Music

"Distance Together" will continue its residency at MASS MoCA through Feb. 4 as a 60-speaker sound installation. (Courtesy MASS MoCA)

At MASS MoCA, a composer traces the pandemic's arc through music

Murray Hidary's "Distanced Together" invites everyone to briefly slide back to those early pandemic days, reflect, feel, heal, and –– hopefully, finally –– move on.

Arts & Culture

Jan 27, 2023

Forty years after forming regionally famous O Positive, frontman Dave Herlihy is releasing a solo album. (Courtesy Dave Herlihy)

After 30 years and a successful law career, O Positive frontman releases new album

Singer-guitarist Dave Herlihy gained regional acclaim in the band O Positive in the late '80s and early '90s. Now, he has a new EP on the way and a gig...

Arts & Culture

Jan 25, 2023

Photographer Daniel Kramer spent 366 days with Bob Dylan. (Courtesy Daniel Kramer)

New Bob Dylan photo exhibit provides a candid look into a critical point in the artist's career

“Don’t Think Twice: The Daniel Kramer Photographs of Bob Dylan, 1964-65” will be on view at the Boch Center Wang Theatre through March 29.

Arts & Culture

Jan 23, 2023

Clockwise from top left: Fantastic Negrito (Courtesy Travis Shinn); Pile (Courtesy Adam Parshall); Beat Awfuls (Courtesy Lou Weed); Algiers (Ebru Yildiz); Rozi Plain (Courtesy Yoshino Shigihara); Bobbie Lovesong (Courtesy Bobbie Lovesong); and Mile Twelve (Courtesy Dave Green).

7 albums to listen to this winter

From DIY indie masterminds to mainstage gothic hip-hop, our winter music guide has you covered for the cold season.

Arts & Culture

Jan 12, 2023

Shannon and Matt Heaton. (Courtesy the Heatons)

Meet the Heatons, the musical couple who play Irish, surf and children’s music

When the Heatons aren't playing Irish music together, Shannon shares Irish tunes and stories through educational videos and a podcast, and Matt abandons his bouzouki and acoustic six-string for an...

Arts & Culture

Jan 11, 2023

The Brighton Sound Museum on North Beacon Street. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Sound Museum owners cry foul as their tenants secure potential new spaces without them

A new plan will make rehearsal spaces available in Dorchester for musicians who must vacate the Sound Museum at the end of this month. But the evolving saga has raised...

Arts & Culture

Jan 10, 2023

Audience members watch on of the 2022 Boston Calling Music Festival bands. (Courtesy Boston Calling Music Festival)

Foo Fighters, Lumineers and Paramore to headline Boston Calling Music Festival this spring

Over 50 acts will play in Allston over Memorial Day weekend, including Queens of the Stone Age, The Flaming Lips, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Alanis Morissette, who hasn't played Boston...

Arts & Culture

Jan 10, 2023

The Berklee Indian Ensemble performing with Zakir Hussain. (Courtesy Mike Spencer)

Berklee Indian Ensemble's expansive, star-studded debut album is a Grammy contender

“Something like 130 people have been involved in the creation of this album called 'Shuruaat,' which is Hindi for beginning,” said ensemble founder Annette Philip.

Arts & Culture

06:51Dec 27, 2022

Our music critics selected their favorite local albums of 2022. (Courtesy the artists)

The 10 best local albums of 2022, according to our critics

If there is a throughline to be found in our critics' selections, it’s that Boston is no longer the music epicenter it once was -- or, at least, that we...

Arts & Culture

Dec 21, 2022

Indie rock artist STEFAN THEV performs at the Boston Music Awards. (Amelia Mason/WBUR)

Hip-hop sweeps the major categories at the 2022 Boston Music Awards

Rappers Cousin Stizz and BIA confirmed their hometown hero status, and Best New Artist kei had a breakout night.

Arts & Culture

Dec 15, 2022

Barrence Whitfield and Gary Sohmers at Q Division Studios. (Courtesy Gary Sohmers)

In 'Beasties: A Sci-Fi Rock Opera,' a talented team revives a latent genre

Is there any genre of pop music that runs more counter to the tenor of today’s times than the rock opera? Gary Sohmers doesn't care, he made one anyway.

Arts & Culture

Dec 13, 2022

A player consults sheet music at Boston "TubaChristmas" rehearsal. (Courtesy George Comeau)

'Tis the season for 'TubaChristmas,' a low brass love fest in Boston

Tuba master Harvey Phillips founded the celebration in honor of his teacher William Bell who was born on Christmas Day, 1902. The first concert took place in 1974 in New...

Arts & Culture

04:45Dec 9, 2022

Cody Von Lehmden and Olive Martinez of Little Fuss. (Courtesy Little Fuss)

Listen: Little Fuss writes 'complex female characters' into pop songs

Little Fuss' debut album “Girls at Parties” is set for release on Jan. 12, 2023.

Arts & Culture

Dec 6, 2022

Erin Harpe plays a holiday show Porch Southern Fare & Juke Joint in Medford on Dec. 3. (Courtesy Erin Harpe)

5 festive live music shows for the holidays

You don't need to be a fan of Christmas tunes to join the musical festivities around Boston this year.

Arts & Culture

Nov 28, 2022

Sidney Gish performing at the 2018 Boston Music Awards. (Courtesy Ben Stas)

Meet the Boston Music Awards' new artist of the year nominees

If the BMAs’ New Artist of the Year field is a snapshot of the new generation of greater Boston musicians, it’s a hopeful one.

Arts & Culture

Nov 22, 2022

Composer Jason Moran and mezzo-soprano and composer Alicia Hall Moran backstage at the ICA in Boston, where the set of "Family Ball" was under construction. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran bare all in their new musical production 'Family Ball'

Mezzo-soprano Alicia Hall Moran and jazz pianist Jason Moran take stock of their artistic and romantic lives together in their new musical production, in its world premiere Nov. 18 and...

Arts & Culture

05:09Nov 17, 2022

Violinist Maria Dueñas with Los Angeles Philharmonic. (Courtesy Robert Torres)

Two renowned orchestras return to Boston Symphony Hall

With the sold-out returns of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic to Symphony Hall, the scare of the pandemic seems to be officially over for the region's classical...

Arts & Culture

Nov 17, 2022

Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler waves to fans as he performs music from his new album "Tinta y tiempo" in his hometown of Montevideo, Uruguay in September. (Matilde Campodonico/AP)

Jorge Drexler brings pandemic-era album to Boston

The singer-songwriter shares the impact of the pandemic on his music, his writing process, and his feelings about the prominence of his birth country, Uruguay.

Arts & Culture

08:18Nov 11, 2022

Skippy White pulls out James Brown’s “Don’t Be A Dropout” from a stack of 45 records from his collection. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Lost-then-found vintage 45s tell story of record store legend Skippy White's role in Boston soul music

Songs by Guitar Nubbit and Sammy and the Del-Lards join more than a dozen rediscovered tunes on a new compilation called "The Skippy White Story: Boston Soul 1961-1967."

Arts & Culture

07:31Nov 11, 2022

Johnny Trama and Toussaint the Liberator. (Courtesy Michael D. Spencer)

Toussaint the Liberator, Johnny Trama and A Band of Killers aim to strike a chord with their socially conscious soul-rock

Toussaint the Liberator's music has always been attached to his activism, and his songs often take on new relevance as history unfolds. "The thing about social commentary...it doesn’t matter when...

Arts & Culture

Nov 9, 2022

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At MASS MoCA, a composer traces the pandemic's arc through music

After 30 years and a successful law career, O Positive frontman releases new album

New Bob Dylan photo exhibit provides a candid look into a critical point in the artist's career

7 albums to listen to this winter

Meet the Heatons, the musical couple who play Irish, surf and children’s music

Sound Museum owners cry foul as their tenants secure potential new spaces without them

Foo Fighters, Lumineers and Paramore to headline Boston Calling Music Festival this spring

Berklee Indian Ensemble's expansive, star-studded debut album is a Grammy contender

The 10 best local albums of 2022, according to our critics

Hip-hop sweeps the major categories at the 2022 Boston Music Awards

In 'Beasties: A Sci-Fi Rock Opera,' a talented team revives a latent genre

'Tis the season for 'TubaChristmas,' a low brass love fest in Boston

Listen: Little Fuss writes 'complex female characters' into pop songs

5 festive live music shows for the holidays

Meet the Boston Music Awards' new artist of the year nominees

Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran bare all in their new musical production 'Family Ball'

Two renowned orchestras return to Boston Symphony Hall

Jorge Drexler brings pandemic-era album to Boston

Lost-then-found vintage 45s tell story of record store legend Skippy White's role in Boston soul music

Toussaint the Liberator, Johnny Trama and A Band of Killers aim to strike a chord with their socially conscious soul-rock