As most folks know, Jack Daniel’s has always had a special relationship with music. Some have even called it a love affair. Frank, Keith, Jimmy, Guns… the list of legends that have a special place in their heart for Jack is long and distinguished. Since day one, the Tennessee Whiskey has been back stage, on [...]

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This month the Jack Daniel’s Music Reporter hooked up with a crew from Jo’burg known as The Brother Moves On. Recently featured in the UK’s Guardian newspaper, these guys are not your average four-piece rock band! Check it out..

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To all the guys out there, if you’ve ever sat through p.s. I Love You starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler, you’ll know that the movie makes listening to Slipknot played backwards at maximum volume for 12 hours straight seem more fulfilling. It’s the story of a charming Irish lad who falls in love with [...]

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If you’re a legendary aging rock star who has fallen out with his band mates… or a talented soul singer whose career has taken a nose-dive… or a thoroughbred reggae artist who produced an amazing album a few years ago but hasn’t been able to follow it up… or if your band was a huge [...]

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You know the way a lot of professional “critics” seem to be incredibly satisfied with every word that emanates from their non-smiling mouths? Well, I reckon the reason for this is that deep down inside they know their role in society is, in fact, quite menial. Nothing they say really matters when all is said [...]

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I learned something new about the world the day Freddie Mercury died. Firstly, that there was a new way to die, and its name was AIDS. Secondly, that one of my heroes was, in fact, gay. As a young teenager I had never given either topic much thought. Queen rocked and that’s all that really [...]

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Sinatra. Ol’ Blue Eyes. The Chairman of the Board. It’s hard to know where to start with Frank Sinatra. There’s the young Frank of the 1940’s, the Oscar winning movie star, The Rat Pack years, with his old pals Sammy Davis, Dean Martin and the boys. Then there’s the manic depression, the equal rights activist [...]

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Not many true guitar gods have walked this earth. In the hands of these rare beings, the guitar is more than a six stringed musical instrument; it is a source of immense power, a weapon of mass destruction, a light saber, the most magical of wands, capable of removing a groupy’s panties with a single [...]

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There was a time when hip hop was the only music with any credibility. It was during the honeymoon period of the Hip hop culture, like the one punk went through in the seventies, when it sprung out of the ghetto like a flower through a crack in the sidewalk. It was un-contrived, real, authentic, [...]

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I’m lucky in that I am not told what album to review each month. I can choose. But this is a double-edged sword. Because life is short I generally try to review something that is actually enjoyable, rather than wasting time listening to music that drains me of the will to carry on and then [...]

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Dear Nelly, I remember when I first laid eyes on you. It was in the video for Turn Off the Light. I was just one of the guys at the time, not really taking any notice of the pop tarts on the scene – Britney, Christina, Kylie and the rest. But there was something different [...]

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When you go and see U2 in concert you expect a religious experience of some kind. And why wouldn’t you? God is on lead vocals after all. And the price of the ticket leads you to believe He’s going to pay you some special attention, forgive you for your sins and send you on your [...]

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Although I didn’t know it at the time, all my friends at school in England were way cooler than me. I was listening to Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Guns n’ Roses, Blind Melon and the Peppers while they were into the Acid Jazz scene that was considered extremely hip in England at the time. But I [...]

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Great song lyrics are almost impossible to master. And that’s before they’ve even been weaved into a perfect melody. When the two come together it’s alchemy. Some songwriters only manage it once in their lifetimes. We have a name for them. Hands up who knows what it is. Writing a great lyric seems like it [...]

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The thing about music, or any art form, or anything that human beings do for that matter, from inventing something to being nice to strangers, is that it has an effect on the quality of our lives. If someone does something brilliant, like ending world poverty, or serving a beer at the perfect temperature, they are in some way making the world a better place.

If you were a hippy, you could put it down to simply putting out good vibes. On the other hand, you could get more specific and say that by doing something excellent, you are furthering the cause of humanity by adding quality to lives and in turn inspiring people to also do something excellent.

This is why bad music should not be taken lightly. If we let people get away with it, then other people may start believing that it’s okay to have zero talent and not bother trying to do excellent things. If we don’t watch ourselves, the standards of the world will drop even lower than they already are and we will start devolving – that’s right, I’m talking about humans getting stupider and the world going backwards. Are you listening Paris? Any more flirtations with music (or any form of entertainment for that matter) will be dealt with in a zero-tolerance manner. Not quite sure what “zero-tolerance” implies exactly. Murder is clearly over the top. Any suggestions are welcome. Confiscate her Bentley? Something unbearable.

The Black Keys are the kind of band whose existence makes the world a better place. They are influenced by Hendrix, The Doors and Led Zeppelin, as well as the original Chicago bluesmen like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf and the old time delta bluesmen like Robert Johnson and Lightnin’ Hopkins. All of these musicians shaped modern music in some way. They all attempted do something magical and thankfully they all had the God given talent to pull it off.

This is the Black Keys’ sixth album. They’re the kind of band that many people are glad to have around, but this hasn’t necessarily translated into cementing them into our collective conscience in the same way, say, The White Stripes have been. Some people compare the two and say The Black Keys wouldn’t exist without The White Stripes, but the fact is they’ve been around for just as long and it’s clear they would be making their music whether their counterparts existed or not. Follow link for more.

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Lets just deal with the name first. Mumford & Sons. Not ideal, if you’re trying to be cool that is. There are bands out there with names like Jane’s Addiction, Primal Scream and, of course, The Rolling Stones. Just plain cool. In fact, if there’s one thing the Stones had over the Beatles, it was their name. The Beetles would have been better, but they had to get playful and incorporate the word “beat” into their name. Naughty guys, very naughty. You were young and you thought you were being clever, but no one loves a pun. I guess you made up for it though.

But Mumford & Sons? That’s a lot to make up for. I’m not even sure that John, Paul and the boys could do enough to distract us from that incredibly dorky name. I’ve seen it being mentioned in various music magazines and have sub-consciously just ignored the band. But then I started hearing that they were getting a reputation for incredible live shows with a kind of party atmosphere where everybody just lets loose.

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I am in a state of shock as I write this. I was just trying to remind myself when the Killer’s debut album, Hot Fuss, was released and Wikipedia told me it was 2004! As in nearly seven years ago. I dared Wiki to try lying to me one more time but it promised me it was telling the truth. “Why would I lie?” it asked. I had no good answer.

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Occasionally, when I’m not rocking out to AC/DC, I look around and realise that there’s more to life than three-chord, blues based hard rock. There are also bands that don’t seem to conform to any particular genre, bands that invade our collective consciousness through their sheer force of creativity – their sounds so fresh and [...]

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A lot of people get quite angry with Keane, especially in England where they hate the fact that they went to private schools and the fact that lead singer Tom Chaplin’s cheeks are too rosy and he seems like a bit of a choir boy – despite upping his rock n’ roll credentials with a [...]

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I was born and raised on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. At 17 I was the youngest invitee to make the finals at the Pipeline Masters. A week later my career as a pro surfer ended when an accident at the Pipeline put 150 stitches in my head. So, I turned to music and [...]

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It takes a recessionista’s ear to appreciate the genius of Meat Loaf. Meat Loaf has never been everyone’s cup of tea. Apart from one time in the late 70’s when Bat Out of Hell sold 48 million copies. Ok so yes, Meat Loaf was once everyone’s cup of tea, but that was before most of [...]

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