineup: Elvis Costello, Conor Oberst, Patti Smith, Joan Baez

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band​A few weeks back we posted a sneak-peek at the lineup for this year's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, which looked pretty cool. Today, the official lineup for the festival's 10th anniversary was released and, well, it looks even better than we were ... More >>

Warren Hellman talks about Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band​A few weeks back we posted a sneak-peek at the lineup for this year's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, which looked pretty cool. Today, the official lineup for the festival's 10th anniversary was released and, well, it looks even better than we were ... More >>

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass: 10 Bands You Should Not Miss

​San Francisco's annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival is kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure novel. You could pick any number of themes to select the acts you want to see -- old punk pioneers, roots music up-and-comers, etc.-- and follow one through all three day's lineups. You coul ... More >>

Harldly Strictly Bluegrass, AIDS Wolf, World Veg Fest, Castro Street Fair and More

Autumn De WildeJenny and Johnny are among 80 acts at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2010​Hardly Strictly is here! But before you blow your figurative load over the biggest free concert of the year, keep in mind that there are plenty of other fun and cheap events in the city this weekend. Here's our lis ... More >>

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Day 1: This Is About Coming Together

​Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Day 1Oct. 2, 2010 @ Golden Gate ParkBetter than: chasing a fox out the hen house.  San Francisco's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
festival sings America. The annual outdoor concert is about coming together:
scores of rootsy musicians, a half-million or more conc ... More >>

Helpful Advice: How To Survive NOT Going To SXSW

This week, thousands of music lovers, wayward drunks, and music industry folk have descended upon Austin, Texas, for the 2011 South By Southwest music "conference" (yeah, right). If you're still here at home in the Bay Area, the reality that you're missing five days of non-stop free music/beer/b ... More >>

Bright Eyes: Show Preview

This week, thousands of music lovers, wayward drunks, and music industry folk have descended upon Austin, Texas, for the 2011 South By Southwest music "conference" (yeah, right). If you're still here at home in the Bay Area, the reality that you're missing five days of non-stop free music/beer/b ... More >>

Bright Eyes Recruits Rich Liberals for Revolution at the Fox Theater

Bright Eyes at the Fox Theater last night. Pics by Ian, more after the jump.​Bright EyesApril 12, 2011@ The Fox Theater, OaklandBetter than: Whatever shit Mike Huckabee listens to.If Bob Dylan sang the universal in such exquisite poetry that it became personal, Conor Oberst shouts the pe ... More >>

Mick Jagger Forms Supergroup "Super Heavy," We're Super Embarrassed

​ Mick Jagger threw his name into the running for what may become the biggest supergroup of 2011, joining Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, Damien Marley, Joss Stone, and A.R. Rahman, composer of the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, for what promises to be an eclectic (and hopefully not too terr ... More >>

How To Get Your Band a Record Deal (Without Being on TV)

So you're in a band, you're just starting out and, yes, you want a record deal so the world can hear your musical genius. We all know the big boys only sign people from reality television competitions now, so what do you do? You do some research about some indies and you harass the bejesus out of th ... More >>

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2011: Robert Plant, Thurston Moore, Broken Social Scene, and More

Broken Social Scene is one of more than 90 acts playing Hardly Strictly Bluegrass this year.​ The lineup for this year's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is out, and good luck figuring out whom to call the "headliner." For the festival's 11th year, organizers have put together another insane ... More >>

R.I.P. Warren Hellman, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Founder and Eccentric Banjo Player

Jay BlakesbergWarren Hellman at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass​ Warren Hellman, the billionaire banjo-picker and eccentric who founded the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival, lost his battle with leukemia on Sunday. He was 77. Hellman was a successful investment banker a beloved philant ... More >>

One Last Spin: A Look Back at the Year in Bay Area Music

Jay BlakesbergWarren Hellman at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass​ Warren Hellman, the billionaire banjo-picker and eccentric who founded the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival, lost his battle with leukemia on Sunday. He was 77. Hellman was a successful investment banker a beloved philant ... More >>

Craig Finn's Clear Heart Full Eyes: A First Listen

​If I may make two predictions about Clear Heart Full Eyes, the solo debut from combustible, fan-friendly Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn, they are that: 1. It's not going to save rock 'n' roll. 2. It's not going to be a meta-narrative about how it doesn't save rock and roll. If the last Ho ... More >>