Sound Check's Blog Posts Tagged 'Lead' (4)

After writing the book on hardcore on their first 3 records (while moonlighting as a tight reggae band on those same records), Bad Brains expanded their sound to include elements of thrash, funk, metal, and even a bit of hip-hop. Meanwhile their reggae tracks gradually switched from being breaks from face-pummeling hardcore to being the main attraction. By the time 2007's Build a Nation came out, the band's faster songs sounded more like an obligation than a passion. Where Build…

For 35 years (with a few notable breaks...) HR has served as the lead signer of the groundbreaking hardcore band Bad Brains. Patient zero for the Afropunk movement, Bad Brains' classic run from 1977-1985 produced 3 of the best hardcore records, period. The band's latest, Into the Future comes out November 20th.

Leading up to the interview, I admit I was more than a little nervous. Beyond being simply a legend and the singer for one of my favorite bands of all time, HR has a…

With his 100th birthday, and the let's-not-call-it-a-depression-because-that's-depressing “economic downturn” there's been a renewed interest in the music of folk legend Woody Guthrie this past year. But hardly anyone's talking about one of Guthrie's biggest influences and collaborators, Huddie Ledbetter. Better known to the world as that original punk rocker Lead Belly.



Words by Nathan Leigh



Each…