Feature: Girls on the Road

First off, I just want to give huge thanks to all the interviewees who kindly agreed to help me write this article. This was something I wanted to pen down for months and finally spent all of October to talk to my sources and do further researching. My respect for these women and those who have gotten their backs as they climbed in their careers cannot be explained in words.

"If passion is a career, then running a show is no exception, but it’s not elementary. Whether it’s booking, tour managing, or handling merchandise, a fondness for music is barely a baby step. Try throwing in the physical demand of a construction worker, the mental assiduity of an accountant, a high level of patience, and 3,000 mile long game of stop-and-go. Those who can’t handle it find themselves taking a one-way Greyhound trip back to their abode.

Click here to read the rest of the article. This was published in ACRN.com on October 24, 2009.
Photo provided by Jenny Douglas.

Feature: Pala

They won’t settle for 12 tracks of d-beat so you can pigeon-hole them into the crust-punk genre, nor will they magnetize themselves to chugging breakdowns to ignite an obligatory rain dance among crowd members at some hardcore show. The latter is reserved for bassist Chris Kuhn’s other band, Baltimore’s hardcore magnate Pulling Teeth. Sweeping, almost whispering guitar riffs will tease you into assuming they’re trying to murmur the ghost of '90s screamo, but then a drop into stoner-riffs make you believe otherwise. Call them dysfunctional, but they’re not here to serve you something to label.

Click here to read the rest of this article. This was published on ACRN.com on October 1, 2009.
Photo by: Robert Scheuerman