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Sweet Relief Musicians Fund Seeking Donations for Tom Constanten

- Former Grateful Dead keyboardist was diagnosed with lung cancer

The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund is seeking donations for Tom Constanten as the former Grateful Dead keyboardist faces a lung-cancer diagnosis.

A GoFundMe campaign had previously been launched for the musician, who played for the Dead from 1968-1970, appearing on Anthem of the Sun, Aoxomoxoa and Live Dead during his tenure and, after his departure, on archival concert albums.

“Beyond the Dead, TC has spent decades sharing his music with the world, touring and collaborating with artists across genres,” Sweet Relief said in a statement. “ … (He) has given so much to the world through his music.

“Now, it’s our turn to give back.”

Donations will be earmarked for medical and living expenses, Sweet Relief said.

8/25/25

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“Lingering Injuries” from Drumming Force Matt Abts out of Gov’t Mule Tour

- Terence Higgins to fill in for Back in the Saddle tour

Matt Abts will miss Gov’t Mule’s Back in the Saddle tour as he nurses “some lingering injuries from years behind the kit.”

The Mule co-founder announced his “tough but necessary decision to stay home” days before the band’s tour begins Aug. 27 in Wisconsin.

“I’m OK - and will be fine,” Abts said in a statement. “I just need some time at home to rest and recover.”

Abts missed Mule’s shows in March with the flu and a short run in July as he was “under the weather.” As he did then, Warren Haynes Band drummer Terence Higgins will fill Abts’ place, leaving Haynes as the only original Mule on the tour, which ends Nov. 1.

“You are in great hands,” Abts said.

8/25/25

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King Crimson’s Dual Rhythm Sections Act as Melody Makers on “VROOM VROOM” Remix

With guitarists Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew stripped from the mix, King Crimson’s double rhythm section of 1994 is, if not all, then mostly, melody.

Recorded Nov. 13, 1994, during the sessions that produced THRACK, the remixed extract of “VROOM VROOM” places drummer Pat Mastelotto and bassist Trey Gunn on the left while counterparts Bill Bruford and Tony Levin work their magic in the right channel.

The latest from producer Alex Mundy results in an uncluttered remix that is in many ways more effective - and certainly more nuanced - than the final version of the instrumental piece.

It could also serve as a template for in-concert rhythm-section showcases designed to reel in fans rather than driving them out for beer and bathroom breaks.

8/25/25

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Song Review: Widespread Panic - “Dear Prudence” (Live, Aug. 23, 2025)

Rather than, as typically happens, transforming the song, Widespread Panic instead was transformed by “Dear Prudence.”

Playing the Beatles’ tune Aug. 23 in Boston, Panic, in an infrequent occurrence, didn’t really sound like Panic. While John Bell’s vocals gave up the secret, the rhythm section opted to ape the “White Album” recording and guitarist Jimmy Herring took the opportunity to play Fab rather than Widespread.

A just-released, fan-shot video synched with high-quality audio proves this a wise tack. For while Beatles tracks are notoriously difficult to cover effectively and Widespread Panic’s magic power is in virtually always sounding like Widespread Panic, both those presumptions are null on this offering.

It’s an unexpected - and just as welcome - surprise.

Grade card: Widespread Panic - “Dear Prudence” (Live - 8/23/25) - B

8/25/25

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Demo Review: Joni Mitchell - “Two Grey Rooms”

The music was pretty much done, but Joni Mitchell hadn’t yet begun the lyrics, so she sung wordless guide vocals on the demo for “Two Grey Rooms.”

Lush and soothing like the finished track that appears on Night Ride Home, this demo is the third to appear in advance of Joni’s Jazz, which arrives Sept. 5.

Recorded as it was in the early 1990s, this previously unreleased work tape betrays the first signs of Mitchell’s deepening voice. But she can still climb up there and her improvised vocalizing may be the jazziest thing about this middle-of-the-road ballad-in-the-making.

Grade card: Joni Mitchell - “Two Grey Rooms” - B

8/25/25

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Song Review: Robbie Fulks - “Workin’ No More Blues”

“Workin’ No More Blues” is a lot of things.

It’s a folk song. It’s a talkin’ blues. It’s a lush ballad. And it sounds a bit like Robbie Fulks’ suicide note.

Cut the ties just to prove a point/shoot myself just to prove a point/dig up my dad, hit him with my fist/talk to a priest or a therapist/but don’t tell him what all’s in my brain/just pay him to tell me I’m sane, Fulks says on the lead single from Now Then, which arrives Sept. 5.

Mostly solo-acoustic. Mostly spoken. Partially sung. Also including weeping steel and wordless backgrounds, “Workin’ No More Blues” is not a suicide note, but it is a very sad song.

“Something distressing happened to me and I wrote (it) fast in the immediate heat,” Fulks said by way of explanation.

Grade card: Robbie Fulks - “Workin’ No More Blues” - B

8/25/24

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Song Review(s): Billy Strings - “Red Daisy,” “Hellbender,” “Taking Water” -> “Running the Route” (Live, Aug. 22, 2025)

Across four numbers, from “Red Daisy” to “Running the Route,” Billy Strings and his band focused on the purer forms of bluegrass rooted in their repertoire.

Playing in, and livestreaming from, Oregon, Strings and company gave away a generous sampler as they wrapped summer tour 2025. These were powerful and inspired performances, from the high-speed “Red Daisy” to the slow waltz of “Hellbender” and back to the engine-revving of “Taking Water” -> “Running the Route.”

Singing of love and loss, drinking and sinking and denial and destruction, respectively; and then letting the music do the talking on the instrumental “Route,” guitarist Strings, mandolinist Jarrod Walker, bassist Royal Masat, banjoist Billy Failing and fiddler Alex Hargreaves demonstrate virtuosity can be both awe-inspiring and fun as hell as they continue blazing their path toward bluegrass’ future.

Grade card: Billy Strings - “Red Daisy,” “Hellbender,” “Taking Water” -> “Running the Route” (Live - 8/23/25) - A/A+/A-/A

8/24/25

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It Must be 2002 … and “Sunday”

- “Frisco Depot” is latest in Darrell Scott’s “It Must be Sunday” series

Darrell Scott has been playing “Frisco Depot” for a long time.

Still a potential offering at present-day gigs, the Mickey Newbury song popped up at Scott’s April 13, 2002, appearance in North Carolina. Videotape was fortuitously rolling and, nearly a quarter-century down the road, the results are out for the 45th episode of Scott’s “It Must be Sunday” series.

Much has changed. Newbury - who was “not dead” at this point - has since died. And Scott has aged, his then-black hair now white. But what hasn’t changed - and this is the surprising part - is Scott’s voice, which remains as resonant and comforting in 2025 as it was back in ’02.

But don’t take Sound Bites’ word for it. Instead, heed this advice: keep an eye on Scott’s schedule and make every attempt to catch him if he plays nearby and brings with him his quiver of original and cover tunes as abundant as his talent

He may or may not play “Frisco Depot,” but your ears - and Scott’s bank account - will be better off for the experience.

8/24/25

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Flashback on 60: Grateful Dead - Postcards of the Hanging: Grateful Dead Perform the Songs of Bob Dylan (2002)

Editor’s note: The year 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead’s birth. This is the 25th Flashback on 60, a periodic feature in which Sound Bites revisits the band’s career.

Although they had lyricists Robert Hunter (Jerry Garcia) and John Perry Barlow (Bob Weir) at their disposal for original material, the Grateful Dead covered Bob Dylan songs from the beginning to the end of their concert career.

Dylan numbers popped up on live Dead albums over the years. But it wasn’t until 2002’s Postcards of the Hanging: Grateful Dead Perform the Songs of Bob Dylan that the Dead devoted a full LP to the Bard.

Spanning the June 10, 1973, version of “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” with Dickey Betts and Butch Trucks, to the March 24, 1990, version of “Desolation Row,” whose opening lyric provides the LP’s title, Postcards also includes a missive from Dylan himself, fronting the Dead on “Man of Peace” in rehearsal as the amalgamated band prepared for their joint 1987 tour.

There are no dogs among the 13 tracks, comprising 85 minutes of music. But there are absolutely some standouts, including Garcia’s sparkling “She Belongs to Me” (9/15/85); Phil Lesh’s always crowd-pleasing “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” (7/12/89); Weir’s ferociously menacing “Ballad of a Thin Man” (4/1/88); and the Dead’s Dec. 30, 1985, debut of “The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo),” which would become an audience favorite and lusty singalong in subsequent outings.

The only thing(s) missing is/are volume(s) 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Read Sound Bites’ previous Flashback on 60 items here.

8/24/25

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Song Review(s): Billy Strings - “Slow Train” and “Psycho” -> “Hide and Seek” (Live, Aug. 22, 2025)

Billy Strings was mid-gig hot as he ripped into the opening solo of “Slow Train,” offering quickness and finesse in equal portions.

His band’s temperature was as high as the guitarist’s. They laid down killer riffs and sung in essentially perfect harmony. And after the “Train” pulled in for a full stop, Strings offered an uncharacteristically low-key, “Thank you,” as the band eased into the murderous, quite-disturbing beauty that is “Psycho” and the narrator’s calm description of his killing spree.

This was song two of three livestream giveaways from Strings’ Aug. 22 show in Washington state. Flowing gently like a depleted river, “Psycho” suddenly hit rapids on the “->” that would eventually lead to “Hide and Seek” as Strings, mandolinist Jarrod Walker, bassist Royal Masat, fiddler Alex Hargreaves and banjoist Billy Failing rode the sonic whitecaps for everything they had before hiding ever so slightly behind the effects that mark “Hide and Seek.”

Together, these tracks go a long way toward explaining why Strings and his band are often credited with ensuring the future of bluegrass looks bright.

Grade card: Billy Strings - “Slow Train” and “Psycho” -> “Hide and Seek” (Live - 8/22/25) - A/A+/A-

8/23/25

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The Who Postpone Second Consecutive Show, Citing Unspecified Illness

The Who postponed a second consecutive show on their second farewell tour citing an undisclosed illness.

The scrubbing of the group’s Aug. 23 gig in New Jersey comes one day after the group backed out of its Aug. 21 concert in Philadelphia hours before Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and their band were to take the stage.

There is no word on what is ailing whom.

“Unfortunately, due to illness, we had to postpone the shows in Philadelphia on Aug. 21 and Atlantic City on Aug. 23,” the band said in a statement. “Hang onto your tickets as we work quickly to schedule a new date.”

The Who have thus far played two of the first four shows on the Song is Over farewell tour, which is slated to run through Sept. 28 in Las Vegas. Their next scheduled appearance is Aug. 26 in Boston.

8/22/25

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Song Review: Bruce Springsteen - “Lonely Night in the Park”

If Bruce Springsteen had included “Lonely Night in the Park” on Born to Run, then Born to Run would’ve had a filler track.

Released as a standalone single 50 years after the album for which it was considered arrived in ’75, “Lonely Night” today sounds like something someone trying to imitate Springsteen might record. It’s a mid-tempo rocker set in New Jersey with trademark E Street keys and rhythm section but no brass.

For his part, Springsteen experiments with high and low voicings as he sings of the boardwalk and repeats the song’s title so often as to make it little more than padding. “Lonely Night in the Park” is interesting now, but still little more than the filler it would’ve been then.

Grade card: Bruce Springsteen - “Lonely Night in the Park” - C

8/22/25

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Song Review: David Gilmour - “Luck and Strange” (Live, 2024)

Weird thing about the promotional cycle for David Gilmour’s forthcoming live album and concert film: the former Pink Floyd guitarist is opting to unleash weaker material in his songbook in the runup to theatrical and home releases.

The nondescript “Luck and Strange” follows “Sorrow” ahead of the Sept. 17 screening of “Live at the Circus Maximus, Rome,” which’ll subsequently be released Oct. 17 alongside a companion LP titled the Luck and Strange Concerts.

Based on a simple blues riff, simmering rather than boiling over and requiring Gilmour the singer to attempt notes that are no longer there, “Luck and Strange” is the kind of “new stuff” that provides the opportunity for in-concert - or mid-screening - visits to the loo.

Grade card: David Gilmour - “Luck and Strange” (Live, 2024) - C

8/22/25

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Song Review: David Byrne - “The Avant Garde”

David Byrne brings his inner Fab to the surface on “The Avant Garde.” And to quote single No. 3 from Who is the Sky?: I’m not really sure if that means that it’s good.

With Beatlesque classical flourishes from Ghost Train Orchestra and guitars that recall Madison Cunningham tapping into George Harrison’s Cloud Nine era, Byrne comments on such artistes as John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the chorus:

And when we go there you will observe/it’s a passionate life, it’s ahead of the curve/it’s deceptively weighty, profaundly absurd/well, it’s whatever fits/it’s the avant garde/and it doesn’t mean shit/it’s the avant garde

Ironic. And not too original coming from such an original.

Preceded by “Everybody Laughs” and “She Explains Things to Me,” “The Avant Garde” continues the run-up to Sept. 5, when Who is the Sky? is slated to fall.

Grade card: David Byrne - “The Avant Garde” - C+

8/22/25

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Remixed “Free as a Bird” Announces Beatles Anthology 4

Remixed by Jeff Lynne for the Beatles’ forthcoming Anthology 4, “Free as a Bird” now sounds more like a finished track than a grainy demo.

What it does not sound like - and what it is not - is a Beatles song. Because the Beatles disbanded in 1970 and “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love” - also derived from a post-Fab John Lennon demo and remixed for 4 - appeared in Frankenstein form in 1995.

“Bird” announces the Nov. 21 arrival of Anthology 4, which comes along with remastered versions of Anthology 1, 2 and 3 and a ninth episode of the “Anthology” documentary that features, *ahem*, unseen video of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison working on the first eight “Anthology” episodes in the middle-’90s.

As for 4, it also includes 13 previously unreleased tracks and 17 songs from Super Deluxe versions of previous reissues. Maybe those 13 will be special; maybe the Fabs are deep into their barrel-scraping era.

8/22/25

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The Who Postpone Gig Citing Unspecified Illness

An unspecified illness impacting an unidentified band member led the Who to postpone its Aug. 21 concert hours before showtime.

The group made no mention of the change in plans, leaving it to Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena to announce the “show tonight … has been postponed due to illness.”

Organizers are “work(ing) quickly to schedule a new date,” the announcement said.

The Who are in the midst of their second farewell tour, dubbed the Song is Over, which is slated to wrap Sept. 28 in Las Vegas. Their next scheduled appearance is Aug. 23 in New Jersey.

8/22/25

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Brent Hinds, Mastodon Co-founder and Former Guitarist, Dies in Motorcycle Accident at 51

- “We are in a state of unfathomable sadness and grief,” band says

Brent Hinds, the Mastondon co-founder and guitarist who left the group earlier this year, was killed in a motorcycle accident Aug. 20 in Atlanta.

He was 51.

Hinds’ death left his former bandmates “in a state of unfathomable sadness and grief,” they said in a statement.

“We are heartbroken, shocked and still trying to process the loss of this creative force with whom we’ve shared so many triumphs, milestones and the creation of music that has touched the hearts of so many,” Mastodon said. “Our hearts are with Brent’s family, friends and fans.”

Mastodon released eight albums in its first 25 years. The first two were issued on Relapse Records, which called the heavy-metal recordings “all-time classics across any genre, and they would not sound the way they sound without Brent.

“His larger-than-life personality was eclipsed only by his monstrous musicianship,” the label said in a statement.

Queens of the Stone Age offered “love and respect” to their “old friend” Hinds; Opeth eulogized the guitarist as a “phenomenon;” and King Parrot said they would dedicate their Aug. 21 concert to the “immensely unique talent, amazing human and all-around top dude” that was Brent Hinds.

“This has knocked the wind out of me,” Alice in Chains’ William DuVall said.

8/21/25