All results / Stories / Micah Smith

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Tallhart Offers Something Different

As the first full-length and second studio record from Florida's Tallhart since it signed to Equal Vision Records, "We Are the Same" comes with substantial concerns.

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‘MODOC’: Live Charm

MODOC's new album chooses authenticity and restraint over spectacle.

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A Critique on Critics

I almost hate to enact the typical 10th-grade speech-class introduction, but I think we can all glean something important from defining the term "critic."

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Blender IV: Hip-Hop Gives Back

Throughout last year, Jackson hip-hop artist James Crow, or Herbert Brown as his friends know him, struggled through an incredible hardship—one that no amount of talent, dedication or hard work could overcome.

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Bigger Than a Brand

If I say, "I'm an avid news reader," you might expect that I have substantial opinions on the country's economic state, political problems, or other significant yet dreary information from sources such as CNN, Fox or NBC. Not exactly.

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Jackson in Retrospect

From the Civil War to civil rights and beyond, the Old Capitol Museum offers Mississippians a rare visual retrospect on the complex past of the capital city with "Jackson: A Photographic History."

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Judging by the Cover

Chances are that if you own an acoustic guitar, fate has at one time forced you to become "that guy"—the one standing with said instrument, inviting public criticism.

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Pop: A Social Mirror

Most music listeners, no matter their genre of preference, have a skewed understanding of pop.

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Kelcy Mae

New Orleans-based Kelcy Mae is performing in Jackson in support of her latest release, "The Fire."

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Soul in a Circuit

Electronic artist Active Child knows when and how to efficiently use synthesizers.

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Grizzly Bear Sharpens its Claws

The newest album from Brooklyn, N.Y., indie quartet Grizzly Bear, “Shields,” proves that fame doesn’t have to be the end of innovation.

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At the Mercy of an Audience

The music industry has very little room for pretense. If you write sloppily, play or sing poorly, or look like you've been hit repeatedly with a tether ball since birth, be prepared to have these things called out often and unsympathetically.

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The Buddy System

Musicians have always formed connections with their contemporaries, whether it be bitter rivalry, close-knit brotherhood or something between the two.

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Hellogoodbye Leaves No Doubt

Though Hellogoodbye opened for Metric and Paramore during their fall tour, you'd be hard-pressed to find similarities between the headliners and today's Hellogoodbye.

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God’s Grace and Good Marketing

For Jackson-based Seeker & Servant, pushing above the shifting stream of current trends is a matter of putting musical preferences to work and nonstop effort into spreading the word.

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Locked in a Darkroom

I hate to admit my insurmountable shame this early into my career in music journalism, or even this early into my column, but it can't be helped.

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The Dear Hunter’s ‘Migrant’ Moves, Shifts

If lead singer, multi-instrumentalist and one-man renaissance Casey Crescenzo's post-hardcore history kept your attention directed away from The Dear Hunter's previous releases, his newest album "Migrant" promises to turn your head, at the risk of breaking your neck.

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Building Up As Cities Burn

To longtime fans, a phoenix may seem like an apt metaphor for Louisiana-native post-hardcore act As Cities Burn, which has returned with a new album after 10 years. However, to vocalist T.J. Bonnette, the band's revival isn't as dramatic as it sounds.

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Thomas J. Ward Jr.

As with all of Mississippi, the rural town of Mound Bayou in Bolivar County has its fair share of interesting landmarks, including one that even some residents might not know the history of since its still active to this day.

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The Vamps Rev Up

When The Vamps performed at Duling Hall in December 2015, attendees kept telling the musicians how thrilled they were that the band was playing a reunion show. Of course, the issue with that, drummer Denny Burkes says, is that they never broke up in the first place.