Dylan Sires & Neighbors has not really concerned itself with talk of what band is going to be the next big thing out of Iowa. Instead, the Quad Cities-based four-piece is content doing what it does best: making pop-heavy, easily accessible music and letting the results speak for themselves. And
Read More →Electropop duo MAIDS describes themselves as “Midwest disco.” It is a fitting descriptor. Much like the land from which Danny Heggen and Mickey Davis hail, MAIDS is unassuming and can be easy to overlook or marginalize. And, like disco, the pair’s sound can be a bit saccharine at times but
Read More →It has been a banner couple of months for fans of Des Moines’ bygone music scenes, as local acts Towncrier and The Hollowmen have played reunion shows after eight- and 20-year hiatuses, respectively. Now, the wayback machine gets cranked up a little higher, as ’80s synth-pop act Gallery of Voices
Read More →The third annual Music University kicks off this weekend at Drake University. In three short years, the Des Moines Music Coalition (DMMC) has streamlined Music University, honing its focus and making what it believes to be a more effective, better event. “It’s sort of an overwhelming thing to try and
Read More →William J Locker is best known to people around town as the drummer for two of the more talented acts to grace Des Moines stages in the past decade, Bright Giant and Towncrier. The former took a break nearly two years ago and hasn’t really been heard from since. On
Read More →Not everybody is picking up what Madison Ray is putting down. Like virtually any artist who has created for public consumption, Madison Ray has suffered the slings and arrows of negative response, sometimes in this very forum. Dealing with it is part of the coming of age that any performer
Read More →MarKaus knows that Des Moines does not have the best relationship with hip-hop. The Kansas City-born MC has been a resident of Des Moines for the past four years and has watched the town’s hip-hop scene grow and change during that time. He has also seen the stagnation. “I feel
Read More →The past year has been good to Roxi Copland. Since we last checked in with her, Copland’s 2014 LP, “Truth Be Told,” has become her most successful album to date. Tracks from the album are finding regular rotation on radio stations around the country, and Copland’s first tour in support
Read More →Murder Earth has been working on this for a long time. The Des Moines metal four-piece is set to release its debut album, “Waiting for the End of Man,” this week at Lefty’s. It is the culmination of three years’ worth of work that has included tweaks, re-tweaks, countless live
Read More →There is an adage that says you do not become a great writer without first being a voracious reader. Similarly, I am convinced that one does not become a great songwriter without first living voraciously. Sara Routh, the 38-year-old Norwalk native, is a heck of a songwriter, and now she
Read More →
