David McPherson

David McPherson

David McPherson is the author of "The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern: A Complete History." Ever since attending his first rock concert in 1989 (The Who) and buying his first LP (Freeze Frame by The J. Geils Band), music has become "the elixir of his life." Over the years, his writing on music has appeared in No Depression, Paste, American Songwriter and Bluegrass Unlimited.

David's Articles

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Neko Case Returns With ‘Neon Grey Midnight Green,’ An Arresting Meditation On Music & The Natural World

A nostalgic roller coaster filled with melodic elegies, Neko Case’s ninth LP, Neon Grey Midnight Green, is a tour de force. The first time one hears the GRAMMY-nominated artist's enchanting voice, it arrives unexpectedly and without warning, But when it departs, it leaves an impression, that once gone, is never forgotten.   While this unmistakable contralto is the main attraction that…

Why Sarah McLachlan Returned To Music With ‘Better Broken’

Why Sarah McLachlan Returned To Music With ‘Better Broken’

Sarah McLachlan is not sure how many albums she has left in her — but she knew she had to make Better Broken. The pop rock veteran's first album of new material in 11 years is a cathartic exercise of finding beauty within the madness. While McLachlan has long used music to navigate her feelings — and the malaise and…

8 Jon Batiste Songs That Show His Ability To Unite Through Music

8 Jon Batiste Songs That Show His Ability To Unite Through Music

Music offers a language and a palette to speak of untruths, to right wrongs in song, and to call people to rise up. Few modern artists are better at eliciting this collective meeting of the minds than Jon Batiste. The classically-trained pianist and 7-time GRAMMY winner — and first-ever recipient of Ray Charles "Architect of Sound" Award at the 2025…

Billy Corgan On Making “A Lot Of Peace With The Past” & Finding Work-Life Balance

Billy Corgan On Making “A Lot Of Peace With The Past” & Finding Work-Life Balance

At 58, Billy Corgan is filled with gratitude. He is at peace with his stardom and with his past — and that was not always the case. The two-time GRAMMY winner no longer needs the world's approval and music is not his everything. That's why, these days, the singer/songwriter is filled with more joy and happiness than melancholy and infinite…

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13 Albums Turning 30 In 2025: LPs By Foo Fighters, Shakira, D’Angelo & Others

Even four years before Napster started a digital music revolution, the midpoint of the 1990s left behind many music and tech touchstones. E-retail giants Amazon and eBay — which would each find their way into the musical ecosystem over time — both launched in 1995, as did the first widely-used Web browser (Netscape). It is no surprise that World Wide…

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Remembering Phil Lesh, Grateful Dead Co-Founder And Bassist With An Unbreakable Chain

And then there were two. Phil Lesh, co-founder and innovative bassist for the Grateful Dead, passed away peacefully on Oct. 25 at his California home surrounded by family. He was 84. With Lesh’s death, Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzmann are the only remaining original members of the psychedelic rock band that formed in Palo Alto in 1965. Earlier this week,…

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Nick Cave Returns With The Bad Seeds To Plant Joyful Noise

While others nursed hangovers on New Year’s Day, 2023, Nick Cave got to work.  Picking up his brown bespoke notebook, the songwriter stared at the blank pages. Inspired by the Old Testament parable of Cain’s murder of his brother Abel, a couplet eventually came: "Ushering in the week he knelt down and crushed his brother’s head in with a bone…

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A Beginner’s Guide To Phish: 8 Ways To Get Into The Popular Jam Band

Mainstream rock or pop, Phish are not. While the foursome from Vermont are definitely a jam band, that label does not capture their unique sound and varied influences. Both on record and live, Phish's extended improvisations noodle from reggae and all forms of rock, to bluegrass and funk, with healthy doses of country, blues and jazz. Like the jam band…

21 Albums Turning 50 In 2024: ‘Diamond Dogs,’ ‘Jolene,’ ‘Natty Dread’ & More

21 Albums Turning 50 In 2024: ‘Diamond Dogs,’ ‘Jolene,’ ‘Natty Dread’ & More

Despite claims by surveyed CNN readers, 1974 was not a year marked by bad music. The Ramones played their first gig. ABBA won Eurovision with the earworm "Waterloo," which became an international hit and launched the Swedes to stardom. Those 365 days were marked by chart-topping debuts, British bangers and prog-rock dystopian masterpieces. Disenchantment, southern pride, pencil thin mustaches and…

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The Roxy Still Rocks At 50: Why The Sunset Strip Staple Remains A Music Mecca

A rite of passage for countless bands over the decades and a touchstone for myriad genres, Los Angeles venue The Roxy still rocks at 50.  When the intimate club opened on Sept. 20, 1973 with a three-night stand by Neil Young and the Santa Monica Flyers (who had just finished recording Tonight’s the Night nearby at Studio Instrument Rentals), the…

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A Beginner’s Guide To The Grateful Dead: 5 Ways To Get Into The Legendary Jam Band

Just because you never traded bootleg tapes with strangers or dropped acid to experience that Timothy Leary whacked-out feeling, you can still appreciate the Grateful Dead.  When the Dead began their psychedelic trip back in the late 1960s, the media categorized their followers as lazy, counter-culture drop-outs. The reality: these devotees, known today as Deadheads, were just music-lovers that shared…

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Remembering Sinéad O’Connor: 5 Essential Tracks By The Iconoclastic Singer/Songwriter

Few had a voice that compared to the eight-time GRAMMY nominee Sinead O’Connor. An artist and an activist, O’Connor wrote with conviction and pathos, packing a punch with both poetry and politics. Her voice was her main instrument and lifelong weapon — one she wielded well in a whisper or a wail.  Born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O’Connor in Glenageary, County…

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Remembering Gordon Lightfoot: 5 Essential Songs From The Prolific Canadian Songwriter

Bob Dylan, not one to give compliments lightly, was one of Gordon Lightfoot’s biggest fans.  "I can’t think of any Gordon Lightfoot song I don’t like," he once said. "Every time I hear a song of his, it’s like I wish it would last forever." Canadian songwriter Gordon Lightfoot possessed a rare talent to craft the right turn of phrase…

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