When royalty comes to town, they tend to make waves. Dick Dale, the King of Surf Guitar, doused his willing subjects in waves of reverb as he held court at the Blueberry Hill Duck Room.

Give a man a guitar and he will play you a song. Give Hayes Carll a guitar and he will bare his soul in a raw and honest way that few musicians can match.

Gathering up its generals for an all-out assault on the ears of the masses, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band added Jimbo Mathus and Alvin Youngblood Hart to the ranks of the Big Damn Blues Revolution.

Whether he's singing a song written over 100 years ago or penning his own tunes, St. Louis native Ryan Spearman draws on his expansive knowledge of Americana and folk to create a living, breathing history of traditional music.

The members of the young, local band Old Salt Union were kind enough to sit down with me before their show with Acoustics Anonymous on February 14 at the Old Rock House to talk about their friendship, their new CD and their desire to open for the Deftones.

Ponce de Leon may not have found the fountain of youth, but hardcore-thrash crossover band Dirty Rotten Imbeciles proved that spending 30 years in the thrash zone is the next best thing.

When most people think of the cello, they think of classical music or symphonies. Ben Sollee breaks those stereotypes and brings his instrument to a whole new level.

There is nothing quite like the emotion that pours out of a singer-songwriter when she's plying her trade. Carrie Rodriguez filled the room with love of her songs and her audience Wednesday night at the Old Rock House.

Celebrating its 15th year together, Umphrey's McGee (with the Mike Dillon Band) got the crowd at the Pageant moving and grooving with a great set of progressive rock-steeped jamming.

Despite a few bumps in the road, Soul Asylum had a great start to its 2013 tour Wednesday night at the Old Rock House.