Sympathetic Vibrations | Proud to Be An Amexican

Tess and Maria Cuevas

Maria and Tess Cuevas are dealing with deep-seated identity issues. Not to worry though, they are extremely well adjusted people and coping in maybe the best way possible — by making music that complements that precarious sense of self. The Cuevas sisters front Maria the Mexican, a Topeka-based band celebrating the release of its sophomore album,…

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Sympathetic Vibrations | Five Things I Learned at FAI

Songwriter and producer Jeffrey Foucault

I should come clean. This was the third year of the Folk Alliance International Conference’s residency in Kansas City and it was my first time attending. I know, I know. I’m awful. Stain on me. I have to admit I didn’t know what I was missing. Looking back, last weekend was a whirlwind, complete with…

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Sympathetic Vibrations | The Price of Doing What You Love

The music life is about making things work. Here, musicians warm up in a stairwell during the opening night of Folk Alliance International at the Westin Crown Center. (Photo: Sarah Bradshaw | The Bridge)

This weekend, a sizable chunk of the international folk music community will descend upon our fair city for the Folk Alliance International conference, which organizers describe as “the world’s largest gathering of the folk music industry and community.” To those attending as industry insiders, the five-day conference will serve as a pooling of ideas and…

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Sympathetic Vibrations | The Right Way Through Wrong Turns

Taryn Miller, who performs as Your Friend, delivered a set at the RecordBar just before it closed its doors for good in December. Your Friend just released a full-length. (Photo: Dan Calderon | Flatland)

Taryn Miller has enjoyed a speedy rise to national recognition in the last three years, due in large part to simply not overthinking things. And to hear her describe the sequence of events that led her from Winfield, Kansas to a major label release, you almost feel sorry for all the bands out there meticulously…

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Sympathetic Vibrations | It’s A Groove Thing

Vinyl record on turntable

We are currently living in a music consumer utopia. Services like, Tidal, Apple Music, Spotify, and Google Play offer more than 30 million tracks, available on-demand and anywhere you have a data connection – all in exchange for a monthly subscription price that is less than what you would have paid for a single album…

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