Pianist Simone Dinnerstein performed at Jessup's Maryland Correctional Institute for Women  today. In town for a Mozart concerto with the BSO, Dinnerstein played Schubert and Bach for about 40 inmates and a dozen guards in the prison library. The women gave her a standing ovation.
Afterwards, Dinnerstein said she's previously taken time from her whirlwind touring [...]

A few hours ago, pianist Simone Dinnerstein performed Bach and Schubert for inmates at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup. Here's a video of the final few minutes of the concert, which was held in the prison library.

Jason Urick, the guy behind Floristree and the experimental band WZT Hearts, has released a solo 12", Husbands, on Thrill Jockey. I know, I know... how many more Baltimore artists can Thrill Jockey sign? At present, its roster includes Double Dagger, Thank You, Dan Higgs, Arbouretum, Pontiak, and Human Bell. The Chicago-based indie label likes [...]

Tuesday night, Loudon Wainwright and Richard Thompson teamed up for an excellent show at Goucher. I was amazed how strong their voices were—in fact, they've never sounded better. The highlight of Wainwright's set was the handful of songs he played off his new disc, High, Wide & Handsome, a tribute to Charlie Poole, the old-time [...]

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The top three vote getters in our recent Best of Baltimore readers poll will play Rams Head Live this Thursday night. If you missed it, the Kelly Bell Band (pictured) came in at number 3, Can't Hang was runner-up at number 2, and Flipside took top honors. So we'll consider Thursday night's show something of [...]

High Zero, Baltimore's premier festival of improvised music—in fact, we cited it as "Best Music Festival" a few years back—wraps up tonight with a series of performances at Theatre Project. The lineup includes Shelly Blacke-Pock and Towson University's Dave Ballou. Doors open at 7:30, show starts at 8:30 pm.

Arty Hill and Caleb Stine play 1919 Fleet Street tonight at 9 pm. Hill has a new EP coming out, and Stine's new CD, Eyes So Strong and Clean, is his best recording to date. Does it seem as if Stine is everywhere, these days? It's a great double bill, featuring the city's premier honky [...]

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At the end of my interview with The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne last Tuesday—I'll post it closer to the release of the band's new disc next month—I mentioned how much my children, Posie and Levi, love the Lips' music. I also told him we had tickets to Friday's show, and my kids wanted to know [...]

In all the Woodstock coverage, you might have spotted this photo of a VW bus (painted by Baltimore's Bob Hieronimus) at the festival. I asked Hieronimus about it, and here's his response...
No, I'm not in that picture.  Those are my friends, Trudy Morgal and Ricky Peters, sitting on top of the bus.  I'm just the [...]

Tomorrow night, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson will be in Cal Ripken's house. The pair of music legends will be appearing at Ripken Stadium for a reprise of a fantastic tour they did a few years ago. In 2005, Dylan and Willie spent a summer barnstorming through minor league ballparks, and it was the sort [...]